The below Parliamentary question was asked by Charlotte Leslie on 2016-04-08.
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many allegations of fraudulent benefit claims made by members of the public led to (a) benefits being stopped and (b) prosecutions in each of the last five years.
Priti Patel
The information requested is not collated centrally and could only be provided at disproportionate cost.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Charlotte Leslie on 2016-05-04.
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, if he will take steps to increase competition in the pharmaceutical wholesale market.
George Freeman
The United Kingdom has an active and diverse licensed wholesale dealing market for medicinal products for human use which is regulated by the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency. It is up to individual companies to submit such licence applications.
If there is concern with anti-competiveness, this should be referred to the Competition and Markets Authority.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Charlotte Leslie on 2016-09-12.
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, pursuant to the Answer of 18 April 2016 to Question 32920, what processes his Department uses to collect information on allegations of fraudulent benefit claims; and what assessment has been made of the effectiveness of those processes.
Caroline Nokes
There are a variety of ways that allegations of Benefit Fraud are collected and received by the DWP including telephone calls to the National Benefit Fraud Hotline, online and Letter and Data matching. Once an allegation has been received and, if it meets the required criteria containing enough information, a Fraud Referral Form is completed which is then entered into the internal Fraud Referral and Information Management System.
The effectiveness of these processes is measured by statistics produced and published in May each year and made available in the public domain. These statistics are used to evaluate, develop and support fraud and error policy, strategy and operational decisions.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Charlotte Leslie on 2015-12-08.
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what system of monitoring his Department has for local authorities which repeatedly commission providers rated by the Care Quality Commission as requiring improvement.
Alistair Burt
Commissioning social care is a matter for local authorities as they are best placed to understand the needs of local people and communities, and how best to meet them. The Care Quality Commission ratings should inform their commissioning decisions; these ratings are available to the public. Local authorities are accountable to their local population through democratically elected members.
The Department has developed statutory guidance to support local authorities to meet their duties for market shaping set out in the Care Act 2014, including commissioning. The Department has also worked with the Association of Directors of Adult Social Services, the Local Government Association and other partners to develop a framework of commissioning standards which will help local authorities improve their commissioning practices.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Charlotte Leslie on 2016-02-02.
To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, if she will make an assessment of the effect on Nepal’s recovery from the 2015 earthquake of India closing border crossings into Nepal.
Mr Desmond Swayne
We are deeply concerned about the impact of the blockages at the India-Nepal border on the supply and distribution of humanitarian goods. DFID is working on the ground to make sure that vital supplies reach those affected by the earthquake of early 2015. Through its partners, DFID is providing winter support to approximately 42,000 families (over 200,000 people). We welcome the adoption of the National Reconstruction Authority Bill and formation of the National Reconstruction Authority.
DFID and FCO Ministers have discussed their concerns with Ministers from the Governments of Nepal and India. The British Ambassador in Kathmandu is also working closely with others in the international community and is in close contact with Prime Minister Oli and his cabinet.
There has been an increase in the level of goods, including fuel, entering Nepal via India. Despite the main border crossing between the two countries remaining closed, between 60-70% of the usual amount of goods are entering Nepal through alternative border crossings.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Charlotte Leslie on 2016-02-24.
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, how many officials of his Department had an operational level (C1) examination pass in which languages in (a) 2001 and (b) 2010.
Mr Tobias Ellwood
I refer my right hon. Friend to my answers of 10 February 2016 (PQs 23665 and 25484). We only record current C1 passes, valid for five years after the date of the exam, and therefore do not have pre-2010 data.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Charlotte Leslie on 2016-03-07.
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, when his Department plans to announce the net allocations from the primary care transformation fund.
Alistair Burt
The Primary Care Transformation Fund is a multi-year programme and the first tranche of local estates and technology projects to improve general practitioner premises and supporting infrastructure across the country are already underway. Expenditure on 2015/16 projects will be finalised with the audit of NHS England’s national accounts, which is expected to complete in July.
Clinical commissioning groups have commissioned the development of Strategic Estates Plans that include the individual estates and technology projects for years two to four, which are due for submission later in the spring. These will then be assessed during the summer and the allocations required to support them developed later this year.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Charlotte Leslie on 2016-04-08.
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many allegations of fraudulent benefit claims have been reported by members of the public in each year since 2010; and by what means such allegations were reported.
Priti Patel
The information requested is not collated centrally and could only be provided at disproportionate cost.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Charlotte Leslie on 2016-05-24.
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what recent assessment his Department has made of the human rights situation in Iran.
Mr Tobias Ellwood
The human rights situation in Iran continues to cause great concern, in particular its use of the death penalty and the restrictions on freedom of expression and belief. Although President Rouhani pledged to improve the rights and freedoms of the citizens of Iran when he was elected, we are yet to see concrete improvements.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Charlotte Leslie on 2016-10-07.
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, pursuant to the Answer of 28 June 2016 to Question 40810, on NHS Protect, what the categories of offence were for each of the prosecutions listed.
Mr Philip Dunne
Information on the date a prosecution commenced for each case from 2010-11 to 2015-16 and the category of offence from 2010-11 to 2012-13 could only be obtained at disproportionate cost. The date the investigation commenced for each case and the category of offence from 2013-14 onwards are shown in the attached table.