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1665383

	registered interest
	date	17/10/2023
	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	Brain: Tumours
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how much funding the Government has made available for research into paediatric brain tumours in each of the last five years.
	tabling member constituency	Airdrie and Shotts
	tabling member printed	Ms Anum Qaisar
	uin	203171
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 20/10/2023 answer text <p>The Department invests in health research through the National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR). NIHR invests in research, clinical expertise, specialist facilities, workforce, and support services across a range of clinical areas. NIHR expenditure on cancer research was over £101 million in 2021/22.</p><p>The Government is committed to funding high-quality brain cancer research. In May 2018 the Government announced £40 million for brain tumour research as part of the Tessa Jowell Brain Cancer Mission through the NIHR. This includes research into paediatric brain tumours.</p><p>The £40 million funding will remain available; if we can spend more on the best quality science, we will do. The level of funding for brain tumour research depends on funding applications received. It is worth noting that all applications to NIHR that have been assessed as “fundable” in open competition have been funded and this will continue.</p> answering member constituency Colchester answering member printed Will Quince question first answered 20/10/2023 09:40:25 answering member 4423 label Biography information for Will Quince
	tabling member	4917 label Biography information for Ms Anum Qaisar

1169837

	registered interest
	date	09/01/2020
	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	Carer's Allowance
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many people have been prosecuted for Carer's Allowance (a) overpayments and (b) wrongful payment in the last 10 years.
	tabling member constituency	Airdrie and Shotts
	tabling member printed	Neil Gray
	uin	1757
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 14/01/2020 answer text <p>To provide this information would incur a disproportionate cost to the Department.</p><p><strong> </strong></p><p>The Department would only seek to prosecute an individual where there was strong evidence to suggest that the individual had committed benefit fraud.</p> answering member constituency Colchester answering member printed Will Quince question first answered 14/01/2020 12:58:21 answering member 4423 label Biography information for Will Quince
	tabling member	4365 label Biography information for Neil Gray

1202830

	registered interest
	date	11/06/2020
	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	Debts: Coronavirus
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether her Department has made an assessment of the implications for her policies of the report entitled, Coronavirus and personal debt: a financial recovery strategy for households published by Stepchange in June 2020; and if she will make a statement.
	tabling member constituency	Airdrie and Shotts
	tabling member printed	Neil Gray
	uin	58714
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 24/06/2020 answer text <p>The Government notes this report and contents. It has introduced a suite of measures that can be quickly and effectively operationalised which benefit those facing the most financial disruption during the COVID-19 pandemic. These changes, part of an injection to welfare worth over £6.5bn, include:</p><ul><li>making it easier to access benefits. Those applying for Contributory Employment and Support Allowance (ESA) who may have coronavirus, are self-isolating, or caring for a child (or qualifying young person) who falls into either of those categories, or individuals who have been advised to ’shield’ because they are at high risk of severe illness, will be entitled from day 1 of their claim – as opposed to day 8 - and we have removed the need for face-to-face assessment. Both Universal Credit (UC) and ESA can now be claimed by phone or online;</li><li>increasing the standard allowance of UC by up to £1,040 this year;</li><li>temporarily relaxing the application of the Minimum Income Floor for all self-employed claimants;</li><li>making Statutory Sick Pay available from day 1 – as opposed to day 4 - where an eligible individual is sick or self-isolating; and</li><li>increasing in the Local Housing Allowance rates for UC and Housing Benefit claimants so that it covers the lowest 30% of local market rents – which is on average £600 in people’s pockets.</li></ul><p>These measures, along with the other job and business support programmes announced by the Chancellor, represent one of the most comprehensive packages of support by an advanced economy.</p> answering member constituency Colchester answering member printed Will Quince question first answered 24/06/2020 13:07:28 answering member 4423 label Biography information for Will Quince
	tabling member	4365 label Biography information for Neil Gray

1202831

	registered interest
	date	11/06/2020
	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	Debts: Coronavirus
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what assessment she has made of the implications for her policies of the recommendations of the Stepchange report Coronavirus and personal debt: a financial recovery strategy for households, published June 2020, on ending the five week wait for universal credit.
	tabling member constituency	Airdrie and Shotts
	tabling member printed	Neil Gray
	uin	58715
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 19/06/2020 answer text <p>The Universal Credit assessment period and payment structure are fundamental parts of the design and the current advance system works, and works quickly. It is not possible to award a Universal Credit payment as soon as a claim is made, as the assessment period must run its course before the award of Universal Credit can be calculated.</p><p> </p><p>Advances are in place to ensure financial support is available to those in need as soon as possible, with most claimants able to request an advance of up to 100% of the monthly amount they are due to receive.</p> answering member constituency Colchester answering member printed Will Quince question first answered 19/06/2020 13:58:43 answering member 4423 label Biography information for Will Quince
	tabling member	4365 label Biography information for Neil Gray

