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1087149

	registered interest
	date	12/03/2019
	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	Access to Work Programme
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps his Department is taking to improve information for (a) job seekers and (b) employees on the support available through Access to Work.
	tabling member constituency	Newcastle-under-Lyme
	tabling member printed	Paul Farrelly
	uin	231374
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 15/03/2019 answer text <p>Access to Work continues to undertake targeted marketing and awareness raising activities. For example, the scheme is promoted to benefit claimants through Jobcentre Plus and to a range of business leaders through the Disability Confident scheme. We have also worked with a variety of stakeholder organisations to market Access to Work to their clients, including sharing information about how individuals can apply for support.</p><p> </p><p>We are currently testing a number of communication activities to raise awareness of Access to Work among Jobcentre Plus staff in Greater Manchester, in order to equip work coaches with the knowledge to have conversations with customers who may require in work support. We will evaluate the most successful methods before a national roll-out.</p><p> </p><p>Access to Work is also reviewing the content and formats of its existing information channels, including considering how to achieve more effective use of alternative formats such as British Sign Language videos.</p> answering member constituency North Swindon answering member printed Justin Tomlinson question first answered 15/03/2019 14:38:03 answering member 4105 label Biography information for Justin Tomlinson
	tabling member	1436 label Biography information for Paul Farrelly

1131847

	registered interest
	date	12/06/2019
	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	Access to Work Programme: Voluntary Work
	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 potential merits of extending Access to Work to people working on a voluntary basis.
	tabling member constituency	Newcastle-under-Lyme
	tabling member printed	Paul Farrelly
	uin	263749
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 21/06/2019 answer text <p>Access to Work supports people who have a health condition or a disability to move into and sustain paid employment. The current scheme does not support unpaid or voluntary work.</p><p> </p><p>However, we recognise the importance of voluntary work and the benefits this can provide in securing paid employment. Access to Work does assist people who have a health condition or a disability to take up voluntary pre-employment opportunities, such as Work Experience and Work Trials, which may lead to paid employment.</p> answering member constituency North Swindon answering member printed Justin Tomlinson question first answered 21/06/2019 13:32:15 answering member 4105 label Biography information for Justin Tomlinson
	tabling member	1436 label Biography information for Paul Farrelly

1063813

	registered interest
	date	18/02/2019
	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	Accident and Emergency Departments: Standards
	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 potential effect on patient care of removing A&E waiting time targets.
	tabling member constituency	Newcastle-under-Lyme
	tabling member printed	Paul Farrelly
	uin	222748
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 26/02/2019 answer text <p>The Prime Minister announced a clinically-led review of standards in June 2018. The review is considering the appropriateness of operational standards for physical and mental health relating to planned, unplanned urgent or emergency care, as well as cancer. The Review is being led by NHS England’s National Medical Director, Professor Stephen Powis. In the interest of patient safety, we are committed to ensuring that any changes to waiting time standards are based on clinical evidence. Any changes should, and will, only seek to further strengthen current operational standards.</p><p> </p><p>The Review will report its interim findings in the spring of 2019, after which any recommended changes will be carefully field-tested across the National Health Service, before they are implemented.</p> answering member constituency Wimbledon answering member printed Stephen Hammond question first answered 26/02/2019 11:54:30 answering member 1585 label Biography information for Stephen Hammond
	tabling member	1436 label Biography information for Paul Farrelly

1134190

	registered interest
	date	24/06/2019
	answering body	Department for Education
	answering dept id	60
	answering dept short name	Education
	answering dept sort name	Education
	hansard heading	Adoption: Finance
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether he plans to extend the adoption support fund to also cover pre-adoption support and transitional support for prospective adopters and adoptive children.
	tabling member constituency	Newcastle-under-Lyme
	tabling member printed	Paul Farrelly
	uin	268437
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 28/06/2019 answer text <p>In January 2016, we extended access to the adoption support fund to children and their prospective adopters from the point at which the child is placed with them.</p><p> </p> answering member constituency Stratford-on-Avon answering member printed Nadhim Zahawi question first answered 28/06/2019 11:31:35 answering member 4113 label Biography information for Nadhim Zahawi
	tabling member	1436 label Biography information for Paul Farrelly

