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

1196683

	registered interest
	date	18/05/2020
	answering body	Ministry of Justice
	answering dept id	54
	answering dept short name	Justice
	answering dept sort name	Justice
	hansard heading	Debts: Coronavirus
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what estimate he has made of the number of people who (a) have fallen and (b) will fall into debt as a result of the covid-19 outbreak.
	tabling member constituency	Stockton North
	tabling member printed	Alex Cunningham
	uin	48412
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 02/06/2020 answer text <p>The government is conducting on-going work to understand and model the extent of indebtedness as a result of Covid-19. This data is still under development.</p><p>People will be impacted by Covid-19 in different ways and to varying extents. A number of measures have been announced to support individuals and businesses through this difficult time.</p> answering member constituency Cheltenham answering member printed Alex Chalk question first answered 02/06/2020 16:28:00 answering member 4481 label Biography information for Alex Chalk
	tabling member	4122 label Biography information for Alex Cunningham

1203333

	registered interest
	date	12/06/2020
	answering body	Ministry of Justice
	answering dept id	54
	answering dept short name	Justice
	answering dept sort name	Justice
	hansard heading	Registered Intermediaries
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, if he will make an assessment of the potential merits of introducing a registered defendant intermediary scheme, similar to that for witnesses, to support the duty to make reasonable adjustments and fair trial rights, as recommended by the Law Commission.
	tabling member constituency	Stockton North
	tabling member printed	Alex Cunningham
	uin	59217
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 23/06/2020 answer text <p>The Ministry of Justice is currently conducting a review of intermediaries across the justice system. This includes an assessment of the feasibility of implementing the recommendations of the Law Commission on providing intermediaries to defendants, and how such provision might be organised and delivered. In the meantime, courts can continue to use their common law powers to order the use of intermediaries for defendants, in the interests of a fair trial.</p> answering member constituency Cheltenham answering member printed Alex Chalk question first answered 23/06/2020 09:23:44 answering member 4481 label Biography information for Alex Chalk
	tabling member	4122 label Biography information for Alex Cunningham

1238838

	registered interest
	date	29/09/2020
	answering body	Ministry of Justice
	answering dept id	54
	answering dept short name	Justice
	answering dept sort name	Justice
	hansard heading	Marriage: Humanism
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what assessment he has made of the implications for his policies of the recent High Court judgment R (Harrison and others) v. Secretary of State for Justice [2020] EWHC 2096.
	tabling member constituency	Stockton North
	tabling member printed	Alex Cunningham
	uin	96888
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 06/10/2020 answer text <p>The Government announced in June 2019 that the Law Commission will conduct a fundamental review of the law on how and where people can legally marry in England and Wales. As part of that review, the Government invited the Law Commission to make recommendations about how marriage by humanist and other non-religious belief organisations could be incorporated into a revised or new scheme for all marriages that is simple, fair and consistent. The Government will decide on provision on the basis of the Law Commission's recommendations.</p><p>The Law Commission has now published a consultation paper as part of its review and will welcome responses from all.</p> answering member constituency Cheltenham answering member printed Alex Chalk question first answered 06/10/2020 15:12:22 answering member 4481 label Biography information for Alex Chalk
	tabling member	4122 label Biography information for Alex Cunningham

1238839

	registered interest
	date	29/09/2020
	answering body	Ministry of Justice
	answering dept id	54
	answering dept short name	Justice
	answering dept sort name	Justice
	hansard heading	Marriage: Humanism
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, if he will bring forward legislative proposals to enable legal recognition of humanist marriages through section 14 of the Marriage (Same-Sex Couples) Act 2013 as an interim step before further reform.
	tabling member constituency	Stockton North
	tabling member printed	Alex Cunningham
	uin	96889
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 05/10/2020 answer text <p>The Government announced in June 2019 that the Law Commission will conduct a fundamental review of the law on how and where people can legally marry in England and Wales. As part of that review, the Government invited the Law Commission to make recommendations about how marriage by humanist and other non-religious belief organisations could be incorporated into a revised or new scheme for all marriages that is simple, fair and consistent. The Government will decide on provision on the basis of the Law Commission's recommendations.</p><p> </p><p>The Law Commission has now published a consultation paper as part of its review and will welcome responses from all.</p> answering member constituency Cheltenham answering member printed Alex Chalk question first answered 05/10/2020 16:09:53 answering member 4481 label Biography information for Alex Chalk
	tabling member	4122 label Biography information for Alex Cunningham

