Asked by: Lord Benyon (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what plans he has to simplify the continuing health care application process.
Answered by Jackie Doyle-Price
The Department is working with NHS England, clinical commissioning groups, Directors of Adult Social Services, local authorities and stakeholder groups to understand how the NHS Continuing Healthcare experience can be improved for all.
Additionally, NHS England launched the NHS Continuing Healthcare Strategic Improvement Programme on 1 April 2017. The aim of the Strategic Improvement Programme is to provide fair access to NHS Continuing Healthcare in a way which ensures better outcomes, better experience, and better use of resources.
Asked by: Lord Benyon (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, for what reasons employees of the management company running the Atomic Weapons Establishment are considered private sector employees for the purpose of pensions but public sector employees for the purpose of the exit payment cap.
Answered by Elizabeth Truss
The exit payment cap will apply to organisations classified as within the public sector by the Office for National Statistics (ONS) with limited exceptions. As AWE [Atomic Weapons Establishment] Management Ltd is classified by the ONS as a public sector organisation it is within scope of the reforms.
Asked by: Lord Benyon (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what levels of UK consular access the government of Iran has granted for Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe.
Answered by Tobias Ellwood
Mrs Zaghari-Ratcliffe is a dual UK-Iranian national. The Iranian Government does not recognise dual nationality for Iranian nationals and therefore does not permit our consular staff to visit British-Iranian dual nationals detained there. Nonetheless we continue to push for consular access to Mrs Zaghari-Ratcliffe and for more information about the charges against her – along with assurances that she has access to a lawyer and appropriate medical care.
Asked by: Lord Benyon (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what reports he has received on the availability of legal representation for Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe in Iran.
Answered by Tobias Ellwood
Mrs Zaghari-Ratcliffe is a dual UK-Iranian national. Iran does not recognise dual nationality for Iranian nationals and therefore does not permit our consular staff to visit British-Iranian dual nationals detained there. Nonetheless we continue to push for consular access to Mrs Zaghari-Ratcliffe and for more information about the charges against her – along with assurances that she has access to a lawyer.
Asked by: Lord Benyon (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, how much remains in the Libor fines fund; and whether any changes have been made to the criteria for charities to apply for monies from that fund.
Answered by David Gauke
https://www.the-fca.org.uk/markets/benchmarks/enforcement
All LIBOR fines received between 2012 and the end of the last parliament (May 2015) have been allocated. Details of LIBOR grants awarded in this parliament can be found at the following links:
pages 81 - 82.
pages 114 - 115.
pages 93 - 95.
2. In 2012, the former Chancellor announced that “the proceeds from LIBOR fines would be used to support Military and Emergency Services charities and other related good causes that represent those that demonstrate the very best of values”. The Chancellor has invited applications that fall within the scope above for consideration at the Autumn Statement. Full details of the scheme can be found at the following link:
https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/libor-funding-applications
Asked by: Lord Benyon (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, what data her Department holds on the number of (a) seals, (b) cetaceans and (c) other marine species killed by tidal energy installations.
Answered by Andrea Leadsom - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The monitoring of the impacts of tidal energy installations is a requirement of marine licences issued by the relevant body for such infrastructure.
Asked by: Lord Benyon (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, if he will publish the Ascension Island government's annual financial statements for (a) 2013-14 and (b) 2014-15.
Answered by James Duddridge
The Ascension Island Government's annual financial statements for 2013-14 and 2014-15 can be found at http://www.ascension-island.gov.ac/government/finance.
Asked by: Lord Benyon (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment she has made of the potential effect on school budgets of the National Living Wage.
Answered by Sam Gyimah
We want to reward people in work, so we are introducing a national living wage in April 2016 which raises the current minimum rate by 50p per hour. Over a million workers will benefit directly from the increase, many by up to £900 a year.
Some of those workers are employed in our schools. We will be expecting schools, like all employers, to manage the change within their budgets. To help them do that, we have protected the core schools budget, including the pupil premium, and we have ensured that the extra £390 million allocated in 2015-16 remains in the baseline for future years. Throughout this Parliament we will increase the amount of money for our schools as pupil numbers rise, protecting the total budget in real terms.
We have committed to target this funding more fairly by introducing a national funding formula. With a fair formula we will be able to fund schools based on their individual needs, so that they can manage cost pressures effectively and make informed decisions about what is best for them and their pupils in the long term. This fairer system will mean schools can keep driving up educational standards while managing their budgets.
Asked by: Lord Benyon (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, if she will discuss with the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change (a) providing more funding through and (b) improving the effectiveness of the feed-in tariff incentive regime for smaller on-site anaerobic digestion in order to encourage cost-effective on-site treatment of food and farming residues and to reduce carbon emissions from the production of food.
Answered by George Eustice
The Government is committed to cost-effective decarbonisation of our electricity supply as well as protecting consumer bills by controlling costs passed on to consumers through their energy bills. Officials in Defra and the Department of Energy and Climate Change are currently working closely together in considering levels of support for anaerobic digestion through the Feed-in Tariff scheme and a consultation will be published in the coming months.
Asked by: Lord Benyon (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, if she will take steps to support the development of small-scale on-site renewable solutions in the agri-food sector, based on residues from food factories and farm slurries and crop residues.
Answered by George Eustice
Small scale on-site renewables are supported through the Feed-in Tariffs and the Renewable Heat Incentive schemes. Defra and Department of Energy and Climate Change officials are currently working together on a review of the support for renewable energy schemes through both Feed in Tariffs and the Renewable Heat Incentive. This includes the support for anaerobic digestion of residues, wastes and slurries. Consultations on the schemes will be published in the coming months.