Asked by: Andrew Western (Labour - Stretford and Urmston)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, whether his Department is taking steps to help ensure that Palestinian civilians can secure safe passage out of Gaza.
Answered by David Rutley - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
It has not proved possible to respond to the hon. Member in the time available before Prorogation.
Asked by: Andrew Western (Labour - Stretford and Urmston)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether his Department has a target for the percentage of eligible people accessing the healthy start scheme in 2023.
Answered by Neil O'Brien
The NHS Business Services Authority (NHSBSA) operates the Healthy Start scheme on behalf of the Department. The NHSBSA is committed to increasing uptake of the scheme to ensure as many children as possible have a healthy start in life.
The NHSBSA promotes the Healthy Start scheme through its digital channels and has created free tools to help stakeholders promote the scheme locally. The NHSBSA has also reached out to stakeholders to see how it can support them to promote the scheme.
Asked by: Andrew Western (Labour - Stretford and Urmston)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, when her Department plans to publish the eligibility requirements for the 2023-24 Warm Home Discount Scheme.
Answered by Amanda Solloway - Government Whip, Lord Commissioner of HM Treasury
The eligibility criteria for the Warm Home Discount scheme 2023-24 is set in the Eligibility Statement which was published on 12th September 2023 and can be found here:
Asked by: Andrew Western (Labour - Stretford and Urmston)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many beneficiaries in receipt of healthy start payments have no recourse to public funds but are eligible through having British children as of 19 September 2023.
Answered by Neil O'Brien
As of 19 September 2023, there are 41 beneficiaries in receipt of payments from the temporary extension to the Healthy Start scheme.
Asked by: Andrew Western (Labour - Stretford and Urmston)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether his Department holds the data needed to contact families who are eligible for Healthy Start payments but are not accessing that scheme.
Answered by Neil O'Brien
The NHS Business Services Authority (NHSBSA) operates the Healthy Start scheme on behalf of the Department of Health and Social Care. NHSBSA is currently working with the Department for Work and Pensions to obtain contact data for those eligible for but not accessing the Healthy Start scheme.
Asked by: Andrew Western (Labour - Stretford and Urmston)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what discussions he has had with (a) representatives of the banking sector and (b) consumer bodies on the provision of guidance for ensuring people who have been issued with Credit Industry Fraud Avoidance System marker on their bank accounts are notified of that circumstance.
Answered by Andrew Griffith - Minister of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
The Chancellor of the Exchequer engages with a number of a key stakeholders to discuss policy matters.
Cifas is a fraud prevention service offering individuals and organisations help in combating the growing threat of fraud and financial crime. In 2022 Cifas members prevented fraudulent conduct totalling £1.3 billion, protecting people, businesses and the public finances from losses and wider harm.
To use the database, a Cifas member must operate within the terms of the National Fraud Database Handbook – a guide that sets out eight Principles of use with accompanying guidance. These Principles and guidance describe the controls in place to protect the data on the database and ensure that the highest possible standard of fairness and transparency are observed. Subjects have a right to know how data will be used and how any decisions related to them have been made, and can file a data subject access request (DSAR) to do this. More information on this can be found on the Cifas website.
If an individual believes that a Cifas marker has been incorrectly assigned they should first raise it with the organisation that recorded it to the Cifas database for them to review. If they do not remove the marker then the individual can go directly to Cifas. The individual can also apply to have a further review conducted by the Financial Ombudsman Service (FOS).
Asked by: Andrew Western (Labour - Stretford and Urmston)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, if his Department will take steps to review the transparency of the process by which credit industry fraud avoidance system issues markers onto customer bank accounts.
Answered by Andrew Griffith - Minister of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
The Chancellor of the Exchequer engages with a number of a key stakeholders to discuss policy matters.
Cifas is a fraud prevention service offering individuals and organisations help in combating the growing threat of fraud and financial crime. In 2022 Cifas members prevented fraudulent conduct totalling £1.3 billion, protecting people, businesses and the public finances from losses and wider harm.
To use the database, a Cifas member must operate within the terms of the National Fraud Database Handbook – a guide that sets out eight Principles of use with accompanying guidance. These Principles and guidance describe the controls in place to protect the data on the database and ensure that the highest possible standard of fairness and transparency are observed. Subjects have a right to know how data will be used and how any decisions related to them have been made, and can file a data subject access request (DSAR) to do this. More information on this can be found on the Cifas website.
If an individual believes that a Cifas marker has been incorrectly assigned they should first raise it with the organisation that recorded it to the Cifas database for them to review. If they do not remove the marker then the individual can go directly to Cifas. The individual can also apply to have a further review conducted by the Financial Ombudsman Service (FOS).
Asked by: Andrew Western (Labour - Stretford and Urmston)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, whether (a) he and (b) Ministers in his Department visited ministerial offices outside London in (i) 2022 and (ii) 2023.
Answered by Mike Freer - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Justice)
I and my fellow ministers regularly visit premises, including courts, prisons, probation and other administrative (HQ) offices across the Ministry of Justice estate.
Asked by: Andrew Western (Labour - Stretford and Urmston)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many application forms for Healthy Start payments have been sent out to families with no recourse to public funds with British children.
Answered by Neil O'Brien
The Department has sent out over 1,300 application forms to those who have requested them. The Department does not hold information on the recipients of the application forms.
As of 18 August 2023, the Department has received 110 fully completed applications that have demonstrated that the applicant met the eligibility criteria. The Department does not collect and therefore hold data on all applications made, as some applicants do not meet all the eligibility criteria, and these applications are not stored.
Asked by: Andrew Western (Labour - Stretford and Urmston)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many applications for the Healthy Start payments have been made from applicants with no recourse to public funds with British children.
Answered by Neil O'Brien
The Department has sent out over 1,300 application forms to those who have requested them. The Department does not hold information on the recipients of the application forms.
As of 18 August 2023, the Department has received 110 fully completed applications that have demonstrated that the applicant met the eligibility criteria. The Department does not collect and therefore hold data on all applications made, as some applicants do not meet all the eligibility criteria, and these applications are not stored.