Asked by: Karen Lee (Labour - Lincoln)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what recent assessment he has made of the effect of the stay of six weeks or less for 60 per cent of prisoners in HMP Lincoln on the ability of that prison to provide adequate rehabilitative services.
Answered by Robert Buckland
I am currently considering the content and recommendations of the report from the IMB at HMP Lincoln which was published on 8 July 2019. I will respond to the report as soon as that process is completed, and I will ensure a copy of the response is sent to the Hon Member for Lincoln.
Asked by: Karen Lee (Labour - Lincoln)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, if he will make an assessment of the potential merits of imposing sanctions under Section 1(2)(f) of the Sanctions and Anti-Money Laundering Act 2018 on officials from Oman involved in human rights abuses against the Shuhuh 6.
Answered by Alan Duncan
My Rt Hon Friend The Minister of State for the Middle East has raised these cases with the Omani authorities, as has our Ambassador in Muscat. They have given us the strongest assurances that the individuals concerned were given full legal assistance and treated in accordance with Oman’s constitution and international laws and conventions. There is no evidence of any discrimination against the Shihuh more generally, many of whom occupy senior positions in the Omani state and wider society. Our current assessment of the situation means that we see no merit in considering any action.
With regard to the use of the powers under Section 1(2)(f) of the Sanctions and Anti-Money Laundering Act, the government is actively considering establishing a human rights sanctions regime to support the UK’s work in promoting and defending human rights around the world. Any potential listings would need to be consistent with the purposes of the regime and thresholds for evidence. As the sanctions regime is not yet established we are not able to provide any comment on possible designations.
Asked by: Karen Lee (Labour - Lincoln)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps her Department is taking to increase the take-up of pension credit among people without internet access.
Answered by Guy Opperman - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
Pension Credit is an important benefit specifically intended to help the poorest pensioners. There are over 1.6m pensioners already claiming Pension Credit worth over £5billion a year. However, the Government wants to ensure that all pensioners eligible can claim the Pension Credit to which they are rightly entitled.
We also welcome and encourage initiatives to promote take up of Pension Credit by national and local organisations who may often be best placed to understand the local circumstances and needs in the community. For this reason we have developed the Pension Credit toolkit, as an on-line tool for agencies and welfare rights organisations to use in order to encourage Pension Credit take-up. It can be found at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/pension-credit-toolkit
The toolkit contains resources for anyone working with pensioners and includes guides to Pension Credit. It also contains publicity material and guidance designed to help older people understand how they could get Pension Credit and help organisations support someone applying for Pension Credit as well as ideas for encouraging take-up. The toolkit also provides links to information about disability and carers benefits.
Organisations can use the Pension Credit calculator https://www.gov.uk/pension-credit-calculator to help people check if they are likely to be eligible and get an estimate of what they may receive.
In addition, the DWP targets activity on engaging with people who may be eligible to benefits at pivotal stages, such as when they claim State Pension or report a change in their circumstances. The DWP uses a wide range of channels to communicate information about benefits to potential customers; including information on https://gov.uk/, but also in leaflets and by telephone. DWP staff in Pension Centres and Jobcentres including visiting officers are able to provide help and advice about entitlement to benefits, as are staff in Local Authorities who administer Housing Benefit.
In Lincoln there are just under 3,000 pensioners already claiming Pension Credit. The easiest way to make a claim is by telephone. People can telephone either the Pension Service helpline for general enquiries on 0800 731 0469 or those wishing to claim Pension Credit can do so by calling 0800 99 1234.
Asked by: Karen Lee (Labour - Lincoln)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what the average amount of unclaimed pension credit is per eligible claimant in the constituency of Lincoln in the most recent period for which figures are available.
Answered by Guy Opperman - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
The information requested on the number of potentially eligible claimants of pension credit who have not claimed the benefit and the average amount of unclaimed pension credit per eligible claimant in the constituency of Lincoln is not available at constituency level.
Official statistics on the take-up of income related benefits at Great Britain level, including pension credit, can be found in the ‘Income-related benefits: estimates of take-up 2016 to 2017’ publication.
Asked by: Karen Lee (Labour - Lincoln)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what estimate she has made of the number of potentially eligible claimants of pension credit who have not claimed that benefit in the constituency of Lincoln in the most recent period for which figures are available.
