Asked by: Philip Davies (Conservative - Shipley)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, with reference to the Written Statement of 15 December 2020, HCWS652, on Unconscious bias training, what steps she has taken to phase out unconscious bias training in her Department.
Answered by Guy Opperman - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
Standalone unconscious bias training ceased within the Department at the end of December 2020.
Asked by: Philip Davies (Conservative - Shipley)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what estimate she has made of the proportion of her Department’s spending that was (a) fraud and (b) error in each of the last five years.
Answered by Will Quince
DWP takes fraud and error very seriously. Estimates of fraud and error levels in the benefit system in Great Britain in the financial years from 2005/2006 to 2020/2021 are available in the link below.
The Department for Work and Pensions is increasingly moving from detecting fraud and error to actively preventing it from happening and has optimised its digital capability and organisational design to enable this. The recent money secured via the Spring Budget will enable the Department to expand the Integrated Risk and Intelligence Service (IRIS), develop pre-payment ‘risking’ techniques (Transaction Risking) and maintain the new Enhanced Checking Service, who intervene on high risk claims before they get in to payment.
Where fraud does enter the benefit system, there are dedicated teams to investigate this. The Department is committed to the use of appropriate penalties and the recovery of monies from the perpetrators, where fraud is established. To support this work, DWP’s Counter Fraud, Compliance and Debt team is undertaking an ambitious recruitment programme which will significantly further expand our counter-fraud capacity.
We will continue to work with other Government departments and law enforcement agencies nationally and across borders to ensure appropriate intelligence and resources are shared, enabling the totality of any criminality to be identified and investigated.
Asked by: Philip Davies (Conservative - Shipley)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps she is taking to eliminate (a) fraud and (b) error from the spending in her Department.
Answered by Will Quince
DWP takes fraud and error very seriously. Estimates of fraud and error levels in the benefit system in Great Britain in the financial years from 2005/2006 to 2020/2021 are available in the link below.
The Department for Work and Pensions is increasingly moving from detecting fraud and error to actively preventing it from happening and has optimised its digital capability and organisational design to enable this. The recent money secured via the Spring Budget will enable the Department to expand the Integrated Risk and Intelligence Service (IRIS), develop pre-payment ‘risking’ techniques (Transaction Risking) and maintain the new Enhanced Checking Service, who intervene on high risk claims before they get in to payment.
Where fraud does enter the benefit system, there are dedicated teams to investigate this. The Department is committed to the use of appropriate penalties and the recovery of monies from the perpetrators, where fraud is established. To support this work, DWP’s Counter Fraud, Compliance and Debt team is undertaking an ambitious recruitment programme which will significantly further expand our counter-fraud capacity.
We will continue to work with other Government departments and law enforcement agencies nationally and across borders to ensure appropriate intelligence and resources are shared, enabling the totality of any criminality to be identified and investigated.
Asked by: Philip Davies (Conservative - Shipley)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what acceptable level of (a) fraud and (b) error her Department has set for its expenditure.
Answered by Will Quince
DWP takes fraud and error very seriously. Estimates of fraud and error levels in the benefit system in Great Britain in the financial years from 2005/2006 to 2020/2021 are available in the link below.
The Department for Work and Pensions is increasingly moving from detecting fraud and error to actively preventing it from happening and has optimised its digital capability and organisational design to enable this. The recent money secured via the Spring Budget will enable the Department to expand the Integrated Risk and Intelligence Service (IRIS), develop pre-payment ‘risking’ techniques (Transaction Risking) and maintain the new Enhanced Checking Service, who intervene on high risk claims before they get in to payment.
Where fraud does enter the benefit system, there are dedicated teams to investigate this. The Department is committed to the use of appropriate penalties and the recovery of monies from the perpetrators, where fraud is established. To support this work, DWP’s Counter Fraud, Compliance and Debt team is undertaking an ambitious recruitment programme which will significantly further expand our counter-fraud capacity.
We will continue to work with other Government departments and law enforcement agencies nationally and across borders to ensure appropriate intelligence and resources are shared, enabling the totality of any criminality to be identified and investigated.
Asked by: Philip Davies (Conservative - Shipley)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps her Department took to mark International Men's Day on 19 November 2020.
Answered by Guy Opperman - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
In the department (DWP), every year, International Men’s Day (IMD) offers an opportunity to highlight some key issues and policies that are available to support men. Our policies range from our flexible working hours, the introduction of shared parental leave, which allows men to take time away from the workplace and bond with their new children, benefitting that crucial long-term relationship for both parent and child, to our support for Domestic Abuse and Mental Health through our community of 1600+ Mental Health First Aiders.
In DWP we have a series of national events taking place over the week to mark IMD. The DWP’s Director General Gender Champion opened an IMD session which included male senior leaders talking about their own personal journey.
