Asked by: Tracy Brabin (Labour (Co-op) - Batley and Spen)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many people have had their welfare entitlement reduced after completing an application for tax free childcare.
Answered by Damian Hinds
The information requested is not available.
Tax-Free Childcare provides support to parents for their childcare costs. We estimate that around 2 million working families will have access to the scheme.
Parents cannot receive support from Tax-Free Childcare where they are in receipt of Universal Credit or Child Tax Credit or Working Tax Credit. However, families who are eligible for both will have the freedom to choose which scheme best meets their needs
The Department for Work and Pensions continues to work closely with HM Revenue and Customs to ensure the schemes complement each other effectively, and that parents will have the guidance they need in order to make an informed decision on which scheme will provide the best support for them.
Asked by: Tracy Brabin (Labour (Co-op) - Batley and Spen)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, pursuant to the Answer of 27 June 2017 to Question 772, on Jobcentres: Batley, of he will set out how his Department calculated the journey time of 19 minutes.
Answered by Damian Hinds
Throughout our planning we calculated distances and journey times for Batley Jobcentre using a variety of methods to ensure accuracy, including online tools and timetables, information collected on local public transport routes, and input and scrutiny from local DWP staff and management.
Asked by: Tracy Brabin (Labour (Co-op) - Batley and Spen)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, for what reason his Department did not undertake a consultation into the closure of Batley Jobcentre Plus.
Answered by Damian Hinds
There was no public consultation on the proposal to close Batley Jobcentre as the proposed move to merge with Dewsbury Jobcentre is approximately 1.9 miles away and 19 minutes by public transport. We committed to a public consultation for offices over three miles and 20 minutes away by public transport.
Asked by: Tracy Brabin (Labour (Co-op) - Batley and Spen)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether he plans to make carer's allowance available to carers in receipt of a state pension.
Answered by Lord Harrington of Watford
Where a carer's State Pension is less than Carer's Allowance, State Pension is paid and topped up with Carer's Allowance to the basic weekly rate of Carer's Allowance, which is currently £62.70 a week.
However, where the State Pension paid is higher than £62.70, social security rules operate to prevent Carer’s Allowance and State Pension being paid together, since they are designed to meet the same need i.e. to help maintain income. Paying both benefits together would represent duplicate provision. The relevant legislation is The Social Security (Overlapping Benefits) Regulations 1979 (regulation 4), which can be found at http://www.legislation.gov.uk/uksi/1979/597/pdfs/uksi_19790597_290216_en.pdf
Where Carer’s Allowance cannot be paid, the person will keep underlying entitlement to the benefit. This gives access to the additional amount for carers in Pension Credit, worth up to £34.95 a week, and even if a pensioner’s income is above the limit for Pension Credit, he or she may still be able to receive Housing Benefit.
Asked by: Tracy Brabin (Labour (Co-op) - Batley and Spen)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, pursuant to the Answer of 18 April 2017 to Question 69687, on Motability, whether his Department plans to collect information on the numbers of people who have had to return a Motability vehicle when migrating between disability living allowance and personal independence payments.
Answered by Penny Mordaunt
The Department does not hold information on how many people had Motability vehicles on DLA. Therefore, we are unable to collect information on the number of people who have had to return a Motability vehicle following reassessment from Disability Living Allowance to Personal Independence Payment.
Asked by: Tracy Brabin (Labour (Co-op) - Batley and Spen)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many staff are seconded to his Department; and how many such staff are seconded from which companies and organisations.
Answered by Caroline Nokes
The Department does not hold a central register of staff seconded into the Department. The information requested is not held centrally and could only be provided at disproportionate cost.
Asked by: Tracy Brabin (Labour (Co-op) - Batley and Spen)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what information his Department holds on the number of people in (a) Batley and Spen constituency, (b) West Yorkshire and (c) England who have had a Government-funded leased Motability car removed from their possession in each of the last seven years.
Answered by Penny Mordaunt
The Department does not routinely collect information on the numbers of people who have had to return a Motability vehicle. Also, the Department does not have data available on the numbers who have leased a vehicle under the Motability scheme by year and parliamentary constituency. As the information requested is not readily available, it could only be provided at disproportionate cost.
Motability is an independent charitable organisation that is wholly responsible for the administration of the Motability scheme, including collating its own management information. Questions relating to this aspect of the scheme’s operation should be directed to Motability itself.
Asked by: Tracy Brabin (Labour (Co-op) - Batley and Spen)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what information his Department holds on the average amount of maternity pay received in the (a) agriculture, forestry and fishing, (b) mining and quarrying, (c) electricity, gas, steam and air conditioning supply, (d) manufacturing (e) water supply, sewerage, waste management and remediation activities, (f) construction, (g) wholesale and retail trade, (h) repair of motor vehicles and motorcycles, (i) transportation and storage, (j) accommodation and food service activities, (k) information and communication, (l) financial and insurance activities, (m) real estate activities, (n) professional scientific and technical activities, (o) administration and support service activities, (p) public administration and defence, (q) education, (r) human health and social work activities (s) arts, entertainment and recreation and (t) other service activities employment sector in the last 12 months.
Answered by Damian Hinds
Women wishing to claim Statutory Maternity Pay (SMP) do so directly to their employer and are paid SMP as part of their pay. DWP does not deal with these cases, and holds no information on the sector in which the woman works.