Asked by: Kirstene Hair (Conservative - Angus)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many people in Angus receive universal credit.
Answered by Alok Sharma - COP26 President (Cabinet Office)
As of May 2019 at a Local Authority level there were 4,400 people on UC (at the constituency level it is 3,835)
The latest available information on the number of people on Universal Credit by parliamentary constituency and local authority is published and can be found at:
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: Kirstene Hair (Conservative - Angus)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what recent improvements her Department has made to the online system for universal credit applications.
Answered by Alok Sharma - COP26 President (Cabinet Office)
We are building an agile, adaptable system, fit for the 21st century, to help people to transform their lives through work - while supporting those who cannot work and are most in need.
Using feedback from stakeholders and claimants we have had more than 100 releases to the system since it was introduced, all resulting in improvements to the claimant’s experience.
Most recently these include:
Asked by: Kirstene Hair (Conservative - Angus)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
What recent assessment she has made of trends in long-term unemployment.
Answered by Alok Sharma - COP26 President (Cabinet Office)
The number of long term unemployed (over 12 months) stood at 358,000 in the 3 months to March 2018, down by nearly 30,000 in the past year. It has fallen by 430,000 since 2010, a decrease of 54.5%.
Asked by: Kirstene Hair (Conservative - Angus)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what recent estimate his Department has made of the number of residents who are in receipt of universal credit in Angus constituency .
Answered by Damian Hinds - Minister of State (Education)
The available information on households in receipt of Universal Credit, by parliamentary constituency, is published and can be found at:
https://stat-xplore.dwp.gov.uk/.
Guidance on how to extract the information required can be found at:
https://sw.stat-xplore.dwp.gov.uk/webapi/online-help/Getting-Started.html
Asked by: Kirstene Hair (Conservative - Angus)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what plans the Government has to tackle youth unemployment in Angus constituency.
Answered by Damian Hinds - Minister of State (Education)
The number of young unemployed claimants is continuing to fall. The proportion of young people (aged 16-24) who are unemployed and not in full time education is at a new record low of 4.8% and the youth claimant count in Angus has fallen by 40% since 2010.
As planned, we have also introduced the Youth Obligation to provide intensive support for 18-21 year olds making a new claim to Universal Credit full service from April 2017. We are rolling out the Youth Obligation in line with the roll-out schedule for Universal Credit full service across Scotland, therefore, young claimants in Angus will start receiving more intensive support from the Youth Obligation from November 2017.
Asked by: Kirstene Hair (Conservative - Angus)
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 prevent financial disbenefit for plumbers affected by section 75 of the Pensions Act 1995; and if he will make a statement.
Answered by Guy Opperman - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
DWP recognises the difficulties multi employer schemes such as the Plumbers have with the current Employer Debt legislation. The recent Green Paper “Security and Sustainability in Defined Benefit pension schemes” explores these issues and during the consultation period officials have engaged with a range of stakeholders to explore potential legislative changes which could help multi employer schemes. We plan to respond on this issue in a White Paper later this winter.