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1138827

	registered interest
	date	15/07/2019
	answering body	Department for Education
	answering dept id	60
	answering dept short name	Education
	answering dept sort name	Education
	hansard heading	Universities: Sexual Harassment
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what plans he has to ensure that the sexual harassment policies of universities are fit for purpose.
	tabling member constituency	Coventry South
	tabling member printed	Mr Jim Cunningham
	uin	277109
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 18/07/2019 answer text <p>There is no place in our society, including within higher education (HE), for any form of sexual harassment or violence. HE providers have clear responsibilities, including under the Equality Act (2010), and should have robust policies and procedures in place to comply with the law to investigate and swiftly address reports of sexual misconduct.</p><p>All students should be able to thrive in HE, free from barriers to both their academic and personal development. The government expects providers to address barriers preventing students from having a positive experience, and to ensure they have appropriate support in place.</p><p>The government is working closely with Universities UK (UUK) and the Office for Students to support work to address sexual harassment in HE, including implementing the recommendations of the UUK Taskforce on sexual violence and harassment, published in 2016.</p><p>Since these recommendations were published, further guidance has been published on sexual misconduct in HE. This includes the Pinsent Masons guidelines on how to handle student misconduct which may constitute a criminal offence, and separate briefings from the Office for the Independent Adjudicator for Higher Education on handling disciplinary procedures relating to sexual misconduct.</p><p>HE providers are autonomous institutions who have a duty of care to students, which includes all aspects of safeguarding and wellbeing. This is taken very seriously by providers. Providers will make decisions based on the needs of their student body, for example including support services for students facing issues relating to sexual violence and harassment. The UUK Taskforce clearly set out the need for providers to have clear care pathways and make it clear where students should be referred to within the university to access appropriate support.</p> answering member constituency Kingswood answering member printed Chris Skidmore grouped question UIN 277110 277111 question first answered 18/07/2019 13:13:34 answering member 4021 label Biography information for Chris Skidmore
	tabling member	308 label Biography information for Mr Jim Cunningham

1138847

	registered interest
	date	15/07/2019
	answering body	Department for Education
	answering dept id	60
	answering dept short name	Education
	answering dept sort name	Education
	hansard heading	Universities: Sexual Harassment
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment he has made of the effect of sexual harassment at universities on the prospects of the victims of that harassment.
	tabling member constituency	Coventry South
	tabling member printed	Mr Jim Cunningham
	uin	277110
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 18/07/2019 answer text <p>There is no place in our society, including within higher education (HE), for any form of sexual harassment or violence. HE providers have clear responsibilities, including under the Equality Act (2010), and should have robust policies and procedures in place to comply with the law to investigate and swiftly address reports of sexual misconduct.</p><p>All students should be able to thrive in HE, free from barriers to both their academic and personal development. The government expects providers to address barriers preventing students from having a positive experience, and to ensure they have appropriate support in place.</p><p>The government is working closely with Universities UK (UUK) and the Office for Students to support work to address sexual harassment in HE, including implementing the recommendations of the UUK Taskforce on sexual violence and harassment, published in 2016.</p><p>Since these recommendations were published, further guidance has been published on sexual misconduct in HE. This includes the Pinsent Masons guidelines on how to handle student misconduct which may constitute a criminal offence, and separate briefings from the Office for the Independent Adjudicator for Higher Education on handling disciplinary procedures relating to sexual misconduct.</p><p>HE providers are autonomous institutions who have a duty of care to students, which includes all aspects of safeguarding and wellbeing. This is taken very seriously by providers. Providers will make decisions based on the needs of their student body, for example including support services for students facing issues relating to sexual violence and harassment. The UUK Taskforce clearly set out the need for providers to have clear care pathways and make it clear where students should be referred to within the university to access appropriate support.</p> answering member constituency Kingswood answering member printed Chris Skidmore grouped question UIN 277109 277111 question first answered 18/07/2019 13:13:34 answering member 4021 label Biography information for Chris Skidmore
	tabling member	308 label Biography information for Mr Jim Cunningham

