Tag: Parliamentary Question

  • Daniel Kawczynski – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    Daniel Kawczynski – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Daniel Kawczynski on 2016-03-10.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, if his Department will commission a cost-benefit analysis on the potential benefit of extending the M54 to Shrewsbury on Shrewsbury and the surrounding area.

    Andrew Jones

    Highways England’s forthcoming work on the next iteration of their Route Strategies is the means of assessing pressures and needs and generating proposals across the entire strategic road network, including the M54 and A5. The Route Strategies will inform the preparation of the next Road Investment Strategy. Any specific proposals that require investment will of course need to be underpinned by a strong and clear business case.

  • Royston Smith – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    Royston Smith – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Royston Smith on 2016-04-18.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether concessionary travel passes are available for drivers prevented from driving whilst their medical condition is being assessed.

    Andrew Jones

    The national disabled person’s concessionary travel pass is evidence based. Assessment of a person’s eligibility for a disabled person’s bus pass is conducted by local Travel Concession Authorities. Unless they deem the applicant to be automatically eligible, a pass will not be granted until evidence has been provided and where necessary an assessment has been completed. The Government issues guidance to assist them in doing this.

  • Charlotte Leslie – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Charlotte Leslie – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Charlotte Leslie on 2016-05-24.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what recent assessment his Department has made of the human rights situation in Camp Liberty, Iraq.

    Mr Tobias Ellwood

    We remain concerned about the residents of Camp Liberty. Our Embassy in Baghdad regularly raises this issue with the Government of Iraq and we support the United Nations’ calls for more to be done to protect residents. We are working with the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees to relocate all the residents to safe third countries.

    That being said, Monitors from the UN Assistance Mission for Iraq (UNAMI) regularly visit Camp Liberty and issue daily reports which provide an update on the situation there. Their assessment remains that the provision of life support systems such as water, electricity and food continue to be well in excess of basic humanitarian standards. They have reported that the relocation of protective bunkers and installation of additional protective concrete walls, to increase the security and safety of the residents, has been completed. Iraqi government officials have reported that diesel tankers and trucks containing food and other supplies continue to routinely enter the camp, that residents continue to be referred to hospitals and that the clinic remains in operation. Residents’ representatives have confirmed this to be accurate.

  • Chris Elmore – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    Chris Elmore – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Chris Elmore on 2016-07-12.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps he has taken to ensure consistency in the length of intervals between awards of personal independence payments.

    Penny Mordaunt

    The assessment for Personal Independence Payment (PIP) is designed to treat people as individuals, considering the impact of their impairment or health condition on their everyday life and how each claimant has personally adapted to living with a disability. The length of an award for PIP is based on the needs of the individual claimant and whether these are likely to change in the future, as a result, for example, of treatment or changes in their health condition.

    The Department monitors all aspects of the PIP application process including the performance of the assessment providers, Atos Healthcare and Capita. The reports of Health Professionals who carry out assessments are subject to quality audit, to ensure accurate advice on the best time to review a case based on a claimant’s individual circumstances.

    The PIP Assessment Guide for Health Professionals carrying out assessments includes guidance on how to determine the length of an award – Section 2.9 Prognosis (page 54) and 2.10 Review dates (page 56).

    This guidance can be accessed on the gov.uk website:

    https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/449043/pip-assessment-guide.pdf

    There is also guidance and information for DWP decision makers on how best to establish the length of an award.

    “

  • Steve McCabe – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Steve McCabe – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    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 44621, what information his Department holds on levels of investment from the public purse into mental health services in the community between 2010 and 2015; and what level of funding his Department has committed to investing in mental health services in the community until 2020.

    Nicola Blackwood

    Information on investment in community mental health services is not held centrally. Clinical commissioning groups (CCGs) are responsible for commissioning community mental health services for their local population. CCGs are required to increase their spending on mental health each year, at least in line with the growth in their overall funding allocations. From this year, NHS England’s financial reporting will be aligned to mental health priorities, increasing transparency and allowing resources to be tracked at CCG level.

  • Jim Shannon – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Jim Shannon – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Shannon on 2015-11-23.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what recent discussions he has had with his Pakistani counterpart on the reported abduction of girls for arranged marriages in that country.

    Mr Tobias Ellwood

    We are seriously concerned about reports of abduction of girls for forced marriage in Pakistan. It is the responsibility of the Government of Pakistan to ensure it guarantees the rights of all its citizens, regardless of their gender, faith or ethnicity. We raise the issues of women’s rights and religious freedom on a regular basis at a senior level with the authorities in Pakistan and press for greater protection of all citizens’ rights. The Girl Summit, hosted by the Prime Minister, my right hon. Friend the Member for Witney (Mr Cameron), in July 2014, included a commitment to end child, early and forced marriage.