1641419

	registered interest
	date	02/06/2023
	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	Drugs and 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, if he will make an assessment of the potential merits of ensuring all producers of products registered by the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency publish (a) net prices, (b) financial and other contributions to their research and development, (c) patent status, (d) licensing agreements and (e) a summary of contractual access conditions.
	tabling member constituency	Airdrie and Shotts
	tabling member printed	Ms Anum Qaisar
	uin	187407
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 13/06/2023 answer text <p>The MHRA is an independent regulator responsible for granting marketing authorisation to a product following a thorough review of an application submitted by its producer. There is no requirement for producers of these products registered by the MHRA to declare the information referenced, as this information is both commercially sensitive and not required for the MHRA to make an assessment of an application for marketing authorisation.</p> answering member constituency Colchester answering member printed Will Quince question first answered 13/06/2023 12:21:10 answering member 4423 label Biography information for Will Quince
	tabling member	4917 label Biography information for Ms Anum Qaisar

1168781

	registered interest
	date	20/12/2019
	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	Employment: Poverty
	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 tackle in-work poverty.
	tabling member constituency	Airdrie and Shotts
	tabling member printed	Neil Gray
	uin	318
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 07/01/2020 answer text <p>Delivering a sustainable, long-term solution to all forms of poverty is a priority for this Government. There is clear evidence that full-time work substantially reduces the risk of in-work poverty; for example, there is only a 7% chance of a child being in poverty if both parents</p><p>work full-time compared with 66% for two-parent families with only part-time work.</p><p>The number of people in employment is at a near-record high of 3.8 million. Around three-quarters of the growth in employment has been in full-time work, substantially reducing the risk of poverty.</p><p>Universal Credit promotes full-time work through smooth incentives to increase hours, a general expectation that lone parents and partners should work (unless caring for young children or a disabled person); and generous childcare subsidies. We will therefore continue with our reforms to the welfare system so that it works with the tax system and the labour market to support employment and higher pay.</p> answering member constituency Colchester answering member printed Will Quince question first answered 07/01/2020 14:50:26 answering member 4423 label Biography information for Will Quince
	tabling member	4365 label Biography information for Neil Gray

1170313

	registered interest
	date	13/01/2020
	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	Employment: Poverty
	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 7 January 2020 to Question 318 on Employment: Poverty, what assessment her Department has made of the effect on in-work poverty of raising the statutory National Living Wage to at least the level of the Real Living Wage.
	tabling member constituency	Airdrie and Shotts
	tabling member printed	Neil Gray
	uin	2555
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 16/01/2020 answer text <p>It is not possible to predict the impact of the real living wage on in-work poverty as poverty projections are inherently speculative as they require projecting how income will change for every individual in society which are affected by a huge range of unknown factors.</p><p> </p><p>On 1 April 2020, the Government will increase the National Living Wage (NLW) for over 25s by 6.2% to £8.72. This increase is projected to meet the Government’s target of reaching 60% of median earnings by 2020. This latest increase will mean that the annual earnings of a full-time worker on the NLW will have increased by nearly £3,700 since the year the policy was announced. In September last year, the Chancellor pledged to raise the NLW to two-thirds of median earnings within five years, making the UK the first major economy in the world to set such an ambition.</p><p>The Government considers the expert and independent advice of the Low Pay Commission (LPC) when setting the NMW and NLW rates. The LPC draws on economic, labour market and pay analysis, independent research and stakeholder evidence. The key distinction between the NLW and other rates, such as the Living Wage Foundation’s voluntary Living Wage, is that the LPC considers the impact on businesses and the economy when making its recommendations.</p> answering member constituency Colchester answering member printed Will Quince question first answered 16/01/2020 14:13:32 answering member 4423 label Biography information for Will Quince
	tabling member	4365 label Biography information for Neil Gray

