Asked by: Vince Cable (Liberal Democrat - Twickenham)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps she is taking to support fraud victims whose cases do not meet Action Fraud's criteria for investigation.
Answered by Brandon Lewis
291218: All reports submitted to Action Fraud are subject to risk assessments, which take into account the following:
291223: Action Fraud is working in conjunction with Victim Support in London to identify vulnerable victims and provide them with additional advice and support to stop them becoming repeat victims.
NFIB’s Project Recall alerts banks when reports of recent fraudulent transactions are made, which often results in payments being stopped or returned to the victim.
Action Fraud is the national reporting point for fraud and cyber crime. Since April 2013, it has taken reports of these crimes on behalf of all police forces in England and Wales. Once Action Fraud has received a crime report, that information is considered by the National Fraud Intelligence Bureau (NFIB). Where there is enough evidence available and a viable lead, actionable intelligence packages are created and sent to the appropriate police force to consider whether enforcement activity should take place. Neither Action Fraud nor the NFIB are investigatory agencies. It is still for local forces to consider enforcement activity. Both Action Fraud and the NFIB are run by the City of London Police, which is the national lead force for fraud.
Asked by: Vince Cable (Liberal Democrat - Twickenham)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many and what proportion of people in Twickenham constituency have (a) opted out after being auto-enrolled into a workplace pension and (b) saved more than the auto-enrolment minimum contribution.
Answered by Guy Opperman - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
It has not proved possible to respond to the hon. Member in the time available before Prorogation.
Asked by: Vince Cable (Liberal Democrat - Twickenham)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many and what proportion of NHS hospital car parks in England are operated by private parking companies.
Answered by Chris Skidmore
The level and appropriateness of car parking charges at National Health Service sites is the responsibility of the local NHS trust. The Department have published the NHS Car Parking Principles which clearly state that concessions should be offered to groups who most need help, such as disabled people including those with blue badges and temporary disabilities.
Information is not collected on car parking costs, concessionary parking arrangements for blue badge holders or the number of private provider companies that operate NHS hospital car parks in England.
Asked by: Vince Cable (Liberal Democrat - Twickenham)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many and what proportion of NHS hospital sites in England are compliant with his Department's guidance entitled, NHS patient, visitor and staff car parking principles.
Answered by Chris Skidmore
The level and appropriateness of car parking charges at National Health Service sites is the responsibility of the local NHS trust. The Department have published the NHS Car Parking Principles which clearly state that concessions should be offered to groups who most need help, such as disabled people including those with blue badges and temporary disabilities.
Information is not collected on car parking costs, concessionary parking arrangements for blue badge holders or the number of private provider companies that operate NHS hospital car parks in England.
Asked by: Vince Cable (Liberal Democrat - Twickenham)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what assessment her Department has made of the (a) financial implications and (b) net effect on jobs of the closure of benefit processing centres in London.
Answered by Will Quince
The Government Estate Strategy sets out an ambition to rebalance the economy, creating regional growth and locating jobs outside of London. This, along with the considerable increases in rental costs in London, and the commercial challenges in retaining property of any size, means that the Department’s strategy is to gradually migrate processing work out of London. While there will be no impact to public facing Jobcentre services, it does mean that a number of central London processing sites will close by 2023.
As we look to close these offices, we will redistribute the work to other processing hubs across the UK and, wherever possible, seek to redeploy London based staff to other areas of DWP or other Government Departments. We will not be in a position to assess the net impact on jobs until this activity has completed.
Finally, despite these closures, the Department will continue to be a significant employer in London.
Asked by: Vince Cable (Liberal Democrat - Twickenham)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what recent assessment his Department has made of the effectiveness of maternal postnatal checks in identifying maternal mental health problems.
Answered by Jackie Doyle-Price
I refer the hon. Member to the answers I gave to the hon. Member for Crewe and Nantwich (Laura Smith MP) on 2 July to Questions 268577 and 268578.
Asked by: Vince Cable (Liberal Democrat - Twickenham)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether he has made an assessment of the effectiveness of GPs in identifying and treating perinatal mental health problems in mothers; and if he will make a statement.
Answered by Jackie Doyle-Price
I refer the hon. Member to the answers I gave to the hon. Member for Crewe and Nantwich (Laura Smith MP) on 2 July to Questions 268577 and 268578.
Asked by: Vince Cable (Liberal Democrat - Twickenham)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, with reference to the report entitled, Fair to Refer, published by the General Medical Council in June 2019, what steps his Department is taking ensure the NHS is an inclusive environment for new doctors.
Answered by Stephen Hammond
It is the responsibility of each National Health Service organisation as individual employers, to ensure all workforce policies and procedures comply with the Equality Act 2010. This includes policies and procedures that help to promote inclusivity and prevent all forms of unlawful discrimination.
A substantial programme of work is being taken forward to improve the working lives of doctors in training through the working group ‘Enhancing the Working Lives of Doctors in Training’ led by Health Education England and the British Medical Association. This includes a range of work programmes based on extensive consultation with doctors including improving the induction processes and the training environment for new doctors.
For trained doctors who are new to the NHS and who take up Specialty and Associate Specialists (SAS) doctor positions, the SAS doctor development guide aims to make sure that this important group of doctors are helped to remain fit to practice and develop in their careers. In addition, the SAS Charter sets out the support available to SAS doctors and what they can expect from their employers to help provide an optimum working environment for this group of doctors.
Asked by: Vince Cable (Liberal Democrat - Twickenham)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, with reference to the report entitled, Fair to Refer, published by the General Medical Council in June 2019, what steps his Department is taking to ensure the adequacy of support locums.
Answered by Stephen Hammond
Doctors who work within health organisations for short-term placements (or locums) may face specific challenges due to the short term, flexible nature of their work. In October 2018, NHS England set out how National Health Service doctors can be best supported to enhance their work experience and provide safe provision of healthcare as a valuable part of the workforce in the publication ‘Supporting organisations engaging with locums and doctors in short-term placements: A practical guide for healthcare providers, locum agencies and revalidation management services.’
NHS England Responsible Officers (Regional Medical Directors) are currently carrying out a review of locum agency governance arrangements alongside establishing established a six-month programme of learning sets for Responsible Officers and locum agency managers to share governance learning and good practice.
Asked by: Vince Cable (Liberal Democrat - Twickenham)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, with reference to the report entitled, Fair to Refer, published by the General Medical Council in June 2019, what steps his Department is taking to BAME discrimination in the NHS.
Answered by Stephen Hammond
It is the responsibility of each National Health Service organisation as individual employers, to ensure all workforce policies and procedures comply with the Equality Act 2010. This includes policies and procedures to prevent all forms of unlawful discrimination, including bullying, harassment and victimisation from other staff, patients or other members of the public.
Policies and procedures should be easily accessible to staff and managers and should be regularly monitored and reviewed by organisation boards in partnership with staff-side representatives. Employers provide a range of support services for their employees, including counselling, Freedom to Speak Up guardians, other staff trained to support affected colleagues, bullying hotlines and mediation.
The Department is committed to supporting NHS organisations in this via the Social Partnership Forum’s ‘Creating positive workplace cultures and tackling bullying in the NHS - a collective call to action’, the Alliance of Healthcare Organisations committed to civility and respect throughout the NHS and the new offer for staff being developed as part of the People Plan.