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1134009

	registered interest
	date	24/06/2019
	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
	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 on a universal credit claimant’s health and well-being of the ability to repay hardship payments.
	tabling member constituency	East Ham
	tabling member printed	Stephen Timms
	uin	268345
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 27/06/2019 answer text <p>Hardship payments are available as a safeguard if a claimant demonstrates that they cannot meet their immediate and most essential needs (including accommodation, heating, food and hygiene) as a result of a benefit sanction.</p><p> </p><p>Work Coaches ensure they consider the claimant’s circumstances, including issues relating to their health and well-being, at the point of the new claim to Universal Credit, to tailor the service accordingly. This also includes when claimants are repaying any hardship payments.</p> answering member constituency Reading West answering member printed Alok Sharma question first answered 27/06/2019 14:23:18 answering member 4014 label Biography information for Sir Alok Sharma
	tabling member	163 label Biography information for Sir Stephen Timms

1132808

	registered interest
	date	18/06/2019
	answering body	Home Office
	answering dept id	1
	answering dept short name	Home Office
	answering dept sort name	Home Office
	hansard heading	Educational Testing Service: Standards
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment his Department made of the reliability of ETS’s validation systems before awarding that company a licence to deliver the TOEIC English language test in 2011.
	tabling member constituency	East Ham
	tabling member printed	Stephen Timms
	uin	266059
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 24/06/2019 answer text <p>The licence which allowed TOEIC English language testing to be used for immigration purposes was awarded following a tendering process. As part of this process the Home Office assessed both the equivalence of each tester's English test to a recognised European Standard and security arrangements around testing.</p><p>Details of the security requirements which ETS Global BV were bound to adhere to were provided to the HASC in August 2016. A copy of these requirements can be found at Annex C of <a href="http://data.parliament.uk/writtenevidence/committeeevidence.svc/evidencedocument/home-affairs-committee/english-language-testing/written/36543.pdf%20" target="_blank">http://data.parliament.uk/writtenevidence/committeeevidence.svc/evidencedocument/home-affairs-committee/english-language-testing/written/36543.pdf </a></p> answering member constituency Romsey and Southampton North answering member printed Caroline Nokes question first answered 24/06/2019 15:13:29 answering member 4048 label Biography information for Caroline Nokes
	tabling member	163 label Biography information for Sir Stephen Timms

1133377

	registered interest
	date	19/06/2019
	answering body	Home Office
	answering dept id	1
	answering dept short name	Home Office
	answering dept sort name	Home Office
	hansard heading	Migrants: English Language
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many criminal investigations have been undertaken into (a) students and (b) other people who were alleged to have cheated in the TOEIC English language test.
	tabling member constituency	East Ham
	tabling member printed	Stephen Timms
	uin	266614
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 25/06/2019 answer text <p>The focus of our criminal investigations was on the organised criminal groups operating at a number of colleges or test centres where intelligence supported widespread criminal abuse of the TOEIC test.</p><p>Inevitably this led to investigators interviewing students and other people who had allegedly cheated the TOEIC test. Of these 3 have been charged with offences relating to the cheating of the TOEIC test and await trial. One other person is due to be charged but that person’s whereabouts is currently unknown. In addition, 5 other test takers admitted cheating the TOEIC test and were deemed suitable for, and accepted, a criminal caution.</p> answering member constituency Romsey and Southampton North answering member printed Caroline Nokes question first answered 25/06/2019 12:50:26 answering member 4048 label Biography information for Caroline Nokes
	tabling member	163 label Biography information for Sir Stephen Timms

1133378

	registered interest
	date	19/06/2019
	answering body	Home Office
	answering dept id	1
	answering dept short name	Home Office
	answering dept sort name	Home Office
	hansard heading	Visas: English Language
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, of the 22,694 individuals that the Home Office has identified ETS has limited confidence in the validity of their TOEIC test due to administrative irregularity, how many re-applied for their visas with a new secure English language test.
	tabling member constituency	East Ham
	tabling member printed	Stephen Timms
	uin	266615
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 24/06/2019 answer text <p>Whilst ETS notified the Home Office of 22,694 questionable UK test certificates, the actual number where it was relevant to require a fresh test and an interview with a Home Office official was much smaller.</p><p>The exact information requested is not held centrally and could only be provided at disproportionate cost.</p> answering member constituency Romsey and Southampton North answering member printed Caroline Nokes question first answered 24/06/2019 15:55:06 answering member 4048 label Biography information for Caroline Nokes
	tabling member	163 label Biography information for Sir Stephen Timms

