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1109970

	registered interest
	date	05/04/2019
	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	Children: Maintenance
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, with reference to the consultation on changes to the collection of child maintenance arrears, launched in December 2017, how many responses her Department received, and how many of those responses opposed the proposal to write off historical arrears.
	tabling member constituency	North Tyneside
	tabling member printed	Mary Glindon
	uin	241426
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 15/04/2019 answer text <p>The consultation closed on 8 February 2018. We received a total of 99 responses, 11 from organisations and 88 from private individuals (of which 21 identified themselves as paying parents, and 24 as receiving parents). Respondents were asked 15 question, four of which discussed the proposal to write off historical arrears.</p><p>Accurately assessing the number of responses opposed specifically to the proposal to write off historical arrears is not straightforward. Not all respondents chose to answer the specific questions, and a large number of responses were about individual case circumstances, and didn’t raise issues within the scope of the consultation. Of the nine responses which were focused on the scope of the consultation, four opposed the write off and three had a mixed view.</p><p>The Government published a detailed response to this consultation on 12 July 2018, accessible through the link below.</p><p><a href="https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/724358/response-child-maintenance-compliance-and-arrears-strategy-consultation.pdf" target="_blank">https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/724358/response-child-maintenance-compliance-and-arrears-strategy-consultation.pdf</a></p> answering member constituency Colchester answering member printed Will Quince question first answered 15/04/2019 10:44:41 answering member 4423 label Biography information for Will Quince
	tabling member	4126 label Biography information for Mary Glindon

1110003

	registered interest
	date	05/04/2019
	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: Croydon
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what recent assessment she had made of the effect of the roll out of universal credit on child poverty in working families in the London borough of Croydon .
	tabling member constituency	Croydon North
	tabling member printed	Mr Steve Reed
	uin	241434
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 15/04/2019 answer text <p>We have not made an assessment at this level.</p><p> </p><p>The best way to help people improve their lives is through employment, and people on Universal Credit move into work faster and stay in work longer. We are committed to helping the most vulnerable to improve their life chances by tackling the root causes of poverty, and ensuring that children have the best possible start in life.</p><p> </p><p>We want to see child poverty falling, and we remain determined to tackle it. We will look at what more can be done to help the most vulnerable and improve their life chances by tackling the root causes of poverty, ensuring that children have the best possible start in life.</p><p> </p><p>That is why we have recently implemented a £1000 increase in Work Allowance rates as part of a package worth £1.7 billion in 2023/24 to some of the most vulnerable low paid working families. It will increase the amount that hardworking families can earn before Universal Credit is tapered away, providing 2.4 million working families with an extra £630 a year.</p><p> </p><p>A child growing up in a home where all the adults work is around five times less likely to be in poverty than a home in which no one is working.</p><p> </p><p>It is also worth noting that absolute and relative poverty rates for children in London are lower than in 2010, on both a before and after housing cost basis.</p> answering member constituency Colchester answering member printed Will Quince question first answered 15/04/2019 14:44:24 answering member 4423 label Biography information for Will Quince
	tabling member	4268 label Biography information for Steve Reed

1110573

	registered interest
	date	09/04/2019
	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: Housing
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps she is taking to ensure that universal credit adequately supports social housing tenants paying rent weekly to meet their obligations in relation to the 53 week year.
	tabling member constituency	East Ham
	tabling member printed	Stephen Timms
	uin	242667
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 15/04/2019 answer text <p>No year contains 53 weeks. This perceived issue of their being 53 weeks in a year arises where a landlord charges rent weekly on a Monday and, because of the way the calendar falls every 5 or 6 years, seeks 53 rent payments in a year, with the 53rd payment in part covering the tenancy for the first few days of the following year.</p><p>Universal Credit payments are designed to mirror the world of work, with monthly payments reflecting the way many working people are paid. This model of monthly payments allows claimants to take responsibility for budgeting their own income and helps prepare them for getting back to work. The Money and Pension Service can provide debt advice and money guidance to claimants if they need support managing their monthly Universal Credit payments.</p><p>We are aware of a separate issue with respect to the way the calculation in the Universal Credit regulations converts a weekly liability into a monthly allowance. The conversion is achieved by multiplying the weekly rent by 52 and then dividing by 12. This effectively means one day’s rent a year (two days in a leap years) are not covered by UC. We are currently considering whether this formulation around weekly rents, and potentially other weekly amounts in the UC calculation, should be amended.</p> answering member constituency Colchester answering member printed Will Quince question first answered 15/04/2019 14:48:11 answering member 4423 label Biography information for Will Quince
	tabling member	163 label Biography information for Sir Stephen Timms

1110744

	registered interest
	date	09/04/2019
	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	Child Maintenance Service: Complaints
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many complaints have been logged with the Child Maintenance Service for each year since 2015.
	tabling member constituency	Motherwell and Wishaw
	tabling member printed	Marion Fellows
	uin	242878
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 15/04/2019 answer text <p>The latest statistics on complaints received by the Child Maintenance Service are published in Table 17 of the Child Maintenance Service statistics, which highlights the number of complaints received by the Child Maintenance Service each quarter. It is available online at:</p><p> </p><p><a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/statistics-on-the-2012-statutory-child-maintenance-scheme" target="_blank">https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/statistics-on-the-2012-statutory-child-maintenance-scheme</a></p> answering member constituency Colchester answering member printed Will Quince question first answered 15/04/2019 14:55:31 answering member 4423 label Biography information for Will Quince
	tabling member	4440 label Biography information for Marion Fellows

1110746

	registered interest
	date	09/04/2019
	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	Children: Maintenance
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many open cases (a) the Child Maintenance Service, and (b) the Child Support Agency have had each year since 2015.
	tabling member constituency	Motherwell and Wishaw
	tabling member printed	Marion Fellows
	uin	242879
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 15/04/2019 answer text <p>The latest statistics on the number of child maintenance arrangements managed by the Child Maintenance Service are published in Table 4 of the Child Maintenance Service: August 2013 to September 2018 (experimental) publication, available online at: <a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/child-maintenance-service-august-2013-to-september-2018-experimental" target="_blank">https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/child-maintenance-service-august-2013-to-september-2018-experimental</a>.</p><p> </p><p>The latest statistics on the number of cases managed by the Child Support Agency are published in Table 1 of the Child Support Agency quarterly summary of Statistics which are currently available up to December 2018.</p><p>They can be accessed online at: <a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/child-support-agency-quarterly-summary-of-statistics-december-2018" target="_blank">https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/child-support-agency-quarterly-summary-of-statistics-december-2018</a>.”</p> answering member constituency Colchester answering member printed Will Quince question first answered 15/04/2019 10:34:41 answering member 4423 label Biography information for Will Quince
	tabling member	4440 label Biography information for Marion Fellows

