Asked by: Heidi Allen (Liberal Democrat - South Cambridgeshire)
Question to the Attorney General:
To ask the Attorney General, pursuant to the Answer of 28 February 2018 to Question 129098, how many reports of hare coursing were received in each year since 2014; and how many (a) prosecutions and (b) convictions there have been relating to hare coursing in 2018 to date.
Answered by Robert Buckland
Offences of hare coursing may be prosecuted using offences created by the Game Act 1831, the Night Poaching Act 1828 and the Hunting Act 2004.
The Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) does not hold any record of the number of reports of hare coursing offences made to the police.
The CPS does not maintain a central record of the number of prosecutions for offences of hare coursing. This information could only be obtained by examining CPS case files, which would incur disproportionate cost.
Asked by: Heidi Allen (Liberal Democrat - South Cambridgeshire)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment his Department has made of the effectiveness of the powers available to the police to tackle hare coursing.
Answered by Nick Hurd
The police have a range of powers to tackle hare coursing through the game acts and the Hunting Act 2004. How these powers are used are operational matters for the police. In light of concerns raised, Home Office officials are engaging with relevant police forces to understand more about the issues.
Asked by: Heidi Allen (Liberal Democrat - South Cambridgeshire)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, pursuant to the Written Statement of 12 July 2018, on Justice update, HCWS853, whether the reinstatement of legal aid will apply to children located outside of the UK whose cases may fall under (a) the Dublin regulation and (b) section 67 of the Immigration Act 2016.
Answered by Lucy Frazer - Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport
Children located outside of the UK who wish to challenge a decision by the UK government not to accept a request by another EU Member State to transfer their asylum claim to the UK under the Dublin Regulation can do so by means of judicial review, for which legal aid is already available.
Under section 67, participating States refer eligible children to the UK to be relocated. There is no individual application process or right to relocation if a person meets the eligibility criteria. Therefore, there is no process for which the individual could require legal aid.
We are currently consulting with stakeholders about the reinstatement of legal aid announced in the Written Statement of 12 July 2018, HCWS853, and more information about the policy will be laid out in due course.
Asked by: Heidi Allen (Liberal Democrat - South Cambridgeshire)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many and what proportion of people with multiple sclerosis are no longer eligible for the higher rate of mobility support as a result of the transition from disability living allowance to personal independence payment since the roll-out of personal independence payment.
Answered by Sarah Newton
The table below shows the level of mobility award claimants with Multiple Sclerosis received under Disability Living Allowance (DLA) and their level of mobility award following reassessment to Personal Independence Payment (PIP).
Table: DLA to PIP Reassessment outcomes for claimants with Multiple Sclerosis
| Outcome Following Reassessment to PIP |
| ||
Award Received Under DLA | Enhanced Rate of Mobility | Standard Rate of Mobility | No Mobility Award | Total |
Higher Rate Mobility Component | 13,900(73%) | 3,100(16%) | 2,100(11%) | 19,100 |
Source: PIP Computer System claimant records and DLA Work and Pensions Longitudinal Study claimant data (1st October 2013 to 31st October 2017)
Notes:
1. PIP Reassessment outcome shows the outcome of the first DWP decision on each reassessment claim (i.e. they reflect outcomes prior to any reconsideration appeal action and award review), where that decision was made between 1st October 2013 and 31st October 2017.
2. For each individual who has a PIP reassessment outcome their PIP entitlement has been compared to their DLA entitlement at the time of their PIP reassessment registration.
3. Main disabling condition used is the disability recorded on the DLA administrative system for each individual. This is used because disability information is recorded on the PIP computer systems only for the group of cases who have a PIP assessment report.
4. Claimants may often have multiple disabling conditions upon which their entitlement decision is based but only the primary condition is shown in these statistics. It is possible that a reassessment claim could have a different main disabling condition recorded on the DLA and PIP systems.
5. Figures include reassessment outcomes for individuals who were aged between 16 and 64 on 8th April 2013, and include both PIP Normal Rules and Special Rules for the Terminally Ill claims.
6. Figures exclude claimants who failed to attend their assessment, were disallowed pre-referral or who withdrew their case.
7. The breakdown of data provided is unpublished data. It should be used with caution and it may be subject to future revision.
8. Figures have been rounded to the nearest 10.
9. Totals may not sum due to rounding.
10. Table percentages are given as row percentages.
11. Great Britain only.
Asked by: Heidi Allen (Liberal Democrat - South Cambridgeshire)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many and what proportion of claimants have received each length of personal independence payment award since its introduction.
Answered by Sarah Newton
The table below shows the number of people who have been awarded Personal Independence Payment (PIP) for each award length between April 2013 and 30th April 2018.
Table: PIP awards made between April 2013 and 30th April 2018, split by award length.
