The below Parliamentary question was asked by Gloria De Piero on 2014-06-17.
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many claimants for personal independence payments who require a home consultation have waited longer than (a) one, (b) two, (c) three, (d) four, (e) five and (f) six or more months for such a consultation.
Mike Penning
The information you have requested is not currently available.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Matthew Offord on 2014-04-10.
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, what steps he is taking to ensure that the renewable heat incentive scheme is targeted on households most in need of help with their energy bills.
Gregory Barker
The domestic Renewable Heat Incentive (RHI) is targeted at, but not limited to, homes off the gas grid, which are more expensive to heat than those with mains gas. Households without mains gas have the most potential to save on their fuel bills and decrease their carbon emissions. The RHI is funded through general taxation rather than through a ‘green levy’ on energy bills.
As well as homeowners, the domestic RHI is also open to social landlords and private landlords. Following the very successful Renewable Heat Premium Payment Social Landlords’ Competitions, with over 4,200 installations to date, we expect to see significant take-up in the social housing sector.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Biography information for Jim Cunningham on Home Office.
1
Karen Bradley
The UK has a proud record of offering sanctuary to those who need it. Each
claim for asylum is carefully considered and where we find individuals are in
need of our protection, asylum is given. However, to be eligible for
international protection, a person must be located outside of their country of
origin.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Andrew Rosindell on 2014-04-10.
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what discussions he has had with representatives from the European Commission on European sanctions on Russia.
Mr David Lidington
As the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, my right hon. Friend the Member for Richmond (Yorks) (Mr Hague) told the House on 8 April, we are gravely concerned about the situation in Crimea and in the east of Ukraine. We have consistently condemned Russia’s illegal annexation of Crimea including in public statements, international fora, and in bilateral contacts with the Russian Federation.
The UK has played a key role in ensuring a tough and united response from the international community. We have reviewed all bilateral engagement with Russia and have frozen military cooperation, refused export licence requests which may be used by the Russian military, and postponed a number of planned Ministerial Summits. Along with other G7 members, the UK has withdrawn participation in the planned G8 Summit in Sochi in June, and will instead take part in a G7 meeting in Brussels.
The Foreign Secretary has taken part in a number of discussions on sanctions at the EU Foreign Affairs Council (FAC), in which the European Commission has also been involved. On 14 April, the FAC agreed to expand the second tier of sanctions and to add further names to the list of individuals subject to those sanctions. The FAC agreed on the urgency of completing work on a possible third tier of more far reaching sanctions, which might be implemented in the absence of meaningful diplomatic engagement by Russia or further provocation against Ukraine. The European Commission was tasked to identify such economic measures.
As the Foreign Secretary has made clear to the Russian Foreign Minister, the EU remains prepared to impose additional sanctions should that become necessary. Russia should be clear that any deliberate escalation of this crisis may bring serious political and economic consequences.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Biography information for Baroness McIntosh of Pickering on Justice.
1
Mr Shailesh Vara
The First-tier Tribunal (Social Security and Child Support), administered by HM Courts & Tribunals Service (HMCTS), hears appeals against Department for Work and Pensions’ decisions on a range of benefits, including a person’s entitlement to Personal Independence Payment (PIP).
(1) Claimants for PIP can appeal to the Tribunal on a number of different grounds, such as the rate of benefit awarded. HMCTS is unable to isolate data relating to appeals solely on the basis of a claim for PIP having been refused. HMCTS does not, therefore, hold the specific information requested.
Information on all appeals against PIP decisions is published by HMCTS in Tribunal Statistics Quarterly. The most recent report for the period January to March 2014, published on 12 June 2014, can be viewed at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/tribunal-statistics-quarterly-january-to-march-2014
HMCTS has responded strongly to continue to increase the capacity of the SSCS tribunal and reduce waiting times. Initiatives have included increasing venue capacity and recruiting additional judges and medically qualified members.
This has resulted in 545,840 appeal disposals in 2013/14. This is a 17% increase compared to 2012/13 (465,500) and a 26% increase compared to 2011/12 (433,600).
