Tag: Cat Smith

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Cat Smith on 2016-04-20.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment she has made of the prevalence of mental health issues among firefighters; and if she will make a statement.

Mike Penning

The physical and mental well being of fire fighters is of utmost importance and we recognise that from time to time some fire fighters may experience challenging times because of the stressful and demanding functions of the role. The responsibility for ensuring the health and safety of fire fighters rests with individual fire and rescue authorities. The Chief Fire Officers’ Association supports them in this work through its lead on fire and rescue occupational health matters.

The Government announced in October last year the allocation of nearly £10 million to help support 200,000 emergency services personnel and volunteers, funded through the London Interbank Offered Rate (LIBOR) fines. Of this funding up to £4 million was allocated to mental health charity MIND to develop a programme of targeted mental health support and information for all emergency services personnel across England. The programme includes an anti-stigma campaign, a confidential advice line for emergency service staff, training, peer learning events and other resources to help promote better mental health in the work place.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Cat Smith on 2016-05-04.

To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, how many franchise Post Office branches have (a) closed and (b) relocated since January 2010.

George Freeman

Post Office Limited runs and manages its Crown post offices. Franchising of these offices is the operational responsibility of the Post Office.

I have asked Paula Vennells, the Chief Executive of Post Office Limited, to write to the hon Member on these matters. A copy of her reply will be placed in the libraries of the House.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Cat Smith on 2016-09-08.

To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what assessment she has made of the potential merits of making the provision of youth services a statutory duty for councils.

Mr Rob Wilson

Government does place an existing statutory duty on local authorities through the Education Act 2006 (Section 507B) to secure, as far as is practicable, sufficient services and activities to improve the wellbeing of young people. However, in fulfilling this responsibility government believes that local authorities should be empowered to decide how best to secure services that meet the needs of young people within the budget that is available to them.

Government is committed to ensuring all young people can reach their full potential and has recently announced an £80 million investment in the youth sector that is being delivered through the Youth Investment Fund and the #iwill Fund.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Cat Smith on 2015-11-17.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what assessment he has made of compliance by doctors with the four-week recommended maximum prescribing period for benzodiazepines and z drugs since 2011.

George Freeman

No assessment has been made of compliance by doctors with the four-week recommended maximum prescribing period for benzodiazepines and z drugs since 2011. Guidance on the prescribing of benzodiazepines and “z” drugs can be found in the British National Formulary.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Cat Smith on 2016-02-03.

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what assessment he has made of the reasons for the reduction in personal independence payment award rates between October 2014 and October 2015.

Justin Tomlinson

Personal Independence Payment (PIP) is continuing to roll out in a safe and steady manner and as such there will be a variety of cases, and case volumes, within the system at any one time. Correspondingly, variation in PIP award rates and amounts is to be expected in a live system of this scale as cases are assessed on an individual basis.

There are no targets for the numbers who are in receipt of PIP.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Cat Smith on 2016-03-04.

To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, whether she has had discussions with Ministers of the Northern Ireland Executive on the publication date of guidance for health professionals on abortion; and whether she plans to hold such discussions with those Ministers.

Mrs Theresa Villiers

I have had no discussions with Ministers of the Northern Ireland Executive on the publication date of guidance on abortion for health professionals.

Abortion law and guidance in Northern Ireland is a transferred matter and is therefore the responsibility of Northern Ireland Executive Ministers.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Cat Smith on 2016-04-20.

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether his Department has plans to include duties on wheelchair accessibility from the platform to the train in the next franchise for the West Coast Mainline at (a) Lancaster and (b) Wigan North Western.

Andrew Jones

Both Lancaster and Wigan North Western stations have full step free access to and between‎ platforms, with staff operated boarding ramps provided for wheelchair users to board or alight from trains. These facilities will be retained under the next franchise.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Cat Smith on 2016-05-04.

To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, how many public consultations the Post Office conducted on proposals to franchise Crown post offices in 2014 and 2015; and how many of those post offices so consulted on proceeded to be franchised.

George Freeman

Post Office Limited runs and manages its Crown post offices. Franchising of these offices is the operational responsibility of the Post Office.

I have asked Paula Vennells, the Chief Executive of Post Office Limited, to write to the hon Member on these matters. A copy of her reply will be placed in the libraries of the House.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Cat Smith on 2016-09-08.

To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what assessment she has made of the implications for her policies and those of local authorities of the findings of the Unison report, A Future at Risk, published in August 2016, on the number of places in youth services that have been lost since 2010; and whether she plans to increase the number of such places.

Mr Rob Wilson

It is the responsibility of local authorities to decide how to allocate funding for youth services, according to local need. There is an existing statutory duty on local authorities through Education Act 2006 (Section 507B) to secure, as far as is practicable, sufficient services and activities to improve the wellbeing of young people. Individual local authorities would be best placed to advise on whether there are plans to increase the number of places in youth services in their local area.

Government is committed to ensuring all young people have the best possible start in life. To demonstrate this, it has recently announced an £80million investment in the youth sector that is being delivered through the Youth Investment Fund and the #iwill Fund.

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

To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, if he will make an assessment of the potential effect of proposed closures to Open University regional centres on the numbers of (a) BAME and (b) disabled students in higher education.

Joseph Johnson

The Open University is an autonomous institution and it is for them to make decisions about how best to structure their workforce and meet the needs of their students. Higher education institutions are responsible for meeting their legal obligations under the Equality Act 2010.