Tag: Parliamentary Question

  • Neil Coyle – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Neil Coyle – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Neil Coyle on 2016-04-20.

    To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if she will take steps to improve support resources available to students who have been victims of sexual assault.

    Karen Bradley

    The Government is providing £80 million of dedicated central government funding over the course of this Parliament to tackle violence, including sexual assault, against women and girls. This includes central funding for rape support centres and £1.7 million per year up to 2017 to part-fund 87 Independent Sexual Violence Advisers who provide appropriate and independent support for victims. These services support all victims of sexual assault including students.

    At the request of the Secretary of State for Business, Universities UK set up a taskforce in September 2015 to bring together relevant stakeholders to explore what more can be done by the higher education sector to prevent, and respond effectively, to incidents of violence and sexual harassment against women, hate crimes and other forms of harassment. The taskforce is considering a range of potential measures, and its work includes an analysis of the nature and scale of the problem. The taskforce is expected to report in the Autumn.

  • Andrew Percy – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Andrew Percy – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Andrew Percy on 2016-05-23.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what steps he has taken to improve palliative and end-of-life care for LGBT people.

    Ben Gummer

    We are committed to ensuring that everyone who is at, or approaching, the end of life has access to high quality, compassionate care that is tailored to their individual needs and preferences.

    Many people already receive excellent end of life care but, as shown by the Care Quality Commission’s (CQC) recent review of inequalities in end of life care, A different ending: Addressing inequalities in end of life care, there is clearly more that can be done to ensure that all patients experience good quality care, regardless of their age, gender, race, condition, sexual orientation or gender identity.

    We welcome the CQC’s review and we will work together with NHS England to use its findings, and those of the ACCESSCare: Advanced Cancer Care Equality Strategy for Sexual Minorities study, when it is published, to inform ongoing work to reduce inequalities in access to care.

  • Baroness Kinnock of Holyhead – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    Baroness Kinnock of Holyhead – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Baroness Kinnock of Holyhead on 2016-07-18.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of the calls by Women Against State Pension Inequality for transitional state pension arrangements for women born in the 1950s, on or after 6 April 1951.

    Lord Freud

    Transitional arrangements are already in place. At the time of the Pensions Act 2011 the government introduced a concession worth £1.1 billion to limit the impact of the rising state pension age on those most affected. The concession capped the maximum delay that anyone would face in claiming their State Pension to 18 months rather than two years, relative to the previous timetable.

  • Madeleine Moon – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    Madeleine Moon – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Madeleine Moon on 2016-10-10.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many people with Parkinson’s disease and who are in receipt of disability living allowance are waiting reassessment for personal independence payments; and if he will make a statement.

    Penny Mordaunt

    As at February 2016 (the latest data available), I estimate there were about 4,600 working age people in receipt of Disability Living Allowance (DLA) whose main disabling condition is recorded as Parkinson’s disease on the DLA computer systems, and who will be invited to apply for Personal Independence Payment in the future, or may have been invited to claim within the past 6 months.

    As at July 2016, there were 1,300 claimants in receipt of Personal Independence Payment (PIP) who have been reassessed in the last three years, having previously been in receipt of DLA, and whose main disabling condition is recorded as Parkinson’s disease or Parkinson’s syndrome on the PIP computer systems.

    The length of a PIP award is based on an individual’s circumstances. For some of the most severely disabled claimants, a review could be as long as ten years after the initial award, at which point only a light-touch review, rather than a face-to-face assessment, will be necessary.

  • Karl Turner – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    Karl Turner – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Karl Turner on 2015-10-29.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what proportion of staff assigned to work on the procurement process for crime duty provider contracts had no previous experience of working on public sector procurement.

    Mr Shailesh Vara

    13 temporary staff were employed through the Brook Street Agency and a Crown Commercial Services Recruitment framework and were selected by the Legal Aid Agency and interviewed by permanent members of staff to ensure their suitability. These individuals made up 19% of the overall assessment team. In addition contracts were entered into with legal practices to provide additional resource.

    The key criteria for employment were analytical skills and the ability to conduct a qualitative assessment. A legal or procurement background was considered an advantage but not essential, given that they would be supervised by permanent staff from the Legal Aid Agency.

    The procurement was undertaken in line with the Public Contract Regulations and applicant organisations were required to pass a number of stages of assessment in order to be considered suitable to hold a duty provider contract. The criteria against which organisations were assessed is set out in the Information For Applicants which govern this procurement process.

  • Alison Thewliss – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Cabinet Office

    Alison Thewliss – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Cabinet Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Alison Thewliss on 2015-11-18.

    To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what estimate he has made of the number of people in (a) Scotland and (b) the UK between the ages of 16 and 21 who earn less than £7.65 per hour.

