Tag: Chi Onwurah

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Chi Onwurah on 2015-11-09.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what steps his Department is taking to ensure that it provides its staff with sufficient guidance to ensure that sanctions are not placed on universal credit claimants who do not have an applicable box to tick on NHS charges claim forms when claiming help with NHS health costs.

Alistair Burt

Various sources of information for the public and relevant staff, such as NHS Choices, are provided on the arrangements for Help with Health Costs, including how Universal Credit claimants should claim. However, the Department for Work and Pensions has also issued general guidance to staff signposting key information.

Any claims for exemption from National Health Service charges or remission or repayment of relevant health costs made by a person because they meet the qualifying criteria may be the subject of a validation check. This is to protect NHS resources from fraud and error.

Where a patient meets the criteria in place for Universal Credit and is therefore entitled to claim entitlement to Help with Health Costs, but there is no Universal Credit box available to tick on relevant forms, they can claim by ticking the “gets income based Jobseekers Allowance” box. Those whose claim is selected for a validation check will be able to explain their position to the relevant authority, and use their Universal Credit award notice to support their claim.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Chi Onwurah on 2015-11-24.

To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, whether he has had discussions with the BBC Trust on making BBC regional production requirements relate to the number of (a) residents and (b) licence payers in that region.

Mr Edward Vaizey

The question of the BBC’s role in the nations and regions is being considered through the BBC Charter Review consultation. We are currently analysing responses to the consultation.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Chi Onwurah on 2015-12-03.

To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, for what reasons DTT platforms were excluded from the scope of his Department’s balance of payments consultation.

Mr Edward Vaizey

The Government consulted on issues related to the must offer provision in the Communications Act in its consultation – ‘The balance of payments between television platforms and public service broadcasters’. Analysis of responses is ongoing and the Government will publish a response in due course.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Chi Onwurah on 2015-12-09.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what Action Fraud’s budget has been in each year of its existence; how many cases it has pursued in each such year; and what proportion of such cases involved cybercrime.

Mike Penning

Action Fraud is the national reporting point for fraud and also cyber crime. Crime reports received by Action Fraud are considered by the National Fraud Intelligence Bureau (NFIB), both of which are operated by the City of London Police. Neither Action Fraud nor the NFIB are investigatory agencies. Crime reports are evaluated to assess the information available which could assist an investigation, and to identify links between seemingly unconnected incidents. Where there is enough evidence available and a viable lead, actionable intelligence packages are created by the NFIB and are sent to the appropriate police force to consider whether enforcement activity should take place. All crime reports are assessed against a number of variables, which may alter according to demand. It would be improper to comment on the procedure on which these decisions are made in the public domain.

Action Fraud was rolled out to all police forces in April 2013; the data below includes crime reports and disseminations in England and Wales only. For the 12 months to 31 March 2015, Action Fraud received 230,399 reports of crime. Of these, 14,509 were cyber dependent crimes, namely, crimes which can only be committed using computers, computer networks or other forms of information communication technology – for example, hacking or malware offences. These crimes fall under the Computer Misuse Act 1990. For this period, the NFIB disseminated a total of 61,682 crimes to Forces and partner agencies to consider investigation. For the period April 2013 – March 2014 Action Fraud received 211,221 crime reports and of these, 21,686 were cyber dependent. For this period, the NFIB disseminated a total of 39,138 crimes to Forces and partner agencies to consider investigation.

Historically the Action Fraud capability came into life in 2009 and was funded by the National Fraud Authority (NFA), which has since been closed, a proportion of the NFA’s total budget was used to fund the Action Fraud Capability and is as follows:

• 2009/10 £5.7 million including a £1.4 million uplift to set up the service

• 2010/11 £4.9 million

• 2011/12 £6.68 million

• 2012/13 £9.4 million

Since the closure of the NFA in March 2014 Action Fraud and the National Fraud Intelligence Bureau have been funded by Home Office funding, Cabinet Office funding for Cyber Security and funding from the City of London Police core grant, and is as follows:

• 2013/14 £11.11 million

• 2014/15 £10.62 million

• 2015/16 £11.03 million

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Chi Onwurah on 2016-01-18.

To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what guidance his Department provides to partner organisations on using the HM Revenue and Customs logo in such a way as to make it clear to consumers the difference between legitimate partner organisations and scam websites.

Mr David Gauke

HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) has strict brand guidelines around the use of its logo. Only in very occasional circumstances will it allow a third-party supplier to use the HMRC logo alongside its own, when it is providing direct services to customers on behalf of HMRC.

HMRC is among the most phished brands in the world and is constantly vigilant against the fraudulent use of its logo and brand. Where such misuse is identified, HMRC will take a range of actions to protect customers from fraud, including:

• demanding the removal of the logo by the third party
• legal action
• working with internet service providers to remove websites
• proactively publicising to customers when new phishing websites are found
  • providing publicity advice to keep safe online.

  Since July 2014, HMRC has closed 22,210 fake websites.

  The Government also provides guidance on gov.uk on the types of genuine communication that customers can expect from the department.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Chi Onwurah on 2016-02-05.

To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what work the Digital Accessibility Alliance has completed or published since it was formed.

Mr Edward Vaizey

This Government recognises the importance of Digital Inclusion, and remains committed to seeing an improvement in the provision of digital information services for disabled people. Annual correspondence with the FTSE 100 companies has indicated that from 2013 to present there has been a steady increase in the number of companies that provide video relay. We welcome this positive progress, and public facing Government departments will continue to work with interested parties to ensure this continues.

We have also been monitoring progress of the provision of access services for Video on Demand (VoD) content since 2013 through engagement with the Authority for Television on Demand (ATVOD), platform operators content providers and broadcasters.

The Alliance for Digital Accessibility (formerly the Digital Accessibility Alliance), which has met twice since its formation, has created the environment for members to engage and discuss Accessibility issues.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Chi Onwurah on 2016-02-23.

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, how many full-time equivalent officials are (a) budgeted for and (b) actually employed in each African country in which the UK has an Embassy or High Commission.

Mr Tobias Ellwood

The attached spreadsheet (PQ 28132 – FTE Africa v0.3) details the number of UK based FCO staff budgeted for and employed in each African country which the UK has an Embassy or High Commission.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Chi Onwurah on 2016-04-18.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what the proportion is of (a) international students and (b) other migrants whose entry clearance visa or extension of stay has expired at the point at which they exit the UK.

James Brokenshire

Exit checks were introduced on 8 April 2015. My Department is considering the use of exit checks data for statistical reporting purposes and plans to publish an initial evaluation of the use of exit checks for this purpose on 26 May. Any data published then will be subject to data assurance standards.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Chi Onwurah on 2016-05-04.

To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what cultural events and organisations are directly funded by his Department, outside of funding for the Arts Councils; and where those events and organisations are located.

Mr Edward Vaizey

The Department for Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) funds a number of cultural events and organisations outside of funding for Arts Council England. Events include Hull City of Culture 2017 and the Great Exhibition of the North in 2018 which will celebrate and showcase the best of art, culture and design in those regions. Alongside support for the First World War Centenary commemoration events and numerous cultural capital projects, DCMS directly funds our national museums and galleries such as the British Museum, National Gallery, Tate, the Science Museum Group and National Museums Liverpool. Further information on the Government’s funding commitments for culture can be found in the recently published Culture White Paper, a copy of which is available from the House Library.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Chi Onwurah on 2016-05-24.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what proportion of (a) international students and (b) other migrants have an entry clearance visa or extension of stay that has expired at the point at which they exit the UK.

James Brokenshire

The data requested is not currently available.