Tag: Steve McCabe

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Steve McCabe on 2016-09-15.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what assessment he has made of the effectiveness of NHS England in achieving high quality community care for all.

David Mowat

Patients rightly expect the highest quality of care from all health and care services they access.

The Care Quality Commission registers and inspects community care providers and community trusts to ensure that they follow a set of fundamental standards of safety and quality below which care should never fall.

The trends in patient satisfaction for community services are tracked and reported monthly through the Friends and Family Test (FFT). The FFT is an important tool that gives patients the opportunity to provide feedback on their experience and helps the National Health Service to drive improvement in the services it provides.

The latest FFT Results from July 2016 showed that 95% of respondents would recommend the services they have used in community services settings.

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

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, pursuant to the Answer of 12 September 2016 to Question 44396, what the overall cost to the public purse of administering the NHS Low Income Scheme in England has been in each of the last three years.

David Mowat

The direct costs of administering the NHS Low Income Scheme in England in the last three financial years are set out in the table. The figures do not include overheads associated with the wider infrastructure of the NHS Business Services Authority.

Year	Direct costs (England only) (£ million)
2015/16	£1,327
2014/15	£1,397
2013/14	£1,414

Source: provided by the NHS Business Services Authority

There is no apparent reason for the decrease in the numbers of HC3 certificates issued between 2008 and 2016. There has been no significant change to the scheme criteria nor the rules for calculation during this period. However, as the application numbers have decreased, there has been a corresponding decrease in the certificates issued.

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

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what evidence her Department holds on the effect of the creation of police and crime commissioners on police accountability.

Brandon Lewis

Around 9 million total votes were cast by the public for their Police and Crime Commissioner (PCC) at the most recent national elections in May – this is in stark contrast to the invisible, unelected and unaccountable Police Authorities they replaced.

Previously, only seven per cent of the public knew to go to their police authority if they had a problem with policing in their local area. According to the independent Crime Survey for England and Wales, 59% of the public are aware of PCCs.

The Home Affairs Select Committee report ‘Police and Crime Commissioners: here to stay’ recognised that the “introduction of PCCs has worked well to date and has had some beneficial effect on public accountability and clarity of leadership in policing.

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

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, to what forms of hostel accommodation he plans to apply 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 all those living in supported accommodation 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 2016-10-19.

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what his Department’s proposed deadline is for closing the 1993 and 2003 Child Support Agency IT system.

Caroline Nokes

The closure of existing child maintenance cases on the 1993 and 2003 schemes is proceeding as planned. The timetable for the closure of the underlying 1993 and 2003 child support IT systems is currently under consideration.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Steve McCabe on 2015-12-08.

To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what legal and regulatory obligations apply to members of the public identified by banks as Politically Exposed Persons; and what information his Department holds on how such people are identified by banks.

Harriett Baldwin

At present, only foreign Politically Exposed Persons (PEPs) are subject to the Money Laundering Regulations (2007). The Fourth Anti-Money Laundering Directive, which will be transposed into national law by June 2017, requires enhanced customer due diligence (EDD) measures to also be extended to domestic PEPs. We intend to interpret the Directive in a way that continues to allow banks to apply a “risk-based approach” to both the identification and application of EDD measures. This involves treating UK PEPs on the basis of risk when undertaking due diligence measures. We intend to set out this view in our consultation on transposition of the Directive which will be published in early 2016.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Steve McCabe on 2016-01-26.

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, if he will make an assessment of the effect of changes in local authority funding announced in the Autumn Statement and Spending Review 2015 on road safety strategies in local authorities.

Andrew Jones

Local authorities are responsible for road safety on the local road network.

They are required by statute to promote road safety which will involve undertaking collision/casualty data analysis and to devise programmes, including engineering and road user education, training and publicity that will improve road safety.

It is up to individual authorities to determine how they meet their “statutory duty”.

Following the 2015 Spending Review the Government will continue to provide funding through the Integrated Transport block for local highway authorities to support small-scale initiatives, including road safety schemes. This funding is not ring-fenced and gives local authorities the freedom to develop and implement solutions which best suit their localities. Funding for local safety schemes is also available through both the Local Growth Fund and the Government’s Cycle City Ambition Grants.

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

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what changes his Department plans to pharmacy funding; and what assessment his Department has made of the effect of those changes on small independent businesses.

Alistair Burt

Community pharmacy is a vital part of the National Health Service and can play an even greater role. In the Spending Review the Government re-affirmed the need for the NHS to deliver £22 billion in efficiency savings by 2020/21 as set out in the NHS’s own plan, the Five Year Forward View. Community pharmacy is a core part of NHS primary care and has an important contribution to make as the NHS rises to these challenges. The Government believes efficiencies can be made without compromising the quality of services including public access to medicines. Our aim is to ensure that those community pharmacies upon which people depend continue to thrive and so we are consulting on the introduction of a Pharmacy Access Scheme, which will provide more NHS funds to certain pharmacies compared to others, considering factors such as location and the health needs of the local population.

Our proposals are about improving services for patients and the public and securing efficiencies and savings. A consequence may be the closure of some pharmacies but that is not our aim.

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 former CSA clients whose liability ended as part of the Department’s CSA case closure process arrears have been sent a notice setting out the validated child maintenance arrears balance on their former CSA case in each month since 1 April 2015.

Priti Patel

The table below shows the number of Arrears letters sent to the Parents with Care (PWC) as part of the case closure process.

Month	Apr-2015	May-2015	Jun-2015	Jul-2015	Aug-2015	Sep-2015	Oct-2015	Nov-2015	Dec-2015
Number of Arrears Letters sent to PWC	6,580	15,930	7,530	7,330	16,220	17,370	19,330	19,380	13,010

Notes

1. Figures rounded to the nearest 10

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

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many people were prosecuted for using a mobile telephone while driving in each year since 2010; and how many such people were subject to the maximum fine.

Dominic Raab

The number of people proceeded against and the maximum fine issued for using or causing to use a mobile phone whilst driving can be viewed on the Ministry of Justice website at the following link: https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/criminal-justice-system-statistics-quarterly-december-2014