Asked by: Owen Thompson (Scottish National Party - Midlothian)
Question to the Scotland Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland, if he will provide a list of ministerial visits to the Midlothian constituency in each of the last five years.
Answered by Alister Jack - Secretary of State for Scotland
Scotland Office Ministers have conducted one visit to the constituency of Midlothian in the past five years. This was by Iain Stewart MP, while Parliamentary Under Secretary of State in the Scotland Office, to Midlothian Council Projects on 4 February 2022.
Asked by: Owen Thompson (Scottish National Party - Midlothian)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, whether her Department is providing additional support to carers to help with rising energy costs.
Answered by Amanda Solloway - Government Whip, Lord Commissioner of HM Treasury
Energy prices have fallen significantly since last winter, and the Q2 2024 price cap has fallen by nearly 60% since Q1 2023 when the price cap peaked.
The Government’s cost-of-living support package between 2022 to 2025 is worth £108 billion, or £3,800 per household on average, one of the largest support packages in Europe.
In addition, the Government continues to provide support through the Warm Home Discount, which provides eligible low-income households with an annual £150 rebate off their energy bill every winter.
Carer’s Allowance is also available to provide a measure of financial support to those not able to work full time due to their caring responsibilities. The rate of Carer’s Allowance is £81.90 a week. In addition to Carer’s Allowance, carers on low incomes can claim income-related benefits, such as Universal Credit and Pension Credit.
Asked by: Owen Thompson (Scottish National Party - Midlothian)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what information her Department holds on the level of gambling addiction in Midlothian constituency in each of the last five years.
Answered by Stuart Andrew - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Culture, Media and Sport)
DCMS does not hold data on the level of gambling-related harm for individual constituencies.
Asked by: Owen Thompson (Scottish National Party - Midlothian)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what information her Department holds on the number of fixed-odds betting terminals there were in Midlothian constituency in each of the last five years.
Answered by Stuart Andrew - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Culture, Media and Sport)
Fixed-odds betting terminals refer to Category B2 gaming machines. In April 2019, the maximum stakes on these machines were reduced from £100 to £2. Following this reduction in maximum stakes there has been a dramatic decrease in the number of physical B2 machines in operation. The Gambling Commission’s industry statistics indicate that from April 2020 to March 2023 there were zero Category B2 gaming machines in operation across Great Britain.
Asked by: Owen Thompson (Scottish National Party - Midlothian)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, how many value added tax registrations there were in each deprivation decile in each (a) parliamentary constituency and (b) ward in Scotland in each year since 2019.
Answered by Nigel Huddleston - Financial Secretary (HM Treasury)
The requested information on Value Added Tax (VAT) registrations by deprivation decile is not available. HMRC does not publish any VAT statistics containing geographic breakdowns. This is because VAT registrations can have both single and multiple sites, and therefore such breakdowns would be of limited value.
Asked by: Owen Thompson (Scottish National Party - Midlothian)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many people under the age of 25 have claimed jobseeker's allowance for more than (a) one and (b) two years in each year since 2019 in Midlothian constituency.
Answered by Jo Churchill - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
Statistics for the number of people on jobseeker's allowance by age, duration of claim and parliamentary constituency, are published every three months on Stat-Xplore, and are currently available to August 2023.
Users can log in or access Stat-Xplore as a guest user and, if needed, can access guidance on how to extract the information required.
Asked by: Owen Thompson (Scottish National Party - Midlothian)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many people claiming universal credit in Midlothian constituency have contacted the universal credit helpline (a) by landline, (b) by mobile phone and (c) at a local jobcentre.
Answered by Jo Churchill - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
The information requested is not readily available and to provide it would incur disproportionate cost.
Asked by: Owen Thompson (Scottish National Party - Midlothian)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many households received Universal Credit in Midlothian constituency in each of the last five years.
Answered by Jo Churchill - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
Statistics for the number of households on Universal Credit by parliamentary constituency, are published every three months on Stat-Xplore, and are currently available to November 2023.
Users can log in or access Stat-Xplore as a guest user and, if needed, can access guidance on how to extract the information required.
Asked by: Owen Thompson (Scottish National Party - Midlothian)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment he has made of the potential implications for his policies of the letter to his Department on Tackling the Recruitment & Retention Crisis from Leading Violence Against Women and Girls organisations, published on 20 March 2024.
Answered by Laura Farris - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Ministry of Justice) (jointly with Home Office)
Home Office officials are discussing the concerns and proposals raised in the correspondence you refer to directly with some of the signatories and have also engaged with officials at the Ministry of Justice and the Department for Levelling Up, Housing, and Communities to ensure a co-ordinated consideration of the concerns raised.
Asked by: Owen Thompson (Scottish National Party - Midlothian)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment he has made of the potential implications for his policies of calls from a coalition of Violence Against Women and Girls organisations for an independent taskforce to tackle recruitment and retention in that sector.
Answered by Laura Farris - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Ministry of Justice) (jointly with Home Office)
Home Office officials are discussing the concerns and proposals raised in the correspondence you refer to directly with some of the signatories and have also engaged with officials at the Ministry of Justice and the Department for Levelling Up, Housing, and Communities to ensure a co-ordinated consideration of the concerns raised.