Asked by: Richard Graham (Conservative - Gloucester)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many pensioners in Gloucester constituency who received the winter fuel allowance also received the (a) £400 energy bill discount, (b) £150 council tax rebate, (c) £150 warm home discount, (d) £900 energy price guarantee and (e) the £150 disability Cost of Living payment; what assessment he has made of the impact of those allowances on pensioners in Gloucester constituency; and what assessment he has made of trends in the number of pensioners in that constituency in 2023-24.
Answered by Laura Trott - Chief Secretary to the Treasury
The information requested for part a) to d) is not held by this department. Therefore, the department cannot make an assessment of how many pensioners received the combination of support listed in the question or the impact of receiving such allowances.
The number of Winter Fuel Payments received in Gloucester constituency in winter 2021 to 2022 was 18,468. Statistics for the Winter of 2022 to 2023 will be published in September 2023. A full breakdown of Winter Fuel Payment statistics can be found here: Winter Fuel Payment statistics for winter2020 to 2021 and winter 2021 to 2022 - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk).
The Department for Work and Pensions has published management information on the total number of Pensioner Cost of Living Payments made. The information can be found here: Pensioner Cost of Living Payment management information - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)
The department has also published management information on the number of means-tested benefits and disability Cost of Living payments made. The information can be found here Cost of Living Payment management information - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)
In line with the Code of Practice for Statistics, the number of Cost of Living Payments made in specific constituencies is the subject of an upcoming statistical release, and cannot be released before that publication is ready, subject to usual quality assurance.
As reported in the DWP benefits statistics, there were 18,817 people in receipt of State Pension in Gloucester constituency in the quarter ending August 2022, a very slight increase from 18,597 in the quarter ending August 2021. This information can be found here DWP benefits statistics: February 2023 - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk). The ONS has released constituency level data on the age of the UK population using an interactive dashboard which can be found here Constituency data: population, by age (parliament.uk)
Asked by: Richard Graham (Conservative - Gloucester)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, if he will make an estimate of (a) the number of residents that will be eligible and (b) the cost to the public purse of (i) cost of living payments and (ii) disability cost of living payments in Gloucester constituency in 2023-24.
Answered by Mims Davies - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
The Department for Work and Pensions published an impact assessment analysing the impact of the Social Security (Additional Payments) (No. 2) Bill which made provisions to deliver means-tested benefit Cost of Living Payment worth up to £900 and the disability Cost of Living Payment worth £150 to support people in the financial year 2023/24.
In the impact assessment, the department estimated that the number of benefit units eligible for the means-tested payment in 2023-24 in Gloucester constituency is 15,000. The number of individuals eligible for the disability payment was estimated to be 11,900.
The impact assessment did not formally assess the cost to the public purse of administering these payments on a constituency basis. Assuming the caseloads outlined above are correct and all families receive the stated amount, the cost to the public purse of (i) cost of living payments would be £4.5 million and (ii) the cost of the disability cost of living payments would be £1.8 million.
The full impact assessment can be found here.
Asked by: Richard Graham (Conservative - Gloucester)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many pensioners received (a) a winter fuel payment and (b) cost of living support in Gloucester constituency in 2022-23.
Answered by Laura Trott - Chief Secretary to the Treasury
The number of Winter Fuel Payments received in Gloucester constituency in winter 2021 to 2022 was 18,468. Statistics for the Winter of 2022 to 2023 will be published in September 2023. A full breakdown of Winter Fuel Payment statistics can be found here: Winter Fuel Payment statistics for winter 2020 to 2021 and winter 2021 to 2022 - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk).
The Department for Work and Pensions has published management information on the total number of Pensioner Cost of Living Payments made. The information can be found here: Pensioner Cost of Living Payment management information - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)
The department has also published management information on the number of means-tested benefits and disability Cost of Living payments made. The information can be found here Cost of Living Payment management information - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)
In line with the Code of Practice for Statistics, the number of Cost of Living Payments made in specific constituencies is the subject of an upcoming statistical release, and cannot be released before that publication is ready, subject to usual quality assurance.
Asked by: Richard Graham (Conservative - Gloucester)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many teacher training places (a) in total and (b) for science subjects were available in Gloucestershire in (i) 2019 and (ii) 2022; and what proportion of places (A) in total and (B) for science were taken up.
