Asked by: Sheila Gilmore (Labour - Edinburgh East)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, with reference to page 44 of Information about Secondary Legislation Arising from the Child Maintenance and Other Payments Bill, published by his Department in January 2008, if he will publish the report of the evaluation to test the links between payments of child maintenance and client behaviour concerning the repayment of other financial commitments.
Answered by Steve Webb
The report ‘Child Maintenance and Other Payments Bill: Disclosure of Information to credit reference agencies - exploratory analysis’ was published by the Department in 2008 and a copy is attached.
Asked by: Sheila Gilmore (Labour - Edinburgh East)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, with reference to the Answer to the hon. Member for Rutherglen and Hamilton West on 20 February 2012, Official Report, column 655W, on employment and support allowance: work capability assessment, what the average wait was for an employment and support allowance applicant between completing the ESA 50 questionnaire and undergoing the work capability assessment in the most recent year for which data are available.
Answered by Lord Harper
The average time from receipt of an ESA50 to the completion of face to face work capability assessment (for both Employment and Support Allowance and Incapacity Benefit Reassessment), for the period from January 2014 to September 2014, was 102 working days.
Maximus Health and Human Services Ltd. has been awarded the contract to succeed Atos Healthcare from March 2015, to undertake Work Capability Assessments. The priority for MAXIMUS Health and Human Services Ltd will be to transition the service smoothly from the current provider, stabilise the operation to deliver the best service possible for claimants, increase the volume of assessments carried out and reduce waiting times without compromising quality.
We are continuing to work closely with Atos under the current contract and process claims as quickly as possible.
Asked by: Sheila Gilmore (Labour - Edinburgh East)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, pursuant to the Answer of 7 July 2014 to Question 203664, when he plans to start the public consultation on the implementation of section 40 of the Welfare Reform Act 2008.
Answered by Steve Webb
I will be making a written ministerial statement soon to address this issue.
Asked by: Sheila Gilmore (Labour - Edinburgh East)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, pursuant to the Answer of 7 July 2014 to Question 203665, when he plans to publish a report on the initial findings of the series of behaviour change trials carried out by his Department to test different interventions that tackle barriers that prevent parents making regular child maintenance payments.
Answered by Steve Webb
The series of behaviour change trials are now complete, and full evaluation is on-going. Where appropriate, findings will be published once full evaluation is complete. Trials that we have found to be successful are already being considered for wider implementation and we will be incorporating the learning from all our trials into our approach to tackling compliance and arrears.