1111029

	registered interest
	date	10/04/2019
	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	Local Housing Allowance: Greater London
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, for what reason the shared accommodation rate in the central London broad rental market area will not receive the three per cent uplift through targeted affordability funding in 2019-20.
	tabling member constituency	Westminster North
	tabling member printed	Ms Karen Buck
	uin	243314
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 15/04/2019 answer text <p>Targeted affordability funding is allocated to those rates that have diverged the furthest from local rents. All 960 Local Housing Allowance rates are ranked according to the share of the market they afford, starting with the most divergent and the funding is then applied.</p><p> </p><p>The shared accommodation rate in the central London Broad Rental Market Area was increased via targeted affordability funding in both 2017/18 and 2018/19. In 2019/20 this rate was not eligible for targeted affordability funding as it no longer fell within the range of rates that have diverged the most from local rents.</p> answering member constituency Colchester answering member printed Will Quince question first answered 15/04/2019 14:33:31 answering member 4423 label Biography information for Will Quince
	tabling member	199 label Biography information for Ms Karen Buck

1111031

	registered interest
	date	10/04/2019
	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	Local Housing Allowance: Greater London
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many claimants are in receipt of the shared accommodation rate of local housing allowance in the central London broad rental market area.
	tabling member constituency	Westminster North
	tabling member printed	Ms Karen Buck
	uin	243315
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 15/04/2019 answer text <p>As of November 2018, 380 households were in receipt of the shared accommodation rate of local housing allowance in the Central London BRMA. This does not include households who are in receipt of the housing element of Universal Credit.</p> answering member constituency Colchester answering member printed Will Quince question first answered 15/04/2019 14:51:37 answering member 4423 label Biography information for Will Quince
	tabling member	199 label Biography information for Ms Karen Buck

1111033

	registered interest
	date	10/04/2019
	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
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many and what proportion of the 192 shared accommodation rates of local housing allowance have been uprated as a result of the targeted affordability fund in each year since this was introduced.
	tabling member constituency	Westminster North
	tabling member printed	Ms Karen Buck
	uin	243316
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 15/04/2019 answer text <p><strong>The information requested is in the table below.</strong></p><p> </p><table><tbody><tr><td><p><strong>Year</strong></p></td><td><p><strong>Shared Accommodation Rates</strong></p></td><td><p><strong>Proportion</strong></p></td></tr><tr><td><p><strong>2017/2018</strong></p></td><td><p><strong>22 </strong></p></td><td><p><strong>11%</strong></p></td></tr><tr><td><p><strong>2018/2019</strong></p></td><td><p><strong>60</strong></p></td><td><p><strong>31%</strong></p></td></tr><tr><td><p><strong>2019/2020</strong></p></td><td><p><strong>87</strong></p></td><td><p><strong>45%</strong></p></td></tr></tbody></table> answering member constituency Colchester answering member printed Will Quince question first answered 15/04/2019 14:47:10 answering member 4423 label Biography information for Will Quince
	tabling member	199 label Biography information for Ms Karen Buck

1111037

	registered interest
	date	10/04/2019
	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	Local Housing Allowance: Greater London
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, if she will direct the Valuation Office Agency to undertake research into the reasons why low numbers of rooms in London are available for letting (a) at and (b) below the shared accommodation rate of local housing allowance.
	tabling member constituency	Westminster North
	tabling member printed	Ms Karen Buck
	uin	243317
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 15/04/2019 answer text <p>There are no plans to ask the Valuation Office Agency to undertake any research in this area.</p> answering member constituency Colchester answering member printed Will Quince question first answered 15/04/2019 14:55:01 answering member 4423 label Biography information for Will Quince
	tabling member	199 label Biography information for Ms Karen Buck

1111230

	registered interest
	date	10/04/2019
	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: Private Rented Housing
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, pursuant to the Answer of 9 April 2019 to Question 240482 on Universal Credit: Private Rented Housing, what meaningful changes have taken place.
	tabling member constituency	Birmingham, Selly Oak
	tabling member printed	Steve McCabe
	uin	243334
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 15/04/2019 answer text <p>The Government has begun the process of engaging with the sector to tackle the problems faced by people renting in the private rented sector. We have seen positive changes from property sites who have committed to removing adverts with ‘No DSS’ wording and from lenders who have committed to removing mortgage restrictions that would prevent landlords from renting to tenants in receipt of housing support. This work is ongoing and we will continue to bring the sector together to tackle such practices.</p><p> </p><p>Furthermore, as stated by the Secretary of State on 11 January 2019, the Department has also committed to increasing the support available to private landlords. An on-line system for private landlords will be introduced so they can request, where necessary, that their tenants’ rent is paid directly to them.</p> answering member constituency Colchester answering member printed Will Quince question first answered 15/04/2019 14:39:02 answering member 4423 label Biography information for Will Quince
	tabling member	298 label Biography information for Steve McCabe

1110450

	registered interest
	date	08/04/2019
	answering body	Ministry of Defence
	answering dept id	11
	answering dept short name	Defence
	answering dept sort name	Defence
	hansard heading	Defence Equipment: Cybersecurity
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what steps he is taking to ensure that the UK is a world leader in autonomous cyber defence of military systems.
	tabling member constituency	Romford
	tabling member printed	Andrew Rosindell
	uin	242052
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 15/04/2019 answer text <p>The National Cyber Security Strategy 2016-2021 is supported by a £1.9 billion of transformational investment. It sets out ambitious policies to protect the UK in cyber space. Defence operates many Cyber defence capabilities with varying levels of automation. These systems are typically used for monitoring and defending key capabilities. New, emergent and advanced technologies are also monitored by working closely with Dstl, academia and industry partners.</p> answering member constituency Pudsey answering member printed Stuart Andrew question first answered 15/04/2019 15:39:25 answering member 4032 label Biography information for Stuart Andrew
	tabling member	1447 label Biography information for Andrew Rosindell

1110452

	registered interest
	date	08/04/2019
	answering body	Ministry of Defence
	answering dept id	11
	answering dept short name	Defence
	answering dept sort name	Defence
	hansard heading	HMS Prince of Wales
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, whether HMS Prince of Wales will (a) be ready for sea trials by the end of the calendar year and (b) delivered on budget.
	tabling member constituency	Romford
	tabling member printed	Andrew Rosindell
	uin	242054
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 15/04/2019 answer text <p>HMS Prince of Wales is structurally complete and on current plans will commence contractor sea trials later this year.</p><p>The final cost of the Queen Elizabeth Class aircraft carrier programme is the subject of ongoing commercial negotiations with the Aircraft Carrier Alliance, and I am therefore withholding our current cost estimate as its disclosure at this time would be prejudicial to the commercial interests of the Ministry of Defence.</p> answering member constituency Pudsey answering member printed Stuart Andrew question first answered 15/04/2019 15:33:35 answering member 4032 label Biography information for Stuart Andrew
	tabling member	1447 label Biography information for Andrew Rosindell

