Asked by: Peter Dowd (Labour - Bootle)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what estimate he has made of the cost of means-testing the winter fuel allowance.
Answered by Guy Opperman - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
There will be no change to the universal nature of the Winter Fuel Payment for the length of this Parliament.
Asked by: Peter Dowd (Labour - Bootle)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many pensioners received a £10 Christmas bonus in (a) 2014-15, (b) 2015-16 and (c) 2016-17.
Answered by Guy Opperman - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
The number of people who receive the Christmas Bonus is published in DWP’s Benefit Expenditure and Caseload tables (Table_2c):
https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/benefit-expenditure-tables
Asked by: Peter Dowd (Labour - Bootle)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many people received maternity allowance in (a) 2014-15, (b) 2015-16 and (c) 2016-17.
Answered by Caroline Dinenage
In response to these questions:
(a) The number of women who commenced their Maternity Allowance claim in 2014-15 was 82,500.
(b) The number of women who commenced their Maternity Allowance claim in 2015-16 was 86,300.
(c) The total number of commencements for 2016-17 is not yet available.
Data are published quarterly on the number of commencements to Maternity Allowance on a rolling basis up to November 2016 at:
https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/maternity-allowance-quarterly-statistics
These quarterly data do not sum to the annual totals above as the data is subject to substantial retrospection from late notifications to the computer system, as noted in the publication. The annual estimates above are the best estimate for the financial years requested.
(1) Data is based on 5% sample data and retrospection may continue to affect the actual numbers.
(2) These figures exclude a small proportion of clerical cases.
(3) Data are rounded to the nearest 100.
Asked by: Peter Dowd (Labour - Bootle)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, when he plans to publish the White Paper on supporting people with health conditions and disabilities get into work.
Answered by Justin Tomlinson - Minister of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
As outlined in the Spending Review 2015, the government will publish a White Paper in 2016 that will set out reforms to improve support for people with health conditions and disabilities: