Tag: Andrew Stephenson

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Andrew Stephenson on 2015-11-05.

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps he is taking to ensure that people eligible to join the Class 3A voluntary contribution scheme are made aware of it.

Justin Tomlinson

1. A nationwide communications campaign, called ‘State Pension top up’, has been in place since 2014 to raise awareness of the Class 3A voluntary contribution scheme both before and after its launch on 12 October 2015. This campaign has included the creation of dedicated webpages on GOV.UK, including a calculator tool which has been used over 82,000 times since scheme launch. Printed and digital leaflets have been produced alongside advertising both online, and through national and regional press.

For over a year prior to launch, individuals were able to register by phone or email for scheme updates.

The scheme has also achieved widespread coverage, particularly around its launch, in the national and specialist press read by the scheme’s target audience. DWP has worked directly with financial advisory bodies and key pensions industry experts to raise awareness of the scheme.

DWP officials have attended conferences around the country with IFAs to explain the scheme and Ministers have written articles and conducted interviews on national, regional and international broadcast channels.

As of 8 November 2015, the scheme had attracted 3460 applications.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Andrew Stephenson on 2016-01-06.

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what assessment he has made of the adequacy of levels of computer literacy among prison staff.

Andrew Selous

All staff who are required to use computers as part of their day-to-day duties will receive formal training in the use of specific software or programmes during induction into their role, or as part of continuous professional development.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Andrew Stephenson on 2016-02-10.

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what steps his Department is taking to increase opportunities for prisoners to acquire skills that could lead to earned release.

Andrew Selous

The Secretary of State for Justice last September asked Dame Sally Coates to chair a review of the quality of education in prisons. It is examining how we can better equip prisoners with the skills to find employment on release and will report in due course.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Andrew Stephenson on 2016-04-13.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how much the NHS spent on late-stage Lyme disease treatment in each of the last three years.

Jane Ellison

As services for the treatment of Lyme disease are commissioned locally information on the costs associated with laboratory testing and treatment of late stage Lyme disease is not collected centrally. Nor is information collected centrally on the average time to diagnose cases of Lyme disease.

The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) is developing a clinical guideline on Lyme disease and reports progress on its website. NICE recently consulted on a draft scope for the guideline, and expects to publish final guidance in July 2018.

Public Health England and NHS Choices publish information on their websites to raise awareness of Lyme disease and encourage timely medical consultation because early diagnosis and treatment of Lyme disease is the best way of limiting complications from infection. Given the need to maintain public awareness these or similar mechanisms are expected to continue beyond 2018. Increased awareness is likely to encourage early consultation but no information on the time taken to seek medical advice is available.

There are no plans to set targets for diagnosis and treatment as most cases of Lyme disease are diagnosed empirically by general practitioners using their clinical judgement rather than relying on a laboratory test, thus treatment can start immediately. Diagnosis of patients with late or complicated Lyme disease can be difficult and the National Health Service will continue to provide care taking account of the existing evidence base.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Andrew Stephenson on 2016-07-12.

To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what representations he has received on making refuges a statutory-funded service; and if he will make a statement.

Mr Marcus Jones

Domestic Abuse is a devastating crime and we are determined to ensure that everyone receives the support they need when they need it. This Government recognises the important role played by refuges in keeping victims of domestic abuse safe and we have made a clear commitment to secure a future for refuges.

Many refuges already receive public funding via housing benefit, local authorities and health services. In the Violence Against Women and Girls Strategy published on 8 March, we set out our ambition to improve services for women suffering from domestic abuse, committing to a new Statement of Expectations to set out for the first time what we expect from local areas. To support this, we are launching a new two year fund for refuges and other forms of accommodation based support and to help local areas take the steps they need to meet the expectations set out in the Statement.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Andrew Stephenson on 2015-10-22.

To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, how many deaths in (a) Pendle, (b) the North West and (c) England have been caused as a result of people taking legal highs in each of the past three years.

Mr Rob Wilson

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

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Andrew Stephenson on 2015-10-22.

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how the Government plans to use the fines collected in Lancashire for parents taking their children out of school early in 2014-15.

Nick Gibb

Revenue from penalty notices (fines) is payable to the local authority in respect of pupils registered at school in their area, or in the case of an unregistered pupil, for whom they have arranged alternative provision.

Regulations provide that the local authority can retain revenue from their penalty notice scheme to cover the cost of issuing or enforcing notices, or the cost of prosecuting recipients who do not pay. All revenue not used for these purposes must be paid to the Secretary of State.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Andrew Stephenson on 2015-10-22.

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what the level of truancy was in Pendle in the last three years.

Nick Gibb

Information on pupil absence, including authorised and unauthorised absence, is published at school, local authority, regional and national level in the “Statistics: pupil absence”[1] series. Parliamentary constituency level information is not available.

[1] https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/statistics-pupil-absence

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The below Parliamentary question was asked by Andrew Stephenson on 2015-10-22.

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many parents were fined for taking children out of school early or for their children’s truancy in Pendle in each of the past three years.

Nick Gibb

The Department for Education does not hold information on the number of penalty notices (fines) issued to parents for school attendance offences in Pendle.

The department collects and publishes local authority level annual data on the number of penalty notices issued to parents, for offences relating to Section 444(1) of the Education Act 1996. The department does not collect data regarding fines issued by the courts on this matter. The most recent data published by the department is for the academic year 2012/13.

The number of penalty notices issued in Lancashire in 2011/12 and 2012/13 can be viewed at the following link: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/parental-responsibility-measures-academic-year-2012-to-2013

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The below Parliamentary question was asked by Andrew Stephenson on 2015-10-22.

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what funding her Department has made available for the maintenance of waterways in (a) Pendle, (b) the North West and (c) England in 2015-16.

Rory Stewart

The Government provides grant-in-aid funding to the two largest navigation authorities in England and Wales: the Canal & River Trust (CRT) and the Environment Agency.

Under the terms of the grant agreement, for 2015-16, the CRT will receive a total of £49.546m for the navigations it owns in England and Wales. The distribution of maintenance funding across CRT’s waterways is a matter for CRT.

The Environment Agency does not own or manage any navigations in Pendle or the North West.