1107815

	registered interest
	date	29/03/2019
	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	Affordable Housing
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, with reference to the Government's document entitled Homelessness: Causes of Homelessness and Rough Sleeping, published in March 2019, what steps his Department is taking to ensure that there is more affordable housing for people on low incomes.
	tabling member constituency	Newcastle-under-Lyme
	tabling member printed	Paul Farrelly
	uin	238608
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 03/04/2019 answer text <p>The Government is committed to increasing the supply of social housing and has made £9 billion available through the Affordable Homes Programme to March 2022 to deliver 250,000 new affordable homes of a wide range of tenures, including homes for social rent.</p><p>In addition to this, we announced an additional £2 billion of long term funding certainty for housing associations. This extra funding will deliver more affordable homes and stimulate the sector’s wider building ambitions, through strategic partnerships. Our ten year funding commitment through strategic partnerships marks the first time any government has invested such long-term funding in new homes through housing associations.</p><p>Since 2010, we have delivered over 407,000 new affordable homes, including over 293,000 affordable homes for rent.</p><p>On 25 March we published a joint study by MHCLG and DWP on the causes of homelessness and rough sleeping. We are currently considering options for how we will take forward the main study following completion of the feasibility study. We will report back to the Public Accounts Committee in June 2019.</p><p> </p> answering member constituency North West Hampshire answering member printed Kit Malthouse question first answered 03/04/2019 14:36:51 answering member 4495 label Biography information for Kit Malthouse
	tabling member	1436 label Biography information for Paul Farrelly

1136696

	registered interest
	date	03/07/2019
	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	Affordable Housing: Rural Areas
	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 ensure an adequate supply of affordable housing in rural areas to meet the demand from (a) young people and (b) families.
	tabling member constituency	Newcastle-under-Lyme
	tabling member printed	Paul Farrelly
	uin	272775
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 08/07/2019 answer text <p>This Government believes that meeting the housing needs of rural communities is important and has provided nearly 140,000 affordable homes in rural local authorities in England since April 2010.</p><p>Our £9 billion Affordable Homes Programme will deliver 250,000 new affordable homes of a wide range of tenures, including social rent by March 2022. The expanded programme will help meet the housing needs of a wider range of people – those who are on a pathway to home ownership, and those who need support most.</p><p>Since 2015, over 10 per cent of additional Affordable Homes have been delivered in villages with a population of fewer than 3000, and we recognise the importance of these settlements for both economic and housing growth.</p><p>The National Planning Policy Framework makes it clear that in rural areas housing development that reflect local needs should be supported.</p> answering member constituency North West Hampshire answering member printed Kit Malthouse question first answered 08/07/2019 09:57:55 answering member 4495 label Biography information for Kit Malthouse
	tabling member	1436 label Biography information for Paul Farrelly

1125061

	registered interest
	date	07/05/2019
	answering body	Ministry of Justice
	answering dept id	54
	answering dept short name	Justice
	answering dept sort name	Justice
	hansard heading	Age of Criminal Responsibility
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, with reference to the report by the Equality and Human Rights Commission of 7 May 2019, Torture in the UK: update report, whether he has plans to bring forward legislative proposals to raise the age of criminal responsibility in England and Wales.
	tabling member constituency	Newcastle-under-Lyme
	tabling member printed	Paul Farrelly
	uin	251270
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 13/05/2019 answer text <p>We have no current plans to change the age of criminal responsibility. We believe that setting the age at 10 provides flexibility in dealing with young offenders and allows for early intervention in a child’s life with the aim of preventing subsequent offending. That is why there are a range of options available to the police to resolve offences and put in place interventions to prevent further offending. Furthermore, the particular needs of a child will be identified through assessment by the local multi-agency youth offending team who can refer them on to other services for further investigation and support.</p> answering member constituency Charnwood answering member printed Edward Argar question first answered 13/05/2019 16:32:59 answering member 4362 label Biography information for Edward Argar
	tabling member	1436 label Biography information for Paul Farrelly

