Tag: Rosie Cooper

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Rosie Cooper on 2016-07-21.

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, within what period for time a mandatory reconsideration must be completed for a personal independence payment application.

Penny Mordaunt

We introduced Mandatory Reconsideration to make the system as fair as possible for those going through it. It gives people the opportunity to present new evidence and to have their case looked at again.

The Department for Work and Pensions does not have a clearance time target for Mandatory Reconsiderations. Claimants have one calendar month from the date of their Personal Independence Payment (PIP) decision to request a Mandatory Reconsideration. Further information on Mandatory Reconsideration in PIP can be found at https://www.gov.uk/pip/appeals.

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The below Parliamentary question was asked by Rosie Cooper on 2015-11-02.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, for how many days Ms Patricia Hart worked on the Review of the NHS Hospitals Complaints Systems in 2013.

Ben Gummer

Professor Patricia Hart worked for 20.3 days on A Review of the NHS Hospitals Complaints System in 2013.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Rosie Cooper on 2016-01-13.

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether her Department has estimated the cost to the agricultural and horticultural industry in West Lancashire of flooding in December 2015.

George Eustice

In 2014 the value of agricultural and horticultural output for the north-west of England was £1.96 billion and gross value added (contribution to economy) was £0.82 billion. In 2013, there were 12,198 commercial agricultural holdings in the north west region. The total farmed area on these holdings was approximately 909,000 hectares and the agricultural labour force was made up of almost 32,000 people, 0.94% of the workforce in the region.

Within West Lancashire in 2013 there were 406 commercial agricultural holdings. The total farmed area on these holdings was approximately 23,000 hectares and the agricultural labour force was made up of almost 2,300 people.

Although farmers in West Lancashire are still uncovering the full extent of the damage caused by the recent flooding, we understand some arable producers have been badly affected. Under the Farm Recovery Fund these farmers will be able to receive funding towards the cost of restoring their agricultural land to the state it was in before it was flooded. Applications for this funding should be submitted by 1 April 2016.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Rosie Cooper on 2016-02-01.

To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what the current rate of men diagnosed with prostate cancer is and what the change in that rate over the last (a) five and (b) 10 years.

Mr Rob Wilson

The information requested falls within the responsibility of the UK Statistics Authority. I have asked the Authority to reply.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Rosie Cooper on 2016-03-16.

To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what assessment he has made of the effect of the devolution of skills policy to local authorities on the development of British Sign Language and sign language interpreting skills.

Nick Boles

The Department for Business Innovation and Skills supports British Sign Language (BSL), lip reading and managing hearing loss provision in England through the Adult Education Budget. Providers receive funding for this provision as they do for all other courses.

In the academic year 2018/19, subject to readiness conditions being met, we intend to devolve the Adult Education Budget to certain Combined Authorities which have signed devolution deals[1]. In such areas, subject to necessary Orders being passed by Parliament, functions relating to the Adult Education Budget will transfer to the Combined Authority. The Combined Authority will assume responsibility for commissioning adult education provision, including in relation to BSL and sign language as it judges appropriate to meet local needs. Some providers, including Specialist Designated Institutions, are currently funded nationally. Their post-devolution funding arrangements will be confirmed in the coming months.

Skills provision in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland is a devolved matter and the assessment and adequacy of BSL provision is the responsibility of the devolved administrations.

[1] To date, deals have been agreed with: Sheffield City Region; Liverpool City Region; West Midlands; North East; Tees Valley; Greater Manchester; Greater Lincolnshire; East Anglia; West of England

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Rosie Cooper on 2016-07-12.

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, if she will include provision in the planned Prisons and Courts Reform Bill to make the Prisons and Probation Ombudsman a statutory body.

Sir Oliver Heald

We are carefully considering options for future legislation on prisons, including the role of the current Prisons and Probation Ombudsman, and will announce proposals in due course.

Previous governments have made unsuccessful attempts to secure a statutory status for the Ombudsman. We are confident that the Ombudsman has been able to operate effectively with full functional independence without statutory status but note the arguments for statutory footing to strengthen their current position.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Rosie Cooper on 2016-07-21.

To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, whether electricity companies are required to provide financial compensation to business customers who are affected financially by delays in connection to the electricity network.

Jesse Norman

Electricity network companies are required, under specified circumstances, to make a payment to business customers where agreed connection dates are missed. For distribution connections these arrangements are covered by the Guaranteed Standards of Performance.[1] For transmission connections any payment to the customer for late delivery of a connection would be set out in the customer’s bilateral connection agreement.

[1] http://www.legislation.gov.uk/uksi/2015/698/contents/made

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The below Parliamentary question was asked by Rosie Cooper on 2015-11-04.

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether her Department plans to take steps to ensure that water and sewerage charges for schools reflect actual costs incurred by the water company.

Rory Stewart

The amount that water and sewerage companies can charge their customers is subject to a cap set by Ofwat, the independent economic regulator. Ofwat has statutory duties to ensure that customer charges are fair and that the companies are able to finance the essential services they provide.

Working within Ofwat’s regulatory framework, water companies have choices to make about how they apportion costs for the different services they provide across different groups of customers. All water and sewerage companies have to remove and treat the rainwater that drains into public sewers, so a surface water drainage charge is included in all customers’ bills. Some companies average these costs across all their customers, while others charge their non-household customers according to the amount of water that drains from their property into the sewer. This is known as site area charging; its aim is to ensure that charges reflect the actual costs associated with providing a drainage service to that customer.

This approach to charging results in reductions to the bills of some customers. However, it can increase the bills of some organisations, such as schools, that manage larger sites. The Government is aware of concerns about the impact of surface water drainage charges on schools in the North West. In light of this we will be reviewing our Guidance to Water and Sewerage Undertakers in relation to Concessionary Schemes for Community Groups for Surface Water Drainage Charges.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Rosie Cooper on 2016-01-20.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what guidance her Department provides to police forces on how to deal with a situation in which an emergency 999 call is erroneously directed to the wrong police force; and what procedures police forces have put in place to deal with such a situation.

Mr Edward Vaizey

I have been asked to reply on behalf of the Department for Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS).

The 999/112 Liaison Committee, chaired by DCMS, provides a forum for representatives from Government; Communications Providers, including BT (which provides the 999 call handling agency) and Mobile Network Operators (MNOs); emergency services and Ofcom, to discuss 999 operational matters The LC’s main concern is the effective handling and transfer of emergency calls from the public, through call handling agents ,to emergency authorities.

The “Code of Practice for the Public Emergency Call Service (PECS) between Communications Providers, Call Handing Agencies and the Emergency Authorities” sets out protocols governing 999 calls. This includes guidelines for the Emergency Authorities to manage any occasional situation in which an emergency 999 call is misdirected.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Rosie Cooper on 2016-02-01.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what assessment he has made of the potential cost to the NHS of introducing a national prostate cancer screening programme.

Jane Ellison

The UK National Screening Committee (UK NSC) recently examined and consulted upon the international peer reviewed evidence regarding prostate cancer screening. The UK NSC recommended against a systematic population screening programme for prostate cancer. This is because the prostate-specific antigen (PSA) is not an accurate enough test for prostate cancer. Additionally, the UK NSC identified that there is still an incomplete understanding of which prostate cancers are aggressive and require treatment and which are safe to actively monitor. There is a significant amount of research activity underway, but currently the evidence suggests that a systematic screening programme would do more harm than good.