The below Parliamentary question was asked by Roger Godsiff on 2016-06-08.
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what the average cost to the public purse was of processing a mandatory reconsideration of a (a) universal credit and (b) jobseeker’s allowance sanction in the latest period for which figures are available.
Priti Patel
The information is not available at the level of detail requested.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Valerie Vaz on 2016-09-05.
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, with reference to the Answer of 21 July 2016 to Question 42766, whether he has accepted the recommendation of the independent Mental Health Taskforce in its report published in February 2016 to bring together an expert group to examine the needs of children who are particularly vulnerable to developing mental health problems, including those with long-term conditions.
Nicola Blackwood
The Government has accepted the recommendations set out in the Mental Health Taskforce report including the recommendation that: “The Departments of Education and Health should establish an expert group to examine the needs of children who are particularly vulnerable to developing mental health problems and how their needs should best be met, including through the provision of personalised budgets.” The focus of the group that has been set up, which met for the first time in July, is on looked after and adopted children and care leavers, all of whom are considered particularly vulnerable to mental health problems.
There are currently no plans to set up any other group to look into the needs of children who are vulnerable.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Dan Jarvis on 2016-10-14.
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what recent steps his Department is taking to reduce the level of child maintenance arrears.
Caroline Nokes
We have at our disposal a range of strong enforcement powers, intended to ensure all parents fulfil their financial responsibilities towards their children. We use all of the powers available to us where it is appropriate to do so, and we are seeking to extend these where appropriate, for instance by deducting money from bank accounts held jointly by the paying parent.
We take into consideration a number of factors when deciding if and what type of enforcement action to take, including the welfare of any relevant children involved and the likelihood of collecting monies owed. Taking enforcement action can be a costly process, particularly in cases where the paying parent is determined not to pay – we must therefore ensure we maximise the efficiency and effectiveness of our enforcement system, deciding what is appropriate on a case by case basis and using powers that have the greatest chance of ensuring people meet their obligations and securing money for children.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Norman Lamb on 2015-11-19.
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what steps his Department is taking to ensure that disabled people receive the care they need to live independently.
Alistair Burt
The Department welcomes the report which was funded by the Department, NHS England and Public Health England, as part of the Health and Social Care Voluntary Sector Strategic Partnership Programme. The Department and its partners will use the findings of the report to review relevant policies to improve experiences and outcomes for people with disabilities.
The Care Act 2014 put personal budgets on a legal basis for the first time, including for disabled people and carers. This drives a focus on personalisation and increases opportunities for greater control and independence, so that people can choose care and support best suited to their needs.
The Care Act 2014 introduced a new national eligibility threshold which enables local authorities to maintain continuity of access to support for service users who move between local authorities. This threshold is set out in the Care and Support (Eligibility Criteria) Regulations 2015, and local authorities cannot tighten eligibility criteria beyond this threshold.
The Care Act 2014 contains a new duty for local authorities to provide independent advocacy to facilitate and support a person’s involvement in the care and support assessment, planning and review processes. Local authorities must also establish and maintain a service that provides information and advice relating to care and support for adults and support for carers.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Diana Johnson on 2015-12-17.
To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, how many press and public relations staff are employed by (a) his Department, (b) the Planning Inspectorate, (c) the Queen Elizabeth II Conference Centre, (d) the Housing Ombudsman, (e) the Homes and Communities Agency, (f) the Leasehold Advisory Service and (g) the Local Government Ombudsman; how many of these employees earn more than (i) £50,000 and (ii) £100,000; and what the total expenditure was on press and public relations by each of those organisations in the most recent year for which figures are available.
Brandon Lewis
The Government communications profession saved £330 million for taxpayers last year compared to 2009 to 2010 by making its campaigns more cost effective.
This means that we reduced the Government communications spending by a total of £1 billion during the last Parliament.
The Department employs 17 full time equivalent Press Officers, including the Head of External Communications.Two staff members earn more than £50,000. No staff member earns more than £100,000.
In 2014-15 the Department’s non-staff press spend was £266,235. We expect the full year expenditure in 2015-16 to be approximately £150,000.
The Department has spent nothing on external public relations from 2010-11 to 2015-16.
The Planning Inspectorate employs one senior communications officer who has responsibility for media handling as well as other communication related activities. Salary costs are below £50,000. Given the nature of its role, the Inspectorate does not undertake any media campaigns or marketing of its services.
The Queen Elizabeth II Conference Centre does undertake some public relations spending in its capacity as a commercial trading fund to generate sales leads for the venue. It does not have an in-house press office. It spent £36,000 in 2014-15. This spending is fully covered by the revenues from commercial bookings. It does not employ any press or public relations staff.
The Housing Ombudsman does not employ any press or public relations staff or haverelated press spend.
There are no staff at the Homes and Communities Agency who are primarily employed as media and public relations professionals. However there are 10.74 Full Time Equivalent staff who, to varying degrees, undertake some media and PR activity. Two of these staff earn more than £50,000; none earn more than £100,000. Expenditure on press and public relations at the Agency, January to December 2015, was £14,537.26.
Leasehold Advisory Service does not employ any press or public relations staff or have any related press spend.
