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1130137

	registered interest
	date	05/06/2019
	answering body	Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport
	answering dept id	10
	answering dept short name	Digital, Culture, Media and Sport
	answering dept sort name	Digital, Culture, Media and Sport
	hansard heading	Youth Services
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, with reference to the Civil Society Strategy, what the timetable is for reviewing guidance on the statutory duties of local authorities to provide appropriate local youth services.
	tabling member constituency	Lancaster and Fleetwood
	tabling member printed	Cat Smith
	uin	260670
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 10/06/2019 answer text <p>In August last year, my department published the Civil Society Strategy, in which the Government committed to review the guidance which sets out the statutory duty placed on local authorities to provide appropriate local youth services. An announcement will be made shortly. We expect that the review will provide greater clarity of Government’s expectations, including the value added by good youth work.</p> answering member constituency Eastleigh answering member printed Mims Davies question first answered 10/06/2019 15:13:49 answering member 4513 label Biography information for Mims Davies
	tabling member	4436 label Biography information for Cat Smith

1130218

	registered interest
	date	05/06/2019
	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	Yasir Arman
	house id	2
	legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
	question text	To ask Her Majesty's Government what representations they have made to the government of Sudan about the arrest and detention of Yasir Arman; and what information they have about his (1) whereabouts, and (2) well-being.
	tabling member printed	Lord Alton of Liverpool
	uin	HL16079
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 17/06/2019 answer text <p>The British Government condemns the arrest and detention of Yasir Arman by the Sudanese security forces. We are aware that Yasir Arman has been deported to South Sudan. We urge restraint and condemn any acts of violence. The UK also calls for the legitimate demands of Sudanese people to be respected. Violence must not be used, including against opponents. Sudanese people should not be faced with the threat of arbitrary detention. We continue to call upon the Sudanese authorities that all detainees should be treated in accordance with international standards. Our Ambassador in Khartoum made clear to the Deputy Chair of the Transitional Military Committee, on April 15, the steps that needed to be taken to improve the situation in Sudan, including the release of all political detainees. We also engage regularly with civil society groups on the issue of detainee treatment.</p> answering member printed Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon question first answered 17/06/2019 14:37:15 answering member 4210 label Biography information for Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon
	tabling member	738 label Biography information for Lord Alton of Liverpool

1130049

	registered interest
	date	05/06/2019
	answering body	Ministry of Justice
	answering dept id	54
	answering dept short name	Justice
	answering dept sort name	Justice
	hansard heading	Women's Prisons: Telephones
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, with reference to the findings of the Farmer Review, what progress his Department has made on introducing in-cell phones throughout the women’s prison estate.
	tabling member constituency	Stretford and Urmston
	tabling member printed	Kate Green
	uin	260624
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 14/06/2019 answer text <p>Currently, HMP Eastwood Park and HMP Styal have in-cell telephones and this will be extended to HMP Newhall and HMP Foston Hall later this year. This is part of a wider rollout which will see 50 public sector prisons having in-cell telephones by March 2020. This will provide a crucial means of allowing prisoners to build and maintain family relationships, boosting their rehabilitation prospects.</p><p> </p> answering member constituency Charnwood answering member printed Edward Argar question first answered 14/06/2019 12:34:16 answering member 4362 label Biography information for Edward Argar
	tabling member	4120 label Biography information for Kate Green

