Asked by: Dan Poulter (Conservative - Central Suffolk and North Ipswich)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what the (a) total, (b) annual and (c) monthly basic state pension payment has been in (a) Suffolk and (b) the Central Suffolk and North Ipswich constituency in each year from 2009-10.
Answered by Guy Opperman - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
The specific information requested on basic state pension payments is not readily available and to provide it would incur disproportionate cost.
The Department publishes quarterly State Pension caseload figures by grouped amount of benefit and Parliamentary Constituency. This data, available to November 2020, can be found at: https://stat-xplore.dwp.gov.uk/
Guidance on how to extract the information required can be found at: https://stat-xplore.dwp.gov.uk/webapi/online-help/Getting-Started.html
The Department also publishes annual benefit expenditure tables and the latest publication by parliamentary constituency is for 2019/20 and available at: Benefit expenditure and caseload tables 2020 - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)
Asked by: Dan Poulter (Conservative - Central Suffolk and North Ipswich)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, if she will make it her policy to end repeat welfare benefits assessments for people with (a) disabilities and (b) long-term health conditions.
Answered by Justin Tomlinson - Minister of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
We have introduced severe conditions guidance for Employment and Support Allowance/ Universal Credit, and ongoing awards with a light touch review at ten years for Personal Independence Payment claimants whose needs are unlikely to change. The forthcoming Health and Disability Green Paper will explore assessment reform and seek views on future changes.
Asked by: Dan Poulter (Conservative - Central Suffolk and North Ipswich)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps she is taking to ensure that people with experience of living with a disability are included in (a) her Department's planned consultation on disability benefits and (b) the cross-Government disability strategy.
Answered by Justin Tomlinson - Minister of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
The government is committed to ensuring that the Health and Disability Green Paper and the National Strategy for Disabled People reflects the issues that disabled people want us to address.
We have held a significant number of events across the country with people with lived experience of a disability and of our services and we are continuing this engagement throughout the Autumn to directly influence the Green Paper content and the National Strategy. This engagement will continue following the publication of the Green Paper.
To support the National Strategy for Disabled People the Cabinet Office Disability Unit are engaging with disabled people's organisations, including through the Regional Stakeholder Network and the recently established Disabled People's Organisations Forum, and are encouraging Government Departments to better engage with stakeholders on policies that matter to disabled people.
Asked by: Dan Poulter (Conservative - Central Suffolk and North Ipswich)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what plans her Department has to provide further support to food banks in response to a potential increase in unemployment as the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme ends.
Answered by Will Quince
The Department for Work and Pensions has no plans to provide support to food banks which are run by independent charitable organisations. However, the Department is committed to providing a strong welfare safety net of financial support for those that need it. In addition to the £5 billion increase in benefit rates from April 2020, we have injected more than £9 billion into the welfare system in response to Covid-19, increasing Universal Credit and Working Tax Credit by up to £1,040 for this financial year, benefiting over four million households. We have also increased Local Housing Allowance rates - putting an average of £600 into people’s pockets.
The Department also works in partnership with a variety of stakeholders as well as through Jobcentre Plus offices, to provide factual information on the range of benefits available, including Universal Credit (which is also an in-work benefit). When somebody has an enquiry or change in their circumstances, we actively encourage them to establish their eligibility and start an application as soon as it is right for them. No one has to wait five weeks for Universal Credit as new claim advances are available. This information is promoted through social media and advertising which directs people to the Understanding Universal Credit website for further information.
Asked by: Dan Poulter (Conservative - Central Suffolk and North Ipswich)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what recent assessment her Department has made of the extent of the use of food banks by NHS workers.
Answered by Will Quince
No such assessment had been made; the Government does not collect data on the number of food parcels distributed by food banks and there is no official data on food bank use in the UK.
Asked by: Dan Poulter (Conservative - Central Suffolk and North Ipswich)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what the level of youth unemployment was in (a) May 2010 and (b) May 2018.
Answered by Alok Sharma - COP26 President (Cabinet Office)
The level of unemployment for people aged 16-24 in the quarter March-May 2010 was 939,000. This contrasts with the quarter March-May 2018 where the corresponding figure was 524,000.
In the most recent data (June-August 2018) shows that youth unemployment is at a record low of 464,000 – down by over 50% (475,000) since the 2010 election.
These statistics are from the ONS Labour Force Survey and the data is collected quarterly, so the data for May alone is not held. As with all survey data, the statistics are subject to a degree of uncertainty.
Asked by: Dan Poulter (Conservative - Central Suffolk and North Ipswich)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what the level of unemployment was in (a) May 2010 and (b) May 2018.
Answered by Alok Sharma - COP26 President (Cabinet Office)
The level of unemployment in the quarter March-May 2010 was 2,508,000. This contrasts with the quarter March-May 2018 where the figure was 1,411,000 which was a decrease of over 40%.
These statistics are from the ONS Labour Force Survey and the data is collected quarterly, so the data for May alone is not held. As with all survey data, the statistics are subject to a degree of uncertainty.
Asked by: Dan Poulter (Conservative - Central Suffolk and North Ipswich)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what the level of youth unemployment was in Suffolk in (a) May 2010 and (b) May 2018.
Answered by Alok Sharma - COP26 President (Cabinet Office)
Labour market data at a local level is collected using the ONS Annual Population Survey. Statistics on youth unemployment for Suffolk are unavailable or unreliable due to small sample sizes. Youth unemployment in the East of England was 199,000 in the quarter March-May 2010, compared to 111,000 in the quarter March-May 2018. This was a decrease by over 40%.
Asked by: Dan Poulter (Conservative - Central Suffolk and North Ipswich)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what the level of unemployment was in Suffolk in (a) May 2010 and (b) May 2018.
Answered by Alok Sharma - COP26 President (Cabinet Office)
The level of unemployment in Suffolk for the year July 2009-June 2010 was 24,100, while for the year July 2017-June 2018 it was 13,600. This was a decrease of over 40%. The data is collated annually so data for May alone is not held.
The data is from the ONS: Annual Population Survey. The sample sizes for this data are very small and so there is uncertainty around the reliability and accuracy of the Suffolk county data.
Asked by: Dan Poulter (Conservative - Central Suffolk and North Ipswich)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many people have a work-place pension as a result of auto-enrolment in Central Suffolk and North Ipswich constituency.
Answered by Guy Opperman - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
In the Central Suffolk and North Ipswich constituency, since 2012, approximately 11,000 eligible jobholders have been automatically enrolled and 1,820 employers have met their duties.
Automatic enrolment is a great success story with more than 9.6 million workers enrolled into pension saving and over 1.2 million employers meeting their duties to date.