Tag: Rebecca Long-Bailey

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Rebecca Long Bailey on 2016-07-21.

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what guidance is provided to jobcentre advisers on imposing sanctions on benefit claimants with diabetes.

Damian Hinds

There is no specific guidance available to Jobcentre Plus staff on imposing sanctions on benefit claimants with diabetes. There is guidance available to Jobcentre Plus staff on the application of sanctions imposed by a Decision Maker if a claimant fails to fulfil all of their responsibilities as a claimant.

When Decision Makers make their decisions they do so using guidance for decision makers taking into account all the claimants individual circumstances including health conditions. These circumstances determine whether or not a claimant should be sanctioned.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Rebecca Long Bailey on 2015-11-23.

To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what steps he has taken to ensure that the Alcohol Wholesaler Registration Scheme is introduced and now planned on 1 January 2016.

Damian Hinds

The Government remains committed to introducing the Alcohol Wholesaler Registration Scheme (AWRS) from 1 January 2016. Since 1 October 2015, HMRC has invited a number of businesses to test the registration service that will be released, including some whose applications are now lodged with HMRC and are ready to be considered when registration activity formally begins.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Rebecca Long Bailey on 2015-12-02.

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what management fee was paid to each local authority in Greater Manchester for housing tenants in receipt of housing benefit in temporary accommodation in the last financial year for which information is available.

Justin Tomlinson

The information requested is not available.

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 Rebecca Long Bailey on 2016-01-07.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what funding his Department provides for vulnerable adult transport.

Alistair Burt

The issue of transport for vulnerable people is spread across Government, including the Department for Work and Pensions, the Department for Transport, the Department for Communities and Local Government and the Ministry of Defence.

The funding for transport for vulnerable people in the Department of Health’s policy remit is provided by local authorities and clinical commissioning groups, who do not break down spend in this way. The Department of Health does not independently collect data on how much is spent on vulnerable adult transport.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Rebecca Long Bailey on 2016-02-25.

To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, pursuant to the Answer of 5 January 2016 to Question 20332, if he will place in the Library all case studies his Department undertook for the purpose of establishing the effect of reducing the income rise disregard for tax credits.

Damian Hinds

As announced in the combined Autumn Statement and Spending Review, the amount by which a tax credit claimant’s income can increase within the year before their tax credit award is adjusted (the income rise disregard), will be reduced from £5,000 to £2,500. The reduction to the income rise disregard will stop one family receiving a higher tax credit award over another family with precisely the same income and the same circumstances, which makes the system fairer. The household income of families before it rises will inform how they might be effected by a reduction in the income rise disregard.

The only people who will be affected are those who will see an income increase of more than £2,500 in-year.

Due to the way that tax credits are calculated, the amount an award will be adjusted by – because of an increase in income – will depend upon a claimant’s individual circumstances, such as the household’s income before it rises. No one will be a cash loser because their income will have increased. As an example, for an individual with a wage of £12,000, an income increase of £2,501 would lead to an adjustment in their tax credit award of just 41 pence. An increase of less than £2,500 would see no change at all.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Rebecca Long Bailey on 2016-03-22.

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, with reference to paragraph 1.293 of Budget 2016, which areas of criminal justice services he plans to devolve to Greater Manchester; which bodies will assume overall governance of such services; what legal framework he plans to put in place for the governance of service providers; and how such (a) governing bodies and (b) service providers will be funded.

Mike Penning

In the Budget, the Government announced that it will work with Greater Manchester to strengthen its role in commissioning joined up criminal justice services and in developing flexible local services.

No services or budgets have been devolved. The Government is considering options in conjunction with Manchester.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Rebecca Long Bailey on 2016-04-19.

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether a standard precedent lease will be issued to all schools planned to be converted to an academy under her Department’s recent proposals; what the proposed standard length is of such leases; whether a market rent will be charged; whether the tenant will be responsible for (a) internal and (b) structural maintenance; whether formal consent will be required from her Department before any underlettings or assignments; and whether the local authority will be (i) noted on the lease and (ii) holding an interest right on the property.

Edward Timpson

Under the proposals outlined in our White Paper, Education Excellence Everywhere, it is our intention that academies would occupy land transferred to the Secretary of State under the terms of a standard lease. We are currently working to improve and simplify our current model lease.

The Secretary of State has a clear policy position that publicly funded education land should transfer at no cost to the public, so our intention is to replicate the existing arrangement of 125 year peppercorn leases. A tenant would in the vast majority of cases be responsible for all maintenance and repair of a site, as is the case with our current lease.

Academies already require the consent of the Secretary of State to dispose of or change the use of any publicly funded land and this is going to remain the case. We are still working with local authorities on how best to implement these measures, including discussions on how we best consider and recognise local needs and interests.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Rebecca Long Bailey on 2016-05-10.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps she is taking to protect Rwandans residing in the UK from assassination.

Mr John Hayes

It is long established Home Office policy not to comment upon matters of personal protective security.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Rebecca Long Bailey on 2016-06-06.

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, when his Department first knew of the possible psychotic side effects of Lariam form of mefloquine.

Mark Lancaster

A review of archived policy documents indicates that the Ministry of Defence was aware of these possible side effects from at least 1997 onwards.

It should be noted that all anti-malarial drugs can cause adverse reactions in some individuals. It is therefore Defence policy that they should only be prescribed after an individual risk assessment, to ensure an individual can tolerate the medication. Should side effects be experienced, these are to be reported immediately to a medical officer or GP, who may stop the drug and prescribe an alternative if necessary.