1138848

	registered interest
	date	15/07/2019
	answering body	Department for Education
	answering dept id	60
	answering dept short name	Education
	answering dept sort name	Education
	hansard heading	Universities: Sexual Harassment
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment he has made of the adequacy of support provided to victims of sexual assault at universities.
	tabling member constituency	Coventry South
	tabling member printed	Mr Jim Cunningham
	uin	277111
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 18/07/2019 answer text <p>There is no place in our society, including within higher education (HE), for any form of sexual harassment or violence. HE providers have clear responsibilities, including under the Equality Act (2010), and should have robust policies and procedures in place to comply with the law to investigate and swiftly address reports of sexual misconduct.</p><p>All students should be able to thrive in HE, free from barriers to both their academic and personal development. The government expects providers to address barriers preventing students from having a positive experience, and to ensure they have appropriate support in place.</p><p>The government is working closely with Universities UK (UUK) and the Office for Students to support work to address sexual harassment in HE, including implementing the recommendations of the UUK Taskforce on sexual violence and harassment, published in 2016.</p><p>Since these recommendations were published, further guidance has been published on sexual misconduct in HE. This includes the Pinsent Masons guidelines on how to handle student misconduct which may constitute a criminal offence, and separate briefings from the Office for the Independent Adjudicator for Higher Education on handling disciplinary procedures relating to sexual misconduct.</p><p>HE providers are autonomous institutions who have a duty of care to students, which includes all aspects of safeguarding and wellbeing. This is taken very seriously by providers. Providers will make decisions based on the needs of their student body, for example including support services for students facing issues relating to sexual violence and harassment. The UUK Taskforce clearly set out the need for providers to have clear care pathways and make it clear where students should be referred to within the university to access appropriate support.</p> answering member constituency Kingswood answering member printed Chris Skidmore grouped question UIN 277109 277110 question first answered 18/07/2019 13:13:34 answering member 4021 label Biography information for Chris Skidmore
	tabling member	308 label Biography information for Mr Jim Cunningham

1138614

	registered interest
	date	12/07/2019
	answering body	Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
	answering dept id	13
	answering dept short name	Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
	answering dept sort name	Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
	hansard heading	Bottles: Deposit Return Schemes
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment he has made of the potential merits of a return scheme for plastic bottles of all sizes for the economy.
	tabling member constituency	Coventry South
	tabling member printed	Mr Jim Cunningham
	uin	276508
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 17/07/2019 answer text <p>We are currently analysing the responses and evidence submitted to the consultation on introducing a deposit return scheme in England, Wales and Northern Ireland.</p><p> </p> answering member constituency Suffolk Coastal answering member printed Dr Thérèse Coffey question first answered 17/07/2019 15:42:55 answering member 4098 label Biography information for Dr Thérèse Coffey
	tabling member	308 label Biography information for Mr Jim Cunningham

1138673

	registered interest
	date	12/07/2019
	answering body	Ministry of Justice
	answering dept id	54
	answering dept short name	Justice
	answering dept sort name	Justice
	hansard heading	Legal Aid Scheme
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what estimate he has made of the number of not-for-profit legal aid providers that have closed in each year for the last 10 years; and if he will make a statement.
	tabling member constituency	Coventry South
	tabling member printed	Mr Jim Cunningham
	uin	276509
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 17/07/2019 answer text <table><tbody><tr><td><p>The LAA does not hold data on Not For Profit (NfP) organisation closures, only whether they hold a contract to deliver legal aid services. Under the LAA’s contracting regime, an organisation may be contracted to deliver services from one or multiple offices. Contracts may be ended by either party; providers may choose to withdraw from the whole contract, an office or a category of law or the LAA may take action should a provider breach its contract obligations. All contracted providers make their own commercial decisions and withdrawal from a legal aid contract may not be as a result of a closure. For example, NfPs may withdraw from a legal aid contract but continue to operate reliant on other funding, or may choose to consolidate offices but continue to deliver larger volumes of work across a wider area. The table below shows the number of NfP providers (at office level) holding a legal aid contract in any given year. While NfP organisations play a role in helping people access justice, they are not the sole means. We have 1,439 organisations delivering legal aid contracts across the England and Wales – 1,356 of which are with legal firms rather than the not-for-profit sector which includes law centres. We spent £1.6 billion on legal aid last year and in addition to the Civil Legal Advice Telephone service, we are investing £5m in innovative technologies to help people access legal support wherever they are. <table><tbody><tr><td colspan="11"><p>Financial Year</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>2010/11</p></td><td><p>2011/12</p></td><td><p>2012/13</p></td><td><p>2013/14</p></td><td><p>2014/15</p></td><td><p>2015/16</p></td><td><p>2016/17</p></td><td><p>2017/18</p></td><td><p>2018/19</p></td><td><p>2019 September</p></td><td><p>2019/20</p></td></tr><tr><td><p><strong>596</strong></p></td><td><p><strong>495</strong></p></td><td><p><strong>456</strong></p></td><td><p><strong>395</strong></p></td><td><p><strong>397</strong></p></td><td><p><strong>320</strong></p></td><td><p><strong>311</strong></p></td><td><p><strong>295</strong></p></td><td><p><strong>285</strong></p></td><td><p><strong>233</strong></p></td><td><p><strong>213</strong></p></td></tr></tbody></table></p></td></tr></tbody></table> answering member constituency Blackpool North and Cleveleys answering member printed Paul Maynard question first answered 17/07/2019 15:50:20 answering member 3926 label Biography information for Paul Maynard
	tabling member	308 label Biography information for Mr Jim Cunningham

