Cabinet Office<p>I have been asked to reply on behalf of the Treasury.</p><p>The UK Government is not planning for independence as it believes that people in Scotland will vote to remain within the UK. As such, the Government has made no assessment of the risk of losses to the public purse, and has no plans to change accounting officers conventions</p>Inverness, Nairn, Badenoch and StrathspeyDanny Alexander2014-02-25154018false2014-02-25T12:00:00.00Z532013-05-081House of CommonsTo ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what assessment he has made of the potential risk of losses to the public purse arising from applying the current accounting officer conventions in the period leading up to the referendum on Scottish independence in 2014.falseCumbernauld, Kilsyth and Kirkintilloch EastGregg McClymont154017Cabinet Office<p>I have been asked to reply on behalf of the Treasury.</p><p>The UK Government is not planning for independence as it believes that people in Scotland will vote to remain within the UK. As such, the Government has made no assessment of the risk of losses to the public purse, and has no plans to change accounting officers conventions</p>Inverness, Nairn, Badenoch and StrathspeyDanny Alexander2014-02-25154017false2014-02-25T12:00:00.00Z532013-05-081House of CommonsTo ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what discussions he has had with officials in his Department on how the accounting officers' conventions would apply to investment in Scotland in advance of the referendum on Scottish independence in 2014.falseCumbernauld, Kilsyth and Kirkintilloch EastGregg McClymont154018Department for Work and Pensions<p><strong>The information requested is in the table below.</strong></p><p> </p><table><tbody><tr><td><p><strong>Year</strong></p></td><td><p><strong>Shared Accommodation Rates</strong></p></td><td><p><strong>Proportion</strong></p></td></tr><tr><td><p><strong>2017/2018</strong></p></td><td><p><strong>22 </strong></p></td><td><p><strong>11%</strong></p></td></tr><tr><td><p><strong>2018/2019</strong></p></td><td><p><strong>60</strong></p></td><td><p><strong>31%</strong></p></td></tr><tr><td><p><strong>2019/2020</strong></p></td><td><p><strong>87</strong></p></td><td><p><strong>45%</strong></p></td></tr></tbody></table>ColchesterWill Quince2019-04-15false2019-04-15T14:47:10.017Z29Work and PensionsWork and Pensions2019-04-101House of CommonsTo ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many and what proportion of the 192 shared accommodation rates of local housing allowance have been uprated as a result of the targeted affordability fund in each year since this was introduced.falseWestminster NorthMs Karen Buck243316Department for Work and Pensions<p>The number of households aged 25-34 who are entitled to the Shared Accommodation Rate is available on Stat-Xplore from January 2013 onwards.</p><p> </p><p>An independent evaluation of the 2011/12 Local Housing Allowance reforms including the changes to the Shared Accommodation Rate was published in 2014 - <a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/local-housing-allowance-monitoring-the-impact-of-changes" target="_blank">https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/local-housing-allowance-monitoring-the-impact-of-changes</a></p>ColchesterWill Quince2019-04-23false2019-04-23T12:13:52.427Z29Work and PensionsWork and Pensions2019-04-101House of CommonsTo ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, with reference to the Impact Assessment for the extension of the Shared Accommodation Rate to 25-34 year-olds, how many claimants were affected; and what assessment she has made of the effect of that extension on the average weekly income since January 2012.falseWestminster NorthMs Karen Buck243318Department for Work and Pensions<p>National statistics on the number of people with a disability living in poverty, are published annually in the “Households Below Average Income” publication.</p><p> </p><p>Latest figures can be found using the link below, in table 7b, in the file “summary-hbai-1994-95-2017-18-tables.ods”.</p><p> </p><p><a href="https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/789816/hbai-2017-2018-tables-ods-files.zip" target="_blank">https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/789816/hbai-2017-2018-tables-ods-files.zip</a></p>North SwindonJustin Tomlinson2019-04-15false2019-04-15T15:21:42.523Z29Work and PensionsWork and Pensions2019-04-101House of CommonsTo ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what recent estimate she has made of the number of people with a disability living in poverty.falseVale of ClwydChris Ruane243357Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy<p>The Government has invited all Mayoral Combined Authorities and Local Enterprise Partnerships (LEPs) in England to develop Local Industrial Strategies. We aim to agree these with all places by early 2020. For Kent, the South East LEP will set out an ambitious long-term vision for the area to increase its productivity, build on its established strengths, and create new opportunities for people and businesses in emerging sectors and industries.