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  • Lord Roberts of Llandudno – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Lord Roberts of Llandudno – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Roberts of Llandudno on 2016-04-13.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government, further to the Written Answer by Lord Keen of Elie on 12 April (HL7328), whether they are on track to fulfil their pledge to accept 20,000 refugees to the UK before the end of the present Parliament.

    Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon

    We are continuing to work productively with local authorities and International Partners to deliver the Government’s target to settle 20,000 Syrian refugees by the end of this Parliament.

    The Home Office is committed to publishing data in an orderly way as part of the regular quarterly Immigration Statistics, in line with the Code of Practice for Official Statistics. The last set of statistics, published on 25 February 2016 showed that in 2015, 1,194 Syrians were relocated to the UK under the Syrian Vulnerable Persons Resettlement scheme, including 1,085 who arrived in the last quarter of 2015.

    These numbers will be updated each quarter. The next set of figures will be in the quarterly release on 26 May 2016 and will cover the period January – March 2016.

  • Baroness Kramer – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    Baroness Kramer – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Baroness Kramer on 2016-04-13.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government, further to the Written Answer by Lord O’Neill of Gatley on 7 April (HL7283), how many people have taken up the Married Couple’s Allowance in each (1) Parliamentary constituency, and (2) local authority area.

    Lord O’Neill of Gatley

    HM Revenue and Customs’ plans for advertising Marriage Allowance evolved over time.

    HMRC does not hold data on the number of customers that have applied for Marriage Allowance by Local Authority or Parliamentary Constituency.

  • Baroness Kramer – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    Baroness Kramer – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Baroness Kramer on 2016-04-13.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government, further to the Written Answer by Lord O’Neill of Gatley on 7 April (HL7284), what was the initial budget agreed for the advertising campaign for the Married Couple’s Allowance.

    Lord O’Neill of Gatley

    HM Revenue and Customs’ plans for advertising Marriage Allowance evolved over time.

    HMRC does not hold data on the number of customers that have applied for Marriage Allowance by Local Authority or Parliamentary Constituency.

  • Baroness Gardner of Parkes – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    Baroness Gardner of Parkes – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Baroness Gardner of Parkes on 2016-04-13.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government how they reconcile the additional financial burden placed on local authorities, such as those set out in the Housing and Planning Bill, with the level of financial support they provide to meet those costs.

    Baroness Williams of Trafford

    The government requires policies not considered and funded as part of the multi-annual local government settlement process to be subject to new burdens assessments. New burdens assessments require departments to detail financial costs on local authorities from new legislation or regulation and provide funding to meet these costs.

    Measures in the Housing and Planning Bill will be subject to these assessments.

  • Baroness Finlay of Llandaff – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Baroness Finlay of Llandaff – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Baroness Finlay of Llandaff on 2016-04-13.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether the database created by the Access to Medical Treatments (Innovation) Act 2016 is intended to supersede the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency’s hierarchy for the use of unlicensed medicines.

    Lord Prior of Brampton

    The database will not supersede the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency’s (MHRA) guidance on the hierarchy for the use of unlicensed medicines, which is set out in the MHRA’s ‘Guidance Note 14’. The Access to Medical Treatments (Innovation) Act 2016 seeks to facilitate access to innovative medical treatments including the off-label use of medicines and the use of unlicensed medicines, such as in schemes like the Early Access to Medicines Scheme (EAMS). The Act provides for the establishment of a database of innovative medical treatments, which doctors can access to search for innovative treatments in schemes like the EAMS, including unlicensed or off-label medicines for which there is evidence that a patient might benefit. Where appropriate they can also search for clinical trials that are underway and discuss their findings with their patients to establish if they would benefit from being part of a clinical trial. There will be a full consultation on the database in due course.

  • Stephen Timms – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    Stephen Timms – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Stephen Timms on 2016-04-14.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether a bedroom which is currently unusable pending repairs by a social landlord is included by his Department in its assessment of whether a household under-occupying accommodation.

    Justin Tomlinson

    This is a matter between the claimant and the landlord and we would always advise claimants in this situation to contact their landlord in the first instance.

    Some landlords may choose to reduce the rent whilst the bedroom is uninhabitable others may not. The reduction that applies for under-occupation depends on whether the rent has been reduced to reflect that the property temporarily has one less bedroom.

  • Andrew Bridgen – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    Andrew Bridgen – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Andrew Bridgen on 2016-04-14.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, if he will estimate the cost to the public purse of administering European Social Funds in each of the (a) last and (b) next five years.

    Mr Shailesh Vara

    The Department cannot separate out the costs of administering the functions for the European Social Fund (ESF) programme.

  • Stephen Timms – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    Stephen Timms – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Stephen Timms on 2016-04-14.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether the Youth Obligation can be extended beyond six months for a participant who is not work-ready at the end of that period.

    Priti Patel

    The Youth Obligation will be introduced from April 2017 for 18-21 year old Universal Credit claimants (UC) in the all work related requirements conditionality group.

    At the 6 month stage, UC claimants who are not in work, on an Apprenticeship or participating in work-related training, will be required to go on a mandatory work placement to give them the skills they need to get on in work.

  • Frank Field – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    Frank Field – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Frank Field on 2016-04-14.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, if he will estimate the number of working couples who in 2020-21 will be eligible for universal credit and who will receive more if they are living apart than if they are living together; and if he will make a statement.

    Priti Patel

    We do not issue forecasts of these volumes. The number of working couples on Universal Credit and their circumstances will vary according to a number of factors, such as the economic climate. Even if this data were published, such forecasts will change over time.

  • Nicholas Brown – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    Nicholas Brown – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Nicholas Brown on 2016-04-14.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, if he will make an assessment of the potential merits of extending the qualifying period applicants can apply for and claim bereavement allowance after the death of a partner.

    Priti Patel

    Information about Bereavement Benefits is widely available through GOV.UK. We also work closely with third party organisations who the bereaved traditionally contact such as registrars, hospitals, funeral directors and voluntary groups ensuring that they have the correct information available to signpost the bereaved to the DWP Bereavement Service.

    Upon contacting the DWP Bereavement Service our staff will ensure that any benefits and pensions arrears are claimed and will also initiate a claim for Social Fund Funeral Payments and Bereavement Benefits if appropriate.

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    We continue to look for opportunities to improve the availability of advice about these particular benefits and as a result we have improved the information available on GOV.UK, and are currently exploring ways in which to to join up the Tell Us Once and Bereavement Service offers.

    Tell Us Once is a cross-government service delivered through Local Authorities whereby notification of the death is cascaded out to other agencies, thus reducing the number of contacts an individual has to make.

    The time limit for claiming Bereavement Allowance is three months from the date of death, which is consistent with the time limit for other welfare entitlements. We are currently developing the new Bereavement Support Payment due to be implemented for new claims from April 2017, and we will assess the merits of further flexibilities on backdating as part of this work.

    Information available on the number of people in receipt of Bereavement Allowance by duration of current claim can be found at:

    http://tabulation-tool.dwp.gov.uk/100pc/tabtool.html

    Guidance for users can be found at:

    https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/dwp-tabulation-tool-guidance

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