Asked by: Stephen Timms (Labour - East Ham)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, what steps his Department is taking to help quantify the (a) economic and (b) social value of faith groups to the UK.
Answered by Simon Hoare
Faith is a vital part of peoples’ identities and of their communities. It guides the moral outlook of many, inspiring great numbers of people to public service. This Government recognises the huge contribution of people of faith to public life, and supports the work of faith groups across the country to provide help to those in need.
We are currently considering the findings and recommendations of Colin Bloom’s independent review on faith engagement, published last year. This review presents us with an opportunity to understand better the contribution of faith groups to our society, and the vital role that they play in our national life.
Asked by: Stephen Timms (Labour - East Ham)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many outstanding Carer’s Allowance Verify Earnings and Pension service alerts there were at the end of the financial year 2023-24.
Answered by Mims Davies - Shadow Minister for Women and Equalities
The DWP is currently developing recommendations focused on helping claimants understand their responsibilities to report a change of circumstances and how DWP can help prevent the accumulation of debts amongst Carer’s Allowance claimants.
Asked by: Stephen Timms (Labour - East Ham)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many people are in debt to the Department through overpayments of Carers Allowance; and how much do they owe in total.
Answered by Paul Maynard
As of 14th May 2024, the volume of people who have an outstanding Carers Allowance debt is 134,800 with a total value of £251m. This figure represents the total stock and as such the total monetary amount may have been accrued over multiple years. Those who have an outstanding Carers Allowance debt may no longer be in receipt of the benefit.
Women make up the majority of Carer’s Allowance claims, and this is reflected in the proportion of those with an outstanding Carer’s Allowance debt. As of 14th May 2024, there were 42,800 (32%) males, 91,900 (68%) females and 100 (less than 1%) not identified, with an outstanding Carers Allowance debt.
As of November 2023, there were over 991,000 people in receipt of Carers Allowance. That figure is made up of over 271,000 (27%) males and 720,000 (73%) females.
The data contained in our response has been sourced from internal DWP management information, which is intended only to help the Department to manage its business. It is not intended for publication and has not been subject to the same quality assurance checks applied to our published official statistics. It should therefore be treated with caution.
All figures provided have been rounded.
Asked by: Stephen Timms (Labour - East Ham)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many (a) men and (b) women are in debt to his Department through overpayments of Carers Allowance.
Answered by Paul Maynard
As of 14th May 2024, the volume of people who have an outstanding Carers Allowance debt is 134,800 with a total value of £251m. This figure represents the total stock and as such the total monetary amount may have been accrued over multiple years. Those who have an outstanding Carers Allowance debt may no longer be in receipt of the benefit.
Women make up the majority of Carer’s Allowance claims, and this is reflected in the proportion of those with an outstanding Carer’s Allowance debt. As of 14th May 2024, there were 42,800 (32%) males, 91,900 (68%) females and 100 (less than 1%) not identified, with an outstanding Carers Allowance debt.
As of November 2023, there were over 991,000 people in receipt of Carers Allowance. That figure is made up of over 271,000 (27%) males and 720,000 (73%) females.
The data contained in our response has been sourced from internal DWP management information, which is intended only to help the Department to manage its business. It is not intended for publication and has not been subject to the same quality assurance checks applied to our published official statistics. It should therefore be treated with caution.
All figures provided have been rounded.
Asked by: Stephen Timms (Labour - East Ham)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many Carer’s Allowance overpayment cases are being investigated by his Department; and if he will publish the level of overpayments being pursued, broken down into £1,000 ranges in the financial year 2023-24.
Answered by Paul Maynard
There are currently 750 live cases where Carers Allowance is shown as the “primary” benefit under investigation.
We do not hold information on the size of any individual overpayment whilst the investigation process is taking place – this is not determined until the investigation is completed.
Asked by: Stephen Timms (Labour - East Ham)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, when she last held discussions with the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs on the sale of arms to Israel.
Answered by Alan Mak - Shadow Economic Secretary (Treasury)
To support her decisions on export licensing to Israel, the Secretary of State for Business and Trade regularly receives advice from the Foreign Secretary and FCDO.
We continue to monitor the situation in Israel and Gaza closely, and all of our export licences are kept under careful and continual review.
Asked by: Stephen Timms (Labour - East Ham)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Deputy Foreign Secretary, pursuant to the Answer of 7 May 2024 to Question 24566 on UNRWA: Finance, when he plans to complete his careful consideration of Catherine Colonna's final report, UNRWA's response and the ongoing UN Office for Internal Oversight Services investigation.
Answered by Andrew Mitchell - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office) (Minister for Development)
As set out in the answer to Question 24566, the UK will set out its position on future funding to UNRWA following careful consideration of Catherine Colonna's final report, UNRWA's response and the ongoing UN Office for Internal Oversight Services investigation.
Asked by: Stephen Timms (Labour - East Ham)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what plans she has to uprate the income threshold for eligibility for free school meals.
Answered by Damian Hinds
The department has extended free school meal (FSM) support several times and to more groups of children than any other government over the past half a century. As a result, the greatest ever proportion of children are now receiving free lunches. Over one third of children are now eligible for FSM, compared to one in six in 2010.
However, a threshold must be set somewhere. The department believes that the current eligibility threshold level, which enables children in low-income households to benefit from FSM, while remaining affordable and deliverable for schools, is the correct decision.
The department will continue to keep FSM eligibility under review to ensure that these meals are supporting those who most need them.
Asked by: Stephen Timms (Labour - East Ham)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Deputy Foreign Secretary, what recent discussions Ministers in his Department have had with their Egyptian counterparts on Alaa Abd El-Fattah.
Answered by David Rutley
Ministers and officials continue to raise Mr Alaa Abd El-Fattah's case at the highest levels with the Egyptian government. They have been consistently clear in calling for his release and continue to press for urgent consular access.
The Foreign Secretary raised this case with Egyptian Foreign Minister Shoukry on 29 April 2024 and previously on 22 February 2024. The Minister of State for the Middle East, Lord (Tariq) Ahmad of Wimbledon raised this case with Foreign Minister Shoukry on 28 March 2024 and with the Egyptian Ambassador on 20 February 2024. The Prime Minister also spoke to President Sisi about Mr El-Fattah on 1 December 2023.
Asked by: Stephen Timms (Labour - East Ham)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many and what proportion of people who claimed Carer's Allowance were caring for someone in receipt of a Personal Independence Payment in the past 12 months.
Answered by Mims Davies - Shadow Minister for Women and Equalities
This information is only available at disproportionate cost to The Department for Work & Pensions as the Department does not have a business requirement for this information to be retained.