1110736

	registered interest
	date	09/04/2019
	answering body	Ministry of Defence
	answering dept id	11
	answering dept short name	Defence
	answering dept sort name	Defence
	hansard heading	GKN: Birmingham
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, with reference to the 2018 deed of covenant undertakings provided by Melrose Industries, whether he has plans to issue a note of concern in relation to the announcement by GKN Aerospace that it intends to close its Kings Norton plant.
	tabling member constituency	Birmingham, Northfield
	tabling member printed	Richard Burden
	uin	242681
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 15/04/2019 answer text <p>As required by the undertakings provided last year, Melrose Industries have notified the Ministry of Defence (MOD) of their intention to relocate Defence work from GKN's Kings Norton site to other GKN sites. The MOD has discussed these proposals with Melrose and is confident that the important work that GKN does for Defence will continue. The MOD understands that there will be no overall reduction in GKN's defence capacity, as the defence work is being moved, not stopped. On that basis there are no plans to issue a note of concern.</p> answering member constituency Pudsey answering member printed Stuart Andrew question first answered 15/04/2019 15:34:25 answering member 4032 label Biography information for Stuart Andrew
	tabling member	301 label Biography information for Richard Burden

1110968

	registered interest
	date	10/04/2019
	answering body	Ministry of Defence
	answering dept id	11
	answering dept short name	Defence
	answering dept sort name	Defence
	hansard heading	Nuclear Submarines: Decommissioning
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, if he will make it his policy to establish a public inquiry into the handling of UK nuclear submarine decommissioning.
	tabling member constituency	Glasgow South
	tabling member printed	Stewart Malcolm McDonald
	uin	243514
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 15/04/2019 answer text <p>We have no plans for a public inquiry.</p> answering member constituency Pudsey answering member printed Stuart Andrew question first answered 15/04/2019 15:35:09 answering member 4032 label Biography information for Stuart Andrew
	tabling member	4461 label Biography information for Stewart Malcolm McDonald

1110988

	registered interest
	date	10/04/2019
	answering body	Ministry of Defence
	answering dept id	11
	answering dept short name	Defence
	answering dept sort name	Defence
	hansard heading	F-35 Aircraft
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, whether he has made an assessment of the effect on the delivery of 17 F-35B fighter jets to the UK after 2020 of Turkey's potential removal from the F35 programme.
	tabling member constituency	North Durham
	tabling member printed	Mr Kevan Jones
	uin	243367
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 15/04/2019 answer text <p>There is no anticipated effect to the delivery of the UK's F-35B aircraft after 2020.</p> answering member constituency Pudsey answering member printed Stuart Andrew question first answered 15/04/2019 15:36:21 answering member 4032 label Biography information for Stuart Andrew
	tabling member	1438 label Biography information for Mr Kevan Jones

1110993

	registered interest
	date	10/04/2019
	answering body	Ministry of Defence
	answering dept id	11
	answering dept short name	Defence
	answering dept sort name	Defence
	hansard heading	Royal Fleet Auxiliary: Procurement
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, whether (a) Team UK, (b) Daewoo Shipbuilding and Marine Engineering, (c) Fincantieri, (d) Navantia, and (e) Japan Marine United Corporation remain in the competition to tender for the Fleet Solid Support Ship design and build contract.
	tabling member constituency	Glasgow North East
	tabling member printed	Mr Paul Sweeney
	uin	243560
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 15/04/2019 answer text <p>Yes.</p> answering member constituency Pudsey answering member printed Stuart Andrew question first answered 15/04/2019 15:36:40 answering member 4032 label Biography information for Stuart Andrew
	tabling member	4642 label Biography information for Mr Paul Sweeney

1110546

	registered interest
	date	09/04/2019
	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	Breast Cancer: Drugs
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether there are breast cancer medicines that are not expected to have a six-week supply stockpiled by 12 April 2018.
	tabling member constituency	Carshalton and Wallington
	tabling member printed	Tom Brake
	uin	242661
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 15/04/2019 answer text <p>Leaving the European Union with a deal remains the Government’s top priority. However, as a responsible Government we must plan for every possible outcome including ‘no deal’.</p><p> </p><p>The Government has been working closely with industry to ensure the supply of medicines, including medical radioisotopes, can continue uninterrupted in the event of a ‘no deal’ EU exit.</p><p> </p><p>The Department is unable to discuss specific companies and medicines because, to reassure participating companies, we have committed to treating all information received confidentially, securely and to use it only for the purposes of the Department’s programme. However, we continue to work with all suppliers to ensure their plans remain on track.</p><p> </p><p>We are confident that, if everyone does what they need to do, the supply of medicines and medical products will be uninterrupted.</p> answering member constituency Wimbledon answering member printed Stephen Hammond question first answered 15/04/2019 12:50:14 answering member 1585 label Biography information for Stephen Hammond
	tabling member	151 label Biography information for Tom Brake

1110294

	registered interest
	date	08/04/2019
	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	Agriculture: Subsidies
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, how many (a) countryside stewardship and (b) environmental stewardship payments from (i) 2015 and (ii) 2016 are outstanding.
	tabling member constituency	Stroud
	tabling member printed	Dr David Drew
	uin	242000
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 15/04/2019 answer text <p>There are no outstanding Countryside Stewardship claim payments for 2015 as the first agreements did not commence until 1 January 2016. Over 99% of eligible Countryside Stewardship 2016 claims have received their payments and there are six claims to complete.</p><p> </p><p>Over 99% of Environmental Stewardship eligible claims have received their 2015 and 2016 payments. For 2015 there are 14 claims to complete, and 53 claims to complete for 2016.</p><p> </p> answering member constituency Scarborough and Whitby answering member printed Mr Robert Goodwill question first answered 15/04/2019 11:45:20 answering member 1562 label Biography information for Sir Robert Goodwill
	tabling member	252 label Biography information for Dr David Drew

1110295

	registered interest
	date	08/04/2019
	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	Agriculture: Subsidies
	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 his Department has made for the reasons for the delays to the Rural Payments Agency issuing Countryside Stewardship and Environmental Stewardship payments.
	tabling member constituency	Stroud
	tabling member printed	Dr David Drew
	uin	242001
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 15/04/2019 answer text <p>There are a number of reasons for delays in issuing Countryside Stewardship and Environmental Stewardship payments. These include complex rules, requirements, processes and systems which have made the scheme overly complicated. The Rural Payments Agency took on responsibility for issuing Countryside Stewardship and Environmental Stewardship payments in October 2018. It is simplifying the administration of the scheme as far as possible under the current EU system by streamlining processes, making changes to IT systems and boosting the workforce to speed up processing.</p><p> </p> answering member constituency Scarborough and Whitby answering member printed Mr Robert Goodwill question first answered 15/04/2019 11:54:58 answering member 1562 label Biography information for Sir Robert Goodwill
	tabling member	252 label Biography information for Dr David Drew

1110296

	registered interest
	date	08/04/2019
	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	Agriculture: Subsidies
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether the Rural Payments Agency is on target to meet the payment commitments that he set out at the 2019 NFU conference.
	tabling member constituency	Stroud
	tabling member printed	Dr David Drew
	uin	242002
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 15/04/2019 answer text <p>Yes. The Rural Payments Agency is on track to achieve the commitments set out at the 2019 NFU Conference.</p> answering member constituency Scarborough and Whitby answering member printed Mr Robert Goodwill question first answered 15/04/2019 12:08:24 answering member 1562 label Biography information for Sir Robert Goodwill
	tabling member	252 label Biography information for Dr David Drew

