Tag: Kirsten Oswald

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Kirsten Oswald on 2016-02-29.

To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what issues were discussed at the meeting that took place between Ministers of his Department and representatives of the Financial Conduct Authority on 23 January 2015; and who the attendees were at that meeting.

Harriett Baldwin

Treasury Ministers and officials meet regularly with the Financial Conduct Authority to discuss relevant regulatory issues. As was the case with previous Administrations, it is not the Treasury’s practice to provide details of all such discussions.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Kirsten Oswald on 2016-04-25.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what recent representations he has received on the future funding of research into mesothelioma.

George Freeman

The Government agrees that more mesothelioma research is needed and has taken measures to stimulate an increase in the level of research activity.

Patients, carers, clinicians and funders have worked in partnership to identify what the priorities in research are. Following a survey and a workshop, the top 10 mesothelioma research priorities were announced in December 2014. The National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) published a final report from the Priority Setting Partnership in July 2015. In advance of the identification of research questions by this partnership, the NIHR highlighted to the research community that it wanted to encourage research applications in mesothelioma.

The NIHR subsequently invited researchers to apply for mesothelioma research funding, in particular to address the research questions identified through the partnership. Eight NIHR programmes participated in this themed call. Fifteen individual applications were received, of which two have been approved for funding.

In addition, the NIHR Research Design Service continues to be able to help prospective applicants develop competitive research proposals. This service is well-established and has

10 regional bases across England. It supports researchers to develop and design high-quality proposals for submission to NIHR itself and also to other national, peer-reviewed funding competitions for applied health or social care research.

The National Cancer Research Institute is facilitating ongoing dialogue between relevant research funders on the topic of mesothelioma, to discuss what the barriers to research are and what is needed to stimulate research in the field.

The Chancellor’s Budget Report committed £5 million of LIBOR fines over the next four years for the National Mesothelioma Centre.

The Department has received recent representations relating to funding of mesothelioma research from the Asbestos Victims Support Groups’ Forum UK and from several hon. Members on behalf of constituents.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Kirsten Oswald on 2016-04-26.

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, when he last had discussions with the Chief of the Defence Staff on the need to improve response times to complaints from serving officers; and what was agreed in that discussion.

Mark Lancaster

The Service Complaints Ombudsman’s annual report for 2015 was published on 25 April 2016. Whilst there are no recommendations in this year’s report, given the introduction of a reformed complaints system and a fundamentally new Ombudsman role, the Ministry of Defence (MOD) is curently considering the report in detail to see what lessons there are for the complaints process or wider policies.

The aim of the reforms introduced on 1 January 2016 is to address long-standing concerns raised by the Service Complaints Commissioner that confidence in the system has been affected by complexity which has led to delay and by a lack of strong independent and effective oversight. Such a lack of confidence can in turn leave our personnel reluctant to raise issues and so have them resolved. The new process is streamlined, and Service personnel will now be able to approach the new Service Complaints Ombudsman if they are dissatisfied, which will make a real difference for individuals. The Ombudsman has significant new powers to hold the MOD to account for fair, effective and efficient complaints handllng. The Ombudsman comments in her report that she is hopeful that the new system will make a real impact on confidence levels. The MOD shares that view, and looks forward to the Ombudsman’s 2016 report for her assessment of whether the aims are being achieved.

It is important that all Service personnel know where to get information about how to make a service complaint, as well as about the role of the new Service Complaints Ombudsman and how to contact her. We will take further steps to communicate as widely as possible through appropriate channels the role of the new Ombudsman, particularly to junior personnel, which will supplement and support the visits undertaken and communication material produced by the Ombudsman.

Bullying, harassment and discrimination are not tolerated in the Armed Forces. Tackling such behaviour depends on our Service personnel having confidence that the complaints system will deal with their concerns appropriately and will treat them fairly. The Service Complaints Ombudsman will hold the MOD to account for how it handles complaints and how it treats its Service personnel under the complaints process. It is by raising complaints and approaching the Ombudsman if they are dissatisfied that complainants can ensure that the MOD is openly held to account. It is also through the Ombudsman’s recommendations that the MOD can identify where action needs to be taken to improve.

The finding by the Service Complaints Ombudsman that proportionately more women feel moved to make a Service complaint than their male colleagues is a concern. The Ombudsman goes on to commend the work that is being done by the Army in particular, where the issue is the most acute, to tackle this. The initiatives that she sets out in the report are continuing.

It is the responsibility of all those involved in the service complaints process to ensure complaints are handled effectively and efficiently. All complaints are to be dealt with promptly but fairly, regardless of the complainant’s rank or whether they are still serving. There have been no discussions with the Chief of the Defence Staff on the issues raised.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Kirsten Oswald on 2016-05-03.

To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland, what assessment he has made of the potential effect on Scotland of the UK leaving the EU.

David Mundell

I refer the hon Member to the answer I gave earlier today to the hon Members for North Ayrshire and Arran, Paisley and Renfrewshire North, Ochil and South Perthshire, Motherwell and Wishaw, Angus and East Kilbride, Strathaven and Lesmahagow.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Kirsten Oswald on 2016-06-08.

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what estimate he has made of the number of children likely to be affected by the planned replacement of widowed parent’s allowance by bereavement allowance.

