Asked by: Margaret Greenwood (Labour - Wirral West)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether he has made a comparative assessment of the effectiveness of the (a) Support for Mortgage Interest scheme and (b) pre-April 2018 scheme.
Answered by Mims Davies - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
We recently extended the support SMI provides by offering Universal Credit claimants a loan after three months, instead of nine, and extending to in-work UC claimants. These changes allow more UC claimants to access SMI, and therefore better protect against repossession, than when SMI was paid as a benefit.
No comparative assessment has been made. Support for Mortgage Interest (SMI) transitioned from a benefit to a loan in April 2018. The support provided as a loan is calculated at the same level as it was when it was a benefit, therefore it provides the same level of protection for individuals against repossession. Loans are only repayable from any available equity when the property is sold or the claimant dies.
Asked by: Margaret Greenwood (Labour - Wirral West)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether he is taking steps to estimate the long-term cost to the NHS of vaping.
Answered by Neil O'Brien
We have no current plans to make a long-term estimate. Evidence shows that whilst not risk-free, vaping is substantially less harmful than smoking. It is estimated that smoking costs the National Health Service £2.4 billion a year. Helping smokers quit smoking including using tools such as vaping is likely to save the NHS financial costs from the smoking burden.
Asked by: Margaret Greenwood (Labour - Wirral West)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what assessment he has made of the effectiveness of the Support for Mortgage Interest scheme at supporting homeowners with rising mortgage costs.
Answered by Mims Davies - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
SMI provides reasonable support by making a contribution towards mortgage interest to protect claimants against the threat of repossession. The rate of SMI is based on the average mortgage rate published by the Bank of England and recently increased from 2.09% to 2.65% in May 2023. Any further changes will occur when the average mortgage rate differs by 0.5 percentage points or more from the rate in payment.
To support mortgage borrowers with rising interest rates, on 3 April 2023, we extended SMI by offering Universal Credit claimants a loan after three months, instead of nine and extended to in-work UC claimants.
No assessment has been made of the adequacy of Support for Mortgage interest (SMI) since interest rates have risen, although the Department continues to monitor the impact of our policies on an on-going basis.
Asked by: Margaret Greenwood (Labour - Wirral West)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, what assessment his Department has made of the potential merits of additional targeted energy support for (a) people with motor neurone disease, (b) people who are reliant on energy-intensive assistive equipment and (c) other disabled people, in the context of increases in the cost of (i) energy and (ii) living.
Answered by Amanda Solloway - Government Whip, Lord Commissioner of HM Treasury
As set out in the Autumn Statement, the Government is exploring the best approach to consumer protection from April 2024, as part of wider retail market reforms. Officials are engaging with stakeholders with a view to targeting support for the most vulnerable and alleviating fuel poverty.
In response to higher prices, the Government has put in place the Energy Price Guarantee and provided significant additional support to help those who need it most through winter 2022-23 and into 2023-24.
Asked by: Margaret Greenwood (Labour - Wirral West)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, when he plans to respond to the correspondence of 5 June 2023 from the hon. Member for Wirral West and the Leader of Wirral Council on the Leverhulme Estates planning appeals.
Answered by Dehenna Davison
I apologise for the delay in responding to the Hon. Member's correspondence. The department attaches great importance to the effective and timely handling of correspondence from Honourable Members. A response was issued on 21st June 2023.
Asked by: Margaret Greenwood (Labour - Wirral West)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, when he plans to respond to correspondence of 12 April and 5 May 2023 from Wirral Council on the Leverhulme Estates planning appeals.
Answered by Dehenna Davison
I apologise for the delay in responding to the Hon. Member's correspondence. The department attaches great importance to the effective and timely handling of correspondence from Honourable Members. A response was issued on 21st June 2023.
Asked by: Margaret Greenwood (Labour - Wirral West)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether the Federated Data Platform will ensure that all patient data is (a) held within the UK and (b) is subject to UK data protection law including the General Data Protection Regulation.
Answered by Will Quince
The Federated Data Platform and Associated Services contract will stipulate that all data must be held within the United Kingdom and is subject to UK Data Protection Law including the General Data Protection Regulation.
Asked by: Margaret Greenwood (Labour - Wirral West)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, with reference to the Federated Data Platform, what safeguards are in place to ensure that it will not be used to market health or care services and products to patients.
Answered by Will Quince
There will not be marketing activity within the Federated Data Platform (FDP). It will comply with the Data Protection Act 2018 and the United Kingdom General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), Information Commissioner’s Office guidance and associated regulations, standards and guidance. Access to data in the FDP will always be controlled by National Health Service organisations. Use of data in the FDP will be clearly auditable and will be assessed to ensure compliance with GDPR and Information Governance rules.
Asked by: Margaret Greenwood (Labour - Wirral West)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether the federated data platform will (a) process and (b) be a repository of (i) anonymised patient data and (b) pseudonymised patient data.
Answered by Will Quince
The Federated Data Platform will be a data processor on behalf of National Health Service organisations. Each integrated care system and trust will need to determine how they will use their platform and each use case will require a Data Protection Impact Assessment to articulate the data security and protection principals and lawful bases for deployment.
The type of data will depend on the uses of the data as defined by the individual NHS organisations. It is anticipated that there will be various types of data used including anonymised, pseudonymised and in some cases identifiable data, but subject to stringent controls on access and use.
Asked by: Margaret Greenwood (Labour - Wirral West)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether only NHS staff will be permitted to access data via the Federated Data Platform.
Answered by Will Quince
The Department’s Joint Investment Committee approved the Federated Data Platform Outline Business Case, which provided details of the scope of the platform and the likely estimated benefits. The Federated Data Platform will be initially built on five use cases, selected based on the National Health Service strategic priorities, the immediate benefit that they will realise and the wider insights that they will be able to provide. These are: population health management; care coordination; elective recovery; vaccines; and immunisation and supply chain.
Access to data in the Federated Data Platform will always be controlled by NHS organisations and only those working in health and social care will be able to access the data.
It is envisaged that the primary users of the Federated Data Platform will be NHS hospitals, integrated care systems (ICSs) and NHS England. At ICS level, the benefits of the Federated Data Platform will also be realised by local authorities, local government and the third sector, who all contribute to providing health and care services.