Tag: Gavin Robinson

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Gavin Robinson on 2015-11-17.

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, whether a pension was provided to (a) full and (b) part-time members of the Ulster Defence Regiment who latterly served in the Home Battalions of the Royal Irish Regiment.

Mark Lancaster

Full time members of the Ulster Defence Regiment (UDR) had an automatic entitlement to become members of the Armed Forces Pension Scheme. Part-time members of the UDR were engaged under different terms to the full time regular members of the Regiment. These terms were similar to those of the Territorial Army and reflected that part-time engagements were often on an irregular, intermittent and short-term basis.Part-time membersof the UDR were not members of an Armed Forces Pension Scheme.

There are no plans to review the pension entitlement for former members of the Ulster Defence Regiment.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Gavin Robinson on 2016-02-08.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, whether a diagnosis of post-natal depression is routinely shared with social services.

Alistair Burt

The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence has published guidance (Clinical Guideline 192 December 2014) that offers evidence-based advice on the recognition, assessment, care and treatment of mental health problems in women during pregnancy and the postnatal period (up to one year after childbirth) and in women who are planning a pregnancy.

The guidance references appropriate sharing of information with healthcare professionals involved in the woman’s care, respecting confidentiality and rights of the child (particularly in relation to girls and young women) and involving family and carers, with the agreement of the woman. There is no specific reference to social services, nor does it suggest that diagnoses should be routinely shared with them.

The majority of diagnoses take place in primary care. If a woman is diagnosed with post-natal depression whilst being cared for within specialised services, including perinatal mental health services, routine notification to social services for patients does not take place. Where child protection concerns arise, a notification to social services would occur prior to discharge.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Gavin Robinson on 2016-04-27.

To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, when HM Revenue and Customs plans to publish the one-year progress report on implementation of the Accutrace S10 Fuel Marker.

Damian Hinds

As stated in the 6 month report, published on 4 November 2015, HMRC will continue to monitor the impact of the new fuel marker and will publish a further report on the first 12 months as soon as the data is available

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Gavin Robinson on 2015-11-17.

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, whether his Department plans to provide a pension to part-time soldiers who served in the Ulster Defence Regiment.

Mark Lancaster

Full time members of the Ulster Defence Regiment (UDR) had an automatic entitlement to become members of the Armed Forces Pension Scheme. Part-time members of the UDR were engaged under different terms to the full time regular members of the Regiment. These terms were similar to those of the Territorial Army and reflected that part-time engagements were often on an irregular, intermittent and short-term basis.Part-time membersof the UDR were not members of an Armed Forces Pension Scheme.

There are no plans to review the pension entitlement for former members of the Ulster Defence Regiment.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Gavin Robinson on 2016-02-08.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what proportion of pregnancies result in a diagnosis of post-natal depression.

Alistair Burt

We are advised by the Health and Social Care Information Centre that data is not collected on the diagnosis of post-natal depression.

The NHS Improving Quality report; Improving Access to Perinatal Mental Health Services in England – A review (published September 2015), says that post-natal depression prevalence within the first few post-natal months is estimated to be 13%. This suggests that following the 687,346 maternities in 2014 in England and Wales, there were around 90,000 women in 2014 who suffered from post-natal depression in the first few post-natal months.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Gavin Robinson on 2016-09-12.

To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what steps he is taking to reduce any hardship associated with the target of 42 days to resolve appeals on child tax credit claims.

Jane Ellison

HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) has a 42-day target to resolve Mandatory Reconsiderations, where customers challenge their tax credits award calculation. The average time taken to work Mandatory Reconsiderations can vary depending upon the complexity of the request, individual circumstances and the level of supporting evidence provided.

When a customer requests a Mandatory Reconsideration HMRC suspends the recovery of any previous overpayment that is being collected from their current award, to minimise customer hardship during the reconsideration.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Gavin Robinson on 2015-11-20.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what recent clinical assessments his Department has made of the potential medical benefits of cannabis.

George Freeman

Cannabis and its preparations are Class B controlled drugs under the Misuse of Drugs Act 1971. Cannabis is also subject to international drug control under UN Conventions. In the United Kingdom, it is illegal to produce, possess, supply, import and export cannabis except under Home Office licence. Apart from the drug Sativex, which is derived from cannabis, the UK does not recognise herbal cannabis as having any medicinal use.

The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) published a clinical guideline on the management of multiple sclerosis in October 2014 that does not recommend Sativex, a cannabis-derived treatment, as a cost effective use of National Health Service resources. NICE’s guideline on multiple sclerosis is published at:

https://www.nice.org.uk/guidance/cg186/resources/multiple-sclerosis-management-of-multiple-sclerosis-in-primary-and-secondary-care-35109816059077

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The below Parliamentary question was asked by Gavin Robinson on 2016-02-09.

To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, if he will make an assessment of the implications for his Department’s policies on shop workers’ rights to opt out of Sunday working of the findings of a recent USDAW survey on the number of shop workers who (a) feel under pressure to work longer hours on a Sunday and (b) want to work fewer hours on a Sunday.

Anna Soubry

In formulating its final proposals, the Government has carefully considered all the evidence submitted during the consultation process.

A number of respondents expressed concern that extended opening hours could increase pressure on shop workers to work longer hours on Sundays. We therefore propose to enable shop workers to opt out of working additional hours on Sundays, to shorten the notice period for shop workers at large shops who wish to opt out of Sunday working altogether, and to strengthen and clarify the duty on employers to notify shop workers of their opt-out rights.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Gavin Robinson on 2016-09-12.

To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether he has conducted research on the effect of a suspension of child tax credit payments when a change in circumstance has been assumed.

Jane Ellison

HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) regularly carries out checks on tax credits awards, including Child Tax Credit, to reduce error and fraud. These checks identify potential risks with ongoing tax credits claims.

Depending on the level of risk found, HMRC may ask customers for more information about their claim and circumstances, or a compliance team might undertake a full examination.

In most cases, HMRC does not suspend the payment of tax credits payments during the check. It only does this where information held indicates that this is a reasonable step to prevent payments being made in error. In these cases, if a customer demonstrates that the claim is correct, HMRC reinstates payments immediately.

In these circumstances, making further payments would therefore result in increased overpayments of tax credits overall which the customer would have to repay.

HMRC has not carried out research into the specific aspect of the tax credits system related to suspension of Child Tax Credits.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Gavin Robinson on 2016-01-06.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what the longest length of time is that a person has spent in an immigration holding or detention centre in the last five years.

James Brokenshire

Information on the length of detention has been published since quarter 1 (January to March) 2010.

The longest time a person has been detained in the immigration estate – a foreign criminal who left detention and was returned to Algeria in Q1 2012 – was 2,319 days. The individual in this case had accumulated 14 convictions from 32 offences committed between 1998 and 2004, including – but not limited to – convictions for firearms/ shotguns/offensive weapons, drug offences, offences relating to police/courts/prisons and theft. He was continuously non-compliant with the Home Office and Algerian authorities, using a false identity and nationality, which frustrated attempts to obtain travel documentation to facilitate his deportation. His continued non-compliance, deception and a history of absconding led to detention being prolonged. This information does not include those held in prisons solely under Immigration Act powers.

The Home Office publishes quarterly and annual statistics on the number of people detained in the United Kingdom for immigration purposes, within the Immigration Statistics release on the GOV.UK website: https://www.gov.uk/government/organisations/home-office/series/immigration-statistics-quarterly-release