Asked by: Sandra Osborne (Labour - Ayr, Carrick and Cumnock)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, if he will estimate the number of members of pension schemes who did not receive a tax-free lump sum on receipt of pension in the few months prior to the Financial Assistance Scheme (FAS) regulations adopted in April 2010, which allowed members who were not already in receipt of pension payments to give up some of their FAS assistance for a lump sum payment on transfer of the scheme to FAS.
Answered by Steve Webb
The FAS may pay members of schemes which transfer their assets to government a tax-free lump sum when payments begin, provided their scheme has not paid them during the winding up period. In the three months from January to March 2010, 263 such members were paid a scheme pension and did not receive a tax-free lump sum.
Asked by: Sandra Osborne (Labour - Ayr, Carrick and Cumnock)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many people from Ayr, Carrick and Cumnock constituency have secured employment through the Work Programme in each of the last 12 months.
Answered by Esther McVey - Minister without Portfolio (Cabinet Office)
Information on job starts from the Work Programme is not available.
The available information on Job Outcomes is shown in the following table.
Number of Work Programme Job Outcomes in Ayr, Carrick and Cumnock Parliamentary Constituency for each of the last 12 months: April 2013 – March 2014
| Ayr, Carrick and Cumnock Parliamentary Constituency |
Apr-13 | 30 |
May-13 | 10 |
Jun-13 | 30 |
Jul-13 | 20 |
Aug-13 | 20 |
Sep-13 | 40 |
Oct-13 | 30 |
Nov-13 | 30 |
Dec-13 | 30 |
Jan-14 | 20 |
Feb-14 | 20 |
Mar-14 | 30 |
Asked by: Sandra Osborne (Labour - Ayr, Carrick and Cumnock)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many people in Ayr, Carrick and Cumnock constituency have had their benefit sanctioned in each of the last 12 months.
Answered by Esther McVey - Minister without Portfolio (Cabinet Office)
The available information as requested is shown in the table below.
Number of individuals with an adverse benefit sanction applied in Ayr, Carrick and Cumnock Parliamentary Constituency by each month, January to December 2013.
| Ayr, Carrick and Cumnock Parliamentary Constituency |
Jan-13 | 160 |
Feb-13 | 100 |
Mar-13 | 130 |
Apr-13 | 160 |
May-13 | 160 |
Jun-13 | 150 |
Jul-13 | 180 |
Aug-13 | 180 |
Sep-13 | 160 |
Oct-13 | 190 |
Nov-13 | 210 |
Dec-13 | 150 |
Source (JSA and ESA): DWP Information, Governance and Security Directorate: Sanctions and Disallowance Decisions Statistics Database.
Source (IS): Income Support Computer System
Notes:
1. Figures have been rounded to the nearest 10.
2. The number of benefit sanctions applied is the number of claimants with a sanction or disallowance referral where the decision was found against them for those in receipt of Jobseeker's Allowance, Employment and Support Allowance and Income Support for Lone Parents.
3. Figures may include individuals who have been sanctioned in more than one month, i.e. if the same individual had received adverse sanction referrals in May and November, they would appear in both months in the above table.
4. Data is up to December 2013 which is the latest available.
5. Income Support Lone Parents receive a fixed sanction of 20% of the personal allowance rate of a single claimant [not aged less than 25] for each failure to attend/participate in a Work Focused Interview until 10 pence is left in payment. This sanction lasts until the individual attends and participates in a Work Focused Interview. In the case where there is more than one sanction in place the claimant need only attend/participate in one Work Focused Interview in order for all related sanctions to be removed from their benefit.
6. New sanctions rules came into force for JSA and ESA from 22 October 2012 and 3 December 2012. The number of JSA sanctions applied for the new regime is the number of low, intermediate, and high level referrals where the decision was found against the claimant. Further information can be found here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/jobseekers-allowance-overview-of-sanctions-rules
7. The information for JSA and ESA sanctions is published at:
https://stat-xplore.dwp.gov.uk/