Tag: Alan Brown

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Alan Brown on 2016-04-29.

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, pursuant to the Answer of 13 April 2016 to Question 32963, how many people have been allocated personal independence payments with enhanced mobility payments; and how many of those people have been classed as having muscle degenerative diseases or conditions.

Justin Tomlinson

Information on the number of claimants receiving PIP, by a range of breakdowns, including award combinations in payment and main disabling condition, is published and available using Stat-Xplore: https://stat-xplore.dwp.gov.uk. Guidance on how to use Stat-Xplore can be found here: https://sw.stat-xplore.dwp.gov.uk/webapi/online-help/index.html.

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The below Parliamentary question was asked by Alan Brown on 2016-06-24.

To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, how many pensioners pay income tax at the higher rate.

Mr David Gauke

For 2013-14 it is estimated that 558,000 individuals above State Pension Age were liable for Income Tax charged at or above the higher rate. This is based on the most recent Survey of Personal Incomes (2013-14)

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Alan Brown on 2016-10-19.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many immigration applications were affected by the flooding incident at Leeds Royal Mail Depot on 15 December 2015; how many such applications have been resolved; what additional resources are being applied to resolve outstanding such cases; what the target timescales for completion of outstanding such cases are; and if she will make a statement.

Mr Robert Goodwill

The flood impacted 501 immigration applications. All customers impacted were advised that their individual application was involved in the incident. Once the impact of the flood had been dealt with the applications were handled under our normal casework procedures and checks. To date 468 of the applications have been completed. The remaining 33 applications are still under consideration.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Alan Brown on 2015-11-25.

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, with reference to paragraph 4.34 of the National Security Strategy and Strategic Defence Review 2015 and to his Department’s press release dated 23 November 2015, what equipment and support (a) was to be procured with the £166 billion programme and (b) will be procured under the £178 billion programme.

Mr Philip Dunne

The Defence Equipment Plan 2015, placed in the Library of the House on 22 October 2015, set out our plans, before the Strategic Defence and Security Review (SDSR) 2015, for spending £166 billion on defence equipment and support over the next 10 years.

In the SDSR we set out our plans for additional investment in Armed Forces defence equipment and support. This includes improving Special Forces’ capabilities, procuring three new Fleet Solid Support ships and investing in a fleet of nine Boeing P-8 Maritime Patrol Aircraft.

Following the SDSR, we now plan to spend £178 billion on defence equipment and support over the next 10 years.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Alan Brown on 2016-01-07.

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many oil refinery workers have been killed as a result of UK airstrikes in Syria; and whether such workers are classed as civilian.

Penny Mordaunt

Oil workers operating oil production facilities in Daesh-controlled areas are treated as civilians, unless they directly participate in hostilities or otherwise can be shown to be members of Daesh. The UK takes appropriate measures to reduce the risk of collateral damage and we have a robust process in place to positively identify targets before we conduct airstrikes. To date there have been no reports of civilian casualties as a result of RAF airstrikes in Iraq or Syria.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Alan Brown on 2016-04-08.

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, if he will take steps to introduce lifetime awards for people assessed as requiring the upper personal independence payment allowance mobility component who have been diagnosed with muscle degenerative diseases or conditions.

Justin Tomlinson

Personal Independence Payment is specifically designed to ensure that the benefit is awarded to those with the greatest need and the award review process is integral to ensuring this happens. Under Disability Living Allowance over 70% of all claims had no review built-in, meaning that claimants could have been receiving too much or too little in benefit.

We take a personalised approach to setting the length of awards, varying the frequency and format of awards and reviews depending on the individual’s needs and the likelihood of their health condition or impairment changing.

Where the claimant has high levels of functional impairment which are only likely to increase or not improve, it is likely that the claimant will receive an enhanced rate of benefit and a longer term award.

We recognise that it is important to ensure that the review process is applied sensitively and appropriately. As such, it is likely that the awards of such claimants would also go through a less intensive review process which may not, if all the necessary information is held, include a face-to-face assessment.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Alan Brown on 2016-04-29.

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, pursuant to the Answer of 26 April 2016 to Question 35019, on social fund, for what reasons management information is only held from 2013.

Justin Tomlinson

Pursuant to the Answer of 26 April 2016 the information previously provided was extracted from the current live Operational Activity Based Management Information System.

The information from 2010 until 2013 is not readily available as it is archived. However we have now been able to extract the historical data which is displayed in the table below.

	2009/10	2010/11	2011/12	2012/13	2013/14	2014/15	2015/16
Bereavement Benefit	145	130	116	106	94	84	78
Maternity Allowance	108	82	77	75	70	66	72
Industrial Injuries Disablement Benefit	309	243	241	226	192	166	148
Social Fund	4321	2480	1968	1552	798	411	349

Notes: The table above shows average Full Time Equivalent for each financial year from April to March.

Source: Jobcentre Plus Activity Based Management System (L1A) and Operational Activity Based Management Information System (L1A)

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Alan Brown on 2016-06-24.

To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether he plans to change the pension freedoms rules to allow people to withdraw a lump sum after drawing down their pension.

Harriett Baldwin

The Chancellor announced at the March Budget 2015 that the government intends to remove the restrictions on the sale of existing annuities. This will allow pensioners to sell the income they receive from their annuity. Subject to agreement from their annuity provider and there being a willing buyer, people will then be able to access their money either as a lump sum or arrange for it to be put into a drawdown product to use the proceeds more gradually.

In December 2015, the government published its response to its initial consultation on these proposals confirming that the government intends to implement these proposals from April 2017.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Alan Brown on 2016-10-20.

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what assessment his Department has made of the effect of the recent fall in the value of sterling on the cost of constructing the Successor submarines.

Harriett Baldwin

I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave on 17 October 2016 to Question 48369 to the hon. Member for Dunfermline and West Fife (Douglas Chapman).

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Alan Brown on 2015-11-02.

To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland, pursuant to the Answer of 30 October 2015 to Question 13632, on what dates in September 2015 he met (a) the Chancellor of the Exchequer and (b) other ministers in HM Treasury to discuss the potential effects in Scotland of a carbon price support exemption scheme.

David Mundell

As indicated in my previous answers on this issue, I have had a number of meetings and discussions this year, both formal and informal, on the important issue of opencast restoration and in particular the proposal for a carbon price support exemption. These have included discussions with colleagues from HM Treasury, the Department of Energy and Climate Change, the Scottish Government and Local Authorities.