Show Search Form

Search Results

registered interest	true false
date	exactly: or between: and
answering body
answering dept id
answering dept short name
answering dept sort name
hansard heading
house id
legislature	pref label
question text
tabling member constituency
tabling member printed
uin
answer	is ministerial correction true false date of answer exactly: or between: and answer text answering member constituency answering member printed grouped question UIN question first answered answering member label
tabling member	label

Search

1037807

registered interest
date	08/01/2019
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	Emigration: Children
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, when he plans for the first payments to be made under the ex-gratia payment scheme for former child migrants.
tabling member constituency	Lancaster and Fleetwood
tabling member printed	Cat Smith
uin	206399
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 16/01/2019 answer text <p>On 19 December the Government published its response to the Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse's (IICSA) Interim Report and its report on Child Migration Programmes. The Government response outlines the Prime Minister’s decision to ensure that former child migrants receive a payment as soon as possible, in recognition of the fundamentally flawed nature of the historic child migration policy. It is our intention that the ex-gratia payment scheme is set up as quickly as possible, and further details will be provided shortly.</p><p> </p><p>We are aware that a number of former child migrants have sadly passed away since the IICSA Child Migration Programmes report was published, so the Government will accept applications in respect of any former child migrant who was alive on 1 March 2018, when the Inquiry’s Child Migration Programmes report was published.</p> answering member constituency Thurrock answering member printed Jackie Doyle-Price question first answered 16/01/2019 17:23:06 answering member 4065 label Biography information for Dame Jackie Doyle-Price
tabling member	4436 label Biography information for Cat Smith

1022924

registered interest
date	10/12/2018
answering body	Women and Equalities
answering dept id	31
answering dept short name	Women and Equalities
answering dept sort name	Women and Equalities
hansard heading	Candidates: Disability
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Minister for Women and Equalities, with reference to the launch of the EnAble Fund for Elected Office, what support her Department is providing to help disabled candidates standing for parliamentary elections.
tabling member constituency	Lancaster and Fleetwood
tabling member printed	Cat Smith
uin	200689
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 13/12/2018 answer text <p>The Government believes that political parties have the prime responsibility for supporting their disabled candidates. We are undertaking a programme of work with disability stakeholders to help political parties to better support disabled candidates.</p><p>Alongside this work we have launched the EnAble Fund for Elected Office which is a £250,000 interim fund to support disabled candidates, primarily for the forthcoming local elections in May 2019.</p><p>The fund will help cover disability-related expenses people might face when seeking elected office which could include items such as British Sign Language Interpreters, Assistive Technology or taxi fares where other modes of transport are not appropriate.</p> answering member constituency Louth and Horncastle answering member printed Victoria Atkins question first answered 13/12/2018 17:47:07 answering member 4399 label Biography information for Victoria Atkins
tabling member	4436 label Biography information for Cat Smith

1020275

registered interest
date	05/12/2018
answering body	Cabinet Office
answering dept id	53
answering dept short name	Cabinet Office
answering dept sort name	Cabinet Office
hansard heading	Electoral Register
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, with reference to section 8 of his Department's policy statement, Proposals for reform of the annual canvass, published on 5 October 2018, how his Department defines potential electors.
tabling member constituency	Lancaster and Fleetwood
tabling member printed	Cat Smith
uin	199441
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 10/12/2018 answer text <p>Electoral Registration Officers (EROs) sometimes have information to indicate that a person is resident at a given address but is not yet registered to vote at that address. Such people are pending or potential electors.</p><p> </p><p>The information indicating that an elector is resident at an address could have come from various sources. For example, it may have been provided by the potential elector themselves, if they have applied to register to vote but their application has not yet been determined. Alternatively, their name might have been added to a Household Enquiry Form returned to the ERO as part of the annual canvass. Or the ERO may have obtained information from local data sources, such as council tax records. Individual citizens can only be added to the register once they have completed an application which allows the ERO to determine their eligibility.</p> answering member constituency Norwich North answering member printed Chloe Smith question first answered 10/12/2018 17:23:04 answering member 1609 label Biography information for Chloe Smith
tabling member	4436 label Biography information for Cat Smith

