The below Parliamentary question was asked by Douglas Carswell on 2015-10-28.
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether the benefits cap applies to Syrian migrants.
Justin Tomlinson
Syrians entering the UK under the Vulnerable Persons Relocation Scheme are able to work and have access to some benefits on arrival. Like other claimants they will be subject to the benefit cap.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Douglas Carswell on 2015-11-19.
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what plans he has to increase the number of GPs; and what steps he is taking to ensure that employment terms and conditions for GPs encourage employment in areas with (a) an elderly demographic and (b) a high workload.
Alistair Burt
The Government has committed to increasing the primary and community care workforce by 10,000 by 2020, including an additional 5,000 doctors working in general practice. Health Education England, NHS England, the Royal College of General Practitioners (GPs) and the British Medical Association’s GP Committee are working together on a ten point GP workforce plan to boost recruitment, encourage experienced GPs to remain in the profession and support GPs to return to practice.
GP partners are independent contractors rather than National Health Service employees. However, the funding that practices receive does take account of the age profile of its patients and practice workload.
The Carr-Hill formula calculates the share of funding that each practice receives based on its weighted patient list size adjusted for several factors including age. NHS England is currently reviewing the formula and this is intended to adapt it to better reflect deprivation and other factors of the registered practice profile that impact on practice workload. Additionally, the changes to the GP contract for 2014/15 moved funding from the Quality and Outcomes Framework to core practice funding and a new Avoiding Unplanned Admissions enhanced service, which requires practices to proactively case manage vulnerable patients through developing personalised care plans, including identifying a named accountable GP and care coordinator.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Douglas Carswell on 2016-01-21.
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what use is made of correspondence from GPs in undertaking personal independence payments assessments.
Justin Tomlinson
Atos and Capita Healthcare Professionals and DWP Decision Makers give full consideration to all information provided by GPs when assessing Personal Independence Payment claimants.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Douglas Carswell on 2016-02-09.
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what planning his Department has undertaken for the possibility of the UK voting to leave the EU.
Andrew Selous
On 19 February, the Prime Minister set out the Government’s position on Europe.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Douglas Carswell on 2016-02-26.
To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, with reference to the Prime Minister’s Oral Statement of 22 February 2016, Official Report, column 35, on the European Council, whether his Department is undertaking planning in the eventuality of a majority leave vote in the EU referendum.
Brandon Lewis
At the February European Council, the Government negotiated a new settlement, giving the United Kingdom a special status in a reformed European Union. The Government’s position, as set out by the Prime Minister to the House on 22 February, is that the UK will be stronger, safer and better off remaining in a reformed EU.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Douglas Carswell on 2016-03-21.
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment she has made of the effect on unemployed people starting employment of the time taken by the Disclosure and Barring Service to process applications.
Karen Bradley
In the vast majority of cases, disclosure certificates are issued in a timely manner. Performance data relating to February 2016 indicates that average processing time for Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) applications was 15 days. It is important that checks undertaken are thorough and a proportion of the applications received by the DBS need to be referred to one or more police forces as part of the enhanced disclosure process.
The DBS is reliant on police forces completing their checks in a timely manner. A small number of forces have experienced difficulties in meeting the service level agreements in place between the DBS and each force. Whilst no assessment has been made of the impact of timeliness on unemployed customers, it is recognised that delays may create problems for some people. The DBS is working closely with those forces whose performance does not meet turnaround time targets. We will not compromise when it comes to the safety of children and vulnerable adults.
The number of applications to the DBS from people living in the Clacton constituency that have taken more than 60 days to process in the last 12 months is listed in the table below.
|
Month |
Number of certificates issued by DBS to applicants in Clacton constituency |
Applications that took longer than 60 days |
|
March 2015– February 2016 |
5,707 |
322 |
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Douglas Carswell on 2016-03-24.
To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what the outcome has been of its programme to improve the effect of public expenditure on the quality of service delivery and poverty reduction in Uganda.
Mr Nick Hurd
Supporting public financial management is essential in promoting accountability and ensuring the efficient use of public resources to drive poverty reduction, as well as being fundamental in the fight against corruption.
The Financial Management and Accountability Programme (FINMAP) works across the public financial management system. The programme has registered a number of achievements. The Public Finance Act was passed by Parliament in November 2014 thanks to technical support provided by FINMAP. A new Government of Uganda Public Financial Management reform strategy for 2014–2018 was launched in August 2014. The programme has also strengthened the Office of the Auditor General.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Douglas Carswell on 2016-04-26.
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, how many metric tonnes of Chinese rebar steel have been imported into the UK in each of the last five years.
Anna Soubry
The volume of rebar steel imported to the UK from China during the period 2011-2015 was as follows:
Year Metric Tonnes
2011 6
2012 2
2013 47,803
2014 254,584
2015 365,449
Source:HMRC
For 2016, data from the EU’s Steel Surveillance 2[1] Monitoring System indicates that 43 tonnes were imported to the UK during the first quarter.
[1] The Surveillance 2 system collects data directly from import customs declarations. This data relates to the reference of the customs declaration, the nature of the goods, their origin, their volume, their value and their date of acceptance by the customs administration (actual import date). Records are sent daily by the central systems of the customs administrations of the EU Member States. It is based on article 308d of the implementing provisions of the Custom Code (Regulation 2454/93
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Douglas Carswell on 2016-05-23.
To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, pursuant to the Answer of 9 May 2016 to Question 36275, if he will make it his policy to ensure that disbursements from the Coastal Communities Fund are allocated to the regions of England on the basis of population share.
Mr Mark Francois
Our policy is that every coastal community should have the chance to bid for a share of the Coastal Communities Fund to help them with projects that will have a real and lasting impact on their local economy. The 118 Coastal Community Teams (CCTs) in England now provide an important new local context for considering these bids, so that the Fund helps to deliver community-led Economic Plans. Each bid is considered on its merits and allocating the Fund to regions on the basis of their population share would not necessarily ensure best value for money.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Douglas Carswell on 2015-11-02.
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, if he will ensure that the bidding process for the Great Eastern Main Line franchise includes increased service frequency and improved train capacity.
Claire Perry
As with all competitions, after running a public consultation to help specify services, we have published the Invitation To Tender which sets out the minimum service specifications for the next East Anglia franchise. This asks bidders to set out detailed proposals on what improvements for passengers they will deliver. This approach allowsbidders the flexibility to design the best way of delivering or exceeding those specifications.