    Mr Rob Wilson

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

  • Emily Thornberry – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    Emily Thornberry – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Emily Thornberry on 2015-12-17.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what plans he has to evaluate the Universal Support Delivered Locally programme on completion of the pilot study.

    Priti Patel

    The assessment of the Universal Support trials is currently underway. The final evaluation will be published in late Spring 2016 and this will include the numbers of those who participated in the trials and the evaluation.

  • Philip Davies – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Energy and Climate Change

    Philip Davies – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Energy and Climate Change

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Philip Davies on 2016-01-27.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, what discussions she has had with her German counterparts on the building of new coal power stations in that country.

    Andrea Leadsom

    Ministers and officials in the Department regularly discuss a range of energy and climate change issues with their German counterparts.

  • Rosie Cooper – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Rosie Cooper – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Rosie Cooper on 2016-02-24.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what training staff in (a) Lancashire and (b) the North West who handle NHS 111 calls receive other that the mandatory training covered by the NHS 111 Commissioning Standards.

    Jane Ellison

    This information is not held centrally and is a matter for the local providers and commissioners.

    The NHS 111 commissioning standards issued in June 2014 state that all staff involved in handling NHS 111 calls must comply with the Licensing Requirements of the Clinical Decision Support Software used (NHS Pathways). Staff must also undertake training on: how to interact with urgent care services; the use of local Directories of Services; NHS Values; delivering excellent customer services; and safeguarding.

  • Steve McCabe – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    Steve McCabe – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Steve McCabe on 2016-03-15.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what financial support her Department has provided to fostering services in each year from 2011 to 2015; and how much that funding was for looked after child in each of those years.

    Edward Timpson

    Local authority (LA) funding for the provision of children’s services, including fostering services, is provided by the Department for Communities and Local Government. However, LAs are required to submit annual budget and outturn statements about their actual spending to the Secretary of State for Education.

    The total LA expenditure on looked after children (including fostering), based upon the section 251 out turn statements, are set out below for each financial year between

    2011 – 2015:

    2011-12 (£000s)

    2012-13 (£000s)

    2013-14 (£000s)

    2014-15 (£000s)

    Looked After Children

    £3,383,664

    £3,495,626

    £3,661,327

    £3,768,523

    Fostering

    £1,376,869

    £1,477,678

    £1,515,352

    £1,540,324

    Since the introduction of the Children’s Social Care Innovation Programme in October 2013, the Department is funding the following programmes relating to supporting fostering:

    The £100 million Children’s Social Care Innovation Programme is currently supporting 53 projects in the development, testing and spreading of more effective ways of supporting children and families who need help from children’s social care services. The programme is providing funding to projects which have elements that support foster services including matching, specialist foster placements and foster family support and training.

    Achieving for Children (£1.1 m) to develop a new approach to supporting adolescents in, and on the edge of, care across the two boroughs of Richmond and Kingston. This will draw together specialist fostering placements, a children’s home and a family intervention team using a new, consistent training programme ‘Better by Design’ across all of these elements.

    Action for Children (up to £3.3m) to work with Barnet, Harrow and Hounslow councils to run a suite of evidence based programmes (functional family therapy, multi-systemic therapy and multi-dimensional treatment foster care) to transform the support available to adolescents in West London.

    The Fostering Network (£1.6m) to import and adapt the successful mockingbird family model of fostering from the US to the UK. Mockingbird clusters a group of 10 foster carers around a ‘hub’ home. This hub, led by an experienced foster carer, provides respite support and short breaks to the carers in the cluster. All of the carers receive shared training and the carers and young people within a cluster meet regularly, engage in activities and get to know and support each other.

    The National Implementation Service (£4.1m) to hot-house, test and build the sustainability of evidence-based interventions in the UK – including multi-systemic therapy and RESuLT (a therapeutic training programme for residential care staff). Four sites have been specially funded to implement KEEP Safe, a training and support programme for foster carers who look after teenagers.

    Match Fostercare (£781k) to take on delegated statutory social work responsibilities for children in foster care from several local authorities. They believe this will reduce duplication and bureaucracy and provide a better service to children.

    NSPCC (£1m) to introduce the New Orleans intervention model in South London. The model aims to transform delivery and joint commissioning in children’s social work and CAMHS teams in relation to children aged 0 to 5 years who are in foster care due to maltreatment.

    Sheffield and South Yorkshire Councils (£1.2m) to develop a sub-regional delivery model for young people experiencing or at risk of child sexual exploitation. This will include recruitment, development and support of specialist foster carers to provide safe placements for young people across South Yorkshire. Local authorities involved are Sheffield, Barnsley, Rotherham and Doncaster. Other partners are LSCBs in these areas and South Yorkshire police.

    Further details about these and other Innovation Programme funded projects can be found here:

    http://springconsortium.com/projects-being-funded/

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