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1105283

	registered interest
	date	26/04/2019
	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	European Regional Development Fund
	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 Department plans he has to replicate the infrastructure investment priorities of the European Regional Development Fund once the UK leaves the EU structural funds.
	tabling member constituency	Blaenau Gwent
	tabling member printed	Nick Smith
	uin	237075
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 02/04/2019 answer text <p>The Government will create the UK Shared Prosperity Fund once we have left the European Union. The UK Shared Prosperity Fund will strengthen the foundations of productivity as set out in our modern Industrial Strategy to support people to benefit from economic prosperity. This new Fund will ensure that investments are targeted effectively to align with the challenges faced by places, creating a fresh opportunity to focus investment according to our own priorities. We are continuing to work on the design and priorities and we will consult widely on the UK Shared Prosperity Fund. This will give all interested parties the chance to contribute their views to Government. Final decisions are due to be made during the Spending Review.</p> answering member constituency Rossendale and Darwen answering member printed Jake Berry question first answered 02/04/2019 14:31:04 answering member 4060 label Biography information for Sir Jake Berry
	tabling member	3928 label Biography information for Nick Smith

1123242

	registered interest
	date	25/04/2019
	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	Refuges: Finance
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, whether his Department holds information on the amount of Government funding allocated to women's refuges for each calendar year after 2013.
	tabling member constituency	Blaenau Gwent
	tabling member printed	Nick Smith
	uin	247658
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 01/05/2019 answer text <p>Since 2014 MHCLG has invested £55.5 million in services in England to support victims of domestic abuse, including refuges.</p><p>Our £10 million fund to local authorities (2014-2016), where we released £3 million in 2014 and £7 million in 2015, helped 148 local authorities strengthen refuge provision for victims and offer support to women from outside their own area.</p><p>The £3.5 million fund (2015-2016), also released in 2015, supported 46 local authorities and their partners to deliver 710 new bed spaces for 3,798 victims of domestic abuse.</p><p>Through our £20 million fund (2016-2018) we released £3.2 million in 2016 and £17.2 million in 2017. This supported 80 projects across the country, helping to create more than 2,000 bed spaces and giving support to over 19,000 victims and their families.</p><p>My Department’s current £22 million fund (2018-2020) is supporting 63 projects across England to provide support for over 25,000 victims, and their families, and over 2,200 additional bed spaces in accommodation-based services, including refuge. To facilitate this, we released £9.8 million in 2018 and on 30 April 2019 we released the final instalment of £12.2 million to cover the 2019 to 2020 financial year. Funding beyond March 2020 is for decision at the next Spending Review.</p> answering member constituency South Derbyshire answering member printed Mrs Heather Wheeler grouped question UIN 247659 question first answered 01/05/2019 14:57:14 answering member 4053 label Biography information for Mrs Heather Wheeler
	tabling member	3928 label Biography information for Nick Smith

1123244

	registered interest
	date	25/04/2019
	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	Refuges: Finance
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, whether his Department holds information on the amount of Government funding planned for women's refuges for the next calendar year.
	tabling member constituency	Blaenau Gwent
	tabling member printed	Nick Smith
	uin	247659
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 01/05/2019 answer text <p>Since 2014 MHCLG has invested £55.5 million in services in England to support victims of domestic abuse, including refuges.</p><p>Our £10 million fund to local authorities (2014-2016), where we released £3 million in 2014 and £7 million in 2015, helped 148 local authorities strengthen refuge provision for victims and offer support to women from outside their own area.</p><p>The £3.5 million fund (2015-2016), also released in 2015, supported 46 local authorities and their partners to deliver 710 new bed spaces for 3,798 victims of domestic abuse.</p><p>Through our £20 million fund (2016-2018) we released £3.2 million in 2016 and £17.2 million in 2017. This supported 80 projects across the country, helping to create more than 2,000 bed spaces and giving support to over 19,000 victims and their families.</p><p>My Department’s current £22 million fund (2018-2020) is supporting 63 projects across England to provide support for over 25,000 victims, and their families, and over 2,200 additional bed spaces in accommodation-based services, including refuge. To facilitate this, we released £9.8 million in 2018 and on 30 April 2019 we released the final instalment of £12.2 million to cover the 2019 to 2020 financial year. Funding beyond March 2020 is for decision at the next Spending Review.</p> answering member constituency South Derbyshire answering member printed Mrs Heather Wheeler grouped question UIN 247658 question first answered 01/05/2019 14:57:14 answering member 4053 label Biography information for Mrs Heather Wheeler
	tabling member	3928 label Biography information for Nick Smith

