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

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, for what reasons the Lutathera drug was removed from the list of drugs available under the Cancer Drugs Fund.

George Freeman

Peptide receptor radionuclide therapy (including Luththera) for the treatment of gastro-entero-pancreatic neuroendocrine tumours was removed from the Cancer Drugs Fund in November 2015 on the grounds that it represented insufficient value for retention within the Fund.

NHS England’s full decision summary is available at:

https://www.england.nhs.uk/ourwork/cancer/cdf/cdf-drug-sum/

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

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether she has made an assessment of the implications for her Department’s policies of the findings of the University of Dundee study on the use of clothianidin, imidacloprid and thiamethoxam neonicotinoid pesticides, published on 28 April 2016.

George Eustice

The Government recognises the importance of effective pesticides and believes that they should be authorised if the scientific evidence shows they have no harmful effects on human health and no unacceptable effects on the environment. Good science is therefore essential for good decisions.

The Government will keep evidence on neonicotinoids under close scrutiny. The EU Commission has also initiated a review of the science, which will include evidence to address data gaps identified when restrictions on neonicotinoids were implemented in 2013.

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

To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, whether the Office for National Statistics plans to include in quarterly migration figures the number of Syrian refugees resettled in the UK under the Government’s relocation scheme.

Mr Rob Wilson

The information requested falls within the responsibility of the UK Statistics Authority. I have asked the Authority to reply.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Nicholas Brown on 2016-01-25.

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what information her Department holds on the distribution of nitrogen and phosphates in the English river system since recent flooding; and what assessment she has made of the potential effect of that distribution on the natural environment.

Rory Stewart

The Environment Agency records the concentrations of nitrates and phosphates at thousands of locations across England. It monitors on either a monthly or quarterly basis over the course of the year. The January data should soon be ready for compilation. Many of the December samples were taken before the heavy rain so analysis of the data is still being carried out.

Heavy rainfall events, such as those experienced in the recent floods, generally cause an initial flush of nutrients from agricultural land and urban drainage systems to rivers.This causes an increase in river nutrient concentrations which then falls away due to dilution by high river flows.During floods, large amounts of nutrients are washed down rivers into coastal waters. If this occurs in summer it can trigger algal blooms, feeding on the nutrients. In winter, the effects are not generally significant as the reduced sunlight and colder water temperatures mean that algae do not grow.

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

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps he is taking to facilitate full statistical recording of the employment (a) rate and (b) gap for people with disabilities.

Priti Patel

The employment rates for disabled and non-disabled people are monitored quarterly, based on the Labour Force Survey which is conducted by the Office for National Statistics.

The disability employment gap can be derived by subtracting the employment rate of disabled people from the employment rate of non-disabled people.

The publicly available source used to monitor disability employment is part of the National Statistics and can be found here:

http://www.ons.gov.uk/ons/rel/lms/labour-market-statistics/january-2016/table-a08.xls

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

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many claims for bereavement allowance have been made for each of the last five years; and what proportion of such claims covered (a) the full eligible 52 weeks and (b) less than the full 52 weeks.

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.

.

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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