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Tag: 2014

  • Helen Jones – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    Helen Jones – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Helen Jones on 2014-03-12.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many people in Warrington currently have benefits of which type paid into a Post Office card account.

    Steve Webb

    The information is not available in the format requested as data held relates to payment accounts rather than people. A customer may receive benefits in the form of a separate payment for each benefit to which they are entitled or a single, combined payment. Each of these payments is termed a payment account which would be paid into the same Post Office card account.

    The number of payment accounts paid into a Post Office Card Account split by benefit type in Warrington Local Authority as at February 2013 is shown in the table below.

    Number of payment accounts paid via a Post Office Card Account by benefit type in Warrington Local Authority: February 2013

    Total Benefits paid via Post Office Card Accounts

    9,540

    Attendance Allowance

    390

    Bereavement Benefit

    10

    Disability Living Allowance

    1,260

    Employment and Support Allowance

    610

    Incapacity Benefit

    200

    Carer’s Allowance

    170

    Industrial Injuries Disablement Benefit

    190

    Income Support

    480

    Jobseeker’s Allowance

    440

    Pension Credit

    1,730

    State Pension

    3,970

    Severe Disablement Benefit

    90

    Widow’s Benefit

    10

    Source: DWP Information, Governance & Security Directorate, 100% data

    Notes:

    1. Figures are rounded to the nearest 10.

    2. Figures refer to payment accounts. Claimants with more than one account will be counted for each account. Figures only relate to accounts live and in payment on the specified date.

  • Lord Taylor of Warwick – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Lord Taylor of Warwick – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Taylor of Warwick on 2014-06-09.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what action they are taking to protect vulnerable people from radicalisation.

    Lord Taylor of Holbeach

    Prevent, which is a key strand of the Government’s counter-terrorism strategy, aims to stop people becoming terrorists or supporting terrorism. The Prevent strategy, which was revised in 2011, now covers all forms of extremism where it creates an environment conducive to terrorism.

    The Prevent strategy has three objectives: respond to the ideological challenge of terrorism and the threat we face from those who promote it; prevent people from being drawn into terrorism and ensuring that they are given appropriate advice and support; and work with sectors and institutions where there are risks of radicalisation that we need to address.

    Frontline staff have a significant role to play. We have produced a training tool, ‘Workshop to Raise Awareness of Prevent’ (WRAP), which teaches staff how to recognise people who may be vulnerable to radicalisation and how to refer people who may need support to our Channel programme.

    Channel is a key element of the Prevent strategy, and was rolled out nationally in April 2012. It uses existing collaboration between local authorities, the police, the local community and statutory partners (such as the education and health sectors, social services, children’s and youth services, and offender management services), to identify individuals at risk of being drawn into terrorism, assess the nature and extent of that risk; and develop the most appropriate support plan for the individuals concerned.

    Since roll-out, over 2000 Channel referrals have been received, and over 300 people offered support. We are working to increase awareness of Channel, particularly among public sector frontline staff, in order to maximise the number of appropriate referrals.

  • Charlie Elphicke – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    Charlie Elphicke – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Charlie Elphicke on 2014-03-11.

    To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment his Department made before the 2012 Budget of the effect on stamp duty land tax and inheritance tax receipts of the introduction of a so-called mansion tax designed to raise a net sum of £2 billion per annum.

    David Gauke

    The number of residential properties in the UK valued at more than £2 million was estimated before Budget 2012 to be around 55,000.

    Before Budget 2012, an assessment of the average annual payment required from each property above £2 million in order to raise a net sum of £2 billion per annum was not made.

    On 1 July 2013, during Report stage of the Finance Bill, I referred to “a simple calculation arrived at by dividing £2 billion by 55,000 (an internal HMRC estimate of the number of properties valued at over £2 million) to give a ‘mean’ average of £36,000.”

    A so-called mansion tax would depress stamp duty land tax and inheritance tax yields. The exact impact would be dependent on the rates and bands chosen.

  • (3) the release of prisoners held for political reasons – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    (3) the release of prisoners held for political reasons – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by (3) the release of prisoners held for political reasons on 2014-06-09.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what representations they and the European Union have made to the government of Turkey concerning (1) attacks on and imprisonment of journalists, including the deaths of staff of Özgür Gündem”

    Baroness Warsi

    We recognise the concerns over the specific cases raised in the question. Although we have not made representations on those specific cases, together with our EU partners, we continue to have a frequent and comprehensive dialogue with the Turkish authorities on human rights and Kurdish issues.

    The attacks on and imprisonment of Kurdish journalists and lawyers reflects the wider issue of the need to protect fundamental freedoms in Turkey. We share the concerns of the Council of Europe, the OSCE and the EU Commission over freedom of expression and separation of powers between the judiciary and the government. We will continue to work closely with the EU delegation in Ankara and with the EU Commission in Brussels and maintain our engagement with Turkey to encourage progress on governance and human rights issues.

    Despite these challenges, we are encouraged by the positive steps taken by the Turkish government to improve protections for minorities. The EU Commission’s 2013 Annual Progress Report recognised the significance of the 4th Judicial Reform and Democratization Packages and specifically the progress made on the reform of the legal framework for terrorist offences. Further narrowing of the scope of this legal framework would aid the development of a genuinely open and free press.