1130047

	registered interest
	date	05/06/2019
	answering body	Ministry of Justice
	answering dept id	54
	answering dept short name	Justice
	answering dept sort name	Justice
	hansard heading	Women's Centres: Finance
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what plans he has to allocate funding to the network of specialist women’s centres offering holistic support to women affected by the criminal justice system.
	tabling member constituency	Stretford and Urmston
	tabling member printed	Kate Green
	uin	260622
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 14/06/2019 answer text <p>The Female Offender Strategy recognises the role that holistic community services can play in supporting vulnerable women in contact with or at risk of entering the justice system. These services work to support women to address the often complex needs that underlie their offending behaviour.</p><p>This is why, as part of the Female Offender Strategy, we have invested £5 million of funding over two years in community provision for women. This funding will help to sustain and enhance existing services, and create new services where there is currently a gap. This is in addition to the £1 million invested between 2016 and 2020 to support local areas to respond to the needs of female offenders by adopting a multi-agency approach.</p><p>Services such as women’s centres receive funding from a range of sources. We will continue to look at the scope to increase the sustainability of the sector as we take forward the delivery of the Strategy in its second year.</p><p>In the strategy we also committed to develop a ‘residential women’s centre’ pilot in at least five sites across England and Wales. The aim of the pilot will be to develop an evidence base for how we might reduce the numbers of women entering and re-entering custody for short periods. We want to make sure the models we take forward are sustainable, scalable and appropriate for the local context of each site. We have recently concluded our first phase of consultation with stakeholders, partners and providers to inform our scoping. We will continue to consult with partners as we refine the design and delivery of the pilot.</p> answering member constituency Charnwood answering member printed Edward Argar question first answered 14/06/2019 12:31:01 answering member 4362 label Biography information for Edward Argar
	tabling member	4120 label Biography information for Kate Green

1130105

	registered interest
	date	05/06/2019
	answering body	Home Office
	answering dept id	1
	answering dept short name	Home Office
	answering dept sort name	Home Office
	hansard heading	Visas
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps his Department is able to take to support visa applications from Fairtrade producers invited to the UK by the Fairtrade Foundation and other Fairtrade organisations.
	tabling member constituency	Halifax
	tabling member printed	Holly Lynch
	uin	260685
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 10/06/2019 answer text <p>Attending meetings, conferences and seminars are all allowed under the Visitor Rules. UKVI has in place engagement teams who can work with event organisers ahead of events to support them through visa processes. Event organisers can approach UKVI directly, we also identify organisers through engagement with other government department and external Stakeholders.</p> answering member constituency Romsey and Southampton North answering member printed Caroline Nokes question first answered 10/06/2019 15:52:18 answering member 4048 label Biography information for Caroline Nokes
	tabling member	4472 label Biography information for Holly Lynch

1130247

	registered interest
	date	05/06/2019
	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	Vaccination
	house id	2
	legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
	question text	To ask Her Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answers by Baroness Blackwood of North Oxford on 22 May (HL15599 and 15600), which innovative vaccination schedules have been introduced following the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation's advice, including when a dose has been removed from an established programme.
	tabling member printed	Baroness Masham of Ilton
	uin	HL16108
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 18/06/2019 answer text <p>The Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI) is the Government’s independent expert advisory body and its advice has always previously been followed.</p><p>The United Kingdom frequently adopts innovative immunisation schedules and we regularly change the vaccine schedule following the advice of the JCVI.</p><p>The JCVI advised that a two-dose schedule for the infant pneumococcal conjugate vaccine Prevenar13 is appropriate for the UK in place of the current three-dose schedule.</p><p>The JCVI’s advice was given full consideration, taking into account the potential public health implications, such as impact on cases of pneumococcal disease, before a decision was made to implement it. The evidence shows that two doses will sustain the results we have already seen. The decision is based on the excellent effectiveness of the vaccine and years of high uptake, which has helped to provide protection to the rest of the population and has successfully controlled many types of pneumococcal disease in this country.</p><p>We are confident that the world-class disease surveillance system we have in this country means our expert committee can closely monitor the impact of this change.</p> answering member printed Baroness Blackwood of North Oxford question first answered 18/06/2019 12:30:18 answering member 4019 label Biography information for Baroness Blackwood of North Oxford
	tabling member	1850 label Biography information for Baroness Masham of Ilton

