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1134855

registered interest
date	26/06/2019
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: Business Premises
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 guidance his Department has provided to the Valuation Office Agency on dealing with restrictive covenants or planning conditions which apply to domestic dwellings and are intended to prevent any business from operating from such a domestic dwelling when making decisions regarding the transfer of a domestic dwelling from council tax to Uniform Business Rate lists.
tabling member constituency	Totnes
tabling member printed	Dr Sarah Wollaston
uin	269728
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 01/07/2019 answer text <p>The Valuation Office Agency decides whether a property should be subject to council tax or non-domestic rates. The Agency is an executive agency of HMRC and operates independently of Ministers. In reaching a view on the most appropriate listing, the Agency has regard to the relevant provisions of the Local Government Finance Act 1988. I understand that the Agency would not normally take account of whether the use is consistent with planning or other restrictions, rather it would be guided by the facts pertaining to the occupation of the property.</p> answering member constituency Richmond (Yorks) answering member printed Rishi Sunak grouped question UIN 269727 question first answered 01/07/2019 16:32:37 answering member 4483 label Biography information for Rishi Sunak
tabling member	4073 label Biography information for Dr Sarah Wollaston

1134867

registered interest
date	26/06/2019
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	Southern Water
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, with reference to the findings of OFWAT's recent investigation into whether Southern Water breached its statutory duties and licence obligations, what assessment he has made of the safety of the water supply in Southern Water supplied areas.
tabling member constituency	Sheffield, Brightside and Hillsborough
tabling member printed	Gill Furniss
uin	269772
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 01/07/2019 answer text <p>Ofwat’s recent investigation related to the release of wastewater to the environment.</p><p> </p><p>Drinking water supplied by Southern Water is safe for consumers. Water companies are required to provide safe, wholesome drinking water. The Drinking Water Inspectorate scrutinises the results of treated water sampling by companies in England and Wales. This amounts to over 4 million sample results, over 230,000 of which are provided by Southern Water.</p><p> </p><p>Water companies are required to take action when there are issues to be addressed. In the event of short term operational issues affecting supplies, there are well practiced procedures in place for protection of consumers. Companies are also required to rectify issues requiring medium to long term mitigation.</p><p> </p><p>Where the Inspectorate is not satisfied with a company’s response, it will take enforcement actions which range from making suggestions and recommendations through to criminal prosecutions. The Environment Agency is responsible for reporting on the quality of water in the environment.</p><p> </p> answering member constituency Suffolk Coastal answering member printed Dr Thérèse Coffey question first answered 01/07/2019 16:23:04 answering member 4098 label Biography information for Dr Thérèse Coffey
tabling member	4571 label Biography information for Gill Furniss

1134870

registered interest
date	26/06/2019
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, pursuant to the Answer of 25 June 2019 to Question 267343 on Universal Credit, if her Department will (a) investigate the practice of loansharks applying on behalf of an individual for a universal credit advance payment which is then issued as a loan to the individual and (b) review the application process for universal credit advance payments to tackle such practices.
tabling member constituency	Leigh
tabling member printed	Jo Platt
uin	269775
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 03/07/2019 answer text <p>The Department is committed to reducing fraud and error and considers information from a range of sources to progress our investigations. We work hard to identify perpetrators of fraud and ensure we take appropriate prosecution action.</p><p> </p><p>We routinely gather intelligence to assist our understanding of anyone seeking to abuse the safety net that Universal Credit offers. Any exploitation of advance payments is not acceptable, and we are seeking to identify the perpetrators and ensure we take appropriate prosecution action. We have a dedicated team of investigators working on this issue and we regularly raise awareness with our front line staff who understand the risks and raise concerns as appropriate through referrals to Fraud colleagues.</p><p> </p><p>We are committed to keeping all Universal Credit services and processes, including advance payments, under review and will make improvements to address any vulnerabilities in the system. The protection of our most vulnerable claimants remains of paramount importance to us.</p> answering member constituency Reading West answering member printed Alok Sharma question first answered 03/07/2019 15:23:34 answering member 4014 label Biography information for Sir Alok Sharma previous answer version 126277 answering member constituency Reading West answering member printed Alok Sharma answering member 4014 label Biography information for Sir Alok Sharma
tabling member	4673 label Biography information for Jo Platt

1134884

registered interest
date	26/06/2019
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	NHS England: Publications
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 NHS England Private Board meeting papers, whether it remains NHS England’s policy to publish the agenda and papers from NHS England Private Board meetings one year after the meeting; and for what reasons NHS England have not published any Private Board papers since March 2015.
tabling member constituency	Leicester South
tabling member printed	Jonathan Ashworth
uin	269740
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 01/07/2019 answer text <p>The board of NHS England conducts as much of its business as possible in a session that members of the public are welcome to attend and observe. It remains NHS England’s policy to publish private board meeting papers and papers up until May 2018 are now available on the NHS England website at the following link:</p><p><a href="https://www.england.nhs.uk/about/board/meetings/previous/private-papers/" target="_blank">https://www.england.nhs.uk/about/board/meetings/previous/private-papers/</a></p> answering member constituency Wimbledon answering member printed Stephen Hammond question first answered 01/07/2019 16:11:28 answering member 1585 label Biography information for Stephen Hammond
tabling member	4244 label Biography information for Jonathan Ashworth