  • Sadiq Khan – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Speaker’s Committee on the Electorial Commission

    Sadiq Khan – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Speaker’s Committee on the Electorial Commission

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Sadiq Khan on 2014-03-11.

    To ask the hon. Member for South West Devon, representing the Speaker’s Committee on the Electoral Commission, how many voters in (a) London, (b) each London borough and (c) each parliamentary constituency in London could not be matched as part of the recent confirmation dry run carried out by the Electoral Commission.

    Gary Streeter

    The Electoral Commission informs me that the confirmation dry run involved matching all entries on the electoral registers against the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) Customer Information System database. Entries would be marked as green if they matched with DWP, amber if they were a partial match or red if there was no match. This work was carried out by the Cabinet Office and not directly by the Electoral Commission.

    The red and amber results for London, each London borough and each parliamentary constituency in London were as follows:

    LONDON

    Red

    Amber

    London

    1,523,114

    280,337

    LONDON BOROUGH

    Red

    Amber

    Barking & Dagenham

    26,127

    2,430

    Barnet

    58,211

    8,529

    Bexley

    30,494

    2,168

    Brent

    58,460

    12,198

    Bromley

    39,726

    4,737

    Camden

    52,346

    20,136

    City of London

    2,779

    258

    Croydon

    57,129

    8,005

    Ealing

    58,701

    12,776

    Enfield

    40,801

    6,474

    Greenwich

    40,056

    4,769

    Hackney

    57,498

    10,065

    Hammersmith & Fulham

    39,378

    16,210

    Haringey

    53,621

    15,010

    Harrow

    37,983

    4,588

    Havering

    28,332

    2,606

    Hillingdon

    45,437

    4,366

    Hounslow

    45,995

    6,085

    Islington

    51,188

    12,795

    Kensington and Chelsea

    43,133

    13,482

    Kingston upon Thames

    26,100

    3,118

    Lambeth

    81,417

    14,165

    Lewisham

    52,211

    8,834

    Merton

    34,821

    4,981

    Newham

    64,311

    8,981

    Redbridge

    48,608

    5,702

    Richmond upon Thames

    28,672

    4,654

    Southwark

    67,234

    9,160

    Sutton

    23,790

    3,148

    Tower Hamlets

    53,028

    8,225

    Waltham Forest

    46,129

    7,389

    Wandsworth

    73,033

    17,032

    Westminster

    56,365

    17,261

    LONDON PARLIAMENTARY CONSTITUENCIES

    Red

    Amber

    Barking

    17,910

    1,651

    Battersea

    26,831

    6,751

    Beckenham

    10,868

    1,041

    Bermondsey and Old Southwark

    33,169

    3,549

    Bethnal Green and Bow

    27,095

    4,655

    Bexleyheath and Crayford

    10,728

    750

    Brent Central

    25,187

    6,123

    Brent North

    23,399

    3,410

    Brentford and Isleworth

    26,105

    3,809

    Bromley and Chislehurst

    12,019

    1,345

    Camberwell and Peckham

    27,167

    4,040

    Carshalton and Wallington

    11,186

    1,491

    Chelsea and Fulham

    26,701

    8,467

    Chingford and Woodford Green

    12,736

    1,379

    Chipping Barnet

    16,855

    2,190

    Cities of London and Westminster

    33,759

    7,674

    Croydon Central

    17,235

    2,057

    Croydon North

    24,436

    4,033

    Croydon South

    15,458

    1,915

    Dagenham and Rainham

    12,564

    1,195

    Dulwich and West Norwood

    23,880

    4,861

    Ealing Central and Acton

    23,996

    6,646

    Ealing North

    17,761

    2,709

    Ealing Southall

    16,944

    3,421

    East Ham

    32,053

    4,476

    Edmonton

    13,762

    2,233

    Eltham

    11,835

    1,226

    Enfield North

    12,557

    1,533

    Enfield Southgate

    14,482

    2,708

    Erith and Thamesmead

    16,321

    1,184

    Feltham and Heston

    19,890

    2,276

    Finchley and Golders Green

    20,416

    3,855

    Greenwich and Woolwich

    20,864

    2,975

    Hackney North and Stoke Newington

    28,427

    6,110

    Hackney South and Shoreditch

    29,071

    3,955

    Hammersmith

    25,041

    10,874

    Hampstead and Kilburn

    29,704

    13,337

    Harrow East

    15,483

    1,852

    Harrow West

    18,134

    2,206

    Hayes and Harlington

    17,540

    2,110

    Hendon

    20,940

    2,484

    Holborn and St Pancras

    32,516

    9,464

    Hornchurch and Upminster

    11,456

    1,073

    Hornsey and Wood Green

    26,706

    8,550

    Ilford North

    15,605

    1,554

    Ilford South

    25,007

    3,242

    Islington North

    25,295

    7,491

    Islington South and Finsbury

    25,893

    5,304

    Kensington

    30,769

    10,351

    Kingston and Surbiton

    19,493

    2,381

    Lewisham Deptford

    24,795

    4,336

    Lewisham East

    16,939

    2,741

    Lewisham West and Penge

    18,129

    3,239

    Leyton and Wanstead

    20,763

    3,727

    Mitcham and Morden

    16,823

    2,280

    Old Bexley and Sidcup

    10,802

    802

    Orpington

    9,187

    869

    Poplar and Limehouse

    25,933

    3,570

    Putney

    21,693

    3,538

    Richmond Park

    18,456

    3,023

    Romford

    12,529

    1,117

    Ruislip, Northwood and Pinner

    13,858

    1,443

    Streatham

    30,298

    5,420

    Sutton and Cheam

    12,604

    1,657

    Tooting

    24,509

    6,743

    Tottenham

    26,915

    6,460

    Twickenham

    16,823

    2,368

    Uxbridge and South Ruislip

    18,405

    1,343

    Vauxhall

    34,137

    5,455

    Walthamstow

    20,626

    3,189

    West Ham

    32,258

    4,505

    Westminster North

    25,385

    9,845

    Wimbledon

