Tag: Neil Coyle

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Neil Coyle on 2016-04-11.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps her Department is taking to prevent young people obtaining knives online.

Karen Bradley

Reducing violence including knife crime is a priority for this Government. In addition to our work with the police and other partners we are working closely with retailers to encourage the responsible sale of knives both in-store and online.

There are already strict laws on the sale of knives and on how knives can be marketed. It is illegal to sell knives to anyone under 18 (except for folding knives with a blade that does not exceed 7.62cm). The Home Secretary chaired a roundtable with major retailers and the British Retail Consortium on 14 March to encourage them to sell knives more responsibly and discuss what steps they can take to ensure that they have strong age verification processes in place.

On 23 March the Home Secretary announced agreement of a new set of principles with major retailers to prevent the underage sales of knives both in-store and online, together with commitments on staff training, safe displays, and sales in online marketplaces.

The agreement is available online at:

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/sale-of-knives-voluntary-agreement-by-retailers

We will be working with the British Retail Consortium to promote and extend the principles to other retailers.

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The below Parliamentary question was asked by Neil Coyle on 2016-05-20.

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, with reference to the Answer of 3 May 2016 to Question 35165, on Personal Independence Payments, what proportion of overturns resulted from (a) oral and (b) documentary evidence submitted to the Tribunal.

Justin Tomlinson

The 75% can be broken down as follows:

Cogent oral evidence – 66%

Cogent documentary evidence supplied at the appeal – 9%

These figures are from internal DWP systems, where only one of possible multiple reasons can be recorded, and are derived from unpublished information and have not been quality assured to National Statistics or Official Statistics standard.

The Department encourages claimants to provide as much relevant evidence as necessary to support their claim. The “How your disability affects you” form and accompanying guidance sets out the range of information that can help the Department reach a decision. The guidance for Health Professionals also sets out sources of further evidence which could help inform their advice to the Department.

At the Mandatory Reconsideration stage, again claimants are encouraged to provide any further evidence about their disability. Following the first independent review of Personal Independence by Paul Gray, the Department is reviewing all communications (including those used by Assessment Providers) it has with claimants throughout the claim, assessment and reconsideration process to ensure that claimants clearly understand the importance of providing sufficient evidence to support their claim and application.

Further, once a claimant has submitted their claim, the Department has created a new Standard Work Instructions (SWI) for its decision making staff to gain further evidence, where appropriate. For Mandatory Reconsideration, the SWI puts a process in place to establish what the areas for dispute are, consider any gaps in the evidence, ensure any expected further medical evidence is received and referring that to the Assessment Provider. “

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Neil Coyle on 2016-07-12.

To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, whether any councils have asked for attendance allowance funding to be distributed to recipients via the provision of social care services.

Mr Marcus Jones

The Government announced in December that it would consider giving more responsibility to councils in England to support older people with care needs – including people who, under the current system, would be supported through Attendance Allowance.

We intend to continue to discuss openly with interested parties what the options are, and give all stakeholders a voice in determining whether and how to proceed with any reform. The Government is currently consulting on the implementation of commitments on 100% business rates retention for councils in England. The consultation seeks views on options for devolving new responsibilities to local government as part of those reforms, and this is one of the options about which we are consulting. The consultation document is available here: https://www.gov.uk/government/consultations/self-sufficient-local-government-100-business-rates-retention

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The below Parliamentary question was asked by Neil Coyle on 2015-11-04.

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many former service personnel are in receipt of Armed Forces Independence Payments.

Mark Lancaster

As at 31 October 2015, there were 869 Service and former Service personnel in receipt of Armed Forces Independence Payments.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Neil Coyle on 2016-02-10.

To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what assessment his Department has made of the effect on benefit and tax credit demand from workers at franchises of former post offices; and what estimate his Department has made of the potential cost of that demand to the public purse.

George Freeman

Post Office Limited runs and manages its directly managed Crown post offices. Employees of these offices are employees of Post Office Limited. Changes to the Crown network are the operational responsibility of the Post Office, and HM Government has not undertaken any analysis of the changes to the benefit and tax credit demand from these changes.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Neil Coyle on 2016-03-02.

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what recent discussions he has had with Transport for London on the installation of rapid charging points; and what progress has been made on plans to install 150 rapid charging points by 2018.