1121400

	registered interest
	date	11/04/2019
	answering body	Cabinet Office
	answering dept id	53
	answering dept short name	Cabinet Office
	answering dept sort name	Cabinet Office
	hansard heading	Electoral Register: Blaenau Gwent
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what estimate his Department has made of the number of uncompleted applications to the electoral register in Blaenau Gwent in (a) 2016, (b) 2017 and (c)2018.
	tabling member constituency	Blaenau Gwent
	tabling member printed	Nick Smith
	uin	244046
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 23/04/2019 answer text <p>Since its introduction, over 38 million applications have been facilitated nationally through the Individual Electoral Registration Digital Service, of which over 75% (29 million) of applications were made online via the Register to Vote website. Applications are processed locally by the Electoral Registration Officers who are responsible for completing the registration process and adding an individual to the electoral register. We therefore don’t have access to any statistics on the number of applications that do not complete this process. However, these may be held at the local level.</p> answering member constituency Norwich North answering member printed Chloe Smith question first answered 23/04/2019 09:45:39 answering member 1609 label Biography information for Chloe Smith
	tabling member	3928 label Biography information for Nick Smith

1121401

	registered interest
	date	11/04/2019
	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, what estimate his Department has made of the number of uncompleted applications to join the electoral register in (a) 2016, (b) 2017 and (c) 2018.
	tabling member constituency	Blaenau Gwent
	tabling member printed	Nick Smith
	uin	244047
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 23/04/2019 answer text <p>Since its introduction, over 38 million applications have been facilitated nationally through the Individual Electoral Registration Digital Service, of which over 75% (29 million) of applications were made online via the Register to Vote website. Applications are processed locally by the Electoral Registration Officers who are responsible for completing the registration process and adding an individual to the electoral register. We therefore don’t have access to any statistics on the number of applications that do not complete this process. However, these may be held at the local level.</p> answering member constituency Norwich North answering member printed Chloe Smith question first answered 23/04/2019 09:45:49 answering member 1609 label Biography information for Chloe Smith
	tabling member	3928 label Biography information for Nick Smith

1121402

	registered interest
	date	11/04/2019
	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, what assessment his Department has made of the demographic profile of individuals who began but did not complete the voter registration process in (a) 2016, (b) 2017 and(c) 2018.
	tabling member constituency	Blaenau Gwent
	tabling member printed	Nick Smith
	uin	244048
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 23/04/2019 answer text <p>Since its introduction, over 38 million applications have been facilitated nationally through the Individual Electoral Registration Digital Service, of which over 75% (29 million) of applications were made online via the Register to Vote website. Applications are processed locally by the Electoral Registration Officers who are responsible for completing the registration process and adding an individual to the electoral register. We therefore don’t have access to any statistics on the number of applications that do not complete this process. However, these may be held at the local level.</p> answering member constituency Norwich North answering member printed Chloe Smith question first answered 23/04/2019 09:45:58 answering member 1609 label Biography information for Chloe Smith
	tabling member	3928 label Biography information for Nick Smith

1110173

	registered interest
	date	08/04/2019
	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	Dermatology: Training
	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 the Government has made of the quality of (a) undergraduate level and (b) specialist general practice dermatology training.
	tabling member constituency	Blaenau Gwent
	tabling member printed	Nick Smith
	uin	242084
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 12/04/2019 answer text <p>Each individual medical school sets its own undergraduate medical curriculum. These have to meet the standards set by the General Medical Council (GMC) in ‘Promoting excellence’, who then monitor and check to make sure that these standards are maintained. The curricula for postgraduate specialty training is set by individual royal colleges and faculties, and the GMC approves curricula and assessment systems for each training programme.</p><p> </p><p>There are no specific medical dermatology undergraduate training pathways, as all medical students complete a medical degree and foundation training to the point of GMC registration, and then students can specialise in dermatology as part of a postgraduate core medical training and higher specialty training programme. Dermatology is one of 30 specialties within the medicine specialty group. It is a highly competitive specialty and often oversubscribed.</p><p> </p><p>The number of medical specialty training places in England that are available each year is set by Health Education England and is based on their assessment of service gaps and predicted workforce needs. There has been a 100% fill rate in dermatology training in England for the past six years.</p><p> </p><p>Dermatologist education and training and recruitment in Wales, Northern Ireland and Scotland is a matter for the devolved administrations.</p> answering member constituency Wimbledon answering member printed Stephen Hammond question first answered 12/04/2019 13:56:35 answering member 1585 label Biography information for Stephen Hammond
	tabling member	3928 label Biography information for Nick Smith