1249235

	registered interest
	date	05/11/2020
	answering body	Ministry of Justice
	answering dept id	54
	answering dept short name	Justice
	answering dept sort name	Justice
	hansard heading	Magistrates: Age
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what assessment his Department has made of the potential effect of extending the cut-off age for magistrates beyond 70 on the administration of justice in magistrates' courts; and whether his Department plans to implement that change.
	tabling member constituency	Stockton North
	tabling member printed	Alex Cunningham
	uin	112055
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 10/11/2020 answer text <p>The Government has consulted on an increase to the mandatory retirement age for all judicial office holders, including magistrates. That consultation set out our assessment that increasing the mandatory retirement age could help to retain valuable judicial resource and expertise.</p><p>The consultation closed on 16 October, with over 1000 responses received from the magistracy, judiciary and legal professions and analysis of these responses is underway. We intend to publish the Government’s response in the near future, with a view to legislate for any changes we decide to make at the earliest opportunity.</p> answering member constituency Cheltenham answering member printed Alex Chalk question first answered 10/11/2020 17:11:50 answering member 4481 label Biography information for Alex Chalk
	tabling member	4122 label Biography information for Alex Cunningham

1251387

	registered interest
	date	12/11/2020
	answering body	Ministry of Justice
	answering dept id	54
	answering dept short name	Justice
	answering dept sort name	Justice
	hansard heading	Debt Collection: VAT
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, when his Department plans to publish guidance on the application of VAT on judgement debts in the cases of High Court enforcement.
	tabling member constituency	Stockton North
	tabling member printed	Alex Cunningham
	uin	114855
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 17/11/2020 answer text <p>The Ministry of Justice is aware that there are differing interpretations within the enforcement industry of the application of the VAT payable on High Court Enforcement fees, which has led to different approaches being taken.</p><p>We are working to produce guidance to clarify the circumstances and manner in which VAT costs can and should be recovered from judgment debtors as an enforcement cost. We will publish that guidance as soon as we are able to.</p> answering member constituency Cheltenham answering member printed Alex Chalk grouped question UIN 114856 114857 question first answered 17/11/2020 17:03:09 answering member 4481 label Biography information for Alex Chalk
	tabling member	4122 label Biography information for Alex Cunningham

1251390

	registered interest
	date	12/11/2020
	answering body	Ministry of Justice
	answering dept id	54
	answering dept short name	Justice
	answering dept sort name	Justice
	hansard heading	Debt Collection: VAT
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what assessment he has made of the effectiveness of different practices employed by enforcement agents and High Court enforcement agents in relation to charging VAT to debtors.
	tabling member constituency	Stockton North
	tabling member printed	Alex Cunningham
	uin	114856
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 17/11/2020 answer text <p>The Ministry of Justice is aware that there are differing interpretations within the enforcement industry of the application of the VAT payable on High Court Enforcement fees, which has led to different approaches being taken.</p><p>We are working to produce guidance to clarify the circumstances and manner in which VAT costs can and should be recovered from judgment debtors as an enforcement cost. We will publish that guidance as soon as we are able to.</p> answering member constituency Cheltenham answering member printed Alex Chalk grouped question UIN 114855 114857 question first answered 17/11/2020 17:03:09 answering member 4481 label Biography information for Alex Chalk
	tabling member	4122 label Biography information for Alex Cunningham

1251391

	registered interest
	date	12/11/2020
	answering body	Ministry of Justice
	answering dept id	54
	answering dept short name	Justice
	answering dept sort name	Justice
	hansard heading	Debt Collection: VAT
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what recent assessment he has made of the level of consistency among High Court enforcement agents when applying VAT on their fees in identical circumstances.
	tabling member constituency	Stockton North
	tabling member printed	Alex Cunningham
	uin	114857
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 17/11/2020 answer text <p>The Ministry of Justice is aware that there are differing interpretations within the enforcement industry of the application of the VAT payable on High Court Enforcement fees, which has led to different approaches being taken.</p><p>We are working to produce guidance to clarify the circumstances and manner in which VAT costs can and should be recovered from judgment debtors as an enforcement cost. We will publish that guidance as soon as we are able to.</p> answering member constituency Cheltenham answering member printed Alex Chalk grouped question UIN 114855 114856 question first answered 17/11/2020 17:03:09 answering member 4481 label Biography information for Alex Chalk
	tabling member	4122 label Biography information for Alex Cunningham

