Asked by: Louise Ellman (Independent - Liverpool, Riverside)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what estimate she has made of (a) the number of outstanding personal independence payments assessments, and (b) the length of time each such assessment has been pending; and if she will make a statement.
Answered by Sarah Newton
At the end of April 2018, 39,200 Personal Independence Payment (PIP) new claims and 36,200 Daily Living Allowance (DLA) to PIP reassessment claims which had been referred to the assessment provider were awaiting an assessment.
The average (median) outstanding time for both new claims and reassessments was 3 weeks from the point of referral to the assessment provider.
Notes:
1. Outstanding assessments are defined as claims which have been referred to an assessment provider but which have not yet had a decision.
2. Outstanding time is measured as the average time between the date of referral to the Assessment Providers and the date at the end of the reported calendar month, for all claims awaiting a return from the Assessment Provider, i.e. we check the number of claimants that were outstanding on the last day of each month and measure the period for which they have been outstanding.
3. The median time is the middle value if you were to order all the times within the distribution from lowest value to highest value. The median is presented here instead of the mean because the mean can be unduly affected by outlying cases (e.g. cases where the person has been hard to reach due to being in prison, hospital, or failed to attend the assessment on numerous occasions.
4. The status of claims as 'normal rules' and 'new claim/reassessment' is the most recent known status for each claim.
5. Data exclude Award Reviews
6. Unpublished figures taken from the PIP Atomic Data Store.
7. Figures exclude claims made under Special Rules for the Terminally Ill.
8. Figures are rounded to the nearest 100 and whole number of weeks.
9. Great Britain only.
Asked by: Louise Ellman (Independent - Liverpool, Riverside)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether the fines payable by Arriva Rail North for failure to run contractually committed services are capped; and if he will make a statement.
Answered by Lord Johnson of Marylebone
There is an annual cap set relating to amount of performance sum payments made by Arriva Rail North relating to the cancellation of train services.
Asked by: Louise Ellman (Independent - Liverpool, Riverside)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, with reference to the oral contribution of the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government of 16 May 2018, Official Report, column 399,what discussions he has had with Abacus Land 4 Ltd, the freeholder at Heysmoor Heights in Liverpool, in relation to funding cladding removal; and if he will make a statement.
Answered by Dominic Raab
I spoke with Richard Silva, the Chief Executive of Long Harbour which administer Abacus Land 4 Ltd, on 23 May. Mr Silva informed me that Abacus Land 4 Ltd is owned by pension fund holders. I affirmed the Government's position that leaseholders should not have to pay for the removal and replacement of unsafe aluminium composite material cladding in the Heysmoor Heights building.
We expect building owners in the private sector to explore all options to protect leaseholders from incurring the costs associated with replacing unsafe cladding. The Secretary of State recently held roundtables with leaseholders to understand their concerns and with industry to discuss the barriers to remediation and potential solutions. We are considering the proposals made and have not ruled out any options.
Asked by: Louise Ellman (Independent - Liverpool, Riverside)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what discussions he has had with (a) the Chancellor of the Exchequer and (b) officials of his Department on the completion of the construction of Royal Liverpool University Hospital since the collapse of Carillion; and if he will make a statement.
Answered by Steve Barclay - Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
Officials from the Department of Health and Social Care are working closely on this matter with those from Her Majesty’s Treasury and the Infrastructure and Projects Authority and of course with relevant senior staff of the Royal Liverpool and Broadgreen University Hospitals NHS Trust to ensure that the hospital can be completed as quickly as is possible. As is to be expected with a situation like this, meetings and discussions are also taking place with representatives from the Private Finance Initiative Project Company (The Hospital Company (Liverpool) Holdings Limited) on a very frequent basis.
Asked by: Louise Ellman (Independent - Liverpool, Riverside)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, if he will make representations to the freeholders of Heysmoor Heights, Liverpool on the funding the fire safety measures required after the Grenfell Tower tragedy as a result of the decision by the owners of Cityscape to fund their fire safety measures; and if he will make a statement.
