Tag: Roger Godsiff

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Roger Godsiff on 2015-10-09.

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, pursuant to the Answer of 14 September 2015 to Question 9725, with reference to his Department’s response to the Disability Benefits Consortium report on PIP Assessment Providers, published 4 April 2015, what steps his Department has taken to assess the usefulness of audio recordings as part of the employment and support allowance assessment process.

Priti Patel

A pilot of the audio recording of face-to-face Work Capability Assessments was undertaken in 2011 to “determine whether such an approach is helpful for claimants and improves the quality of assessments”. The pilot showed recording did not improve the quality of assessments. Less than half those taking part thought it would be helpful to them and only a handful requested a copy.

However, despite very low requests for audio recordings, we are continuing to make this service available to those Employment and Support Allowance claimants who request it.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Roger Godsiff on 2015-02-20.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment she has made of the UK’s capacity to provide further resettlement opportunities to Syrian refugees whose individual medical or humanitarian needs cannot be met in refugee camps in Syria’s neighbouring countries.

James Brokenshire

With millions of people in need in Syria and the region, the Government believes that substantial humanitarian aid and actively seeking to end the conflict are the most effective ways for the UK to help the largest number of displaced people, rather than larger scale resettlement. We have now pledged £800 million in response to the crisis, and UK funding is providing vital support to hundreds of thousands of people across the region.

However, we recognise that there are some very vulnerable displaced Syrians who cannot be supported effectively in the region. We therefore launched the Syrian Vulnerable Persons Relocation (VPR) scheme to complement our aid by providing protection in the UK to some of those at greatest risk. The scheme is based on need rather than fulfilling a quota, but we have said we expect it to help several hundred people over three years, and we remain firmly on track to achieve that. Groups of Syrians are arriving in the UK on a regular basis under the scheme, including people in severe need of medical care, survivors of torture and violence and women and children at risk.

The Government liaises regularly with the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) regarding the operation of the VPR scheme. We continue to work closely with the UNHCR to identify some of the most vulnerable people displaced by the conflict and bring them to the UK.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Roger Godsiff on 2015-10-09.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what support or respite care is available to full-time carers who wish to work part-time in addition to their caring responsibilities.

Alistair Burt

Under the Care Act 2014, local authorities have a responsibility to support carers in a number of ways. Local authorities will be required to undertake carers’ assessments, based on the appearance of a need for support. An assessment must establish the impact of caring on the carer, and the outcomes they wish to achieve, including engaging in work, education, training or recreation. For the first time, local authorities have a duty to meet carers’ eligible needs for support: this may include access to training to support them in their caring role or support to maintain employment where this is a desired outcome.

Through the Care Act 2014 local authorities are required to provide information and advice and universal preventative services for carers. Local authorities can also support the person in understanding other types of support available to them for example to seek to promote access to appropriate employment, education or training, which can be an effective way of maintaining independence.

In May 2014, NHS England published an action plan NHS England’s Commitment to Carers, which includes a series of commitments around 8 priorities, among which are raising the profile of carers. The Department of Health has also made available additional funding of £400 million to the National Health Service between 2011 and 2015 to enable carers to take a break from their caring responsibilities to sustain them in their caring role. The carers’ breaks funding of £130 million for 2015 – 16 will also be in the Better Care Fund.

In February 2015 the Government launched a joint Department of Health, Government Equality Office and Department for Work and Pensions investment of £1.6 million in pilots in nine local authority areas to explore ways in which people can be supported to combine work and care.

We also fund the Carers Direct service which includes web-based information and advice for all carers through NHS Choices, as well as a telephone helpline service through which carers can be signposted to information. Carers Direct includes training materials that build on the Caring with Confidence programme – a time-limited national programme funded by the Department of Health to support the development of carer training, which closed in September 2010.

On July 2015 my Rt. hon. Friend the Secretary of State (Mr Jeremy Hunt) announced that the Government will develop a new carers’ strategy that looks at the best of international practice and examines what more we can do to support existing carers and new carers. This will include consideration how best to support carers to maintain employment and of the training requirements of carers and whether current measures are fully meeting these.

Specifically regarding carers of people with dementia, the Department of Health contributed to the funding of the Alzheimer’s Society’s ‘Dementia Guide’, designed to help guide people with dementia and their carers through their journey with dementia. The Guide provides useful information for carers, following a diagnosis of dementia, and includes advice to help people understand a diagnosis of dementia to enable them to live well with the condition.

With Department of Health funding, the Royal College of General Practitioners has developed a Dementia Roadmap that can be accessed by families and carers. It is a web based platform that provides high quality information about the dementia journey alongside local information about services, support groups and care pathways, primarily to assist primary care staff to more effectively support people with dementia, their families and carers.