1109978

	registered interest
	date	05/04/2019
	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	Coalfields Regeneration Trust: Finance
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, how much funding his Department allocated to the Coalfields Regeneration Trust in (a) 2016, (b) 2017 and (c) 2018.
	tabling member constituency	Blaenau Gwent
	tabling member printed	Nick Smith
	uin	241418
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 10/04/2019 answer text <p>This Department has not provided the Coalfields Regeneration Trust (CRT) with any direct funding since 2015. Our investment in the CRT from 2010 to 2015 was designed to assist the organisation to become self-sustaining, supporting them to respond to needs and opportunities in coalfield communities.</p> answering member constituency Rossendale and Darwen answering member printed Jake Berry question first answered 10/04/2019 14:09:05 answering member 4060 label Biography information for Sir Jake Berry
	tabling member	3928 label Biography information for Nick Smith

1109979

	registered interest
	date	05/04/2019
	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	Dermatology: Waiting Lists
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what plans his Department has for proposals to improve waiting times for dermatology patients.
	tabling member constituency	Blaenau Gwent
	tabling member printed	Nick Smith
	uin	241419
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 12/04/2019 answer text <p>Clinical commissioning groups are putting in place initiatives to help better manage the increasing demand for dermatology services. This has included developing clear multidisciplinary pathways and care models that address patients’ physical and psychological needs, better use of teledermatology as well as a clear model for community dermatology; using nurses, pharmacists and general practitioners with extended roles to ensure that patients receive the right treatment and care in the most appropriate setting.</p><p> </p><p>The National Health Service has worked with local sites and published a handbook that describes what local health and care systems can do to transform dermatology elective care services at pace, why this is necessary and how the impact of this transformation can be measured. Practical guidance for implementing and adopting a range of interventions locally is included to help ensure patients see the right person, in the right place, first time.</p><p> </p><p>The dermatology handbook can be found on the NHS England website at the following link:</p><p> </p><p><a href="https://www.england.nhs.uk/wp-content/uploads/2019/01/dermatology-elective-care-handbook-v1.pdf" target="_blank">https://www.england.nhs.uk/wp-content/uploads/2019/01/dermatology-elective-care-handbook-v1.pdf</a></p> answering member constituency Wimbledon answering member printed Stephen Hammond question first answered 12/04/2019 13:58:19 answering member 1585 label Biography information for Stephen Hammond
	tabling member	3928 label Biography information for Nick Smith

1105281

	registered interest
	date	26/03/2019
	answering body	Department for Transport
	answering dept id	27
	answering dept short name	Transport
	answering dept sort name	Transport
	hansard heading	Motor Vehicles: Exhaust Emissions
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what recent assessment he has made of the effectiveness of enforcement mechanisms to ensure legal compliance of car manufacturers with emissions targets.
	tabling member constituency	Blaenau Gwent
	tabling member printed	Nick Smith
	uin	237073
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 29/03/2019 answer text <p>Since 2015, the Department has more than quadrupled its resource investment in this area. It is continuing to build both its capacity and capability to test a wide selection of vehicles in order to ensure their continuing compliance with emissions standards.</p><p>In 2016, the Department established the Market Surveillance Unit (MSU), within the Driver Vehicle and Standards Agency (DVSA). The MSU works closely with the Vehicle Certification Agency (VCA) to check that new road vehicles placed on the UK market comply with the relevant legal obligations. The MSU publishes a yearly report of its findings, and its most recent report is at:</p><p><a href="https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/691601/vehicle-market-surveillance-unit-programme-results-2017.pdf" target="_blank">https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/691601/vehicle-market-surveillance-unit-programme-results-2017.pdf</a></p><p>New regulations were introduced in 2018 which make it an offence for a manufacturer to supply a vehicle to the UK market which contains a prohibited defeat device. The fines can be up to £50,000 per offence.</p> answering member constituency Hereford and South Herefordshire answering member printed Jesse Norman question first answered 29/03/2019 12:43:18 answering member 3991 label Biography information for Jesse Norman
	tabling member	3928 label Biography information for Nick Smith

