Tag: Parliamentary Question

Stewart Malcolm McDonald – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Stewart Malcolm McDonald on 2016-09-12.

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, if he will make it his policy to amend the eligibility criteria for pension credit so that all men and women aged 60 and above can access that credit.

Richard Harrington

Pension Credit is an income-related benefit paid out of general taxation which targets help at the poorest pensioners. It is a condition of entitlement for Pension Credit that a person has attained the “qualifying age”, which is linked to the women’s State Pension age. This is the same age at which entitlement to Universal Credit ceases.

Changing the eligibility criteria would mean displacing Universal Credit with Pension Credit. Universal Credit has much better work incentives than Pension Credit, and ensures that work always pays. Universal Credit also disregards pension pots in the means test, encouraging further saving, whereas Pension Credit takes pension pots into account and therefore provides no incentive to increase their size.

For those with disability and care needs, the welfare system already makes provision through benefits and services based on needs assessment. This includes provision for those whose health condition means that it is difficult for them to remain in employment. The Government will be publishing a Green Paper on Work and Health later this year which will consider this issue.

01/01/2023

Lord Greaves – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Greaves on 2015-11-11.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government how many persons other than those working on the railway have been killed on (1) the UK railways, and (2) the London Underground, in each of the last 10 years, and in the current year so far; and how many of those were (a) suicides, (b) accidents to persons trespassing on the line, (c) accidents at level crossings, and (d) owing to other causes.

Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon

Other than those working on the railway, the number of fatalities on UK Railways over the past decade and to date this year is noted in Table 1 below.

Table 1: Fatalities on UK Railways

	2005/06	2006/07	2007/08	2008/09	2009/10	2010/11	2011/12	2012/13	2013/14	2014/15	2015/16*
Suicide	225	225	207	219	243	208	250	246	278	292	142
Trespass	44	43	52	46	42	24	40	33	22	22	15
Level Crossings	13	10	10	12	13	6	4	9	8	11	0
Other	8	11	6	6	6	9	8	4	4	4	4
Totals	290	289	275	283	304	247	302	292	312	329	161

*April – September

The Department for Transport does not hold any information in relation to fatalities on London Underground.

01/01/2023

Yasmin Qureshi – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Yasmin Qureshi on 2015-12-07.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what comparative assessment he has made of the ability of local authorities in the (a) poorest and (b) richest areas in England to meet their social care spending needs through a two per cent council tax charge.

Alistair Burt

The Government recognises that councils have varying capacity to raise money through council tax. My right hon. Friend, the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government will shortly publish for consultation the provisional local government finance settlement for 2016-17. This will include proposed changes to rebalance support, including to those authorities with social care responsibilities, by taking into account the main resources available to councils, including council tax.

01/01/2023
Andy Slaughter – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Andy Slaughter on 2016-01-18.

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, which finds of what items were recorded by the Incident Report System in each facility in each of the last three years.

Andrew Selous

The information requested could only be provided at disproportionate cost.

01/01/2023
Jeremy Lefroy – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jeremy Lefroy on 2016-02-09.

To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what information his Department holds on how many new antibiotics are in development by UK companies.

George Freeman

The Department does not hold information on how many new antibiotics are in development by UK companies.

The independent review on antimicrobial resistance led by Lord O’Neill publication Securing New Drugs for Future Generations – the Pipeline of antibiotics, provides a high-level assessment of the development pipeline for new antibiotics:

http://amr-review.org/sites/default/files/SECURING%20NEW%20DRUGS%20FOR%20FUTURE%20GENERATIONS%20FINAL%20WEB_0.pdf

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01/01/2023
Ian Austin – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

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

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what steps he is taking to ensure that the Community Rehabilitation Company and the National Probation Service work effectively together in dealing with domestic abuse offending.

Andrew Selous

The National Probation Service (NPS) Service Level Agreement and the contracts with the Community Rehabilitation Companies (CRCs) make clear the importance of effective co-operation between the NPS and CRCs: there are mandatory local and national processes and structures in place to manage cases and to arrange transfer from the CRC to the NPS where there is an escalation of risk.

01/01/2023
Sir Nicholas Soames – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Sir Nicholas Soames on 2016-04-08.

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what progress has been made in NATO Transformation.

Mr Julian Brazier

Good progress is being made since Wales on transforming NATO’s ability to respond to the range of challenges the Alliance faces. NATO’s new political guidance gives the Alliance the flexibility to plan for and adapt to the threats that it may face, including from Cyber and Hybrid attacks. The Readiness Action Plan, agreed at the Wales Summit, established the NATO enhanced Response Force, which will enable NATO to respond quickly, efficiently and effectively to the evolving and emerging threats. In support of this, the UK will lead a multinational force that includes up to 3,000 UK personnel as Framework Nation for NATO’s Very High Readiness Joint Task Force in 2017.

01/01/2023
Nigel Mills – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Nigel Mills on 2016-05-10.

To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, how many times HM Revenue and Customs has been a creditor in the last five years.

Mr David Gauke

HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) is a creditor of anyone who has a tax debt. We do not have complete information about the number of debtors who have owed money to HMRC in the past five years.

01/01/2023
Scott Mann – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Scott Mann on 2016-06-15.

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what steps he is taking to protect the armed forces from persistent legal claims.

Penny Mordaunt

I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave in the House on 18 April 2016 to Question 904485 to the hon. Member for Braintree (James Cleverly).

01/01/2023
Andrew Gwynne – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Andrew Gwynne on 2016-09-12.

To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what progress his Department has made on ensuring that energy efficiency in the private rented sector is improved to meet new regulations regarding E-grade standards for properties to be let.

Jesse Norman

The Energy Efficiency (Private Rented Property)(England and Wales) Regulations 2015 requires that all landlords of domestic and non-domestic privately rented property in England and Wales ensure that, from 1 April 2018, their properties reach an energy performance rating of at least an E before granting a tenancy to new or existing tenants, unless a prescribed exemption applies.

The Department has undertaken, and will continue to undertake, engagement activity with landlord groups to help them understand the requirements of the regulations. Officials are currently preparing guidance to assist non-domestic landlords in complying with their obligations under the regulations, and we will prepare similar guidance for domestic landlords in due course.

The Department is also developing a landlord exemptions register, a requirement of the Regulations, which will be used by enforcement authorities to help target their enforcement activities, and which will allow landlords to register online any exemptions that apply.

01/01/2023