Tag: 2014

Lord Laming – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Laming on 2014-06-09.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what action they are taking to improve the services for sufferers of dementia and their carers.

Earl Howe

On 26 March 2012, the Prime Minister launched his Challenge on Dementia. The Challenge sets the commitment to increase diagnosis rates, raise awareness and understanding and double funding for research for dementia by 2015.

On the 28 February 2014, the Secretary of State announced his ambition for improving dementia care and support for people with dementia, their family and carers. This signalled the importance of a tailored plan of care as part of a package of high quality, personalised dementia care and support.

The co-chairs of the three Champion Groups supporting delivery of the Prime Minister’s Challenge on Dementia have reported their progress to the Prime Minister on the second year of the Challenge. They have also set out their ambition for driving improvements in year three of the Challenge and beyond and to highlight cross-cutting themes and challenges shared across the champion groups, which they will continue to work on together. For example, working together to support the work on global action on dementia; increasing public and professional awareness and understanding of dementia and; the need to accelerate learning across the system on making integrated care and support a reality.

Since the launch of the Challenge, we have also made significant progress across all three strands of the challenge, but there is still work to be done.

01/11/2022
Stephen Timms – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Stephen Timms on 2014-03-12.

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what plans he has to review his Department’s Fee for Intervention policy.

Mike Penning

The Fee for Intervention (FFI) scheme will be reviewed as recommended in the recent Triennial Review of the Health and Safety Executive. An independent FFI Review Board is being established and will report its conclusions later this year.

01/11/2022
Lord Stoddart of Swindon – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Stoddart of Swindon on 2014-06-09.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government, further to the Written Answer by Lord Newby on 6 May (WA 314), what is their estimate of the average additional weekly cost of food to United Kingdom families arising from membership of the Common Agricultural Policy.

Lord De Mauley

As stated in the previous response to WA 314, the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) calculates the annual monetary value of gross transfers from EU consumers arising from policies underpinning the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP).

The OECD estimates that EU consumers faced higher food prices equivalent to approximately €16 billion in 2012. This equates to 4% of consumption expenditure on agricultural commodities (at farm gate prices), and compares to an average 71% in the late 1980s.

Agricultural commodity prices are a key factor in determining food retail prices but other factors are also important, such as energy prices and exchange rates. Therefore the impact of CAP on consumers’ weekly cost of food will be less than the 4% figure reported above.

There is no agreed OECD methodology to disaggregate estimates to individual EU member states, so these figures are not available at the UK level.

01/11/2022
Philip Davies – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Philip Davies on 2014-03-11.

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what estimate he has made of the cost to the public purse of the action by barristers on (a) 6 January 2014 and (b) 7 March 2014; and what his policy is on imposing a costs sanction on the barristers involved.

Shailesh Vara

We have not yet made an estimate of the cost to the taxpayer of the action by barristers on 6 January and 7 March 2014. The question of costs is a matter for judges to consider in individual cases under the provisions set out in the Prosecution of Offences Act 1985 (as amended).

01/11/2022
Baroness Finlay of Llandaff – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Baroness Finlay of Llandaff on 2014-06-09.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what steps they are taking to implement fully the Sunbeds (Regulation) Act 2010, including the secondary legislation and a programme to ensure that the public is aware of the dangers of sunbeds.

Earl Howe

The Sunbeds (Regulation) Act 2010 came into effect in 2011 to ensure sunbed businesses are properly supervised. In England some local authorities choose to enforce the under 18 ban enshrined within the primary legislationand the Department has published guidance to support them

www.dh.gov.uk/en/Publicationsandstatistics/Publications/PublicationsPolicyAndGuidance/DH_125656

The Government has recently received a report from the All Party Parliamentary Group on Skin which gives a number of recommendations including the introduction of secondary regulations in England and how the public can be fully informed. Government has noted the report and is currently considering how to progress the recommendations.

01/11/2022

Stephen Timms – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Stephen Timms on 2014-03-11.

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many people and what proportion of the working population have been in receipt of incapacity benefit or employment and support allowance for over (a) two years, (b) five years and (c) 10 years in each region of England.

Esther McVey

The information requested is shown in the tables below.

Incapacity Benefit/Severe Disablement Allowance (IB/SDA) claimants in each Region in England by duration of claim and as a percentage of the working age population – as at August 2013

Region	All cases	%	Duration of 2 to 5 years	%	Duration of 5 to 10 years	%	Duration of over 10 years	%

North East	29,950	1.9	1,820	0.1	6,380	0.4	21,500	1.4
North West	77,400	1.8	3,250	0.1	17,650	0.4	55,980	1.3
Yorkshire and The Humber	47,770	1.5	1,980	0.1	10,700	0.3	34,760	1.1
East Midlands	39,600	1.4	1,370	–	9,020	0.3	28,820	1.0
West Midlands	55,560	1.6	2,130	0.1	13,770	0.4	39,260	1.2
East of England	45,960	1.3	1,730	–	12,710	0.4	31,030	0.9
London	87,890	1.6	4,420	0.1	26,990	0.5	55,570	1.0
South East	60,710	1.2	2,250	–	15,570	0.3	42,410	0.8
South West	51,240	1.6	1,960	0.1	13,200	0.4	35,620	1.1

