The below Parliamentary question was asked by Frank Field on 2015-02-10.
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, when he expects to reply to the letter from the right hon. Member for Birkenhead dated 20 October 2014 regarding the Government’s Child Poverty Strategy.
Steve Webb
A reply is going out today, Monday 23 February.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Frank Field on 2015-02-20.
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what steps he is taking to improve patient care for people with idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis.
Jane Ellison
In 2013, the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) published a clinical guideline on idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF), providing evidence based advice to support clinicians in diagnosing and managing people with IPF which it expects to review in June 2015. Since then, it has published a quality standard for IPF in January 2015. This sets out the markers of high quality in the care of people with IPF and is designed to drive up standards and to reduce inequalities and variation. NICE has also recommended pirfenidone (Esbriet) as a possible treatment for some people with IPF through its technology appraisal programme.
NHS England commissions some services for patients with IPF as part of its specialised services remit. Its respiratory interstitial lung disease (adult) service specification, which includes IPF, sets out what it expects to be in place so that providers can offer evidence based safe and effective services. This specification is currently being updated to ensure it includes the most up to date guidance on IPF including the recently published NICE quality standards. Commissioning of rehabilitation, oxygen services and acute admissions for exacerbations are covered by local commissioning arrangements.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Frank Field on 2014-05-01.
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, pursuant to the Answer of 28 April 2014, Official Report, columns 526-7, on student visas, if she will publish details of the successful pilot with one university on ensuring overseas students return home once their course is completed.
James Brokenshire
Foreign national students who had been served with an adverse immigration
decision were, at times, encountering a delay in receiving their travel
documents back from the Home Office. On occasion this resulted in their
immigration status changing to an overstayer.
The pilot referred to was conducted through an informal relationship between
the South Central Immigration Compliance and Enforcement (ICE) team and the
International Student Advisors embedded within two local Universities. Through
this link, those whose leave has been curtailed, have had an adverse decision,
or wish to depart the UK are provided with local assistance by the Immigration
Enforcement team. The pilot has enabled the local ICE team to facilitate the
return of travel documents quickly, resulting in an earlier departure for the
student. This has benefits for both the student and University as becoming an
overstayer could jeopardise future applications from students to continue their
studies. During 2013/14, fifty students were assisted in this way from two
Universities (this is local data taken from local records that has not been
sourced from an official database).
The Government is looking at how this example of local good practice can be
extended nationally.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Frank Field on 2014-06-04.
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, when he expects Mr Andrew Cottrell of Prenton, to undergo his medical examination as part of his application for the personal independence payment.
Mike Penning
The Department cannot respond to the House of Commons with regards to a specific case.
I will write to the hon. Gentleman.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Frank Field on 2014-06-13.
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps he is taking to ensure claimants experiencing delays in their personal independence payments assessments are kept better informed of the status of their applications.
Mike Penning
We have taken immediate action to ensure that claimants receive all the information they need.
This includes a number of actions:
– SMS updates acknowledging receipt of the ”How your disability affects you” form.
– Updated Gov.uk to include clear information.
– Detailed information on estimated journey times.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Frank Field on 2014-04-30.
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what proportion of local authorities have higher than average not known rates for young people not in employment, education or training; and what steps he is taking to address such gaps in data.
Matthew Hancock
It is local authorities who are responsible for collecting data about the activity of young people in their area.
The Department for Education regularly publishes locally collected data on young people’s activities, including the proportion of young people whose activity is not known. The latest quarterly figures covering young people of academic age 16 and 17 as at the end of December 2013 are available online at: www.gov.uk/government/publications/participation-in-education-and-training-by-local-authority. These include both the average for England and the figures for each local authority.
The Department published statutory guidance in March 2013 setting out the requirement of local authorities to track young people’s participation so that those who are not in education or training can be identified. The guidance is available online at: www.gov.uk/government/publications/participation-of-young-people-education-employment-and-training.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Frank Field on 2014-06-04.
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what estimate he has made of the number and proportion of vacancies on Universal Jobsmatch classified as employer confidential; and what checks are in place to ensure that such vacancies are not bogus, fraudulent or otherwise inappropriate.
Esther McVey
Universal Jobmatch revolutionises the way jobseekers look for work and it has already helped many jobseekers find the jobs they want through the millions of vacancies posted since 2012. It is part of the government’s plan for providing easy online access to government services for all.
There are various circumstances where an employer may wish to keep their details confidential – for example, if they are employing a Personal Carer or another role where they are using their home address. We estimate that there are 42,544 employer confidential vacancies currently on Universal Jobmatch. This equates to 7.1% of the total live vacancies as at 5 June 2014.
The security of a user’s data is of the utmost importance to us and built into the service are monitoring tools and vacancy checks, which help to detect, deter and remedy inappropriate use of the site. Checks are made to identify inappropriate, fraudulent and bogus jobs and employers in order to block them from being posted.
There are also warnings to users of the service advising them they should not be asked to reveal personal information i.e. bank details, as this information is not relevant to the application process.
Additionally, a ‘Contact Us’ facility is provided so users can quickly highlight any employers that users may have concerns about. DWP then investigate such concerns.
These checks are in place for all vacancies, including employer confidential vacancies.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Frank Field on 2014-06-18.
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many calls the Metropolitan Police human trafficking hotline received from victims of human trafficking in each of the last three years; and what the annual cost of running the hotline is.
Karen Bradley
The table below shows the number of calls received by the Metropolitan Police
human trafficking hotline since it was set up in June 2011.
Year Number of calls
2014 29 (to 19 June)
2013 41
2012 52
2011 34 (June to December)
The freephone hotline number (0800 783 2589) is funded by Stop The Traffik and
therefore has no cost to the Metropolitan Police Service other than the £15 per
month line rental.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Frank Field on 2014-05-07.
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how much his Department has allocated to the School Fruit and Vegetable Scheme for the 2014-15 financial year.
Dr Daniel Poulter
The Department has allocated a budget of £40 million to fund the School Fruit and Vegetable Scheme for the 2014-15 financial year.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Frank Field on 2014-06-04.
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment she has made of the UK Border Agency’s handling of the case of Aidah Asaba.
James Brokenshire
The general policy of the Home Office is not to disclose personal information
about another person. This is because we have obligations under the Data
Protection Act and in law generally to protect this information.
The UK has a proud history of granting asylum to those who need our protection
and we consider every claim for asylum on its individual merits.
We believe that those with no right to be in the UK should return to their home
country and we will help those who wish to leave voluntarily. However, when
they refuse to do so we will take steps to enforce their removal at the
earliest opportunity.