Asked by: Cathy Jamieson (Labour (Co-op) - Kilmarnock and Loudoun)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what estimate he has made of the number of people in Kilmarnock and Loudoun constituency who will reach the state pension age within 12 months from the introduction of the single-tier pension and will be eligible to receive the full rate of state pension.
Answered by Steve Webb
The Department does not hold the required information to answer this question.
Asked by: Cathy Jamieson (Labour (Co-op) - Kilmarnock and Loudoun)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, if he will review the current regulations relating to carer's allowance as they apply to people who temporarily withdraw from full-time education as a result of caring responsibilities.
Answered by Lord Harper
Full-time students are not normally entitled to benefits as a means of supporting themselves whilst studying. This is because primary financial support for students comes from the educational maintenance system, which is designed for their needs, rather than through the social security system. Someone who has only temporarily withdrawn from a course, but has not abandoned it, is normally still treated as being in full-time education.
Asked by: Cathy Jamieson (Labour (Co-op) - Kilmarnock and Loudoun)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what recent representations he has received from claimants about lack of access to telephone lines within jobcentres for claims to be made and queries to be answered.
Answered by Esther McVey
The information requested is not collated centrally and could only be provided at disproportionate cost.
The Digital Jobcentres project is modernising the Jobcentre digital infrastructure by delivering WiFi and public computers across the Jobcentre network.
We now take over 80 per cent of new Jobseeker’s Allowance claims on line and the majority of jobs are also available on the internet. Therefore the use of Customer Access Phones has significantly reduced. However, claimants who require access to a phone in connection with their benefit or job search will still be given access to a telephone in a Jobcentre.
Asked by: Cathy Jamieson (Labour (Co-op) - Kilmarnock and Loudoun)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many claims for personal independence payments by residents of Kilmarnock and Loudoun constituency have not been resolved within a six month period.
Answered by Lord Harper
Information on personal independence payment cases registered and cleared below national level has been published and is available in the data tables which accompany the most recent release of statistics on 17 December 2014: https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/personal-independence-payment-april-2013-to-october-2014
The Department intends to release PIP clearance times and waiting/outstanding times statistics for the first time in March 2015, with the release pre-announced in line with UK Statistics Authority release protocols.
Asked by: Cathy Jamieson (Labour (Co-op) - Kilmarnock and Loudoun)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what his Department's guidance is on recommended response times to correspondence to Ministers from hon. Members.
Answered by Steve Webb
The Department for Work and Pensions aims to reply to 90 per cent of correspondence to Ministers from hon. Members within 20 working days.
Asked by: Cathy Jamieson (Labour (Co-op) - Kilmarnock and Loudoun)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what the average response time has been for each Minister in his Department to correspondence from hon. Members in each month of the last two years.
Answered by Steve Webb
The Cabinet Office publishes information on the performance of Departments and agencies on handling correspondence from hon. Members and peers annually by way of a written statement.
The information for the last two years that is available, 2012 and 2013, is in the Official Report 13 May 2013: Column 23WS and 13 May 2014: Column 17WS
Asked by: Cathy Jamieson (Labour (Co-op) - Kilmarnock and Loudoun)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what proportion of the Minister for Disabled People's replies to correspondence from hon. Members have taken longer than (a) five, (b) 10, (c) 15 and (d) 20 working days in each month of the last two years.
Answered by Steve Webb
The Cabinet Office publishes information on the performance of Departments and agencies on handling correspondence from hon. Members and peers annually by way of a written statement.
The information for the last two years that is available, 2012 and 2013, is in the Official Report 13 May 2013: Column 23WS and 13 May 2014: Column 17WS
Asked by: Cathy Jamieson (Labour (Co-op) - Kilmarnock and Loudoun)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many full-time equivalent staff worked on his Department's ministerial correspondence in each year since 2010.
Answered by Steve Webb
Many staff across the Department spend a proportion of their time working on ministerial correspondence.
Asked by: Cathy Jamieson (Labour (Co-op) - Kilmarnock and Loudoun)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many people in each Scottish parliamentary constituency use Post Office card accounts.
Answered by Steve Webb
I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave on the 16 October 2014 to Question UIN 210281.
The information is not available.
Asked by: Cathy Jamieson (Labour (Co-op) - Kilmarnock and Loudoun)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many households in each (a) parliamentary constituency and (b) local authority area in Scotland are subject to benefit cap.
Answered by Esther McVey
The latest data, showing households capped as at August 2014, can be found here:
https://stat-xplore.dwp.gov.uk/