Asked by: Andrew Love (Labour (Co-op) - Edmonton)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what estimate he has made of the amount of interest paid to private tenants from custodial tenancy deposit protection schemes in each of the last five years; and if he will make a statement.
Answered by Brandon Lewis
The interest payments to tenants under the scheme are as follows:
2010: £418,681; 2011: £199,579; 2012: £120,288; 2013: £82,084; 2014: £59,184.
The falling figures reflect record-low interest rates, and also the changes that were made to the contract after 2010. If I may explain:
The service concession agreement that was agreed by Labour Government with the custodial tenancy deposit protection scheme contained a guarantee that the Government would meet any shortfall arising if approved fees were not covered by the interest on deposits held. If interests were low, then the Government would pay the scheme money.
As a result of the low interest rates that emerged due to the financial crash in 2008 and 2009, such an agreement left taxpayers liable for a massive shortfall, which was estimated to reach over £30 million by the end of the contract in 2012.
In May 2010, the Coalition Government inherited this unacceptable situation and looming liabilities for taxpayers. As outlined my rt. hon. Friend, the Member for Welwyn Hatfield (Grant Shapps) on 19 July 2011, Official Report, Column 828W, following extensive negotiations in summer 2010, we removed the guarantee and all associated liabilities as part of a revised agreement.
The Government is currently inviting bidders for the new custodial tenancy protection scheme contract for 2016 onwards, and we are asking bidders how and when they could offer tenants’ interest as part of their bids.
Asked by: Andrew Love (Labour (Co-op) - Edmonton)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what steps his Department has taken to ensure that private tenants receive value for money held as deposits in custodial deposit schemes; and if he will make a statement.
Answered by Brandon Lewis
The interest payments to tenants under the scheme are as follows:
2010: £418,681; 2011: £199,579; 2012: £120,288; 2013: £82,084; 2014: £59,184.
The falling figures reflect record-low interest rates, and also the changes that were made to the contract after 2010. If I may explain:
The service concession agreement that was agreed by Labour Government with the custodial tenancy deposit protection scheme contained a guarantee that the Government would meet any shortfall arising if approved fees were not covered by the interest on deposits held. If interests were low, then the Government would pay the scheme money.
As a result of the low interest rates that emerged due to the financial crash in 2008 and 2009, such an agreement left taxpayers liable for a massive shortfall, which was estimated to reach over £30 million by the end of the contract in 2012.
In May 2010, the Coalition Government inherited this unacceptable situation and looming liabilities for taxpayers. As outlined my rt. hon. Friend, the Member for Welwyn Hatfield (Grant Shapps) on 19 July 2011, Official Report, Column 828W, following extensive negotiations in summer 2010, we removed the guarantee and all associated liabilities as part of a revised agreement.
The Government is currently inviting bidders for the new custodial tenancy protection scheme contract for 2016 onwards, and we are asking bidders how and when they could offer tenants’ interest as part of their bids.
Asked by: Andrew Love (Labour (Co-op) - Edmonton)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, on how many occasions UK military personnel have provided training in Colombia in each year since 2010; and how many such personnel provided that training in each such year.
Answered by Mark Francois
I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave on 4 November 2014 to Question 210573 to the hon. Member for Bradford South (Mr Gerry Sutcliffe).
Asked by: Andrew Love (Labour (Co-op) - Edmonton)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, on how many occasions Colombian armed forces personnel have trained in the UK in each year since 2010; and how many such personnel were trained in each such year.
Answered by Mark Francois
Visits to the UK by members of the Colombian Armed Forces are focused around defence education. The number of occasions Colombian Armed Forces personnel has trained in the UK in each academic year since 2009-10 and how many such personnel were trained in each such year up to and including the end of the last academic year is:
2009-10: one individual on one occasion.
2010-11: five individuals on five separate occasions.
2011-12: one individual on one occasion.
2012-13: three individuals on three separate occasions.
2013-14: three individuals on three separate occasions
Asked by: Andrew Love (Labour (Co-op) - Edmonton)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many people have received funeral payments in (a) England, (b) London and (c) Enfield in each of the last 10 years; how much those payments amount to; and if he will make a statement.
