Asked by: Jon Trickett (Labour - Normanton and Hemsworth)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what the pay ratio was between the highest paid member of staff in her Department and the lowest in (a) 2020, (b) 2021 and (c) 2022.
Answered by David Rutley
The pay ratio between the highest paid member of staff in DWP and the lowest in (a) 2020, (b) 2021 and (c) 2022 can be found at:
DWP annual report and accounts 2021 to 2022 - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)
2021-22 information is not yet available, however will be published in the Remuneration Report in the Annual Accounts in due course.
Asked by: Jon Trickett (Labour - Normanton and Hemsworth)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how much her Department spent on hospitality in (a) 2020, (b) 2021 and (c) 2022.
Answered by David Rutley
Total Hospitality Spend | 2019-20 | 121,796 |
2020-21 | 7,496 | |
2021-22 | 11,800 |
Source: Hyperion
Asked by: Jon Trickett (Labour - Normanton and Hemsworth)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what recent estimate she has made of the proportion of parents who are required to pay child maintenance but are failing to meet that requirement.
Answered by Guy Opperman
Child Maintenance Service (CMS) compliance statistics for Paying Parents are published quarterly and can be found in “Table 2: Compliance (Collect and Pay) by quarter” of the “CMS Paying Parents” section of Stat-Xplore here: 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
Asked by: Jon Trickett (Labour - Normanton and Hemsworth)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what recent estimate she has made of the proportion of parents in receipt of child maintenance who have (a) contacted the Child Maintenance Service about late payment and (b) successfully received full payment of arrears.
Answered by Guy Opperman
The information requested is not collated centrally and could only be provided at disproportionate cost to the Department.
Asked by: Jon Trickett (Labour - Normanton and Hemsworth)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what assessment she has made of the potential merits of auto-enrolling everyone in the UK on the universal credit system.
Answered by David Rutley
No assessment has been made to auto-enrol everyone in the UK on the Universal Credit system.
Asked by: Jon Trickett (Labour - Normanton and Hemsworth)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps she is taking to increase the value in real terms of social security income.
Answered by David Rutley
The increase in benefits is linked to the rate of inflation in September 2021 which is published in October. This is the latest figure that the Secretary of State can use to allow sufficient time for the required legislative and operational changes before new rates can be introduced at the start of the new financial year. Benefits and pensions will rise by 3.1% in April.
Asked by: Jon Trickett (Labour - Normanton and Hemsworth)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how much financial support her Department has provided to job seekers with dyspraxia in each year of the last ten years.
Answered by Chloe Smith
There is no data held or collected that could highlight specific financial support provided to job seekers with dyspraxia.
The Government is wholly committed to support those on low income and will continue to do so through such measures as increasing the living wage, and by spending over £110 billion on welfare support for people of working age in 2021/22. With a record £59bn being spent on benefits to support disabled people and people with health conditions.
A range of DWP initiatives are supporting disabled people to prepare for, to start, stay and succeed in work. These include the Work and Health Programme, the Intensive Personalised Employment Support programme, Access to Work, Disability Confident and support in partnership with the health system, including Employment Advice in NHS Improving Access to Psychological Therapy services.
Asked by: Jon Trickett (Labour - Normanton and Hemsworth)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what assessment her Department has made the potential merits of (a) providing additional financial support to pensioners during winter 2021-22 and (b) assessing the impact of additional support on the financial wellbeing of pensioners in (a) Hemsworth constituency and (b) Wakefield local authority.
Answered by Guy Opperman
The State Pension is the foundation of support for older people. Under this Government, the full yearly amount of the basic State Pension is now over £2,050 higher in cash terms than in 2010.
Around 1.4 million eligible pensioners across Great Britain receive some £5 billion in Pension Credit which tops up their retirement income and is a passport to other financial help such as support with housing costs, council tax, heating bills and a free TV licence for those over 75.
We recognise that some people may still require extra support over the winter, which is why vulnerable households across the country can now access an additional £500 million support fund to help them with essentials. The Household Support Fund will provide £421 million to help vulnerable people in England with the cost of food, utilities and wider essentials. Up to 50% of the Fund is available for councils to spend on households without children, including those of State Pension age. Barnsley local authority has been allocated £2,351,263.96. The Barnett Formula will apply in the usual way, with the devolved administrations receiving almost £80 million.
In addition, Winter Fuel Payments will continue to be payable to customers of State Pension age. We will pay £200 to households with a customer aged between 66 and 79 and £300 to a household with someone aged 80 or over. We pay over 11m Winter Fuel Payments annually at a cost of £2bn which is a significant contribution to winter fuel bills.
Cold Weather Payments help vulnerable people in receipt of certain income-related benefits to meet additional heating costs, during periods of unseasonably cold weather between 1 November and 31 March. This includes older people in receipt of Pension Credit. Those eligible will continue to automatically receive £25 when the average temperature has been recorded as, or is forecast to be, 0°C or below over seven consecutive days.
The Warm Home Discount Scheme provides those in receipt of Pension Credit guarantee credit a discount of £140 on their energy bill providing their supplier is part of the scheme.
Furthermore, the Government continues to protect benefits for older people including free eye tests, NHS prescriptions and bus passes.
No such assessments have been made for Hemsworth constituency or Wakefield local authority. However, the latest statistics show that in the three years to 19/20, absolute poverty for pensioners in Yorkshire and the Humber, after housing costs, had reduced significantly.