Tag: Nicholas Brown

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Nicholas Brown on 2015-10-28.

To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what the evidential basis is for the proposition that freezing the repayment threshold for plan 2 student loans is likely to result in student loans being repaid to a greater extent than under the current terms.

Joseph Johnson

Estimates of the impact of freezing the repayment thresholds for borrowers are illustrated in the consultation document, which has been published here:

https://www.gov.uk/government/consultations/freezing-the-student-loan-repayment-threshold

These are based on analysis using the Department’s Student Loan Repayment Model: further details on the model are available at the Department’s website https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/simplified-student-loan-repayment-model

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The below Parliamentary question was asked by Nicholas Brown on 2016-01-20.

To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, what assessment she has made of the effect of the removal of eligibility for Renewables Obligations Certificates on businesses seeking to develop onshore wind farms.

Andrea Leadsom

I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave my hon. Friend the Member for Birmingham, Northfield to Question 22287 on Wind Power, on 18 January 2016:

http://www.parliament.uk/business/publications/written-questions-answers-statements/written-question/Commons/2016-01-13/22287/.

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The below Parliamentary question was asked by Nicholas Brown on 2016-02-09.

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, if he will issue guidance to rail companies to ensure they publicise passenger rights for compensation for disruption caused by the recent floods in Northern England.

Claire Perry

We are committed to improving compensation arrangements for delayed rail passengers. That is why we are introducing requirements in all new franchise agreements to both require that train operators make reasonable endeavours to make passengers aware of their rights to claim compensation and also to implement Delay/Repay. It is noteworthy that under Delay/Repay, which will apply to the new Northern and TPE franchises to start in April this year, there are no exclusions for delays outside the control of the rail industry, such as exceptionally severe weather conditions.

This winter’s unprecedented weather conditions have caused disruption to services. Network Rail have been working hard to repair tracks in these atrocious conditions. We remain absolutely committed to getting all lines able to run full services as soon as possible and thank passengers for their patience whilst emergency repairs are made.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Nicholas Brown on 2016-03-07.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what representations he has received from patient groups on the contaminated blood compensation consultation.

Jane Ellison

The respondents to the contaminated blood compensation consultation are not required to identify their association with any group. The Government response to the consultation will set out the number of respondents from specific patient groups, where that information has been provided.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Nicholas Brown on 2016-05-26.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what information his Department holds on the use of peptide receptor radionuclide therapy treatments to target carcinoid tumours.

George Freeman

Information on the peptide receptor radionuclide therapy treatments funded through the Cancer Drugs Fund (CDF) is shown in the table. It is not known for what type of cancer these treatments have been provided.

	Number of patients treated in 2011/121	Number of patients treated in 2012/131	Number of CDF notifications 2013/142	Number of CDF notifications 2014/152	Number of CDF notifications 2015/16 (to Sept) 2
Peptide receptor radionuclide therapy (to include Lutetium-177 or Yttrium-90 octreotide analogues)	49	117	152	229	116

¹ Source: Strategic Health Authority returns to the Department of Health

² Source: NHS England

Information on the number of peptide receptor radionuclide therapy treatments provided outside of the CDF is not collected.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Nicholas Brown on 2016-06-10.

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what plans she has to improve teacher retention.

Nick Gibb

It is vital for schools to be able to retain good teachers – that is why we have made policy interventions in the areas that teachers tell us matter most, such as improving pupil behaviour and reducing unnecessary workload.

We have appointed behaviour expert Tom Bennett to lead a review to ensure new teachers are fully trained in managing behaviour in 21^st century schools.

In response to our Workload Challenge, we set up three independent review groups to address unnecessary workload in the key areas of marking, planning and data management. The groups reported early this year, and set out clear principles about what should happen in schools to reduce unnecessary workload in these areas. The Government has accepted all the relevant recommendations made by the groups, and we will continue to work with the teaching profession to make sure they have the ongoing support they need to continue reducing unnecessary teacher workload.

We have recently conducted the first biennial Teacher Workload Survey, which will allow us to track teacher workload over the coming years. The results of the first survey will be published later this year.

Approximately 90 per cent of all teachers are in service in state-funded schools the year after they qualify, and 72 per cent of those who qualified in 2009 were still in teaching five years later. Over the longer term, over 60 per cent of teachers remain in service 10 years after qualifying.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Nicholas Brown on 2015-10-28.

To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what assessment he has made of the effects of the Government’s proposal to freeze the repayment threshold for plan 2 student loans on the amount of money likely to be paid back over the 30 year repayment period.

Joseph Johnson

The assessment of additional loan repayments has been set out in the published consultation document which is published here:

https://www.gov.uk/government/consultations/freezing-the-student-loan-repayment-threshold

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The below Parliamentary question was asked by Nicholas Brown on 2016-01-20.

To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, what steps the Government is taking to improve the process of switching suppliers for customers with prepayment meters.

Andrea Leadsom

The Government is working with Ofgem on a programme of work to radically overhaul the change of supplier process for gas and electricity customers and deliver reliable next day switching.

The Government’s commitment to ensuring every home in Britain is offered a smart meter by the end of 2020 will enable quicker and easier switching for all customers, including those with pre-payment meters. A number of suppliers are already offering or trialling smart pre-payment services to consumers.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Nicholas Brown on 2016-02-09.

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment he has made of the effect of recent disruption due to flooding in Northern England on railway passengers.

Andrew Jones

The impact of the recent storms on the rail network across the North of England has clearly created difficulties for passengers, businesses and communities. Operators and Network Rail have worked together to implement and operate services so as to cause the minimum of disruption to customers.

I pay tribute to the efforts of Network Rail’s teams which are still working to repair the damage, and thank passengers for their patience while these works are going on. The Rt Hon Member will have noted that the line between Newcastle and Carlisle has now reopened, following repair of the serious damage between Prudhoe and Hexham.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Nicholas Brown on 2016-04-14.

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps his Department takes to (a) notify recently bereaved spouses of the existence of bereavement benefits and (b) encourage those people to check their entitlement.

Priti Patel

Information about Bereavement Benefits is widely available through GOV.UK. We also work closely with third party organisations who the bereaved traditionally contact such as registrars, hospitals, funeral directors and voluntary groups ensuring that they have the correct information available to signpost the bereaved to the DWP Bereavement Service.

Upon contacting the DWP Bereavement Service our staff will ensure that any benefits and pensions arrears are claimed and will also initiate a claim for Social Fund Funeral Payments and Bereavement Benefits if appropriate.

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We continue to look for opportunities to improve the availability of advice about these particular benefits and as a result we have improved the information available on GOV.UK, and are currently exploring ways in which to to join up the Tell Us Once and Bereavement Service offers.

Tell Us Once is a cross-government service delivered through Local Authorities whereby notification of the death is cascaded out to other agencies, thus reducing the number of contacts an individual has to make.

The time limit for claiming Bereavement Allowance is three months from the date of death, which is consistent with the time limit for other welfare entitlements. We are currently developing the new Bereavement Support Payment due to be implemented for new claims from April 2017, and we will assess the merits of further flexibilities on backdating as part of this work.

Information available on the number of people in receipt of Bereavement Allowance by duration of current claim can be found at:

http://tabulation-tool.dwp.gov.uk/100pc/tabtool.html

Guidance for users can be found at:

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/dwp-tabulation-tool-guidance

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