Tag: Angela Rayner

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Angela Rayner on 2015-12-08.

To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what assessment he has made of the implications for the financial position of students of offering loans to 19 to 23 year olds who are undertaking further education.

Nick Boles

Loans have been available to those aged 24 and over studying at levels 3 and 4 in further education since April 2013. We are now making them available to those aged 19-23 and extending them to levels 5 and 6. Advanced Learner Loans remove the barrier of paying up-front fees for courses.

Learners do not repay their loan until they can afford to. Repayments on the loan are taken when the individual is earning more than £21,000 per annum and is at the rate of 9% of their earnings above this level.

Loans enhance shared responsibility for skills funding, recognising that much of the benefit of advanced vocational study goes to the learner.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Angela Rayner on 2015-11-20.

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what powers he plans Rail North to assume in relation to rail franchises by 2020.

Andrew Jones

In March of this year the Department for Transport (DfT) signed a formal partnership agreement with Rail North. This agreement sets out the arrangements by which a locally-based team in Leeds, reporting to a joint Rail North/DfT strategic board will manage the new Northern and TransPennine Express franchises from April 2016. The agreement includes important mechanisms to enable the Rail North authorities to make decisions on changes to their local rail service and fares and to make investments in these franchises to make improvements. The partnership agreement with Rail North signed in March 2015 sets out the steps by which further devolution will be agreed by the parties during the life of the franchises.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Angela Rayner on 2015-12-08.

To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what assessment he has made of the potential effect on students of replacing maintenance grants with loans.

Joseph Johnson

The Government published an Equality Analysis on changes to student support on 3^rd December. This can be found at the following link:

https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/482110/bis-15-639-student-finance-equality-analysis.pdf

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The below Parliamentary question was asked by Angela Rayner on 2016-03-11.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what steps he is taking in response to the Oxleas Plus supplement option for pensions offered by Oxleas NHS Foundation Trust.

Alistair Burt

National Health Service organisations have the freedom to make changes to the reward offer they make to staff; having regard to the legal framework. The NHS Pension Board has referred Oxleas NHS Foundation Trust to the Pensions Regulator (TPR) even though TPR has already found the option for pensions offered by the Trust was not an inducement and therefore not a breach of law.

However, the NHS Pension Board concluded that there was additional information, which may not have been considered in relation to the earlier referral, and that given the potential wider implications of this issue, a further in-depth investigation by TPR was merited.

The NHS Pension Board is awaiting TPR’s decision. The Secretary of State for Health will consider any subsequent advice from the NHS Pension Board.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Angela Rayner on 2015-11-19.

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how many open access contracts operate on the railway; and how many such contracts are currently under consideration.

Claire Perry

There are now three open access operators running passenger services on the national rail network, with a fourth planning to start in 2018. Applications from two further operators are currently under consideration by the Office of Rail and Road.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Angela Rayner on 2016-01-04.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what steps (a) his Department and (b) NHS England is taking to ensure that mental health diagnostic and other services are (i) accessible and (ii) meet the needs of (A) children and (B) adults on the autism spectrum.

Alistair Burt

We know that people with autism can experience common mental health conditions such as depression and anxiety, as well as other mental illnesses. Over £400 million has been invested in Improving Access to Psychological Therapies to ensure access to talking therapies for those who need them, including those with autism.

An additional investment of £1.4 billion has been allocated to children and young people’s mental health services over the course of this Parliament. The Department is working closely with NHS England to invest in clinical commissioning groups (CCGs) to deliver Local Transformation Plans, which must address the full spectrum of need including children with autism and learning disabilities. Roll-out of the Children and Young People’s Improving Access to Psychological Therapies programmes by 2018 will extend access to training for staff working with children with autism.

With support from the Department, NHS England and the Association of Directors of Social Services will undertake a series of visits to (CCGs) where there is good practice in meeting the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence Quality Standard 51 Autism, and to those that do not, with the aim of identifying best practice on diagnosis and support.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Angela Rayner on 2016-03-11.