The Local Government Ombudsman has one member of press or public relations staff. Their salary is less than £50,000. They spent £500 printing their Annual Report.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Lingfield on 2016-01-27.
To ask Her Majesty’s Government what actions they are taking to ensure that local offers published under the statutory duty on local authorities in the Children and Families Act 2014 meet the two key purposes set out in Chapter 4 of the Special Educational Needs and Disability Code of Practice 2015.
Lord Nash
The Department is monitoring the implementation of the Special Educational Needs and Disability (SEND) reforms and securing a wide range of feedback. This feedback is collected through statutory data collection; regular surveys of local authorities, parents and carers; regular inputs for the Special Educational Consortium (which represents more than 30 organisations); and reports from contractors such as the Council for Disabled Children, which provides Independent Support services in all local authority areas, and Contact a Family, which runs a national helpline for parents of children with SEND.
The Department provides support to local areas in a range of ways, such as voluntary and community sector experts and a team of specialist SEND Advisers.
Local authorities must include information about Personal Budgets in their Local Offers, including information on how to request one. Parents and young people have the right to request a Personal Budget for elements of an Educational Health and Care (EHC) plan; local authorities are under a duty to prepare a budget when requested. Our termly surveys collect responses on the number of EHC plans which carry a Personal Budget.
Since April 2013, the Government has provided nearly £1.5 million in funding to a number of projects with voluntary sector organisations to develop materials to support local areas to introduce Personal Budgets. We regularly promote these projects in our communications to families and to organisations in the sector. For example, KIDS produced guidance in 2015, through the Making it Personal 2 project. The Department is currently funding KIDS to build on this project, to develop further guidance and training resources, including some specifically aimed at young people with SEND, in a range of accessible formats. The SEND Gateway, which is run by the National Association for Special Educational Needs, also offers practical resources on Personal Budgets to assist both users and professionals.
Through our regional support networks, we have funded a number of workshops aimed at local authorities, parents and others about Personal Budgets and we will continue to offer support for of this kind.
Following publication of the Children and Families Act 2014, the Government set out the statutory duties to which local authorities and those working with children and young people must adhere, in the SEND Code of Practice: 0-25 years[1]. The Code of Practice includes clear information on the processes of EHC plan assessment and production. The Department’s team of specialist SEND Advisers are working with local areas to improve the quality of EHC plans, and are currently leading workshops on this across England.
The SEND Code of Practice includes clear requirements that all local authorities must meet when developing, publishing and reviewing their Local Offer. All local areas have Local Offers in place, but we recognise that the quality varies. This is another area we are monitoring through our termly surveys, our voluntary and community sector experts and specialist SEND Advisers. We have provided regular advice to local areas about how to improve the quality of Local Offers. We are confident that local authorities are working with their partner bodies and with families and young people to continue to improve their Local Offers to ensure they respond to local needs.
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The below Parliamentary question was asked by Owen Smith on 2016-02-22.
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what amount of (a) 1993 and (b) 2003 Child Support Agency scheme arrears are currently being handled by the Child Maintenance Service; and to how many case groups those arrears relate.
Priti Patel
As at 31 December 2015 the total amount of 1993 and 2003 Child Support Agency scheme arrears held on the 2012 system and currently being handled by the Child Maintenance Service stood at £92.6 million.
Information on related case groups and break downs by scheme are not readily available and could only be provided at disproportionate cost.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Baroness Miller of Chilthorne Domer on 2016-03-16.
To ask Her Majesty’s Government what practical examples of agroforestry have been visited by the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs staff in England, and what assessment they have made of whether, in the light of the fact that Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland have recently included agroforestry options into their rural development schemes, doing so would be an effective measure for England.
Lord Gardiner of Kimble
Officials from Defra and Natural England have recently visited an example of agro-forestry near Peterborough funded in part from organic and agri-environment measures in Environmental Stewardship.
This was a very positive and valuable visit. Officials will be exploring the evidence base for agro-forestry and how this measure might operate in practice within the Rural Development Programme. However, the budget for Pillar 2 is finite and funding agro-forestry may have opportunity costs for other measures.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Kennedy of Southwark on 2016-04-26.
To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of emission tests undertaken by car manufacturers in the UK.
Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon
As part of the exhaust emissions approval process vehicle manufacturers are obliged to undertake in-use emissions testing. They are required to submit a report of their results at regular intervals or when requested to do so by the approval authority. In accordance with EU regulation 715/2007, the authority will review the information and accept or reject the report. The UK type approval authority is the Vehicle Certification Agency (VCA) and they ensure manufacturers follow this process where they are the issuing approval authority.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Adam Afriyie on 2016-06-07.
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what steps he is taking to support and spread awareness of cyber security insurance amongst businesses.
Mr Edward Vaizey
The Government is committed to making the UK one of the safest places in the world to do business online and we recognise the role cyber insurance can play as part of a broader risk management strategy.
In March 2015 the Government published a report on the joint initiatives between Government and the insurance sector to tackle cyber risk. The report is available here:https://www.gov.uk/government/news/cyber-security-insurance-new-steps-to-make-uk-world-centre
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