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Tag: Parliamentary Question

  • Cathy Jamieson – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    Cathy Jamieson – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Cathy Jamieson on 2014-06-04.

    To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, if he will commission an assessment of the amount of investment in small and medium-sized enterprises from peer-to-peer lending and crowdfunding platforms.

    Andrea Leadsom

    Crowdfunding and peer to peer lending are innovative new forms of finance that support competition in the business lending sector. The Government has taken a number of steps to support their growth.

    The Government has no current plans to commission an assessment of the amount of investment in small and medium-sized enterprises from peer to peer lending and crowdfunding platforms.

  • Cathy Jamieson – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    Cathy Jamieson – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Cathy Jamieson on 2014-06-04.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, if he will review his Department’s policy on issuing travel warrants to rural residents for (a) fortnightly signing-on and (b) other interviews and advisory meetings to take account of the need for such residents to travel further than average to jobcentres.

    Esther McVey

    Jobcentre Plus has flexibility to meet the particular needs of claimants living in rural areas.

    For example postal signing can be offered and claimants attending interviews on days outside their normal day of attendance can have their travelling expenses reimbursed.

    Work Coaches are also able to use the Flexible Support Fund and issue Travel Discount Cards to help claimants with travel expenses.

  • Robert Flello – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Robert Flello – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Robert Flello on 2014-06-04.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, whether officials from the British Embassy will observe the trial of Huber Ballesteros in Colombia.

    Mr Hugo Swire

    The UK cannot interfere in Colombia’s judicial process but will continue to raise any concerns regarding due process and conditions with the Colombian authorities.

    The Embassy is currently awaiting authorisation from the Municipal Criminal Court to visit Huber Ballesteros in prison.

    To date, the British Embassy has not yet been authorised to visit Huber Ballesteros in prison, this is despite requesting permission on six different occasions.

    No representatives of the British Embassy were able to attend the preliminary hearings in the case of Huber Ballesteros due to unrelated security concerns. His trial will take place on 26 and 27 of June and the British Embassy intends to send Officials to observe this.

  • Steve McCabe – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    Steve McCabe – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Steve McCabe on 2014-06-04.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what the evidential basis was for the decision to change the Access to Work scheme in regards to deaf people having to employ a full-time salaried support worker.

    Mike Penning

    The Access to Work programme has not been changed in this way. No customers are required to employ a full-time support worker, their employers and support providers and we are not prescriptive on this.

  • John Robertson – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    John Robertson – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by John Robertson on 2014-06-04.

    To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what issues the HM Revenue and Customs’ Scrutiny Committee has addressed since its establishment in 2013.

    Mr David Gauke

    The remit of the Scrutiny Committee is to advise the Board and Principal Accounting Officer on issues referred by the Board for in-depth review, challenge or assurance. Since its establishment in 2013, the Committee has reviewed the departmental security strategy as well as the department’s complaints handling processes.

  • Richard Harrington – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Richard Harrington – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Richard Harrington on 2014-06-04.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what steps he is taking to improve support for carers.

    Norman Lamb

    Carers are central to the Government’s reform of social care and support, with significant improvements in the Care Act which extends carers rights to an assessment which will be based on the appearance of a need for support. For the first time, local authorities will be required to meet carers’ eligible needs for support.

    We have provided £400 million to the National Health Service over four years from 2011 for carers to have breaks from their caring responsibilities. For 2015-16, the carers’ breaks funding will be in the Better Care Fund.

    We have also provided more than £2 million in recent years to the professional bodies such as the Royal College of General Practitioners, the Royal College of Nursing, Carers UK and the Carers Trust to develop initiatives to raise early awareness of carers among healthcare professionals and to help identify and support carers. We have committed more than £1 million in 2014–15 to enable these organisations to build on this work and to develop new initiatives.

    We set out our vision for transforming primary care in Transforming Primary Care: Safe, proactive, personalised care for those who need it most. It recognises the importance of involving and supporting carers and sets out a clear expectation for general practitioners to identify carers as a matter of course.

    Carers are also central to the work that NHS England is leading to improve the quality of life of people with long term conditions. Their action plan, NHS England’s Commitment to Carers includes a series of commitments around eight priorities, including raising the profile of carers.

  • Gareth Thomas – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    Gareth Thomas – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Gareth Thomas on 2014-06-04.

    To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what representations he has received about the publication of personal and business lending data by postcode; and if he will make a statement.

    Andrea Leadsom

    In July 2013 the Government announced that it had reached an agreement with the major UK banks to publish lending data across 10,000 individual postcodes.

    The first dataset was published in December 2013 and shows the outstanding stock of lending that has been committed to customers across three categories; loans and overdrafts to SMEs, mortgages and unsecured personal loans (excluding credit cards).

    The data will allow challenger banks, smaller building societies, credit unions and community development finance institutions (CDFIs) to find areas where there is a lack of lending so they can offer finance to those customers who are crying out for support to help their business grow.

  • David Hanson – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    David Hanson – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by David Hanson on 2014-06-04.

    To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many passport applications processed by the Passport Office between 1 January and 31 May 2014 which missed the three week target for processing.

    James Brokenshire

    Table A sets out the requested information in respect of how many telephone
    calls were received during the requested periods.

    Table B shows income received in fees for premium and fast track services.

    Table C provides information on the number of full time equivalent staff
    employed by HM passport Office on 31 December for each of the years from 2010 –
    2013.

    Table D sets out the number of first time passport applications and the number
    of passport renewals received during each month between January 2013 and May
    2014.

    In the period between 1 January and 31 May 2014, 31,188 straightforward
    passport applications processed by Her Majesty’s Passport Office were not
    processed within the 3-week target.

  • Michael McCann – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    Michael McCann – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Michael McCann on 2014-06-04.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many cases funded by legal aid against his Department where public interest lawyers have represented clients were won by his Department in each of the last 10 years.

    Anna Soubry

    It is not possible to give a definitive answer to this question, since in a number of cases where there were multiple issues before it, the Court found for the claimant on some issues and for the defendant on others.

  • Jim Shannon – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    Jim Shannon – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Shannon on 2014-06-04.

    To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, if he will take steps to encourage insurance companies to set travel insurance premiums for the elderly based on their state of health rather than their age.

    Andrea Leadsom

    Insurers take into account a range of different factors when considering risk and decisions concerning the pricing of insurance products are a commercial matter for individual insurers. The Government does not seek to intervene in these decisions.

    The insurance industry recognises that older people can face difficulties finding appropriate travel insurance and in 2012 signed an agreement, endorsed by the Government, to re-direct older customers to an alternative insurer or to a specialist insurance broker where they cannot provide insurance themselves.