</p><p> </p><p>The government know that regions across the UK have different skills needs, so will build on local strengths to deliver opportunities for people wherever they live. One way we will achieve this is through Skills Advisory Panels which bring together local employers and skills providers to pool knowledge on skills and labour market needs and work together to understand and address key local challenges. These Panels will be led by the Local Enterprise Partnership, and will influence Local Industrial Strategy development.</p><p> </p><p>In Kent, and the wider South East LEP area, the government is working in partnership with local business and civic leaders to grow skills and opportunities for workers across the area by:</p><p>- Delivering an increase of 198,900 jobs since 2010 and 31,080 apprenticeship starts last year.</p><p>- Investing £590 million of Growth Deal funding to the South East LEP since 2014. delivering 78,000 jobs, 29,000 homes and attracting a further £960 million extra investment into the South East, including £22 million spent on 29 skills projects.</p><p>- Investing £6.5 million for the Kent and Medway EDGE Hub. .</p><p>- Backing the Innovation Park Medway, within the Kent Enterprise Zone with £4.4 million funding to help attract high quality technology, engineering and manufacturing companies to the area.</p><p>Supporting the Local Enterprise Partnership’s Kent and Medway Growth Hub to help small and medium sized enterprises in the areas access the support they need to grow and thrive.</p>Rochester and StroodKelly Tolhurst2019-04-23false2019-04-23T16:29:21.923Z201Business, Energy and Industrial StrategyBusiness, Energy and Industrial Strategy2019-04-111House of CommonsTo ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what recent steps he has taken to help businesses create more highly skilled jobs in (a) Gillingham and Rainham, (b) Medway and (c) Kent.falseGillingham and RainhamRehman Chishti244055Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs<p>The Resources and Waste Strategy analysed the challenges currently facing the recycling industry in this country, setting out how we would tackle these challenges. Building on commitments in the Strategy we launched a consultation earlier this year on reforming the packaging producer responsibility system, as part of that consultation the Government proposed a mandatory UK-wide labelling system that provides clear information to help people to recycle. Following strong support for the proposal from consultation respondents, the Government is minded to take forward a mandatory labelling scheme subject to further analysis and legal considerations. Defra officials are exploring how a mandatory labelling scheme can address consumer confusion about what to do with compostable packaging. The consultation closed on 13 May and the summary of responses and next steps can be found via the below link: <a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/consultations/packaging-waste-changing-the-uk-producer-responsibility-system-for-packaging-waste" target="_blank">https://www.gov.uk/government/consultations/packaging-waste-changing-the-uk-producer-responsibility-system-for-packaging-waste</a></p><p> </p><p>The Government recognises that innovation into compostable and biodegradable plastics could help reduce the environmental impacts of plastics if they are disposed of in the right way. However, this is often not the case. If these plastics are put in the domestic waste bin, for example, they are likely to end up in landfill and can break down to release powerful greenhouse gases, such as methane. If mistakenly recycled with other plastics, they have the potential to damage the quality of the new products made from the recycled plastic. Furthermore, concerns persist that plastics which are claimed to be biodegradable, if littered or otherwise released into the environment in an uncontrolled way, may not degrade quickly or at all, and they can only be composted if they meet relevant standards.</p><p> </p><p>As a consequence of these concerns, the Government published a call for evidence in July 2019 to help consider the development of standards or certification criteria for bio-based, biodegradable, and compostable plastics as well as to better understand their effects on the environment and our current waste system. The call for evidence closed on the 14 October 2019 and we are currently analysing the responses received to inform future policy. We currently do not have plans to bring forward legislative proposals on the matter of requiring any form of plastic packaging to be compostable.