UKPOL.CO.UK

Tag: 2014

  • Annette Brooke – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    Annette Brooke – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Annette Brooke on 2014-05-07.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps his Department is taking to ensure that people with ME or chronic fatigue syndrome and their healthcare professionals are (a) helped to access appropriate support and (b) given the correct out of work support.

    Mike Penning

    We do not target our employment programmes exclusively at individuals with particular conditions such as M.E. Chronic Fatigue Syndrome. The Department’s programmes, including its specialist disability employment programmes, aim to identify and meet the needs of the individual, including those with M.E. Chronic Fatigue Syndrome.

    Access to Work provides additional support for individuals whose health or disability affects the way they do their job. It provides individuals and their employers with advice and support with extra costs which may arise because of an individual’s needs. Access to Work does not replace the duty an employer has under the Equality Act 2010 to make reasonable adjustments.

    Work Choice is a specialist disability employment programme that provides tailored support to help disabled people who face the most complex barriers to employment, find and stay in work and ultimately help them progress into unsupported employment, where it is appropriate for the individual.

    Jobcentre Plus Disability Employment Advisers can provide support and advice for disabled people who need help finding and retaining employment. They can refer individuals to specialist programmes, including Work Choice, and can use the professional expertise of Work Psychologists, who specialise in working with disabled people. Disability Employment Advisers can advocate with employers on the individual’s behalf and help employers to explore job solutions such as the restructuring of a job’s tasks/environment, or the provision/change of equipment.

    The Government published ‘The disability and health employment strategy: the discussion so far’ on 17 December 2013. This paper sets out a range of proposals to further improve our employment support for disabled people and those with health conditions.

    The Government recognises that getting the right support at the right time is particularly important for disabled people and those with a health condition so as part of our vision for future employment support we are developing a new Employment Gateway. This will be a light-touch process based on an individual’s strengths and needs and will direct people to the most appropriate support.

    In order to support individuals to stay in work where possible we are putting in place a new Health and Work Service (HWS).The HWS will provide occupational health advice and support for employees, employers and GP’s to help individuals with a health condition to stay in or return to work.

    The intention is to introduce the service by the end of 2014.

  • Kate Green – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    Kate Green – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Kate Green on 2014-05-07.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many work capability assessments for new claims were undertaken by Atos in each of the last 12 months.

    Mike Penning

    This information for completed functional assessments can be found in tables at:

    https://www.gov.uk/government/organisations/department-for-work-pensions/about/statistics

    “

  • Baroness Scott of Needham Market – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    Baroness Scott of Needham Market – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Baroness Scott of Needham Market on 2014-05-07.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether they plan to increase the tax-free allowance given to individuals who rent out a room in their property.

    Lord Deighton

    The Government currently has no plans to increase the threshold for rent a room relief.

    As with all aspects of the tax system, the Government keeps all tax reliefs under review, and any decisions on changes will be taken as part of the annual Budget process in the context of the wider public finances.

  • Baroness Tonge – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Baroness Tonge – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Baroness Tonge on 2014-05-07.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what representations they have made to the government of Israel concerning reports of Christian pilgrims being fired on with tear gas by the Israeli military at the Tomb of Lazarus in East Jerusalem.

    Baroness Warsi

    An official from our Embassy in Tel Aviv raised this incident with an Israel Defence Forces (IDF) spokesperson on 8 May. The spokesperson maintained that the Israeli soldiers did not fire tear gas directly at the pilgrims but at Palestinian protesters nearby who were throwing stones at the IDF soldiers.

  • Lord Mendelsohn – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    Lord Mendelsohn – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Mendelsohn on 2014-05-07.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government which official, with what job title, is responsible and accountable for departmental management information in the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs.

    Lord De Mauley

    Departmental Management Information (MI) is generated for a wide variety of business functions. Checking and sign off of MI produced is carried out within relevant areas of the Department.

  • Baroness Hayter of Kentish Town – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    Baroness Hayter of Kentish Town – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Baroness Hayter of Kentish Town on 2014-05-07.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government how many local authorities operate either letting agent or landlord accreditation schemes.

    Baroness Stowell of Beeston

    Information on how many local authorities operate letting agent or landlord accreditation schemes is not centrally held. The decision on whether to establish letting agent or landlord accreditation schemes is best made by local authorities who can take account of local conditions and circumstances. The Department does not therefore produce any guidance on such schemes.

    We are improving standards in the sector. Later this year, we will bring regulations into force that will require the remaining 3,000 letting and property management agents to join one of the 3 approved redress schemes, thereby improving protection for both tenants and landlords. In addition, we have made over £4 million available to 23 local authorities to help them tackle acute and complex problems with rogue landlords in their area. This builds on the £2.6 million we have given nine local authorities to support enforcement against “Beds in Sheds”.

  • Baroness Byford – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Baroness Byford – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Baroness Byford on 2014-05-07.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether they have considered strengthening National Health Service data confidentiality by removing the final digit of the postcode from each anonymised patient record uploaded from hospitals, general practitioner practices and other NHS bodies.

    Earl Howe

    Anonymised records cannot include the last three digits of a postcode and would generally not include postcodes at all. A postcode is sometimes needed for analytical purposes, for example to calculate distances from a specific point such as a hazard but where this is the case, the data cannot be classed as anonymised and so there must be a clear legal basis for its use.

  • Virendra Sharma – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Virendra Sharma – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Virendra Sharma on 2014-05-06.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how his Department will take into account NHS England’s responsibility for commitments in the UK Strategy for Rare Diseases in its delivery of the strategy as a whole.

    Jane Ellison

    NHS England recently published its statement of intent showing how it will play its part in delivering the UK Strategy for Rare Diseases in England. A more detailed plan will be built into NHS England’s five year strategy for specialised services.

    The UK Rare Disease Forum, supported by the Department, will monitor activity against the 51 commitments outlined in the UK Strategy for Rare Diseases. It will report progress to the health ministers of the four UK countries.

  • Chris Ruane – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Deputy Prime Minister

    Chris Ruane – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Deputy Prime Minister

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Chris Ruane on 2014-05-06.

    To ask the Deputy Prime Minister, what recent assessment he has made of the merits of using vehicle registration databases held by the Driving and Vehicle Licensing Authority to increase levels of voter registration as part of his plans for individual electoral registration.

    Greg Clark

    Officials are currently working with the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency to pilot the use of data from vehicle registration databases and driver licence data to improve levels of voter registration.

  • Chris Ruane – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Deputy Prime Minister

    Chris Ruane – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Deputy Prime Minister

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Chris Ruane on 2014-05-06.

    To ask the Deputy Prime Minister, what (a) central government and (b) local government databases electoral registration officers may use in undertaking their registration functions.

    Greg Clark

    The introduction of Individual Electoral Registration (IER) will require Electoral Registration Officers (EROs) to confirm existing electors and verify all new applicants to register to vote against data held by the Department of Work and Pensions and Her Majesty’s Revenue and Customs. In addition, the Government is currently exploring using data held by the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency to further enhance the IER data matching processes as well as providing EROs with information which may help them identify unregistered eligible people.

    Under existing legislation EROs are entitled to inspect any data held by the local authority which appointed them, including data held by private companies acting on behalf of the authority, in order to check the validity of applications to register and to identify potential new electors. The data sources which are available to EROs will vary with some EROs appointed by unitary authorities having access to a greater range of data than those appointed by district councils; the Government has introduced secondary legislation to address this issue by allowing district councils to request data from their county council.