Answered by Nick Gibb
The table attached shows the new entrants to Initial Teacher Training (ITT) in the Local Authority of Gloucestershire for the academic years 2019/20 to 2022/23, split by postgraduate and undergraduate trainees. The table includes the number of trainees for all ITT courses and for trainees on science courses.
Local Authority data is determined by the location of the institution, which is not necessarily where the trainee is located. The figures are based on data from the latest ITT census publication, available at: https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/find-statistics/initial-teacher-training-census.
The 2022/23 data is provisional and will be revised as part of the 2023/24 publication. The Department does not hold complete data on the number of teacher training places available. As such, it is not possible to provide any information on the proportion of places taken up.
Asked by: Richard Graham (Conservative - Gloucester)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many apprentices did not complete their apprenticeship in full in (a) Gloucester constituency, (b) Gloucestershire, (c) the South West and (d) England in each year between 2009 and 2022.
Answered by Robert Halfon
Apprenticeship starts and achievements for the requested geographies are presented in the attached table. Apprenticeship achievements correspond to the volume of apprenticeship programmes that are successfully completed.
Please note that apprenticeship starts and achievements within an academic year cannot be used to infer the proportion of apprenticeships that are achieved. They are independent performance metrics. Typically, apprenticeships are achieved in a subsequent academic year to the one they started in.
Asked by: Richard Graham (Conservative - Gloucester)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many apprenticeships began in (a) Gloucester, (b) Gloucestershire, (c) the South West and (d) England in each year between 2009 and 2022.
Answered by Robert Halfon
Apprenticeship starts and achievements for the requested geographies are presented in the attached table. Apprenticeship achievements correspond to the volume of apprenticeship programmes that are successfully completed.
Please note that apprenticeship starts and achievements within an academic year cannot be used to infer the proportion of apprenticeships that are achieved. They are independent performance metrics. Typically, apprenticeships are achieved in a subsequent academic year to the one they started in.
Asked by: Richard Graham (Conservative - Gloucester)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, if he will make an estimate of the proportion of people between ages 50 and retirement age who were employed in 2019.
Answered by Guy Opperman - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
Official Statistics are published annually on the economic labour market status of individuals aged 50 and over: Economic labour market status of individuals aged 50 and over - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk).
Asked by: Richard Graham (Conservative - Gloucester)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, if he will make an estimate of employment rate for people aged between 50 and retirement age.
Answered by Guy Opperman - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
Official Statistics are published annually on the economic labour market status of individuals aged 50 and over: Economic labour market status of individuals aged 50 and over - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk).
Asked by: Richard Graham (Conservative - Gloucester)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what progress his Department is making on negotiations with the French government on the recognition of UK Blue Badges in that country.
Answered by Wendy Morton
The Government remains committed to confirming the status of UK issued Blue Badges for motorists visiting Europe. Twenty countries have already committed to recognising Blue Badges and are listed on gov.uk: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/blue-badge-using-it-in-the-eu/using-a-blue-badge-in-the-european-union
Discussions continue with a number of countries. It would not be appropriate for me to comment on the progress of discussions while they are on-going.
Asked by: Richard Graham (Conservative - Gloucester)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what progress she has made on the conversion of Kickstart jobs into full-time equivalent roles and apprenticeships.
Answered by Mims Davies - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
We are delighted that over 130,000 Kickstart jobs have been started by young people and around 235,000 roles have been made available for young people to apply to through the scheme.
Many of these Kickstart jobs will lead on to further employment, training, or apprenticeships.
Jobcentre Plus Work Coaches promote apprenticeship opportunities to claimants in their regular interventions with customers and actively participate in “National Apprenticeship Week”
The Department for Work and Pensions will be monitoring and evaluating the Kickstart scheme throughout and after its implementation, and will continue to evaluate the longer-term outcomes for Kickstart participants after they have completed their six-month jobs
Jobs made available and starts quoted here include some unfunded Kickstart jobs.
Although care is taken when processing and analysing Kickstart applications, referrals and starts, the data collected might be subject to the inaccuracies inherent in any large-scale recording system, which has been developed quickly.
The management information presented here has not been subjected to the usual standard of quality assurance associated with official statistics but is provided in the interests of transparency. Work is ongoing to improve the quality of information available for the programme.