The below Parliamentary question was asked by Helen Goodman on 2016-07-12.
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what the average waiting time is for claimants of universal credit to receive their first payment.
Damian Hinds
The information you have requested is not currently quality assured for release.
We hope to be able to release data on this later this year after it has been quality assured.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Steve McCabe on 2016-10-07.
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, pursuant to the Answer of 12 September 2016 to Question 44481, for what reasons the 26 clinical commissioning groups referred to were rated as inadequate for 2015-16.
David Mowat
This information is publicly available in the Year-end CCG Assurance Annual Assessment for 2015/16, on NHS England’s website:
Further detail can be found in the legal directions issued by NHS England to all clinical commissioning groups rated as inadequate. These are published on NHS England’s website:
https://www.england.nhs.uk/commissioning/ccg-auth/directions/
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The below Parliamentary question was asked by Kevin Brennan on 2015-11-23.
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what recent assessment he has made of the role of the Free Syrian Army in the conflict in Syria.
Mr Tobias Ellwood
The Free Syrian Army is a collective term used by a range of moderate opposition groups in Syria who are fighting the regime and ISIL. The Free Syrian Army call for a pluralistic system that respects the rights of all Syrians. They reject terrorism and terrorist tactics, and have condemned Islamic extremism. They have been fighting both the regime and ISIL in Syria for over two years with success in a number of areas, in particular in Idlib and Aleppo in Northwest Syria and in Dera’a Province in the South.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Rebecca Long Bailey on 2015-12-15.
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, with reference to paragraph 1.123 of the Spending Review and Autumn Statement 2015, what assessment he has made of the effect of uprating the individual threshold in the minimum income floor for self-employed people on the household income of a tax credit claimant family with two children and one self-employed earner under the age of 25 earning £12,194 over the course of a year.
Priti Patel
There is no Minimum Income Floor (MIF) in the tax credit system.
In Universal Credit the MIF is designed to address issues in the current system which enable self-employed claimants to receive full State support while declaring low or zero earnings indefinitely.
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 capital dredging programmes are in place for the five principal river systems in the North East of England between from the River Tees to the River Tweed.
Rory Stewart
The Environment Agency’s dredging work is funded through its Revenue Programme and has work planned for the financial period 2016/17 in the wider Rivers Wansbeck and Blyth, Wear, Tees and Tyne catchments. This work will include the removal of localised silts and gravels from maintained structures and channels.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Baroness Hodgson of Abinger on 2016-02-22.
To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether they plan to hold an event on their Preventing Sexual Violence in Conflict Initiative at the sixth session of the Commission on the Status of Women in March.
Baroness Anelay of St Johns
At the current time, four UK Ministers (from the Department for International Development, the Ministry of Defence and the Department for Education) are planning to attend the Commission on the Status of Women (CSW) and promote UK objectives. The UK is not planning to host a specific event on the Preventing Sexual Violence in Conflict Initiative (PSVI) during the CSW. Ministers will be actively participating in the Review Theme and a number of side events focussed on tackling all forms of violence against women and girls, including sexual violence. As the Prime Minister’s Special Representative on Sexual Violence in Conflict, I am actively exploring future opportunities to engage with UN partners in 2016 to promote PSVI objectives on tackling stigma, supporting survivors and increasing accountability.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Matthew Pennycook on 2016-03-10.
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what plans he has to update the document, Medical guidance for DLA decision makers (child cases): staff guide, last updated on 8 December 2015, to incorporate references to congenital, inherited or acquired heart disease.
Justin Tomlinson
The department has committed to undertake a comprehensive review of the suite of medical guidance products for Child Disability Living Allowance decision makers over the next 12 months. This will include creating additional guidance where required.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Greg Mulholland on 2016-04-15.
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what assessment he has made of the progress of the taskforce on reducing violence against women and girls on university campuses.
Joseph Johnson
The Government asked Universities UK to establish a taskforce 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 expected to report its findings in the autumn.
To date Universities UK have received 59 written representations from universities, plus additional evidence from a wide range of agencies and organisations.
Universities UK has published an update of the recent taskforce meeting, which addressed the Zellick guidelines. The Government looks forward to receiving the taskforce’s final report in due course.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Andrew Rosindell on 2016-05-24.
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what assessment his Department has made of the potential link between the foreign funding of Islamic cultural centres in Belgium and a rise in extremism and terrorism (a) in that country and (b) elsewhere; and if he will make a statement.
Mr Tobias Ellwood
We do not have evidence to prove that the funding of Islamic cultural centres is linked to the rise of extremism and terrorism. We work closely with all levels of government in Belgium and with faith communities to discuss issues of mutual concern, including terrorism and extremism. We have a constructive partnership with Belgium to tackle these shared challenges. We will continue to work with a range of partners to protect UK and British interests.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Willoughby de Broke on 2016-07-12.
To ask Her Majesty’s Government, further to the Written Answer by Lord Gardiner of Kimble on 1 October 2015 (HL2378), in the light of the fact that a substantial number of Basic Payment Scheme (BPS) payments have not yet been made and that no date for completion of payments has been given, why they stated that the majority of BPS payments would be made in December 2015, and the vast majority by January.
Lord Gardiner of Kimble
The Rural Payments Agency (RPA) achieved the target of making the majority of BPS payments in December 2015, paying 44,408 (50.9%) of eligible claims by the end of December. The agency also delivered on its target of making the vast majority of payments by end of January, paying 66,800 (77%) of eligible claims with a value of around £1bn.
The Government understands the importance of BPS payments for farmers. The targets, ‘majority’ and ‘vast majority’, were established in line with the RPA’s priority to pay as many farmers as possible, as quickly as possible, from the opening of the payment window back in December.