1110297

	registered interest
	date	08/04/2019
	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	Agriculture: Subsidies
	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 plans his Department has to meet the Government commitment that no-one in any existing Countryside Stewardship or Environmental Stewardship scheme will be unfairly disadvantaged when the UK transitions to new arrangements.
	tabling member constituency	Stroud
	tabling member printed	Dr David Drew
	uin	242003
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 15/04/2019 answer text <p>As we develop the new Environmental Land Management (ELM) system and evolve the Countryside Stewardship (CS) offer we will work to ensure we can offer a smooth transition from CS to ELM when it becomes fully operational from 2024.</p><p> </p> answering member constituency Scarborough and Whitby answering member printed Mr Robert Goodwill question first answered 15/04/2019 12:02:27 answering member 1562 label Biography information for Sir Robert Goodwill
	tabling member	252 label Biography information for Dr David Drew

1110298

	registered interest
	date	08/04/2019
	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	Agriculture: Environment Protection
	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 steps he has taken to meet the 2017 Conservative manifesto commitment to help Natural England to expand their provision of technical expertise to farmers to deliver environmental improvements on a landscape scale; and what evidence he is able to present to demonstrate progress against that commitment.
	tabling member constituency	Stroud
	tabling member printed	Dr David Drew
	uin	242004
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 15/04/2019 answer text <p>On 9 February 2018 a further 37 new groups were signed up to the Countryside Stewardship Facilitation fund. The addition of these groups to the scheme means that there are now 97 groups covering over 500,000 hectares of holdings in England with three year contracts. They are delivering landscape-scale measures for wildlife, water management and the historic environment, with over 2,400 members of Facilitation Fund groups.</p><p> </p> answering member constituency Scarborough and Whitby answering member printed Mr Robert Goodwill question first answered 15/04/2019 12:06:37 answering member 1562 label Biography information for Sir Robert Goodwill
	tabling member	252 label Biography information for Dr David Drew

1110367

	registered interest
	date	08/04/2019
	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	Seafood: Exports
	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 certification would be required for live seafood exporters based in Scotland exporting to the EU 27 in the event the UK leaves the EU without a deal.
	tabling member constituency	Banff and Buchan
	tabling member printed	David Duguid
	uin	242223
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 15/04/2019 answer text <p>Delivering a deal with the EU remains our top priority, but as with any responsible Government, we are planning for all scenarios.</p><p> </p><p>To continue exporting to the EU if the UK leaves without a deal, UK seafood exporters would need to provide a catch certificate and an export health certificate for most fish and fish products. We have published detailed guidance on the gov.uk website and have held several events nationally to help the industry prepare to abide by these rules imposed by the EU. These events have included demonstrations of the IT systems which exporters would need to use, and the processes they would have to follow in the event of leaving the EU without a deal.</p><p> </p><p>Fisheries management is a devolved matter. That will not change as a result of leaving the EU. The UK Government has worked closely with the Scottish Government, as well as the Welsh Government and DAERA, to ensure consistency and help prepare the sector as a whole.</p> answering member constituency Scarborough and Whitby answering member printed Mr Robert Goodwill grouped question UIN 242224 question first answered 15/04/2019 12:22:31 answering member 1562 label Biography information for Sir Robert Goodwill
	tabling member	4606 label Biography information for David Duguid

1110369

	registered interest
	date	08/04/2019
	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	Seafood: Exports
	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 guidance his Department has issued to Scottish live seafood exporters on preparations in the event that the UK leaves the EU without a deal.
	tabling member constituency	Banff and Buchan
	tabling member printed	David Duguid
	uin	242224
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 15/04/2019 answer text <p>Delivering a deal with the EU remains our top priority, but as with any responsible Government, we are planning for all scenarios.</p><p> </p><p>To continue exporting to the EU if the UK leaves without a deal, UK seafood exporters would need to provide a catch certificate and an export health certificate for most fish and fish products. We have published detailed guidance on the gov.uk website and have held several events nationally to help the industry prepare to abide by these rules imposed by the EU. These events have included demonstrations of the IT systems which exporters would need to use, and the processes they would have to follow in the event of leaving the EU without a deal.</p><p> </p><p>Fisheries management is a devolved matter. That will not change as a result of leaving the EU. The UK Government has worked closely with the Scottish Government, as well as the Welsh Government and DAERA, to ensure consistency and help prepare the sector as a whole.</p> answering member constituency Scarborough and Whitby answering member printed Mr Robert Goodwill grouped question UIN 242223 question first answered 15/04/2019 12:22:31 answering member 1562 label Biography information for Sir Robert Goodwill
	tabling member	4606 label Biography information for David Duguid

1110549

	registered interest
	date	09/04/2019
	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	Fisheries Bill
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether the Government has plans for the Fisheries Bill to complete all of its Parliamentary stages in this session of Parliament.
	tabling member constituency	Plymouth, Sutton and Devonport
	tabling member printed	Luke Pollard
	uin	242929
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 15/04/2019 answer text <p>The scheduling of the Fisheries Bill will be announced by the leader of the House of Commons in the usual way.</p> answering member constituency Scarborough and Whitby answering member printed Mr Robert Goodwill question first answered 15/04/2019 12:34:53 answering member 1562 label Biography information for Sir Robert Goodwill
	tabling member	4682 label Biography information for Luke Pollard

1110872

	registered interest
	date	09/04/2019
	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	Bovine Tuberculosis: South West
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, how many herds in each of the following badger cull areas of (a) Gloucestershire and (b) West Somerset were tested with interferon gamma in each years from 2010 to 2018.
	tabling member constituency	Stroud
	tabling member printed	Dr David Drew
	uin	242675
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 15/04/2019 answer text <p>I refer the hon. Member to the reply previously given on 3 April 2019 to PQ 213909.</p><p><strong> </strong></p> answering member constituency Scarborough and Whitby answering member printed Mr Robert Goodwill question first answered 15/04/2019 11:00:59 answering member 1562 label Biography information for Sir Robert Goodwill
	tabling member	252 label Biography information for Dr David Drew

1110873

	registered interest
	date	09/04/2019
	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	Bovine Tuberculosis: South West
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, how many interferon gamma tests were conducted on each of the herds in (a) Gloucestershire and (b) Somerset; and how many cattle tested positive in each herd in each year from 2010 to 2018.
	tabling member constituency	Stroud
	tabling member printed	Dr David Drew
	uin	242676
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 15/04/2019 answer text <p>I refer the hon. Member to the reply previously given on 5 February 2019 to PQ 213910.</p><p> </p> answering member constituency Scarborough and Whitby answering member printed Mr Robert Goodwill question first answered 15/04/2019 12:20:11 answering member 1562 label Biography information for Sir Robert Goodwill
	tabling member	252 label Biography information for Dr David Drew

