Category: Speeches

  • Helen Jones – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    Helen Jones – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Helen Jones on 2014-03-12.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many people in Warrington currently have benefits of which type paid into a Post Office card account.

    Steve Webb

    The information is not available in the format requested as data held relates to payment accounts rather than people. A customer may receive benefits in the form of a separate payment for each benefit to which they are entitled or a single, combined payment. Each of these payments is termed a payment account which would be paid into the same Post Office card account.

    The number of payment accounts paid into a Post Office Card Account split by benefit type in Warrington Local Authority as at February 2013 is shown in the table below.

    Number of payment accounts paid via a Post Office Card Account by benefit type in Warrington Local Authority: February 2013

    Total Benefits paid via Post Office Card Accounts

    9,540

    Attendance Allowance

    390

    Bereavement Benefit

    10

    Disability Living Allowance

    1,260

    Employment and Support Allowance

    610

    Incapacity Benefit

    200

    Carer’s Allowance

    170

    Industrial Injuries Disablement Benefit

    190

    Income Support

    480

    Jobseeker’s Allowance

    440

    Pension Credit

    1,730

    State Pension

    3,970

    Severe Disablement Benefit

    90

    Widow’s Benefit

    10

    Source: DWP Information, Governance & Security Directorate, 100% data

    Notes:

    1. Figures are rounded to the nearest 10.

    2. Figures refer to payment accounts. Claimants with more than one account will be counted for each account. Figures only relate to accounts live and in payment on the specified date.

  • Maria Eagle – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    Maria Eagle – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Maria Eagle on 2014-06-04.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, how much of the Flood Defence Repair Fund paid to the Environment Agency has been (a) allocated to the Environment Agency and (b) spent by the Environment Agency to repair flood defences to date.

    Dan Rogerson

    Defra has made available to the Environment Agency an additional £30 million in 2013/14 and up to £135 million in 2014/15, to respond to the winter floods and repair flood and coastal defences. The Environment Agency spent £31.2 million on repairs and emergency response between January and March 2014. This includes £26 million on asset repair costs, £1.5 million of which was paid to local authorities. The remaining £5.2 million was spent on other associated costs, such as incident management and emergency response. These are the latest figures available.

  • Charlie Elphicke – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    Charlie Elphicke – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Charlie Elphicke on 2014-03-11.

    To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment his Department made before the 2012 Budget of the effect on stamp duty land tax and inheritance tax receipts of the introduction of a so-called mansion tax designed to raise a net sum of £2 billion per annum.

    David Gauke

    The number of residential properties in the UK valued at more than £2 million was estimated before Budget 2012 to be around 55,000.

    Before Budget 2012, an assessment of the average annual payment required from each property above £2 million in order to raise a net sum of £2 billion per annum was not made.

    On 1 July 2013, during Report stage of the Finance Bill, I referred to “a simple calculation arrived at by dividing £2 billion by 55,000 (an internal HMRC estimate of the number of properties valued at over £2 million) to give a ‘mean’ average of £36,000.”

    A so-called mansion tax would depress stamp duty land tax and inheritance tax yields. The exact impact would be dependent on the rates and bands chosen.

  • Mike Freer – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Mike Freer – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Mike Freer on 2014-06-04.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what assessment he has made of the implications for the Middle East peace process of recent reports that Hamas leader Khaled Mashaal said his organisation will not renounce violence or recognise Israel.

    Hugh Robertson

    Reuniting Gaza and the West Bank under a Palestinian Authority committed to peace with Israel is a necessary step towards resolving the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and a key element of a viable negotiated solution. We welcome the formation on 2 June of a new interim technocratic government for the Occupied Palestinian Territories. We have made clear that our continued support to the new Palestinian government will rest on its commitment to the principle of non-violence, a negotiated two state solution, and an acceptance of all previous agreements and obligations, including Israel’s legitimate right to exist. We now look to the new government to demonstrate these commitments through its actions as well as its words.

  • Paul Blomfield – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Speaker’s Committee on the Electorial Commission

    Paul Blomfield – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Speaker’s Committee on the Electorial Commission

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Paul Blomfield on 2014-03-11.

    To ask the hon. Member for South West Devon, representing the Speaker’s Committee on the Electoral Commission, what the electoral registration figures were in each ward in the recent confirmation dry run conducted in Sheffield.

    Gary Streeter

    The Electoral Commission informs me that the confirmation dry run involved matching all entries on the electoral registers against the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) Customer Information System database. Entries would be marked as green if they matched with DWP, amber if they were a partial match or red if there was no match.

