Tag: Steve McCabe

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Steve McCabe on 2015-10-19.

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what (a) guidelines and (b) recommended timescales exist for processing last-minute Access to Work extra support requests.

Justin Tomlinson

The Access to Work guidance and policy for fast track application requests is that applications are identified and marked as urgent then allocated to an advisory team on the same day. This includes the Access to Work adviser making contact with the customer on the same day to ensure that their request is progressed as far as possible to the point of decision on the level of support if possible.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Steve McCabe on 2015-10-19.

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many complaints his Department has received about the assessment assistance offered by CAPITA.

Justin Tomlinson

Complaints about the assessment service offered by Capita are processed by Capita and not the Department for Work and Pensions.

Capita has received a total of 1,288 complaints for 2015 in relation to their contractual delivery of the Personal Independence Payment Assessment process. This represents 1% of their total assessment referral volume.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Steve McCabe on 2015-10-15.

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether her Department plans to change its policy on free school meal provision for infant school pupils.

Mr Sam Gyimah

The continuation of universal infant free school meals (UIFSM) was a commitment in the Conservative Party’s election manifesto. The government is currently conducting a Spending Review across all its programmes.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Steve McCabe on 2015-10-15.

To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what assessment his Department has made of the report Comparing Motor-Vehicle Crash Risk of EU and US Vehicles, published in May 2015; and what the implications of that report are for the TTIP negotiations.

Anna Soubry

More closely aligning the regulations for the EU and US through the EU-US Free Trade Agreement could lead to an increase in UK automotive exports to the US by up to 25%. EU and US regulators, including representatives from the UK, are assessing the report as part of the broader analysis to identify which regulations have similar overall outcomes on safety. Negotiators will seek to agree areas for mutual recognition, without compromising EU safety standards.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Steve McCabe on 2015-10-20.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what steps he is taking to ensure that NHS hospital trusts are not placed in special measures.

Ben Gummer

The Care Quality Commission’s (CQC) rigorous inspection regime means that the full picture of services at a particular provider is known and published, and if required, the provider knows what it must do to improve.

Importantly, if the Chief Inspector finds serious failures in quality of care and where there are concerns that existing leadership cannot make the necessary improvements without support, he can recommend that the trust be placed into Special Measures.

Poor care should not be tolerated and Special Measures ensures trusts receive a tailored package of support to enable them to improve.

The CQC uses a risk-assessment approach to inform the order in which providers are inspected. This means where there are concerns about a particular provider they are inspected as a priority, allowing action to be taken earlier.

Early intervention is important and these inspections allow the CQC to get a much more detailed picture in hospitals. If the Chief Inspector concludes that the care needs to improve, he can recommend Monitor and the NHS Trust Development Authority take action.

The NHS Trust Development Authority and Monitor oversee, manage performance and, in Monitor’s case for foundation trusts, regulate hospital trusts. Both organisations have a number of options at their disposal to support trusts if they have concerns about their performance before they reach the stage where Special Measures may be required.

In establishing NHS Improvement, we are bringing these two organisations together meaning all NHS providers will be able to access the same support and be subject to the same types of intervention. NHS Improvement will foster, nurture and share best practice. It will help to drive and support both urgent operational improvement at the frontline and the long term sustainability of the healthcare system.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Steve McCabe on 2015-10-20.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, whether his Department has made an assessment of the desirability of including ulcerative colitis and Crohn’s disease on the long-term prescription list.

George Freeman

We have not made an assessment of the desirability of including ulcerative colitis and Crohn’s disease on the list of medical exemptions which provide exemption from prescription charges.

Other exemption arrangements are in place, in England, based on age and income, to support those who cannot afford to pay for their prescriptions. Additionally, for those who need multiple prescriptions and do not qualify for exemption, Prescription Prepayment Certificates (PPC) can be purchased, which allow someone to claim as many prescriptions as needed. A 12 month PPC costs £104 and benefits anyone who needs 13 or more prescriptions a year.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Steve McCabe on 2015-10-26.

To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, pursuant to the Answer of 20 October 2015 to Question 12065, which EU and US regulators and which representatives from the UK are assessing the Comparing Motor-Vehicle Crash Risk of EU and US Vehicles report; and whether that assessment will take account of the report’s finding that there is 33 per cent greater risk in front-end collisions of US vehicles compared to EU vehicles.

Anna Soubry

The report is being assessed by the European Commission’s Directorate General for GROWTH, and the US regulator National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA).

The report will help inform negotiations, but is the first side-by-side comparison of predicted risk for EU-regulated and US-regulated vehicles. It recommends further work to replicate results, identify patterns, and establish links between results, design and regulatory differences.

The European Commission has commissioned its own research into vehicle safety and has published the findings so far on its website. Negotiators will look to use all of the evidence available to ensure we capture the trade benefits without compromising EU safety standards.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Steve McCabe on 2015-10-09.

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, if she will introduce legislative proposals to amend existing fly tipping offences to make it possible to attribute group responsibility or culpability to ensure local authorities can take enforcement action when illegal encampments fly tip on public land.

Rory Stewart

Tackling fly-tipping is a priority for the Government. Our manifesto sets out our plans to give councils the power to issue fixed penalty notices for small-scale fly-tipping, as well as reviewing the existing fixed penalty notices for littering.

These steps will build on other action we have taken, including working with the Sentencing Council to strengthen its Guideline for sentencing for environmental offences, which came into force on 1 July last year; making it easier for vehicles suspected of being involved in waste crime to be stopped, searched and seized; and continuing working in partnership with others through the Defra-chaired National Fly-Tipping Prevention Group to promote and disseminate good practice in the prevention, reporting, investigation and clearance of fly-tipped waste.

Local Authorities already have enforcement powers to prosecute individuals who transport and dispose of waste illegally. There are no plans to amend fly-tipping offences to attribute group responsibility or culpability.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Steve McCabe on 2015-10-14.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what priority is being given to abandoned and orphaned children in the selection of Syrian refugees likely to be offered a new home in the UK.

Richard Harrington

The Syrian VPR is based on need. It prioritises those who cannot be supported effectively in their region of origin. We work closely with the UNHCR to identify cases that they deem in need of resettlement and we will continue this work to ensure we deliver our commitment to provide refuge to 20,000 Syrians.

The UNHCR identifies people in need of resettlement based on the following criteria: women and girls at risk; survivors of violence and/or torture; refugees with legal and/or physical protection needs; refugees with medical needs or disabilities; children and adolescents at risk; persons at risk due to their sexual orientation or gender identity; and refugees with family links in resettlement countries.

We are not expecting the refugees arriving in the first months of the scheme to include unaccompanied children.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Steve McCabe on 2015-10-14.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, when she expects the first Syrian refugees rescued from camps in the Middle East to arrive in the UK.

Richard Harrington

The Government will expand the existing Syrian Vulnerable Person Scheme and intends to resettle 20,000 Syrians in need of protection during this Parliament.

We can confirm that additional numbers of people have arrived as we expand the scheme following the Prime Minister’s announcement. However, we will not be giving a running commentary on numbers.