Tag: Steve McCabe

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Steve McCabe on 2016-10-07.

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what plans he has to exempt sheltered housing tenants from the housing benefit cap.

Caroline Nokes

The Secretary of State announced in a Written Ministerial Statement on 15 September 2016 that we would be deferring the application of Local Housing Allowance Rates in the social sector for supported housing which includes sheltered housing until 2019/20.

At this point we will bring in a new funding model which will ensure that the sector continues to be funded at current levels, taking into account the effect of Government policy on social sector rents.

The Secretary of State also announced that a formal consultation would be published shortly.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Steve McCabe on 2016-10-17.

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what recent representations his Department has made to the government of Sri Lanka on the persecution of Tamil people in that country; and if he will call for an international investigation into that persecution.

Alok Sharma

​The Sri Lankan government has taken a number of positive steps to improve the human rights situation in that country, but we recognise that there remains much to be done. In our statement to the UN Human Rights Council (UNHRC) in June we set out the areas we felt were important for Sri Lanka to focus on. These included further land returns in the north of the island, the repealing of the Prevention of Terrorism Act, the devolution of political authority through constitutional reform and the creation of credible justice mechanisms. I most recently raised Tamil issues with Sri Lanka’s Foreign Minister in September. We will continue to work with the UN, Sri Lanka and our other international partners to ensure full implementation of UNHRC resolution 30/1, co-sponsored by the UK in October 2015, while recognising the scale of the challenge this represents and allowing time for credible, well thought out transitional justice mechanisms to be developed and implemented.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Steve McCabe on 2015-11-30.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, for what reasons Dr Nahida Al Arja and four of her colleagues were denied permission to enter the UK to attend a recent academic conference on trauma.

James Brokenshire

In order to safeguard an individual’s personal information and comply with the Data Protection Act 1998 the Home Office is limited in what information it can provide when the request is made by someone who is not the applicant. The Home Office is therefore unable to provide the information requested.

All applications are considered on their individual merits and in line with the Immigration Rules.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Steve McCabe on 2016-01-27.

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many people took part in the Access to Work programme in each year from 2010 to 2013.

Justin Tomlinson

The number of people helped by Access to Work in each year from 2010 to 2013 is published in the Access to Work Official Statistics which can be found at the following link:

https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/access-to-work-statistics-on-recipients–2

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The below Parliamentary question was asked by Steve McCabe on 2016-02-11.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what plans his Department has to review plans to introduce a click and collect service as a result of P2U service failings over the 2015 Christmas period.

Alistair Burt

All pharmacies should have a business continuity plan in place which covers not being able to provide a full or any service.

NHS England, in conjunction with the General Pharmaceutical Council, worked urgently with Pharmacy 2 U once it became apparent that this pharmacy was failing to deliver its normal service over the Christmas period. They ensured that Pharmacy 2 U instigated several actions in addition to the business continuity plan that the pharmacy already had in place. The ability to ensure that, where necessary or as requested by the patient, prescriptions were diverted to another pharmacy of the patient’s choice was made significantly easier by the fact that the majority of the prescriptions dispensed by Pharmacy 2 U are sent to them via the Electronic Prescription Service.

Patient safety was the number one priority at the immediate time. Pharmacy 2 U resumed its normal service, as publicised, on 11 January 2016, and there now continues to be a review of the events that led to this situation to ensure that the review of community pharmacy in England is fully informed and national lessons can be learnt from this unexpected and unfortunate event.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Steve McCabe on 2016-02-19.

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, pursuant to the Answer of 29 January 2016 to Question 24142, how many closed CSA cases with child maintenance arrears have been referred for arrears cleansing or validation in each month since 1 April 2015.

Priti Patel

The table below shows the number of cases referred for arrears cleansing in each month since April 2015.

Month	Apr-2015	May-2015	Jun-2015	Jul-2015	Aug-2015	Sep-2015	Oct-2015	Nov-2015	Dec-2015
Number of cases referred for arrears cleansing	32,640	33,740	27,320	33,450	33,450	31,890	33,600	7,630	21,660

Notes:

1. Figures rounded to nearest 10.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Steve McCabe on 2016-03-03.

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, when the Government plans to conclude its consultation on changes to the fixed penalty notice and penalty points for the use of a hand-held mobile telephone whilst driving.

Andrew Jones

The public consultation closes on 15 March 2016.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Steve McCabe on 2016-03-18.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, whether his Department’s estimate of the number of people who have been affected by HIV or hepatitis C through treatment with NHS-supplied blood or blood products has changed since the publication of Impact Assessment No. 3140 on 21 January 2015.

Jane Ellison

The figures provided in Impact Assessment No. 3140 have not been updated since publication on 21 January 2016.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Steve McCabe on 2016-04-08.

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, pursuant to the Answer of 29 January 2016 to Question 23980, on employment plans: mental illness, whether he plans to introduce new measures of support for people with mental health problems before the end of the three year period of voluntary trials.

Justin Tomlinson

The 2015 Spending Review announced at least £130 million a year in steady state funding on the new Work and Health Programme, which we plan to launch in 2017. With this new programme we plan to restructure our current provision to focus on providing the best possible support for claimants with health conditions or disabilities, including those with mental health conditions.

In addition, the Prime Minister has already announced plans to significantly improve the support that helps people with mental ill health retain or regain employment:

• Over £300 million will be provided to double access to talking therapies for people suffering from conditions like anxiety or depression.

• £50 million will be spent to double the reach of Individual Placement and Support Programmes, which find work for people with mental illness.

• over £50 million is being invested to more than double the number of IAPT (Improving Access to Psychological Therapies) employment advisors, so that they are linked in to every talking therapy service in the country.

• 29,000 more people with mental health conditions will be helped to find or stay in work thanks to increased access to these therapies.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Steve McCabe on 2016-03-24.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, pursuant to the Answer of 15 March 2016 to Question 30649, when she plans to publish the outcomes of the review of the process of dealing with family reunion applications.

Mike Penning

Following consultation with partners, we are currently in the process of finalising revised guidance on dealing with family reunion applications. We intend to publish updated guidance in April 2016.