349269

	registered interest
	date	09/06/2015
	answering body	Department of Health
	answering dept id	17
	answering dept short name	Health
	answering dept sort name	Health
	hansard heading	Children: Day Care
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what plans his Department has to ensure that looked after children have access to specialist mental health support.
	tabling member constituency	Stockton North
	tabling member printed	Alex Cunningham
	uin	1610
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 16/06/2015 answer text <p>The Department of Health and the Department for Education jointly published <em>Promoting the health and well-being of looked-after children: Statutory guidance for local authorities, clinical commissioning groups and NHS England</em> on 17 March 2015. This includes guidance for clinical commissioning groups, local authorities and NHS England to ensure that Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services and other services provide targeted and dedicated support to looked-after children according to need.</p><p> </p> answering member constituency North East Bedfordshire answering member printed Alistair Burt question first answered 16/06/2015 14:23:04 answering member 1201 label Biography information for Alistair Burt
	tabling member	4122 label Biography information for Alex Cunningham

422263

	registered interest
	date	19/10/2015
	answering body	Department of Health
	answering dept id	17
	answering dept short name	Health
	answering dept sort name	Health
	hansard heading	Carers
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what assessment his Department has made of the implications for its policy of the Carers Trust report on local authority support for carers, published on 16 September 2015; and if he will make a statement.
	tabling member constituency	Stockton North
	tabling member printed	Alex Cunningham
	uin	12329
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 27/10/2015 answer text <p>The Government recognises the valuable contribution made by carers, many of whom spend a significant proportion of their life providing support to family members or friends.</p><br /><p>That is why we continue to support implementation of the improved rights for carers enshrined in the Care Act 2014. The Department has provided £104 million of funding to local authorities for these rights in 2015/16, which include an extended right to assessment and, for the first time, a duty on local authorities to meet carers’ eligible needs for support.</p><br /><p>To support implementation of the reform programme, we have established a joint Programme Management Office between the Department, Local Government Association and Association of Directors of Adults Social Services (ADASS). This unprecedented partnership is driving collaborative working with the sector, influencing the local implementation of these changes to support a consistent and coherent approach. This approach was recognised by the National Audit Office as best practice and should be adopted by other programmes.</p><br /><p>The programme includes a series of stocktakes of Local Authority readiness and the latest, from June 2015, demonstrates an overall positive picture on implementation:</p><br /><p>- Councils’ confidence in their ability to deliver the Care Act Reforms in 2015/16 remains high, with 99% very or fairly confident.</p><p>- 89% of councils say that they are ‘on track’ with their implementation. The remaining 11% report themselves as only slightly behind.</p><br /><p>We have also produced a suite of implementation support documents around the new carers’ rights, one of which is <em>The Economic Case for Investment in Carers</em>, a short factsheet for local authorities to use in considering whether to put in place a policy of charging carers, setting out the evidence that charging would be a false economy. This expands on the position set out in the Care Act statutory guidance, which at paragraph 8.50 states that:</p><br /><p>“Local authorities are not required to charge a carer for support and indeed in many cases it would be a false economy to do so. When deciding whether to charge, and in determining what an appropriate charge is, a local authority should consider how it wishes to express the way it values carers within its local community as partners in care, and recognise the significant contribution carers make.”</p><br /><p>The Care Act replicates the previous position where charging carers was permissible. It would not have been appropriate to impose a blanket ban on charging for carers services, because in some cases small charges are necessary to the viability of services. However, the Care Act provides additional protection to carers by making it clear that local authorities cannot charge carers for services provided to the person being cared for. This means that carers may only be charged for services provided directly to them.</p><br /><p>Most local authorities do not routinely charge carers in recognition of the valuable contribution carers make to their local communities, and the Carers Trust report confirms that this is still the case. We will continue to make the case against routine charging of carers and to monitor the situation closely through the implementation monitoring process set out above.</p><br /><p>We have no plans to create a new duty around NHS identification of carers. The Care Act requires NHS bodies and local authorities to co-operate with each other in the exercise of their respective functions relevant to care and support, including those relating to carers, so we would expect local authorities and NHS bodies to cooperate in identifying and signposting carers. The Department is working with ADASS and NHS England to produce a “local pathway” for carer identification and support that will set this out in more detail.</p><br /><p>The Department has also provided over £2 million in recent years to the professional bodies such as the Royal College of General Practitioners and the Royal College of Nursing, as well as Carers UK and the Carers Trust, to develop initiatives to raise awareness of carers among healthcare professionals and to help identify and support carers.</p><br /><p>The Department is also leading on the development of a new National Carers’ Strategy that will be looking at the best of international practice and examine what more we can do to support existing carers and the new carers.</p> answering member constituency North East Bedfordshire answering member printed Alistair Burt grouped question UIN 12327 12328 question first answered 27/10/2015 13:04:03 answering member 1201 label Biography information for Alistair Burt
	tabling member	4122 label Biography information for Alex Cunningham