Tag: Gareth Thomas

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Gareth Thomas on 2014-06-04.

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what estimate he has made of the number of people who have submitted a claim for personal independence payment and have been waiting for more than six months for a medical assessment in (a) the UK, (b) London and (c) the London Borough of Harrow; and if he will make a statement.

Mike Penning

We are committed to ensuring personal independence payment (PIP) claimants receive high quality, objective, fair and accurate assessments. Since the introduction of PIP new claims in April 2013, we have been closely monitoring all aspects of the process.

As personal independence payment (PIP) is a new benefit, processes are currently bedding in. Our latest analysis is telling us that the end-to-end claimant journey is taking longer than expected. We are working closely with the assessment providers to ensure that they are taking all necessary steps to improve performance, speed up the process and ensure claimants receive a satisfactory experience. We are also seeking to ensure that all the steps in the process run as smoothly as possible and that there are no barriers in our processes and systems that contribute to claims taking longer than necessary to progress.

The first official statistics for the number of people claiming Personal Independence Payment (PIP) was published on 5^th June alongside updated statistics on PIP new claim registrations, decisions and awards.

Statistics on clearance times are not being published at this stage. Statistics on clearance times are intended for future publication but releasing them at this stage would give a skewed representation of the process since steady state has not yet been reached and natural reassessment has yet to rollout across the country.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Gareth Thomas on 2014-06-12.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if she will revise her Department’s guidelines to the Metropolitan Police on whether domestic violence cases should be referred to the Crown Prosecution Service before prosecutions can be initiated by the police; and if she will make a statement.

Norman Baker

The Coalition Government takes the issue of domestic violence and abuse extremely seriously. That is why in 2013, the Home Secretary commissioned HMIC (Her Majesty’s Inspectorate of Constabulary) to undertake a comprehensive review on how the police deal with domestic violence and abuse and is chairing a National Oversight Group, on which I also sit, to oversee the delivery of HMIC’s recommendations. Following the publication of HMIC’s report, the College of Policing is updating its authorised professional practice for officers on domestic abuse.

The Metropolitan Police Service uses national CPS guidelines when referring cases for prosecution. The Director of Public Prosecution’s Guidance on Charging clearly advises both police officers and prosecutors that the CPS will charge all domestic violence cases where the appropriate evidential standard has been met. The CPS is also currently revising its domestic violence policy – a revised policy was published for consultation on 14 May 2014. The CPS is also working closely with the police to assess how the criminal justice response can be improved together with the police consideration of the HMIC review.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Gareth Thomas on 2014-06-04.

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many people in each (a) region of England and (b) London borough had been waiting six months or longer for a medical examination as part of their assessment of entitlement to a personal independence payment on 1 May 2014; and if he will make a statement.

Mike Penning

We are committed to ensuring personal independence payment (PIP) claimants receive high quality, objective, fair and accurate assessments. Since the introduction of PIP new claims in April 2013, we have been closely monitoring all aspects of the process.

As personal independence payment (PIP) is a new benefit, processes are currently bedding in. Our latest analysis is telling us that the end-to-end claimant journey is taking longer than expected. We are working closely with the assessment providers to ensure that they are taking all necessary steps to improve performance, speed up the process and ensure claimants receive a satisfactory experience. We are also seeking to ensure that all the steps in the process run as smoothly as possible and that there are no barriers in our processes and systems that contribute to claims taking longer than necessary to progress.

The first official statistics for the number of people claiming Personal Independence Payment (PIP) was published on 5^th June alongside updated statistics on PIP new claim registrations, decisions and awards.

Statistics on clearance times are not being published at this stage. Statistics on clearance times are intended for future publication but releasing them at this stage would give a skewed representation of the process since steady state has not yet been reached and natural reassessment has yet to rollout across the country.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Gareth Thomas on 2014-06-16.

To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, when the next dataset of bank lending by postcode from the major UK banks will be released; and if he will make a statement.

Andrea Leadsom

In July 2013 the Government announced that it had reached an agreement with the major UK banks to publish lending data across 10,000 individual postcodes.

The first dataset was published in December 2013 and shows the outstanding stock of lending that has been committed to customers across three categories; loans and overdrafts to SMEs, mortgages and unsecured personal loans (excluding credit cards).

The data is published quarterly, and the next publication is expected in July 2014.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Gareth Thomas on 2014-05-13.

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many officials of his Department are working on the Sir John Holmes’ independent medal review; and if he will make a statement.

Anna Soubry

It has not proved possible to respond to the hon. Member in the time available before Prorogation.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Gareth Thomas on 2014-05-13.

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, if he will place in the Library the terms of reference of the Sir John Holmes’ independent medal review; and if he will make a statement.

Anna Soubry

It has not proved possible to respond to the hon. Member in the time available before Prorogation.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Gareth Thomas on 2014-05-13.

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what estimate his Department has made of the number of bomber aircrew personnel who flew missions from North Africa, Italy and the Far East during the Second World War; and if he will make a statement.

Anna Soubry

It has not proved possible to respond to the hon. Member in the time available before Prorogation

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Gareth Thomas on 2014-05-13.

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, when the Sir John Holmes independent medal review began; when the review is due to be completed; whether any preliminary reports (a) have been published and (b) are due to be published; and if he will make a statement.

Anna Soubry

It has not proved possible to respond to the hon. Member in the time available before Prorogation.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Gareth Thomas on 2014-06-04.

To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, if he will require the Prudential Regulation Authority to conduct an analysis of recently released personal and business lending data by postcode to examine (a) levels of disparity in lending and (b) progress in achieving financial inclusion; and if he will make a statement.

Andrea Leadsom

In July 2013 the Government announced that it had reached an agreement with the major UK banks to publish lending data across 10,000 individual postcodes.

The first dataset was published in December 2013 and shows the outstanding stock of lending that has been committed to customers across three categories; loans and overdrafts to SMEs, mortgages and unsecured personal loans (excluding credit cards).

The data will allow challenger banks, smaller building societies, credit unions and community development finance institutions (CDFIs) to find areas where there is a lack of lending so they can offer finance to those customers who are crying out for support to help their business grow.