Asked by: David Winnick (Labour - Walsall North)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what procedure is in place for the Benefits Director in his Department to send written replies to letters from hon. Members writing on behalf of constituents.
Answered by Damian Hinds
Letters from MPs, raising concerns on behalf of their constituents, are allocated to the DWP Complaints and Correspondence Team to investigate and draft a response on behalf of DWP. DWP has procedures in place for handling correspondence from Ministers and MPs.
DWP has answered 4264 pieces of correspondence in relation to Benefits from MPs so far this calendar year, so the Benefits Director has authority to delegate cases to other DWP Directors to reply to hon. Members.
However, the Benefits Director will be aware of all types of enquiries coming into DWP.
Asked by: David Winnick (Labour - Walsall North)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether he plans to attend interviews with claimants conducted by his Department; and if he will make a statement.
Answered by Penny Mordaunt
The Secretary of State has attended several Jobcentreplus sites, where he has had the opportunity to observe and discuss a range of operational issues. He has not sat in on interviews with work coaches whilst they have conducted interviews with claimants, as standard practice is to seek agreement first with claimants for any third party to be in attendance. Future visits to Jobcentreplus are planned for the Secretary of State.
Asked by: David Winnick (Labour - Walsall North)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, (a) how many and (b) which food banks he has visited since taking office.
Answered by Damian Hinds
Details of Ministerial UK official visits and official meetings with external organisations and individuals are published quarterly and made available on the gov.uk website.
Asked by: David Winnick (Labour - Walsall North)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, for what reasons the hon. Member for Walsall North did not receive a written response to his letter of 25 May 2016 on a constituent's concern about personal independence payments, ref NM580509C/PIP 10531938/101; when a reply will be received to that letter and the follow-up letter of 3 October 2016; and for what reasons those delays occurred.
Answered by Penny Mordaunt
The Department for Work and Pensions apologises for any delay in responding. We have been investigating the issues raised in your Parliamentary Question but unfortunately there is no trace of your stated correspondence within the department. Therefore we are unable to respond at this time. The department requests that the honourable gentleman for Walsall North sends in duplicate copies, to enable the department to understand the content, investigate further and provide an appropriate response.
Asked by: David Winnick (Labour - Walsall North)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, when his Department plans to respond to the letter from the hon. Member for Walsall North of 1 August 2016 to the Benefits Director on pension credit related to a constituency case.
Answered by Lord Harrington of Watford
The Department for Work and Pensions apologises for the delay in responding. We have been investigating the issues raised by your constituent and a response has sent to the hon. Member for Walsall North, Mr David Winnick, today.
Asked by: David Winnick (Labour - Walsall North)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many children in the West Midlands region live in poverty.
Answered by Priti Patel - Shadow Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs
Estimates of the number and proportion of children in relative and absolute low-income are published in the National Statistics Households Below Average Income (HBAI) series.
Analysis by region is presented as three-year averages as single-year estimates are considered too volatile. Figures are presented in financial year estimates and are available up to 2013/14.
The latest publication is available at the link below: https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/households-below-average-income-19941995-to-20132014