Andrew Jones

The Office for Low Emission Vehicles(OLEV) has regular discussions with Transport for London about ultra low emission vehicles and charging infrastructure.

London was recently announced as one of four winners of the Go Ultra Low Cities Scheme. £13m is being awarded to support a range of measures, including rapid chargers, to increase the uptake of electric vehicles and make London an exemplar city for cleaner motoring. However, delivery of charging infrastructure in London, as set out in the Mayor’s “Ultra Low Emission Vehicle Delivery Plan”, is the responsibility of Transport for London in partnership with the London Boroughs.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Neil Coyle on 2016-04-11.

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps his Department has taken to ensure the safety of users of private hire vehicles.

Andrew Jones

The legislation that provides for licensing of private hire vehicle services aims to safeguard passengers by ensuring that drivers and vehicles are fit for purpose. This legislation allows local licensing authorities the discretion to set standards that they deem to be appropriate for their area. To help licensing authorities set standards the Department has issued best practice guidance.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Neil Coyle on 2016-05-20.

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, with reference to the Answer of 3 May 2016 to Question 35165, on Personal Independence Payments, what changes his Department has put in place to take account of the finding that 75 per cent of successful appeals resulted from additional oral or documentary evidence being submitted.

Justin Tomlinson

The 75% can be broken down as follows:

Cogent oral evidence – 66%

Cogent documentary evidence supplied at the appeal – 9%

These figures are from internal DWP systems, where only one of possible multiple reasons can be recorded, and are derived from unpublished information and have not been quality assured to National Statistics or Official Statistics standard.

The Department encourages claimants to provide as much relevant evidence as necessary to support their claim. The “How your disability affects you” form and accompanying guidance sets out the range of information that can help the Department reach a decision. The guidance for Health Professionals also sets out sources of further evidence which could help inform their advice to the Department.

At the Mandatory Reconsideration stage, again claimants are encouraged to provide any further evidence about their disability. Following the first independent review of Personal Independence by Paul Gray, the Department is reviewing all communications (including those used by Assessment Providers) it has with claimants throughout the claim, assessment and reconsideration process to ensure that claimants clearly understand the importance of providing sufficient evidence to support their claim and application.

Further, once a claimant has submitted their claim, the Department has created a new Standard Work Instructions (SWI) for its decision making staff to gain further evidence, where appropriate. For Mandatory Reconsideration, the SWI puts a process in place to establish what the areas for dispute are, consider any gaps in the evidence, ensure any expected further medical evidence is received and referring that to the Assessment Provider. “

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Neil Coyle on 2016-07-11.

To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what savings his Department expects to accrue to the public purse as a result of transferring attendance allowance funding to councils; and whether those savings will be retained centrally or used for other benefits expenditure.

Mr Marcus Jones

The Government announced in December that it would consider giving more responsibility to councils in England to support older people with care needs – including people who, under the current system, would be supported through Attendance Allowance.

Any new responsibilities would be matched by the transfer of the equivalent spending power – this is a reform policy, not a savings measure. We are not considering any changes for existing Attendance Allowance claimants and, should devolution proceed, everyone already claiming Attendance Allowance at the point of devolution will continue to receive it.

The Government is currently consulting on the implementation of commitments on 100% business rates retention for councils in England. The consultation seeks views on options for devolving new responsibilities to local government as part of those reforms, and this is one of the options about which we are consulting. The consultation document is available here: https://www.gov.uk/government/consultations/self-sufficient-local-government-100-business-rates-retention

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The below Parliamentary question was asked by Neil Coyle on 2015-11-04.

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, when his Department plans to update guidance to Jobcentre Plus staff on claimants that report suicidal thoughts; and how such existing guidance is made available to those staff.

Priti Patel

The Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) takes seriously any declarations of intention to attempt suicide or self harm that are made by its customers. There is a clear, detailed action plan that staff must follow if a customer declares an intention to kill or harm themselves and DWP provides guidance to help its staff deal with these incidents. The policy, procedures and guidance are reviewed regularly to ensure that they continue to meet their objectives and to identify areas for improvement.

DWP raises staff awareness through its own internal communication channels whenever guidance is reviewed and updated. This messaging ensures that related products such as learning and development for staff are also reviewed and updated concurrently.