1134886

registered interest
date	26/06/2019
answering body	Home Office
answering dept id	1
answering dept short name	Home Office
answering dept sort name	Home Office
hansard heading	Domestic Abuse: Ethnic Groups
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps the Government is taking to ensure that BAME women receive the specialist help they need after suffering domestic abuse.
tabling member constituency	Coventry South
tabling member printed	Mr Jim Cunningham
uin	269630
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 01/07/2019 answer text <p>The Government's Violence against Women and Girls (VAWG) Strategy, published on 8 March 2016, sets out the importance of meeting the needs of LGBT and BAME victims and survivors of VAWG, who may experience additional barriers to accessing support.</p><p>To ensure all victims get the right support at the right time, we set out a clear blueprint for local action though a National Statement of Expectations (NSE). The NSE sets out what local areas need to do to prevent offending and support victims and encourages organisations to work with local commissioners to disseminate the NSE and support implementation of best practice. In our VAWG Strategy Refresh, published in March 2019, we committed to conducting a review of the NSE to ensure it remains up to date, robust, and effective.</p><p>We are also taking action to improve the capacity within specialist sectors, as we did by investing nearly £400,000 (£100,000 from the Home Office; nearly £300,000 from Ministry of Housing Communities and Local Government) to Imkaan to build capacity in the specialist BAME sector. We have provided Southall Black Sisters with £1,090,000 from the Tampon Tax Fund to provide support for women with no recourse to public funds through their ‘Recourse to Safety’ project. It will make essential support and protection available to abused women by providing safe accommodation, subsistence and help including counselling, therapy, immigration advice and community awareness-raising.</p><p>We also know that BAME women are more vulnerable to culturally specific types of abuse. We have significantly strengthened the law on forced marriage. We have introduced a forced marriage offence, criminalised breach of Forced Marriage Protection Orders and introduced anonymity for victims of forced marriage.</p> answering member constituency Louth and Horncastle answering member printed Victoria Atkins question first answered 01/07/2019 16:11:22 answering member 4399 label Biography information for Victoria Atkins
tabling member	308 label Biography information for Mr Jim Cunningham

1134887

registered interest
date	26/06/2019
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	Pension Credit
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps her Department is taking to ensure that all pensioners claim all of the pension credit they are entitled to.
tabling member constituency	Coventry South
tabling member printed	Mr Jim Cunningham
uin	269631
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 01/07/2019 answer text <p>The Government is committed to ensuring that older people receive the support they are entitled to and the DWP targets activity on engaging with people who may be eligible to benefits at pivotal stages, such as when they claim State Pension or report a change in their circumstances. The DWP uses a wide range of channels to communicate information about benefits to potential customers; including information on <a href="https://gov.uk/" target="_blank">https://gov.uk/</a>, in leaflets and by telephone. DWP staff in Pension Centres and Jobcentres including visiting officers are able to provide help and advice about entitlement to benefits, as are staff in Local Authorities who administer Housing Benefit.</p><p>Potential customers can use the Pension Credit <a href="https://www.gov.uk/pension-credit-calculator" target="_blank">https://www.gov.uk/pension-credit-calculator</a> to check if they are likely to be eligible and get an estimate of what they may receive. People wishing to claim Pension Credit can do so by calling 0800 99 1234.</p><p>One of the best ways to reach eligible customers is through trusted stakeholder working in the community and we have developed the Pension Credit toolkit, as an on-line tool for agencies and welfare rights organisations to use in order to encourage Pension Credit take-up. It can be found at: <a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/pension-credit-toolkit" target="_blank">https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/pension-credit-toolkit</a></p><p>The toolkit contains resources for anyone working with pensioners and includes guides to Pension Credit. It also contains publicity material and guidance designed to help older people understand how they could get Pension Credit and help organisations support someone applying for Pension Credit as well as ideas for encouraging take-up. The toolkit also provides links to information about disability and carers benefits.</p><p>Most recently we have provided to relevant stakeholders a fact sheet about Pension Credit and the changes introduced on 15 May for mixed age couples to ensure that accurate information is available in the places where people are most likely to seek information.</p><p> </p> answering member constituency Hexham answering member printed Guy Opperman question first answered 01/07/2019 15:51:53 answering member 4142 label Biography information for Guy Opperman
tabling member	308 label Biography information for Mr Jim Cunningham

1134889

registered interest
date	26/06/2019
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 is the median advance payment awarded to people awaiting their first payment of universal credit.
tabling member constituency	Birkenhead
tabling member printed	Frank Field
uin	269644
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 01/07/2019 answer text <p>The median payment for new claim and benefit transfer advances was £380.</p><p> </p><p>Notes:</p><p>The figure relates to Universal Credit full service only</p><p>The figure is rounded to the nearest £</p><p>The median is based on those advances paid between March 18 and February 2019</p> answering member constituency Reading West answering member printed Alok Sharma question first answered 01/07/2019 16:34:46 answering member 4014 label Biography information for Sir Alok Sharma
tabling member	478 label Biography information for Lord Field of Birkenhead