Employment and Support Allowance (ESA) claimants in each Region in England by duration of claim and as a percentage of the working age population – as at August 2013

Region	All	%	Duration of up to 5 years	%

North East	102,540	6.5	16,010	1.0
North West	284,580	6.6	49,000	1.1
Yorkshire and The Humber	170,050	5.2	29,980	0.9
East Midlands	130,210	4.7	23,430	0.8
West Midlands	166,670	4.9	30,220	0.9
East of England	133,560	3.8	26,410	0.7
London	227,650	4.1	48,070	0.9
South East	185,150	3.5	36,240	0.7
South West	135,980	4.3	26,390	0.8

Source: DWP IGS 100% WPLS and ONS Mid-2012 Population Estimates

Notes:

Figures are rounded to the nearest 10. Percentages are shown rounded to one decimal place. “ – “ denotes nil or negligible.
Working age population figures are defined as males aged 16-64 and females aged 16-59.
Incapacity Benefit was replaced by Employment Support Allowance (ESA) for new claims from October 2008.
Incapacity Benefit/Severe Disablement Allowance figures will include some people receiving National Insurance credits only.
The caseload data provided for IB/SDA and ESA is published and can be found at: https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/dwp-statistics-tabulation-tool

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01/11/2022

Priti Patel – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Culture Media and Sport

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Priti Patel on 2014-06-09.

To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, how much public money from the Heritage Lottery Fund has been awarded to each local authority area for activities to commemorate the First World War.

Mrs Helen Grant

Since April 2010, across various programmes, the Heritage Lottery Fund has allocated over £56 million pounds to projects throughout the United Kingdom marking the First World War centenary. This includes awards from the First World War: Then and Now programme for smaller, community-led, projects. The breakdown of this funding by local authority area will be placed in the libraries of both Houses.

01/11/2022
Andrew Rosindell – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Andrew Rosindell on 2014-03-11.

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps his Department is taking to help people with mental illnesses find appropriate work.

Mike Penning

Each Jobcentre Plus District is resourced to have a Mental Health and Wellbeing Partnership Manager, they identify the availability of local support that advisers may refer to and provide a support role to advisers who work with customers with mental health conditions.

In January 2014 we launched the Employment and Wellbeing toolkit which offers practical support to Jobcentre advisers to help them work with claimants affected by mental health problems. The toolkit enables advisers to establish a clear employment focus and identify appropriate interventions and actions which enable claimants with mental health issues to progress into employment as quickly as possible.

Disability Employment Advisers (DEAs) and Work Psychologists also offer specialist advice in Jobcentres. DEAs can act as an advocate for the customer with prospective employers, aiming to identify work solutions that will overcome or minimise any difficulties related to an individual’s disability in the work place and Work Psychologists, can provide advice and guidance on effective provision and complete an Employment Assessment for claimants.

Many benefit claimants with mental health problems will be referred to, or may have access to, a range of support including the Work Programme or specialist disability employment programmes including Work Choice and Access to Work.

Work Programme advisors have access to the Working for Wellbeing toolkit which was developed by an expert group of Work Programme and specialist providers to improve employment outcomes for claimants who have mental health problems.

Work Choice is a programme for disabled people with more intensive support and can provide specialist support for people with mental health conditions.

Access to Work includes a specific Mental Health Support Service for people who require support while in work to help them to stay in work. 90 per cent of the people who have been on the MHSS programme for six months (though not always needing six months of support) are still in work. Employer engagement is a key element of the service.

01/11/2022
Roger Godsiff – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for International Development

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Roger Godsiff on 2014-06-09.

To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, with reference to the Answer of 14 May 2014, Official Report, column 600W, on Bangladesh, if she will bring forward legislative proposals to make it compulsory for all UK clothing companies which use suppliers in Bangladesh to sign the Accord on Fire and Building Safety in Bangladesh.

Mr Alan Duncan

The Accord is an independent and legally binding agreement between unions and international companies that source their clothes from Bangladesh. As such it is not the Government’s place to compel companies to sign up. However as referred to in my previous response, I would very much encourage them to do so, and would encourage consumers to make their expectations clear to the retailers and brands from which they buy their clothes.

In September 2013 the UK launched its action plan on business and human rights, laying out the expectations for business in line with the UN Guiding Principles. Signing up to the Accord not only demonstrates that companies are serious about their responsibilities but will also help them to ensure that workers in their supply chains are safe and treated properly.

01/11/2022
Tim Farron – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Tim Farron on 2014-03-11.

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps his Department is taking to tackle delays faced by people waiting for a medical assessment following their application for personal independence payment.

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, we have been closely monitoring all aspects of the process.

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.

01/11/2022