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 question first answered answering member label
tabling member	label

Search

1716817

registered interest
date	09/05/2024
answering body	Department for Transport
answering dept id	27
answering dept short name	Transport
answering dept sort name	Transport
hansard heading	Motorways
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, if he will make his policy to reinstate a hard shoulder on all smart motorways.
tabling member constituency	Hornsey and Wood Green
tabling member printed	Catherine West
uin	25512
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 16/05/2024 answer text <p>On 16 April 2023, the Government announced that all plans for new smart motorways have been cancelled, recognising the lack of confidence felt by drivers and cost pressures. This means no new smart motorways will be built.</p><p> </p><p>We are focused on investing £900m to add further safety improvements to existing smart motorways, including constructing over 150 extra emergency areas – so that people can continue to get around easily and with increased confidence.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p>Restoring the hard shoulder while maintaining capacity would be hugely disruptive, both for road users and local communities, and come at a significant financial cost, and a potential impact on the overall safety of the road network.</p><p> </p><p>Any reduction in capacity on our Strategic Road Network could put more drivers and passengers at risk of death or serious injury by forcing them on to less safe local roads.</p><p><strong> </strong></p> answering member constituency Hexham answering member printed Guy Opperman question first answered 16/05/2024 14:37:05 answering member 4142 label Biography information for Guy Opperman
tabling member	4523 label Biography information for Catherine West

1714764

registered interest
date	29/04/2024
answering body	Department for Transport
answering dept id	27
answering dept short name	Transport
answering dept sort name	Transport
hansard heading	Electric Bicycles: Helmets
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether his Department has made an assessment of the potential merits of amending regulations to require that cycle helmets be worn when hiring an e-bike.
tabling member constituency	Hornsey and Wood Green
tabling member printed	Catherine West
uin	24091
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 08/05/2024 answer text <p>The Department looked carefully at the case for making helmet-wearing mandatory for all cyclists in a comprehensive Cycling and Walking Safety Review in 2018. The review is available online at: <a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/speeches/governments-response-to-the-cycling-walking-investment-strategy-safety-review" target="_blank">https://www.gov.uk/government/speeches/governments-response-to-the-cycling-walking-investment-strategy-safety-review</a>.</p><p> </p><p>The review concluded that helmets should continue to be strongly recommended for people who cycle, but that they should remain a matter of personal choice rather than becoming a legal requirement. This is because the benefits of mandating cycle helmets would be likely to be outweighed by putting some people off cycling, thereby reducing the wider health and environmental benefits. The review did not specifically look at the case for mandating helmets only for those who hire e-cycles; but the Department expects the arguments for and against would be similar to the arguments for non-e-bikes. <br></p> answering member constituency Hexham answering member printed Guy Opperman question first answered 08/05/2024 14:46:39 answering member 4142 label Biography information for Guy Opperman
tabling member	4523 label Biography information for Catherine West

1673631

registered interest
date	28/11/2023
answering body	Department for Transport
answering dept id	27
answering dept short name	Transport
answering dept sort name	Transport
hansard heading	Motor Insurance: Fees and Charges
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what recent discussion he has had with car insurance providers on (a) changes in the price of car insurance renewals in the last 12 months and (b) the potential impact of such changes on consumers.
tabling member constituency	Hornsey and Wood Green
tabling member printed	Catherine West
uin	4217
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 05/12/2023 answer text <p>Department for transport officials regularly liaise with representatives of the motor insurance industry on a variety of issues such as the cost of insurance.</p><p> </p><p>However, it is the responsibility of individual motor insurers to set their premiums and the terms and conditions of their policies, and the Government does not intervene or seek to control the market.</p><p> </p> answering member constituency Hexham answering member printed Guy Opperman question first answered 05/12/2023 15:33:17 answering member 4142 label Biography information for Guy Opperman
tabling member	4523 label Biography information for Catherine West