1105282

	registered interest
	date	26/03/2019
	answering body	Department for Transport
	answering dept id	27
	answering dept short name	Transport
	answering dept sort name	Transport
	hansard heading	Transport: South Wales
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment his Department has made of the need for UK Government investment in transport infrastructure in South Wales after the UK leaves the European Union; and if he will make a statement.
	tabling member constituency	Blaenau Gwent
	tabling member printed	Nick Smith
	uin	237074
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 03/04/2019 answer text <p>The Government works closely with the Welsh Government on the specification and funding of Network Rail’s operations in England and Wales for each five year railway Control Period. The approach we are using to assess the need for investment into rail infrastructure in South Wales will remain unchanged after the UK leaves the EU. We will continue to consider rail investments in line with the Rail Network Enhancements Pipeline (RNEP). Network Rail’s Control Period 6 Strategic Business Plan, covering the period from April 2019 to 2024, states a total proposed investment of £1.34bn in rail across Wales and Borders.</p><p> </p><p>Investment in road infrastructure is a devolved responsibility and would be a matter for the Welsh Government.</p> answering member constituency Epsom and Ewell answering member printed Chris Grayling question first answered 03/04/2019 10:25:48 answering member 1413 label Biography information for Lord Grayling
	tabling member	3928 label Biography information for Nick Smith

1105284

	registered interest
	date	26/03/2019
	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	Cancer: Screening
	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 merits of raising the current clinical age limits for screening for (a) breast and (b) cervical cancer.
	tabling member constituency	Blaenau Gwent
	tabling member printed	Nick Smith
	uin	237076
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 02/04/2019 answer text <p>In response to the Independent Breast Screening Review 2018, the United Kingdom National Screening Committee (UK NSC) has commissioned work to help clarify what the upper screening age in breast should be and discussed the findings at its meeting in February. The recommendation will be made to Ministers and minutes of the UK NSC meeting will be made available six weeks after the meeting at the following link:</p><p> </p><p><a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/groups/uk-national-screening-committee-uk-nsc" target="_blank">https://www.gov.uk/government/groups/uk-national-screening-committee-uk-nsc</a></p><p> </p><p>We continue to wait for the results of the Age Extension Trial to help provide the evidence needed to better understand what the benefits and harms are when offering screening outside the current recommended screening age.</p><p> </p><p>Regarding the age for cervical screening, women will stop receiving routine invitations once they reach 65 unless they need ongoing surveillance or follow up. The natural history of cervical cancer means that it is unlikely that women over this age who have been regularly screened will go on to develop cervical cancer; furthermore, we know that screening becomes more uncomfortable for women as the cervix is less visible after menopause.</p> answering member constituency Gosport answering member printed Caroline Dinenage question first answered 02/04/2019 15:44:22 answering member 4008 label Biography information for Dame Caroline Dinenage
	tabling member	3928 label Biography information for Nick Smith

1105285

	registered interest
	date	26/03/2019
	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	National Child Measurement Programme
	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 his Department has made of the merits of extending the National Child Measurement Programme to other primary school age groups.
	tabling member constituency	Blaenau Gwent
	tabling member printed	Nick Smith
	uin	237077
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 03/04/2019 answer text <p>I refer the hon. Member to the answer given by the former Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Public Health and Primary Care (Steve Brine MP) to the hon. Member for Liverpool, Wavertree (Luciana Berger MP) on 7 February 2019 to Question <a href="https://www.parliament.uk/business/publications/written-questions-answers-statements/written-question/Commons/2019-02-04/216349/" target="_blank">216349</a>.</p> answering member constituency Thurrock answering member printed Jackie Doyle-Price question first answered 03/04/2019 11:22:35 answering member 4065 label Biography information for Dame Jackie Doyle-Price
	tabling member	3928 label Biography information for Nick Smith