Priti Patel

Bereavement support payments will be introduced from April 2017 for new claimants only. Existing claimants of Widowed Parent’s Allowance and Bereavement Allowance will remain on those benefits for the lifetime of their awards therefore there will be no impact on them or their families.

Bereavement Support Payment is forecasted to cost the Department for Work and Pensions an extra £100m in the first three years. The full cost to the exchequer will be greater than this as, unlike its predecessors, Bereavement Support Payment will not be taxable.

Further information on forecast expenditure is provided via the link below.

https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/487612/outturn-and-forecast-autumn-statement-2015.xlsx

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The below Parliamentary question was asked by Kirsten Oswald on 2016-07-21.

To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what discussions she has had with representatives of local authorities on possible amendments to the meaning of the term supply in the Video Recordings Act 1984 to include adults providing children with access to recordings categorised as containing age-inappropriate content.

Matt Hancock

Following public consultations involving representations from classification bodies, child welfare groups, local authorities, content producers and many others, since 2010 we have legislated twice to strengthen the protections provided by the Act. This has ensured that retailers now cannot sell or rent any age-inappropriate DVDs or video games discs or cartridges to children. It also ensures these products are all labelled with relevant British Board of Film Classification (DVDs) and PEGI (video games) age ratings and content advice. This means adults have better information to help them make responsible decisions about the material children can access.

We will continue to work with industry and the age ratings bodies to encourage further promotion of the BBFC and PEGI age ratings to consumers including through initiatives such as BBFCInsight and AskAboutGames.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Kirsten Oswald on 2016-10-07.

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what steps his Department is taking to monitor the operation of the Future Horizons Programme for early service leavers.

Mark Lancaster

The Future Horizons Programme (FHP) is the resettlement programme for Early Service Leavers (ESL), meaning those members of the UK Armed Forces who leave with less than four years’ service. It is delivered through the Ministry of Defence’s (MOD) Career Transition Partnership (CTP) with Right Management Limited (part of the ManpowerGroup). The uptake rates and employment outcomes of ESL are monitored routinely through the CTP governance structure to ensure the programme continues to be effective in supporting ESL.

ESL have been entitled to the FHP since it was introduced on 1 October 2013. Between 1 October 2013 and 31 March 2014 approximately 33% of eligible personnel participated in the FHP. During financial year 2014-15 some 62% of eligible personnel participated in the Future Horizons Programme. Prior to the establishment of the FHP all ESL were entitled to unit level support as part of standard MOD policy.

From 1 October 2015, the resettlement provision for ESL is termed CTP Future Horizons. Official statistics for ESL who used CTP Future Horizons from 1 October 2015 will be published in January 2017 as part of the CTP Official Statistic.

All personnel made redundant in the Armed Forces redundancy programme 2011-2015 (Tranches 1-4), received the highest level of resettlement provision delivered through what was then termed the CTP Full Resettlement Programme, regardless of their overall length of service.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Kirsten Oswald on 2015-11-13.

To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, if he will ensure that all staff in HM Revenue and Customs authorised to cancel late-filing penalties are authorised to provide the person concerned with written confirmation of that cancellation.

Mr David Gauke

All staff in HM Revenue and Customs who are authorised to cancel late-filing penalties and late-payment penalties are also authorised to provide the customer concerned with written confirmation of that cancellation. The process to advise the person of the cancellation may differ between taxes, and the notification may in some cases be on-line rather than in a letter.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Kirsten Oswald on 2015-12-08.

To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, when he was first told that Capital Financial Managers Limited knew by September 2009 that investors’ funds were exposed to risks not provided for in the information memorandum for the Connaught Fund.

Harriett Baldwin

This is a matter for the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA), which is operationally independent from Government.

This question has been passed on to the FCA. They will reply directly to the Honourable Member by letter. A copy of the letter will be placed in the Library of the House.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Kirsten Oswald on 2016-01-11.

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what the profile of applications to the Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency for access to vehicle ownership data for the purpose of enforcing parking penalties was each month in the last five years.

Andrew Jones

The Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency does not hold vehicle keeper information. This is the responsibility of the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency (DVLA).

Requests to the DVLA for vehicle keeper information can be made electronically or manually by post.

The number of electronic requests made each month to the DVLA by private parking companies since April 2012 is shown in the table below:

	2015	2014	2013	2012
January	232,906	211,956	144,248	–
February	234,175	187,247	138,392	–
March	274,875	218,338	149,227	–
April	278,855	224,480	183,463	154,703
May	277,534	221,337	197,278	162,954
June	300,892	229,159	183,201	151,186
July	320,445	257,471	222,456	183,242
August	297,060	241,344	217,557	176,121
September	325,429	285,178	202,950	172,151
October	407, 346	287,329	223,105	164,975
November	316,057	257,364	201,904	168,677
December	358,150	273,749	180,675	131,696

A monthly breakdown of the electronic requests made by private parking companies before April 2012 is not available.

The monthly number of manual requests made specifically by private parking companies is not available. The table below shows the quarterly amount of requests made manually via post. These figures include requests from private parking companies and other organisations or individuals who can demonstrate reasonable cause for needing the information.

	2015	2014	2013	2012	2011
Jan – Mar	61,996	99,720	79,996	92,002	70,453
Apr – Jun	57,117	89,962	98,249	94,399	72,429
Jul – Sep	65,204	92,023	90,487	76,740	73,474
Oct – Dec	69,183	68,341	98,405	68,604	59,013