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1133347

	registered interest
	date	19/06/2019
	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 universal credit claimants had advance payments refused for a (a) new claim and (b) benefit transfer in the last 12 months.
	tabling member constituency	Birmingham, Selly Oak
	tabling member printed	Steve McCabe
	uin	266647
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 24/06/2019 answer text <p>Universal Credit new claim advances provide access to a payment for those in financial need, which can be accessed on the same day, until their first payment is due. Claimants can access up to 100% of the total expected monthly award, for which they can pay back over a period of up to 12 months. From October 2021, this maximum repayment period will be extended from 12 to 16 months.</p><p> </p><p>The Department ensures claimants are made aware of their maximum advance entitlement and informed that their Universal Credit award will be adjusted over the relevant recovery period to take into account the advance of benefit they received.</p><p> </p><p>There were 1,046,000 claims made to Universal Credit during January to December 2018 which went into payment. Of these claims, 598,000 (57%) received an advance by end of February 2019 and 449,000 (43%) did not receive an advance. Those who did not receive an advance will include instances of advance payments being refused. However, to identify and collate the total number of applications refused for (a) new claim and (b) benefit transfer in the last 12 months would incur disproportionate cost to the Department.</p><p> </p><p>Notes:</p><p> </p><ol><li>Figures relate to Universal Credit full service</li><li>Figures capture all advances types</li><li>Figures are rounded to the nearest 1,000</li><li>Advances paid are provided for claims which went into payment in the 2018 calendar year to ensure enough time has elapsed to be certain these claims did actually progress to payment</li></ol> answering member constituency Reading West answering member printed Alok Sharma question first answered 24/06/2019 16:06:42 answering member 4014 label Biography information for Sir Alok Sharma
	tabling member	298 label Biography information for Steve McCabe

1133365

	registered interest
	date	19/06/2019
	answering body	Department for Transport
	answering dept id	27
	answering dept short name	Transport
	answering dept sort name	Transport
	hansard heading	Taxis: Disability
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what the timescale is for bringing forward legislative proposals to make disability equality training mandatory for taxi and minicab drivers.
	tabling member constituency	Birmingham, Selly Oak
	tabling member printed	Steve McCabe
	uin	266651
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 24/06/2019 answer text <p>I know that disability awareness training can provide taxi and private hire vehicle (PHV) drivers with the skills, knowledge and confidence to give disabled passengers the assistance they need, and am clear that licensing authorities should use their existing powers to require drivers to complete it.</p><p> </p><p>On 12<sup>th</sup> February the Government published its response to the report of the Chair of the Task and Finish Group on Taxis and PHV licensing, indicating its intention to introduce mandatory disability awareness training as part of National Minimum Standards when Parliamentary time allows.</p><p> </p> answering member constituency Wealden answering member printed Ms Nusrat Ghani question first answered 24/06/2019 15:18:52 answering member 4460 label Biography information for Ms Nusrat Ghani
	tabling member	298 label Biography information for Steve McCabe

1132765

	registered interest
	date	18/06/2019
	answering body	Department of Health and Social Care
	answering dept id	17
	answering dept short name	Health and Social Care
	answering dept sort name	Health and Social Care
	hansard heading	IVF
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	What recent discussions his Department has had with clinical commissioning groups on the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority’s guidance on fertility treatment.
	tabling member constituency	Birmingham, Selly Oak
	tabling member printed	Steve McCabe
	uin	911423
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 18/06/2019 answer text <p>Clinical commissioning groups (CCGs) have a statutory responsibility to commission healthcare services that meet the needs of their whole population, including fertility services. The Human Fertilisation and Embryology Aauthority’s guidance for commissioners is a new tool to help them implement National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) Fertility guidelines and utilise the benchmark price for In Vitro Fertilisation.</p><p>I have written to all CCGs to promote the guidance and benchmark price, and encourage them to fully implement NICE Fertility Guideline recommendations.</p> answering member constituency Thurrock answering member printed Jackie Doyle-Price question first answered 18/06/2019 15:21:37 answering member 4065 label Biography information for Dame Jackie Doyle-Price
	tabling member	298 label Biography information for Steve McCabe