1105286

	registered interest
	date	26/03/2019
	answering body	Treasury
	answering dept id	14
	answering dept short name	Treasury
	answering dept sort name	Treasury
	hansard heading	Pensions: Advisory Services
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment he has made of the effectiveness of current (a) legal (b) administrative and (c) financial penalties for the provision of poor pension transfer advice.
	tabling member constituency	Blaenau Gwent
	tabling member printed	Nick Smith
	uin	237078
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 03/04/2019 answer text <p>The Government is committed to working with the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA), the independent financial services regulator, to ensure consumers have access to high quality financial advice. The FCA is responsible for ensuring that the financial advice market works well, competitively and fairly. The Government has established a strong regulatory framework to enable the FCA’s work.</p><p> </p><p>The FCA has considerable power to take action where it sees evidence of poor pension transfer advice. For example, they may impose a financial penalty on firms or individuals, require the firm to pay redress to its customers, place restrictions on the firm’s permissions or prohibit individuals from operating in financial services.</p> answering member constituency Salisbury answering member printed John Glen question first answered 03/04/2019 10:41:01 answering member 4051 label Biography information for John Glen
	tabling member	3928 label Biography information for Nick Smith

1105288

	registered interest
	date	26/03/2019
	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	Pensions: Advisory Services
	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 level of coordination between the Pensions Regulator and the Financial Conduct Authority in relation to defined benefit pension transfer advice.
	tabling member constituency	Blaenau Gwent
	tabling member printed	Nick Smith
	uin	237080
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 02/04/2019 answer text <p>The DWP are urging the two organisations to work much more closely together. The Pension’s Regulator and the Financial Conduct Authority carry out their functions independently. The Pension’s Regulator launched a joint protocol with Financial Conduct Authority in January 2019. The Protocol is intended to improve coordination between the Financial Conduct Authority, The Pension’s Regulator and the Pensions Advisory Service to help pension scheme trustees to ensure their members are adequately and fully informed when considering transferring their defined benefit pensions.</p> answering member constituency Hexham answering member printed Guy Opperman question first answered 02/04/2019 16:28:51 answering member 4142 label Biography information for Guy Opperman
	tabling member	3928 label Biography information for Nick Smith

1077662

	registered interest
	date	26/02/2019
	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	NHS: Drugs
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, pursuant to his oral Answer of 19 February 2019, Official Report, column 1315, on Leaving the EU: Contingency Planning, how his Department calculated the estimated cost of NHS no-deal contingency plans.
	tabling member constituency	Blaenau Gwent
	tabling member printed	Nick Smith
	uin	226083
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 06/03/2019 answer text <p>The £11 million (approximate) figure quoted by my Rt. hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, refers to the costs of the contracts the Department has signed with warehouse providers to provide storage facilities to stockpile medicines in case of the United Kingdom leaving the European Union without a deal on 29 March 2019.</p> answering member constituency Wimbledon answering member printed Stephen Hammond question first answered 06/03/2019 10:59:22 answering member 1585 label Biography information for Stephen Hammond
	tabling member	3928 label Biography information for Nick Smith

1055083

	registered interest
	date	05/02/2019
	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	Personal Independence Payment: Blaenau Gwent
	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 11 January 2019 to Question 204471 on Personal Independence Payment: Blaenau Gwent, what information her Department holds on the (a) number and (b) value of hardship payments made to claimants from Blaenau Gwent while awaiting payment for arrears as a result of a successful Tribunal decision.
	tabling member constituency	Blaenau Gwent
	tabling member printed	Nick Smith
	uin	217042
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 13/02/2019 answer text <p>We aim to pay arrears on overturned cases as soon as we can, providing we have all the required information to do so, for example, up to date claimant bank details.</p><p> </p><p>Personal Independence Payment (PIP) is not an income replacement benefit; it can be received in or out of work therefore hardship payments are not made in these circumstances.</p><p> </p><p>The Department for Work and Pensions administers a wide range of benefits and allowances for which there are a range of conditions for entitlement. Some of these benefits may be of help, including Universal Credit.</p> answering member constituency Truro and Falmouth answering member printed Sarah Newton question first answered 13/02/2019 15:31:41 answering member 4071 label Biography information for Sarah Newton
	tabling member	3928 label Biography information for Nick Smith