1138693

	registered interest
	date	12/07/2019
	answering body	Department for Work and Pensions
	answering dept id	29
	answering dept short name	Work and Pensions
	answering dept sort name	Work and Pensions
	hansard heading	Universal Credit: Fraud
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what recent steps he is taking to tackle universal credit fraud.
	tabling member constituency	Coventry South
	tabling member printed	Mr Jim Cunningham
	uin	276511
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 17/07/2019 answer text <p>The Department takes its obligation to prevent, detect and investigate fraud very seriously and will investigate all claims where fraud may have been committed. We have recently set up a dedicated team to investigate a specific type of emergent fraud, and we are also committed to the use of penalties such as prosecutions and tough financial penalties to discourage fraudulent behaviour.</p><p> </p><p>The Department has also recently been working to further improve knowledge and awareness of Universal Credit (UC) fraud amongst Jobcentre and Service Centre staff. Guidance has also been issued to ensure that all staff are aware how to quickly refer cases of suspected fraud to the Department’s Counter-fraud team.</p><p> </p><p>Most welfare losses, across Government, arise from claimants failing to report changes of circumstances. UC provides a single, digital interface through which claimants can more easily report these changes. UC also allows us to adjust benefit entitlement in line with changing circumstances in real time. Internal and external data matches are increasingly helping to inform benefit payments and alerting staff to check for any undeclared changes in people’s circumstances. Once UC is fully rolled out, we expect cross-welfare losses to fraud, error and overpayments to be reduced by around £1 billion per year</p><p> </p><p>As of June 2019, potential fraudulent advance claims equate to less than 1 per cent of all Universal Credit claims.</p> answering member constituency Reading West answering member printed Alok Sharma question first answered 17/07/2019 12:58:00 answering member 4014 label Biography information for Sir Alok Sharma
	tabling member	308 label Biography information for Mr Jim Cunningham

1138694

	registered interest
	date	12/07/2019
	answering body	Department for Work and Pensions
	answering dept id	29
	answering dept short name	Work and Pensions
	answering dept sort name	Work and Pensions
	hansard heading	Universal Credit: Proof of Identity
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps he is taking to ensure accurate verification of universal credit claimants who request an advance.
	tabling member constituency	Coventry South
	tabling member printed	Mr Jim Cunningham
	uin	276512
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 17/07/2019 answer text <p>As of June 2019, potential fraudulent advance claims equate to less than 1 per cent of all Universal Credit claims.</p><p> </p><p>The Department has been working to improve knowledge and awareness of advances fraud amongst Jobcentre and Service Centre staff. Guidance has also been issued to ensure that staff are aware how to refer cases of suspected fraud to the Department’s Counter-fraud team.</p><p> </p><p>We are developing our service iteratively and improving any areas in the service that may currently be presenting issues, to minimise the risk of fraud while ensuring that we can continue to provide financial support to those claimants who need it.</p><p>We cannot share advance detail of the specific security improvements we are making but this includes improving our process for verifying a claimant’s circumstances.</p> answering member constituency Reading West answering member printed Alok Sharma question first answered 17/07/2019 12:46:01 answering member 4014 label Biography information for Sir Alok Sharma
	tabling member	308 label Biography information for Mr Jim Cunningham

