The below Parliamentary question was asked by Barry Sheerman on 2014-06-04.
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what recent meetings he has had with NHS England on the contracting of provision of television services in hospitals.
Dr Daniel Poulter
My Rt. hon. Friend the Secretary of State has not had any recent meetings with NHS England on the contracting of the provision of television services in hospitals.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Helen Goodman on 2014-04-01.
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what the budget is for each (a) private and (b) public prison.
Jeremy Wright
Allocated budgets for individual prisons for financial year 2014-15 are in the process of being finalised and are not yet available.
Budget allocations will be made on the basis of need and according to Departmental priorities.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Sarah Wollaston on 2014-06-04.
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, if he will review the adequacy of the sentences available under the Cancer Act 1939 for people convicted of fraudulently advertising offers to treat cancer.
Jane Ellison
The Department last consulted on changes to the Cancer Act 1939 in 2006, and subsequently to this a Legislative Reform Order came into force in October 2008.
We do not currently have any plans to review the adequacy of the sentences available under the Act for people convicted of fraudulently advertising offers to treat cancer.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Fitzpatrick on 2014-04-01.
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what estimate his Department has made of the scale of (a) detected and (b) undetected insurance fraud in the last year for which figures are available.
Mr Shailesh Vara
The Government is committed to turning the tide on fraudulent personal injury claims. To this end, it is considering what specific reforms might be appropriate, including whether the Law Commission should be asked to consider this issue. We will make our conclusions known in due course.
No figures are available on the number of exaggerated or fabricated personal injury claims struck out by the courts. Figures for 2011 published by the Association of British Insurers (ABI) indicate that whiplash claims cost customers more than £2 billion a year and add £90 to the average motor insurance premium.
The ABI describe 7% of all motor claims in 2011 – worth £441m – as fraudulent. In addition, they estimate that a further £1 billion of motor insurance fraud went undetected in 2011.
As announced last year, we are working with stakeholders in the industry to tighten the medical evidence process so that only evidence from accredited experts can be considered, and the costs for those reports can be fixed. This will mean people can no longer profit from exaggerated or fraudulent compensation claims but victims with genuine cases can still get the help they deserve. We are introducing these reforms later in the year. We are also working to secure better data on motor accident cases, including the number of fraudulent cases.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Caroline Lucas on 2014-06-04.
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what guidance he has issued on the use of glyphosate to (a) national park authorities and (b) managers of public parks in urban areas; and if he will make a statement.
Dan Rogerson
Detailed guidance on use is provided by conditions of use on individual product labels. This is supplemented by The Code of Practice for Using Plant Protection Products, which provides guidance to all users on the safe and effective use of pesticides, including glyphosate.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Stephen Timms on 2014-04-01.
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what the minimum service levels are in the Work Programme.
Esther McVey
The minimum service delivery standards for Work Programme providers can be found through the following link:
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The below Parliamentary question was asked by Chris Williamson on 2014-06-04.
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what assessment he has made of the potential costs and benefits of bringing forward legislative proposals similar to those in the US Servicemen’s Readjustment Act 1944.
Anna Soubry
We have made no assessment of legislative proposals along these lines. We have robust measures in place to prepare our Service personnel for civilian employment as well as addressing any accommodation, welfare, health and domestic needs and concerns. As Lord Ashcroft highlighted in his recent review of transition arrangements, these measures ensure that the vast majority of Service leavers make a successful transition to civilian life.
All Service leavers are entitled to resettlement assistance from the Ministry of Defence funded Career Transition Partnership (CTP), and around 85% of those who use the CTP are employed within six months of leaving. In addition, all Service leavers are entitled to housing and financial advice and, through the Officers Association or the Regular Forces Employment Association, lifetime job finding support.
While in Service, our personnel can receive skills, qualifications and experience accredited to nationally recognised standards to ease the transition back into the civilian work place. In addition, we provide financial support to conduct vocational as well as professional advancement.
We also support a range of schemes to help veterans and their families secure appropriate accommodation. For information about the guidance and support the Department provides, I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave on 28 April 2014, (Official Report, columns 442-3W) to the hon. Member for Windsor (Mr Afriyie).
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Yasmin Qureshi on 2014-04-01.
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps he is taking to address backlogs of medical assessments for personal independence payments.
Mike Penning
We are committed to ensuring personal independence payment (PIP) claimants receive high quality, objective, fair and accurate assessments. Since the introduction of PIP new claims in April 2013, we have been closely monitoring all aspects of the process.
As personal independence payment (PIP) is a new benefit, processes are currently bedding in. Our latest analysis is telling us that the end-to-end claimant journey is taking longer than expected. We are working closely with the assessment providers to ensure that they are taking all necessary steps to improve performance, speed up the process and ensure claimants receive a satisfactory experience. We are also seeking to ensure that all the steps in the process run as smoothly as possible and that there are no barriers in our processes and systems that contribute to claims taking longer than necessary to progress.
Whilst there are no statutory (legal) requirements to complete action on a claim to PIP within a specified time, we have set both personal independence payment assessment providers a target for the length of time to complete assessments of 30 working days.
Any delays experienced in the new claims process will not affect the date from which claimants are paid; all successful claims will be paid from the date the claim was initially made or the date the qualifying period is met, whichever is the later.
As for the administration of all benefits, a claimant is free to complain about the service they have received from the Department for Work and Pensions. Complaints about the service received from our assessment providers should be made direct to the relevant assessment provider. A complaint may result in a special payment if the claimant has experienced unfair treatment or suffered financially.
The Department has robust expectations for provider performance and contracts include a full set of service level agreements setting out expectations for service delivery, including quality of assessments and the number of days to provide advice to the Department. Officials meet regularly with both assessment providers to discuss performance. The contracts include a range of remedies and failure to meet contractual obligations will result in the Department applying service credits in line with the contract.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Chris Ruane on 2014-06-04.
To ask the Deputy Prime Minister, what assessment he has made of the effectiveness of the use in Northern Ireland of prize draws to increase voter registration.
Greg Clark
No direct assessment has been made by the Cabinet Office of the use of prize draws to improve electoral registration in Northern Ireland.
However, we have learnt from the experience of Northern Ireland and used it to inform the development of Individual Electoral Registration (IER) in Great Britain. Unlike the transition to IER in Northern Ireland in 2002, in Great Britain data matching is being used to confirm the majority of current electors on the existing register without them having to make a new application. The Government has also provided £4.2 million funding which has been shared between five national organisations and all 363 local authorities in order to promote voter registration, particularly amongst under-registered groups.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Myners on 2014-04-01.
To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether they have commissioned any investigation into, or received any report about, possible manipulation of auctions conducted by the Debt Management Office on behalf of HM Treasury or of purchases of securities under the Asset Purchase Scheme.
Lord Newby
Any evidence relating to the potential manipulation of financial markets received by a public or private body or member of the public should be passed to the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA), which has a statutory responsibility for regulating conduct in financial markets.
Any investigation into the potential manipulation of financial markets would be a matter for the FCA. As a matter of policy the FCA does not normally provide any comment about potential or actual investigations or potential enforcement so as to avoid prejudicing cases.
The FCA announced on 20 March 2014 that it had taken enforcement action against an individual for the manipulation of a government bond in the run up to a Bank of England operation on 10 October 2011. The FCA’s investigation found this was the action of one trader on one day, and there was no evidence of collusion with traders in other banks.