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

1184529

registered interest
date	12/03/2020
answering body	Department for Transport
answering dept id	27
answering dept short name	Transport
answering dept sort name	Transport
hansard heading	Shipping: Discrimination
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	What steps he is taking to help protect seafarers from nationality-based pay discrimination.
tabling member constituency	Lancaster and Fleetwood
tabling member printed	Cat Smith
uin	901512
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 12/03/2020 answer text <p>The Equality Act 2010 (Work on Ships and Hovercraft) Regulations 2011 provides protection for EEA seafarers and those from designated States. These Regulations will be reviewed later this year.</p> answering member constituency Rochester and Strood answering member printed Kelly Tolhurst question first answered 12/03/2020 13:44:09 answering member 4487 label Biography information for Kelly Tolhurst
tabling member	4436 label Biography information for Cat Smith

1174361

registered interest
date	29/01/2020
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	Employment: Chronic Illnesses
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what specialist training Work Coaches receive to help people with hidden and fluctuating health conditions (a) find and (b) stay in work.
tabling member constituency	Lancaster and Fleetwood
tabling member printed	Cat Smith
uin	9722
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 03/02/2020 answer text <p>Training and guidance is provided for work coaches to support customers with fluctuating health conditions to find and stay in work.</p><p> </p><p>They receive health and complex needs learning that provides them with the skills and knowledge to:</p><ul><li>coach claimants to equip them with the tools and skills they need to progress towards or into work</li><li>invest in knowing the claimants they coach by asking the right questions to establish their needs</li><li>know how they can support claimants with complex needs in specific areas</li><li>state where they can find assistance and refer claimants to personalised provision for themselves with regard to their health condition</li><li>challenge claimants by setting and agreeing personalised, achievable steps that are reviewed at every attendance.</li></ul><p> </p><p>In addition, support is also provided for the work coach by the Disability Employment Advisers and Work Psychologists. Work Coaches can refer individuals to personalised provision and support such as the Work and Health Programme (available in England and Wales) or Fair Start Scotland (devolved programme available in Scotland).</p><p> </p><p>Work Coaches have access to further learning in the form of ‘bitesize’ learning and guidance spotlights to refresh and support them. For example:</p><p> </p><ul><li>Health and Work Conversation Techniques ‘bitesize’ – this provides learning on how to keep claimants engaged with the world of work and to keep thinking about the work they could do now or in the future, if not possible now. The Health and Work Conversation techniques have been specifically designed to enable the work coach to support a claimant who has:</li></ul><p> </p><p>- a health condition</p><p>- become disengaged with the labour market, perhaps, because they have been long term unemployed</p><p> </p><ul><li>Spotlight: Work and Health Programme (WHP) published November 2019</li></ul><p> </p><p>- Spotlight: Universal Credit Health Offer published April 2019 – This provides guidance on what is available for customers to support them to and in work. For example, Access to Work, Specialist Employability Support</p> answering member constituency Mid Sussex answering member printed Mims Davies question first answered 03/02/2020 17:54:46 answering member 4513 label Biography information for Mims Davies
tabling member	4436 label Biography information for Cat Smith

1174362

registered interest
date	29/01/2020
answering body	Women and Equalities
answering dept id	31
answering dept short name	Women and Equalities
answering dept sort name	Women and Equalities
hansard heading	Employment: Disability
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Minister for Women and Equalities, what steps the Government has taken to ensure that people with disabilities receive help and support to identify and challenge discriminatory workplace behaviours and practices.
tabling member constituency	Lancaster and Fleetwood
tabling member printed	Cat Smith
uin	9723
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 04/02/2020 answer text <p>Any employer who undertakes actions that result in discrimination may be held liable for such behaviour at an Employment Tribunal. Through the Equality Act, employees are protected from victimisation, meaning they should not fear the consequences of challenging discrimination at their workplace, even where no legal case is taken or won.</p><p>In 2019 the EHRC published two pieces of guidance; a guide to help employees including disabled staff challenge discrimination at work, and a guide to help employers understand their responsibilities to provide disabled staff with additional support and workplace adjustments. The EHRC also supports disabled individuals who have experienced discrimination to take their cases to court; in 2018 EHRC delivered a Legal Support Project to increase access to justice for people experiencing disability discrimination. It offered groups £189,000 for legal assistance across 94 cases in areas including employment.</p><p>Prior to considering legal action, a person who feels that they have been unlawfully discriminated against can contact the <a href="http://www.acas.org.uk" target="_blank">Advisory, Conciliation and Arbitration Service</a> or the <a href="https://www.equalityadvisoryservice.com/" target="_blank">Equality Advisory and Support Service</a> .</p> answering member constituency Louth and Horncastle answering member printed Victoria Atkins question first answered 04/02/2020 11:57:07 answering member 4399 label Biography information for Victoria Atkins
tabling member	4436 label Biography information for Cat Smith