1130119

	registered interest
	date	05/06/2019
	answering body	Department for Education
	answering dept id	60
	answering dept short name	Education
	answering dept sort name	Education
	hansard heading	Universities
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps his Department plans to take to assess the social and economic value of different university courses to (a) students and (b) taxpayers.
	tabling member constituency	Cambridge
	tabling member printed	Daniel Zeichner
	uin	260661
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 10/06/2019 answer text <p>We are clear that outcomes are not just about economic returns. Our higher education system transforms lives and is a great contributor to both our industrial success and the cultural life of the nation. High quality provision in a range of subjects is critical for our public services and culturally enriching for our society.</p><p>The Teaching Excellence Framework puts clear information in the hands of students about the teaching quality and outcomes they might expect to receive.</p><p>In addition, the government regularly publishes information on the benefits of higher education ranging from; research publications on student aspirations and the wider non-market benefits, to statistical publications on graduate employment and earning trends including ‘Graduate Labour Market Statistics’ and ‘Longitudinal Education Outcomes’ publications, which can be found on the gov.uk website:</p><p><a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/graduate-labour-market-statistics-2018" target="_blank">https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/graduate-labour-market-statistics-2018. </a></p><p><a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/statistics-higher-education-graduate-employment-and-earnings" target="_blank">https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/statistics-higher-education-graduate-employment-and-earnings. </a></p><p>The government is due to publish an updated study in the coming months on the earnings premium graduates can expect from holding a degree. The latest research, however, can be found here: <a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/229498/bis-13-899-the-impact-of-university-degrees-on-the-lifecycle-of-earnings-further-analysis.pdf" target="_blank">https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/229498/bis-13-899-the-impact-of-university-degrees-on-the-lifecycle-of-earnings-further-analysis.pdf</a>.</p><p>The research suggests that over a working life, graduate returns average £170,000 for males and £250,000 for females, which takes into account the impact of loan repayments, national insurance and income tax payments.</p> answering member constituency Kingswood answering member printed Chris Skidmore question first answered 10/06/2019 15:54:36 answering member 4021 label Biography information for Chris Skidmore
	tabling member	4382 label Biography information for Daniel Zeichner

1130235

	registered interest
	date	05/06/2019
	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: Repayments
	house id	2
	legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
	question text	To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the case for modifiying the repayment of Universal Credit advance payments in order to take into account individual circumstances such as debts related to (1) utilities, (2) Council Tax, and (3) previous loans.
	tabling member printed	Lord Hylton
	uin	HL16096
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 19/06/2019 answer text <p>The Department recognises the importance of safeguarding the welfare of claimants who have incurred debt. Universal Credit already has procedures and regulations in place to protect claimants from excessive deductions. The maximum rate of deductions cannot normally exceed 40 per cent of the Universal Credit standard allowance, and from October 2019 this will be reduced to 30 per cent.</p><p> </p><p>The average advance amount for new claims is around £400, which can be repaid over a period of 12 months, at a rate of £33.33 per month. Therefore, in the majority of cases, advance payment recovery is small in comparison to the whole Universal Credit award, with a current average award of £658 per month.</p><p> </p><p>We recognise that exceptional circumstances may occur to claimants that were not foreseen when the advance was taken out. Help is available for those struggling to meet the recovery rate once recovery begins and if the claimant is facing unexpected financial hardship they can ask the Department for a deferral of the repayment of any advance they have taken out. The deferral periods are up to 3 months for a new claim, benefit transfer or change of circumstances advance and up to 6 months for a Budgeting advance.</p><p> </p><p>Where a claimant has a reduction in benefit due to a Fraud Penalty or Conditionally Sanction that equals or exceeds 40% of their Universal Credit standard allowance then no advance repayment will be taken. If there is insufficient Universal Credit in payment due to reductions such as earnings, other income and capital yield to take the full amount of advances repayment, a lesser amount will be taken.</p> answering member printed Baroness Buscombe question first answered 19/06/2019 11:35:17 answering member 3349 label Biography information for Baroness Buscombe
	tabling member	2018 label Biography information for Lord Hylton

