Tag: Chi Onwurah

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Chi Onwurah on 2016-07-12.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what his policy is on the (a) ownership and (b) control by patients of data relating to them.

Nicola Blackwood

Patients have the legal right to access their records. It is unacceptable in anything other than the most exceptional circumstances for health and care organisations to deny patients access to their health records.

The Government is committed to providing patients with online access to their records, without charge. By 2019 individuals will be able to write comments, preferences and upload information into their electronic records. By 2020, all care records will be digital, real-time and interoperable. The Department is currently consulting on the National Data Guardian’s recommendations for a new consent and opt-out model for information sharing in the health and care system, and following that consultation will implement new arrangements that will give patients greater control over who can access their records for purposes other than direct care.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Chi Onwurah on 2016-09-05.

To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what steps he is taking to support the work of anti-racism groups in North East England and celebrate the support shown for migrants and refugees in Newcastle following the vote to leave the EU.

Mr Marcus Jones

The Government welcomes local community initiatives that tackle hate crime and intolerance. In July, we published the cross-Government Hate Crime Action Plan in which we committed Government to tackling all forms of hate crime including race hate crime. We are currently supporting True Vision, an on-line hate crime reporting site, as well as the Anne Frank Trust and Streetwise, who work in schools to tackle prejudice and intolerance. In addition, the Hate Crime Action Plan referred to ‘community-led solutions’ – a new initiative funded by the Home Office to explore innovative ways in which communities in the North East would be eligible to apply once the scheme is launched.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Chi Onwurah on 2016-10-17.

To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what representations she has received on the decision of the BBC to require registration for using iPlayer from 2017.

Matt Hancock

We have received no representations about this matter.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Chi Onwurah on 2016-10-19.

To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what steps the Government has taken to assess levels of awareness of the sensitivity of personal data and the importance of protecting such data among (a) consumers and (b) small businesses.

Matt Hancock

The Cyber Aware (formerly Cyber Streetwise) campaign aims to drive behaviour change amongst small businesses and individuals so they adopt simple secure online behaviours to help protect themselves from cyber criminals. Research carried out by the campaign found 41% of respondents were “concerned a lot” about their personal details being accessed without permission, whilst 48% were “concerned a little” and 11% were “not concerned.” 40% were “concerned a lot” about providing personal information via an email scam/phishing email and losing money, whilst 40% were “concerned a little” and 20% were “not concerned.”

The Government’s Cyber Security Breaches Survey states that 69% of businesses say cyber security is a high priority for senior managers. 36% of businesses say the main reason they invest in cyber security is to protect customer data and 34% of businesses have rules specifically around personal data encryption.

The Data Protection Act requires of businesses that “appropriate technical and organisational measures shall be taken against unauthorised or unlawful processing of personal data and against accidental loss or destruction of, or damage to, personal data. The Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO), as the independent regulator of the Data Protection Act (DPA), conducts an annual tracker survey which measures individuals awareness of rights under the DPA and gauges individuals’ perceptions of the way organisations handle their personal information. The latest version, which can be found at www.ico.org.uk, states that 97% of respondents were aware of the Data Protection Act.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Chi Onwurah on 2015-11-05.

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what safeguards are in place to avoid mistakenly withdrawing motor tax following erroneous or malicious notification of cars being exported or going off road.

Andrew Jones

The Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency (DVLA) requires specific information or documentation before it will process a notification that a vehicle has been exported or taken off the road.

In order to be able to make such notifications electronically (where such a service is available) a unique reference number from the vehicle registration certificate and/or vehicle excise duty renewal letter must be used. This helps to ensure that it is the registered keeper of the vehicle making the notification.

If the notification cannot be made electronically, the registered keeper must use the appropriate section of the vehicle registration certificate or write to the DVLA.

When the off road or export notification has updated the DVLA’s records, a refund of any remaining vehicle excise duty will be issued to the registered keeper. Unexpectedly receiving this payment should prompt the keeper to contact the DVLA if they did not make the notification themselves.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Chi Onwurah on 2015-11-16.

To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, with reference to the Prime Minister’s announcement of 7 November 2015 on broadband access, what public funding has been assigned for the delivery of the Universal Service Obligation for broadband; and whether he plans to publish this information as part of the comprehensive spending review.

Mr Edward Vaizey

Government will be consulting in early 2016 on the Universal Service Obligation (USO) for broadband. The USO will be designed to be as efficient as possible, and ensure value for money for the consumer and taxpayer.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Chi Onwurah on 2015-11-30.

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what assessment he has made of the adequacy of Funeral Payment provision for funeral expenses.

Justin Tomlinson

The Social Fund Funeral Payment scheme continues to provide valuable help towards the cost of a funeral for people in receipt of a qualifying benefit. My department continually reviews the scheme to improve and streamline it.

Funeral Expenses Payments are made to all applicants who satisfy the eligibility criteria. Awards cover the full necessary costs involved with either burial or cremation and up to £700 for other funeral expenses. In 2014/15 over 32,000 awards were made to people in Great Britain. These payments were worth £44 million, with an average award of £1,375. The average award has increased by 27% since 2006.

Social Fund Budgeting Loans are also available to help with funeral expenses for people who have been in receipt of a qualifying benefit for at least 26 weeks.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Chi Onwurah on 2015-12-07.

To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what assessment he has made of the level of awareness among (a) micro, (b) small and (c) medium-sized enterprises of the Cyber Essentials programme.

Mr Edward Vaizey

The Department for Culture, Media and Sport and the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills have carried out an extensive range of activity to promote Cyber Essentials since the scheme launched in June 2014. This includeswork with trade organisations (such as the Federation of Small Businesses and the British Chambers of Commerce); inclusion of Cyber Essentials in Government cyber security guidance; the requirement for suppliers to hold a Cyber Essentials certificate for certain Government contracts; marketing and communications activity, including Cyber Essentials embedded in the Cyber Streetwise campaign for small businesses; plus an ongoing programme of events, conferences, industry engagement and Ministerial activity.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Chi Onwurah on 2015-12-14.

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what transitional arrangements are being made for local authority employees who administer housing benefit when responsibility for that benefit moves to universal credit.

Priti Patel

Any transitional arrangements are the responsibility of the Local Authority, but we will work with them to manage the impact of these changes in a way which minimises the need for any redundancies. Where this does not prove possible, after the exercise of all reasonable efforts to redeploy people, the Department has given Local Authorities a commitment that we will meet their costs of any residual redundancies.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Chi Onwurah on 2016-01-14.

To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, whether his Department or Ofcom has made an assessment of the cost drivers behind BT’s recent 50 per cent increase in charges for non-payment by direct debit.

Mr Edward Vaizey

BT’s charges to business customers for payments made other than by direct debit increased on 1 October 2015. It a commercial decision for providers such as BT to determine these charges, however, telecoms providers are regulated and monitored by Ofcom, who review customer satification on a rolling basis. Since January 2014, small business customers (with ten employees or fewer) affected by a mid-contract price increase may be able to leave their contract without penalty under Ofcom rules. Further information about this is on Ofcom’s website (http://consumers.ofcom.org.uk/ofcom-for-business-consumers/business-contracts).

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