1109957

	registered interest
	date	05/04/2019
	answering body	Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government
	answering dept id	7
	answering dept short name	Housing, Communities and Local Government
	answering dept sort name	Housing, Communities and Local Government
	hansard heading	Housing: Young People
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what steps his Department is taking to help young people to get on the housing ladder.
	tabling member constituency	South Holland and The Deepings
	tabling member printed	Sir John Hayes
	uin	241400
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 15/04/2019 answer text <p>The Government is committed to building a housing market which works for everyone. We recognise that for too many people home-ownership is affordable. Addressing this affordability challenge requires building the homes our country needs. That is why we intend to deliver 300,000 homes per year, the largest annual increase in housing supply since the 1970s.</p><p>Since 2010, over half a million households have been helped to purchase a home through government backed schemes including Help to Buy and Right to Buy. The recent Evaluation of Help to Buy: Equity Loan from 2015 to 2017 found that 63 per cent of first-time buyers benefiting from the scheme were under 35 years old.</p><p>Building on this, the 2017 Autumn Budget announced a new stamp duty land tax relief benefiting 95 per cent of first time buyers who pay it – over 18,500 have been helped so far.</p> answering member constituency Rossendale and Darwen answering member printed Jake Berry question first answered 15/04/2019 12:28:29 answering member 4060 label Biography information for Sir Jake Berry
	tabling member	350 label Biography information for Sir John Hayes

1110198

	registered interest
	date	08/04/2019
	answering body	Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government
	answering dept id	7
	answering dept short name	Housing, Communities and Local Government
	answering dept sort name	Housing, Communities and Local Government
	hansard heading	Right to Buy Scheme: Lancashire
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, how many house sales were made by people that used the Right to Buy scheme in Lancashire since the scheme was introduced.
	tabling member constituency	Preston
	tabling member printed	Sir Mark Hendrick
	uin	242024
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 15/04/2019 answer text <p>The Department publishes the number of Right to Buy Sales by local authority area from 1979-80, when the scheme began, to 2017-18 in Live Table 685, which can be found at: <a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/statistical-data-sets/live-tables-on-social-housing-sales" target="_blank">https://www.gov.uk/government/statistical-data-sets/live-tables-on-social-housing-sales</a>.</p><p>Information on Right to Buy sales in the three quarters of 2018-19 are published in Live Table 691 at: <a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/statistical-data-sets/live-tables-on-social-housing-sales" target="_blank">https://www.gov.uk/government/statistical-data-sets/live-tables-on-social-housing-sales</a>. Please note these figures are only provisional.</p><p>Note that 2017-18 sales figures in Live Table 685 and 691 do not match. This is because Live Table 691 is revised quarterly while 685 is done annually. It is therefore advised to use the figures in 691</p> answering member constituency Rossendale and Darwen answering member printed Jake Berry question first answered 15/04/2019 12:31:27 answering member 4060 label Biography information for Sir Jake Berry
	tabling member	473 label Biography information for Sir Mark Hendrick

1110782

	registered interest
	date	09/04/2019
	answering body	Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government
	answering dept id	7
	answering dept short name	Housing, Communities and Local Government
	answering dept sort name	Housing, Communities and Local Government
	hansard heading	Housing: Oxfordshire
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, pursuant to the Answer of 20 March to Question 234843 on Housing: Oxfordshire, what steps his Department has taken with the Department for Transport, to ensure that sustainable transport carried through from stage one to stage two of the bidding process for Housing Infrastructure Fund Forward Funding Bids.
	tabling member constituency	Oxford West and Abingdon
	tabling member printed	Layla Moran
	uin	242953
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 15/04/2019 answer text <p>Following the submission of expressions of interest to the Housing Infrastructure Fund the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government and the Department for Transport worked with Oxfordshire County Council to develop their bids.</p><p>It was then for Oxfordshire County Council to determine which strategic, high-impact infrastructure interventions, that will unlock housing, to include in their final business cases.</p><p>I am delighted that the government recently awarded Oxfordshire County Council £218 million of funding from the Housing Infrastructure Fund for the Access to Didcot Garden Town scheme that includes improving cycling provision.</p> answering member constituency Rossendale and Darwen answering member printed Jake Berry question first answered 15/04/2019 12:27:24 answering member 4060 label Biography information for Sir Jake Berry
	tabling member	4656 label Biography information for Layla Moran

1110641

	registered interest
	date	09/04/2019
	answering body	Department for International Trade
	answering dept id	202
	answering dept short name	International Trade
	answering dept sort name	International Trade
	hansard heading	Ceramics: Overseas Trade
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for International Trade, with reference to the Trade Barriers (Revocation) (EU Exit) Regulations 2018, what mechanisms exist for the UK ceramic industry to secure departmental action on any market access problems experienced in overseas markets.
	tabling member constituency	Stoke-on-Trent North
	tabling member printed	Ruth Smeeth
	uin	242898
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 15/04/2019 answer text <p>The Government has established a dedicated market access team within the Department for International Trade to improve how market access barriers experienced by UK exporters are identified and tackled.</p><p> </p><p>In addition to the usual engagement channels and regular dialogues between the Government and the ceramic industry, we will have a dedicated form through the gov.uk website where businesses will be able to report market access barriers they face. This will be available shortly.</p> answering member constituency Meon Valley answering member printed George Hollingbery question first answered 15/04/2019 08:07:33 answering member 4016 label Biography information for Sir George Hollingbery
	tabling member	4508 label Biography information for Baroness Anderson of Stoke-on-Trent

1110017

	registered interest
	date	05/04/2019
	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
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what guidance is provided to job centre staff when assessing whether a universal credit claimant can receive an advanced payment.
	tabling member constituency	Airdrie and Shotts
	tabling member printed	Neil Gray
	uin	241445
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 15/04/2019 answer text <p>Comprehensive guidance on Universal Credit Advance payments is available to all staff across the Jobcentre network.</p><p> </p><p>This guidance is clear that it is essential that all new claimants are offered an Advance and that it is processed at the first point of contact. Applications for an advance payment can be made in person, by telephone or online depending on the claimant’s circumstances.</p><p> </p><p>New claimants can apply for a Universal Credit advance, worth up to 100 per cent of a claimant’s indicative award, paid within 72 hours of making a request, and can receive payment within a day if needed. Around 60% of eligible new claims to Universal Credit received an advance in February 2019.</p><p> </p><p>Universal Credit guidance is published in the House of Commons library and the Department is committed to refreshing this at regular intervals.</p> answering member constituency Reading West answering member printed Alok Sharma question first answered 15/04/2019 15:43:10 answering member 4014 label Biography information for Sir Alok Sharma
	tabling member	4365 label Biography information for Neil Gray