The Department is supporting the Dementia Action Alliance’s Carers Call to Action and the establishment of a Life Story Network for family carers of people with dementia. The Department provided funding of £30,000 to the Life Story Network during 2014/15 to support the establishment of a new involvement network for family carers of people with dementia, which is being established as part of the legacy of the Dementia Action Alliance’s Carers Call to Action.

NHS England’s 2015/16 Dementia Enhanced Service encourages GP practices to increase the health and wellbeing support offered to carers of patients diagnosed with dementia.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Roger Godsiff on 2014-06-25.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what guidance her Department issues to companies which carry out the required checks on individuals applying for spouse visas on the appropriate amount of time for those checks to be completed.

Karen Bradley

The Department does not contract with any companies to carry out checks on
people applying for spouse visas.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Roger Godsiff on 2015-02-20.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what the total value of contracts her Department has with private sector providers was in each of the last five years for which records are available.

Karen Bradley

Details of contracts above the value of £10,000 awarded to private sector
providers are published on the Contracts Finder website,
www.contractsfinder.businesslink.gov.uk .

The total value of contracts the Home Office has with private sector providers
in each of the years for which records are available is as follows:

Financial Year Aggregated Spend against contracts with private sector providers

2009/10 Data Not Available
2010/11 £2.45 billion
2011/12 £2.40 billion
2012/13 £2.13 billion
2013/14 £1.99 billion

The aggregated spend data provided shows a reduction in private
sector contract spend of £460 million since 2010-11.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Roger Godsiff on 2015-10-09.

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what estimate his Department has made of the number of carers who depend on carer’s allowance as their only or primary source of income; and what assessment his Department has made of whether that allowance benefit is set at a high enough level to keep the income of carers above the poverty line.

Justin Tomlinson

The information requested is not available. Such data is not collected. It is the circumstances of the claimant themselves, including their earnings, that may affect the Carer’s Allowance award. But any other income that may come into the household does not affect the claim, so we do not record whether Carer’s Allowance is the only or primary source of income.

This Government recognises and appreciates the vital contribution made by carers. The primary purpose of Carer’s Allowance is to provide a measure of financial support and recognition for people who give up the opportunity of full-time employment in order to provide regular and substantial care for a severely disabled person.

In addition to Carer’s Allowance, carers on low incomes can claim income-related benefits, such as Income Support and Pension Credit. Income-related benefits help ensure that people can afford to meet their normal daily living needs. These benefits include a carer premium, currently £34.60 a week. Universal Credit also includes a carer element at the rate of £150.39 per monthly assessment period. This means that those on lower incomes can be better off if they have caring responsibilities than others who receive these benefits.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Roger Godsiff on 2014-06-25.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what monitoring her Department carries out on the amount of time taken by its contractor companies to carry out the required checks on people applying for spouse visas to the UK.

Karen Bradley

The Department does not contract with any companies to carry out checks on
people applying for spouse visas.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Roger Godsiff on 2015-02-20.

To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what the total value of contracts her Department has with private sector providers was in each of the last five years for which records are available.

Mr Desmond Swayne

We do not hold information in the form requested.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Roger Godsiff on 2014-06-24.

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what penalties would be incurred by a free school, academy or other educational establishment which was found to be teaching or otherwise supporting creationism.

Mr Edward Timpson

State-funded schools, including free schools and academies, should not teach creationism as an evidence-based scientific theory. Outside of science lessons, it is permissible for schools to cover creationism as part of religious education lessons, providing that this does not undermine the teaching of established scientific theory. Academies and free schools are required to teach a broad and balanced curriculum and the model funding agreement now prohibits the teaching of creationism as an evidence-based theory. Independent schools must comply with the independent school standards, and are subject to inspections by Ofsted or an alternative inspectorate.

All state-funded schools are subject to Ofsted inspections and a range of intervention powers are in place if required. In addition, any breach of academy or free school funding agreements in relation to creationism would be swiftly dealt with by the Department for Education and could result in the termination of the funding agreement.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Roger Godsiff on 2015-02-20.

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many prison officers have been dismissed (a) in total and (b) through lack of capacity following an employment tribunal hearing in the last three years for which data is available.

Andrew Selous

The total number of officers, bands 3-5, dismissed from the public sector prison service in England and Wales, can be found in the table below, broken down into the categories of dismissal used within the National Offender Management Service. Lack of capacity is not one of these categories.

Table: Headcount of Band 3 to 5 Officers Dismissed from the Public Sector Prison Service in England & Wales, 2011/12 to 2013/14

Reason	2011/12	2012/12	2013/14
Breach of Contract	~	~	~
Conduct	80	80	70
Medical Inefficiency	170	160	170
Poor Performance	~	~	~
Unsatisfactory Attendance	10	10	~
Grand Total	260	260	250

Figures are rounded to the nearest 10 in line with the department’s policy for presenting staffing data.

~ denotes suppressed values of 5 or fewer. Low numbers are suppressed in conjunction with the rounding policy to prevent disclosure in accordance with Data Protection Act, 1998.