Asked by: Stephen Pound (Labour - Ealing North)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, if he will take steps to compile information on the number of Motability vehicles which have been recalled in England between (a) January to March and (b) April to June 2017.
Answered by Penny Mordaunt - Lord President of the Council and Leader of the House of Commons
The Department does not hold information on how many people had Motability vehicles on DLA. Therefore, we are unable to collect accurate information on the number of people who have returned a Motability vehicle.
The details of the number of people returning Motability vehicles for the requested dates and the reasons behind this are Motability’s Management Information, and the Department has no right to access this as it is an independent organisation.
Asked by: Stephen Pound (Labour - Ealing North)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps the Government and Government agencies are taking to work together to reduce work-related illness and deaths.
Answered by Penny Mordaunt - Lord President of the Council and Leader of the House of Commons
The Government and its agencies have brought a renewed focus to the health and safety system by working to: maintain the gains made in safety at work, while giving health the same priority; keep people in work through good health and safety management; and help people return to work through the right support and advice. This approach looks to build on the considerable strengths of the health and safety system whilst addressing its continuing challenges: the ever-changing nature of work and the needs of an increasingly ageing population.
The approach is under pinned by three key strategies: the Government’s Green Paper, Work, Health and Disability: Improving Lives, which sets out the Government’s proposals for improving work and health outcomes for people with long-term health conditions; HSE’s Health and Work Strategy, which addresses the occupational health problems which most commonly afflict the working population; and the strategy for Great Britain’s wider occupational health and safety system, Helping Great Britain work well.
This combined approach seeks active participation of business and the wider community in delivering lasting health and safety benefits as these issues cannot be addressed by the Government, and its agencies, acting in isolation.
Asked by: Stephen Pound (Labour - Ealing North)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps he is taking to work with local authorities to (a) promote good health at work and (b) ensure that workers are protected from work-related illness.
Answered by Penny Mordaunt - Lord President of the Council and Leader of the House of Commons
The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) is the lead regulator for work related ill health, which is one of the key themes in the health and safety system strategy Helping Great Britain Work Well’. HSE consulted and liaised with Local Authorities (LAs) in the development of the strategy. LAs have dual roles as regulators of workplace health issues within specified work sectors and as major employers in their own right.
HSE works with LAs, gathering information and developing delivery models so it can direct LA focus on health and safety regulatory activities via the National Local Authority Enforcement Code. HSE provides LAs with targeting advice and technical support to enable LAs to pursue the inspection and where necessary enforcement of nationally and locally identified significant workplace health issues.
LAs have a duty to protect their workers from work-related illness and many LAs have proactive workforce programmes to encourage good health. HSE has identified stress as one of the key areas where there is a need to pursue improvements and is consulting stakeholders, including LAs, to develop and refine this part of the work related ill health strategy.
Asked by: Stephen Pound (Labour - Ealing North)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, for what reasons section 67 of the Serious Crime Act 2015 has not yet been commenced.
Answered by Oliver Heald
I refer the hon.member to the answer given on 31 January to PQ 61208.
Asked by: Stephen Pound (Labour - Ealing North)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what discussions he has had with the incoming US administration on its policy on Article 5 of the NATO treaty.
Answered by Alan Duncan
Throughout the election period, our Embassy in Washington engaged both campaigns across the breadth of our policy interests, including NATO.
Asked by: Stephen Pound (Labour - Ealing North)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, if he will re-open the consultation on pharmacy dispensing models and displaying prices on medicines that closed on 17 May 2016 in order to allow respondents to take into account revised information on the safety profile of hub and spoke dispensing models.
Answered by Alistair Burt
The consultation on changes to medicines legislation including on ‘hub and spoke’ dispensing did not rely on any specific safety profile of hub and spoke dispensing. Instead, the consultation document specifically asked consultees to provide evidence on the issue. Nevertheless, the responses to the consultation have raised issues around removing the bar on ‘hub and spoke’ dispensing between retail pharmacies that are not part of the same business that the Department would like to explore in more detail with stakeholders’ representatives before progressing any legislation. It does not now envisage changes to the legislation on this issue commencing on 1 October 2016.
Asked by: Stephen Pound (Labour - Ealing North)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what funding is available for learners formerly on the Youth Contract after the closure of that programme on 31 March 2016.
Answered by Nick Boles
The Education Funding Agency (EFA) managed Youth Contract for 16 and 17 year olds which ended on 31 March 2016, was introduced as a time-bound programme to help reduce the proportion of young people Not in Education, Employment or Training (NEET). It offered targeted extra support to help young people re-engage in education and training.
In addition to the duty on local authorities to support young people, pathfinders to test Jobcentre Plus support for young people in schools have started and will be rolled out across England by March 2017. Improvements to careers education and guidance are underway with £90m to be invested over this Parliament – including £20m to increase the number of mentors to support those young people who need it most. Youth Engagement Fund and Fair Chance Fund projects are underway to help improve the prospects of 9,600 young people and an additional £105m was announced in the spending review to scale up Social Impact Bonds over the Parliament, to help deal with issues including youth unemployment.
Local authorities continue to work with the Voluntary and Community Sector and local businesses to support young people and other support is available via European Social Fund provision and support for vulnerable groups such as care leavers. As part of the Government’s forthcoming life chances strategy, the Troubled Families Programme and National Citizenship Scheme will be expanded, both of which include support for young people.
Asked by: Stephen Pound (Labour - Ealing North)
Question to the Northern Ireland Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, what discussions she has had with the Secretary of State for Justice on the effect of the proposed British Bill of Rights on Northern Ireland.
Answered by Theresa Villiers
My most recent discussion with the Secretary of State for Justice took place on 1 December. The Government was elected with a mandate to implement its manifesto commitment to replace Labour’s flawed Human Rights Act with a Bill of Rights. The Government believes this can be done in a way that is consistent with the provisions of the Belfast Agreement.
Asked by: Stephen Pound (Labour - Ealing North)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many times army technical officers have been deployed to incidents in Northern Ireland in each of the last five years.
Answered by Penny Mordaunt - Lord President of the Council and Leader of the House of Commons
I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave on 30 November 2015 to Question 17417 to the hon. Member for East Londonderry (Mr Campbell). The Report of the Independent Reviewer of the Justice and Security (Northern Ireland) Act 2007 which contains the requested information is published annually. The next report will be published in January 2016.
Asked by: Stephen Pound (Labour - Ealing North)
Question to the Northern Ireland Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, what assessment she has made of the implications for Northern Ireland of the UK voting to leave the EU in the EU referendum.
Answered by Ben Wallace
The Prime Minister believes that the UK’s best future lies within a reformed European Union. He is focused on addressing the concerns of the people of the United Kingdom and is confident that the right agreement can be reached.