Through April constituents continued to come to my regular surgery for help with their specific issues, including…….
A constituent of mine contacted me regarding Child Support Agency (CSA) payments for his daughter. He had advised the CSA in November 2013 that he is now the parent with care but had not yet received any payment. I escalated the matter with the CSA. The Agency apologised for the delay in completing his application for child maintenance and for the inconvenience caused. They will be making a financial loss payment backdated to November 2013.
A local sole trader in a small shop contacted me regarding bills he had received for the use of recorded music in his shop. He had informed Phonographic Performance Limited (PPL) that he was not using music in his business but he still received invoices for the cost of a licence (£145.31) followed by a second bill with a 50% surcharge. He felt that PPL were behaving aggressively and I wrote to the Chief Executive Officer to ensure that their approach is fair and proportionate. The matter was resolved quickly and outstanding invoices were cancelled. My constituent wrote: “Thank you for your help in resolving the complaint regarding PPL.”
I was contacted by a constituent regarding his sanction for allegedly not looking for work. He had searched for between 5-7 jobs and disputed the sanction on the basis that he endeavoured to use the Jobmatch system with his ID number but the password and ID had been changed. I asked DWP to reconsider the matter and the decision was changed in his favour and arrears paid to him.