1174363

registered interest
date	29/01/2020
answering body	Women and Equalities
answering dept id	31
answering dept short name	Women and Equalities
answering dept sort name	Women and Equalities
hansard heading	Employment: Disability
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Minister for Women and Equalities, what steps the Government is taking to ensure that employers meet their obligations to provide reasonable adjustments to the workplace to ensure that people with hidden or invisible condition are able to (a) access and (b) stay in employment.
tabling member constituency	Lancaster and Fleetwood
tabling member printed	Cat Smith
uin	9724
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 04/02/2020 answer text <p>The Government is committed to protecting people with disabilities in the workplace. The Equality Act 2010 places obligations on employers in relation to disabled employees and job applicants, including a duty to provide reasonable adjustments. However, the legislation recognises the need to strike a balance between the needs of disabled people and the interests of employers. What is ‘reasonable’ will vary from one situation to another. This is because factors like the practicability of making the adjustment, the cost of the adjustment and the resources available to a business, will vary from one situation to another. Although employers may in some cases make anticipatory adjustments, many will be at the request of the employee, including those where the disability may not be obvious or may be entirely hidden.</p><p>The government runs Access to Work, a demand-led discretionary grant scheme that offers up to £59,200 funding per year for in-work support for people whose disability or health condition affects the way they do their job. The scheme is designed to offer support above the level of employers’ statutory obligations under the Equality Act 2010, as well as providing advice to employers on in work support available for their employees which could include reasonable adjustments.</p><p> </p> answering member constituency Louth and Horncastle answering member printed Victoria Atkins question first answered 04/02/2020 11:56:32 answering member 4399 label Biography information for Victoria Atkins
tabling member	4436 label Biography information for Cat Smith

1174364

registered interest
date	29/01/2020
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	Employment: Disability
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps the Government is taking to ensure that employers signed up to the Disability Confident Scheme are actively supporting disabled employees.
tabling member constituency	Lancaster and Fleetwood
tabling member printed	Cat Smith
uin	9725
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 03/02/2020 answer text <p>The Department for Work and Pensions is working at a district, regional and national level with Disability Confident employers, encouraging them to pro-actively attract, recruit and retain disabled people, offering help and support at every stage of the journey. The department provides employers with a range of material, videos and toolkits, to help them to develop best practice.</p><p> </p><p>We are working closely with our stakeholders, including all main government departments, the Local Government Association, and Councils. The DWP Business Leaders Group, consisting of corporate influencers, is also helping to promote the benefits of employing a diverse range of employees, including disabled people.</p><p> </p><p>Last year, we made a number of improvements to the scheme, including adding the requirement for Disability Confident Leader employers to use the Voluntary Reporting Framework (VRF) to publicly report on how they encourage and support disabled staff. Although there is flexibility in how employers can use the VRF, we expect that most would choose to combine it with their annual report and accounts.</p><p> </p><p>In November 2018, we published the results of survey research commissioned from Ipsos MORI, which explored the effect that signing up to the Disability Confident scheme had on recruitment and retention attitudes towards disabled people. Half of all employers interviewed for the study said they had recruited at least one person with a disability, long-term health or mental health condition as a result of joining the scheme. Among larger employers, nearly two thirds reported the same. Eight in ten (80%) of employers interviewed had adopted at least one disability-related retention practice as a result of joining the scheme.</p><p> </p> answering member constituency North Swindon answering member printed Justin Tomlinson question first answered 03/02/2020 17:59:07 answering member 4105 label Biography information for Justin Tomlinson
tabling member	4436 label Biography information for Cat Smith

