Asked by: Pamela Nash (Labour - Airdrie and Shotts)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many first contact notice of closure letters have been sent to (a) Segment 1 and (b) Segment 2 CSA cases in (i) the UK, (ii) Scotland, (iii) England, (iv) Wales and (v) Northern Ireland.
Answered by Steve Webb
The table below shows the total number of segment 1 first contact notice of closure letters that have been sent up to the 21 February 2015. Management information regarding segment 2 letters is not yet available as it is currently under development and could only be obtained at disproportionate cost.
| Number of Letters sent |
Total | 345,900 |
England | 278,700 |
Scotland | 30,800 |
Wales | 21,000 |
Northern Ireland | 500 |
Other | 14,900 |
Notes:
Asked by: Pamela Nash (Labour - Airdrie and Shotts)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what his Department's most recent estimate is of the number of Child Support Agency cases within each segment of the planned case closure programme in (a) the UK, (b) Scotland, (c) England, (d) Wales and (e) Northern Ireland.
Answered by Steve Webb
The most recent estimates of the number of Child Support Agency cases within each segment of the case closure programme are:
| SEGMENT |
| ||||
Segment 1 | Segment 2 | Segment 3 | Segment 4 | Segment 5 | Total | |
England | 137,900 | 48,600 | 21,900 | 317,000 | 106,200 | 631,700 |
Scotland | 15,000 | 4,000 | 2,100 | 31,600 | 10,800 | 63,400 |
Wales | 10,300 | 3,200 | 1,500 | 22,400 | 7,500 | 44,900 |
NI | 300 | 200 | 100 | 800 | 400 | 1,700 |
Other | 400 | 100 | 300 | 500 | 200 | 1,400 |
Total | 164,000 | 56,000 | 25,800 | 372,200 | 125,100 | 743,100 |
Notes:
1. These are indicative estimates based on the case load as at 31 January 2015 and are subject to change due to cases continually moving segments.
2. Northern Ireland cases include cases managed by the CSA in Great Britain where the Parent with Care or Non Resident Parent lives in Northern Ireland. This does not include cases managed by the Northern Ireland Child Maintenance Enforcement Division (CMED).
3. Other includes those that are abroad or where insufficient information is held to enable classification.
4. Volumes shown in the table above represent all live cases that were eligible for case closure and had not been closed as at 31 January 2015.
5. Figures rounded to the nearest 100 and may not sum due to rounding.
Asked by: Pamela Nash (Labour - Airdrie and Shotts)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, pursuant to the Answer of 26 February 2015 to Question 224963, on which dates he or his Ministerial colleagues have met a former Remploy employee since May 2010; and when any further such meetings are planned.
Answered by Esther McVey - Minister without Portfolio (Cabinet Office)
As the Department with responsibility for Remploy, DWP Ministers have met with former Remploy employees. It is not possible to provide a breakdown of such meetings. No further meetings with former Remploy employees are planned at present.
Asked by: Pamela Nash (Labour - Airdrie and Shotts)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how much funding has been provided to the Rapid Response Service in (a) the UK, (b) Scotland, (c) Wales and (d) Northern Ireland in each of the last five years; and what the staffing level of that service was in each of those areas in those years.
Answered by Esther McVey - Minister without Portfolio (Cabinet Office)
The overall funding for Rapid Response by DWP in the UK was:
· 2010-11 £7.100m
· 2011-12 £3.000m
· 2012-13 £4.037m
· 2013-14 £4.000m
This spend is captured at a National level and is unable to be split into Scotland and Wales data without a disproportionate cost to disaggregate. Northern Ireland is not within the jurisdiction of the Department for Work and Pensions.
Rapid response activities are part one of an advisor’s job so it is not possible to identify specific staff time utilised on Rapid Response.
Budget data can only be provided for the 4 years from 2010/ 11 to 2013/14 as historic changes in the accounting systems mean that 2009/10 information is not available.
Asked by: Pamela Nash (Labour - Airdrie and Shotts)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, on which dates a Minister in his Department last met a former Remploy employee; and when the next such meetings are planned.
Answered by Esther McVey - Minister without Portfolio (Cabinet Office)
As the Department with responsibility for Remploy, DWP Ministers have met with former Remploy employees
Asked by: Pamela Nash (Labour - Airdrie and Shotts)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, pursuant to the Answer of 27 January 2015 to Question 222298, how much was paid to overseas recipients of (a) pension credit, (b) winter fuel allowance and (c) the Christmas bonus in each of the last five years for which figures are available.