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps he is taking to enforce section 54 of the Pensions Act 2008.

Justin Tomlinson

Section 54 of the Pensions Act 2008 prohibits employers from taking any action for the sole or main purpose of inducing a worker to leave a workplace pension scheme.

The Government takes potential inducement by employers very seriously. The Pensions Regulator (TPR) is responsible for all matters relating to employers’ compliance with their enrolment duties, including investigations into individual cases of potential inducement by employers.

Through automatic enrolment we are delivering a fundamental shift in workplace pension saving that is changing the way that people are enabled to save for retirement. Already 100,668 employers have completed their declaration of compliance with the Regulator, resulting in more than 6 million eligible jobholders being automatically enrolled into a qualifying pension scheme.

The law relating to inducements is an important safeguard for workers and the Regulator has statutory powers of investigation and enforcement it can use in appropriate circumstances. We are working with the Regulator to monitor the number and nature of possible inducement cases as the roll-out of automatic enrolment continues. That will enable us to judge whether the current legislation covering inducement, and the guidance and messaging provided by the Regulator, are operating effectively to protect employees, and whether change may be appropriate.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Angela Rayner on 2015-11-19.

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how many sexual assaults on trains there have been in the last 12 months.

Claire Perry

In the period 1 November 2014 to 31 October 2015 there were a total of 754 reported sexual assaults on trains, and 3 reported rapes. It is likely that the levels reported are at least in part a result of various initiatives by the British Transport Police (BTP) to raise awareness and encourage more reporting of sexual offences, including various specific campaigns such as Project Guardian which encourages victims to report inappropriate sexual behaviour. Further detail on the range of actions being taken by the BTP to reduce sexual offences can be found at http://www.btp.police.uk/advice_and_info/how_we_tackle_crime/sexual_offences.aspx.

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The below Parliamentary question was asked by Angela Rayner on 2016-01-04.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what steps his Department is taking to ensure that best practice on autism diagnosis and post-diagnostic support is shared between clinical commissioning groups.

Alistair Burt

We know that people with autism can experience common mental health conditions such as depression and anxiety, as well as other mental illnesses. Over £400 million has been invested in Improving Access to Psychological Therapies to ensure access to talking therapies for those who need them, including those with autism.

An additional investment of £1.4 billion has been allocated to children and young people’s mental health services over the course of this Parliament. The Department is working closely with NHS England to invest in clinical commissioning groups (CCGs) to deliver Local Transformation Plans, which must address the full spectrum of need including children with autism and learning disabilities. Roll-out of the Children and Young People’s Improving Access to Psychological Therapies programmes by 2018 will extend access to training for staff working with children with autism.

With support from the Department, NHS England and the Association of Directors of Social Services will undertake a series of visits to (CCGs) where there is good practice in meeting the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence Quality Standard 51 Autism, and to those that do not, with the aim of identifying best practice on diagnosis and support.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Angela Rayner on 2016-03-11.

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what his policy is on employers offering higher salaries to employees who opt of occupational pension schemes.

Justin Tomlinson

Section 54 of the Pensions Act 2008 prohibits employers from taking any action for the sole or main purpose of inducing a worker to leave a workplace pension scheme.

The Government takes potential inducement by employers very seriously. The Pensions Regulator (TPR) is responsible for all matters relating to employers’ compliance with their enrolment duties, including investigations into individual cases of potential inducement by employers.

Through automatic enrolment we are delivering a fundamental shift in workplace pension saving that is changing the way that people are enabled to save for retirement. Already 100,668 employers have completed their declaration of compliance with the Regulator, resulting in more than 6 million eligible jobholders being automatically enrolled into a qualifying pension scheme.

The law relating to inducements is an important safeguard for workers and the Regulator has statutory powers of investigation and enforcement it can use in appropriate circumstances. We are working with the Regulator to monitor the number and nature of possible inducement cases as the roll-out of automatic enrolment continues. That will enable us to judge whether the current legislation covering inducement, and the guidance and messaging provided by the Regulator, are operating effectively to protect employees, and whether change may be appropriate.