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Written Question
Children: Maintenance
Wednesday 19th October 2022

Asked by: Cherilyn Mackrory (Conservative - Truro and Falmouth)

Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what the enforcement procedures are for not payment of Child Maintenance Payments; and whether those procedures are subject to regular assessments of effectiveness.

Answered by Claire Coutinho - Shadow Minister (Equalities)

The Child Maintenance Group has the following powers which can be applied immediately if payment compliance cannot be re-established and are subject to fixed charges:

  • deduction of earnings order. £50.00 charge
  • deduction from earnings request. £50.00 charge

If the paying parent is self-employed or not employed, we can apply:

  • regular deduction order. £50.00 charge.
  • lump sum deduction order. £200.00 charge

If a bank account is not identified or there are no or insufficient funds available to permit any deduction order, the case will be referred for consideration and instigation of Legal Enforcement action to secure what is owed, and always to strive for long term payment compliance. The following Enforcement powers available are:

  • lump sum deduction order
  • regular deduction order
  • freezing order
  • set aside disposition order
  • liability order £300 charge
  • registering liability order at county court (England and Wales)
  • registering liability with the Register of Judgements, Orders and Fines
  • registering liability with the Enforcement of Judgments Office (Northern Ireland)
  • charging order (England and Wales)
  • order for sale
  • enforcement agent action (England and Wales)
  • third party debt order (England and Wales)
  • disqualification from holding or obtaining a driving license
  • commitment to prison
  • disqualification from holding or obtaining a passport (England and Wales only)

Throughout the Enforcement process, the case will continuously be reviewed to determine whether previously unsuccessful action may now be successful.

CMG regularly reviews Enforcement procedures and policies to continuously improve efficiency and effectiveness. Legislation and policy are similarly reviewed with policy colleagues to consider whether other actions should be introduced. In December 2018 new legislation was introduced in England, Scotland and Wales to request a non-compliant paying parent is disqualified from holding or obtaining a UK passport. The Curfew sanction will be introduced in December 2022 to be available for implementation in early 2023.


Written Question
Pension Credit: Rural Areas
Wednesday 6th July 2022

Asked by: Cherilyn Mackrory (Conservative - Truro and Falmouth)

Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps her Department is taking to increase pension credit uptake in rural areas.

Answered by Guy Opperman

We have undertaken a range of actions to raise awareness of Pension Credit and increase take-up across the whole of the country. On 21 March I wrote to the editors of all regional newspapers across England, Scotland and Wales calling on readers to check if they could be eligible and make a claim.

On 3 April DWP launched a comprehensive Pension Credit take-up campaign. We have been promoting Pension Credit in a variety of ways – including print advertising and promotion in the national press, across social media, via internet search engines and on screens in Post Offices and GP surgeries across Great Britain. I also wrote to all MPs, urging them to support the campaign at a constituency level as MPs are well placed to promote Pension Credit locally. Our digital toolkit has been updated with information and resources, as well as leaflets and posters which advice organisations, charities and other stakeholders working across local communities can use to help promote Pension Credit.

Most recently, on 15 June DWP held another Pension Credit day of action with broadcasters, regional and national newspapers and other partners encouraged to reach out to pensioners, as well their family and friends, through their channels.


Written Question
Kickstart Scheme
Friday 18th March 2022

Asked by: Cherilyn Mackrory (Conservative - Truro and Falmouth)

Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many Kickstart Scheme placements have been (a) approved, (b) advertised and (c) started by young people by (i) nation, (ii) region and (iii) sector as of 15 March 2022.

Answered by Mims Davies - Shadow Minister (Women)

As of the 15th March 2022, over 152,000 Kickstart jobs have been started by young people. The last date a young person can start a Kickstart job is 31st March 2022.

We have previously published the number of jobs approved and advertised as of 31st January, here. At that point, over 235,000 jobs had been advertised and over 305,000 had been approved. Kickstart has now closed to employer applications and as of March, all approved jobs proceeding to the advertisement stage, have been advertised. As such, these totals will not increase but may decline as a result of vacancies being withdrawn or removed by the employer.

Below are tables listing the number of Kickstart jobs which have been made available and started by young people to date by geographical area of Great Britain and work sector. The figures used are correct as of the 15th March 2022 and these figures have been rounded according to departmental standards.

Jobs made available (advertised) and job starts quoted here include some unfunded Kickstart jobs. Also included in the Great Britain total are a small number of jobs made available (less than 100 in total) that have an unrecorded job location.

The number of approved jobs is defined as the number of jobs associated with approved applications recorded on the Kickstart application system on the date above. This total excludes approved jobs that have been withdrawn from the Kickstart Scheme by agreement with employers and gateways. This is generally because, over time, some previously approved jobs were removed where the employer chose not to follow up the application.

Although care is taken when processing and analysing Kickstart applications, referrals and starts, the data collected might be subject to the inaccuracies inherent in any large-scale recording system, which has been developed quickly.

The management information presented here has not been subjected to the usual standard of quality assurance associated with official statistics but is provided in the interests of transparency. Work is ongoing to improve the quality of information available for the programme.

