Asked by: David Crausby (Labour - Bolton North East)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what recent steps his Department has taken to (a) publicise and (b) support debt advice services.
Answered by John Glen - Paymaster General and Minister for the Cabinet Office
The government-commissioned Money Advice Service (MAS) funds centrally-coordinated, publicly-funded debt advice. MAS spent just under £49m to provide over 440,000 debt advice sessions in 2016-17. This year, MAS’ budget will rise to over £56m – enough to provide support to 530,000 people.
To support this work, the government is also setting up a new single financial guidance body, which will bring together public-funded money and pensions guidance, and debt advice services. The new body will enable the public to get support with all aspects of their financial lives quickly and easily.
Asked by: David Crausby (Labour - Bolton North East)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what recent steps his Department has taken to improve and promote access to credit unions.
Answered by John Glen - Paymaster General and Minister for the Cabinet Office
The government remains committed to supporting credit unions, which provide vital services to financially under-served communities and contribute to the diversity of the UK’s financial services sector. To improve access to credit unions, government has:
· In April 2018, announced increased funding for a scheme which incentivises credit union membership in areas at risk of being targeted by loan sharks. This will help vulnerable people to borrow and save with a safe and responsible financial provider, and promote credit unions as an alternative source of credit.
· At Autumn Budget 2017, announced that the credit union ‘common bond’ limit, which applies to credit unions whose membership is based around a local area, would be raised from 2 to 3 million. This change came into force in April this year, and will allow the larger credit unions to expand and help the sector to consolidate.
· In 2014, raised the statutory cap on the total interest a credit union can charge on loans from 2 to 3% per month. This has allowed credit unions to expand into new markets, and compete more effectively with other lenders.
Asked by: David Crausby (Labour - Bolton North East)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many sanctions have been imposed on (a) jobseekers allowance and (b) universal credit claimants who are experiencing mental health problems in the most recent 12 months for which figures are available.
Answered by Alok Sharma - COP26 President (Cabinet Office)
The information requested is not readily available and to provide it would incur disproportionate cost.
We engage at a personal and individual level with all of our claimants and are committed to tailoring the support that we give, and any conditionality requirements to the specific circumstances of the individuals. Sanctions are only used in a minority of cases and when people fail to meet their conditionality requirements without good reason.
A Decision Maker will take all the claimant’s individual circumstances, including any health conditions or disabilities and any evidence they provide, into account before deciding whether a sanction is warranted.
Asked by: David Crausby (Labour - Bolton North East)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether data will be collected by her Department from claimants using the Find a Job website.
Answered by Kit Malthouse
User data is collected in line with forthcoming GDPR legislation, to make it as easy as possible for customers of the Find a Job service to search and apply for job adverts relevant to them.
Further information is available on the site – https://findajob.dwp.gov.uk/privacy.html
Asked by: David Crausby (Labour - Bolton North East)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, how much his Department overpaid in tax credit claims in the last financial year; and what the estimated cost is of recovering those overpayments.
Answered by Elizabeth Truss
The latest tax credit overpayment statistics available relate to the financial year 2015-16 and statistics relating to the financial year 2016-17 are due to be released this summer.
Based on the available statistics relating to 2015-16, there were 1.4m overpaid tax credit awards, which amounted to £1.572m in overpayments. This figure can be found on page 8 of the Child and Working Tax Credits, Finalised Annual Awards, Supplement on Payments National Statistics, and is available at:
Information regarding the estimated cost of recovering such overpayments can only be made available at disproportionate cost.
Asked by: David Crausby (Labour - Bolton North East)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what estimate his Department has made of the amount of unclaimed entitlement to tax credits in the last financial year.
Answered by Elizabeth Truss
The latest published estimates on take-up of tax credits are available at:
The publication includes estimates of unclaimed tax credit entitlements for 2015-16. 2016-17 estimates are expected to be released in December 2018.
Asked by: David Crausby (Labour - Bolton North East)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how many Northern services have been cancelled due to staffing issues in each month since Arriva took over that franchise.
Answered by Lord Johnson of Marylebone
The Department does not hold this level of information. Cancellation information provided to the Department by the Train operators are at a total percentage per period basis.
Asked by: David Crausby (Labour - Bolton North East)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what meetings he has had with trades union representatives in respect of the ongoing Northern industrial dispute.
Answered by Lord Johnson of Marylebone
The Department for Transport has not met with trade union representatives in respect with the ongoing Northern industrial dispute. This dispute is between the unions and the train operator, however the Government has been doing all it can to ensure passenger disruption is minimised. Ministers have met with the leadership of ASLEF and RMT to discuss wider ranging issues.
Asked by: David Crausby (Labour - Bolton North East)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how much Network Rail has paid out to Northern in compensation for cancellations since Arriva took over that franchise.
Answered by Lord Johnson of Marylebone
At the end of each Franchisee Year the Department, in accordance with the Franchise Agreement, will calculate the Performance Sum payable by the Secretary of State to the Franchisee or required to be incurred by the Franchisee, these are known as Performance Sum Payments.
Where following calculation of the Cancellations Performance Sum, the TOC Minute Delay Performance Sum and/or the Short Formation Performance Sum, the Franchisee is required to incur expenditure, the Franchisee shall incur expenditure equal to the amount for each to secure improvement to the Franchisee's performance in that area to meet its targets, this is known as Required Performance Improvement.
Asked by: David Crausby (Labour - Bolton North East)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how much Northern has been fined for cancellations and partial cancellations since Arriva took over that franchise.
Answered by Lord Johnson of Marylebone
At the end of each Franchisee Year the Department, in accordance with the Franchise Agreement, will calculate the Performance Sum payable by the Secretary of State to the Franchisee or required to be incurred by the Franchisee, these are known as Performance Sum Payments.
Where following calculation of the Cancellations Performance Sum, the TOC Minute Delay Performance Sum and/or the Short Formation Performance Sum, the Franchisee is required to incur expenditure, the Franchisee shall incur expenditure equal to the amount for each to secure improvement to the Franchisee's performance in that area to meet its targets, this is known as Required Performance Improvement.