Answered by Guy Opperman - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
The information requested on the number of potentially eligible claimants of pension credit who have not claimed the benefit and the average amount of unclaimed pension credit per eligible claimant in the constituency of Lincoln is not available at constituency level.
Official statistics on the take-up of income related benefits at Great Britain level, including pension credit, can be found in the ‘Income-related benefits: estimates of take-up 2016 to 2017’ publication.
Asked by: Karen Lee (Labour - Lincoln)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps her Department is taking to engage with local organisations in Lincoln to increase the take-up of pension credit in that city.
Answered by Guy Opperman - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
Pension Credit is an important benefit specifically intended to help the poorest pensioners. There are over 1.6m pensioners already claiming Pension Credit worth over £5billion a year. However, the Government wants to ensure that all pensioners eligible can claim the Pension Credit to which they are rightly entitled.
We also welcome and encourage initiatives to promote take up of Pension Credit by national and local organisations who may often be best placed to understand the local circumstances and needs in the community. For this reason we have developed the Pension Credit toolkit, as an on-line tool for agencies and welfare rights organisations to use in order to encourage Pension Credit take-up. It can be found at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/pension-credit-toolkit
The toolkit contains resources for anyone working with pensioners and includes guides to Pension Credit. It also contains publicity material and guidance designed to help older people understand how they could get Pension Credit and help organisations support someone applying for Pension Credit as well as ideas for encouraging take-up. The toolkit also provides links to information about disability and carers benefits.
Organisations can use the Pension Credit calculator https://www.gov.uk/pension-credit-calculator to help people check if they are likely to be eligible and get an estimate of what they may receive.
In addition, the DWP targets activity on engaging with people who may be eligible to benefits at pivotal stages, such as when they claim State Pension or report a change in their circumstances. The DWP uses a wide range of channels to communicate information about benefits to potential customers; including information on https://gov.uk/, but also in leaflets and by telephone. DWP staff in Pension Centres and Jobcentres including visiting officers are able to provide help and advice about entitlement to benefits, as are staff in Local Authorities who administer Housing Benefit.
In Lincoln there are just under 3,000 pensioners already claiming Pension Credit. The easiest way to make a claim is by telephone. People can telephone either the Pension Service helpline for general enquiries on 0800 731 0469 or those wishing to claim Pension Credit can do so by calling 0800 99 1234.
Asked by: Karen Lee (Labour - Lincoln)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how much the Government spent on legal costs on the court case on reforms to firefighters pensions.
Answered by Nick Hurd
Following the Court of Appeal’s recent judgment which deemed transitional protection in the 2015 firefighters’ pension scheme to be unlawful, the claims will now be referred back to the Employment Tribunal for remedy. To date the legal costs for Government are in the region of £495,000.
Asked by: Karen Lee (Labour - Lincoln)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether he plans to implement the recommendations in the report of Her Majesty’s Inspectorate of Constabulary and Fire and Rescue Services on Fire and Rescue Service Inspections 2018/19.
Answered by Nick Hurd
The Home Office will give the inspectorate’s findings, and in particular the recommendations which have been made to Government, detailed consideration as we engage with sector leaders to continue to improve performance in fire and rescue services.
Asked by: Karen Lee (Labour - Lincoln)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment he has made of the implications for his policies of the conclusion in the report of Her Majesty’s Inspectorate of Constabulary and Fire and Rescue Services on Fire and Rescue Service Inspections that there are too few firefighters to meet the foreseeable fire risk.
Answered by Nick Hurd
Fire services have the resources they need to do their important work. Overall fire and rescue authorities will receive around £2.3 billion in 2019/20.
Operational decisions are for each fire and rescue authority to make as part of the integrated risk management planning process, drawing on the professional advice of their Chief Fire Officer.
Asked by: Karen Lee (Labour - Lincoln)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, with reference to the findings in the report of Her Majesty’s Inspectorate of Constabulary and Fire and Rescue Services’ on Fire and Rescue Service Inspections 2018/19, what recent assessment he has made of the adequacy of the resources available to fire service inspection programmes; and if he will make a statement.
Answered by Nick Hurd
Her Majesty’s Inspectorate of Constabulary and Fire and Rescue Services has the resources it requires to deliver the fire and rescue services’ inspection programme.