Asked by: Tim Farron (Liberal Democrat - Westmorland and Lonsdale)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what proportion of payments by his Department to small businesses are made on time and in accordance with the prompt payment code.
Answered by Caroline Nokes
I can confirm that information on prompt payments to suppliers is held on the Gov.uk website – please see below link:
https://www.gov.uk/government/organisations/department-for-work-pensions/about/procurement
However, the information is not held specifically for Small and Medium sized Enterprises (SMEs).
Asked by: Tim Farron (Liberal Democrat - Westmorland and Lonsdale)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many times his Department has (a) terminated a contract, (b) imposed a penalty and (c) denied permission for a company to tender on the grounds of grave professional misconduct since November 2015.
Answered by Caroline Nokes
We are not aware of any cases where DWP has terminated a contract, imposed a penalty or denied permission for a company to tender on the grounds of grave professional misconduct.
Asked by: Tim Farron (Liberal Democrat - Westmorland and Lonsdale)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how much his Department has spent on agency workers in each of the last five years.
Answered by Caroline Nokes
The information requested is already in the public domain and published in the annual report and accounts for DWP.
https://www.gov.uk/government/publications
Asked by: Tim Farron (Liberal Democrat - Westmorland and Lonsdale)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many officials of his Department have opted out of the EU Working Time Directive.
Answered by Caroline Nokes
The Department does not keep records on this subject.
Asked by: Tim Farron (Liberal Democrat - Westmorland and Lonsdale)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether his Department plans to publish child poverty statistics at a regional level.
Answered by Priti Patel - Shadow Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs
This Government is committed to tackling disadvantage and extending opportunity so that everyone has the chance to realise their full potential. Our life chances approach will focus on tackling the root causes of poverty such as worklessness, educational attainment and family stability.
The Department for Work and Pensions recently published the 2014/15 Households Below Average Income (HBAI) statistics on 28th June 2016 alongside supporting data tables. Table 4.6db provides a regional breakdown of children in relative low income households, before and after housing costs. The latest estimates are shown as a three-year average over 2012/13-2014/15. These are available at:
https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/households-below-average-income-199495-to-201415.
Asked by: Tim Farron (Liberal Democrat - Westmorland and Lonsdale)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether the right hon. Member for Chingford and Woodford Green received a severance package following his resignation from the post of Secretary of State for Work and Pensions.
Answered by Justin Tomlinson
The Ministerial and other Pensions and Salaries Act 1991 (Section 4 of Chapter 5) governs Ministerial severance payments. The legislation outlines the criteria upon which severance payments are made and how the amount is calculated.
The relevant section of the legislation can be found at: http://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/1991/5/section/4
Asked by: Tim Farron (Liberal Democrat - Westmorland and Lonsdale)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether his Department has carried out an impact assessment on the effect of removing housing benefit from people aged under 25 on (a) disabled people and (b) care leavers.
Answered by Justin Tomlinson
The Department is committed to supporting young people so those who need support with housing costs will continue to receive it. The Department is currently consulting with stakeholders in order to identify those groups of young people and develop suitable protections. Once this work is complete we will bring forward detailed proposals and an impact assessment in line with standard procedures.