1055086

	registered interest
	date	05/02/2019
	answering body	Department for Transport
	answering dept id	27
	answering dept short name	Transport
	answering dept sort name	Transport
	hansard heading	Volkswagen
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, pursuant to his Answer of 16 January 2019 to Question 207177 on Volkswagen: Exhaust Emissions, what investigations his Department conducted to determine that no wrongdoing has taken place within the UK.
	tabling member constituency	Blaenau Gwent
	tabling member printed	Nick Smith
	uin	217045
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 12/02/2019 answer text <p>The relevant engines were designed, developed, manufactured and presented for type approval (either by the UK Vehicle Certification Agency or other EU type approval authorities) outside the UK. The Government has not aware of any evidence that representatives of VW UK were aware of the wrongdoing.</p><p> </p><p>Evidence on this matter is likely to flow, if at all, from the investigation now being undertaken in Germany. In these circumstances it would not be appropriate for the UK to carry out a separate parallel investigation, and there would be significant difficulties in obtaining evidence. However, the Government has reserved its position on this matter and continues to monitor the German investigation with interest.</p><p> </p><p>Given that the German investigation remains under way, the Secretary of State has had no further recent discussions with his German counterpart.</p> answering member constituency Hereford and South Herefordshire answering member printed Jesse Norman grouped question UIN 217046 question first answered 12/02/2019 15:57:47 answering member 3991 label Biography information for Jesse Norman
	tabling member	3928 label Biography information for Nick Smith

1055087

	registered interest
	date	05/02/2019
	answering body	Department for Transport
	answering dept id	27
	answering dept short name	Transport
	answering dept sort name	Transport
	hansard heading	Volkswagen
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, pursuant to the Answer of 16 January 2019 to Question 207177 on Volkswagen: Exhaust Emissions, what recent discussions he has had with his German counterpart on criminal proceedings against executives of Volkswagen.
	tabling member constituency	Blaenau Gwent
	tabling member printed	Nick Smith
	uin	217046
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 12/02/2019 answer text <p>The relevant engines were designed, developed, manufactured and presented for type approval (either by the UK Vehicle Certification Agency or other EU type approval authorities) outside the UK. The Government has not aware of any evidence that representatives of VW UK were aware of the wrongdoing.</p><p> </p><p>Evidence on this matter is likely to flow, if at all, from the investigation now being undertaken in Germany. In these circumstances it would not be appropriate for the UK to carry out a separate parallel investigation, and there would be significant difficulties in obtaining evidence. However, the Government has reserved its position on this matter and continues to monitor the German investigation with interest.</p><p> </p><p>Given that the German investigation remains under way, the Secretary of State has had no further recent discussions with his German counterpart.</p> answering member constituency Hereford and South Herefordshire answering member printed Jesse Norman grouped question UIN 217045 question first answered 12/02/2019 15:57:47 answering member 3991 label Biography information for Jesse Norman
	tabling member	3928 label Biography information for Nick Smith

1052504

	registered interest
	date	01/02/2019
	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	NHS: Drugs
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, pursuant to the Answer of 11 January 2019 to Question 205244 on Drugs: Refrigerators, how many refrigerators his Department has purchased as part of contingency planning for the UK leaving the EU to date.
	tabling member constituency	Blaenau Gwent
	tabling member printed	Nick Smith
	uin	215569
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 08/02/2019 answer text <p>As part of the Department’s ‘no deal’ European Union exit contingency planning contract agreements have been signed for the provision of storage. The contracts include capacity for 5,000 pallets of refrigerated warehouse storage.</p> answering member constituency Wimbledon answering member printed Stephen Hammond question first answered 08/02/2019 12:50:15 answering member 1585 label Biography information for Stephen Hammond
	tabling member	3928 label Biography information for Nick Smith

