Tag: Charlotte Leslie

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Charlotte Leslie on 2014-04-25.

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps he is taking to make it easier to report benefit fraud allegations.

Esther McVey

The public can report benefit fraud by telephoning the National Benefit Fraud Hotline which is a confidential free phone service that anyone can use anonymously to report their suspicions. The service is widely used handling over 350,000 referrals in 2013/14. Alternatively an allegation can be made using an online facility, by letter, or by telephoning a Jobcentre Plus office.

We recently ran a communications campaign pilot to test the effectiveness of communications in reducing fraud and error and we are looking to expand this activity. Our communication campaign aims to challenge and change attitudes and behaviours towards benefit fraud. This includes improving awareness of the need for claimants to report changes in their circumstances and encouraging the general public to report potential benefit fraud.

We are actively looking at ways to improve fraud referrals, in particular, focusing on making better use of digital channels and technology.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Charlotte Leslie on 2014-04-25.

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps he is taking to increase understanding of pensions and retirement planning amongst women.

Steve Webb

The Department is taking a range of steps to address understanding of pensions and retirement planning, including amongst women.

The DWP is working closely with the Money Advice Service (MAS), the government body with responsibility for improving the British public’s financial capability, including tackling the knowledge gaps which can inhibit individuals from saving into pensions.

The Department is facilitating joint-working between its information services and those of The Pensions Advisory Service (TPAS), which is playing an important role in supporting individuals who are automatically enrolled, and MAS. The DWP will also support MAS in increasing its reach, including through contact channels with DWP customers.

As part of automatic enrolment, to encourage women to continue to save in a workplace pension we are running an awareness campaign with supporting information that emphasises the importance of saving for retirement and outlines the benefits of saving in a workplace pension. This reaches women via the use of appropriate media channels and by working in partnership with trusted brands.

We are creating a simpler state pension so that everybody can know both what counts towards their state pension and how much they can expect to receive. We will take account of the different ways in which men and women are affected by the reforms in our communications approach. Our strategy includes using partnerships with media outlets most likely to reach these women to make them aware of the changes. We will evaluate the impact of our communications to make sure we are reaching women to increase their awareness and understanding.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Charlotte Leslie on 2014-04-10.

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps his Department is taking to deal with emotional neglect of children.

Mr Edward Timpson

Our revised statutory safeguarding guidance, ‘Working Together to Safeguard Children 2013′, includes a definition of emotional abuse which social workers already act on when deciding on what action to take to keep a child safe.

We want social workers and other professionals who work with children and families to recognise the early signs of all forms of abuse and neglect and take appropriate action. To support this, the Department is working on a number of initiatives. We have brought together a panel of experts to review the evidence concerning indicators of neglect that are associated with a likelihood of future harm to babies, pre-school children and school-age children.

We are reviewing the recommendations in the Action for Children report ‘Child Neglect: The scandal that never breaks’ and the Ofsted report ‘In the child’s time: professional responses to neglect’ and will consider how to support professionals in recognising early signs of all forms of neglect. We are also working with the Department of Health on their proposals for the development of a new criminal offence of ill-treatment or wilful neglect. Following the Narey review, we are improving social work training and developing further the skills of social workers in critical areas including neglect and how to undertake a good quality assessment.

We have also published training materials commissioned from Action for Children and the University of Stirling. These materials, ‘Childhood neglect: Improving outcomes for children’, contain guidance and training resources to help staff identify and respond early to all signs of neglect and to know what types of interventions are the most effective.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Charlotte Leslie on 2014-04-29.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what assessment he has made of the effect of the number of surgical care practitioners on the training of junior doctors in surgery.

Dr Daniel Poulter

The Government has mandated Health Education England (HEE) to provide national leadership on education, training and workforce development in the National Health Service.

HEE supports the delivery of excellent healthcare and health improvement to the patients and public of England, by ensuring that our workforce has the right numbers, skills, values and behaviours, at the right time and in the right place. A key part of that role is a continuing responsibility for ensuring the provision of an appropriate number of surgical trainees. Assurance of the quality of surgical training is the responsibility of the General Medical Council.