1170314

	registered interest
	date	13/01/2020
	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	Employment: Poverty
	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 07 January 2020 to Question 318 on Employment: Poverty, what steps she is taking to reform to the welfare system to tackle in-work poverty; and if she will end the sanctions regime for universal credit.
	tabling member constituency	Airdrie and Shotts
	tabling member printed	Neil Gray
	uin	2556
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 16/01/2020 answer text <p>Universal Credit, at the heart of our welfare reforms, aims to reduce the number of workless households by reducing the financial and administrative barriers to work that existed in the previous system of legacy benefits.</p><p> </p><p>In recent years the Government has made significant investment to improve work incentives including:</p><p>o the reduction in the UC taper rate from 65% to 63% in 2017; and.</p><p>o An extra £1.7 billion a year put into UC work allowances for working parents and disabled claimants to increase them by £1,000 a year from April 2019. Providing a boost to the incomes of the lowest paid and resulting in 2.4 million families keeping an extra £630 per year of what they earn.</p><p> </p><p>We have also taken a range of broader steps to help families keep more of what they earn including another rise in the National Living Wage to £8.21 and increasing a full-time worker’s annual pay by over £2,750 since its introduction. Tax changes have also made basic rate taxpayers over £1,200 better off since April, compared with 2010. The most recent changes mean that, from April, a single person on the National Minimum Wage is taking home over £13,700 a year after income tax and National Insurance – £4,500 more than in 2009/10. Additionally, further help is being provided to working families by doubling free childcare to 30 hours a week for nearly 400,000 working parents of three and four-year-olds and introducing Tax-Free Childcare, worth up to £2,000 per child per year;</p><p> </p><p>The Government has no plans to remove sanctions but continue to monitor the operation of the policies and processes to ensure the sanctions system remains clear, fair and effective in promoting positive behaviours.</p><p> </p><p>The Government believes that these improvements help people on UC to keep more of what they earn, support employment and help to make work pay.</p> answering member constituency Colchester answering member printed Will Quince question first answered 16/01/2020 17:12:05 answering member 4423 label Biography information for Will Quince
	tabling member	4365 label Biography information for Neil Gray

1173676

	registered interest
	date	27/01/2020
	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	Homelessness: 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 assessment her Department has made of the effect of the five-week wait for a first payment of universal credit on levels of homelessness.
	tabling member constituency	Airdrie and Shotts
	tabling member printed	Neil Gray
	uin	8323
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 30/01/2020 answer text <p>No one has to wait five weeks for their first payment of Universal Credit. New claim advances are available to support those in financial need until their first payment is made. The Department has learnt from where we did not get things right in the past in the legacy benefit system. Too often, the desire to pay quickly meant claimants not receiving their correct entitlement as we did not have an appropriate timeframe to review household circumstances.</p><p> </p><p>Claimants can access up to 100% of the total expected monthly award, which they can pay back over a period of up to 12 months. We have announced that from October 2021, the repayment period for these advances will be extended further, to 16 months. Proposed repayments of the advance are explained, and all claimants are advised to request a level of advance which is manageable both now and when considering the repayments required.</p><p> </p><p>Our Work Coaches gauge claimants’ financial needs from their first interview. For those who need help with budgeting, we are able to signpost additional support, for example through the Money and Pensions Service (MaPS), who can help with personal budgeting and money management through its free helpline, printed guides and digital guidance.</p><p> </p><p>Alternative Payment Arrangements (APAs), such as a managed payment to landlord (MPTL), are available to enable the housing costs element to be paid directly to the landlord if the tenant is likely to have difficulty in managing their rent payments or is in rent arrears. APAs will only be considered where a lack of financial capability poses a risk to the claimant, or their family, and the decision to implement one is assessed on a case by case basis.</p><p> </p><p>Our own analysis shows that Universal Credit in fact reduces rent arrears, supporting research carried out by the National Federation of ALMOs which shows over three quarters of their tenants come onto Universal Credit with pre-existing rent arrears. It also shows that arrears tend to increase prior to making a claim for Universal Credit, and that Universal Credit actually appears to be helping to clear arrears over time. We are currently extending this analysis to include a number of housing providers. It will be published when completed.</p> answering member constituency Colchester answering member printed Will Quince grouped question UIN 8324 8328 question first answered 30/01/2020 12:07:27 answering member 4423 label Biography information for Will Quince
	tabling member	4365 label Biography information for Neil Gray

1641420

	registered interest
	date	02/06/2023
	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	Infectious Diseases: Disease Control
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether the Government supports provisions in the proposed international agreement on pandemic prevention, preparedness and response on (a) public interest conditions on public research &and development funding, b() price transparency and (c) tech transfer of end products.
	tabling member constituency	Airdrie and Shotts
	tabling member printed	Ms Anum Qaisar
	uin	187408
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 13/06/2023 answer text <p>As negotiations on the pandemic instrument are live and in their early stages, we cannot comment on the details of the United Kingdom’s negotiating position. Driving access to safe, affordable essential medical countermeasures is a key priority for the UK in these negotiations, as is ensuring that measures incentivise innovation to strengthen research and development. Officials are working with international partners and non-state actors to ensure the instrument improves access to vaccines, drugs and tests, while also supporting the life sciences sector.</p><p>We have also been clear that the UK will not sign up to a pandemic instrument or any instrument that would compromise the UK’s ability to make domestic decisions on national measures concerning public health policy.</p> answering member constituency Colchester answering member printed Will Quince question first answered 13/06/2023 10:45:06 answering member 4423 label Biography information for Will Quince
	tabling member	4917 label Biography information for Ms Anum Qaisar