1132403

	registered interest
	date	17/06/2019
	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	Lumacaftor/ivacaftor
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what contingency plans his Department has put in place in the event that Vertex declines NHS England’s latest offer for the supply of Orkambi.
	tabling member constituency	Birmingham, Selly Oak
	tabling member printed	Steve McCabe
	uin	265417
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 20/06/2019 answer text <p>NHS England is leading the negotiations with Vertex and has made a revised and improved offer to Vertex that would provide immediate funding for Orkambi, and Symkevi in advance of assessment by the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE), and expanded access to Kalydeco which is already funded on the National Health Service for certain patients.</p><p>The Government fully supports NICE and NHS England in seeking to ensure access for patients to effective and innovative medicines at a price that represents value to the NHS, and it is not for Ministers to intervene in this process. The Department’s approach remains to urge Vertex to accept NHS England’s generous offer, but we will explore other options to ensure patients can access treatments as soon as possible.</p> answering member constituency South Ribble answering member printed Seema Kennedy grouped question UIN 265418 question first answered 20/06/2019 09:33:36 answering member 4455 label Biography information for Seema Kennedy
	tabling member	298 label Biography information for Steve McCabe

1132404

	registered interest
	date	17/06/2019
	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	Lumacaftor/ivacaftor: Clinical Trials
	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 merits of launching a large scale clinical trial of the generic version of Orkambi.
	tabling member constituency	Birmingham, Selly Oak
	tabling member printed	Steve McCabe
	uin	265418
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 20/06/2019 answer text <p>NHS England is leading the negotiations with Vertex and has made a revised and improved offer to Vertex that would provide immediate funding for Orkambi, and Symkevi in advance of assessment by the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE), and expanded access to Kalydeco which is already funded on the National Health Service for certain patients.</p><p>The Government fully supports NICE and NHS England in seeking to ensure access for patients to effective and innovative medicines at a price that represents value to the NHS, and it is not for Ministers to intervene in this process. The Department’s approach remains to urge Vertex to accept NHS England’s generous offer, but we will explore other options to ensure patients can access treatments as soon as possible.</p> answering member constituency South Ribble answering member printed Seema Kennedy grouped question UIN 265417 question first answered 20/06/2019 09:33:36 answering member 4455 label Biography information for Seema Kennedy
	tabling member	298 label Biography information for Steve McCabe

1131838

	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	Funerals: Costs
	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 7 May 2019 to Question 249851, what steps her Department takes to (a) make funerals accessible to everyone and (b) co-ordinate actions between the various bodies listed to ensure they are making funerals accessible to everyone.
	tabling member constituency	Birmingham, Selly Oak
	tabling member printed	Steve McCabe
	uin	263674
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 21/06/2019 answer text <p>The Social Fund Funeral Expenses Payments provides a significant contribution towards funeral costs for claimants on qualifying benefits. It continues to meet the necessary costs of a cremation or burial and up to £700 towards other costs. In 2017-18 around 25,500 Funeral Expenses Payment awards were made. This amounted to £37.1 million of support for funeral costs. Interest-free Social Fund Budgeting Loans and Universal Credit Budgeting Advances are now also available to assist with funeral costs.</p><p> </p><p>The Department holds regular discussions with funeral providers and related organisations, including a Ministerial Roundtable on 18th June 2019 to discuss the Social Fund Funeral Expenses Payments scheme and listen to views for suggested future improvements.</p> answering member constituency Colchester answering member printed Will Quince question first answered 21/06/2019 12:07:19 answering member 4423 label Biography information for Will Quince
	tabling member	298 label Biography information for Steve McCabe

1131839

	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	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 universal credit claimants have been offered a deferral period for advance repayments in the last 12 months.
	tabling member constituency	Birmingham, Selly Oak
	tabling member printed	Steve McCabe
	uin	263675
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 18/06/2019 answer text <p>This information is not centrally collated and could only be supplied at a disproportionate cost to the Department.</p><p> </p><p>The Department recognises that exceptional circumstances may occur to claimants that were not foreseen when a Universal Credit advance was taken out. Should claimants face unexpected financial hardship as a result of such changes, they can ask the Department for a deferral of the repayment of any advance they have taken out. The deferral periods are up to 3 months for a new claim, benefit transfer or change of circumstances advance and up to 6 months for a Budgeting advance.</p> answering member constituency Reading West answering member printed Alok Sharma question first answered 18/06/2019 15:35:06 answering member 4014 label Biography information for Sir Alok Sharma previous answer version 123350 answering member constituency Reading West answering member printed Alok Sharma answering member 4014 label Biography information for Sir Alok Sharma
	tabling member	298 label Biography information for Steve McCabe

