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Written Question
Department for Work and Pensions: Recruitment
Tuesday 7th February 2023

Asked by: Christine Jardine (Liberal Democrat - Edinburgh West)

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 head-hunters in each of the last three years.

Answered by Mims Davies - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Work and Pensions)

The following figures apply to Senior Civil Service Recruitment only, to note, this does not include digital recruitment.

2020/21: £190,627.84

2021/22: £211,054.00

2022/23 YTD: £171,608.46

These figures represent executive search activity spend on SCS (Deputy Director – Director General) recruitment for non-digital roles across these years.


Written Question
Department for Work and Pensions: Redundancy Pay
Thursday 17th November 2022

Asked by: Christine Jardine (Liberal Democrat - Edinburgh West)

Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what the cost to the public purse has been of Ministerial severance pay in his Department in each year since 1 January 2016.

Answered by Mims Davies - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Work and Pensions)

  • Under the Ministerial and Other Pensions and Salaries Act 1991, eligible Ministers who leave office are entitled to a one-off payment equivalent to one quarter of their annual salary at the point at which they leave Government.
  • This applies only where a Minister is under 65 and is not appointed to a ministerial office within three weeks of leaving government.
  • Individuals may waive the payment to which they are entitled. That is a matter for their personal discretion, but this approach has been taken in the past.
  • Details of such payments are published in departmental annual reports and accounts, and ministerial salaries are published on GOV.UK here.

Written Question
Personal Income
Monday 28th June 2021

Asked by: Christine Jardine (Liberal Democrat - Edinburgh West)

Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

What recent discussions she has had with the Chancellor of the Exchequer on the potential merits of introducing a universal basic income.

Answered by Will Quince

The Secretary of State has not had any discussions with the Chancellor on this issue. This government does not believe a Universal Basic Income has merit, as it does not target provision according to people’s needs and circumstances, which would inevitably lead to an inefficient use of public funds.


Written Question
National Insurance: Migrants
Thursday 25th February 2021

Asked by: Christine Jardine (Liberal Democrat - Edinburgh West)

Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, on what date people who have not entered the UK on a visa will be able to apply for a national insurance number.

Answered by Guy Opperman - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)

Prior to allocating a National Insurance Number, the applicants identity must be confirmed.

For the majority of applicants, who have already had their identity verified through another government department, primarily the Home Office, they are able to apply for a National Insurance Number. This includes visa holders, EU/EEA nationals who have been granted settled or pre-settled status through the EU Settlement Scheme and UK passport holders.

For applicants who have not had their identity verified, they will still be required to attend a face to face identity check. The reopening of our face to face service is linked to the recent government guidelines on Covid-19 restrictions and we are currently working on plans to reopen the service at the earliest opportunity in line with these guidelines.


Written Question
Personal Independence Payment: Coronavirus
Wednesday 24th February 2021

Asked by: Christine Jardine (Liberal Democrat - Edinburgh West)

Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, to what extent the covid-19 outbreak is causing delays to personal independence payment renewals; and what steps the Department is taking to reduce the backlog of assessments for those payments.

Answered by Justin Tomlinson

Throughout the Covid-19 outbreak, we have been committed to ensuring that people can access financial support through Personal Independence Payment in a timely manner. We always aim to make an award decision as quickly as possible and are treating as a priority Advance Claims, where a person’s previous Fixed Term Award has ended.


Written Question
Disability: Coronavirus
Tuesday 1st September 2020

Asked by: Christine Jardine (Liberal Democrat - Edinburgh West)

Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what recent assessment the Government has made of the adequacy of the covid-19 recovery strategy for supporting disabled people; whether that strategy is aligned with the National Strategy for Disabled People; and whether the National Strategy for Disabled People will be amended to take account of existing inequalities for disabled people that have been exacerbated by the covid-19 outbreak.