1660416

registered interest
date	13/09/2023
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: Students
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps his Department is taking to help ensure that students with long-term health conditions are able to access the financial support to which they are entitled; and if he will make an assessment of the potential impact of deducting loans that cover maintenance from Universal Credit on the income of affected students.
tabling member constituency	Hornsey and Wood Green
tabling member printed	Catherine West
uin	199393
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 18/09/2023 answer text <p>Students, including disabled students and those with health conditions, access fees and living costs support for their higher education courses through various loans and grants funded through the student support system. It is important that UC does not duplicate this support, which is designed for the needs of students unlike the social security system. This includes support which recognises a person’s disability, such as the Disabled Students Allowance for those in higher education and discretionary bursaries and grants if undertaking further education. Disabled students also have access to discretionary Hardship Funds which are made available by universities and colleges.</p><p>It is important that Universal Credit does not duplicate this support. A condition of entitlement for Universal Credit is that the claimant must not be in education, which excludes most students. There is an exception where a person has already been determined to have limited capability for work before entering education and is entitled to a qualifying disability benefit, such as Personal Independence Payment. The rules for this exception are designed to encourage those already claiming Universal Credit because of disability or ill health to take up education that may help them into work in the future.</p><p> </p><p>Treatment of student income under Universal Credit broadly mirrors that in income related Employment and Support Allowance, Housing Benefit, Income Support and income-based Jobseekers Allowance which safeguards fairness whilst also ensuring simplification of the benefit system. If an eligible student makes a claim to Universal Credit we take into account, as income, any financial support which provides for the student's basic maintenance, such as student maintenance loans and grants. We do not take into account student income which covers additional costs, such as loans for tuition fees and books. The first £110 of any student maintenance loan or grant paid to meet living costs is not taken into account in each monthly Assessment Period where benefits are calculated. Over a typical 9 or 10 month academic year claimants are able to keep between £990-£1100 more of their Universal Credit award. The intention behind this is to help students with any added costs of books, equipment and travel which may be incurred whilst studying or training.</p><p>Whilst it is acknowledged that maintenance loans are to be paid back, if they were not treated as income and were ignored this would result in Universal Credit (and most legacy benefits) duplicating support already provided through the student finance system.</p> answering member constituency Hexham answering member printed Guy Opperman question first answered 18/09/2023 12:01:01 answering member 4142 label Biography information for Guy Opperman
tabling member	4523 label Biography information for Catherine West

1464124

registered interest
date	18/05/2022
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	Pension Protection Fund: Inflation
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 impact of rising UK inflation on members of the Pensions Protections Fund who accrued pension benefits before 1997.
tabling member constituency	Hornsey and Wood Green
tabling member printed	Catherine West
uin	4655
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 26/05/2022 answer text <p>No assessment has been made. The information required to carry out such an assessment is not readily available and to obtain it would incur disproportionate costs.</p><p>The Government understands that people are concerned about pressure on household budgets as a result of the global inflation crisis and has committed £22 billion in direct support to help people across the country.</p><p> </p> answering member constituency Hexham answering member printed Guy Opperman question first answered 26/05/2022 12:44:23 answering member 4142 label Biography information for Guy Opperman
tabling member	4523 label Biography information for Catherine West

1417346

registered interest
date	27/01/2022
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	Children: Maintenance
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what estimate she has made of the length of time it takes to deal with Child Maintenance cases that have been referred to the Financial Investigation Unit.
tabling member constituency	Hornsey and Wood Green
tabling member printed	Catherine West
uin	113217
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 03/02/2022 answer text <p>The Financial Investigation Unit (FIU) aim to review all new fraud referrals within 5 working days of receipt. All cases are assessed, and appropriate evidence obtained to fully inform the course of action. The length of time required to complete the FIU action will depend on the complexity of the individual case.</p> answering member constituency Hexham answering member printed Guy Opperman question first answered 03/02/2022 16:40:53 answering member 4142 label Biography information for Guy Opperman
tabling member	4523 label Biography information for Catherine West