Answered by Steve Webb
Pension Credit is for people who are present and habitually resident in Great Britain. However, Pension Credit may be payable for periods of temporary absence from Great Britain not exceeding 13 weeks, or for the duration of medical treatment received abroad under the National Health Service.
Overseas expenditure for Pension Credit and Winter Fuel Allowance is available and is published at:
Overseas expenditure for Christmas Bonus is shown in the table below.
Christmas Bonus Overseas expenditure £m | 2009/10 | 2010/11 | 2011/12 | 2012/13 | 2013/14 |
Nominal Terms | 4 | 4 | 5 | 5 | 5 |
Real Terms 2014/15 Prices | 5 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 5 |
Source: DWP statistical and accounting data
Asked by: Pamela Nash (Labour - Airdrie and Shotts)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how much his Department estimates it will raise in child maintenance service charges in (a) the UK, (b) Scotland, (c) England, (d) Wales and (e) Northern Ireland in each of the last three years.
Answered by Steve Webb
Paragraphs 101 to 108 of the CSA Case Closure, Introducing CMS Fees, Supporting Family Based Arrangements Impact Assessment give an estimate of the income expected to be raised through the introduction of fees. This Impact Assessment, published on 22 November 2013, is available at
No separate estimate for has been made for Scotland, England, Wales or Northern Ireland.
Parents can avoid all fees and charges by making a family-based child maintenance arrangement, which they can be helped to achieve by contacting Child Maintenance Options. Where this is not possible, on-going collection and enforcement charges can be avoided by using ‘Direct Pay’.
Asked by: Pamela Nash (Labour - Airdrie and Shotts)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many people in (a) Airdrie and Shotts constituency, (b) North Lanarkshire, (c) Scotland, (d) the UK, (e) England, (f) Wales and (g) Northern Ireland received support through the Access to Work scheme in each year from 2010 to the most recent period for which figures are available; and how much was paid out to each category of recipient in each such year.
Answered by Mark Harper - Secretary of State for Transport
The most up-to-date statistics on individuals helped by Access to Work were published on 20th January 2015, and are available here:
https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/access-to-work-statistics-on-recipients--2#2014
No data is included for Northern Ireland as Access to Work has been devolved to that administration.
Asked by: Pamela Nash (Labour - Airdrie and Shotts)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many former incapacity benefit claimants found fit for work after being reassessed for employment and support allowance between October 2010 and March 2014 have found work as a result of the Work Programme in (a) Airdrie and Shotts constituency, (b) North Lanarkshire, (c) Scotland, (d) the UK, (e) Engand, (f) Wales and (g) Northern Ireland.
Answered by Esther McVey - Minister without Portfolio (Cabinet Office)
As of September 2014, the Work Programme has helped 368,000 long term unemployed people into lasting work. Many more people have started work but not reached the six month point yet. Industry published figures for the same period, show almost 640,000 have found work.
The information we do have shows the number of Work Programme Referrals and Job Outcomes, by payment group and this can be found at:
http://tabulation-tool.dwp.gov.uk/WorkProg/tabtool.html
Guidance for users can be found at:
https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/dwp-tabulation-tool-guidance
Information for Northern Ireland is the responsibility of the Department for Social Development in Northern Ireland and can be found at:
http://www.dsdni.gov.uk/index/stats_and_research.htm
Asked by: Pamela Nash (Labour - Airdrie and Shotts)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many overseas recipients of (a) pension credit, (b) winter fuel allowance and (c) the Christmas bonus there were in each of the last five years for which figures are available.
Answered by Steve Webb
Pension Credit is for people who are present and habitually resident in Great Britain. However, Pension Credit may be payable for periods of temporary absence from Great Britain not exceeding 13 weeks, or for the duration of medical treatment received abroad under the National Health Service.
Latest available statistics for Winter Fuel Payments in the European Economic Area and Switzerland are published on the Department’s website at:
https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/winter-fuel-payments-by-eea-country
Available statistics for Christmas bonus payments overseas are shown in the table (thousands):
| All (GB and overseas) | Overseas* |
2013/14 | 15,468 | 481 |
2012/13 | 15,586 | 472 |
2011/12 | 15,547 | 456 |
2010/11 | 15,466 | 442 |
2009/10 | 15,370 | 425 |
* Overseas figures are for those not in GB. To get a Christmas bonus you must be present or ‘ordinarily resident’ in the UK, Channel Islands, Isle of Man, Gibraltar, any European Economic Area (EEA) country or Switzerland during the qualifying week.