Tag: 2015

  • Lord Laird – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    Lord Laird – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Laird on 2015-11-10.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government on how many occasions a non-statutory public inquiry has been instigated into the death of a single individual under section 17A of the Coroners Act 1988 at a time when that individual had not been the subject of a full coroner’s inquest; who were those individuals; why they were referred for a public inquiry in each case; and on which dates they were referred.

    Lord Faulks

    A coroner’s inquest was not completed into the deaths of the following individuals:

    Victoria Climbié, Robert Hamill, Dr David Kelly, Alexander Litvinenko, Baha Mousa, Zahid Mubarek, Rosemary Nelson and Azelle Rodney.

    The only occasion when an inquest has been adjourned under section 17A of the Coroners Act 1988 because a non-statutory inquiry was to be held was following the death of Dr David Kelly. The Lord Chancellor established an inquiry to investigate the circumstances surrounding the death on 18 July 2003, the day that Dr Kelly’s body was found.

  • Yasmin Qureshi – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    Yasmin Qureshi – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Yasmin Qureshi on 2015-12-07.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, when he plans to publish his Department’s evaluation of the Youth Justice and Criminal Evidence Act 1999 Section 28 pilots; and whether he plans to roll out provision of Section 28.

    Mike Penning

    Pre-trial cross examination under Section 28 of the YJCEA 1999 was piloted in three Crown Court centres. Fieldwork for a process evaluation of the pilot has been completed. A report is being prepared for publication, subject to standard quality assurance checks. The decision on the roll out of Section 28 will be made in due course, following the results of the evaluation.

  • Baroness Redfern – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Baroness Redfern – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Baroness Redfern on 2015-11-10.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what action they are taking to raise awareness of mental health issues, to address the impact of stigma and discrimination on those affected, and to engage with local businesses to develop employment opportunities for those affected.

    Lord Prior of Brampton

    It is important that local authorities employ individuals who possess the necessary skills to engage effectively with those with mental health problems. Local authorities should make training opportunities available to all staff.

    Mental health social workers empower individuals with mental illness and their families, carers, and communities to lead fulfilling, independent lives. On 1 September this year applications for a new fast track route into mental health social work careers opened for an intensive on-the-job programme called Think Ahead. The programme aims to attract promising students and graduates into mental health careers.

    Health Education England, working with NHS England, aims to ensure that there are suf­ficient therapists and other staff with the right skills to support the identification of mental health issues.

    Community mental health services, which include community mental health teams, crisis and home resolution teams, assertive outreach teams and early intervention in psychosis teams, all have a key role in supporting people with mental health problems either to avoid the need for in-patient care or to provide them with on-going support once in-patient treatment is no longer necessary.

    From April 2016, the first set of mental health waiting time standards will be introduced which requires that 50% of people experiencing a first episode of psychosis are treated with a National Institute for Health and Care Excellence approved package of care within two weeks of referral; 75% of adults referred to the national programme for psychological therapies will be treated within 6 weeks, and 95% within 18 weeks.

    This is supported by an £80 million funding package for 2015-16 from NHS England’s budgets, breaking down as:

    ‒ £40 million recurrent funding to support delivery of the early intervention in psychosis (EIP) standard;

    ‒ £10 million to support delivery of the new psychological therapies standards; and

    ‒ £30 million to support liaison psychiatry in acute hospitals.

    The Time to Change initiative is an ambitious national programme being delivered by leading mental health charities Mind and Rethink Mental Illness to reduce stigma and discrimination towards people with mental health problems. The Department, the Big Lottery Fund and Comic Relief have all provided funding for the programme.The Department funded the campaign with over £16 million between 2011-12 and 2014-15 and is continuing to fund the programme with £2.5 million in 2015-16. Time to Change continues to work with people with experience of mental health problems to challenge attitudes and discrimination; run social marketing campaigns and work with local and regional partners on community-led activity. To date, more than 350 organisations across England have committed to tackling mental health stigma and discrimination in the workplace.

  • Diana Johnson – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    Diana Johnson – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Diana Johnson on 2015-12-07.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, if he will publish the criteria used for determining the points allocation given to a person receiving dialysis at home for the purpose of a personal independence payment allocation.