1357189

registered interest
date	21/09/2021
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	Pension Credit
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps he is taking to ensure that all eligible pensioners receive pension credit.
tabling member constituency	Hornsey and Wood Green
tabling member printed	Catherine West
uin	52561
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 23/09/2021 answer text <p>Around 1.4 million eligible pensioners across Great Britain receive some £5 billion in Pension Credit which tops up their retirement income and is a passport to other financial help such as support with housing costs, council tax, heating bills and a free TV licence for those over 75.</p><p> </p><p>On 16 June as part of a media day of action on Pension Credit, DWP joined forces with Age UK as well as the BBC to help reach, via national and local media, older people who may be reticent about claiming it. More recently, on 7 September, I met the BBC Director General to discuss other opportunities to work together to get information about Pension Credit to pensioners and their family members. We have also set up a working group including organisations such as Age UK, Independent Age, the BBC and British Telecom to explore innovative ways to reach eligible pensioners.</p><p> </p><p>Earlier this year, over 11 million pensioners in Great Britain received information about Pension Credit in the leaflet accompanying their annual State Pension up-rating letter. They will do so again next year.</p> answering member constituency Hexham answering member printed Guy Opperman question first answered 23/09/2021 13:51:03 answering member 4142 label Biography information for Guy Opperman
tabling member	4523 label Biography information for Catherine West

1186206

registered interest
date	18/03/2020
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	State Retirement Pensions: Coronavirus
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether the Government has made an assessment of the potential merits of increasing the basic rate of the state pension during the covid-19 outbreak.
tabling member constituency	Hornsey and Wood Green
tabling member printed	Catherine West
uin	31589
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 23/03/2020 answer text <p>The Government has made no such assessment.</p> answering member constituency Hexham answering member printed Guy Opperman question first answered 23/03/2020 15:49:16 answering member 4142 label Biography information for Guy Opperman
tabling member	4523 label Biography information for Catherine West

997391

registered interest
date	29/10/2018
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 Regulator: Staff
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many staff are (a) employed directly by (b) seconded to and (c) work under contract in the Pensions Regulator.
tabling member constituency	Hornsey and Wood Green
tabling member printed	Catherine West
uin	185150
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 05/11/2018 answer text <p>The number of staff directly employed at the Pensions Regulator as of the 30 September is 685; 9 staff are under contract.</p><p> </p><p>The figure for those seconded is below 5.</p><p> </p><p>Further information on The Pensions Regulator headcount can be found in their Annual Report and Accounts, which can be found via the following Link.</p><p> </p><p><a href="http://www.thepensionsregulator.gov.uk/docs/annual-report-and-account-2017-2018" target="_blank">http://www.thepensionsregulator.gov.uk/docs/annual-report-and-account-2017-2018</a></p><p><strong> </strong></p> answering member constituency Hexham answering member printed Guy Opperman question first answered 05/11/2018 15:28:20 answering member 4142 label Biography information for Guy Opperman
tabling member	4523 label Biography information for Catherine West

748623

registered interest
date	05/07/2017
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	State Retirement Pensions
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether he has plans to raise the state pension age.
tabling member constituency	Hornsey and Wood Green
tabling member printed	Catherine West
uin	3142
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 11/07/2017 answer text <p>The Government has already stated that people should expect to spend on average ‘up to one third’ of their adult lives in retirement; and that any changes to State Pension age in the future should be fair to current and future generations of pensioners.</p><p> </p><p>To inform the first review into State Pension age, the Government commissioned two independent reports which were published in March 2017. I welcome both John Cridland’s report and the Government Actuary’s report as significant contributions to the evidence base.</p><p> </p><p>The Secretary of State is giving this issue the full consideration it deserves and will publish his report in due course.</p> answering member constituency Hexham answering member printed Guy Opperman question first answered 11/07/2017 09:51:03 answering member 4142 label Biography information for Guy Opperman
tabling member	4523 label Biography information for Catherine West