1122166

	registered interest
	date	18/04/2019
	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	Age: Discrimination
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what recent steps his Department has taken to reduce ageism in the workplace.
	tabling member constituency	Newcastle-under-Lyme
	tabling member printed	Paul Farrelly
	uin	245681
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 30/04/2019 answer text <p>The Equality Act 2010, provides strong protection against direct and indirect age discrimination in employment and makes it unlawful for an employer to discriminate against an employee or a job applicant because of their age, unless the employer can justify it as a proportionate means of achieving a legitimate aim.</p><p> </p><p>Government has put in place a number of measures to support people of all ages to enter and remain in a workplace.</p><p> </p><p>We have taken steps to support younger workers by introducing the Youth Obligation Support Programme, an intensive package of labour market support for 18-21 year-olds looking to get (back) into work. We are committed to providing targeted support for young people, so that everyone, no matter what their start in life, is given the very best chance of getting into work. In April 2019, Mentoring circles were rolled out nationally, which involve national employers offering specialised support to unemployed, young jobseekers to help build their confidence and raise their aspirations.</p><p>To support older workers to remain in or return to the labour market, the Government has removed the Default Retirement Age meaning most people can choose when to retire, and extended the right to request flexible working to all employees with 26 weeks’ continuous service with their employer.</p><p>In February 2017, the UK Government published “Fuller Working Lives: a partnership approach” to set out the role employers, individuals and Government can play in supporting fuller working lives. <a href="https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/587654/fuller-working-lives-a-partnership-approach.pdf" target="_blank">https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/587654/fuller-working-lives-a-partnership-approach.pdf</a></p><p>The Government has also appointed the Business In The Community (BITC) Age at Work leadership team as Business Champion for Older Workers. The BITC team of employers spearhead the Government’s work to support employers to retain, retrain and recruit older workers. They actively promote the benefits of older workers to employers across England.</p><p>The number of older workers in employment is at a record high. There are now 10.4 million people aged 50 and over in the workforce.</p> answering member constituency Reading West answering member printed Alok Sharma question first answered 30/04/2019 11:19:34 answering member 4014 label Biography information for Sir Alok Sharma
	tabling member	1436 label Biography information for Paul Farrelly

1122784

	registered interest
	date	24/04/2019
	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
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment he has made of the effect on investment in (a) farm infrastructure and (b) agri-environment schemes of uncertainty about when and on what terms the UK will leave the EU.
	tabling member constituency	Newcastle-under-Lyme
	tabling member printed	Paul Farrelly
	uin	246957
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 30/04/2019 answer text <p>In the ‘Health and Harmony: the future for food, farming and the environment in a Green Brexit’ consultation, which ran from February to May 2018, we asked ‘what are the main barriers to new capital investment that can boost profitability and improve animal and plant health on-farm?’ Over 3,000 responses were submitted to this question, and the most frequently selected option (77% of respondents) selected ‘uncertainty about the future and where to target new investment’.</p><p> </p><p>The UK Government <a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/news/funding-from-eu-programmes-guaranteed-until-the-end-of-2020" target="_blank">has guaranteed</a> that any Rural Development Programme projects where funding has been agreed before the end of 2020 will be funded for their full lifetime. This applies in both a negotiated and a no-deal scenario. It will ensure continued funding for these projects until they finish and means that Defra and the devolved administrations can continue to sign new projects after the UK leaves the EU during 2019 and 2020. The Government has also committed to provide the same total level of funding for farm support in cash terms until the end of this parliament, expected in 2022.</p><p> </p><p>The Countryside Stewardship scheme is open for applications for both multi-annual agreements starting on 1 January 2020 and capital works, such as for water quality and hedgerows and boundaries. For agri-environment schemes we are developing proposals for the scheme offer from 2021.</p><p> </p><p>As we develop the new Environmental Land Management system and evolve the Countryside Stewardship offer, we will work to ensure we can offer a smooth transition from Countryside Stewardship to the Environmental Land Management system when it becomes fully operational from 2024.</p><p> </p><p> </p> answering member constituency Scarborough and Whitby answering member printed Mr Robert Goodwill question first answered 30/04/2019 12:34:02 answering member 1562 label Biography information for Sir Robert Goodwill
	tabling member	1436 label Biography information for Paul Farrelly

1125038

	registered interest
	date	07/05/2019
	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: Diversification
	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 the Government is taking to support farmers to create a sustainable diversified farming system.
	tabling member constituency	Newcastle-under-Lyme
	tabling member printed	Paul Farrelly
	uin	251236
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 13/05/2019 answer text <p>The Agriculture Bill will help farmers in England to grow strong and diversified businesses producing high quality food in a more sustainable way, enhancing the environment for future generations. We will create an ambitious new system based on paying “public money for public goods”, which will include improving air and water quality, biodiversity and habitats for wildlife. Financial support for innovations like precision farming can also help farmers become more productive, reduce the use of expensive chemicals and protect the environment.</p> answering member constituency Scarborough and Whitby answering member printed Mr Robert Goodwill question first answered 13/05/2019 12:42:07 answering member 1562 label Biography information for Sir Robert Goodwill
	tabling member	1436 label Biography information for Paul Farrelly