The below Parliamentary question was asked by Tom Pursglove on 2016-04-22.
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many personal independence payment assessment appointments were cancelled by Capita in (a) Corby, (b) East Northamptonshire and (c) the UK in the last year; and for what reasons such appointments were cancelled.
Justin Tomlinson
The information requested is not readily available and to provide it would incur disproportionate cost.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Tom Pursglove on 2016-10-18.
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what support his Department provides for communities in which Post Offices require relocation.
Margot James
The provision and location of Post Offices is the operational responsibility of Post Office Limited.
Any proposal by Post Office Limited to relocate a post office within a community includes a six week local consultation conducted by the Post Office to let the community know what is happening and seek feedback from interested customers and stakeholders within the community. The Post Office carefully considers all feedback received during the consultation process before making a final decision on whether to relocate.
The Government recognises the importance of post offices to communities and will have invested £2 billion in the Post Office during the period 2010 to 2018 to maintain the network and invest in transformation of the business which includes money to help relocate post offices to more sustainable locations in their communities. This investment has led to the highest level of network stability in decades.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Tom Pursglove on 2015-10-28.
To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, how many civil servants in her Department are members of trades unions; how much working hours facility time is claimed by each such civil servant; and what the cost of that facility time is to her Department.
Mr Desmond Swayne
Information on trade union membership is held by individual trade unions. The Cabinet Office publishes data relating to Civil Service facility time on a quarterly basis. The latest data is Quarter 4, 2014 at and is available at https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/trade-union-facility-time.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Tom Pursglove on 2016-02-01.
To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, how much East Northamptonshire Council received under the New Homes Bonus in each year since 2010.
Brandon Lewis
The New Homes Bonus was introduced in 2011. To date the total New Homes Bonus payments allocated to East Northamptonshire District Council is £2,626,043. The annual breakdown is shown in the table below:
|
Year 1 |
£355,008 |
||
|
Year 2 |
£ 551,047 |
||
|
Year 3 |
£ 311,916 |
||
|
Year 4 |
£306,847 |
||
|
Year 5 |
£492,452 |
||
|
Year 6 |
£608,774 |
||
|
Total |
£2,626,043 |
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Tom Pursglove on 2016-05-03.
To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland, what assessment he has made of the potential effect of the recently announced steel support package on the steel industry in Scotland.
Anna Soubry
On 28th April, ownership of Tata’s mills in Dalzell and Clydebridge passed to Liberty. The package announced on 21st April is to support a sale of the remaining Tata sites. However, the Scottish plant will benefit from our wider action to help the steel industry, including compensating energy costs.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Tom Pursglove on 2015-10-28.
To ask the Leader of the House, how many civil servants in his Office are members of trades unions; how much working hours facility time is claimed by each such civil servant; and what the cost of that facility time is to his Office.
Chris Grayling
I refer the hon. Member to the answer given to him by the Minister for the Cabinet Office, my right hon. Friend the Member for West Suffolk (Matt Hancock) on 4 November 2015, to Question UIN 13734.
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The below Parliamentary question was asked by Tom Pursglove on 2016-02-11.
To ask the Secretary of State for Wales, what assessment he has made of the future of the steel industry in Wales.
Stephen Crabb
My thoughts are with the workers and communities affected by the perfect storm currently facing the UK steel industry. We are doing everything we can to put the industry onto a sustainable footing and provide a level playing field.
Earlier this month, my Rt Hon Friend the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills and I visited Tata at Port Talbot to meet with management and the unions, as part of our continued engagement with the industry.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Tom Pursglove on 2016-05-18.
To ask the Prime Minister, how many of the leaflets entitled Why the Government believes that voting to remain in the European Union is the best decision for the UK, have been returned to (a) 10 Downing Street and (b) other Government departments; and what the postage cost to the Government has been of such returns.
Mr David Cameron
This information is not held centrally.
The statement made by Tom Pursglove, the Minister for Disabled People, in the House of Commons on 15 December 2022.
Today, I will place in the Library of the House a copy of the UK’s 2022 follow-up report to the UN Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, following the 2016 inquiry.
This Government are committed to eliminating barriers faced by disabled people, in order to realise their full participation and inclusion in society. The follow-up report demonstrates how we are implementing the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities and showcases positive action taking place across the UK to support disabled people.
The UK Government have implemented numerous policies and programmes to tackle the barriers faced by disabled people relevant to the articles examined by the inquiry, as highlighted in our latest report to the UN Committee for the Rights of Persons with Disabilities.
We have seen 1.3 million more disabled people in work than in 2017—delivering a Government commitment five years early. We are investing £1.3 billion over three years in employment support for disabled people and people with health conditions.
The Government are providing households with cost of living support totalling over £37 billion this year. This includes a £650 cost of living payment for people on means-tested benefits. In addition to this, six million eligible disabled people have received a one-off, disability cost of living payment of £150 to help with additional costs.
We are reforming social care support to improve disabled people’s access to care services and ensure integrated health and care support. Increased funding for adult social care will also ensure a fairer cost of care for both carers and patients. Improvements in the accessibility of homes and transport are helping disabled people to live independently and have a better standard of living.
We supported the passage of the British Sign Language (BSL) Act (2022) which recognises BSL as a language of England, Wales and Scotland in its own right. A BSL advisory board is being established to guide implementation of the Act from the perspective of people who use BSL.
Recognising the need for wider societal change across all industries, our 19 disability and access ambassadors are using their expertise and influence in business to help drive and support changes in access for disabled consumers and employees.
Alongside this, we recognise the importance of co-ordinated action across Government, reflecting the full range of services and opportunities that deliver full participation. Our ministerial disability champions have been supporting and driving forward work on disability in their respective departments.
We continue to engage with disabled people and stake-holders through disabled people’s organisations, networks and relevant organisations. This is to ensure that lived experience underpins regular and co-ordinated action across Government. We remain committed to improving the lives of disabled people and making our society a more inclusive and accessible place for all disabled people.
The statement made by Tom Pursglove, the Minister for Disabled People, in the House of Commons on 15 December 2022.
Today the Department will publish the latest update on progress on making backdated payments to personal independence payment claimants who are affected by the MH and RJ decisions of the Upper Tribunal (UT). The release will be published at: https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/pip-administrative-exercise-progress-on-cases-cleared.
The MH decision changed how overwhelming psychological distress is considered when assessing someone’s ability to plan and follow a journey. The RJ decision changed how we decide whether someone can carry out an activity safely and if they need supervision.
As at the end of November 2022, we have reviewed around 990,000 cases against the MH decision. This includes cases where claimants have previously been assessed as having “overwhelming psychological distress” or who have a “psychiatric disorder” as one of their health conditions. We have also reviewed around 1,100,000 cases against the RJ decision. This includes cases where claimants have a “neurological disease” as one of their health conditions. All reviews will have been carried out by a case manager within the Department.
Around 8,400 arrears payments, totalling around £44 million, have been made. No one should have seen their PIP reduced because of this exercise.
In addition, we will continue to review any case for any claimant who asks us to.
This has been a complex and substantial exercise, involving over 2,090,000 reviews against two UT decisions. Our approach demonstrates that we have prioritised claimants who are most likely to benefit, to make backdated payments as quickly as possible.
We have set out further background to this release in an updated “Frequently Asked Questions”. I will deposit a copy of this document and the statistical release in the Library of the House.