The below Parliamentary question was asked by David Ward on 2014-06-04.
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many instances of car insurance fraud in Yorkshire and the Humber have been reported in each of the last five years.
Karen Bradley
I have been asked to reply on behalf of the Home Department.
This information is not held centrally.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Gareth Thomas on 2014-06-04.
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what estimate he has made of the number of people who have submitted a claim for personal independence payment and have been waiting for more than six months for a medical assessment in (a) the UK, (b) London and (c) the London Borough of Harrow; and if he will make a statement.
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 2013, we have been closely monitoring all aspects of the process.
As personal independence payment (PIP) is a new benefit, processes are currently bedding in. 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.
The first official statistics for the number of people claiming Personal Independence Payment (PIP) was published on 5th June alongside updated statistics on PIP new claim registrations, decisions and awards.
Statistics on clearance times are not being published at this stage. Statistics on clearance times are intended for future publication but releasing them at this stage would give a skewed representation of the process since steady state has not yet been reached and natural reassessment has yet to rollout across the country.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Andrew Turner on 2014-06-04.
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, which claims for medals remain outstanding following Royal approval of the latest proposals put forward by Sir John Holmes.
Mr Francis Maude
The next set of reviews is to be discussed by the Committee on the Grant of Honours this month.
An announcement will be made once the full set of reviews is complete and has been approvedin the usual way.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Michael McCann on 2014-06-04.
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, in how many cases against her Department funded by legal aid public interest lawyers represented clients in each of the last 10 years.
Karen Bradley
The Home Office does not keep a central record of which cases brought against
it are legally aided, or of the law firms that represent litigants.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Shannon on 2014-06-04.
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how many people diagnosed with motor neurone disease there have been in the UK in each of the last five years.
Norman Lamb
Data on the number of people diagnosed with motor neurone disease (MND) is not collected. However, it is estimated that there are about 5,000 people living with MND in the United Kingdom.
Information regarding the number of people with MND who are using ‘eye gaze’ technology, a type of specialised augmentative and assistive communication aid, is not held centrally.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Tim Loughton on 2014-06-04.
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what public speeches the Chief Social Worker for Children and Families has made since taking up her post; and where those speeches are published.
Mr Edward Timpson
Since starting as the Chief Social Worker for Children and Families in September 2013, Isabelle Trowler has spoken at a wide range of events. In particular she has made presentations to and engaged in discussion with more than 2,500 social workers to support and challenge the profession and spoke at the National Fostering Association conference on 13 May 2014. Isabelle’s presentations are not published.
As the Chief Social Worker for Children and Families, Isabelle provides independent expert advice to Ministers on social work reform. She meets my Rt Hon. Friend, the Secretary of State, and other Ministers in the Department for Education frequently to discuss her ideas for social work reform and to provide policy advice.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Maria Eagle on 2014-06-04.
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what meetings his Department had with the National Farmers’ Union in the six months before the start of the pilot badger culls in Gloucestershire and Somerset in 2013; and whether he advised that union to operate a media blackout during the first phase of the culls.
George Eustice
Meetings were held with the National Farmers Union in the six months prior to the start of the pilot culls in 2013.
There was no media blackout during the pilots. Defra and the National Farmers Union continued to make spokespeople available to talk to the media throughout the period in which culling was taking place.
However, both the National Farmers Union and Defra were always clear that operational information that could compromise the effectiveness of the cull or the safety of those involved would not be disclosed during the operation.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Andrew Rosindell on 2014-06-04.
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what steps he took to ensure that the foreign commercial vessels fishing in the waters of Ascension Island from 2010 to 2013 did not use slave labour.
Mark Simmonds
The Ascension Island government is legally responsible for administering the marine fishery in the 200 nautical mile Exclusive Fishing Zone centred on the Island.
There as no condition placed in the licenses issued by the Ascension Island Government from 2010 to 2013 relating to slave labour. The primary responsibility for the setting and enforcement of standards on such matters lies with the flag state of each vessel.
The Ascension Island Government paused the issuing of licences for commercial long-line fishing from 1 January 2014 in order to undertake a full review of the management of its fisheries with a view to a new structure to be put in place by 2015. Revised conditions for licences will form a part of that outcome.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Angus Robertson on 2014-06-04.
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what records his Department keeps of the monthly 2-star assessments of its risk registers.
Mr Mark Francois
The Ministry of Defence makes extensive use of risk management tools and techniques across the different areas of departmental business. Risk registers are generally created, updated, and assessed as part of day-to-day management action; and the relevant records are kept at local level.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Eric Joyce on 2014-06-04.
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many members of the UK armed forces would lose their jobs as a result of Scottish independence.
Mr Mark Francois
The UK Government is not planning for Scottish independence and neither is the Ministry of Defence. Existing members of the UK Armed Forces would still be part of the UK Armed Forces and, as far as the UK Government is concerned, would be able to continue to serve in them, subject to the usual requirements of service.