    17,998

    2,701

    Results for all wards are available on the Commission’s website here: http://www.electoralcommission.org.uk/__data/assets/excel_doc/0003/163146/Confirmation-dry-run-2013-Results-Wards.xls

    “

  • Gregory Campbell – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Energy and Climate Change

    Gregory Campbell – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Energy and Climate Change

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Gregory Campbell on 2014-06-09.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, what representations he has received on fracking in 2014.

    Michael Fallon

    My rt. hon. Friend the Secretary of State has received a number of representations on various aspects of hydraulic fracturing.

  • Andrew Rosindell – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Cabinet Office

    Andrew Rosindell – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Cabinet Office

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

    To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, how many graduates of British universities aged 21 to 25 are claiming unemployment-related benefits.

    Nick Hurd

    The information requested falls within the responsibility of the UK Statistics Authority. I have asked the Authority to reply.

  • Philip Davies – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    Philip Davies – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Philip Davies on 2014-06-09.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many prisoners in open prisons have previously absconded or escaped from prison.

    Jeremy Wright

    Keeping the public safe is our priority. That is why this Government has taken action on both releases on temporary licence (ROTL) and absconds from prison.

    We commissioned a fundamental review of ROTL policy and practice last year and, in March, announced a package of measures to ensure that the public was properly protected. We have brought forward some of those measures so that they take effect immediately; particularly with more serious offenders, where the review concluded that an enhanced risk assessment approach should be taken.

    Absconds have reached record lows under this Government but each incident is taken seriously. Immediate changes have already been ordered to tighten up the system as a matter of urgency. Prisoners will no longer be transferred to open conditions or allowed out on temporary release if they have previously absconded.

  • Gregg McClymont – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    Gregg McClymont – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Gregg McClymont on 2014-03-11.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what recent estimate he has made of the number of people of pensionable age providing unpaid childcare support.

    Steve Webb

    The information requested is not available. The Childcare and Early Years Survey of Parents estimates that grandparents provided informal childcare for 1.8m children in 1.4m families in 2012/13 with 4% of these families making some form of payment to the grandparent. We are unable to identify the ages of these grandparents; previous studies have shown that around half of grandparents are aged over 65.

    Source for grandparent age distribution:

    https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/220274/eia-ni-credits-changes.pdf

    Source for Childcare and Early Years Survey of Parents:

    https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/childcare-and-early-years-survey-of-parents-2012-to-2013

    “

  • Clive Betts – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Clive Betts – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Clive Betts on 2014-06-09.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what steps his Department is taking to prevent unnecessary delays in the prescription of Duodopa for people with Parkinson’s.

    Norman Lamb

    From April 2013, NHS England assumed responsibility for commissioning adult specialist neurosciences services, including the majority of services for patients with Parkinson’s disease, with some being the responsibility of clinical commissioning groups.

    NHS England has advised that it does not routinely fund Duodopa (co-careldopa) for the treatment of Parkinson’s disease. Clinicians can submit individual funding requests for this treatment on behalf of their patients as per NHS England’s individual funding requests standard operating procedure, which is found at the following link:

    www.england.nhs.uk/wp-content/uploads/2013/04/cp-04.pdf

    NHS England has advised that its individual funding request process is monitored against the standard operating procedure to ensure that referring clinicians are informed of outcomes in a timely manner.

    Treatments for Parkinson’s are largely drug based and there is a choice of therapies available. Parkinson’s disease: Diagnosis and management in primary and secondary care, published by the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence in 2006, makes it clear that communication with people with Parkinson’s disease should be aimed towards empowering them to participate in the judgements and choices about their own care. With regard to decisions about the drugs available for treatment of the disease in its later stages, the guidance states that the patient preference should be taken into account, once they have been informed of the short- and long-term benefits and drawbacks of the different types of drugs available.

    To reduce avoidable harm, through the Mandate we have asked NHS England to make measurable progress by 2015 to embed a culture of patient safety in the NHS including through improved reporting of incidents. The NHS Outcomes Framework contains a range of indicators designed to measure progress in this area of care which will be relevant to patients with all conditions, including, Parkinson’s disease.