1110624

	registered interest
	date	09/04/2019
	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
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, with reference to the Written Statement of 12 March on Universal Credit, HCWS1399, whether a person's legacy benefits could be terminated if they have not made a claim for universal credit during the course of the pilot.
	tabling member constituency	High Peak
	tabling member printed	Ruth George
	uin	242938
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 15/04/2019 answer text <p>We do not intend to stop anyone’s benefit during the pilot. In the pilot phase, our intention is to learn how to effectively assist people onto Universal Credit and to develop processes to deliver that help. This is particularly important for vulnerable and hard-to-reach claimants, who the Department will help to move across to the new system. We are piloting this approach precisely to learn how we can contact and support people to move to Universal Credit without ending their legacy entitlement.</p><p>Through the pilot process we will work to understand the reasons for unsuccessful applications. However, there will be safeguards in place to protect those who might otherwise fail to make a successful claim.</p><p> </p><p>We will report on our findings from the pilot before bringing forward legislation to extend this process.</p> answering member constituency Reading West answering member printed Alok Sharma grouped question UIN 242943 question first answered 15/04/2019 16:03:53 answering member 4014 label Biography information for Sir Alok Sharma
	tabling member	4662 label Biography information for Ruth George

1110625

	registered interest
	date	09/04/2019
	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
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, reference to the Written Statement of 12 March on Universal Credit, HCWS1399, whether her Department plans to pay discretionary payments to cover the two-week run on for all claimants migrating to universal credit during the course of the pilot.
	tabling member constituency	High Peak
	tabling member printed	Ruth George
	uin	242939
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 15/04/2019 answer text <p>Subject to the Parliamentary approval, of the draft Universal Credit (Managed Migration Pilot and Miscellaneous Amendments) regulations 2019, the Department will introduce a Discretionary Hardship Payment to support those claimants who will be a part of the pilot phase and who appear to be in hardship. The power for Discretionary Hardship Payments is broad and could be used to pay the equivalent of the two-week legacy run on to claimants who will be moved to Universal Credit as part of the piloting phase and who are in hardship on account of the absence of the run on. We will also have the discretion to make payments if any other issues related to managed migration have resulted in hardship.</p><p /><p /> <p>Introducing the Discretionary Hardship Payment during the piloting phase will allow the Department to evaluate this support and assess what impact the current policy may have on claimants before introducing the run-ons from July 2020. This evaluation will allow us to consider whether further support is needed as a result of other issues that may arise and we have committed to reporting on our findings from the pilot before bringing forward legislation to proceed with volume managed migration.”</p><p /><p /> answering member constituency Reading West answering member printed Alok Sharma question first answered 15/04/2019 16:41:19 answering member 4014 label Biography information for Sir Alok Sharma
	tabling member	4662 label Biography information for Ruth George

1110634

	registered interest
	date	09/04/2019
	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
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what plans her Department has to include an estimate of the (a) number and (b) expected number of people falling out of the social security system and during the universal credit managed migration pilot when it reports to Parliament on that pilot.
	tabling member constituency	High Peak
	tabling member printed	Ruth George
	uin	242943
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 15/04/2019 answer text <p>We do not intend to stop anyone’s benefit during the pilot. In the pilot phase, our intention is to learn how to effectively assist people onto Universal Credit and to develop processes to deliver that help. This is particularly important for vulnerable and hard-to-reach claimants, who the Department will help to move across to the new system. We are piloting this approach precisely to learn how we can contact and support people to move to Universal Credit without ending their legacy entitlement.</p><p>Through the pilot process we will work to understand the reasons for unsuccessful applications. However, there will be safeguards in place to protect those who might otherwise fail to make a successful claim.</p><p> </p><p>We will report on our findings from the pilot before bringing forward legislation to extend this process.</p> answering member constituency Reading West answering member printed Alok Sharma grouped question UIN 242938 question first answered 15/04/2019 16:03:53 answering member 4014 label Biography information for Sir Alok Sharma
	tabling member	4662 label Biography information for Ruth George

1110960

	registered interest
	date	10/04/2019
	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
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what estimate she has made of the cost to the public purse of removing the five-week wait for claimants of universal credit.
	tabling member constituency	Westmorland and Lonsdale
	tabling member printed	Tim Farron
	uin	243379
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 15/04/2019 answer text <p>I refer the Hon. Member to the response provided to Question 240463, answered on 8<sup>th</sup> April 2019.</p> answering member constituency Reading West answering member printed Alok Sharma question first answered 15/04/2019 15:51:16 answering member 4014 label Biography information for Sir Alok Sharma
	tabling member	1591 label Biography information for Tim Farron

1111224

	registered interest
	date	10/04/2019
	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
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, pursuant to answer of 8 April to Question 240478 on Universal Credit, in relation to benefit advances taken by universal credit recipients (a) what proportion of claimants have taken an advance, (b) what the average amount of money is that claimants are advanced, (c) what proportion of claimants have taken the maximum advance and (d) what proportion of claimants have been granted 12 months to repay an advance in each year for which information is available.
	tabling member constituency	Birmingham, Selly Oak
	tabling member printed	Steve McCabe
	uin	243330
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 15/04/2019 answer text <p>a) Around 60% of new claims take up an advance. Subject to some fluctuation, this rate of advance take-up has been broadly consistent over the last 12 months. This shows that claimants are being made aware of advances and are using it where they need this help.</p><p>b) The average advance amount for new claims is around £400.</p><p>c) Around 70% of advances are taken at the maximum entitlement.</p><p>d) Around 85% of advances are chosen to be repaid over 12 months</p><p> </p><p>Notes</p><p>1. Figures relate to Universal Credit full service only</p><p>2. Figures cover the latest 12 months of data from March 2018 to February 2019.</p> answering member constituency Reading West answering member printed Alok Sharma question first answered 15/04/2019 16:07:16 answering member 4014 label Biography information for Sir Alok Sharma
	tabling member	298 label Biography information for Steve McCabe

1110553

	registered interest
	date	09/04/2019
	answering body	Foreign and Commonwealth Office
	answering dept id	16
	answering dept short name	Foreign and Commonwealth Office
	answering dept sort name	Foreign and Commonwealth Office
	hansard heading	Embassies: Huawei
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, how many UK (a) embassies and (b) residences use Huawei equipment for their (i) internal and (ii) external communications.
	tabling member constituency	Leigh
	tabling member printed	Jo Platt
	uin	242931
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 15/04/2019 answer text <p>The Foreign &amp; Commonwealth Office provides communications to its diplomatic premises around the world through the ECHO network delivered by Vodafone. The department does not keep a register of equipment used in the ECHO network. Many official residences also make use of ECHO connectivity, or contract local communications providers. The department does not keep a central register of equipment used for non-ECHO networks. Where communications are sensitive, data is encrypted to a suitable level across the ECHO network, thereby safeguarding the information.</p> answering member constituency Rutland and Melton answering member printed Sir Alan Duncan question first answered 15/04/2019 13:48:36 answering member 343 label Biography information for Sir Alan Duncan
	tabling member	4673 label Biography information for Jo Platt