    Results for all wards are available on the Commission’s website here:

    http://www.electoralcommission.org.uk/__data/assets/excel_doc/0003/163146/Confirmation-dry-run-2013-Results-Wards.xls

    The ward results for Sheffield City Council were as follows:

    Ward

    Green matches

    Amber matches

    Red matches

    Arbourthorne

    82.3%

    1.2%

    16.5%

    Beauchief & Greenhill

    85.6%

    0.9%

    13.5%

    Beighton

    87.2%

    0.7%

    12.1%

    Birley

    87.2%

    1.0%

    11.8%

    Broomhill

    37.5%

    2.8%

    59.7%

    Burngreave

    75.7%

    3.9%

    20.5%

    Central

    34.9%

    3.1%

    62.1%

    Crookes

    65.7%

    0.9%

    33.4%

    Darnall

    77.5%

    3.1%

    19.4%

    Dore & Totley

    86.1%

    1.2%

    12.7%

    East Ecclesfield

    86.2%

    1.0%

    12.7%

    Ecclesall

    81.8%

    1.2%

    17.0%

    Firth Park

    82.6%

    1.8%

    15.7%

    Fulwood

    62.8%

    1.3%

    35.9%

    Gleadless Valley

    79.3%

    1.7%

    19.0%

    Graves Park

    82.9%

    1.1%

    16.0%

    Hillsborough

    81.7%

    1.4%

    17.0%

    Manor Castle

    76.5%

    1.5%

    22.0%

    Mosborough

    85.6%

    0.9%

    13.4%

    Nether Edge

    69.4%

    2.7%

    27.9%

    Richmond

    86.1%

    1.1%

    12.8%

    Shiregreen & Brightside

    82.9%

    1.4%

    15.6%

    Southey

    84.8%

    1.1%

    14.1%

    Stannington

    84.9%

    1.8%

    13.3%

    Stocksbridge & Upper Don

    85.2%

    1.8%

    13.0%

    Walkley

    69.5%

    1.7%

    28.8%

    West Ecclesfield

    87.9%

    0.8%

    11.3%

    Woodhouse

    86.1%

    1.3%

    12.6%

    “

  • Angus Robertson – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    Angus Robertson – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Angus Robertson on 2014-06-04.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what maintenance HMS Montrose will undergo before being assigned to the Fleet Ready Escort task; and whether such tasking after a long deployment is a regular occurrence.

    Mr Mark Francois

    HMS Montrose was previously deployed in the Eastern Mediterranean. She returned to the UK for a period of planned maintenance and post-deployment leave before conducting a short port visit in London and then participating in a NATO Exercise.

    Royal Navy ships are programmed in accordance with our operational requirements, but for security reasons we do not discuss specific future operational tasking.

  • Andrew Rosindell – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    Andrew Rosindell – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Andrew Rosindell on 2014-03-11.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps his Department is taking to penalise those who fail to attend scheduled meetings at jobcentres.

    Esther McVey

    Where a person is required to attend an interview as part of their obligations as a benefit claimant, and subsequently fails to attend that interview, a sanction will be applied to their benefit unless they can show good reason/cause for their failure.

  • Eric Joyce – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Eric Joyce – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Eric Joyce on 2014-06-04.

    To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether any UK citizens would involuntarily lose resident citizenship as a result of Scottish independence.

    Karen Bradley

    In the event of a vote for independence, decisions about UK citizenship would
    rest with the UK Government; the basis for entitlement to Scottish citizenship
    would be for the government of an independent Scottish state to decide.

    The UK has historically been tolerant of plural nationalities, and therefore it
    is likely that it would be possible for an individual to hold both British and
    Scottish citizenship. However, under current rules British citizens living
    outside the UK cannot pass their British nationality on more than one
    generation. So, the children of British citizens living in an independent
    Scotland would be British citizens, but their children and subsequent
    generations would not be.

    The government of the continuing UK would also need to consider whether all
    British citizens living in Scotland could retain their British citizenship upon
    independence. This cannot be guaranteed and could be dependent on any residence
    requirements or proof of affinity to the continuing UK. It is not possible to
    predict now what the decision of a future government of the continuing UK might
    be in this area.

  • Ian Murray – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    Ian Murray – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Ian Murray on 2014-03-11.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what assessment his Department has made of the future use of the Post Office Card Account; and if he will make a statement.

    Steve Webb

    The Post Office card account (POca) contract expires in March 2015 with the possibility of a 2 year extension beyond that date.

    The POca is a very simple account designed for the receipt of pensions and legacy benefits. It cannot be used for the payment of wages/salaries and does not offer transactional services such as direct debits so will not be suitable for the majority of working age claimants eligible for Universal Credit.

    No decision has been made on the future of the POca but discussions are currently taking place between DWP, Post Office Ltd and the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills to consider the future needs of customers beyond 2015 and any announcement on this matter will be made in due course.

    Ministers and Officials have also met with relevant stakeholders, including the National Federation of Sub-Postmasters to discuss POca related issues.

  • Barry Sheerman – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Barry Sheerman – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Barry Sheerman on 2014-06-04.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what steps he has taken to ensure that patients with prostate cancer receive the highest quality treatment.

    Jane Ellison

    Newly updated National Institute for Health and Care Excellence guidance on how best to diagnose and treat prostate cancer will help doctors to ensure that men are given information about the treatment options available and help in choosing the best option to suit them. The updated guidance also aims to reduce the uncertainty and variations in practice that remain in some areas of prostate cancer diagnosis and management.

    Since the original recommendations were published in 2008, a number of new treatments have been licensed for the management of hormone-relapsed metastatic prostate cancer. There is also more information now available on the best way to diagnose and identify the different stages of the disease in a hospital setting, as well as how best to manage the side effects of radical treatment. NHS England would expect providers to take account of best evidence and treatments in their delivery of services.