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  • Lord Hunt of Kings Heath – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Lord Hunt of Kings Heath – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Hunt of Kings Heath on 2016-05-04.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what role local authorities will play in the development of Sustainability and Transformation Plans other than through membership of Health and Wellbeing Boards.

    Lord Prior of Brampton

    The NHS Planning Guidance, published in December 2015, explained that the success of Sustainability and Transformation Plans will depend on having an open, engaging, and iterative process that harnesses the energies of clinicians, patients, carers, citizens, local authorities, health and wellbeing boards, and local community partners. Local authorities should be fully engaged in the development of all Sustainability and Transformation Plans. In some cases, local National Health Service organisations have agreed with local authorities that a senior council leader will lead the Sustainability and Transformation Plan for their area.

  • Lord Hunt of Kings Heath – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Lord Hunt of Kings Heath – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Hunt of Kings Heath on 2016-05-04.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what formal public consultation will need to take place when Sustainability and Transformation Plans are given approval by NHS England.

    Lord Prior of Brampton

    Where Sustainability and Transformation plans envisage changes to the way that NHS services are commissioned or delivered, it will be the responsibility of the relevant clinical commissioning groups to involve patients and the public in considering and making decisions on those proposals, in line with their duties under the National Health Service Act 2006.

  • Lord Hunt of Kings Heath – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Lord Hunt of Kings Heath – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Hunt of Kings Heath on 2016-05-04.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what formal public consultation will need to take place before Sustainability and Transformation Plans are submitted to NHS England by 30 June.

    Lord Prior of Brampton

    Where Sustainability and Transformation plans envisage changes to the way that NHS services are commissioned or delivered, it will be the responsibility of the relevant clinical commissioning groups to involve patients and the public in considering and making decisions on those proposals, in line with their duties under the National Health Service Act 2006.

  • Lord Hunt of Kings Heath – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Lord Hunt of Kings Heath – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Hunt of Kings Heath on 2016-05-04.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what form of delegation from Clinical Commissioning Groups is being made to ensure appropriate governance in relation to Sustainability and Transformation Plans.

    Lord Prior of Brampton

    Clinical commissioning groups (CCGs) remain accountable for securing high-quality healthcare services for their local populations. In some areas, CCGs have established or are planning to establish collaborative commissioning arrangements across a number of CCGs and/or with local authorities, where they consider that this will help them improve quality and outcomes for their local population.

  • Lord Hunt of Kings Heath – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Lord Hunt of Kings Heath – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Hunt of Kings Heath on 2016-05-04.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government how the governance arrangements put in place to oversee the development of Sustainability and Transformation Plans will ensure appropriate accountability to Parliament for decisions made.

    Lord Prior of Brampton

    The development of Sustainability and Transformation Plans does not alter the existing statutory responsibilities of clinical commissioning groups, local authorities and NHS arms length bodies. Sustainability and Transformation Plans are designed to enable local health and care leaders to work together more collaboratively to help each other meet their statutory responsibilities more effectively and efficiently. They do not alter existing arrangements for accountability.

  • Hannah Bardell – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    Hannah Bardell – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Hannah Bardell on 2016-05-04.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what (a) medical and (b) other guidance his Department makes available to staff making decisions on benefit claims for people with Ehlers-Danlos syndrome.

    Justin Tomlinson

    Departmental decision makers have access to specific online guidance on Joint Hypermobility Syndrome that contains a link to the Ehlers – Danlos Support UK website.

  • Julian Knight – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    Julian Knight – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Julian Knight on 2016-05-04.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what plans he has to extend the Pensions Wise service to people (a) between 20 and 40 and (b) between 40 and 50; and if he will make that service available to advise people on whether to invest in a lifetime ISA or under auto enrolment.

    Justin Tomlinson

    Pension Wise provides free and impartial guidance to those aged 50 and over with a defined contribution pension to help them understand their options.

    It was announced at the 2015 summer budget that the age for eligibility would be lowered to 50. Pension Wise has developed new content for 50 – 54 year olds to make the guidance appointments more relevant to their needs and this is now live.

    The government plans to restructure the delivery of public financial guidance to ensure that all consumers can access the help they need when they need it.

    Pension Wise does not give specific advice on products or provider recommendations. There are currently no plans for Pension Wise to provide guidance on lifetime ISAs or Automatic Enrolment.

  • Julian Knight – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    Julian Knight – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Julian Knight on 2016-05-04.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what assessment he has made of the potential effects on auto enrolment of the roll-out of the lifetime ISA.

    Justin Tomlinson

    Automatic enrolment is the cornerstone of this Government’s private pension reforms, normalising pension saving and reversing the decade long decline in pension savings prior to introduction in 2012. It has been a great success to date with over 6 million people enrolled and opt-outs low at around 10 per cent.

    The Lifetime ISA is not a part of the pension system but an additional flexible savings product that can complement pension saving but not replace it. Increasing the choice of savings products available, it aims to support the Government’s ambition to encourage a regular savings habit amongst young people and to create a culture of medium and long term saving at different points in people’s lives.

    The Budget 2016 Lifetime ISA costing, certified by the OBR, did not anticipate any revenue impact from individuals opting-out of their workplace pensions in order to save into Lifetime ISAs.

  • Luciana Berger – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    Luciana Berger – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Luciana Berger on 2016-05-04.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, pursuant to the Answer of 4 May 2016 to Question 35959, if he will publish the Government Social Research Code.

    Justin Tomlinson

    The Government Social Research code is publicly available online: http://webarchive.nationalarchives.gov.uk/20150922160821/http://www.civilservice.gov.uk/networks/gsr/gsr-code

    “

  • Luciana Berger – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    Luciana Berger – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Luciana Berger on 2016-05-04.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, pursuant to the Answer of 4 May 2016 to Question 35960, on universal credit, what the exclusion criteria are.

    Priti Patel

    In some cases, where a claimant would be excluded from work related requirements they will be excluded from the pool of “qualifying claimants”. They will also cease to be part of the scheme if the same circumstances apply after they have been selected. These are:

    • recent victims of domestic violence;
    • claimants who provide medical evidence of unfitness for work pending a work capability assessment;
    • prisoners;
    • claimants absent from GB for medical treatment etc;
    • claimants suffering a bereavement;
    • claimants undergoing treatment for drug or alcohol addiction.