Asked by: Chris Heaton-Harris (Conservative - Daventry)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps he has taken to ensure that Community Work Placement providers are held to the standards required in their contract.
Answered by Priti Patel
Community Work Placement performance is being actively managed, underpinned by improvement plans and local performance improvement activity, with contracts terminated early where providers have failed to meet their targets.
This action sends a clear message to providers that the Department expects them to deliver the performance they have promised in their bids.
Asked by: Chris Heaton-Harris (Conservative - Daventry)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether all payments of universal credit to newly-arrived EU nationals will be covered by the scheme set out in Section D of the Decision of the Heads of State or Government meeting within the European Council on 18 and 19 February 2016.
Answered by Priti Patel
As Universal Credit will replace our existing system of non-contributory in-work benefits, it will of course be covered by the scope of our new settlement in a reformed European Union.
Asked by: Chris Heaton-Harris (Conservative - Daventry)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what discussions officials of his Department have had with the UK Statistics Authority on the ad hoc release of the document, Benefit claims by EEA nationals in November 2015; and if he will make a statement.
Answered by Priti Patel
Departmental officials had discussions with the UK Statistics Authority on the day of publication to confirm publication. Further discussions took place shortly after publication on the methodology used.
Asked by: Chris Heaton-Harris (Conservative - Daventry)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many people registered with a learning disability were in (a) part-time and (b) full-time employment in (i) 2009, (ii) 2010, (iii) 2011, (iv) 2012 and (v) 2013.
Answered by Mike Penning
The information requested is within the table below.
Individuals in full or part-time employment, who have health conditions/illnesses lasting 12 months or more and whose main health problem was severe or specific learning difficulties[1],[2]:
Year | Full-Time | Part-Time |
2009 | 45,000 | 34,000 |
Estimates for 2010 onwards should not be compared directly with earlier years, due to a change in definitions[3] | ||
2010 | 42,000 | 34,000 |
2011 | 34,000 | 29,000 |
2012 | 36,000 | 39,000 |
Estimates for 2013 onwards should not be compared directly with earlier years, due to a change in definitions[4] | ||
2013 | 26,000 | 34,000 |
[1] Source: Labour Force Survey (four-quarterly averages for each calendar year).
[2] Figures are rounded to the nearest thousand.
[3] Estimates of disability from the LFS for 2010 onwards should not be compared directly with earlier years. There was a change in the reporting behaviour of survey respondents at the start of 2010, mainly reflecting a change in the wording of the survey questionnaire, which is believed to result in more accurate estimates.
[4] Further changes in 2013 to the wording of the disability questions within the survey questionnaire, have led to a step change in the levels of reported disability and their composition (e.g. numbers in employment). Therefore, estimates of disability from the Labour Force Survey for 2013 onwards should not be compared directly with earlier years.
Asked by: Chris Heaton-Harris (Conservative - Daventry)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps he is taking to increase the number of people with learning disabilities in both part-time and full-time employment.
Answered by Mike Penning
We do not target our employment support exclusively at individuals with particular impairments. Instead, through a range of programmes, we aim to identify and meet the needs of the individual, including the needs of people with learning disabilities
The Work Programme is the biggest single Welfare to Work programme, which provides personalised back-to-work support for unemployed people, including disabled people. For those that have more complex needs, we have a range of specialist disability employment programmes, including Access to Work, Work Choice and Residential Training Colleges, all of which support people with learning difficulties to take up and remain in employment. In particular, Access to Work can provide funding towards tailored support for people with learning difficulties such as specialist aids, equipment and support workers.
Jobcentre Plus Disability Employment Advisers provide support and advice for disabled people who need help finding and retaining employment and refer individuals to specialist programmes, where appropriate.