Tag: Andrew Smith

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Andrew Smith on 2016-05-03.

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, pursuant to the Answer of 25 February 2016 to Question 27490, if he will make it his policy to collect information on the time taken from application to making a payment for (a) jobseekers allowance and (b) employment and support allowance.

Priti Patel

Data is already held on the time taken from a claim being received to a decision being made, which the Department views as the more meaningful statistic due to the different rules on payment dates for different benefits.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Andrew Smith on 2016-09-02.

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, if he will commission an urgent review of safety on the A34.

Mr John Hayes

Highways England regularly reviews safety issues on all routes on the strategic road network and it currently has plans to install new technical measures on the A34, as one of the schemes in the Road Investment Strategy, to ease congestion and improve safety and incident management. The Department is not minded to carry out a further review at this time.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Andrew Smith on 2015-11-19.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, if he will introduce a bill to reform the regulation of healthcare professionals; and if he will make a statement.

Ben Gummer

This Government is grateful for the work of the Law Commissions of England and Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland in reviewing the regulation of health and (in England) social care professionals.

The Law Commissions made 125 recommendations to reform the existing complex and burdensome regulatory system. The joint four UK country response to the Law Commissions was published on 29 January 2015 which accepted wholly or in part the vast majority of its recommendations.

The Department is currently reviewing how best to take forward the work of the Law Commissions. We hope to be able to provide an update on this work soon.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Andrew Smith on 2016-02-22.

To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what assistance her Department plans to provide to help tackle hunger in Malawi.

Mr Nick Hurd

DFID has a significant programme of ongoing support in health, education, agriculture, water and sanitation and economic development, particularly in rural areas and with the private sector, for growth, jobs, incomes and food insecurity in Malawi. We support increasing access to justice for women and vulnerable groups, accountability and governance reforms.

The UK was one of the first development partners to respond to Malawi’s international appeal for emergency aid in October 2015. The UK has now committed £14.5m through partners including the World Food Programme, UNICEF and an International Non-Governmental Organisation (INGO) consortium led by Save the Children. This support includes:

• Food for over 800,000 people, including pre-positioning of food, nutrition supplies and livestock vaccines.
• Cash transfers for up to 450,000 people who live near functioning markets but do not have the means to purchase food
• Mass screening of up to 800,000 children to identify urgent nutritional support needs
• Specialist supplies for over 140,000 children and others suffering from acute malnutrition
• Vital protection support to vulnerable people, including women and girls, in displacement and refugee camps

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Andrew Smith on 2016-04-08.

To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, whether he plans for the proposed £1,000 immigration skills charge to apply to NHS nurses.

Nick Boles

The Immigration Skills Charge will be paid by UK employers recruiting skilled migrant labour from outside the European Economic Area. This includes employers of nurses. The charge will apply from April 2017. There will be a flat rate of £1,000 per Tier 2 migrant sponsored per year. Some public sector employers could benefit from the small and charitable sponsors reduced rate of £364 per Tier 2 migrant sponsored per year.

As the independent Migration Advisory Committee stated in their January 2016 report on Tier 2, public sector organisations are employers like any other and should be incentivised to consider the UK labour market first, before recruiting outside Europe.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Andrew Smith on 2016-05-10.

To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, which (a) communities and (b) projects will receive funding from the English Language scheme.

Mr Marcus Jones

We are working to develop the new English language programme, including ensuring it is focused on those areas where we know women are at greatest risk of isolation and are more likely to have no or little proficiency in the English language. We will make an announcement as soon as possible.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Andrew Smith on 2016-09-02.

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what safety improvements are planned for the A34; and what the planned date of completion is for each such improvement.

Mr John Hayes

Highways England has a major scheme planned for the A34 to ease congestion, improve safety and incident management between the M4 junction at Chievely and the M40 junction at Wendlebury. Vehicle detection loops (in the road) will detect when traffic is building or slowing down to help operate traffic signals and activate electronic message signs. CCTV cameras and driver information systems will be installed at key locations along the A34 between the M4 and the M40. Highways England intends to start work by March 2020.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Andrew Smith on 2015-11-19.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what measures he plans to include in the forthcoming Order under section 60 of the Health Act 1999 to amend the legislation governing the Nursing and Midwifery Council.

Ben Gummer

The Section 60 Order will remove statutory midwifery supervision from the Nursing and Midwifery Council’s (NMC’s) governing legislation.

The Department is also in discussions with the NMC on what other reforms may be achieved through the Order.

The Order will be subject to a full public consultation early next year.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Andrew Smith on 2016-02-22.

To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what assessment her Department has made of the availability of food to people in Malawi.

Mr Nick Hurd

Each year the Malawi Vulnerability Assessment Committee (MVAC) assesses food availability in Malawi and publishes the official figure for those who are likely to be food insecure over the year. This year, at over 2.8m people, the figure is the highest for a decade. The UK was one of the first development partners to respond to Malawi’s international appeal for emergency aid in October 2015. The UK has now committed £14.5m, which includes provision of food for over 800,000 people, mass screening of up to 800,000 children to identify urgent nutritional support needs and specialist nutrition supplies for over 140,000 children and others suffering from acute malnutrition.

DFID continues to monitor the situation, through formal assessments, community consultation and ongoing engagement with partners. Maize prices are high and increasing and food availability on markets is unpredictable. The Government of Malawi has released maize from its reserves and has bought additional supplies from Zambia, although there are ongoing concerns about effectiveness of its distribution. DFID continues to work with partners to help Malawi break the cycle of recurrent food insecurity crises year after year.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Andrew Smith on 2016-04-08.

To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what the UK contribution has been to the UN’s emergency relief fund for Yemen since its creation.

Mr Desmond Swayne

The UK has contributed £36.2 million to the Yemen Emergency Response Fund (ERF) since it was established in 2010.

In 2015 the ERF channelled funds to over 79 projects implemented by UN agencies and national and international NGOs. Through the total resources received from donors in 2015, the Fund has provided critical life-saving assistance to 3.3 million people affected by the conflict in Yemen, including through the provision of healthcare, clean water, sanitation services, food supplies or shelter materials.