Asked by: Chuka Umunna (Liberal Democrat - Streatham)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many and what proportion of people that were in receipt legacy payments are financially better off as a result of the move to universal credit.
Answered by Lord Sharma
The information requested is not centrally collated and to provide it would incur disproportionate cost.
We are spending over £3 billion over 10 years on Transitional Protections for 1.1 million households, to ensure that people don’t lose out at the point of transition.
Once managed migration has been completed there will be an additional £2.1 billion spend per year on Universal Credit compared to the current legacy system it replaces.
Simplification of welfare through Universal Credit will lead to increased take-up of entitlement as only one application is required where previously there may have been several. This will be worth £2.4 billion per year for claimants when Universal Credit is fully rolled out, as set out in the Universal Credit Full Business Case Summary. Universal Credit also provides more help with childcare costs, scraps the 16-hour ‘cliff edge’ and the prohibitive tax rates should someone start work.
Asked by: Chuka Umunna (Liberal Democrat - Streatham)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many citizens of other EU countries work in his Department, its agencies and non-departmental public bodies.
Answered by Caroline Nokes
Information on EU citizenship is not held by the Department for Work and Pensions, its agencies or its non-departmental public bodies.
Asked by: Chuka Umunna (Liberal Democrat - Streatham)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what assessment he has made of the value for money provided by Motability to (a) disabled people and (b) the public purse.
Answered by Justin Tomlinson
Motability is an independent charitable organisation, wholly responsible for the Motability Scheme. More detailed information about the operation of the Scheme can be requested from the Director of Motability, Motability, Warwick House, Roydon Road, Harlow, Essex, CM19 5PX.
The Department does not provide any funding to Motability so the Scheme does not come at a direct cost to the taxpayer.
Asked by: Chuka Umunna (Liberal Democrat - Streatham)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what policy evaluations have been carried out by external organisations for his Department and its agencies in each financial year since 2010-11; whether the output of those evaluations was published; which organisation carried out each such evaluation; and what the value of each contract to provide that evaluation was.
Answered by Priti Patel - Shadow Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs
Policy evaluations, as with all externally commissioned DWP research, are routinely published:
https://www.gov.uk/government/organisations/department-for-work-pensions/about/research
Reports always identify the organisations that have been contracted to do the research. Details of all government contracts let since February 2011 are in the public domain, including the contract value:
https://www.gov.uk/contracts-finder
Asked by: Chuka Umunna (Liberal Democrat - Streatham)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what research his Department has carried out into the proportion of UK businesses who are aware of Access to Work funding which can help people with a disability start work, stay in work, move into self-employment or start a business; and what research his Department has carried out into the proportion of employers who are aware that Access to Work funding can be used to help those with mental health conditions, learning difficulties or disabilities, and autism.
Answered by Lord Harper
The Department has not conducted research into the proportion of UK businesses who are aware of Access to Work funding or of the Access to Work Mental Health Service.
Asked by: Chuka Umunna (Liberal Democrat - Streatham)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what amount his Department and its agencies spent on research and development in each year since 2010-11; and what proportion such spending was of total departmental spending.
Answered by Esther McVey
Information on the total amount of expenditure by DWP on both research and development and the total departmental spending on services is publicly available on gov.uk as part of the Country and Regional Analysis statistical release. This information covers 2009-10 through to 2013-14 and can be found at the following web link:
https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/country-and-regional-analysis-2014
This data can be accessed by using either the ‘interactive tables’ or the ‘database’.
The CRA is compiled from departmental spending data submitted to HM Treasury on services, split by sub-functions. This data that each department provides, uses internationally-agreed definitions called the Classifications of the Functions of Government (UN COFOG). These functions include and separately identify expenditure on various Research and Development activities.
Asked by: Chuka Umunna (Liberal Democrat - Streatham)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what proportion of suppliers to his Department, its agencies and non-departmental public bodies paid subcontractors within 30 days in the last period for which figures are available.
Answered by Esther McVey
The information requested is not available.
The publication of revised Public Contracts Regulations 2015 on 25 Feb has resulted in new legislation, which means that;
Asked by: Chuka Umunna (Liberal Democrat - Streatham)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what requirements his Department, its agencies and non-departmental public bodies place on suppliers in respect of their payment terms to subcontractors as part of their standard terms and conditions.
Answered by Esther McVey
DWP includes a provision in its contract terms requiring payment to contractors within thirty days of receipt of a valid claim. Where the contractor enters into a sub-contract for the purpose of performing its obligations under the contract, it must ensure that a provision is included in the sub-contract which requires payment to be made by the contractor to the sub-contractor within a specified period not exceeding thirty days from the receipt of a valid claim.
The Public Contracts Regulations 2015 came into force on 26 February and contain a requirement for sub-contractors to include in any sub-contract which they in turn award, provisions having the same effect.
Asked by: Chuka Umunna (Liberal Democrat - Streatham)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what proportion of undisputed invoices his Department, its agencies and non-departmental public bodies paid within five days in the last period for which figures are available.
Answered by Esther McVey
The Department for Work and Pensions publishes monthly ‘Prompt Payment’ statistics, stating what proportion of undisputed invoices are paid within 30 days, (contractual), 10 days and 5 days figures here: https://www.gov.uk/government/organisations/department-for-work-pensions/about/procurement under the heading Prompt Payment to Suppliers.