Asked by: Mark Hendrick (Labour (Co-op) - Preston)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what venues were used for assessments for (a) employment and support allowance and (b) personal independence payments in the North West of England in 2016; and what the cost was of hiring each such venue.
Answered by Penny Mordaunt - Lord President of the Council and Leader of the House of Commons
Throughout 2016, the following 18 venues were used for the delivery of Employment and Support Allowance assessments in the North West. Barrow, Birkenhead, Blackpool, Bootle, Carlisle, Chester, Crewe, Lancaster, Mann Island, St Helens, Warrington, Workington, Bolton, Burnley, Manchester, Preston, Stockport, Wigan.
Throughout 2016, the following 29 venues were used for the delivery of Personal Independence Payments (PIP) assessments in the North West. Wigan, Carlisle, Stockport, Manchester Brewery Yard, Barrow, Liverpool, Blackpool, Blackburn, Crewe, Warrington, Birkenhead, Preston Marshall House, Preston GreenbankCentre, Ormskirk, Lancaster, Manchester The Lilac Centre, Rochdale, Bolton, Prescot Eccleston House, Birkenhead, Chester, Childwall, Warrington, Anfield, Carlisle, PrescotPhysio First, Stockport, Runcorn, Burnley
Under the Health and Disability Assessment Service contract the DWP provides the estate and pays an all-inclusive unitary price for the facility management services provided. Rental costs are not separately identified from other services delivered.
Under the PIP contract the supplier sources the estate and costs are included in the contract price.
Asked by: Mark Hendrick (Labour (Co-op) - Preston)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many visits ministers of his Department have made to (a) food banks, (b) summer holiday lunch clubs and (c) credit unions since 1 June 2017; and if he will publish the dates and locations of those visits.
Answered by Damian Hinds - Minister of State (Education)
The following Ministers have visited a food bank since their appointment.
The Secretary of State for Work and Pensions visited Dacorum food bank on 7 July 2017.
The Minister of State for Employment visited Alton food bank on 21 July 2017.
The Minister of State for Disabled People, Health & Work, visited Paulsgrove School Holiday Lunch Club on 23 August 2017. She met with the Trussell Trust on 10 July 2017 at DWP’s London HQ and with Helping Hands Homelessness Charity on 1 September 2017 in Portsmouth.
The Parliamentary Under Secretary of State for Pensions and Financial Inclusion visited West Northumberland food bank on 31 August 2017, East London Credit Union on 24 July 2017 in Walthamstow. He also visited Tynedale Community Bank Drop In Centre (a Credit Union) at Hexham Abbey.
Asked by: Mark Hendrick (Labour (Co-op) - Preston)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, which credit unions have received funding under the Credit Union Expansion Project; and how much each such union has received.
Answered by Lord Harrington of Watford
I can confirm that DWP has contracted directly with the Association of British Credit Unions Limited (ABCUL) for the delivery of the Credit Union Expansion Project (CUEP). ABCUL’s subsidiary Cornerstone Mutual Services (CMS) contracts individually with each Credit Union agreeing specific financial terms and incentives. DWP does not hold statistics on funds that have been allocated to each Credit Union as this forms part of the commercial agreement between CMS and the Credit Unions. It should be noted that the bulk of the CUEP funding has been invested in the development of a shared infrastructure for Credit Unions to modernise their business models and become more sustainable.
Asked by: Mark Hendrick (Labour (Co-op) - Preston)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what plans he has to extend bereavement payment to the parents or guardians of children who have died.
Answered by Caroline Nokes
We have no current plans to extend Bereavement Payments to the parents or guardians of children who have died. Bereavement Payments are lump sum payments made to those whose spouse or civil partner has died in cases where the deceased has paid sufficient National Insurance contributions in order to qualify. Bereavement Payments are one of the bereavement benefits that will be replaced by the new Bereavement Support Payment for deaths occurring on or after 6 April 2017
Asked by: Mark Hendrick (Labour (Co-op) - Preston)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how much (a) his Department's Debt Management team recovered in overpaid benefits from the estates of people who died in 2015 and (b) in overpaid benefits paid to people who had died was written off in 2015.
Answered by Caroline Nokes
The value of recovery from estates of people who had died in 2015 is £25,490,422 as calculated at 13 December 2016.
The value written off in 2015, where the customer’s date of death fell in 2015, is £16,685,094.
Asked by: Mark Hendrick (Labour (Co-op) - Preston)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many people who have had their (a) jobseeker's allowance or (b) employment and support allowance payments sanctioned have received hardship payments in Preston constituency since 2015.
Answered by Damian Hinds - Minister of State (Education)
The information requested is not readily available and could only be provided at disproportionate cost.
Asked by: Mark Hendrick (Labour (Co-op) - Preston)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many people who have had their universal credit payment sanctioned received hardship payments in Preston constituency in each month from 1 January to 31 October 2016.
Answered by Damian Hinds - Minister of State (Education)
This information is not currently available. We are considering our strategy for future publications of hardship statistics alongside our routine prioritisation of our statistical work programme.
We have information available about our strategy for the release of Universal Credit statistics here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/universal-credit-statistics-background-information/universal-credit-statistics-background-information
The sanctions publication strategy which details the approach being taken by DWP statisticians to improve the sanctions statistics being developed, which include the addition of Universal Credit sanction statistics, can be found here:
https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/benefit-sanction-statistics-publication-strategy
Asked by: Mark Hendrick (Labour (Co-op) - Preston)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many pregnant women in each constituency in Lancashire have been sanctioned for failing to attend back to work interviews for (a) universal credit and (b) employment and support allowance, in each of the last two years.
Answered by Damian Hinds - Minister of State (Education)
The information requested is not available.
Asked by: Mark Hendrick (Labour (Co-op) - Preston)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many people claiming (a) jobseeker's allowance, (b) employment and support allowance and (c) universal credit had their benefit sanctioned in the most recent period for which figures are available.
Answered by Damian Hinds - Minister of State (Education)
The information requested, up to 31 March 2016, on the number of sanction referrals and adverse sanction decisions, in respect of Employment and Support Allowance (ESA) and Jobseeker’s Allowance (JSA), is published and available 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---SuperWEB2.html
The information requested on Universal Credit sanctions is not currently available. The Department updated its strategy for releasing official statistics on Universal Credit (UC) in February 2016. As outlined in the strategy, officials are currently assessing the data for UC and will only release information once the necessary quality assurance work has taken place. These statistics will be published in accordance with the relevant protocols in the Code of Practice for official statistics.
Universal Credit official statistics and the Departments release strategy can be found at:
https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/universal-credit-statistics
Asked by: Mark Hendrick (Labour (Co-op) - Preston)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many full-time equivalent staff are employed at the carers allowance building at Palatine House, Preston; and what his Department's plans are for changes in that number up to May 2020.
Answered by Penny Mordaunt - Lord President of the Council and Leader of the House of Commons
The number of full time equivalent staff at Palatine House in Preston is 234.12, of which 140.32 work in the Carers Allowance Unit. The headcount number for the Carers Allowance Unit for future years will be agreed as part of the Department’s routine annual resource allocation process.