Answered by Dominic Raab
Building owners should do all they can to protect leaseholders from costs arising from fire safety works in buildings clad with potentially unsafe aluminium composite material cladding – either funding it themselves or looking at alternative routes such as insurance claims, warranties or legal action. This could include working with the developer to reach a solution which avoids costs being passed to leaseholders. In the case of Citiscape, the decision to cover costs was made by the original developer, not the current owner. I have also arranged to speak with the agent of Heysmoor Heights’ freeholder regarding the costs of remediation.
Asked by: Louise Ellman (Independent - Liverpool, Riverside)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what representations his Department has made to the Iranian government on the 1991 policy which requires that Baha’i students are blocked from admission to universities or expelled once it becomes known that they are Baha’is; and if he will make a statement.
Answered by Alistair Burt
The human rights situation in Iran is of serious concern. This includes the treatment of Baha'i students following the 1991 memorandum. The Foreign Secretary raised our human rights concerns with the Iranian Government during his visit to Iran on 9-10 December, as did I during Iranian Foreign Minister Aragchi's visit to London in February this year.
Asked by: Louise Ellman (Independent - Liverpool, Riverside)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, with reference to the report entitled Faith and a Future: Discrimination on the Basis of Religion or Belief in Education, published by Christian Solidarity Worldwide in February 2018, whether he has has made an assessment of the implications for his policies of that report's conclusions on discrimination against Baha’i students and school-children in Iran; and if he will make a statement.
Answered by Alistair Burt
The human rights situation in Iran is of serious concern. This includes the treatment of Baha'i students and schoolchildren. We encourage the Iranian authorities to end discrimination against students from all minority backgrounds. The Foreign Secretary raised our human rights concerns with the Iranian Government during his visit to Iran on 9-10 December, as did I during Iranian Foreign Minister Aragchi's visit to London in February this year.
Asked by: Louise Ellman (Independent - Liverpool, Riverside)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, when his Department last discussed with HM Treasury the appointment of a new contractor to complete the new Royal Liverpool University Hospital; and if he will he make a statement.
Answered by Steve Barclay - Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
The Private Finance Initiative (PFI) contract between the Royal Liverpool and Broadgreen University Hospitals NHS Trust and the PFI Project Company is still in place, which means that the Company is still contractually obliged to manage the project and find a construction firm or subcontractor who can continue the building work. The PFI Project Company is continuing its discussions with their lenders and with other service and construction companies to assess how best to continue delivering the contract. Officials from across Government are continuing to work very actively with all the parties to ensure there are plans in place to keep the delay as short as possible.
Asked by: Louise Ellman (Independent - Liverpool, Riverside)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether his Department plans to change its policy on the threshold for self-contribution of disabled students in receipt of Disabled Students' Allowance; and if he will make a statement.
Answered by Sam Gyimah
The requirement that students in receipt of Disabled Students’ Allowance make a £200 contribution towards the costs of computer hardware was introduced in 2015. The government has no current plans to review the size of that contribution.
Asked by: Louise Ellman (Independent - Liverpool, Riverside)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what recent progress has been made on identifying a new contractor to complete the building of the new Royal Liverpool University Hospital after the collapse of Carillion; and if will he make a statement.
Answered by Steve Barclay - Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
The Private Finance Initiative (PFI) contract between the Royal Liverpool and Broadgreen University Hospitals NHS Trust and the PFI Project Company is still in place, which means that the Company is still contractually obliged to manage the project and find a construction firm or subcontractor who can continue the building work.
The Royal Liverpool Hospital scheme is very well advanced. The PFI Project Company is continuing its discussions with their lenders and with other service and construction companies to assess how best to continue delivering the contract. Officials from the Department and NHS Improvement are continuing to work very actively with all the parties to ensure there are plans in place to keep the delay as short as possible and provide the best value for money solution for the trust and for the public sector as a whole.