Tag: Stephen Timms

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Stephen Timms on 2016-09-15.

To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what steps she is taking to monitor compliance by betting shops with the gambling minimum age.

Tracey Crouch

The protection of children from being harmed or exploited by gambling is one of the core objectives of the Gambling Act 2005.

For high street betting, this means those under the age of 18 are prohibited from entering or gambling within a betting premises. The Gambling Commission, responsible for compliance on this issue, strengthened the requirements on betting operators to monitor the effectiveness of these age verification controls in May 2015.

The number of individuals challenged upon entry to a betting sector premises but unable to prove their age was 475,646 between Oct 2014- Sep 2015. This is across a total of 9000 betting shops and is a decrease of 8.2% or 42,598 incidents compared to the previous reporting period of Apr 2014 – Mar 2015; continuing a 3-year decline. The number of individuals challenged having gambled but unable to prove their age also fell, by 14%, to 23,619 from 27,445 in the same time period.

Where there is a failure to prevent underage gambling, regulatory and/or criminal action is taken.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Stephen Timms on 2016-10-13.

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what role Ofqual has in the setting of the requirements for special needs access to examinations specified by the Joint Council for Qualifications.

Nick Gibb

This is a matter for Ofqual, the Office of Qualifications and Examinations Regulation. I have therefore asked its Chief Regulator, Sally Collier, to write directly to the Honourable Member. A copy of her reply will be placed in the House of Commons Library.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Stephen Timms on 2015-10-29.

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what the duration will be of the pilot project placing jobcentre advisers in food banks.

Priti Patel

Jobcentre Work Coaches undertake outreach work every day in local communities, and have recently been helping people with back-to-work support and advice at the Lalley Centre in Manchester. Early feedback has been very positive. We will reflect on this and see if there is potential for extending engagement where there is local need and Jobcentre Plus are invited to do so.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Stephen Timms on 2015-10-30.

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, for what reason the universal credit programme was subject to Project Assessment Reviews instead of Gateway Reviews.

Priti Patel

The Department is following the procedures for the assurance and support of major projects outlined in ‘HM Treasury the Major Project approval and assurance guidance’ introduced from April 2011. More details can be found in the link below.

https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/179763/major_projects_approvals_assurance_guidance.PDF.pdf

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The below Parliamentary question was asked by Stephen Timms on 2015-11-09.

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what assessment he has made of the effect of an increase in the universal credit taper rate on (a) work incentives and (b) progression incentives.

Priti Patel

The impact on work incentives of the 65% taper was set out in the 2012 Universal Credit (UC) Impact Assessment (see link below).

https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/220177/universal-credit-wr2011-ia.pdf

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The below Parliamentary question was asked by Stephen Timms on 2015-11-18.

To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what the rate is of (a) unemployment and (b) employment among people living in the UK who (i) were born in Lithuania and (ii) are Lithuanian nationals.

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 Stephen Timms on 2015-12-01.

To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what assessment he has made of the effectiveness of the regulations introduced in April 2015 which ended unsupervised stakes above £50 on Fixed Odds Betting Terminals in betting shops.

Tracey Crouch

The Government, along with the Gambling Commission, is in the process of evaluating the effects of ending unsupervised stakes over £50 and we will publish the results in due course

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Stephen Timms on 2015-12-02.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether adult children will be included in the vulnerable persons relocation scheme along with their younger siblings and parents.

Richard Harrington

We work closely with the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) to identify cases that they deem in need of resettlement according to agreed vulnerability criteria for the Syrian Resettlement Scheme. This can include families where adult children form part of the family unit where the UNHCR deem resettlement is appropriate for the entire family group.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Stephen Timms on 2015-12-07.

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, whether he intends to respond to the report of the Children’s Commissioner, Protecting children from harm, published in November 2015.

Caroline Dinenage

I refer my Honourable Friend to the response of the Secretary of State for Education to this question.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Stephen Timms on 2015-12-17.

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many claimants have been provided with advance payments of universal credit in each of the last 12 months.

Priti Patel

The information requested is not currently available.

The range of statistics published for Universal Credit has increased as quality assurance has been carried out. This process will continue on a wider range of breakdowns and Departmental statisticians anticipate being able to start releasing these, in accordance with the relevant protocols in the Code of Practice for Official Statistics, during 2016.