Table 1: Number of Kickstart total available jobs and job starts, Great Britain, by nation and region (figures rounded to nearest 1000*)

Total jobs made available

Total jobs started

Region / Nation Split

(DATA RETAINED FROM 31/01/22)

(DATA EFFECTIVE 15/03/22)

Total, Great Britain

235,000

152,000

England

204,000

132,000

East Midlands

14,000

10,000

East of England

18,000

11,000

London

51,000

33,000

North East

11,000

7,000

North West

30,000

19,000

South East

26,000

16,000

South West

14,000

9,000

West Midlands

21,000

14,000

Yorkshire and The Humber

19,000

12,000

Scotland

19,000

13,000

Wales

12,000

7,000

Table 2: Number of Kickstart total available jobs and job starts, Great Britain, by Sector (figures rounded to the nearest 10*)

Sector Split

Total jobs made available

Total jobs started

(DATA RETAINED FROM 31/01/22)

(DATA EFFECTIVE 15/03/22)

Administration

57,350

37,500

Animal Care

1,610

1,200

Beauty & Wellbeing

1,720

1,300

Business & Finance

8,500

5,600

Computing Technology & Digital

15,840

11,800

Construction & Trades

7,230

4,900

Creative & Media

20,990

15,600

Delivery & Storage

6,380

4,200

Emergency & Uniform Services

520

300

Engineering & Maintenance

7,080

4,600

Environment & Land

4,620

3,200

Government Services

1,000

600

Healthcare

6,140

3,100

Home Services

1,560

800

Hospitality & Food

26,380

13,200

Law & Legal

650

500

Managerial

960

600

Manufacturing

6,430

4,200

Retail & Sales

34,970

24,900

Science & Research

990

800

Social Care

4,740

2,400

Sports & Leisure

5,920

3,800

Teaching & Education

11,000

6,300

Transport

900

400

Travel & Tourism

1,110

500

* Due to rounding, sum of figures may not match declared total


Written Question
Kickstart Scheme
Wednesday 27th October 2021

Asked by: Cherilyn Mackrory (Conservative - Truro and Falmouth)

Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many Kickstart scheme placements for young people have been (a) approved, (b) advertised and (c) started in each (i) nation, (ii) region and (iii) business sector since the beginning of that scheme.

Answered by Mims Davies - Shadow Minister (Women)

As of the 26th October, almost 94,000 young people have started a Kickstart job.

With the current pace of starts, we are confident that in early November over 100,000 young people will have started in a Kickstart job. This is an amazing achievement with the first jobs having started only a year ago. We will continue to offer Kickstart jobs to many thousands more.

As of the 26th of October, over 213,000 jobs have been made available for young people to apply to through the scheme and over 304,000 jobs have been approved for funding.

From 28/09/2021 to 25/10/2021, on average over 6,700 Kickstart jobs were made available each week, and on average over 3,400 young people started a Kickstart job each week.

Below are tables listing the number of Kickstart jobs which have been made available and started by young people to date by geographical area of Great Britain and work sector. The figures used are correct as of the 25th of October and these figures have been rounded according to departmental standards.

Jobs made available and starts quoted here include some unfunded Kickstart jobs. Over time, some previously approved jobs have been removed where the employer chose not to follow up the application.

Although care is taken when processing and analysing Kickstart applications, referrals and starts, the data collected might be subject to the inaccuracies inherent in any large-scale recording system, which has been developed quickly.

The management information presented here has not been subjected to the usual standard of quality assurance associated with official statistics, but is provided in the interests of transparency. Work is ongoing to improve the quality of information available for the programme.

Table 1- Kickstart jobs made available and started by location.

Location

Jobs Made Available

Cumulative Jobs Started

East Midlands

13,040

5,700

East of England

17,010

6,550

London

45,760

19,840

North East

8,560

4,360

North West

26,270

11,920

Scotland

15,750

7,990

South East

23,880

10,100

South West

14,990

5,990

Wales

11,160

4,500

West Midlands

19,070

8,590

Yorkshire and The Humber

16,620

7,380

*These numbers are rounded and so may not match provided totals.

Table 2- Kickstart jobs made available and started by sector.

Sector

Jobs Made Available

Cumulative Jobs Started

Administration

52,320

23,240

Animal Care

1,220

720

Beauty & Wellbeing

1,480

750

Business & Finance

7,720

3,400

Computing Technology & Digital

14,690

7,780

Construction & Trades

6,290

2,900

Creative & Media

17,120

9,280

Delivery & Storage

6,170

2,650

Emergency & Uniform Services

490

200

Engineering & Maintenance

6,610

2,850

Environment & Land

3,950

1,870

Government Services

750

280

Healthcare

5,460

1,960

Home Services

1,540

490

Hospitality & Food

25,130

7,670

Law & Legal

450

290

Managerial

1,090

450

Manufacturing

5,810

2,470

Retail & Sales

32,080

15,300

Science & Research

850

460

Social Care

4,820

1,530

Sports & Leisure

5,010

2,290

Teaching & Education

9,770

3,660

Transport

730

190

Travel & Tourism

670

270

*These numbers are rounded and so may not match provided totals.