  • Margaret Ritchie – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    Margaret Ritchie – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Margaret Ritchie on 2015-12-15.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, in what ways the proposed life chances measures in the amendments to the Child Poverty Act 2010 will measure child poverty in households with at least one employed adult.

    Priti Patel

    We are clear that the existing low-income measures do not drive the right action to tackle the root causes of child poverty.

    Our proposals in the Welfare Reform and Work Bill introduce new statutory measures of worklessness and educational attainment which the evidence indicates are the biggest factors affecting child poverty now and in the future.

    The Department will also continue to publish low-income statistics as part of the ‘Households Below Average Income’ publication.

  • Nicholas Brown – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    Nicholas Brown – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    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 steps she is taking to incentivise the use of hedges, field margins and ditches in farmed uplands in order to facilitate flood water retention.

    George Eustice

    The management of hedges, field margins and ditches is already incentivised in England (including the farmed uplands) by payments under agri-environment schemes, such as Environmental Stewardship. The new Countryside Stewardship scheme, launched last year, is targeted to include those areas that can provide joint benefits for biodiversity, water quality and natural flood management.

    The retention of hedgerows and field margins is also incentivised through Pillar 1 of the Common Agricultural Policy where they will be eligible as Environmental Focus Areas within the Greening requirements.

  • Baroness Hodgson of Abinger – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Baroness Hodgson of Abinger – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Baroness Hodgson of Abinger on 2016-02-22.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what steps they are taking to reduce waiting times for autism diagnosis.

    Lord Prior of Brampton

    The number of children, young people and adults diagnosed with autism by the National Health Service is not collected centrally. Latest figures from the School Census (2015) state that there were 90,775 pupils with an autistic spectrum disorder at state funded schools and non-maintained special schools in England. This has increased from a total of 56,250 in 2010 who were recorded as having a primary need of autism, but it is not directly comparable to the 2015 figures because of a change in collection methodology. Local authority areas provide information for Public Health England’s annual self-assessment exercise on implementing the Autism Strategy. This includes the number of adults receiving an autism diagnosis but because information is submitted on a voluntary basis a complete total for England is not available.

    The Department has discussed with NHS England the difficulties that people on the autistic spectrum can have in getting an appropriate diagnosis and support in a timely manner. NHS England has commenced a programme to visit clinical commissioning groups to identify and share good practice in accessing autism diagnosis, and look at possible barriers. The Department is funding the Association of Directors of Adult Social Services to support this work. NHS England will complete a report on this by the end of April 2016.

    The Department is also encouraging the autism third sector to work together and the four charity representatives on the Cross Government Autism Programme Board, which oversees the implementation of the Autism Strategy, gave presentations at the meeting on 18 February on work they are doing to increase public awareness. The charities are the National Autistic Society, the Autism Alliance UK, Autism Plus and Ambitious about Autism. The Autism Alliance UK is also being funded by the Department to undertake work with national and local organisations, to make reasonable adjustments to services and to train staff to be aware of what autism can mean to individuals who have the condition and their families.

    The Health and Social Care Information Centre’s publication Estimating the Prevalence of Autism Spectrum Conditions in Adults – Extending the 2007 Adult Psychiatric Morbidity Survey (APMS) gave the overall prevalence of autism in England as 1.1% (95% confidence interval 0.3% to 1.9%). Among adults with learning disabilities living in private households whose learning disability was sufficiently severe that they could not have taken part in the 2007 APMS, the prevalence of autism was 35.4% (95% confidence interval 24.7% to 46.2%). Among adults with mild or severe learning disabilities living in communal care establishments, the prevalence of autism was 31% (95% confidence interval 23.9% to 38%). Detailed supporting information regarding the underlying data and how figures have been derived is found within the detail of the report, a copy of which is attached.

    The APMS was repeated in 2014 and findings are scheduled to be published in September 2016.

  • Luke Hall – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    Luke Hall – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Luke Hall on 2016-03-10.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many patients in (a) Ashworth, (b) Broadmoor and (c) Rampton high security psychiatric hospitals received employment and support allowance between 2012 and 2015; and what the average weekly payment of that benefit was to such recipients.

    Justin Tomlinson

    The information requested is not readily available, and could only be provided at disproportionate cost.