Asked by: Philip Boswell (Scottish National Party - Coatbridge, Chryston and Bellshill)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment he has made of the likely effect of the rise in insurance premium tax on numbers of uninsured road users.
Answered by Jane Ellison
Insurance Premium Tax (IPT) will increase from 10% to 12% from June 2017. IPT is a tax on insurers and it is up to them whether they pass on any increased costs.
The Government has not seen any evidence to suggest that previous changes to IPT have led to increases in the number of uninsured vehicles. The estimated number of uninsured vehicles in the UK has fallen from 2 million in 2005 to 1 million today.
Asked by: Philip Boswell (Scottish National Party - Coatbridge, Chryston and Bellshill)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, pursuant to the Answer of 19 October 2016 to Question 47959, whether his Department plans to regulate the way public money is spent by private companies who are contracted by the Government with respect to members of staff being paid financial bonuses in addition to a salary.
Answered by Caroline Nokes
There are currently no plans for the Department to prescribe providers with criteria on how they should pay salary or bonuses to their staff. That is purely a commercial decision for the assessment providers. All health assessment contracts with DWP are awarded on an overall value for money basis.
Asked by: Philip Boswell (Scottish National Party - Coatbridge, Chryston and Bellshill)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many mandatory reconsiderations for personal independence payment claims have been (a) submitted and (b) successful in each year from April 2013 to October 2016.
Answered by Penny Mordaunt - Lord President of the Council and Leader of the House of Commons
These figures are published online and the latest version can be found at https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/personal-independence-payment-april-2013-to-july-2016. Table 7A in “Personal Independence Payment: Official Statistics to July 2016” gives the number of requests for a reconsideration submitted; Table 7B includes the number where the original decision was changed.
These figures run until July 2016. However, they are published on a regular basis and statistics for August to October will become available in due course.
Asked by: Philip Boswell (Scottish National Party - Coatbridge, Chryston and Bellshill)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many personal independence payment decisions were appealed after the mandatory reconsideration stage between April 2015 and October 2016; and how many such decisions have been accepted.
Answered by Oliver Heald
Information about the number and outcomes of Social Security and Child Support appeals by benefit type, including Personal Independence Payment, is published in the Tribunal and Gender Recognition Certificate Statistics Quarterly on gov.uk
Asked by: Philip Boswell (Scottish National Party - Coatbridge, Chryston and Bellshill)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many personal independence payment applications were received between April 2015 and October 2016.
Answered by Penny Mordaunt - Lord President of the Council and Leader of the House of Commons
Data on the number of Personal Independence Payment (PIP) claims received, on a monthly basis since PIP was introduced in April 2013, is regularly published and is available using Stat-Xplore: www.stat-xplore.dwp.gov.uk. The latest available data is to the end of July 2016. The PIP statistics will next be updated on 14 December with data to the end of October 2016.
Asked by: Philip Boswell (Scottish National Party - Coatbridge, Chryston and Bellshill)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what the average time taken has been for a decision to be made on a (a) personal independence payment (PIP) and (b) mandatory reconsideration for PIP from the date his Department receives the relevant documentation from the claimant in each year from the introduction of that process.
Answered by Penny Mordaunt - Lord President of the Council and Leader of the House of Commons
Average clearance times for Personal Independence Payments are published online on a quarterly basis. The latest version can be found at
https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/personal-independence-payment-april-2013-to-july-2016.
Table 5A of “Personal Independence Payment: Official Statistics to July 2016” gives clearance times for Normal Rules claims broken down by month and by the stage of the claims process.
The average time taken for a Mandatory Reconsideration is not available and can only be obtained at disproportionate cost.
Asked by: Philip Boswell (Scottish National Party - Coatbridge, Chryston and Bellshill)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what discussions he has had with the Financial Conduct Authority on Wells Fargo bank.
Answered by Simon Kirby
Treasury Ministers and officials meet regularly with the Financial Conduct Authority to discuss relevant regulatory issues.
As was the case with previous Administrations, it is not the Treasury's practice to provide details of all such discussions.
Asked by: Philip Boswell (Scottish National Party - Coatbridge, Chryston and Bellshill)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether he has met representatives of Wells Fargo bank to discuss the selling of financial products by that bank.
Answered by Simon Kirby
The Chancellor has not met with representatives of Wells Fargo bank.
Asked by: Philip Boswell (Scottish National Party - Coatbridge, Chryston and Bellshill)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what discussions he has had with the Financial Conduct Authority on the reported £16 billion set aside by Lloyds Banking Group for the mis-selling of payment protection insurance.
Answered by Simon Kirby
Treasury Ministers and officials meet regularly with the Financial Conduct Authority to discuss relevant regulatory issues.
As was the case with previous Administrations, it is not the Treasury's practice to provide details of all such discussions.
Asked by: Philip Boswell (Scottish National Party - Coatbridge, Chryston and Bellshill)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many personal independence payment applications have been accepted at the first stage, without submission of a mandatory reconsideration or appeal, between April 2015 and October 2016.
Answered by Penny Mordaunt - Lord President of the Council and Leader of the House of Commons
Breakdowns of Personal Independence Payment (PIP) reassessment claims by type of clearance (i.e. whether the claim was awarded, disallowed or withdrawn), at the point of initial decision, are published online at https://stat-xplore.dwp.gov.uk. This includes data on both the total number of PIP awards made and on such awards as a percentage of overall claims. It also includes breakdowns by month and by Local Authority.
These statistics run until July 2016. Figures are published on a regular basis and statistics for August to October will be available in due course.