Type of award | Volume of claimants | Volume as a percentage of total |
Ongoing Awards | 323,210 | 18.1% |
Finite Awards | 1,458,250 | 81.8% |
Of which: |
|
|
1.5 years or lower | 346,650 | 23.8% |
1.5 – 2.5 years | 496,260 | 34.0% |
2.5 – 3.5 years | 364,450 | 25.0% |
3.5 – 4.5 years | 92,390 | 6.3% |
4.5 – 5.5 years | 132,630 | 9.1% |
5.5 – 6.5 years | 960 | 0.1% |
6.5 – 7.5 years | 190 | 0.0% |
7.5 – 8.5 years | 950 | 0.1% |
8.5 – 9.5 years | 710 | 0.0% |
9.5 years or more* | 11,720 | 0.8% |
Short term award | 11,330 | 0.8% |
Total Awards | 1,781,470 | 100% |
*The “9.5 years or more” group excludes ongoing awards. Source: PIP ADS
Award lengths are calculated from the date of award of PIP to the review date. At the point of preparing this response, approximately 0.06% of all cleared claims do not have a recorded review date but are not ongoing awards so have been excluded from the table above.
Figures are based on the first outcome recorded for each case and include both new claims and DLA reassessment claims assessed under normal rules. Special rules cases for the terminally ill are excluded from the above figures. Data has been rounded to the nearest 10 cases. This is unpublished data which should be used with caution and it may be subject to future revision.
A claimant can receive a short term fixed award if their condition is expected to improve in the short term. Once this award ends, the benefit ends and no award review takes place.
Ongoing awards do not have an end date, but will be subject to a light touch review at the 10 year point. We are currently amending the guidance to ensure that all those awarded the highest level of support under PIP, and who have needs which will stay the same or deteriorate, will receive and ongoing award with a light touch review at the 10 year point. The new guidance will be published later this summer.
Asked by: Heidi Allen (Liberal Democrat - South Cambridgeshire)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what proportion of people with multiple sclerosis who scored 12 points under PIP mobility activity 2 moving around descriptor (e) can stand and then move more than 1 metre but no more than 20 metres, either aided or unaided were (a) new claimants and (b) reassessments in the latest period for which figures are available.
Answered by Sarah Newton
Of all Personal Independence Payment (PIP) claims cleared between April 2013 and 30th April 2018 from claimants with multiple sclerosis who scored 12 points under PIP the ‘moving around’ mobility activity descriptor (e) can stand and then move more than 1 metre but no more than 20 metres, either aided or unaided, (a) 14% were new claimants and (b) 86% were Disability Living Allowance to PIP reassessment claimants.
Asked by: Heidi Allen (Liberal Democrat - South Cambridgeshire)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many and what proportion of claimants of disability living allowance with multiple sclerosis received the higher rate of mobility support as a result of being unable or virtually unable to walk because of a physical disability in the 12 months before the roll-out of personal independence payment.
Answered by Sarah Newton
The information requested is not readily available and to provide it would incur disproportionate cost.
The available information on the number of individuals in receipt of Disability Living Allowance payments by medical condition and date is published and can be found at:
https://stat-xplore.dwp.gov.uk
Guidance for users is available at:
https://sw.stat-xplore.dwp.gov.uk/webapi/online-help/Getting-Started.html
Asked by: Heidi Allen (Liberal Democrat - South Cambridgeshire)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, if he will take steps to make stamp duty payable on the portion of a property that each person owns according to their tax status in the next Budget.
Answered by Mel Stride - Secretary of State for Work and Pensions
The Government reformed Stamp Duty Land Tax on residential properties at Autumn Statement 2014, cutting the tax for 98% of people who pay it, unless they are purchasing additional property.
The Government’s priority is to support first-time buyers. At the 2017 Autumn Budget, the Government removed SDLT for all first-time buyers purchasing properties up to £300,000, with the relief also extending to purchases worth up to £500,000. These changes will help over one million households over the next 5 years.
Asked by: Heidi Allen (Liberal Democrat - South Cambridgeshire)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, if he will take steps to make stamp duty payable on the portion of a property that each person owns according to their tax status in the next Budget.
Answered by Mel Stride - Secretary of State for Work and Pensions
The Government reformed Stamp Duty Land Tax on residential properties at Autumn Statement 2014, cutting the tax for 98% of people who pay it, unless they are purchasing additional property.
The Government’s priority is to support first-time buyers. At the 2017 Autumn Budget, the Government removed SDLT for all first-time buyers purchasing properties up to £300,000, with the relief also extending to purchases worth up to £500,000. These changes will help over one million households over the next 5 years.
Asked by: Heidi Allen (Liberal Democrat - South Cambridgeshire)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what proportion of universal credit claimants received their full payment on time for the most recent period for which information is available.
Answered by Alok Sharma - COP26 President (Cabinet Office)
This information can be found in the ad-hoc statistics release published on 9 July 2018 at https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/length-of-payment-delays-for-new-claims-to-universal-credit.
This ad hoc release provides statistics on timeliness of payment for new claims to Universal Credit due a payment in February 2018. It also contains results for the number of new claims – due a first payment in February 2018 – that received their first payment on time.