Tag: Carol Monaghan

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Carol Monaghan on 2016-03-17.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether she plans to relax the Government’s position on the settlement of refugees in Calais to allow the settlement of unaccompanied children in the UK.

James Brokenshire

Individuals in France in need of international protection should claim asylum there in line with established EU and international principles. Once asylum has been claimed in France or in any other European country participating in the Dublin Regulation the UK will uphold all obligations to consider requests to take charge of an application on the grounds of family unity. Asylum must be claimed in France to begin this process and we have no plans to change our position on this.

The UK-France Joint Declaration of 20 August has committed our two governments to establishing a permanent official contact group focused on ensuring that the efficient and effective use of the Dublin Regulation, including the provisions on family unity.

A senior Home Office official has been seconded to the Interior Ministry’s Dublin Unit in Paris in part to assist with the identification of potential requests for the UK to take charge of asylum seeking children in France and to bring them into the Dublin Regulation procedure without delay.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Carol Monaghan on 2015-11-23.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what research his Department has conducted on the disincentives to prescribing off-patent repurposed drugs.

George Freeman

The Department has conducted no such research. Current arrangements already allow off-patent drugs to be prescribed for new purposes where this is the most appropriate clinical treatment course for a patient. Prescribing decisions are a matter for the clinical judgement of the prescriber concerned.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Carol Monaghan on 2016-03-17.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what discussions she has had with her French counterpart on that country’s current policy of dismantling the refugee camp in Calais.

James Brokenshire

The UK Government is in regular contact with French counterparts on the migrant situation in Calais.

Steps taken by French authorities to clear sections of the migrant camp in Calais are consistent with the shared strategy to encourage those in need of protection to claim asylum in France and to return those not in need to their home country. The French Government, with support from the UK, has made huge efforts to provide decent accommodation in France for all those that need it, including for women and children.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Carol Monaghan on 2015-11-23.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, pursuant to the contribution of 6 November 2015 by the Minister for Community and Social Care, Official Report, column 1307, what the evidential basis is for his statement that the provisions of the Off-patent Drugs Bill would be potentially harmful.

George Freeman

The current legal framework allows a clinician to prescribe drugs outside their licensed indication where that will best meet the clinical needs of their patient. This clinical freedom is crucial in delivering appropriate healthcare to groups of patients for whom medicines have not historically been licensed, e.g. children. It is also helpful in enabling prescribers to quickly pick up and apply new evidence that will help patients with particular clinical needs. The Off-Patent Drugs Bill would introduce a legal duty to apply for a licence for off-patent drugs where evidence of effectiveness for a new indication becomes available. This will create an expectation that only licensed uses of drugs are acceptable and therefore that off-label use is not appropriate. This would cause unnecessary delays in patients getting the medicines they need by slowing the rapid uptake of new evidence in clinical practice. This is why we believe the proposed legislation could potentially be harmful.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Carol Monaghan on 2016-03-17.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what discussions she has had with her French counterpart on steps to resettle people who have been displaced by the dismantling of sections of the refugee camp in Calais.

James Brokenshire

The UK Government is in regular contact with French counterparts on the migrant situation in Calais.

Steps taken by French authorities to clear sections of the migrant camp in Calais are consistent with the shared strategy to encourage those in need of protection to claim asylum in France and to return those not in need to their home country. The French Government, with support from the UK, has made huge efforts to provide decent accommodation in France for all those that need it, including for women and children.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Carol Monaghan on 2015-11-23.

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, if he will make it his policy to amend the three month rule for the habitual residence test to allow access to income based jobseeker’s allowance for UK nationals returning to the UK after a period away who have retained financial commitments at home.

Priti Patel

It has always been the case that any UK national who returns to this country after an extended period must demonstrate they are habitually resident to be eligible for income-related benefits. Since 1 January 2014, most jobseekers must also have been living in the UK for three months before any consideration can be given to whether they are habitually resident to be eligible to receive income-based Jobseeker’s Allowance.

Regulations were amended from 9 November 2014 to exempt from the three month residence requirement members of the Armed Forces and Crown servants who were serving abroad and others who had paid certain types of UK national insurance contributions during their absence abroad. We have no plans to introduce further exemptions from the three month requirement.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Carol Monaghan on 2016-06-07.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment she has made of the effect of the Immigration Rules on facilitating family reunification.

Richard Harrington

The Immigration Rules support the principle of family unity and allow the spouse or partner and children of those granted refugee status or humanitarian protection in the UK to reunite with them here, if they were part of the family unit before their sponsor fled their country. Under this policy we have reunited around 22,000 refugees with their immediate family over the past five years and will continue to do so.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Carol Monaghan on 2015-11-23.

To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, if he will make representations to Concentrix on introducing a liaison unit for hon. Members to raise constituents’ tax credit cases.

Mr David Gauke

Concentrix are not introducing a liaison unit for hon. Members as HM Revenue and Customs has three areas allocated to deal with representations from hon. Members relating to their constituents’ concerns: a dedicated MP hotline for tax credits, an MP complaints team that deals with tax credit complaints, and a Ministerial correspondence team.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Carol Monaghan on 2016-06-06.

To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what proportion of Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council and UK Space Agency cross-boundary research proposals submitted through the Joint Electronic Submission System received funding in each of the last three years.

Joseph Johnson

In the last financial year one cross-boundary research proposal was considered for co-funding by the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC) and the UK Space Agency. This proposal was discussed at the relevant EPSRC funding panel and was awarded funding. In the two years prior, no proposals were received which were considered for co-funding in this respect.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Carol Monaghan on 2015-11-23.

To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, how many tax credit claims have been stopped as a result of checks by Concentrix since they took on the contract; and how many such claims were restored upon appeal.

Mr David Gauke

The information is not readily available and could only be obtained at disproportionate cost.