Speech in Commons Chamber - Fri 02 Dec 2016
Benefit Claimants Sanctions (Required Assessment) Bill
"My hon. and learned Friend may remember that certain cases from unemployment benefits case law used to be in the jobseeker’s allowance regulations. One reason why they were removed in 2012 was to prevent them from being interpreted as a definitive list of cases. There are numerous scenarios and individual …..."Kevin Foster - View Speech
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Speech in Commons Chamber - Fri 02 Dec 2016
Benefit Claimants Sanctions (Required Assessment) Bill
"My hon. Friend is generous in giving way. Does she agree that we have already seen the number of JSA sanctions halved since March last year and that the Government are dealing with ongoing reviews? Most of the arguments advanced so far in favour of the Bill have been about …..."Kevin Foster - View Speech
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Speech in Commons Chamber - Wed 16 Nov 2016
Autumn Statement Distributional Analysis, Universal Credit and ESA
"The shadow Chancellor mentioned what happened three years ago. He will probably remember, as I do, that the hon. Member for Leeds West (Rachel Reeves), who was the Labour party’s spokesman at the time, pledged that Labour would be “tougher than the Tories” on benefits.
Bringing things more up to …..."Kevin Foster - View Speech
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Written Question
Monday 12th September 2016
Asked by:
Kevin Foster (Conservative - Torbay)
Question
to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether there is provision to ensure that both parents in a separated couple receive financial assistance for their children when joint custody has been approved.
Answered by Damian Hinds
Where a separated couple have joint custody for their children, only one of them will receive financial assistance for those children through Universal Credit. The separated couple may jointly nominate which of them that will be. The parent who receives financial support is the one whom the child normally lives with, but if the child normally lives with both, then it is the parent who has main responsibility for the child. This is to be decided by the parents, or failing that, the Secretary of State if the parents cannot agree or if the Secretary of State does not think that the nomination accurately reflects the arrangement. HM Revenue & Customs administer Child Tax Credit and Child Benefit and the rules similarly require that payment is directed towards the person who is mainly responsible for the child, so that at any one time, only one person can be entitled to receive payments in respect of a particular child.
Written Question
Monday 12th September 2016
Asked by:
Kevin Foster (Conservative - Torbay)
Question
to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what forms of medical evidence his Department accepts for personal independence payments claims from a person suffering from (a) myalgic encephalopathy and (b) other illnesses with variable symptoms that permit part-time work.
Answered by Penny Mordaunt
Personal Independence Payment (PIP) is a non-means-tested, non-taxable cash benefit that is paid regardless of the employment status of the claimant. It has been designed to take full account of fluctuating and variable conditions.
The Department encourages claimants to provide as much relevant evidence as necessary to support their claim. The “How your disability affects you” form and accompanying guidance sets out the range of information that can help the Department reach a decision. The guidance for Health Professionals also sets out sources of further evidence which could help inform their advice to the Department (Section 2.3 Further Evidence); this includes family members, carers or anyone else who supports them.
This guidance can be accessed on the gov.uk website:
https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/547146/pip-assessment-guide.pdf
Speech in Commons Chamber - Mon 09 May 2016
Oral Answers to Questions
"The Minister will be aware of the recent Public Accounts Committee report on the process of contracting out disability assessments. Does he agree that the recommendation to publish regular contractor performance data is one way of ensuring that assessments are professional and effective?..."Kevin Foster - View Speech
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Speech in Commons Chamber - Mon 21 Mar 2016
Welfare
"On Saturday morning, I had a remarkably well-timed visit to the Multiple Sclerosis Society’s south Devon branch to welcome it to Torquay and to speak to a number of its members, and I was given quite a lot of feedback. Will my right hon. Friend tell the House how he …..."Kevin Foster - View Speech
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Speech in Commons Chamber - Mon 14 Mar 2016
Oral Answers to Questions
"Given the rhetoric in the recent Opposition day debate about the state pension age changes, does the Minister share my surprise that the six options put forward by the shadow Secretary of State would not make much difference at all to many women born in the 1950s? Does he agree …..."Kevin Foster - View Speech
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Speech in Commons Chamber - Wed 02 Mar 2016
State Pension Age
"As someone who accepted the rise in his own pension age to 68 in 2007 on the basis of the evidence presented by the Labour party, it has been disappointing to hear the tenor of the Opposition’s comments today. Will the Secretary of State reassure me that the review will …..."Kevin Foster - View Speech
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Speech in Commons Chamber - Tue 23 Feb 2016
Welfare Reform and Work Bill
"It is interesting to hear my hon. Friend’s points. Does he agree that under current measures the only way completely to eliminate relative poverty would be to collapse the economy completely and make absolutely everyone poor?..."Kevin Foster - View Speech
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