Office for Nuclear Regulation: Lost Property
Mr Iain Wright: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what meetings, briefings and discussions he has had with officials of the Office for Nuclear Regulation on the loss of a memory stick in India containing plans on Hartlepool nuclear power station; and if he will make a statement. [100002]
Chris Grayling: As Minister with responsibility for the Health and Safety Executive, including its agency the Office for Nuclear Regulation (ONR), I have regular meetings with the ONR Chair and senior officials.
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I met with the ONR Chair and the Secretary to the ONR Board on 23 February and discussed the loss of an unencrypted memory stick by a member of ONR staff while in India. I was reassured that the memory stick did not contain any significantly sensitive information. An internal investigation was conducted and work is in hand to ensure that lessons are learnt.
Guidance to ensure staff are able to understand and adhere to HSE security policies and practices is published on HSE's intranet.
Remploy
Ian Lucas: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what discussions he has had with the Welsh Government on the planned closure of Remploy factories. [100001]
Maria Miller: The Secretary of State for Work and Pensions spoke with the First Minister of Wales on the morning of 7 March 2012 before the written ministerial statement on Employment Support was laid.
I also spoke with Minister for Children, Education and Lifelong Learning in the Welsh Government on the morning of 7 March 2012 before the written ministerial statement on Employment Support was laid.
I spoke with Minister for Children, Education and Lifelong Learning on 22 February 2012 about the Sayce Review.
A meeting was offered with me on 19 January in Wales but this was cancelled by the Minister for Children, Education and Lifelong Learning.
Additionally I wrote to the Minister for Children, Education and Lifelong Learning in November 2011 inviting him to contribute to the Inter Ministerial Group on Disability Employment.
I wrote and spoke to the Minister for Children, Education and Lifelong Learning when the Sayce Review was launched last summer.
Social Security Benefits: Fraud
Priti Patel: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many benefit claimants are having money deducted from their payments as a result of fraud. [98374]
Chris Grayling: Of the 58,000 claimants who have committed fraudulent activity, and are currently in receipt of benefit, 51,000 are having money deducted from their payments.
Mr Byrne: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many staff in his Department are working on counter-fraud. [98525]
Chris Grayling:
The Fraud Investigation Service (FIS) is part of DWP and responsible for the investigation of all benefits administered by DWP. FIS pursue a criminal sanction in all cases where the evidence gathered meets the prosecutable standard. This may involve legal proceedings being taken against people who defraud the benefits system. Not all cases will be put before the courts as a prosecution. Less serious frauds will be dealt with by way of caution or administrative penalty where
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it is appropriate to do so. FIS employs 2,876 full-time equivalent staff working on counter-fraud as at January 2012.
Internal Investigations, part of DWP Internal Audit and Investigations, is responsible for investigating allegations of fraud and other serious wrongdoing by DWP staff and contractors (including providers). The whole number of full-time equivalent staff currently employed by Internal Investigations is 49.
Universal Credit
Simon Hughes: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions whether under the universal credit system 16 to 20 year-olds who are estranged from their families will qualify for benefits without being subject to conditionality measures if they spend at least 12 hours a week attending education or training. [99100]
Chris Grayling: Regulations later this year will set out the circumstances in which young people who are necessarily living away from their parents can qualify for universal credit while in non-advanced education and the extent to which any work-related requirements will apply to them.
Work Capability Assessment
Andrew Stephenson: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what assessment he has made of the effect that people being found fit to work following a work capability assessment has had on the level of unemployment in the latest period for which figures are available. [98801]
Chris Grayling: No assessment has been made and to do so would incur disproportionate cost.
The Government do not believe that it is acceptable to write people off to a lifetime on benefits because they have a health condition or impairment. Many people with health conditions are able to sustain and progress in employment. Evidence points to the negative impacts of being without work and that appropriate work is generally good for people regardless of whether or not they are disabled or have a health condition.
Andrew Stephenson: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many people found fit to work following a work capability assessment are now working in the latest period for which figures are available. [98802]
Chris Grayling: These data are not routinely available.
However, DWP has commissioned research into this as part of the wider employment and support allowance evaluation.
Work Capability: Cancer
Joan Walley: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions when the Government expect to introduce their proposals to improve the work capability assessment for cancer patients. [98833]
Chris Grayling: Our informal consultation on accounting for the effects of cancer treatment in the work capability assessment (WCA) closed on 9 March 2012.
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We are currently analysing these responses and until we have done so it would be inappropriate to make comment on any changes to the WCA.
We will publish a consultation response in due course which will outline our proposals.
Work Experience: Wales
Guto Bebb:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many employers based in (a) Aberconwy
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constituency and
(b)
Wales have taken part in the work experience programme since January 2011. [98710]
Chris Grayling: I am unable to provide the data requested as these figures have not been published. Any locally held information will not be sufficiently robust to meet National Statistics or Official Statistics publication standard.
I can however confirm that the work experience programme has been taken up by hundreds of employers throughout Wales.