1020281

registered interest
date	05/12/2018
answering body	Cabinet Office
answering dept id	53
answering dept short name	Cabinet Office
answering dept sort name	Cabinet Office
hansard heading	Electoral Register
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, with reference to section 9 of his Department's policy statement, Proposals for reform of the annual canvass, published on 5 October 2018, how the Behavioural Insight Team has been involved in communications and the design of registration forms.
tabling member constituency	Lancaster and Fleetwood
tabling member printed	Cat Smith
uin	199442
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 10/12/2018 answer text <p>The Electoral Commission (EC) has responsibility for designing registration forms, which are subject to the approval of the Minister for the Cabinet Office following consultation with the Scottish Ministers in respect of forms for use in Scotland and the Welsh Ministers in respect of forms for use in Wales.</p><p>We are working closely with the Electoral Commission on the implementation of canvass reform. Canvass reform will lead to new requirements for canvass forms. We understand the EC intends to undertake user testing on the new forms, with a view to making sure the forms are as clear as possible for the citizen.</p><p>The Electoral Commission has worked with the Behavioural Insight Team on certain forms of registration correspondence. Information is available here: https://www.behaviouralinsights.co.uk/trial-results/improving-the-annual-electoral-canvass/</p><p>EROs are free to offer a range of ways to respond to a Higher Education Framework. Currently, many EROs offer text message, online and paper-based response methods. As part of canvass reform, we intend to with EROs and the Electoral Commission to make sure it is as easy as possible for citizens to respond to requests for information from their local ERO.</p> answering member constituency Norwich North answering member printed Chloe Smith grouped question UIN 199444 question first answered 10/12/2018 17:49:15 answering member 1609 label Biography information for Chloe Smith
tabling member	4436 label Biography information for Cat Smith

1020287

registered interest
date	05/12/2018
answering body	Cabinet Office
answering dept id	53
answering dept short name	Cabinet Office
answering dept sort name	Cabinet Office
hansard heading	Electoral Register
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, with reference to section 9 of his Department's policy statement, Proposals for reform of the annual canvass, published on 5 October 2018, what steps the Government plans to take to increase registration in the number of attainers; and if the Government will reinstate a separate section for 16 to 17 years olds in the Household Enquiry Form.
tabling member constituency	Lancaster and Fleetwood
tabling member printed	Cat Smith
uin	199443
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 10/12/2018 answer text <p>The Government is committed to building a democracy that works for everyone. Throughout 2018 we have taken steps to promote democratic engagement amongst young people in particular, including attainers. By making use of the Suffrage Fund, we have delivered three specific projects. These are the Democracy Ambassadors Scheme to recruit and train youth democracy ambassadors, the development and publication of a toolkit for parliamentarians to engage young people and a new secondary schools resource (www.suffrageresources.org.uk).</p><p> </p><p>Our Register to Vote website is widely used by young people: over 7.3 million online applications have been submitted by 16-24 year olds since 2014.</p><p> </p><p>The Electoral Commission (EC) has responsibility for designing registration forms, which are subject to the approval of the Minister for the Cabinet Office following consultation with the Scottish Ministers in respect of forms for use in Scotland and the Welsh Ministers in respect of forms for use in Wales.</p><p> </p><p>We are working closely with the Electoral Commission on the implementation of canvass reform. Canvass reform will lead to new requirements for canvass forms. We understand the EC intends to undertake user testing on the new forms, with a view to making sure the forms are as clear as possible for the citizen.</p> answering member constituency Norwich North answering member printed Chloe Smith question first answered 10/12/2018 17:15:53 answering member 1609 label Biography information for Chloe Smith
tabling member	4436 label Biography information for Cat Smith

1020290

registered interest
date	05/12/2018
answering body	Cabinet Office
answering dept id	53
answering dept short name	Cabinet Office
answering dept sort name	Cabinet Office
hansard heading	Electoral Register
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, with reference to section 9 of his Department's policy statement, Proposals on reform of the annual canvass, published on 5 October 2018, what assessment his Department has made of response methods to Household Enquiry Forms in order to improve appropriate messaging and encourage responses.
tabling member constituency	Lancaster and Fleetwood
tabling member printed	Cat Smith
uin	199444
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 10/12/2018 answer text <p>The Electoral Commission (EC) has responsibility for designing registration forms, which are subject to the approval of the Minister for the Cabinet Office following consultation with the Scottish Ministers in respect of forms for use in Scotland and the Welsh Ministers in respect of forms for use in Wales.</p><p>We are working closely with the Electoral Commission on the implementation of canvass reform. Canvass reform will lead to new requirements for canvass forms. We understand the EC intends to undertake user testing on the new forms, with a view to making sure the forms are as clear as possible for the citizen.</p><p>The Electoral Commission has worked with the Behavioural Insight Team on certain forms of registration correspondence. Information is available here: https://www.behaviouralinsights.co.uk/trial-results/improving-the-annual-electoral-canvass/</p><p>EROs are free to offer a range of ways to respond to a Higher Education Framework. Currently, many EROs offer text message, online and paper-based response methods. As part of canvass reform, we intend to with EROs and the Electoral Commission to make sure it is as easy as possible for citizens to respond to requests for information from their local ERO.</p> answering member constituency Norwich North answering member printed Chloe Smith grouped question UIN 199442 question first answered 10/12/2018 17:49:15 answering member 1609 label Biography information for Chloe Smith
tabling member	4436 label Biography information for Cat Smith