1110615

	registered interest
	date	09/04/2019
	answering body	Foreign and Commonwealth Office
	answering dept id	16
	answering dept short name	Foreign and Commonwealth Office
	answering dept sort name	Foreign and Commonwealth Office
	hansard heading	Foreign and Commonwealth Office: Brexit
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, how many Foreign Office employees were recalled to the UK from diplomatic posts abroad to assist with preparations for leaving the European Union (a) between June 2016 and December 2018, and (b) between December 2018 and April 2019.
	tabling member constituency	Islington South and Finsbury
	tabling member printed	Emily Thornberry
	uin	242764
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 15/04/2019 answer text <p>No central records have been kept of the number of Foreign and Commonwealth Office employees recalled to the UK from diplomatic posts abroad to assist with preparations for leaving the European Union, and to provide it would incur disproportionate cost.</p><p> </p> answering member constituency Rutland and Melton answering member printed Sir Alan Duncan question first answered 15/04/2019 13:54:46 answering member 343 label Biography information for Sir Alan Duncan
	tabling member	1536 label Biography information for Emily Thornberry

1110647

	registered interest
	date	09/04/2019
	answering body	Foreign and Commonwealth Office
	answering dept id	16
	answering dept short name	Foreign and Commonwealth Office
	answering dept sort name	Foreign and Commonwealth Office
	hansard heading	Embassies: Huawei
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, how many UK (a) embassies and (b) residences use Huawei equipment for (i) internal and (ii) external communications.
	tabling member constituency	Barnsley Central
	tabling member printed	Dan Jarvis
	uin	242846
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 15/04/2019 answer text <p>​The Foreign &amp; Commonwealth Office provides communications to its diplomatic premises around the world through the ECHO network delivered by Vodafone. The department does not keep a register of equipment used in the ECHO network. Many official residences also make use of ECHO connectivity, or contract local communications providers. The department does not keep a central register of equipment used for non-ECHO networks. Where communications are sensitive, data is encrypted to a suitable level across the ECHO network, thereby safeguarding the information.</p> answering member constituency Rutland and Melton answering member printed Sir Alan Duncan question first answered 15/04/2019 13:46:31 answering member 343 label Biography information for Sir Alan Duncan
	tabling member	4243 label Biography information for Dan Jarvis

1110648

	registered interest
	date	09/04/2019
	answering body	Foreign and Commonwealth Office
	answering dept id	16
	answering dept short name	Foreign and Commonwealth Office
	answering dept sort name	Foreign and Commonwealth Office
	hansard heading	Nord Stream 2 Pipeline
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what recent discussions he has had with his European counterparts on Nordstream 2.
	tabling member constituency	Glasgow South
	tabling member printed	Stewart Malcolm McDonald
	uin	242893
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 15/04/2019 answer text <p>​We have significant concerns about the Nordstream 2 pipeline. It is not necessary to meet future European demand for gas and could harm European energy security and the interests of Ukraine. For this reason, I regularly raise our concerns in discussions with key partners, including in the EU. I recently discussed this important issue with my Danish counterpart and will continue to raise it in such conversations.</p> answering member constituency Rutland and Melton answering member printed Sir Alan Duncan question first answered 15/04/2019 13:56:09 answering member 343 label Biography information for Sir Alan Duncan
	tabling member	4461 label Biography information for Stewart Malcolm McDonald

1110990

	registered interest
	date	10/04/2019
	answering body	Foreign and Commonwealth Office
	answering dept id	16
	answering dept short name	Foreign and Commonwealth Office
	answering dept sort name	Foreign and Commonwealth Office
	hansard heading	Foreign and Commonwealth Office: Brexit
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, whether his Department has deprioritised any Statutory Instruments in relation to the UK leaving the EU; and if he will publish the criteria his Department uses to deprioritise those Instruments.
	tabling member constituency	Walsall South
	tabling member printed	Valerie Vaz
	uin	243432
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 15/04/2019 answer text <p>​In preparation for no deal, the Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) has laid Statutory Instruments (SIs) relating to sanctions, the Kimberley Process and the Overseas Territories, under the Sanctions and Anti-Money Laundering Act (2018) and EU Withdrawal Act (2018). On sanctions, the FCO decided to lay Regulations before exit for those regimes with particular UK interests and where the EU's designations might change after exit. It was decided that it was not necessary to have a full domestic SI in place for other regimes for exit day, because it was possible to rely on retained EU law for a period.</p> answering member constituency Rutland and Melton answering member printed Sir Alan Duncan question first answered 15/04/2019 13:52:45 answering member 343 label Biography information for Sir Alan Duncan
	tabling member	4076 label Biography information for Valerie Vaz

1110537

	registered interest
	date	09/04/2019
	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	Medical Treatments: Prescription Drugs
	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 the Government has made of the effectiveness of the implementation of the guidance entitled Items which should not be routinely prescribed in primary care: Guidance for CCGs.
	tabling member constituency	Rother Valley
	tabling member printed	Sir Kevin Barron
	uin	242690
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 15/04/2019 answer text <p>We are informed by NHS England that in the period up to and including October 2018, spend on the 18 low priority medicines has fallen by £31.1 million from £133.6 million, compared to 2016/17. This represents a reduction of 23%.</p><p> </p><p>The volume of medicines prescribed reduced by 27% and the number of patients prescribed these medicines reduced by 32%.</p><p> </p><p>In addition, NHS England has worked with PrescQIPP and the NHS Business Services Authority to refine its assessment of the amount of money spent on over the counter medicines.</p><p> </p><p>In the 12 months to January 2019, the total National Health Service spend in England on over the counter medicines was £449.4 million. This was a saving on total spend of £25.9 million from the 12 months to January 2018, which was £475.3 million. This saving does not account for the potential impact to the NHS from a reduced number of general practitioner appointments, for which no assessment has been made.</p><p> </p><p>These savings will be reinvested into the NHS, ensuring patients can access high quality care now and in the future.</p> answering member constituency South Ribble answering member printed Seema Kennedy question first answered 15/04/2019 12:55:04 answering member 4455 label Biography information for Seema Kennedy
	tabling member	392 label Biography information for Sir Kevin Barron

1110538

	registered interest
	date	09/04/2019
	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	Medical Treatments: Prescription Drugs
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, with reference to the guidance published by NHS England, Items which should not routinely be prescribed in primary care: Guidance for CCGs, what estimate his Department has made of the number of patients that have been refused prescriptions for over-the-counter medicines by their GP since the publication of that guidance.
	tabling member constituency	Rother Valley
	tabling member printed	Sir Kevin Barron
	uin	242691
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 15/04/2019 answer text <p>The Department has made no assessment of the number of patients refused prescriptions for over the counter medicines.</p> answering member constituency South Ribble answering member printed Seema Kennedy question first answered 15/04/2019 12:58:58 answering member 4455 label Biography information for Seema Kennedy
	tabling member	392 label Biography information for Sir Kevin Barron