1130153

	registered interest
	date	05/06/2019
	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: Overpayments
	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 5 June 2019 to Question 257458 on universal credit: overpayments, what the (a) cause and (b) reasons were for the overpayments made to the 16,260 people who submitted successful applications for a reduction in their repayment rate.
	tabling member constituency	Birkenhead
	tabling member printed	Frank Field
	uin	260552
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 10/06/2019 answer text <p>Pursuant to the answer to Question 257458, of the 16,260 Universal Credit (UC) claimants who had a UC overpayment, who were successful in having their UC overpayment repayment rate reduced in 2018/19, there were approximately 18,450 individual overpayments as a claimant can have more than 1 UC overpayment.</p><p> </p><p>To answer part (a), the table below provides the classification of those overpayments:</p><p> </p><table><tbody><tr><td><p><strong>Debt Count</strong></p></td><td><p><strong>Debt Classification</strong></p></td></tr><tr><td><p>60</p></td><td><p>Fraud</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>2,620</p></td><td><p>Claimant Error</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>30</p></td><td><p>No Description</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>15,740</p></td><td><p>Official Error</p></td></tr><tr><td><p><strong>18,450</strong></p></td><td><p> </p></td></tr></tbody></table><p> </p><p>To answer part (b), the table below provides general overpayment reasons:</p><table><tbody><tr><td><p><strong>Debt Count</strong></p></td><td><p><strong>Overpayment Reason</strong></p></td></tr><tr><td><p>9,910</p></td><td><p>UC-Other Benefit Not Taken Into account</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>2,770</p></td><td><p>UC-Undeclared Earnings not reported via Real Time Information or Late Self Reporting of Earnings</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>1,840</p></td><td><p>UC-Housing Costs Not Taken Into Account Correctly/ Incorrectly Declared</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>1,130</p></td><td><p>No Description</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>760</p></td><td><p>UC-Not Entitled</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>740</p></td><td><p>UC-Other Income Not Taken Into Account</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>400</p></td><td><p>UC-Ceased Caring or Undeclared Carers Allowance</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>380</p></td><td><p>UC-Non Dependents Not Declared in Household</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>250</p></td><td><p>UC-Duplicate Payments</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>90</p></td><td><p>UC-Childcare Costs Claimed When Not entitled to All / Some</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>90</p></td><td><p>UC-Overpaid Health Premium</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>60</p></td><td><p>UC-Undeclared/incorrect Savings over Allowable Limit</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>30</p></td><td><p>UC- Living Together Not Taken Into Account</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>less than 10</p></td><td><p>Attendance Allowance/Disability Living Allowance – Severe Disability Premium Withdrawn</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>less than 10</p></td><td><p>UC-Undeclared Death Of Partner / Dependant</p></td></tr><tr><td><p><strong>18,450 (Will not sum due to rounding)</strong></p></td><td><p> </p></td></tr></tbody></table><p> </p><p><em>*All figures in this response have been sourced from internal management information and were not intended for public release. They should therefore not be compared to any similar figures subsequently released by the Department. All figures have been rounded to the nearest 10.</em></p> answering member constituency Reading West answering member printed Alok Sharma question first answered 10/06/2019 15:41:57 answering member 4014 label Biography information for Lord Sharma
	tabling member	478 label Biography information for Lord Field of Birkenhead

1130165

	registered interest
	date	05/06/2019
	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: Overpayments
	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 5 June 2019 to Question 257458 on universal credit: overpayments, how her Department defines substantial financial and/or medical hardship.
	tabling member constituency	Birkenhead
	tabling member printed	Frank Field
	uin	260553
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 10/06/2019 answer text <p>The Department does not apply a strict definition as to what constitutes ‘substantial and/or medical hardship’ as these decisions are based on a claimant’s circumstances and the supporting evidence provided. Where an application for waiver is received it will be considered on its own merits, according to the principles set out in Her Majesty’s Treasury’s guidance on Managing Public Money.</p> answering member constituency Reading West answering member printed Alok Sharma question first answered 10/06/2019 15:08:49 answering member 4014 label Biography information for Lord Sharma
	tabling member	478 label Biography information for Lord Field of Birkenhead