1134890

registered interest
date	26/06/2019
answering body	Department for Education
answering dept id	60
answering dept short name	Education
answering dept sort name	Education
hansard heading	Teachers: Training
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Education, which schools are allocated to each of the teaching school alliance hubs.
tabling member constituency	Tewkesbury
tabling member printed	Mr Laurence Robertson
uin	269621
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 01/07/2019 answer text <p>The areas for the test and learn phase for teaching school hubs were chosen to test a variety of areas, for example, rural, coastal, urban or areas of high deprivation. This was done to test how the teaching school hub model will work in different contexts, prior to a decision being made about national roll out. There is one test and learn area in each regional schools commissioner region. In most cases, the area defined will cover whole local authority districts, aggregating to cover 200 to 300 schools.</p><p>The Department has published a prospectus which includes the names of the local authority districts in each region covered by the initiative. The prospectus can be found here:</p><p><a href="https://www.contractsfinder.service.gov.uk/Notice/98dde964-ac94-410c-8254-1cd573c2dc45" target="_blank">https://www.contractsfinder.service.gov.uk/Notice/98dde964-ac94-410c-8254-1cd573c2dc45</a>.</p><p>As the Department will be funding a maximum of only one hub in each region, it will be for the successful applicants to define the areas in which they operate. The Department will, however, expect hubs to serve all the state schools in their chosen areas.</p><p>The deadline for applications is Friday 26 July and it is not until after this date that it will be possible to determine the exact areas covered.</p> answering member constituency Bognor Regis and Littlehampton answering member printed Nick Gibb grouped question UIN 269622 question first answered 01/07/2019 16:56:56 answering member 111 label Biography information for Nick Gibb
tabling member	253 label Biography information for Mr Laurence Robertson

1134892

registered interest
date	26/06/2019
answering body	Department for Education
answering dept id	60
answering dept short name	Education
answering dept sort name	Education
hansard heading	Teachers: Training
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what criteria his Department used to decide the regions that are pilots for the new teaching school alliance hubs; and if he will make a statement.
tabling member constituency	Tewkesbury
tabling member printed	Mr Laurence Robertson
uin	269622
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 01/07/2019 answer text <p>The areas for the test and learn phase for teaching school hubs were chosen to test a variety of areas, for example, rural, coastal, urban or areas of high deprivation. This was done to test how the teaching school hub model will work in different contexts, prior to a decision being made about national roll out. There is one test and learn area in each regional schools commissioner region. In most cases, the area defined will cover whole local authority districts, aggregating to cover 200 to 300 schools.</p><p>The Department has published a prospectus which includes the names of the local authority districts in each region covered by the initiative. The prospectus can be found here:</p><p><a href="https://www.contractsfinder.service.gov.uk/Notice/98dde964-ac94-410c-8254-1cd573c2dc45" target="_blank">https://www.contractsfinder.service.gov.uk/Notice/98dde964-ac94-410c-8254-1cd573c2dc45</a>.</p><p>As the Department will be funding a maximum of only one hub in each region, it will be for the successful applicants to define the areas in which they operate. The Department will, however, expect hubs to serve all the state schools in their chosen areas.</p><p>The deadline for applications is Friday 26 July and it is not until after this date that it will be possible to determine the exact areas covered.</p> answering member constituency Bognor Regis and Littlehampton answering member printed Nick Gibb grouped question UIN 269621 question first answered 01/07/2019 16:56:56 answering member 111 label Biography information for Nick Gibb
tabling member	253 label Biography information for Mr Laurence Robertson

1134893

registered interest
date	26/06/2019
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, how many and what proportion of repayment schedules for advance payments awarded to people awaiting their first universal credit claim have been timetabled to (a) one to three months, (b) four to six months, (c) seven to nine months and (d) 10-12 months by Jobcentre Plus district in the most recent period for which figures are available.
tabling member constituency	Birkenhead
tabling member printed	Frank Field
uin	269646
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 01/07/2019 answer text <p>The repayment schedule for an advance payment is agreed by the claimant.</p><p>The information requested is provided in the attached table which gives the proportion of repayment schedules for new claim and benefit transfer advances by Jobcentre Plus district.</p><p>From October 2021 we will be increasing the recovery period for advances from 12 to 16 months, further supporting those in financial need.</p><p>Notes:</p><p>The figures relate to Universal Credit full service only</p><p>The figures are rounded to the nearest %</p><p>The proportions are based on those advances paid between March 18 and February 2019</p> answering member constituency Reading West answering member printed Alok Sharma question first answered 01/07/2019 16:31:42 answering member 4014 label Biography information for Sir Alok Sharma attachment 1 file name PQ 269646 table.xlsx title Table attachment
tabling member	478 label Biography information for Lord Field of Birkenhead