Tag: Frank Field

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Frank Field on 2016-05-18.

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, with reference to the Answer of 9 May 2016 to Question 36280, how many people are waiting for a rearranged work capability assessment having had their initial appointment cancelled.

Priti Patel

On 19 May 2016, there were a total of 28,420 people waiting to attend a rearranged work capability assessment having had their initial appointment cancelled of which 17,019 have a new appointment already allocated.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Frank Field on 2016-07-06.

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how much his Department spent on supporting disabled people through (a) the work programme and (b) work choice in (i) each year since 2010 and (ii) total since the introduction of those schemes; and what the total cost of support over the lifetime of the two programmes is estimated to be.

Justin Tomlinson

The figures represent the annual expenditure on Work Choice provision from 2010-11 to 2015-16 and estimated spend from 2016/17 to the end of the programme, based on the existing contracts.

It should be noted that with effect from 2015/16, Work Choice provision also includes costs for the Remploy contract. It is not possible to provide information for the amount spent on supporting disabled people through the work programme as this cannot be separately identified.

2010-11 £32m

2011-12 £79m

2012-13 £83m

2013-14 £86m

2014-15 £88m

2015-16 £124m

Total to 2015/16: £492m.

The total over the life of the Work Choice programme is currently estimated to be £645m.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Frank Field on 2016-07-20.

To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland, how many people working for his Department on a (a) directly employed, (b) agency or (c) outsourced basis are paid less than the living wage as defined by the Living Wage Foundation; and how many of those people are employed on zero-hours contracts.

David Mundell

The Scotland Office does not directly employ any staff. The Office is staffed by civil servants on assignment, loan and/or secondment basis predominantly from the Ministry of Justice and the Scottish Government. No people working for the Scotland Office who are (a) directly employed in the civil service are paid less than the living wage as defined by the Living Wage Foundation, nor are on a zero hours contract.

No people working for the Scotland Office on an (b) agency basis are paid less than the living wage as defined by the Living Wage Foundation, nor are on a zero hours contract.

Information on workers on an (c) outsourced basis, paid less than the rate defined by the Living Wage Foundation and their contractual hours can only be obtained at a disproportionate cost.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Frank Field on 2016-10-10.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what recent assessment he has made of the potential merits of reviewing the medical exemption criteria of prescription charges for people with long-term health conditions.

David Mowat

We have no plans to change the list of medical conditions which provide for exemption from prescription charges. Extending this exemption would have significant cost implications at a time when the National Health Service is facing increased demand and is expected to deliver efficiency savings of £22 billion by 2020.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Frank Field on 2015-10-19.

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, pursuant to the Answer of 19 October 2015 to Question 11226, for what reasons decisions were not made on 118,039 of the applications his Department received in the period between October 2014 and September 2015 for Short Term Benefit Advance.

Priti Patel

We only collect limited data on those requests for a Short Term Benefit Advances that are refused although we do know that the vast majority of refusals are either because:
(i) There was a doubt about whether the claimant would be entitled to the benefit being claimed and, therefore, we could not be sure that there was any benefit to advance or
(ii) Actual benefit was paid instead, which is a better outcome for the claimant.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Frank Field on 2015-10-16.

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many children are entitled to receive free school meals but do not receive them.

Mr Sam Gyimah

The January 2015 census recorded that there were 2,755,021 children registered for free school meals (FSM). We do not hold information on the number of FSM entitled pupils who did not receive a school meal.

Further information is available in the link below:

https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/schools-pupils-and-their-characteristics-january-2015

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The below Parliamentary question was asked by Frank Field on 2015-10-15.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how many training places were commissioned in England for new entrants to become (a) nurses and (b) midwives in each year between 2010 and 2015.

Ben Gummer

The following table shows the number of pre-registration nursing and midwifery places (degree and diploma courses) that were commissioned by year, for the period 2010/11 to 2015/16.

	2010/11	2011/12	2012/13	2013/14	2014/15	2015/16
Nursing	20,327	18,069	17,546	18,056	19,206	20,033
Midwifery	2,493	2,507	2,578	2,588	2,563	2,605

Source: multi professional education and training budget monitoring returns

The latest planned training commissions for 2015/16 were published in December 2014 by Health Education England as part of their Workforce Plan for England.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Frank Field on 2015-10-15.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how many training places he plans to commission in England for new entrants to become (a) nurses and (b) midwives in each year between 2016 and 2020.

Ben Gummer

Health Education England (HEE) is responsible for ensuring that the workforce has the right numbers, skills, values and behaviours to meet the needs of patients.

HEE produces an annual Workforce Plan for England, with the 2016/17 plan scheduled to go to the HEE Board in December 2015 and published shortly after. This will include details of the nursing and midwifery commissions for 2016/17.

As a result, there is no forecast available beyond the 2015/16 commissions data published in the 2015/16 workforce plan in December 2014.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Frank Field on 2015-10-15.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how many places were available for new entrants to study medicine in England in each year between 2010 and 2015; and how many places for new entrants to study medicine are planned to be available in each year between 2016 and 2020.

Ben Gummer

The number of places available for new entrants to study medicine in England from 2010 to 2015 are as follows:

Year (academic)	Commissions
2010/11	6,195
2011/12	6,195
2012/13	6,195
2013/14	6,071
2014/15	6,071
2015/16	6,071

Source: Higher Education Funding Council for England, Medical and Dental Survey

The number of medical students planned for 2016/17 entry to undergraduate training in England is 6,071. Health Education England (HEE) will be establishing a review of medical student numbers as part of their wider workforce planning process to inform future year intakes. Any changes to student intakes will require careful consideration by HEE, Department of Health, the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills and the Higher Education Funding Council for England.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Frank Field on 2015-10-15.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how many applications were received per individual training place in England for (a) nurses and (b) midwives in each year between 2010 and 2015.

Ben Gummer

Information relating to the number of applications for pre-registration nursing and midwifery training is not collected by the Department.

Information on applications and admissions to full time education courses in the United Kingdom is collected by the Universities and Colleges Admissions Service (UCAS).