1110551

	registered interest
	date	09/04/2019
	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	Cancer: Drugs
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps is the Government taking to ensure timely access to maintenance medication for people with cancer.
	tabling member constituency	Sheffield South East
	tabling member printed	Mr Clive Betts
	uin	242692
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 15/04/2019 answer text <p>The Department fully understands that maintaining access to cancer medication is vitally important to many people in this country.</p><p> </p><p>There is already a team within the Department that deals with medicine supply issues arising both in the community and hospitals. We have well established procedures to deal with medicine shortages, from whatever cause, and work closely with the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency, the pharmaceutical industry, NHS England and others operating in the supply chain to help prevent shortages and to ensure that the risks to patients are minimised when they do arise.</p><p> </p><p>If we are aware of issues with cancer medications we work with national clinical experts to advise on management plans and ensure that appropriate information is provided to the National Health Service and specialist patient groups.</p> answering member constituency South Ribble answering member printed Seema Kennedy question first answered 15/04/2019 12:58:08 answering member 4455 label Biography information for Seema Kennedy
	tabling member	394 label Biography information for Mr Clive Betts

1110552

	registered interest
	date	09/04/2019
	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	Medical Treatments
	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 the adequacy of the appraisal process for personalised treatments for small patient groups.
	tabling member constituency	Sheffield South East
	tabling member printed	Mr Clive Betts
	uin	242693
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 15/04/2019 answer text <p>The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) is the independent body that provides guidance on the prevention and treatment of ill health and the promotion of good health and social care. Through its technology appraisal and highly specialised technologies programmes, NICE plays an important role in ensuring that patients are able to benefit from effective new treatments, including treatments for small numbers of patients. NICE has recommended a number of drugs for small patient populations through these programmes that are now routinely funded by the National Health Service for eligible patients.</p><p> </p><p>NICE periodically reviews its methods and processes to ensure that they keep pace with developments in science and healthcare. NICE will be carrying out a review of its technology appraisal and highly specialised technologies methods in 2019/20.</p> answering member constituency South Ribble answering member printed Seema Kennedy question first answered 15/04/2019 12:55:57 answering member 4455 label Biography information for Seema Kennedy
	tabling member	394 label Biography information for Mr Clive Betts

1110572

	registered interest
	date	09/04/2019
	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	Bowel Cancer: Screening
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what the timescale is for the introduction of the faecal immunochemical test for the bowel cancer screening programme in England.
	tabling member constituency	Nottingham North
	tabling member printed	Alex Norris
	uin	242932
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 15/04/2019 answer text <p>The UK National Screening Committee advised that Faecal Immunochemical Test (FIT) is a more sensitive and accurate test than guaiac faecal occult blood test (FOBt), and that more bowel cancers could be detected, and recommended that FIT should replace the currently used FOB test.</p><p> </p><p>Full replacement of the current FOBt with FIT across all Hubs in the NHS Bowel Cancer Screening Programme is planned for summer 2019.</p> answering member constituency South Ribble answering member printed Seema Kennedy question first answered 15/04/2019 12:59:51 answering member 4455 label Biography information for Seema Kennedy
	tabling member	4641 label Biography information for Alex Norris

1110582

	registered interest
	date	09/04/2019
	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	Silica: Health Hazards
	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 his Department has made of the effect on human health of exposure to silica dust; what (a) guidance and (b) legislative measures are in place to control human exposure to silica dust; and if he will make a statement.
	tabling member constituency	West Bromwich East
	tabling member printed	Tom Watson
	uin	242745
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 15/04/2019 answer text <p>Many studies have indicated that silica dust can be harmful when inhaled. In the United Kingdom, all workplaces must comply with the Control of Substances Hazardous to Health Regulations 2002, which sets a workplace exposure limit for silica. Occupational health and safety is under the remit of the Health and Safety Executive, who have issued guidance and advice to help employers manage risks and to raise awareness of the importance of controlling exposure to harmful materials at work which is available at the following link:</p><p> </p><p><a href="http://www.hse.gov.uk/pubns/indg463.pdf" target="_blank">http://www.hse.gov.uk/pubns/indg463.pdf</a></p> answering member constituency South Ribble answering member printed Seema Kennedy question first answered 15/04/2019 13:02:57 answering member 4455 label Biography information for Seema Kennedy
	tabling member	1463 label Biography information for Lord Watson of Wyre Forest

1110596

	registered interest
	date	09/04/2019
	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	Asthma: Medical Equipment
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps his Department is taking to encourage the use of more environmentally-friendly inhalers.
	tabling member constituency	Newcastle-under-Lyme
	tabling member printed	Paul Farrelly
	uin	242727
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 15/04/2019 answer text <p>The Sustainable Development Unit, a joint NHS England and Public Health England unit, has established a cross sector working group on low carbon inhalers. A cross system approach is now being developed into a system wide implementation plan, with specific actions being delivered by individual members of the group. All actions are supporting progress towards or to exceed the NHS Long Term Plan commitment on low carbon inhalers. This will contribute to the overall National Health Service commitment in the Long Term Plan to reduce carbon emissions in line with the UK Climate Change Act.</p><p> </p><p>On 8 April 2019, the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) published a patient decision aid to help people with asthma, alongside health professionals, to identify which inhalers could meet their needs and control their symptoms. Where several inhalers could be viable options, the decision aid helps clinicians and patients choose the more environmentally friendly option, with a lower carbon footprint. It is co-funded by the SDU.</p><p> </p><p>This is the first time NICE has included climate change impacts in any guidance. The decision aid also highlights the need for used devices to be returned to pharmacies for environmentally safe disposal.</p><p> </p><p>A link to NICE’s decision aid can be found at the following link:</p><p><a href="https://www.nice.org.uk/guidance/ng80/resources/inhalers-for-asthma-patient-decision-aid-pdf-6727144573" target="_blank">https://www.nice.org.uk/guidance/ng80/resources/inhalers-for-asthma-patient-decision-aid-pdf-6727144573</a></p> answering member constituency South Ribble answering member printed Seema Kennedy question first answered 15/04/2019 12:57:11 answering member 4455 label Biography information for Seema Kennedy
	tabling member	1436 label Biography information for Paul Farrelly

1110783

	registered interest
	date	09/04/2019
	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	Ophthalmology
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, pursuant to the Answer of 4 April 2019 to Question 239204 on Ophthalmology, whether the NHS Improvement impact assessment (a) covers changes affecting patient access to combined Minimally Invasive Glaucoma Surgery (MIGS) and cataract operation and (b) recognises the procedure as a common practice; and whether the new tariff price was assessed to cover cataract and MIGS as a single operation.
	tabling member constituency	Dudley North
	tabling member printed	Ian Austin
	uin	242747
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 15/04/2019 answer text <p>In considering the proposed prices for the 2019/20 national tariff, the ophthalmology Clinical Expert Working Group (EWG) specifically stated that minimally invasive glaucoma surgery (MIGS) and cataract activity are commonly done together and it would not usually be in the patient’s best interest to do them separately. The prices assigned to HRG BZ91 in the 2019/20 tariff cover cataract and MIGS as a single operation. The EWG and Royal College of Ophthalmology agreed that the BZ91 prices were appropriate, relative to the prices for other ophthalmology procedures.</p> answering member constituency South Ribble answering member printed Seema Kennedy question first answered 15/04/2019 13:01:52 answering member 4455 label Biography information for Seema Kennedy
	tabling member	1511 label Biography information for Lord Austin of Dudley