Asked by: Baroness Clark of Kilwinning (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, pursuant to the Answer of 8 April 2014, Official Report, columns 218-9W, on social security benefits, when he expects to make available the requested data.
Answered by Mike Penning
In the production of new statistics the Department works to guidelines set by the UK Statistics Authority to ensure we are able to publish statistics that meet high quality standards at the earliest opportunity.
All releases will be preannounced via the UK National Statistics publication hub at http://www.statistics.gov.uk/hub/index.html
Asked by: Baroness Clark of Kilwinning (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, if he will make an assessment of the effect of using Wolverhampton as a redistribution centre for all mail relating to processing benefit claims, payments and appeals on (a) time taken to process and (b) the reliability of the claims process.
Answered by Mike Penning
DWP post opening arrangements are delivered as part of a contract for Office Services awarded to Cofely (formerly Balfour Beatty Workplace) which commenced on 1.3.07. The contract was let in line with EU procurement legislation and offers significant cost savings and efficiencies over the previous arrangements which were a mixture of third party contractors and in house teams.
In 2013 and in partnership with Cofely, DWP has introduced a new initiative to transform DWP's mail services. The Mail Opening, Scanning and Indexing Project will provide a single strategic service for post opening and scanning across DWP allowing our front line staff to work more efficiently and effectively whilst drastically reducing our paper consumption, storage requirements and demonstrating the Departments commitment to the Government's digital agenda.
As part of the overall efficiencies we have consolidated the number of MOUs from 29 sites operated by the Royal Mail Group to just 2 locations operated by Cofely, but underpinned by a new Royal Mail sorting office in Wolverhampton.
The consolidation to 2 MOUs is currently being transformed; the Department is working with all the Providers impacted in the supply chain to optimise quality, performance and service delivery
As with any new way of working, time is needed for processes and procedures to be bedded in and the Department continues to work closely with the supplier, regularly reviewing their performance. The Department is confident that this new way of handling inbound mail when coupled with the increase in scanning, will deliver efficiencies and a better service to our customers in the long term.
Asked by: Baroness Clark of Kilwinning (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many requests for reconsideration of an employment and support allowance decision have been subject to a decision since 28 October 2013.
Answered by Mike Penning
While mandatory reconsideration data is being collected, it is not sufficiently robust and reliable to make available.
The Department is looking into what can be published. The data will need to be validated in order to ensure that it satisfies the relevant standards.
Asked by: Baroness Clark of Kilwinning (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many requests for reconsideration of a jobseeker's allowance decision have been made since 28 October 2013.
Answered by Mike Penning
While mandatory reconsideration data is being collected, it is not sufficiently robust and reliable to make available.
The Department is looking into what can be published. The data will need to be validated in order to ensure that it satisfies the relevant standards.
Asked by: Baroness Clark of Kilwinning (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many requests for reconsideration of a jobseeker's allowance decision have been subject to a decision made since 28 October 2013.
Answered by Mike Penning
While mandatory reconsideration data is being collected, it is not sufficiently robust and reliable to make available.
The Department is looking into what can be published. The data will need to be validated in order to ensure that it satisfies the relevant standards.
Asked by: Baroness Clark of Kilwinning (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many requests for reconsideration of an employment and support allowance decision have been submitted since mandatory reconsideration came into effect on 28 October 2013.
Answered by Mike Penning
While mandatory reconsideration data is being collected, it is not sufficiently robust and reliable to make available.
The Department is looking into what can be published. The data will need to be validated in order to ensure that it satisfies the relevant standards.
Asked by: Baroness Clark of Kilwinning (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what the average waiting time for a decision for a reconsideration of a jobseeker's allowance decision has been since 28 October 2013.
Answered by Mike Penning
While mandatory reconsideration data is being collected, it is not sufficiently robust and reliable to make available.
The Department is looking into what can be published. The data will need to be validated in order to ensure that it satisfies the relevant standards.