1131840

	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	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 universal credit claimants who have an existing advance have been offered an additional budgeting advance in the last 12 months.
	tabling member constituency	Birmingham, Selly Oak
	tabling member printed	Steve McCabe
	uin	263676
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 18/06/2019 answer text <p>Universal Credit new claim and benefit transfer advances provide access to a payment for those in financial need, which can be accessed on the same day, until their first UC payment is due, ensuring no one has to be left without means of financial support. Claimants can access up to 100% of the total expected monthly award, which they can pay back over a period of up to 12 monthly instalments. In the Autumn Budget 2018, we announced that from October 2021, the repayment period for these advances will be extended to 16 monthly instalments.</p><p> </p><p>A budgeting advance is available for one off unexpected financial events that the claimant is unable to meet and is repayable over a period of up to 12 monthly instalments.</p><p> </p><p>The latest available data shows in the 12 months between March 2018 and February 2019 around 840,000 claims received a new claim or benefit transfer advance. In the same period 134,000 claims received budgeting advances, where for the previous assessment period prior to receiving a budgeting advance there was a repayment of a previous advance for that claim.</p><p> </p><p><strong>Notes:</strong></p><p><strong> </strong></p><ol><li>Figures are rounded to the nearest 1,000.</li><li>Figures relate only to Universal Credit full service.</li><li>Figures do not relate to those who may have been repaying an advance from a previous claim.</li></ol> answering member constituency Reading West answering member printed Alok Sharma question first answered 18/06/2019 15:04:24 answering member 4014 label Biography information for Sir Alok Sharma previous answer version 123351 answering member constituency Reading West answering member printed Alok Sharma answering member 4014 label Biography information for Sir Alok Sharma
	tabling member	298 label Biography information for Steve McCabe

1131841

	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	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 10 June to question 260538, what assistance is available for universal credit claimants who (a) are unable to repay their advance, (b) have already had their repayments deferred for three months, (c) are not eligible for benefit transfer or change of circumstance advances and (d) are still repaying a previous budgeting advance.
	tabling member constituency	Birmingham, Selly Oak
	tabling member printed	Steve McCabe
	uin	263677
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 18/06/2019 answer text <p>A key part of the process for agreeing an advance payment on Universal Credit is ensuring that the claimant can afford to repay it. We will not make advances which encourage recipients to become over-indebted.</p><p> </p><p>The Department encourages all Universal Credit claimants to actively consider how best to manage their personal budget, with additional advice and support available from work coaches and case managers. When an advance payment is appropriate, claimants decide what percentage of their expected monthly award to apply for and over what period to repay it, up to a maximum of 12 monthly instalments.</p><p><strong> </strong></p><p>The Department does not levy penalties on claimants who do not repay their advance within either a calendar 12 month from taking out the advance, nor where they do not repay the advance in 12 monthly instalments. Outstanding repayments are actively monitored and managed, ensuring we support claimants experiencing financial challenges whilst maintaining responsibility to the taxpayer for recovery.</p> answering member constituency Reading West answering member printed Alok Sharma grouped question UIN 263678 question first answered 18/06/2019 15:32:14 answering member 4014 label Biography information for Sir Alok Sharma previous answer version 123353 answering member constituency Reading West answering member printed Alok Sharma answering member 4014 label Biography information for Sir Alok Sharma
	tabling member	298 label Biography information for Steve McCabe

1131842

	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	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 10 June to Question 260540, what the consequences are for universal credit claimants who are unable to repay their advance within the agreed timescale.
	tabling member constituency	Birmingham, Selly Oak
	tabling member printed	Steve McCabe
	uin	263678
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 18/06/2019 answer text <p>A key part of the process for agreeing an advance payment on Universal Credit is ensuring that the claimant can afford to repay it. We will not make advances which encourage recipients to become over-indebted.</p><p> </p><p>The Department encourages all Universal Credit claimants to actively consider how best to manage their personal budget, with additional advice and support available from work coaches and case managers. When an advance payment is appropriate, claimants decide what percentage of their expected monthly award to apply for and over what period to repay it, up to a maximum of 12 monthly instalments.</p><p><strong> </strong></p><p>The Department does not levy penalties on claimants who do not repay their advance within either a calendar 12 month from taking out the advance, nor where they do not repay the advance in 12 monthly instalments. Outstanding repayments are actively monitored and managed, ensuring we support claimants experiencing financial challenges whilst maintaining responsibility to the taxpayer for recovery.</p> answering member constituency Reading West answering member printed Alok Sharma grouped question UIN 263677 question first answered 18/06/2019 15:32:14 answering member 4014 label Biography information for Sir Alok Sharma previous answer version 123355 answering member constituency Reading West answering member printed Alok Sharma answering member 4014 label Biography information for Sir Alok Sharma
	tabling member	298 label Biography information for Steve McCabe