Tag: Ian Blackford

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Ian Blackford on 2015-12-04.

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what discussions his Department has had with the equity release industry on the potential contribution of equity release to supporting the income of pensioners.

Justin Tomlinson

The Government has created the foundation for saving for retirement via automatic enrolment and the State Pension reforms and given individuals the freedom to use their own savings and access other sources of income or capital in the way that best suits their needs. The latest figures from the Office for National Statistics indicate that around 80% of pensioners hold some form of housing equity. However, people who might choose to access potential sources of income, such as equity release or flexible pension products, will need to give careful consideration to whether it best suits their needs and how it could affect their income and entitlement to welfare, both now and in the future.

That is why the government set up Pension Wise to provide information and guidance on how people can access their pension saving flexibly. Information is widely available in terms of how income and capital are treated in the means-tested benefits. Officials have held discussions with the equity release industry in May 2014 and February 2015 to explain the interactions between equity release and means tested benefits.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Ian Blackford on 2016-03-01.

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what assessment he has made of the potential effect on the uprating of pensions of British pensioners living in EU member states with which there was no previous bilateral agreement on the uprating of pensions of the UK leaving the EU.

Justin Tomlinson

The Government’s view is that the UK will be stronger, safer and better off in a reformed EU. Of course there is uncertainty about how a vote to leave the EU could impact on access to pensioner benefits for UK pensioners living in other parts of Europe. These questions would need to be answered as part of the process of negotiating the UK’s exit if there is a vote to leave. We could only consider the detail of access to pensions and benefits for people in receipt of UK state pensions who are resident in Europe as part of the process for leaving the EU.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Ian Blackford on 2016-06-07.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, for what reasons people who have leave to remain in the UK while seeking permanent residence do not have the right to work.

James Brokenshire

Those with temporary leave to remain keep the conditions of that leave, including any associated work rights, until a new application is decided.

Those whose leave to remain has already expired do not have permission to work and must normally make an application to regularise their stay within 28 days.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Ian Blackford on 2015-12-02.

To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, if he will make an assessment of the potential merits of expanding Pension Wise to include consideration of housing wealth as a source of retirement income.

Harriett Baldwin

The Government is committed to ensuring that individuals are equipped and empowered to make informed decisions about how to use their pension savings through the Pension Wise service.

The Financial Conduct Authority’s (FCA) standards for the service state that guidance should provide the consumer with information about long-term care needs, sustainability of income in retirement and life expectancy, to the extent that they are relevant. Pension Wise guidance therefore prompts consumers to think about their retirement objectives and wider financial circumstances when deciding on what to do with their pension pot. As part of this consumers are asked about whether they receive any benefits, other retirement income, outgoings in retirement, and plans to continue working. The guidance is designed to equip consumers to consider questions about their situation as a whole, and directs them to further sources of information as suitable. Where it is clear that consumers need specialist help, they are directed to the appropriate source of guidance and information.

Pension Wise is constantly assessing and evaluating the service to ensure that user needs are met. As such, it is currently actively considering a number of developments, as part of our continuous service improvement, to make Pension Wise even more useful to consumers, including tailoring session content more closely to individual circumstances.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Ian Blackford on 2016-04-08.

To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, whether his Department plans to transfer responsibility for Scottish prison officers’ pensions to the Scottish Government.

Matthew Hancock

Prison Officers employed in the Scottish Prison Service are members of the Civil Service. Under Schedule 5 of the Scotland Act 1998 the Civil Service is a reserved matter and legislation on pensions and compensation is a matter for Parliament at Westminster.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Ian Blackford on 2016-06-15.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many foreign nationals who were granted student visas before the removal of the post-study work visa are still accredited as students in the UK.

James Brokenshire

This information is not readily available. Providing the information requested would incur a disproportionate cost.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Ian Blackford on 2015-12-02.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what assessment he has made of the effect of guidance from the General Medical Council on the personal liability taken on by medical professionals when prescribing off-label on the rate of off-label prescribing.

George Freeman

The Government has made no such assessment and has not had discussions with the General Medical Council (GMC) on amending their guidance related to the prescription of off-label drugs and subsequent personal liability. The GMC is responsible for the assessment of its national guidance and this is kept under review as part of GMC’s normal internal governance arrangements.

As part of its response to the Off-Patent Drugs Bill, the Government has discussed a range of issues around off-label prescribing with a wide range of stakeholders, including the GMC. Working with the Department of Health, the GMC has recently published a Hot Topic on ‘Prescribing unlicensed medicines.’ This on-line tool explains GMC’s prescribing guidance and assures doctors of the clinical appropriateness of unlicensed and off-label prescribing. A copy of this is available at:

http://www.gmc-uk.org/guidance/28349.asp

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The below Parliamentary question was asked by Ian Blackford on 2016-04-08.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if she will grant the Brain family residing in Dingwell, Scotland leave to appeal the decision to deport them from the UK whilst remaining domiciled in the UK; and if she will take steps to permit members of that family to maintain their employment until that appeal has been decided.

James Brokenshire

We do not routinely comment publicly on individual immigration cases and have written to the Honourable Member on 12 April 2016.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Ian Blackford on 2016-10-19.

To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment he has made of the effect of the quantitative easing programme on defined benefit pension schemes.

Simon Kirby

Monetary policy is set independently by the Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) of the Bank of England. The minutes to the MPC’s August meeting, in which the Committee expanded its asset purchase programme, noted that ‘lower yields posed potential risks to some aspects of the functioning of the financial system, for example by increasing the deficits of many pension funds’ but concluded that ‘at present, however, those effects appeared to be relatively limited’.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Ian Blackford on 2015-12-02.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what discussions his Department has had with the General Medical Council on amending guidance related to the prescription of off-label drugs and subsequent personal liability.

George Freeman

The Government has made no such assessment and has not had discussions with the General Medical Council (GMC) on amending their guidance related to the prescription of off-label drugs and subsequent personal liability. The GMC is responsible for the assessment of its national guidance and this is kept under review as part of GMC’s normal internal governance arrangements.

As part of its response to the Off-Patent Drugs Bill, the Government has discussed a range of issues around off-label prescribing with a wide range of stakeholders, including the GMC. Working with the Department of Health, the GMC has recently published a Hot Topic on ‘Prescribing unlicensed medicines.’ This on-line tool explains GMC’s prescribing guidance and assures doctors of the clinical appropriateness of unlicensed and off-label prescribing. A copy of this is available at:

http://www.gmc-uk.org/guidance/28349.asp

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