Asked by: Jonathan Ashworth (Labour (Co-op) - Leicester South)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, pursuant to the Answers of 23 February 2022 to Question 125365 and 8 March 2022 to Question 134067 on Maternity Allowance, and with reference to the data on Statutory Maternity Pay starts provided by HM Revenue & Customs in Freedom of Information Act responses dated 5 June 2019 (FOI2019/01113) and 24 September 2021 (FOI2021/20932), what assessment she has made of the reasons for the absence of any decline in the number of Statutory Maternity Pay starts over the period in which the number of grants of Maternity Allowance to employed women has fallen by 45 per cent.
Answered by Guy Opperman - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
Statutory Maternity Pay (SMP) is delivered through HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC), rather than the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP). DWP does not hold the raw data on Statutory Maternity Payment starts.
The estimated number of women on the caseload for SMP and Maternity Allowance (MA) is published on www.gov.uk - Benefit expenditure and caseload tables 2021.
The caseload has decreased for both MA and SMP in the period from 2016/17 to 2020/21. The reason for the larger decrease in MA than SMP, has not been fully assessed.
We continue to monitor changes to the number of MA claims, and changes to SMP figures, and are actively looking into them.
Asked by: Karen Buck (Labour - Westminster North)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, when her Department received advice from the Government Legal Service on the Prime Minister’s Implementation Unit report into the effectiveness of support for vulnerable people claiming Universal Credit and the cover report to it that went to the UC Programme Board in October 2019 should be withheld from publication on the basis of section 36 of the Freedom of Information Act (prejudice to the effective conduct of public affairs).
Answered by David Rutley - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
The Department has not received advice from the Government Legal Service related to this request. Engaging section 36 of the Freedom of Information Act requires that a ‘qualified person’ agrees that, on balance, it is in the public interest to withhold the information from publication.
Asked by: Wera Hobhouse (Liberal Democrat - Bath)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, pursuant to the Answers of 23 February 2022 to Question 125365 and 8 March 2022 to Question 134067 on Maternity Allowance, and with reference to the data on Statutory Maternity Pay starts provided by HMRC in Freedom of Information Act responses dated 5 June 2019 (FOI2019/01113) and 24 September 2021 (FOI2021/20932), what assessment she has made of the reasons for the absence of any decline in the number of Statutory Maternity Pay starts over the period in which the number of grants of Maternity Allowance to employed women has fallen by 45 per cent.
Answered by Guy Opperman - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
Statutory Maternity Pay is delivered through HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC). The Department for Work and Pensions does not hold the raw data on Statutory Maternity Payment starts.
Asked by: Cat Smith (Labour - Lancaster and Fleetwood)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, pursuant to the Answer of 24 June 2021 to Question 21940 on Department for Work and Pensions: Freedom of Information, if she will publish the number of freedom of information requests her Department has referred to the central Cabinet Office Clearing House for advice on handling in 2020-21.
Answered by Guy Opperman - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
The Department currently has no plans to publish this information. We do not capture data on the number of requests which are referred to the Cabinet Office Clearing House.
Official statistics on Freedom of Information requests are published by the Cabinet Office on a quarterly basis, available on gov.uk here - https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/government-foi-statistics
Asked by: Cat Smith (Labour - Lancaster and Fleetwood)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many freedom of information requests her Department has referred to the central Cabinet Office Clearing House for advice on handling in each year since 2016.
Answered by Guy Opperman - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
DWP has referred requests to the Cabinet Office Clearing House where appropriate and in line with the published criteria, which is available on gov.uk here - https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/cabinet-office-and-freedom-of-information
Asked by: Cat Smith (Labour - Lancaster and Fleetwood)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether her Department operates a red, amber and green rating system for categorising Freedom of Information requests according to their presentational sensitivity.
Answered by Guy Opperman - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
The Department does not operate any rating system for categorising Freedom of Information requests according to their presentational sensitivity.
We respond to all Freedom of Information requests under our obligations as set out in the Freedom of Information Act 2000.
All Freedom of Information requests are judged purpose-blind and presentational sensitivity has no bearing on whether we should release information under the Freedom of Information Act or not.
Asked by: Jonathan Reynolds (Labour (Co-op) - Stalybridge and Hyde)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether her Department has referred any Freedom of Information requests received by her Department to the central Cabinet Office Clearing House on Freedom of Information requests for advice on handling, in the last two years.
Answered by Guy Opperman - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
FOI requests are referred to the Clearing House in line with the published criteria available on gov.uk. The Clearing House, which has been in existence since 2004, provides advice to ensure a consistent approach across government to requests for information.
Asked by: Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi (Labour - Slough)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, pursuant to the Answer of 2 June 2021 to Question 6423, if he will publish (a) the conclusions of the two Internal Process Reviews following receipt of a Prevention of Future Death Report and (b) any actions the Department has taken following these reviews.
Answered by Justin Tomlinson - Minister of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
Internal Process Reviews are internal retrospective investigations, focussed on organisational learning. They are internal reviews that check if process was followed, in order to encourage learning and to drive change through the Department. We have no plans to publish any Internal Process Reviews or their conclusions, but will continue to follow our duties under the Freedom of Information Act, in line with the 2016 First Tier Tribunal ruling on what information can lawfully be disclosed.
The steps the Department has taken following the cases in question is outlined in our responses to the relevant Prevention of Future Deaths reports. The reports and responses can be found at the links below:
https://www.judiciary.uk/publications/michael-osullivan/
https://www.judiciary.uk/publications/alexander-boamah/
Asked by: Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi (Labour - Slough)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, pursuant to the Answer of 2 June 2021 to Question 6423, if she will publish (a) the conclusions of the two internal process reviews following receipt of a Prevention of Future Death Report, and (b) the steps her Department has taken in response to those reviews.
Answered by Justin Tomlinson - Minister of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
Internal Process Reviews are internal retrospective investigations, focussed on organisational learning. They are internal reviews that check if process was followed, in order to encourage learning and to drive change through the Department. We have no plans to publish any Internal Process Reviews or their conclusions, but will continue to follow our duties under the Freedom of Information Act, in line with the 2016 First Tier Tribunal ruling on what information can lawfully be disclosed.
The steps the Department has taken following the cases in question is outlined in our responses to the relevant Prevention of Future Deaths reports. The reports and responses can be found at the links below:
https://www.judiciary.uk/publications/michael-osullivan/
https://www.judiciary.uk/publications/alexander-boamah/
Asked by: Debbie Abrahams (Labour - Oldham East and Saddleworth)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, if she will publish details of the Internal Process Reviews completed by her Department from April 2019 to November 2020.
Answered by Justin Tomlinson - Minister of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
Internal Process Reviews are internal retrospective investigations, focussed on organisational learning. They are internal reviews that check if process was followed, to encourage learning and to drive change through the Department. We have no plans to publish any Internal Process Reviews, but will continue to follow our duties under the Freedom of Information Act in line with the 2016 First Tier Tribunal ruling in relation to what information can lawfully be disclosed.
Our priority is that claimants get the benefits to which they are entitled promptly and receive a supportive and compassionate service. In the vast majority of cases this happens but when, sadly, there is a tragic case we take it very seriously and seek to learn any lessons as appropriate.