1133379

	registered interest
	date	19/06/2019
	answering body	Home Office
	answering dept id	1
	answering dept short name	Home Office
	answering dept sort name	Home Office
	hansard heading	Overseas Students: English Language
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many students received a section 10 notice as a result of being accused of cheating in the TOEIC English language test.
	tabling member constituency	East Ham
	tabling member printed	Stephen Timms
	uin	266616
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 24/06/2019 answer text <p>The exact information requested is not held centrally by the Home Office. UKVI transparency data provides details of refusal, curtailments and removal decisions on those linked to the abuse of secure English language testing. A link to the most recent available data is provided here;<br><a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/temporary-and-permanent-migration-data-february-2017" target="_blank">https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/temporary-and-permanent-migration-data-february-2017</a></p><p>The table in SELT_02 is the closest match to the information requested</p><p>The data was last published in February 2017 and only contains data to the last quarter (December 2016). ETS data is no longer published after this date.</p> answering member constituency Romsey and Southampton North answering member printed Caroline Nokes question first answered 24/06/2019 16:00:09 answering member 4048 label Biography information for Caroline Nokes
	tabling member	163 label Biography information for Sir Stephen Timms

1134010

	registered interest
	date	24/06/2019
	answering body	Home Office
	answering dept id	1
	answering dept short name	Home Office
	answering dept sort name	Home Office
	hansard heading	Entry Clearances: Overseas Students
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment he has made of whether out-of-country appeals are appropriate for students to challenge visa revocations as a result of allegations of cheating in the TOEIC English language test.
	tabling member constituency	East Ham
	tabling member printed	Stephen Timms
	uin	268346
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 27/06/2019 answer text <p>In 2017, the Court of Appeal in the case of Ahsan found that an out of country appeal was not effective where the person was refused on the basis of alleged cheating in a TOEIC English language test, because there was no mechanism to give oral evidence in place at that time.</p><p>There is a small cohort of people who did leave the UK and have lodged an appeal from overseas and we have been working with HM Courts and Tribunals Service to ensure that they can have an effective appeal, including providing video links where appropriate. These appellants can apply to the tribunal hearing their case to indicate if they want to give live evidence. It is then for the tribunal to decide whether the arrangements the Home Office is able to put in place are sufficient or whether it is necessary for the individu-al to return to the UK for their appeal. There have been a number of hear-ings held abroad using video link and the courts have found that this enabled the appellant to give evidence effectively.</p><p>Following the changes to the appeals system made in the Immigration Act 2014, appeals can only be brought where claims raising asylum, humanitarian protection or human rights claims are refused; where protection status is revoked; in EEA cases and for deprivation of citizenship. Some of those refused on the basis of alleged cheating have made human rights claims and will have an in country right of appeal if refused (unless the claim is clearly unfounded).</p> answering member constituency Romsey and Southampton North answering member printed Caroline Nokes question first answered 27/06/2019 15:24:07 answering member 4048 label Biography information for Caroline Nokes
	tabling member	163 label Biography information for Sir Stephen Timms

1132828

	registered interest
	date	18/06/2019
	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	Hospices: Children
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what recent assessment he has made of the financial sustainability of children’s hospices.
	tabling member constituency	East Ham
	tabling member printed	Stephen Timms
	uin	266060
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 24/06/2019 answer text <p>No recent assessment has been made. The vast majority of hospices were established from charitable and philanthropic donations and are therefore primarily charity-funded and independently run. However, they receive some statutory funding from clinical commissioning groups (CCGs) and the Government for providing local services. The amount of funding is a local matter.</p><p><br> On average, adult hospices received approximately 30% of their overall funding from National Health Service sources. Proportionally less public funding is received by children’s hospices than adult hospices, and this amounts to around 15%, and this is largely due to differences in their development and non-clinical care they provide.</p><p> </p><p>To compensate for the lower levels of statutory funding children’s hospices receive, NHS England manages the Children’s Hospice Grant, which is awarded and administered annually. The Children’s Hospice Grant will provide a contribution of £12 million in 2019/20.</p><p><br> As set out in the NHS Long Term Plan, NHS England committed to increase its contribution to children’s palliative care over the next five years by match funding CCGs who commit to increase their investment in local children’s palliative and end of life care services including children’s hospices. Subject to CCGs increasing investment, NHS England will match this by up to £7 million a year by 2023/24. This increase is in addition to the Children’s Hospice Grant. We would expect hospices to be significant beneficiaries of the additional funding, and in many areas, children’s hospices are the main providers of children’s palliative and end of life care services.</p> answering member constituency Gosport answering member printed Caroline Dinenage question first answered 24/06/2019 15:26:44 answering member 4008 label Biography information for Dame Caroline Dinenage
	tabling member	163 label Biography information for Sir Stephen Timms