1173963

registered interest
date	28/01/2020
answering body	Foreign and Commonwealth Office
answering dept id	16
answering dept short name	Foreign and Commonwealth Office
answering dept sort name	Foreign and Commonwealth Office
hansard heading	China: Coronavirus
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what support his Department is providing to UK nationals in Wuhan who are unable to access medication.
tabling member constituency	Lancaster and Fleetwood
tabling member printed	Cat Smith
uin	9071
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 03/02/2020 answer text <p>As the Foreign Secretary said on 30 January, the safety and security of British nationals will always be our top priority. The Foreign and Commonwealth Office is in crisis mode to respond to those British Nationals effected by the outbreak of the Coronavirus. Our Embassy in Beijing and consular teams remain in close contact with British nationals in the region to ensure they have the latest information they need. The Foreign and Commonwealth Office has also organised a repatriation flight for British Nationals and other entitled persons in Hubei Province which landed on 31 January at RAF Brize Norton.</p> answering member constituency South Derbyshire answering member printed Mrs Heather Wheeler question first answered 03/02/2020 15:42:55 answering member 4053 label Biography information for Mrs Heather Wheeler
tabling member	4436 label Biography information for Cat Smith

1171845

registered interest
date	20/01/2020
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	Epilepsy: Drugs
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, for what reasons epilepsy is allocated one point in the General Medical Services Statement of Financial Entitlements (Amendment) Directions 2019; and what steps GPs take to ensure that women of child bearing age who are prescribed Valporate are enrolled in a pregnancy prevention programme.
tabling member constituency	Lancaster and Fleetwood
tabling member printed	Cat Smith
uin	5459
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 23/01/2020 answer text <p>Changes to the Quality and Outcomes Framework (QOF)- including allocation of points- are agreed as part of wider amendments to the General Medical Services (GMS) Contract. These changes are negotiated by NHS England and the British Medical Association’s (BMA) General Practitioners Committee England. Guidance on the 2019/20 GMS Contract concerning the QOF was published by the BMA and NHS England in April 2019. This guidance includes an epilepsy indicator which states that ‘the contractor establishes and maintains a register of patients aged 18 or over receiving drug treatment for epilepsy’. QOF points are generally weighted to the estimated workload associated with an indicator. Registers generally incur a lower workload than other indicators and therefore tend to attract a lower points value than other types of indicators.</p><p> </p><p>Care of patients with long term conditions in general practice is described in the essential services element of the contract and funded through the global sum payment. Patients should expect to receive high quality care irrespective of whether or not their condition is included in the QOF. The QOF indicators will continued to be reviewed going forward.</p><p> </p><p>It is a Care Quality Commission regulatory requirement for general practitioners (GPs) to follow the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency’s (MHRA) guidance on valproate prescribing. The MHRA advises that ‘Valproate medicines must no longer be used in women or girls of childbearing potential unless a Pregnancy Prevention Programme is in place’.</p><p> </p><p>NHS England are also taking broader action to support implementation of the MHRA pregnancy prevention guidelines. In April 2019, they introduced a new Quality Improvement module on prescribing safety into the QOF. As part of this module they expect practices to audit three measures, one of which is that girls and women of childbearing potential currently being prescribed valproate have had an annual specialist medication review and are taking this in compliance with the pregnancy prevention programme as documented by a specialist in the annual risk acknowledgement form. It is the responsibility of every healthcare professional involved in the prescribing and dispensing of valproate medicines to make sure women are aware of the risks and are on the pregnancy prevention programme.</p><p> </p> answering member constituency Bury St Edmunds answering member printed Jo Churchill grouped question UIN 5460 question first answered 23/01/2020 17:19:31 answering member 4380 label Biography information for Jo Churchill
tabling member	4436 label Biography information for Cat Smith

