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  • Chris Bryant – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Scotland Office

    Chris Bryant – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Scotland Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Chris Bryant on 2014-06-26.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland, if he will estimate the cost to the public purse of extending entitlement to NHS dentistry exemptions to all claimants of universal credit once universal credit has been fully rolled out in Scotland.

    David Mundell

    The Scottish Government is responsible for defining the entitlement criteria for these passported benefits. They will need to consider the current eligibility criteria and make arrangements to ensure that they can continue to deliver these benefits as Universal Credit is introduced.

    There is ongoing engagement between the Scottish Government and the Department for Work and Pensions to ensure that any solution is simple, fair, easy to understand and affordable.

  • Chris Bryant – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Scotland Office

    Chris Bryant – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Scotland Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Chris Bryant on 2014-06-26.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland, if he will estimate the cost to the public purse of extending entitlement to NHS prescriptions to all claimants of universal credit once universal credit has been fully rolled out in Scotland.

    David Mundell

    The Scottish Government is responsible for defining the entitlement criteria for these passported benefits. They will need to consider the current eligibility criteria and make arrangements to ensure that they can continue to deliver these benefits as Universal Credit is introduced.

    There is ongoing engagement between the Scottish Government and the Department for Work and Pensions to ensure that any solution is simple, fair, easy to understand and affordable.

  • Chris Bryant – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Scotland Office

    Chris Bryant – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Scotland Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Chris Bryant on 2014-06-26.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland, if he will estimate the cost to the public purse of extending entitlement to the energy assistance package, stage 3, to all claimants of universal credit once universal credit has been fully rolled out in Scotland.

    David Mundell

    The Scottish Government is responsible for defining the entitlement criteria for these passported benefits. They will need to consider the current eligibility criteria and make arrangements to ensure that they can continue to deliver these benefits as Universal Credit is introduced.

    There is ongoing engagement between the Scottish Government and the Department for Work and Pensions to ensure that any solution is simple, fair, easy to understand and affordable.

  • Chris Bryant – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Scotland Office

    Chris Bryant – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Scotland Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Chris Bryant on 2014-06-26.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland, if he will estimate the cost to the public purse of extending entitlement to education maintenance allowance to all claimants of universal credit once universal credit has been fully rolled out in Scotland.

    David Mundell

    The Scottish Government is responsible for defining the entitlement criteria for these passported benefits. They will need to consider the current eligibility criteria and make arrangements to ensure that they can continue to deliver these benefits as Universal Credit is introduced.

    There is ongoing engagement between the Scottish Government and the Department for Work and Pensions to ensure that any solution is simple, fair, easy to understand and affordable.

  • Chris Bryant – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Scotland Office

    Chris Bryant – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Scotland Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Chris Bryant on 2014-06-26.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland, if he will estimate the cost to the public purse of extending entitlement to repayment of children’s welfare loans to all claimants of universal credit once universal credit has been fully rolled out in Scotland.

    David Mundell

    The Scottish Government is responsible for defining the entitlement criteria for these passported benefits. They will need to consider the current eligibility criteria and make arrangements to ensure that they can continue to deliver these benefits as Universal Credit is introduced.

    There is ongoing engagement between the Scottish Government and the Department for Work and Pensions to ensure that any solution is simple, fair, easy to understand and affordable.

  • Chris Bryant – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Scotland Office

    Chris Bryant – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Scotland Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Chris Bryant on 2014-06-26.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland, if he will estimate the cost to the public purse of extending entitlement to court fees exemptions to all claimants of universal credit once universal credit has been fully rolled out in Scotland.

    David Mundell

    The Scottish Government is responsible for defining the entitlement criteria for these passported benefits. They will need to consider the current eligibility criteria and make arrangements to ensure that they can continue to deliver these benefits as Universal Credit is introduced.

    There is ongoing engagement between the Scottish Government and the Department for Work and Pensions to ensure that any solution is simple, fair, easy to understand and affordable.

  • Margaret Ritchie – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Northern Ireland Office

    Margaret Ritchie – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Northern Ireland Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Margaret Ritchie on 2014-06-26.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, what role she will play in the forthcoming talks between party leaders in Northern Ireland.

    Mrs Theresa Villiers

    I welcome the intensification of the party leaders’ talks. The Government will continue to support the parties in their efforts wherever possible. It is essential that early progress is made with every effort to secure an agreement as quickly as possible.

  • Ivan Lewis – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Northern Ireland Office

    Ivan Lewis – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Northern Ireland Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Ivan Lewis on 2014-06-26.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, what support her Department has given to secure the establishment of US immigration, customs and agricultural pre-clearance at Belfast International Airport.

    Mrs Theresa Villiers

    My Department has been working with the Northern Ireland Department of Enterprise, Trade and Investment to understand the issues surrounding US immigration, customs, and agricultural pre-clearance at Belfast International Airport.

  • Philip Davies – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    Philip Davies – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Philip Davies on 2014-06-26.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, how many prisoners have completed university degrees inside prison in each of the last 10 years; and what the cost to the public purse was of that education.

    Matthew Hancock

    Most prisoners who study higher education (HE) in custody do so through the Open University (OU). The table below shows the number of prisoners in England who have completed OU degrees whilst in prison from academic year 2003/04. Prior to September 2012, the costs of prisoners’ tuition were met from public funds in an arrangement that broadly mirrored the grant arrangements for other part-time HE students. The OU’s additional costs for delivering in custody are met through a grant from the Department. We do not have information on the public funding for these specific learners. From September 2012, prisoners have been required to take out, and then repay, tuition fee loans in the same way as other learners.

    Number of prisoners completing Open University degrees in prisons from 2003/04

    Award Year (academic year)

    Total number of prisoners

    2003/04

    4

    2004/05

    10

    2005/06

    14

    2006/07

    10

    2007/08

    11

    2008/09

    22

    2009/10

    19

    2010/11

    23

    2011/12

    26

    2012/13

    16

    Total

    155

    England only

    Information supplied by the Open University

  • Philip Davies – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    Philip Davies – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Philip Davies on 2014-06-26.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many safety officers are employed by probation trusts to help (a) female and (b) male victims of domestic violence.

    Jeremy Wright

    The information requested is not available as it was not collected centrally from the probation trusts. Probation trusts ceased to provide probation services from midnight on 31st May 2014.

    National Probation Service (NPS) and Community Rehabilitation Companies (CRCs) commenced operations on 1st June 2014.

    Information on staffing levels at Probation Trust level was published in the Quarterly Probation Service Workforce Information reports. The link to the reports on GOV.UK is provided below:

    https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/probation-service-workforce-quarterly-reports