Asked by: Baroness Anderson of Stoke-on-Trent (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps her Department is taking to protect people on benefits or low incomes who would be most vulnerable to rising food prices or food supply disruption in the event that the UK leaves the EU without a deal.
Answered by Justin Tomlinson - Minister of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
The Government's priority remains securing a deal to leave the EU. We have more people in work than ever before, with wages continuing to grow. However, as a responsible government we have plans in place for a range of scenarios. The welfare system provides a strong safety net. A system of hardship payments, benefit advances and budgeting loans will be available for eligible claimants who need them.
For new claimants applying for Universal Credit (UC), new claim advances provide access to a payment for those in financial need, which can be accessed on the same day, until their first UC payment is due. We have increased work allowance rates by £1,000 in April 2019 and they will be uprated in line with inflation in the future. This measure provides additional support in a package announced in Autumn Budget 2018, worth £1.7 billion by 2023/24, to some of the most vulnerable low paid working households.
Asked by: Baroness Anderson of Stoke-on-Trent (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many letters of delay the Veterans Agency is issuing to veterans awaiting an assessment appeal for their war pension on average.
Answered by Tobias Ellwood
The information is not held centrally and could be provided only at disproportionate cost.
Asked by: Baroness Anderson of Stoke-on-Trent (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what the (a) average and (b) longest time taken is for his Department to process war pensions in the latest period for which data is available.
Answered by Tobias Ellwood
The information requested is published within the annual National Statistics on awards under the War Pension Scheme. The latest information, as at 31 March 2019, can be found on the Gov.uk website at this link:
https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/war-pension-recipients-index
Asked by: Baroness Anderson of Stoke-on-Trent (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many and what proportion of veterans with PTSD have been refused a war pension since 2010.
Answered by Tobias Ellwood
Information on the total number of veterans medically diagnosed with Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) is not held.
However, between 1 January 2010 and 31 March 2019 an estimated 6,730 veterans have claimed compensation for PTSD under the War Pension Scheme, of which 1,320 (19.5%) were unsuccessful.
Asked by: Baroness Anderson of Stoke-on-Trent (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what procurement policies his Department has put in place to ensure that (a) the Foreign Office and (b) UK embassies promote UK (i) ceramics and (b) manufacturing, specifically.
Answered by Alan Duncan
All procurement is guided by the Public Contracts Regulations and Cabinet Office guidance.
Asked by: Baroness Anderson of Stoke-on-Trent (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what assessment she makes of the potential merits of retaining sovereign capabilities when undertaking procurement contracts with SME suppliers; and where retaining sovereign capabilities ranks on the MOD Procurement scorecard.
Answered by Stuart Andrew - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Culture, Media and Sport)
The Ministry of Defence (MOD) has a responsibility to procure the right capability for our Armed Forces and to ensure value for money for the taxpayer in the goods and services that we buy, regardless of the company's size.
We are clear that international competition is at the heart of our approach. This allows our Armed Forces to secure the best equipment from an open, global marketplace to meet evolving threats. We also recognise, however, that defence procurement needs to protect UK freedom of action and operational advantage. These strategic considerations shape our procurement strategies. Our refreshed Industrial Policy sets out the basis on which we will develop specific sector approaches to protect national security.
There is no single MOD procurement scorecard. Once we have launched a commercial competition, the MOD considers a wide range of factors when awarding our contracts to obtain the best value for money outcome for defence and the taxpayer.
Asked by: Baroness Anderson of Stoke-on-Trent (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what the policy priorities are for Defence Equipment and Support with respect to procuring with domestic SME's in emergent markets.
Answered by Stuart Andrew - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Culture, Media and Sport)
The Ministry of Defence (MOD), including Defence Equipment and Support, has a responsibility to get the right capability for our Armed Forces and to ensure value for money for the taxpayer in the goods and services that we buy.
The MOD is committed to making it easier for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) to do business with defence. In March 2019, we published our SME Action Plan which explains how we will increase our spend with SMEs, and addresses behavioural, policy and process change.
I also chair SME Forums around the UK to understand the issues facing SMEs, the most recent of which was held on 9 May 2019 in Broughton.
Asked by: Baroness Anderson of Stoke-on-Trent (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what progress she has made with the procurement process for new body armour; and which companies have been shortlisted.
Answered by Stuart Andrew - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Culture, Media and Sport)
A project is under way to procure and support a range of ballistic and training plates to fit the VIRTUS body armour and load carriage system. It is currently in the assessment phase with tender returns due over the next three months. I am withholding the company names as their disclosure would prejudice commercial interests.
Asked by: Baroness Anderson of Stoke-on-Trent (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, when he last assessed that Waterford Wedgwood Royal Doulton was compliant with the terms of its £5.1million grant from the Regional Growth Fund.
Answered by Kelly Tolhurst
As the project remains in monitoring until 2022, the Regional Growth Fund team continue to monitor and discuss project developments with WWRD UK Ltd, as they do with all Regional Growth Fund awards.
Asked by: Baroness Anderson of Stoke-on-Trent (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, whether he has reclaimed grant funds from a successful applicant to the Regional Growth Fund that has been found not to comply with the terms of the grant.
Answered by Kelly Tolhurst
Regional Growth Fund awards are monitored to ensure the agreed outcomes of the project are delivered.
Any project being undertaken using investment from the Regional Growth Fund must be delivered in full. If a project fails to deliver on what was first proposed, we would recover the appropriate level of grant payment.
I can confirm that this has happened on some successful Regional Growth Fund awards.