(2) I receive regular representations on the SSCS appeals process which are taken into account as we keep the system under review. However, to date, I have not received any representations on the length of time the PIP appeals procedure takes.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Andrew Bingham on 2014-04-10.
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what proportion of NHS funding is allocated to (a) mental and (b) physical health care.
Norman Lamb
The International Classification of Diseases is the standard diagnostic tool for epidemiology, health management and clinical purposes. This includes the analysis of the general health situation of population groups. It is used to monitor the incidence and prevalence of diseases and other health problems.
The Tenth Revision of the International Statistical Classification of Diseases and Related Health Problems includes in Chapter V a detailed classification of more than 300 mental and behavioural disorders. Its publication follows extensive field-testing by more than 100 clinical and research centres in 40 countries.
Aggregate primary care trust (PCT) expenditure on mental health was £11.28 billion in 2012-13, which is 11.9% of the £94.78 billion total spend by PCTs. The estimate of expenditure on mental health does not include the majority of expenditure on primary care appointments which is recorded as a separate programme category.
It is not possible to provide an estimate of expenditure on physical health. A number of programme categories will have elements of expenditure which could be classified as non-physical, for example, learning disabilities, neurological and social care.
The Department has made no estimate of the cost to the economy of untreated mental illness.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Biography information for Andrew Jones on Work and Pensions.
1
Esther McVey
Since 2010/11 expenditure on benefits and tax credits paid to people not in work has fallen in real terms from £43.2bn to £42.2bn in 2013/14, and is forecast to fall further, to £40.6bn this year. This is due to a combination of factors including welfare reform, changes to benefits and significant employment growth. The number of people in work has risen by 1.7 million since 2010, and the number of people claiming the main out of work benefits has fallen by over 700,000.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Yasmin Qureshi on 2014-04-10.
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what recent discussions his Department has had on the potential for Patient Reported Outcome Measures to be used to measure improvements in outcomes for breast cancer patients.
Jane Ellison
No recent Ministerial discussions have taken place on the potential for Patient Reported Outcome Measures to be used to measure improvements in outcomes for breast cancer patients.
NHS England took over responsibility for the Cancer Patient Experience Survey (CPES) on 1 April 2013. The development of the CPES is overseen by the Cancer Patient Experience Advisory Group (CPEAG), which has a wide ranging membership including clinicians, cancer charities, experts in survey methodologies, research bodies, health service commissioners and NHS England staff.
The survey questionnaire is reviewed by CPEAG each year to ensure that it captures the best information and as part of the process for the next survey, NHS England is engaging with a range of stakeholders to look at how it can improve and amend the survey appropriately.
In the meantime, NHS England has added a new question to the 2014 survey questionnaire to identify patients who have been diagnosed with cancer more than once because the evidence suggests that there may be a difference in the experience of those patients.
The results of the 2014 survey will be published later this year.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Biography information for Gordon Brown on Defence.
1
Dr Andrew Murrison
The Ministry of Defence (MOD) published the Dalgety Bay Management Strategy report on 10 July 2014. The MOD has agreed in principle to implement the measures recommended in the report, though the arrangements are subject to discussion with other parties.
Consultation on implementing the strategy will now be led by the Scottish Environment Protection Agency, which will set out its timetable.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Priti Patel on 2014-04-10.
To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what estimate he has made of the (a) number of cigarettes, (b) volume of roll-your own tobacco and (c) value of the (i) cigarettes and (ii) tobacco smuggled into the UK in each of the last five years.
Nicky Morgan
Estimates of the volume and total revenue losses associated with the tobacco illicit market are published in ‘Tobacco Tax Gap estimates: 2012-13′. The figures are available in tables 4.1 and 4.5.
These estimates cannot be disaggregated by the type of illicit activity, e.g. through smuggling, counterfeiting or other fraud.
The methodology for producing the estimates are provided in the ‘Methodological Annex for Measuring Tax Gaps 2013′.
Both documents can be accessed via the following page on the HMRC website:
https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/measuring-tax-gaps
“