1045494

	registered interest
	date	21/01/2019
	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	NHS: Drugs
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, pursuant to the Answer of 11 January 2019 to Question 205247 on Drugs: refrigerators, what proportion of the (a) ambient storage pallets, (b) refrigerated storage pallets and (c) controlled drug storage pallets purchased as part of the Department's contingency planning in the event of the UK leaving the EU without a deal were manufactured in the UK.
	tabling member constituency	Blaenau Gwent
	tabling member printed	Nick Smith
	uin	210498
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 29/01/2019 answer text <p>The Department’s contingency planning is to ask industry to stockpile an additional six weeks’ supply of prescription-only and pharmacy medicines which come to the United Kingdom from or via the European Union/European Economic Area, over and above usual buffer stocks. No medicines or pallets have been purchased as part of the contingency planning.</p> answering member constituency Wimbledon answering member printed Stephen Hammond question first answered 29/01/2019 17:12:16 answering member 1585 label Biography information for Stephen Hammond
	tabling member	3928 label Biography information for Nick Smith

1038936

	registered interest
	date	10/01/2019
	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 she has made of the effect on the financial circumstances of universal credit claimants who receive their wages on a fixed day each month and therefore have multiple pay days during an assessment period; and if she will make a statement.
	tabling member constituency	Blaenau Gwent
	tabling member printed	Nick Smith
	uin	207176
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 18/01/2019 answer text <p>Universal Credit payments reflect, as closely as possible, the actual circumstances of a household during each monthly assessment period. Assessment periods allow for Universal Credit awards to be adjusted on a monthly basis, ensuring that if a claimant’s income falls, they do not have to wait several months for a rise in their Universal Credit award.</p><p> </p><p>Some claimants receive earnings from work multiple times within an assessment period if they are paid via four-weekly, fortnightly, or weekly patterns. This in turn may reduce, or in some cases, nil the Universal Credit award the claimant receives that month. Claimants can always discuss the implications of this with their case managers and work coaches and can be referred to Personal Budgeting Support to help them manage their budgeting.</p><p> </p><p>If a claimant’s Universal Credit claim is closed due to this, claimants can re-claim the following month via a more simplified process than for an initial claim. We have produced guidance to help ensure claimants, staff and representatives are aware of the importance of reporting accurate dates and the impact on payment cycles. This is available at the following link: <a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/universal-credit-different-earning-patterns-and-your-payments/universal-credit-different-earning-patterns-and-your-payments-payment-cycles" target="_blank">https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/universal-credit-different-earning-patterns-and-your-payments/universal-credit-different-earning-patterns-and-your-payments-payment-cycles</a></p><p> </p><p>The Government is working with employers to ensure that they use the most appropriate payment practices and comply with RTI guidelines in order to minimise the incidence of erroneous or late reporting by employers. HMRC have recently updated guidance to reiterate to employers the importance of reporting accurate dates and the impact on payment cycles; the Financial Secretary to the Treasury is working closely with HMRC and employers to do this.</p> answering member constituency Reading West answering member printed Alok Sharma question first answered 18/01/2019 15:22:58 answering member 4014 label Biography information for Lord Sharma
	tabling member	3928 label Biography information for Nick Smith

1038944

	registered interest
	date	10/01/2019
	answering body	Department for Transport
	answering dept id	27
	answering dept short name	Transport
	answering dept sort name	Transport
	hansard heading	Volkswagen
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether his Department is taking steps to ensure that legal action is pursued against Volkswagen executives regarding that company's emissions scandal.
	tabling member constituency	Blaenau Gwent
	tabling member printed	Nick Smith
	uin	207177
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 16/01/2019 answer text <p>Volkswagen's behaviour in installing defeat devices in its vehicles has been entirely unacceptable. Taking criminal action against Volkswagen is complex given that in legal terms the wrongdoing appears to have taken place outside the UK. It is for the German Government in the first instance to prosecute.</p><p> </p><p>For this reason, it would be inappropriate to carry out a separate parallel UK criminal investigation. The Department reserves the option to do so, however, based on the evidence from any German prosecution.</p> answering member constituency Hereford and South Herefordshire answering member printed Jesse Norman question first answered 16/01/2019 14:33:38 answering member 3991 label Biography information for Jesse Norman
	tabling member	3928 label Biography information for Nick Smith