Answered by Justin Tomlinson

As required under the Equalities Act, the Government has considered the impact of all measures, including those set out in ‘Our plan to rebuild’, on groups with protected characteristics. The Government recognises that disabled people may have been disproportionately impacted by certain restriction measures and will have particular needs that must be accommodated on the road to recovery. These have been considered as part of the Public Sector Equality Duty process.

We will publish the National Strategy for Disabled People taking into account the impacts of the pandemic on disabled people. The Strategy will focus on the issues that disabled people say affect them the most in all aspects and phases of life, including employment, housing, education and transport.


Written Question
Social Security Benefits: Terminal Illnesses
Tuesday 1st September 2020

Asked by: Christine Jardine (Liberal Democrat - Edinburgh West)

Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, when her Department plans to publish the findings from the review announced in July 2019 on how the welfare system supports the terminally ill.

Answered by Justin Tomlinson

The evaluation remains a priority for the Department. The Department has made good progress and we expect to be able to provide an update on the outcome of the evaluation shortly.


Written Question
National Insurance: Foreign Nationals
Tuesday 1st September 2020

Asked by: Christine Jardine (Liberal Democrat - Edinburgh West)

Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what the procedure is for foreign nationals wishing to apply for a national insurance number; for what reasons her Department has not made provision for virtual interviews for foreign nationals wishing to apply for a national insurance number during the covid-19 outbreak; whether she plans for such virtual interviews to begin in lieu of physical interviews and, if so, on what date; and what assessment she has made of trends in the number of foreign nationals being turned down for work as a result of employers’ concerns about making a mistake on a potential employee’s right to work due to their not being in possession of a national insurance number.

Answered by Justin Tomlinson

When applying for a National Insurance Number (NINo), all applicants are required to have their identity verified. For those applicants whose identity has already been verified by another UK Government Department, primarily Home Office, their applications are dealt with by post. For those who have not had their identity verified, primarily EU/EEA nationals, the current process requires them to attend a face to face interview with DWP to verify their identity.

Due to COVID-19, the face to face interview process was suspended from 17th March 2020. This enabled us to redeploy a large number of staff to help process the substantial number of benefit claims received during this period.

It is not possible, due to the requirement to examine ID documents, to offer a virtual service. However, we are working on a digital solution that, once in place, will enable us to restart the process. Our current plan is for that to be in place by the end of September 2020.

Employers are required to conduct mandatory Right to Work checks on all prospective employees. Having a NINo is not part of these checks, and the possession of a NINo does not prove that an individual has a right to work. Indeed, an individual can apply for a job and take up employment without a NINo. I have included a link to the guidance on Right to Work checks that is provided to employers by the Home Office.

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/right-to-work-checks-employers-guide

The Department does not hold information on the number of foreign nationals who may have been turned down for work as a result of not having a NINo.


Written Question
Universal Credit
Thursday 6th June 2019

Asked by: Christine Jardine (Liberal Democrat - Edinburgh West)

Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many people who claimed an advance on their first universal credit payment were placed in the limited capability for work related activity group following a work capability assessment, in each of the last five years in each UK region.

Answered by Justin Tomlinson

The information requested is not readily available, and to provide it would incur disproportionate cost.


Written Question
Social Security Benefits: EU Nationals
Monday 4th March 2019

Asked by: Christine Jardine (Liberal Democrat - Edinburgh West)

Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, if she will publish the guidance provided to her Department's decision makers on the management of benefit entitlements for EU nationals with settled or pre-settled status.

Answered by Alok Sharma - COP26 President (Cabinet Office)

EU citizens and their family members with settled status or pre-settled status will have the same access as they currently do to healthcare, pensions and other benefits in the UK.

Guidance for decision makers can be found in the Decision Makers’ Guide (DMG) and Advice for Decision Making Guide (ADM) available online at https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/decision-makers-guide-staff-guide and https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/advice-for-decision-making-staff-guide.

Departmental guidance is supplemented with updates when legal and procedural changes are introduced.