    Justin Tomlinson

    The PIP Assessment Guide for Health Professionals carrying out assessments includes guidance on the assessment criteria and how they should be applied.

    Activity 3 – ‘Managing therapy or monitoring a health condition’ (page 97) explains how to assess a person receiving dialysis at home. This guidance can be accessed on the gov.uk website:

    https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/449043/pip-assessment-guide.pdf

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  • Jim Shannon – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Cabinet Office

    Jim Shannon – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Cabinet Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Shannon on 2015-11-10.

    To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what steps the Government is taking to tackle cyber attacks originating in Russia and China.

    Matthew Hancock

    For security reasons we do not comment on specific details of cyber security attacks. The Government takes cyber security very seriously; from 2011 to 2016, we have invested £860 million in a National Cyber Security Programme.We plan to almost double investment in cybersecurityto £1.9bn over the next five years.

  • Emily Thornberry – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    Emily Thornberry – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Emily Thornberry on 2015-12-07.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, with reference to the Spending Review and Autumn Statement 2015, what exemptions he plans to put in place to protect vulnerable households from restrictions to housing benefit in the social sector.

    Justin Tomlinson

    The existing exemptions that already apply to private rented sector tenants will be carefully considered prior to implementing the Local Housing Allowance cap for tenants living in the social rented sector.

    It should be noted that the policy applies from April 2018, but only where new tenancies have been taken out or renewed after April 2016.

    The Discretionary Housing Payment scheme will be available to Local Authorities to protect the vulnerable.

  • Barbara Keeley – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    Barbara Keeley – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Barbara Keeley on 2015-11-10.

    To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, how many tax credit claimants in Salford have been in continuous receipt of tax credits for (a) one, (b) two, (c) three and (d) four or more years.

    Damian Hinds

    The answers are only available at disproportionate cost.

  • Michael Tomlinson – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    Michael Tomlinson – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Michael Tomlinson on 2015-12-10.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what proportion of green belt land in the Purbeck District Council area has been redesignated as community land trust in the last five years.

    Brandon Lewis

    The Department does not hold information centrally on the amount or type of land held by community land trusts.

    The Department’s annual Green Belt statistics monitor the amount of land designated as Green Belt in England and any changes to the designated area since the previous year. The statistics record the change by local planning authority.

    Of the local planning authorities for which information was requested, the following have made changes to the Green Belt in the last five years:

    East Dorset reduced the area of designated Green Belt in 2014-15 by 160 hectares to 16,720 hectares, a reduction of 1 per cent; and

    Purbeck increased the area of designated Green Belt in 2012-13 by 460 hectares to 8,200 hectares, an increase of 6 per cent.

  • Stephen Timms – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    Stephen Timms – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Stephen Timms on 2015-11-10.

    To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, in cases where a person has registered a donation to a charity for gift aid but ended the year below the income threshold for income tax, whether it is the policy of HM Revenue and Customs to reclaim the gift aid from the (a) donor or (b) charity; and if he will make a statement.

    Damian Hinds

    Individual donors are responsible for ensuring that they have paid sufficient tax to cover any Gift Aid reclaimed on their donations.

    In practice, where HMRC identifies tax to cover issues as a result of its compliance activity with a charity, it may invite the charity to make good any shortfall on behalf of their donors. The charity is not legally obliged to repay any over-claimed Gift Aid and the responsibility always remains that of the donor.

    Details of how much Gift Aid is reclaimed separately from donors and charities is not available.

  • Margaret Ferrier – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    Margaret Ferrier – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Margaret Ferrier on 2015-12-10.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Education, with reference to the page on the National Crime Agency website entitled, Cyber crime: Preventing young people from getting involved, what discussions she has had with the Home Secretary on interest in coding and possession of independent learning material on computing being considered possible indicators of risk of involvement in cyber crime.

    Nick Gibb

    The Secretary of State holds discussions on a range of topics with Cabinet Ministers.

    The National Crime Agency (NCA) has recently published guidance on preventing young people from becoming involved in cyber-crime: www.nationalcrimeagency.gov.uk/crime-threats/cyber-crime/cyber-crime-preventing-young-people-from-getting-involved

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