1020316

registered interest
date	05/12/2018
answering body	Cabinet Office
answering dept id	53
answering dept short name	Cabinet Office
answering dept sort name	Cabinet Office
hansard heading	Electoral Register
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, with reference to section 7 of his Department's policy statement, Proposals on reform of the annual canvass, whether the Government has assessed the potential merits of naming individuals such as landlords, concierge and management companies as responsible officers that are mandated to provide Electoral Registration Officers with details that are required in order to send through an Invitation to Register form to residents.
tabling member constituency	Lancaster and Fleetwood
tabling member printed	Cat Smith
uin	199445
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 10/12/2018 answer text <p>The Government is currently analysing the responses to our consultation, from Electoral Registration Officers (EROs) and others. As part of this we are considering the range of responsible officers that could be required to provide EROs with information to facilitate registration.</p> answering member constituency Norwich North answering member printed Chloe Smith question first answered 10/12/2018 17:38:05 answering member 1609 label Biography information for Chloe Smith
tabling member	4436 label Biography information for Cat Smith

1020326

registered interest
date	05/12/2018
answering body	Cabinet Office
answering dept id	53
answering dept short name	Cabinet Office
answering dept sort name	Cabinet Office
hansard heading	Electoral Register
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, with reference to his consultation on proposals for the reform of the annual canvass, what steps he is taking to put in place (a) an effective year-round registration process and (b) longer-term plans for electoral registration reform.
tabling member constituency	Lancaster and Fleetwood
tabling member printed	Cat Smith
uin	199446
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 10/12/2018 answer text <p>The Government is committed to ensuring that everyone who is eligible to vote is able to do so.</p><p> </p><p>Online registration, introduced in 2014, has already transformed the way many people register to vote by making it easier, simpler and faster. This can be done online at <a href="http://www.gov.uk/register-to-vote" target="_blank">www.gov.uk/register-to-vote</a> in as little as 5 minutes. Three quarters (75.2%) of the over 36 million applications to register to vote since June 2014 were made online and the user satisfaction rate with the website is consistently more than 90%</p><p><br> We keep the registration system under review at all times, especially with a view to its modernising. In doing so, we work closely with a wide range of partners such as the Electoral Commission, the Association of Electoral Administrators, the Scottish Assessors Association and SOLACE (Society of Local Authority Chief Executives).</p> answering member constituency Norwich North answering member printed Chloe Smith question first answered 10/12/2018 17:25:12 answering member 1609 label Biography information for Chloe Smith
tabling member	4436 label Biography information for Cat Smith

1020425

registered interest
date	05/12/2018
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	Voluntary Work: Young People
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what steps his Department is taking to protect youth volunteering charities from financial difficulty; when his Department became aware of the financial difficulties facing vInspired; whether his Department is aware of other regional providers of the National Citizen Service who are in similar financial difficulties; and what estimate his Department has made of the number of young people affected by the closure of vInspired.
tabling member constituency	Lancaster and Fleetwood
tabling member printed	Cat Smith
uin	199447
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 13/12/2018 answer text <p>DCMS invests in youth organisations in a number of ways including the National Citizen Service and the Youth Investment and #iwill Funds in partnership with Big Lottery Fund.</p><p> </p><p>Independent charities are responsible for managing their own funding through various mechanisms including donations, trading and investment; and are accountable for their own financial solvency.</p><p> </p><p>vInspired informed DCMS officials that they were in financial difficulties and expected to shortly commence insolvency procedures in November 2018.</p><p> </p><p>vInspired Education are responsible for delivering the NCS programme in the North East, however this is a separate legal entity to vInspired. We are not aware of any regional providers of NCS who are in financial difficulties.</p><p> </p><p>The Department has assessed that there is no impact to young people on the NCS programme in the North East, and we do not currently hold an estimate of the number of young people who may be affected by other services vInspired provided.</p> answering member constituency Eastleigh answering member printed Mims Davies question first answered 13/12/2018 17:01:02 answering member 4513 label Biography information for Mims Davies
tabling member	4436 label Biography information for Cat Smith