Asked by: Jerome Mayhew (Conservative - Broadland and Fakenham)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what assessment he has made of trends in the level of unemployment.
Answered by Pat McFadden - Secretary of State for Work and Pensions
The number of economically active people - which is people either in work or actively looking for work - has increased and stands at a record high.
Even if it takes them a little while to find a job, we want to support people back into the labour market and back into jobs. And through our Get Britain Working strategy, we are determined to give them the support they need.
Asked by: Jerome Mayhew (Conservative - Broadland and Fakenham)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps she is taking to reduce waiting times for resolutions to missed child maintenance payments.
Answered by Andrew Western - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Work and Pensions)
The Child Maintenance Service (CMS) will do everything it can to address the nonpayment of child maintenance and reduce waiting times for missed payments. We use our enforcement powers fairly and quickly to get cases back into payment.
These powers include deductions from earnings orders, removal of driving licenses, disqualification from holding a passport, and committal to prison. The CMS has also introduced powers to deduct child maintenance directly from a wider range of bank accounts and can apply for a liability order. A liability order legally recognizes the debt and is required before the CMS can take certain enforcement actions against non-compliant parents to enforce those arrears.
Following the Child Support (Enforcement) Act 2023 receiving royal assent in July 2023, secondary legislation is required to bring into force existing powers that allow the CMS to make an administrative liability order against a person who has failed to pay child maintenance and is in arrears.
The administrative liability order will replace the current requirement for the CMS to apply to the court for a liability order, which can take up to 22 weeks. Introducing a simpler administrative process will enable the CMS to take faster action against parents who actively avoid their responsibilities and will get money to children more quickly. We expect the new liability order process to take around six to eight weeks, allowing for delays.
Asked by: Jerome Mayhew (Conservative - Broadland and Fakenham)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps his Department is taking to expand the support available through Jobcentres in Broadland constituency.
Answered by Jo Churchill
The local Jobcentre team are collaborating with a range of partners to support people into work and help employers fill vacancies. In addition to hosting jobs fairs and delivering sector-based work academy programmes (SWAPs), they are working with Breckland, Kings Lynn & West Norfolk and North Norfolk District Councils, Duke of Lancaster Academy and Fakenham Academy to provide an employment and skills offer to help meet the recruitment needs of local employers.
Asked by: Jerome Mayhew (Conservative - Broadland and Fakenham)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what the total rate of (a) employment and (b) unemployment was of people aged 16 to 64 between February and April 2010.
Answered by Jo Churchill
The 16-64 UK employment rate was 70.2% between February and April 2010. The 16-64 UK unemployment rate between February and April 2010 was 8.1%.
Employment and unemployment data is published and available at: https://www.ons.gov.uk/employmentandlabourmarket/peopleinwork/employmentandemployeetypes/datasets/summaryoflabourmarketstatistics