Tag: Stephen Timms

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Stephen Timms on 2015-10-20.

To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what estimate he has made of how many families are likely to be more than (a) £1,000, (b) £2,000, (c) £3,000 and (d) £4,000 worse off in 2016-17 compared with 2015-16 due to proposed reductions in tax credit.

Harriett Baldwin

The Summer Budget offered a new deal for working people. It means Britain moving from a high welfare, high tax, low wage economy to a lower welfare, lower tax, higher wage society.

A new National Living Wage for workers aged 25 and above, initially set at £7.20 per hour from April 2016, will directly benefit 2.7 million low wage workers, and up to 6 million could see a pay rise as a result of a ripple effect up the earnings distribution. The new National Living Wage will boost pay for those currently earning the National Minimum Wage by £4,800 a year by 2020 when the National Living Wage is expected to rise to over £9 per hour.

To help working families keep more of what they earn, the personal allowance will increase to £11,000 in 2016-17 and £11,200 in 2017-18. The government has committed to increase the personal allowance to £12,500 by 2020 which will mean that a typical basic rate taxpayer will see their income tax cut by £1,205 a year compared to 2010.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Stephen Timms on 2015-10-26.

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what recent assessment he has made of the effectiveness of his Department’s policies on increasing access to public transport for disabled passengers.

Andrew Jones

We have made significant progress on increasing access. By the end of the year, we expect around 75% of rail journeys to start or end at a step-free station. That is an increase from around 50% when the Access for All programme started. That programme will deliver 151 step-free routes at stations this year. On the buses, only 57% met accessibility regulations in 2009-10. That number is now nearly 90% and rising.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Stephen Timms on 2015-10-20.

To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, for what reasons the introduction of proposed reductions in tax credits is not being phased in.

Harriett Baldwin

The Government wants to move from a low wage, high tax, high welfare economy to a higher wage, lower tax, lower welfare society. By 2017-18, 8 out of 10 working households will be better off as a result of the personal allowance, living wage and welfare changes in the Summer Budget.

The Tax Credit changes are being phased in in two stages. The taper, threshold and income disregard will change from April 2016. The changes to the Child Element and Family Element in Child Tax Credit will come into effect from April 2017.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Stephen Timms on 2015-10-20.

To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what guidance he has issued to public bodies on the provision of social and affordable housing within any developments on land such bodies have sold for residential development.

Brandon Lewis

The National Planning Policy Framework requires local authorities to plan to meet the market and affordable housing needs in their area. Local authorities are expected to work closely with key partners and their local communities in deciding what type of housing is needed and where housing development should take place. Irrespective of the landowner, planning permissions must be determined in accordance with the Local Plan, unless material considerations indicate otherwise. Central departments are committed to releasing surplus land they own to help meet local housing needs, with a goal of delivering 150,000 homes by 2020 and my Department will be playing a full part in this.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Stephen Timms on 2015-10-19.

To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what plans he has to increase enforcement rates for the national minimum wage.

Nick Boles

The Government is committed to cracking down on employers who break the National Minimum Wage (NMW) law. In 2014/15, HMRC conducted 2,204 investigations into potential NMW non-compliance, totalling £3,291,529 of arrears for 26,318 workers.

This is up from 1,455 investigations conducted in 2013/14, totalling £4,645,547

of arrears for 22,610 workers.

Building on our existing reforms, the Prime Minister announced on 1 September 2015 further measures to strengthen the enforcement of the NMW. These include:

• increasing penalties from 100% to 200% of the arrears employers owed.
• the setting up of a dedicated team in Her Majesty’s Revenue and Customs (HMRC) focused on tackling the most serious cases of wilful non-compliance.
• increasing the enforcement budget in preparation for the National Minimum and Living Wage from April 2016.
• the creation of a statutory Director of Labour Market Enforcement and Exploitation.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Stephen Timms on 2015-10-20.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what assessment he has made of the ability of homeless people to access mental health services; and if he will make a statement.

Alistair Burt

The Ministerial Working Group on Homelessness report Addressing complex needs – improving services for vulnerable people (2015) highlighted the strong link between homelessness and poor mental health, and the high rates of mental health problems and substance misuse among the homeless population. Homeless people often have multiple health needs and the report showed how vulnerable people can become trapped in a cycle of homelessness because of their overlapping and complex problems.

Fairer access to all health services – including for vulnerable groups like homeless people – is at the heart of the health inequalities duties in the Health and Social Care Act 2012.

Improving access to primary care services for homeless people and providing services in non-clinical environments can also help to enable homeless people to receive the services they need. This includes self-referral to Improving Access to Psychological Therapies, including Cognitive Behavioural Therapy, for the treatment of depression and anxiety disorders.

We are sponsoring schemes that help local areas address these complex mental and physical health needs faced by homeless people and improve service access. These include the £8 million Help for Single Homeless programme, which includes projects to prevent rough sleeping, and help homeless young people with mental health issues, as well as the Department’s Homeless Hospital Discharge Fund and Homelessness Change/Platform for Life programmes. Public Health England is working with local authorities to help them understand better the mental health needs of homeless people.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Stephen Timms on 2015-10-19.

To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment he has made of the effect of the slowing of the growth of the Chinese economy on growth in the UK.

Harriett Baldwin

The Treasury continuously monitors global economic developments, including those in China, and their impact on the UK as part of the normal process of policy development.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Stephen Timms on 2015-10-22.

To ask the Minister for Women and Equalities, what plans her Department has to close the gender pay gap.

Caroline Dinenage

The gender pay gap has fallen to its lowest ever level, and our ambition is to eliminate it within a generation. That is why we will require large employers to publish information on the differences between men and women’s’ pay and bonuses. Gender pay gap reporting will also be extended to the public sector. We will continue taking action to inspire girls and young women; modernise workplaces; and support older working women.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Stephen Timms on 2015-10-19.

To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what forecast he has made of whether the total stock of local authority homes will increase or decrease in the next five years.

Brandon Lewis

Whilst we have made no forecast of what the stock of council homes will be over the next 5 years, I do note that more council houses have been built since 2010 than were built in the entire 13 years of a Labour Government.