1138699

	registered interest
	date	12/07/2019
	answering body	Department for Work and Pensions
	answering dept id	29
	answering dept short name	Work and Pensions
	answering dept sort name	Work and Pensions
	hansard heading	Universal Credit: Fraud
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps her Department is taking to support victims of universal credit scams.
	tabling member constituency	Coventry South
	tabling member printed	Mr Jim Cunningham
	uin	276513
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 17/07/2019 answer text <p>The Department takes benefit fraud very seriously and is committed to taking appropriate action when it is detected.</p><p> </p><p>If a claimant has been the victim of fraud, and has not benefitted financially in any way, they will not be asked to repay the money. The Department considers all cases on their individual merits and decisions are made on the strength of the evidence provided.</p><p> </p><p>The Department has been working to improve knowledge and awareness of advances fraud amongst Jobcentre and Service Centre staff. Guidance has also been issued to ensure that staff are aware how to refer cases of suspected fraud to the Department’s Counter-fraud team.</p><p> </p><p>Most welfare losses, across Government, arise from claimants failing to report changes of circumstances, Universal Credit (UC) provides a single, digital interface through which claimants can more easily report these changes. As such, once UC is fully rolled out, we expect cross-welfare losses to fraud, error and overpayments to be reduced by around £1 billion per year.</p> answering member constituency Reading West answering member printed Alok Sharma question first answered 17/07/2019 13:47:42 answering member 4014 label Biography information for Sir Alok Sharma
	tabling member	308 label Biography information for Mr Jim Cunningham

1138422

	registered interest
	date	11/07/2019
	answering body	Department for Work and Pensions
	answering dept id	29
	answering dept short name	Work and Pensions
	answering dept sort name	Work and Pensions
	hansard heading	Social Security Benefits: Terminal Illnesses
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps her Department is taking to improve access to benefits for all people who have been diagnosed as terminally ill.
	tabling member constituency	Coventry South
	tabling member printed	Mr Jim Cunningham
	uin	276141
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 16/07/2019 answer text <p>The Special Rules for Terminal Illness provide a guaranteed entitlement to benefit under a fast track process, without people being required to attend a face-to-face assessment.</p><p><strong> </strong></p><p>On 11 July the Secretary of State announced an in-depth evaluation of how the benefits system supports people nearing the end of their life, and those with the most severe conditions.</p> answering member constituency North Swindon answering member printed Justin Tomlinson question first answered 16/07/2019 12:38:34 answering member 4105 label Biography information for Justin Tomlinson
	tabling member	308 label Biography information for Mr Jim Cunningham

1138432

	registered interest
	date	11/07/2019
	answering body	Department of Health and Social Care
	answering dept id	17
	answering dept short name	Health and Social Care
	answering dept sort name	Health and Social Care
	hansard heading	Dementia
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment he has made of trends in the level of dementia diagnosis in each year of the last five years.
	tabling member constituency	Coventry South
	tabling member printed	Mr Jim Cunningham
	uin	276142
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 16/07/2019 answer text <p>No formal assessment of the trends in levels of dementia diagnosis in each year of the last five years has been made. The Prime Minister's Challenge on Dementia 2020 (started in 2015) sets out the ambition for two thirds of people with dementia to receive a formal diagnosis. We collect data for an indicator: Estimated Dementia Diagnosis Rate 65+. This indicator compares the number of people thought to have dementia with the number of people diagnosed with dementia, aged 65 and over. The result is presented as a rate, in the form of a percentage and published regularly. The published diagnosis rate is consistently above the target.</p><p> </p><p>The annual ‘Recorded Dementia Diagnoses 2018-19’ publication is scheduled for release on 25 July 2019 and this will cover trends in national and regional diagnosis rates for April 2018 - March 2019.</p> answering member constituency Gosport answering member printed Caroline Dinenage question first answered 16/07/2019 16:24:40 answering member 4008 label Biography information for Dame Caroline Dinenage
	tabling member	308 label Biography information for Mr Jim Cunningham