Tag: Debbie Abrahams

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

To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, when she plans to respond to the correspondence from the hon. Member for Oldham East and Saddleworth on 4 August 2015, and followed up on 11 December 2015, on behalf of a constituent, with regard to Government support for small-scale hydro power.

Amber Rudd

Unfortunately officials in the Department of Energy and Climate Change were unable to locate the original correspondence from the hon. Member for Oldham East and Saddleworth’s constituent. I can confirm that following an electronic copy being sent from your office on 12 April 2016, I have now responded on 13 April 2016.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Debbie Abrahams on 2016-06-13.

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what discretion is available to local authorities to grant blue badges to disabled people who are in receipt of the enhanced mobility rate of personal independence payment other than through the moving around criteria; and what steps he has taken to monitor local authorities in their exercise of that discretion.

Andrew Jones

It is set out in the Disabled Persons (Badges for Motor Vehicles) (England) Regulations 2000 (as amended), that to qualify for a badge via a Personal Independence Payment (PIP) award the applicant must score at least 8 points in the “moving around” activity of the mobility component. There is no discretion for local authorities to issue badges for other PIP awards.

However, where a person fails to qualify for a badge through PIP, they may still apply to their local authority for a badge under the other eligibility criteria; these include any permanent and substantial disabilities (including non-physical disabilities) which cause very considerable difficulty in walking.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Debbie Abrahams on 2016-07-20.

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many employers have been advised that their pay cycles might affect universal credit payments; how many employers have altered their pay cycles as a result of that advice; and how many employees have been affected by such alterations.

Damian Hinds

Throughout the life of Universal Credit, officials and Ministers have consulted and liaised with employers about Universal Credit and its interaction with labour market and employers’ processes.

We are currently implementing a test and learn approach to understand the interaction of Universal Credit and employer pay cycles and its effect on awards. This work will include discussions with employers.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Debbie Abrahams on 2015-11-18.

To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what discussions he has had with Ofcom on introducing requirements on communications providers to improve access to relay video services since Ofcom’s review of relay services on 2011-12.

Mr Edward Vaizey

DCMS has had several discussions with Ofcom to promote the provision of video relay services in the UK. In addition we have hosted meetings of the eAccessibility ForumVideo Relay Services Providers Working sub-group and have written to the FTSE 100 companies to challenge them to introduce the service.

We welcome the increasing number of companies offering video relay services. Public facing Government departments will continue to work with interested parties to ensure this positive progress continues.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Debbie Abrahams on 2016-01-26.

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many and what proportion of people who were at any time included in the universal credit in-work conditionality pilot are no longer receiving any element of that credit.

Priti Patel

National roll-out of the In-Work Progression Randomised Control Trial commenced in December 2015 and is likely to be completed in summer 2016. We are unable to provide the information requested at this early stage.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Debbie Abrahams on 2016-02-29.

To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what the implications for his policies are of the effect of the Localism Act 2011 on the discretion of parish councils and local authorities in disqualifying councillors convicted of child sex offences whose punishment is lower than the three month suspended or custodial sentence threshold for disqualification.

Mr Marcus Jones

Further to my answer to the hon Member on 29 February (PQ28306), our review of the legislation on the disqualification of local authority members, legislation in the Local Government Act 1972, will consider whether the provisions of the Localism Act 2011 have any implications for any new legislative rules on disqualification.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Debbie Abrahams on 2016-03-24.

To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, with reference to paragraph 2.59 of the Summer Budget 2015, if he will make an assessment of the potential effect of restricting finance cost relief for landlords on the ability of private individuals who operate buy-to-let businesses with large private buy-to-let companies.

Harriett Baldwin

An individual’s property income is subject to a separate set of tax rules to those of a private company.

Once the changes are fully in place by 2020-21, all individuals will get finance cost relief at the basic rate of income tax, 20%. Incorporated businesses will continue to receive relief at the corporate tax rate which is currently 20% and due to fall to 17% in 2020.

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

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what estimate he has made of the number of people who have avoided disability from stroke due to the measures contained in the National Stroke Strategy.

Jane Ellison

One of the actions set out in the 2007 National Stroke Strategy was to increase the rate of thrombolysis (treatment with clot busting drugs), which stood at around 1% of stroke admissions. Data from the Stroke Sentinel Audit Programme (SSNAP) suggests this rate has risen to 11-12%, with around 9,600 stroke patients now benefiting from treatment with thrombolysis each year. Evidence suggests that, on average, 13% of those treated with thrombolysis will have reduced disability as a result. It is therefore likely that more than 1,200 stroke patients per year now benefit from reduced disability due to thrombolysis.

Although the Government has made no assessment of the quality and variation of rehabilitation and speech and language therapy available to stroke survivors in England, SSNAP has collected data over the last three years on the rehabilitation that patients get in hospital and when they are discharged in to the community.

SSNAP also undertook an audit in 2015 of the provision and organisation of post-acute stroke care which includes details on the provision of speech and language therapy. It shows there are variations around the country in the availability of these services to stroke survivors. The Strategic Clinical Networks and the National Clinical Director for Stroke are working with clinical commissioning groups to help address this.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Debbie Abrahams on 2016-06-13.

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, if he will commission an impact assessment of the potential effects of the provisions of his Department’s Blue Badge Scheme Local Authority Guidance (England), published in October 2014, on people with autism, mental ill health and learning disabilities.

Andrew Jones

The Department’s Blue Badge Scheme Local Authority Guidance (England) is non-statutory and non-binding. We therefore have no plans to commission an impact assessment. It is the statutory regulations – the Disabled Persons (Badges for Motor Vehicles) (England) Regulations 2000 – which local authorities are obliged to follow.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Debbie Abrahams on 2016-09-06.

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, when he plans to publish the reviews carried out by his Department on the deaths of social security claimants since 2014.

Damian Hinds

All our currently published reviews can be found at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/dwp-foi-releases-for-may-2016

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