</p><p> </p>Taunton DeaneRebecca Pow2019-10-22525526false2019-10-22T14:39:28.583Z13Environment, Food and Rural AffairsEnvironment, Food and Rural Affairs2019-10-151House of CommonsTo ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment her Department has made of the potential merits of introducing a mandatory and consistent (a) UK-wide logo and (b) on pack information for compostable food packaging; and what plans her Department has to introduce such a policy.falseScunthorpeNic Dakin524Department of Health and Social Care<p>In January 2019, we published the first cross-Government suicide prevention workplan, which sets out an ambitious programme of work across national and local government and the National Health Service to reduce suicide rates across all age groups. This includes work to support children and young people through our Green Paper on children and young people’s mental health. The workplan also outlines action being taken to reduce suicide rates in high-risk groups such as men by, amongst other things, raising awareness and reducing stigma of mental health in this group.</p><p> </p><p>Through the NHS Long Term Plan, we are also investing £57 million in suicide prevention to support local suicide prevention plans and establish suicide bereavement support services. We have worked with NHS England to ensure that local areas use this funding to test approaches to reaching and engaging men in their local communities. We are also increasing investment in children’s and young people’s mental health services, meaning that, by 2023/24, an extra 345,000 children and young people aged 0-25 will receive mental health support via NHS-funded mental health services and school- or college-based mental health support teams.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p>Mid BedfordshireMs Nadine Dorries2020-01-10false2020-01-10T14:13:22.077Z17Health and Social CareHealth and Social Care2019-12-191House of CommonsTo ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps he is taking to reduce the number of suicides, particularly among (a) men under 50 and (b) young people aged 16-24; and if he will make a statement.falseWycombeMr Steve Baker103Department of Health and Social Care<p>In response to the NHS Long Term Plan, the Buckinghamshire, Oxfordshire and Berkshire West Integrated Care System published a draft strategic delivery plan in September 2019 which outlines how each county will work with stakeholders to deliver the expectations of the Plan, including how to further improve local mental health services. This is available at the following link:</p><p><a href="https://bobstp.org.uk/media/1752/ics-ltp-1st-draft-submission-v10-2.pdf" target="_blank">https://bobstp.org.uk/media/1752/ics-ltp-1st-draft-submission-v10-2.pdf</a></p><p>Buckinghamshire Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG) reports that a number of developments, which have the potential to impact on mental health care in Wycombe, are being delivered or are planned for delivery over the next financial year. These include:</p><p>- improving mental health crisis services with an increase in the number of days that the ‘safe haven’ service will operate in 2020 with a new location opening in High Wycombe. Home treatment for acutely unwell mental health patients will also start to be offered;</p><p>- two mental health support teams becoming operational in 2019, working in 33 schools across Buckinghamshire to provide interventions to young people with low to moderate mental health needs. The CCG will bid for national funding to expand this offering in 2020;</p><p>- increasing access to Children and Adolescent Mental Health Services (CAMHS). The number of young people accessing these services has increased and waiting times for assessment have decreased. The CCG will continue to develop this further into 2020 using online technology to increase access;</p><p>- recruiting additional CAMHS psychologists as part of the four-week wait pilot scheme;</p><p>- the employment of additional trainees by Buckinghamshire’s ‘Healthy Minds’ service; and</p><p>- continuing to improve the physical health of people that have a serious mental illness by ensuring they are able to access an annual physical health check.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p>Mid BedfordshireMs Nadine Dorries2020-01-09false2020-01-09T10:35:19.987Z17Health and Social CareHealth and Social Care2019-12-191House of CommonsTo ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps he will take to improve mental healthcare in Wycombe; and if he will make a statement.falseWycombeMr Steve Baker104Ministry of Defence<p>I refer the hon. Member to my previous answer on 9 September 2019 to Questions 286771, 286772, 286773 and 286774.</p>Plymouth, Moor ViewJohnny Mercer286771 - Reserve Forces Pay.docx286771 - Reserve Forces Pay2020-01-308321false2020-01-30T14:51:09.59Z11DefenceDefence2020-01-271House of CommonsTo ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what assessment he has made of the equity of paying the equivalent of (a) £6.28 an hour for a newly trained army reservist, or (b) £4.68 an hour for a new recruit to the army reserves.falseAberdeen NorthKirsty Blackman83201001432138