Tag: Debbie Abrahams

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Debbie Abrahams on 2015-12-10.

To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, if he will commission research on the proportion of public and private service providers which offer access to their services through video relay.

Mr Edward Vaizey

Annual correspondence with the FTSE 100 companieshas indicated that from 2013 to present there has been a steady increase in the number of companies that provide video relay. With regards to public sector, DWP plan to launch a pilot service by the end of the year.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Debbie Abrahams on 2016-02-24.

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, if he will commission an evaluation of the effectiveness of support for former Independent Living Fund recipients.

Justin Tomlinson

The Government has committed to conducting research on the impact of the Fund’s closure and has already identified a sample of former users who have agreed to participate.

The Government believes that local authorities are best placed to provide for the care needs of people in their local community. The Care Act 2014 introduced stringent minimum standards for this care and it is within this context that local authorities took over responsibility for the care and support of former Independent Living Fund users from 1st July 2015.

The Government has fully-funded local authorities to meet their additional obligations to service users previously in receipt of the Independent Living Fund for the remainder of the 2015/16 financial year and there will continue to be a separate grant to support them for 2016-17. Under proposals currently being consulted on, the Government will also enable local authorities to continue to fully fund the care packages of former Independent Living Fund users for the remainder of the parliament.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Debbie Abrahams on 2016-03-21.

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many personal independence payment (PIP) claimants in each (a) parliamentary constituency and (b) local authority area will be affected by his Department’s proposed changes to aids and appliances points; and what the average reduction in PIP payment per person will be.

Justin Tomlinson

As confirmed by my right honourable friend the Secretary of State in his statement to the House on 21 March, the proposed changes to PIP will not be going ahead.

We spend around £50bn every year on benefits alone to support people with disabilities or health conditions, with spending on Personal Independence Payment (PIP) and Disability Living Allowance (DLA) having increased by more than £3 billion since 2010. The government is committed to talking to disabled people, their representatives, healthcare professionals and employers to ensure the welfare system works better with the health and social care systems and provides help and support to those who need it most.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Debbie Abrahams on 2016-04-08.

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many care leavers as identified through the self-identified marker used by his Department between the ages of 18 and 25 had their (a) jobseeker’s allowance and (b) employment and support allowance sanctioned in 2013-14 and 2014-15.

Priti Patel

The information requested in respect of care leavers is not readily available and could only be provided at disproportionate cost.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Debbie Abrahams on 2016-05-24.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how his Department monitors the progress of organisations providing NHS or adult social care towards conforming to the Accessible Information Standard.

Alistair Burt

NHS England published the Accessible Information Standard in July 2015. Compliance with the Standard is a legal duty and organisations that provide National Health Service care or adult social care are required to implement the Standard in full by 31 July 2016. Compliance with the Standard is also a requirement of the NHS Standard Contract 2016/17.

NHS England does not hold information on how many NHS trusts conform to the Standard.

NHS England is not proactively monitoring progress of organisations that provide NHS or adult social care towards conforming to the Accessible Information Standard, as the Standard does not establish a new national audit or dataset which requires organisations to report centrally on their adherence. In addition, NHS England as an organisation does not have a monitoring or inspection remit.

However, the Standard includes requirements for organisations to publish or display an accessible communications policy which explains how they will follow the Accessible Information Standard, and an accessible complaints policy. The inclusion of these requirements is intended to support ease of compliance assessment by interested organisations, and to ensure that people with information and communication support needs are able to provide feedback to organisations about their experiences.

The specification for the Standard also makes clear that commissioning organisations must actively support compliance by organisations from which they commission services and must also seek assurance from providers in this regard.

In addition, the Care Quality Commission will look at evidence of how services implement the Accessible Information Standard as part of their inspection of health services and adult social care services when they make judgements about whether health services are responsive to people’s needs, and adult social care services are responsive to people’s needs and whether they are well led.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Debbie Abrahams on 2016-07-19.

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps his Department plans to take in response to the Report of the Transparency Taskforce, published in May 2016, on the costs and hidden fees associated with investments and pensions.

Richard Harrington

The Government remains committed to increasing transparency and ensuring that members of pension schemes are able to obtain information about the costs and charges which they bear.

Governance bodies of defined contribution workplace pension schemes are obliged, under existing requirements, to assess costs and charges. We and the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) are actively considering how to achieve greater transparency and standardisation of transaction costs, and the FCA plans to publish a consultation later this year.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Debbie Abrahams on 2015-10-12.

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what progress the Government has made on developing proposals for reform of the Human Rights Act 1998.

Dominic Raab

This Government will fully consult on our proposals, this session, before introducing legislation for a British Bill of Rights. Further details will be announced in due course.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Debbie Abrahams on 2014-06-25.

To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, how much the (a) Competition Commission and (b) Office of Fair Trading spent on assessing mergers in the NHS in (a) 2012-13 and (b) 2013-14.

Jo Swinson

The Competition Commission’s (CC’s) inquiry into the proposed merger between Royal Bournemouth and Christchurch Hospitals Foundation Trust and Poole Hospital Foundation Trust, which was concluded in 2013/14, was the Commission’s only assessment of an NHS Foundation Trust merger. The cost of this inquiry was £710,000, which includes the cost of the staff on the inquiry amounting to £639,000 and direct costs of £71,000 (including survey costs).

The Office of Fair Trading (OFT) did not collect specific information on the resources used in considering mergers involving NHS Foundation Trusts. However, the average approximate cost involved in scrutiny of a merger by the OFT was £20,000; in total, the OFT considered four mergers involving NHS Foundation Trusts in 2012-13 and 2013-14, of which only one was referred for further scrutiny by the CC.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Debbie Abrahams on 2014-06-25.

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what steps his Department is taking to promote access to justice.

Mr Shailesh Vara

The Government’s overall reform programme to promote access to justice aims to deliver a simpler justice system that is more accessible to the public; limit the scope for inappropriate litigation and the involvement of lawyers in issues which do not need legal input; and support people in resolving their disputes through simpler, more informal remedies.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Debbie Abrahams on 2015-01-14.

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what recent reports he has received on the human rights violations in Jammu and Kashmir.

Mr Hugo Swire

We are concerned about the incidents that have taken place in recent weeks on both sides of the Line of Control and the International Border in Kashmir. We hope that both sides can take steps to reduce tensions.