DWP have partnered with The Good Lad Initiative (GLI), following the success of last year’s events. The specific events cover Thinking about Masculinities and Workplace Cultures and Allyship and Inclusion - men reflecting on their own workplace cultures and positions as leaders and communication skills needed to be effective and compassionate bystanders and to generate debate around the question
DWP has also updated its Gender and Wellbeing pages with support available to colleagues and a number of blogs have been published by colleagues of all genders with titles ranging from “Men who inspire me”, “how talking has helped me” to men’s mental health.
Asked by: Philip Davies (Conservative - Shipley)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what assessment she has made of the factors resulting in parents being unable to afford to feed their children.
Answered by Will Quince
Building on the significant support given to the most vulnerable during the pandemic, a new £170m Covid Winter Grant Scheme has been created to support children, families and the most at risk over winter. The funding will be ring-fenced, with at least 80% earmarked to help with food and bills, and will cover the period to the end of March 2021.
The Holiday Activities and Food programme, which has provided healthy food and enriching activities to disadvantaged children since 2018, will also be expanded across England next year. It will cover Easter, Summer and Christmas in 2021, and cost up to £220m. It will be available to children in every local authority in England, building on previous programmes – including this summers, which supported around 50,000 children across 17 local authorities.
In May, the Government provided £16m to charities to provide food for those struggling due to the immediate impacts of the pandemic. Earlier this month, a further £16m was announced to fund local charities through well-established networks and provide immediate support to front-line food aid charities who have a vital role to play in supporting people of all ages.
Asked by: Philip Davies (Conservative - Shipley)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what recent assessment she has made of trends in the level of the number of parents who cannot afford to feed their children.
Answered by Will Quince
Building on the significant support given to the most vulnerable during the pandemic, a new £170m Covid Winter Grant Scheme has been created to support children, families and the most at risk over winter. The funding will be ring-fenced, with at least 80% earmarked to help with food and bills, and will cover the period to the end of March 2021.
The Holiday Activities and Food programme, which has provided healthy food and enriching activities to disadvantaged children since 2018, will also be expanded across England next year. It will cover Easter, Summer and Christmas in 2021, and cost up to £220m. It will be available to children in every local authority in England, building on previous programmes – including this summers, which supported around 50,000 children across 17 local authorities.
In May, the Government provided £16m to charities to provide food for those struggling due to the immediate impacts of the pandemic. Earlier this month, a further £16m was announced to fund local charities through well-established networks and provide immediate support to front-line food aid charities who have a vital role to play in supporting people of all ages.
Asked by: Philip Davies (Conservative - Shipley)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what estimate she has made of the proportion of parents of children entitled to free school meals who cannot afford to feed their children during the school holidays.
Answered by Will Quince
Building on the significant support given to the most vulnerable during the pandemic, a new £170m Covid Winter Grant Scheme has been created to support children, families and the most at risk over winter. The funding will be ring-fenced, with at least 80% earmarked to help with food and bills, and will cover the period to the end of March 2021.
The Holiday Activities and Food programme, which has provided healthy food and enriching activities to disadvantaged children since 2018, will also be expanded across England next year. It will cover Easter, Summer and Christmas in 2021, and cost up to £220m. It will be available to children in every local authority in England, building on previous programmes – including this summers, which supported around 50,000 children across 17 local authorities.
In May, the Government provided £16m to charities to provide food for those struggling due to the immediate impacts of the pandemic. Earlier this month, a further £16m was announced to fund local charities through well-established networks and provide immediate support to front-line food aid charities who have a vital role to play in supporting people of all ages.
Asked by: Philip Davies (Conservative - Shipley)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what assessment she has made of the effect on levels of unemployment in (a) the Shipley constituency, (b) the Bradford district and (c) West Yorkshire of being in Tier (i) 1, (ii) 2 and (iii) 3 of covid-19 restrictions.
Answered by Mims Davies - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
The latest data on the level of unemployment available for Shipley, Bradford and West Yorkshire is for the period July 2019-June 2020. This is before the introduction of the tiered system of local COVID Alert Levels in England
The department is increasing unemployment support for people in all areas of the country, including Shipley, Bradford and West Yorkshire, through the Plan for Jobs package. Kickstart and Job Entry Targeted Support (JETS) were recently launched with the Job Finding Support Service to follow. In addition, 13,500 extra Jobcentre Work Coaches are being recruited nationally to support claimants to re-enter employment.
Asked by: Philip Davies (Conservative - Shipley)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what the biggest pay rise given to someone in her Department was in (a) percentage and (b) cash terms in the last 12 months.
Answered by Mims Davies - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
Within the last 12 months, the largest increase in pay, both in percentage and cash terms, awarded within the Department for Work and Pensions was a 15.8% increase in the amount of £17,700. The recipient was a Senior Civil Servant (SCS) Pay Band 2 member of staff.
The uplift was the result of a pay exception on appointment following a level transfer from another Government Department. This was based on the recipient’s high level of skill and experience, their sustained performance, the increased responsibility associated with the role as well as their relative position on the pay range in comparison with their peers. DWP fully complied with the pay exception control process for this increased pay on appointment, meeting all relevant criteria.