Asked by: Rob Marris (Labour - Wolverhampton South West)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what estimate he has made of the annual cost of making sanitary products available on prescription.
Answered by David Mowat
The Department has made no such estimate. Products allowable on a National Health Service prescription should be for the treatment of a medical condition, which can include diagnosis and prevention. This does not include items that could be considered more appropriate for the social care of an individual, for example, incontinence pads or sanitary products.
Asked by: Rob Marris (Labour - Wolverhampton South West)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many days on average it takes between receipt of an application by his Department from an applicant habitually resident in the UK and the date of first payment of (a) maternity grant, (b) maternity allowance and (c) maternity pay.
Answered by Damian Hinds - Minister of State (Education)
a) Average Actual Clearance Times (AACT) figures for Sure Start Maternity Grants (SSMGs) are published in Section 4.11 of the Annual Report by the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions on the Social Fund 2015-16 https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/552482/social-fund-annual-report-2015-2016.pdf
These figures show the time from receipt of application to the payment being released. In 2015-16, this was 3.54 days. It then takes 3 working days to arrive in the claimant’s bank account.
Before a person can qualify for SSMG they have to be in receipt of a qualifying benefit. In order for the qualifying benefit to be paid, the claimant would need to have passed the Habitual Residence test for that qualifying benefit. Therefore all claimants in receipt of SSMG are habitually resident.
b) The Average Actual Clearance Time (AACT) for Maternity Allowance (MA) for 2015/16 was 9.76 days. This shows the average time between receipt of the MA1 claim form and the decision to entitlement. The time taken to payment will depend on the circumstances of each case. The mother can apply for MA once she is 26 weeks pregnant. Payment can start any time between 11 weeks before the baby is due and the day after the baby is born, and is made when the mother leaves work.
c) Women wishing to claim Statutory Maternity Pay (SMP) do so directly to their employer and are paid SMP as part of their pay. DWP does not deal with these cases, and holds no information on timescales for payment.
Habitual residence is not a qualifying condition for SMP or MA, entitlement to which is based on employment, earnings and National Insurance Contributions.
Asked by: Rob Marris (Labour - Wolverhampton South West)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, when his Department plans to respond to the letter of 24 January 2017 from the hon. Member for Wolverhampton South West on trades unions' political funds, reference ZA6413.
Answered by Margot James
I apologise to the hon. Member. The reply will be sent shortly.
Asked by: Rob Marris (Labour - Wolverhampton South West)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, pursuant to the Answer of 22 February 2017 to Question 64038, when her Department plans to respond to the letter from the hon. Member for Wolverhampton South West of 21 December 2016 on the use of hotels to accommodate asylum seekers.
Answered by Robert Goodwill
The Minister of State for Immigration replied on 7th March 2017.
Asked by: Rob Marris (Labour - Wolverhampton South West)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what support his Department provides to local authorities for the provision of accessible public toilet facilities.
Answered by Lord Barwell
Section 87 of the Public Health Act 1936 gives local authorities the discretionary power to provide public toilets. How this power is exercised is a decision for local authorities; who know what is best for their area.
The provision of public toilets is one of the basic services that help create good quality public places and they are an important amenity for many people. That is why we are introducing powers through the Local Government Finance Bill to allow local authorities to grant discretionary business rate relief on public toilets that they own and maintain.
My Department has also worked with the Changing Places Campaign to promote the provision of changing places toilets across the UK, for severely disabled people and those with profound and multiple learning disabilities.
Asked by: Rob Marris (Labour - Wolverhampton South West)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what organisation is responsible for NHS workforce planning.
Answered by Philip Dunne
Health Education England has a remit to lead workforce planning and education commissioning across the health system to secure the future supply of the workforce, underpinned by a comprehensive local workforce planning process led by providers of National Health Service commissioned services and taking into account national priorities.
Local NHS organisations also have a key role to play in terms of on-going Continued Professional Development of their existing workforce.
Asked by: Rob Marris (Labour - Wolverhampton South West)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, when her Department plans to respond to the letter from the hon. Member for Wolverhampton South West of 21 December 2016, on the use of hotels to accommodate asylum seekers.
Answered by Robert Goodwill
I will reply to the hon. Member's letter shortly.
Asked by: Rob Marris (Labour - Wolverhampton South West)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, when she plans to respond to the letter from the hon. Member for Wolverhampton South West of 14 October 2016, on deportation of people whose immigration status application has not been finally determined, reference ZA4101.
Answered by Robert Goodwill
The Minister of State for Immigration replied to this letter on 9 February 2017.
Asked by: Rob Marris (Labour - Wolverhampton South West)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, by what date the UK Embassy in Bogota plans to comply with the Colombia Constitutional Court's judgment in the case of Action for protection of fundamental rights initiated by Darwin Ayrton Moreno-Hurtado, against the embassy of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland before the Republic of Colombia, dated 22 July 2015.
Answered by Alan Duncan
The UK has complied with its international legal obligations, and the British Embassy responded to the Colombia Constitutional Court's judgment on 23 September 2015. No further response is necessary.
Asked by: Rob Marris (Labour - Wolverhampton South West)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how many robotic surgery machines there are.
Answered by David Mowat
The information requested is not held centrally. It may be available directly from individual National Health Service trusts.