1035219

	registered interest
	date	04/01/2019
	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	NHS: Drugs
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if he will publish the locations at which the refrigerators purchased by his Department for the preservation of medicines as part of contingency planning in the event the UK leaves the EU without a deal will be stored.
	tabling member constituency	Blaenau Gwent
	tabling member printed	Nick Smith
	uin	205242
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 11/01/2019 answer text <p>As part of the Department’s ‘no deal’ European Union exit contingency planning, a tender process to procure additional warehouse space built in the mainland United Kingdom to store stockpiled medicines, including ambient, refrigerated and controlled drug storage, was undertaken in October 2018. Contract agreements for storage have recently been signed or will be signed imminently. This is expected to cost the Government in the low tens of millions of pounds with the refrigerated storage expected to cost circa £1 million.</p><p> </p><p>The contracts will cover additional capacity including 53,000 pallets of ambient storage, 5,000 pallets of refrigerated storage and 850 pallets of controlled drug storage. We have agreed funding on the condition that the additional medicine warehousing capacity is in place in time to accommodate stockpiled medicines by the beginning of February 2019, lasting for a period of between 12 and 18 months. For security reasons the locations of the additional warehouse capacity will not be published.</p><p> </p><p>The Department’s funding for additional warehouse capacity is on the condition that it is exclusively for the storage of additional stockpiles of prescription only and pharmacy medicines that come into the UK from or via the EU. The Department recognises that through our ‘no deal’ EU exit medicines contingency programme. We are requesting sensitive commercial information from pharmaceutical suppliers. To reassure participating companies, we have committed to treating all information received confidentially, securely and to using it only for the purposes of the Department’s programme. That means not introducing information about specific medicines into the public domain.</p><p> </p><p>As with many contracts involving capital investment, the Department will be liable for some capital costs already incurred by the contractors in the event of a deal being approved by parliament. In that scenario, warehouse providers are required to decommission the additional capacity. The Department has also put in place measures to minimise pre-committed expenditure in the event of a deal being achieved.</p> answering member constituency Wimbledon answering member printed Stephen Hammond grouped question UIN 205243 205244 205245 205246 205247 205248 205249 205250 question first answered 11/01/2019 12:13:04 answering member 1585 label Biography information for Stephen Hammond
	tabling member	3928 label Biography information for Nick Smith

1035290

	registered interest
	date	04/01/2019
	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	NHS: Drugs
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many refrigerators his Department plans to purchase for each forthcoming calendar month as part of contingency planning in the event of the UK leaving the EU without a deal.
	tabling member constituency	Blaenau Gwent
	tabling member printed	Nick Smith
	uin	205243
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 11/01/2019 answer text <p>As part of the Department’s ‘no deal’ European Union exit contingency planning, a tender process to procure additional warehouse space built in the mainland United Kingdom to store stockpiled medicines, including ambient, refrigerated and controlled drug storage, was undertaken in October 2018. Contract agreements for storage have recently been signed or will be signed imminently. This is expected to cost the Government in the low tens of millions of pounds with the refrigerated storage expected to cost circa £1 million.</p><p> </p><p>The contracts will cover additional capacity including 53,000 pallets of ambient storage, 5,000 pallets of refrigerated storage and 850 pallets of controlled drug storage. We have agreed funding on the condition that the additional medicine warehousing capacity is in place in time to accommodate stockpiled medicines by the beginning of February 2019, lasting for a period of between 12 and 18 months. For security reasons the locations of the additional warehouse capacity will not be published.</p><p> </p><p>The Department’s funding for additional warehouse capacity is on the condition that it is exclusively for the storage of additional stockpiles of prescription only and pharmacy medicines that come into the UK from or via the EU. The Department recognises that through our ‘no deal’ EU exit medicines contingency programme. We are requesting sensitive commercial information from pharmaceutical suppliers. To reassure participating companies, we have committed to treating all information received confidentially, securely and to using it only for the purposes of the Department’s programme. That means not introducing information about specific medicines into the public domain.</p><p> </p><p>As with many contracts involving capital investment, the Department will be liable for some capital costs already incurred by the contractors in the event of a deal being approved by parliament. In that scenario, warehouse providers are required to decommission the additional capacity. The Department has also put in place measures to minimise pre-committed expenditure in the event of a deal being achieved.</p> answering member constituency Wimbledon answering member printed Stephen Hammond grouped question UIN 205242 205244 205245 205246 205247 205248 205249 205250 question first answered 11/01/2019 12:13:04 answering member 1585 label Biography information for Stephen Hammond
	tabling member	3928 label Biography information for Nick Smith