Asked by: Julian Knight (Independent - Solihull)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps they are taking to reduce backlogs of Member correspondence in their office.
Answered by Mims Davies - Shadow Minister (Women)
The Department takes its quality of correspondence very seriously and keeps this under constant review.
The Cabinet Office publishes statistics on Departmental performance which are published on the gov.uk website and can be viewed here.
Asked by: Julian Knight (Independent - Solihull)
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 adequacy of the average time taken by his Department to respond to freedom of information requests in the 2022-23 financial year.
Answered by Mims Davies - Shadow Minister (Women)
The Department takes its compliance with the Freedom of Information Act and Cabinet Office Code of Practice very seriously and keeps its approach under constant review.
Official National Statistics on FOI performance for all central government departments and other monitored bodies can be found on Gov.UK here.
The latest official DWP FOI performance statistics available cover Quarter 1 2023 (January – March) and show that the DWP responded to 98% of all FOIs requests within the statutory 20 working day limit.
For 2022 our annual statistics show that DWP managed to respond to 98% of FOI requests within the statutory 20 working day limit.
The Department’s response times are above the Information Commissioners Office (ICO) 90% compliance threshold.
Asked by: Julian Knight (Independent - Solihull)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps their Department is taking to improve the response time to FOI requests.
Answered by Mims Davies - Shadow Minister (Women)
The Department takes its compliance with the Freedom of Information Act and Cabinet Office Code of Practice very seriously and keeps its approach under constant review.
Official National Statistics on FOI performance for all central government departments and other monitored bodies can be found on Gov.UK here.
The latest official DWP FOI performance statistics available cover Quarter 1 2023 (January – March) and show that the DWP responded to 98% of all FOIs requests within the statutory 20 working day limit.
For 2022 our annual statistics show that DWP managed to respond to 98% of FOI requests within the statutory 20 working day limit.
The Department’s response times are above the Information Commissioners Office (ICO) 90% compliance threshold.
Asked by: Julian Knight (Independent - Solihull)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what has been the average time taken to respond to public inquiries by his Department in each of the last five years; and whether he plans to introduce measures to improve this.
Answered by Mims Davies - Shadow Minister (Women)
The Department does not keep this information centrally and to provide it would incur disproportionate costs.
Asked by: Julian Knight (Independent - Solihull)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what their Departments policy is on Civil Servants in their Department working from home and receiving the London Weighting Allowance.
Answered by Mims Davies - Shadow Minister (Women)
DWP does not have a London Weighting Allowance. DWP has four pay zones and correspondence pay scales: National, Inner London, Outer London and Special Location Pay Zones.
DWP has a hybrid working policy where employees are required to spend a minimum of 40% of their time in the office over a four-week period. In DWP, contractual home working is allowed only as a reasonable adjustment under the Equality Act 2010 for a disabled colleague or following a successful application under the Flexible Working Regulations.
Flexible working is also a fundamental element of the Civil Service employment offer which is consistent with other sectors. Flexible working arrangements enable departments to make efficient use of resources, and the offer also ensures the Civil Service can attract and retain a diversity of talent.
For employees who are either contractual homeworkers or hybrid workers, their pay is determined by either their designated office or their contracted office, respectively. Contractual homeworkers still have a designated office for pay purposes. Hybrid workers are still contractually based in an office. They will receive pay according to where their particular office falls in the above zones.
Asked by: Julian Knight (Independent - Solihull)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether he is taking steps to ensure that staff in his Department who are under investigation for alleged misconduct are not named before those allegations are proven.
Answered by Mims Davies - Shadow Minister (Women)
All cases of misconduct must be dealt with promptly. DWP’s discipline policy follows the wider Civil Service model policy and is explicit that anyone involved in a discipline case must maintain confidentiality throughout the investigation process and after the matter has concluded. All information relating to a case is confidential and must only be seen by the relevant people as required by the discipline process.
The Government Internal Audit Agency’s Counter Fraud & Investigation (CF&I) team investigates allegations of serious offending by DWP staff, which may result in warnings, dismissal, or criminal proceedings. CF&I also investigates allegations of fraud and irregularities by the department’s contractors.
Access to investigation records is limited to CF&I staff with a business need and all staff must adhere to the GIAA Code of Conduct and data protection laws. Should the investigation progress to interview, individuals (including witnesses) are advised that all information relating to the investigation and any subsequent disciplinary process is confidential. Those involved in an investigation should not discuss or share information about the case except in specified circumstances.
Confidentiality is crucial and anyone not complying with this requirement or discussing a case without authorisation may themselves to subject to disciplinary action.
An independent Decision Maker in DWP receives a final investigation report, which should remain confidential and only be shared with relevant managers and individuals. Personal data of third parties is protected by redacting it to prevent identification.
Asked by: Julian Knight (Independent - Solihull)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what assessment her Department has made of the effectiveness and targeting of Cold Weather Payments.
Answered by Laura Trott - Shadow Secretary of State for Education
Cold Weather Payments are targeted at those most vulnerable to the cold including, older people in receipt of Pension Credit, disabled adults and children, and families with children under five who receive an income-related benefit.
The Met Office review the Cold Weather Payment scheme each year to assess whether the linkages between postcode areas and weather stations remain the best available. The Department continues to monitor Cold Weather Payment policies and procedures to review the scheme's effectiveness.
Asked by: Julian Knight (Independent - Solihull)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, with reference to Government grants statistics 2020 to 2021, published on 31 March 2022, what assessment his Department has made of the effectiveness of the Household Support Fund Grant.
Answered by Mims Davies - Shadow Minister (Women)
DWP requires that Local Authorities provide Management Information (MI) returns to the Department which demonstrate that they have met our guidance in delivering the scheme. Local Authorities are paid in arrears on the satisfactory completion of these MI returns.
Management Information for HSF1 can be found here.
Management Information for HSF2 can be found here.
Local Authorities have been asked in the scheme guidance to support households in the most need, and in particular, those who may not be eligible for the other support government has recently made available. Local Authorities have the local ties and knowledge, making them best placed to identify and help those most in need. County Councils are expected to work together with District Councils to provide support and to ensure the funding meets its objectives by identifying those most in need.
The Secretary of State confirmed at the Work and Pensions Select Committee on 29 March 2023 that there would be an evaluation of HSF4 to understand the overall effectiveness of the scheme and how funding was spent.
Asked by: Julian Knight (Independent - Solihull)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, with reference to Government grants statistics 2020 to 2021, published on 31 March 2022, what assessment his Department has made of the effectiveness of the Kickstart scheme.
Answered by Mims Davies - Shadow Minister (Women)
The Kickstart evaluation will continue to assess the longer-term outcomes for Kickstart participants after they have completed their six-month jobs. The commissioned process evaluation concluded in Spring 2023. We aim to publish the findings shortly.
Asked by: Julian Knight (Independent - Solihull)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, with reference to Government grants statistics 2020 to 2021, published 31 March 2022, what assessment his Department has made of the effectiveness of the Covid Local Support Grant.
Answered by Mims Davies - Shadow Minister (Women)
The £200million COVID Local Support Grant Scheme was made available from 17 April to 30 September 2021 to support those most in need across England with the cost of food, energy (heating, cooking, lighting), water bills (including sewerage) and other essentials.
The scheme was administered as a £40million grant covering the period 17 April to 20 June and a further grant of £160million covering the period 21 June to 30 September.
DWP required that Local Authorities provide Management Information (MI) returns to the Department which demonstrate that they have met our guidance in delivering the scheme. Local Authorities were paid in arrears on the satisfactory completion of these MI returns.
Management Information for the COVID Local Support Grant can be found here.