1171846

registered interest
date	20/01/2020
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	Epilepsy: Drugs
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, for what reasons no points have been allocated to ongoing management for epilepsy medication in the General Medical Services contract Quality and Outcomes Framework.
tabling member constituency	Lancaster and Fleetwood
tabling member printed	Cat Smith
uin	5460
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 23/01/2020 answer text <p>Changes to the Quality and Outcomes Framework (QOF)- including allocation of points- are agreed as part of wider amendments to the General Medical Services (GMS) Contract. These changes are negotiated by NHS England and the British Medical Association’s (BMA) General Practitioners Committee England. Guidance on the 2019/20 GMS Contract concerning the QOF was published by the BMA and NHS England in April 2019. This guidance includes an epilepsy indicator which states that ‘the contractor establishes and maintains a register of patients aged 18 or over receiving drug treatment for epilepsy’. QOF points are generally weighted to the estimated workload associated with an indicator. Registers generally incur a lower workload than other indicators and therefore tend to attract a lower points value than other types of indicators.</p><p> </p><p>Care of patients with long term conditions in general practice is described in the essential services element of the contract and funded through the global sum payment. Patients should expect to receive high quality care irrespective of whether or not their condition is included in the QOF. The QOF indicators will continued to be reviewed going forward.</p><p> </p><p>It is a Care Quality Commission regulatory requirement for general practitioners (GPs) to follow the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency’s (MHRA) guidance on valproate prescribing. The MHRA advises that ‘Valproate medicines must no longer be used in women or girls of childbearing potential unless a Pregnancy Prevention Programme is in place’.</p><p> </p><p>NHS England are also taking broader action to support implementation of the MHRA pregnancy prevention guidelines. In April 2019, they introduced a new Quality Improvement module on prescribing safety into the QOF. As part of this module they expect practices to audit three measures, one of which is that girls and women of childbearing potential currently being prescribed valproate have had an annual specialist medication review and are taking this in compliance with the pregnancy prevention programme as documented by a specialist in the annual risk acknowledgement form. It is the responsibility of every healthcare professional involved in the prescribing and dispensing of valproate medicines to make sure women are aware of the risks and are on the pregnancy prevention programme.</p><p> </p> answering member constituency Bury St Edmunds answering member printed Jo Churchill grouped question UIN 5459 question first answered 23/01/2020 17:19:31 answering member 4380 label Biography information for Jo Churchill
tabling member	4436 label Biography information for Cat Smith

1151858

registered interest
date	23/10/2019
answering body	Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport
answering dept id	10
answering dept short name	Digital, Culture, Media and Sport
answering dept sort name	Digital, Culture, Media and Sport
hansard heading	Youth Services: Capital Investment
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what the total annual capital expenditure for local authority youth services was in each year since 2010 by local authority.
tabling member constituency	Lancaster and Fleetwood
tabling member printed	Cat Smith
uin	4368
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 28/10/2019 answer text The data concerning the total capital expenditure for local authority youth services in each year since 2010 is not held by my department. answering member constituency Loughborough answering member printed Nicky Morgan question first answered 28/10/2019 20:01:18 answering member 4027 label Biography information for Baroness Morgan of Cotes
tabling member	4436 label Biography information for Cat Smith

1151886

registered interest
date	23/10/2019
answering body	Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport
answering dept id	10
answering dept short name	Digital, Culture, Media and Sport
answering dept sort name	Digital, Culture, Media and Sport
hansard heading	National Citizen Service Trust
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, when the NCS Trust's annual report and accounts 2019 will be published.
tabling member constituency	Lancaster and Fleetwood
tabling member printed	Cat Smith
uin	4383
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 28/10/2019 answer text <p>DCMS intends to publish the NCS Trust annual report and accounts by the end of March of 2020.</p> answering member constituency Loughborough answering member printed Nicky Morgan question first answered 28/10/2019 20:03:24 answering member 4027 label Biography information for Baroness Morgan of Cotes
tabling member	4436 label Biography information for Cat Smith