Answered by Steve Webb
Tables 1 and 2 show the number of Funeral Payment awards and expenditure amount in England, London and North and North East London Budget Area between 2004/05 and 2013/14.
DWP does not hold information about the number of people receiving Funeral Payment awards in a given time period. The number of awards made in each year is not equal to the number of people who received awards as an individual may have made multiple applications in that period.
The lowest geographical level at which we hold Funeral Payment data is by Social Fund Budget Area; the geographical areas used to administer the Social Fund in Great Britain. Since 2008/09, the Budget Area covering Enfield is North and North East London, which also covers Waltham Forest and Barking and Dagenham as well as parts of Barnet, Hackney, Haringey, Harrow, Havering, Islington and Redbridge. Earlier figures for this area are not available.
Table 1: Funeral Payment awards in England, London and North and North East London, 2004/05 to 2013/14
Year | England | London | North and North |
2004/05 | 34,700 | 4,800 | - |
2005/06 | 33,400 | 4,500 | - |
2006/07 | 32,700 | 4,300 | - |
2007/08 | 31,300 | 4,100 | - |
2008/09 | 32,500 | 4,200 | 800 |
2009/10 | 31,200 | 4,400 | 800 |
2010/11 | 30,500 | 3,800 | 800 |
2011/12 | 30,200 | 3,900 | 800 |
2012/13 | 28,000 | 3,600 | 900 |
2013/14 | 26,600 | 3,500 | 800 |
Source: DWP Policy, Budget and Management Information System
Table 2: Funeral Payment expenditure in England, London and North and North East London, 2004/05 to 2013/14
Year | England | London | North and North |
2004/05 | £36,925,100 | £5,961,200 | - |
2005/06 | £36,643,600 | £5,819,400 | - |
2006/07 | £37,148,000 | £5,814,900 | - |
2007/08 | £36,987,600 | £5,959,300 | - |
2008/09 | £39,495,800 | £6,511,000 | £1,260,500 |
2009/10 | £38,410,300 | £6,769,600 | £1,274,400 |
2010/11 | £37,445,800 | £5,879,700 | £1,294,800 |
2011/12 | £37,723,000 | £6,226,400 | £1,347,300 |
2012/13 | £34,617,200 | £5,590,100 | £1,390,800 |
2013/14 | £36,185,500 | £5,979,600 | £1,429,500 |
Source: DWP Policy, Budget and Management Information System
Notes
· These figures do not include applications which were processed clerically and have not been entered on to the Social Fund Computer System.
· All figures are rounded to the nearest £100.
Asked by: Andrew Love (Labour (Co-op) - Edmonton)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, if his Department will publish a comparison of cancer patient experience between hospital trusts; and if he will make a statement.
Answered by Jane Ellison
The 2014 National Cancer Patient Experience Survey (CPES), which is managed by NHS England, asked over 110,000 cancer patients across the country for their views on their care with 64% responding. Macmillan Cancer Support has published league tables constructed from the data. The tables can be found at:
My Rt. hon. Friend the Secretary of State meets with NHS England regularly and discusses a wide range of issues.
NHS England is working with NHS Improving Quality, Macmillan Cancer Support and Strategic Clinical Networks to spread good practice across hospitals providing cancer care, including how best to utilise CPES findings. Action includes:
- the launch of an NHS Improving Quality project that pairs highly-rated cancer trusts with trusts that have potential to improve;
- regional events for commissioners looking at how CPES results inform commissioning decisions around cancer patient experience;
- publication of guidance on using CPES data to drive improvement which will be sent to all Trusts who participate in the CPES.
NHS England committed in their Five Year Forward View to improving the information given to people who use services, their families and carers. This builds on NHS England’s Commitments to Carers, published in May 2014, with 37 commitments including NHS England supporting the relevant bodies in signposting carers to information and advice about available support.
NHS England also has a strand of work focusing on improving the quality, integrity and accessibility of health related information, including information targeting carers. In addition, NHS Choices holds a wide range of information relating to the support available for carers.
Asked by: Andrew Love (Labour (Co-op) - Edmonton)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what steps (a) his Department and (b) NHS England is taking to ensure the families of cancer patients are given the information needed to help care for them at home.
Answered by Jane Ellison
The 2014 National Cancer Patient Experience Survey (CPES), which is managed by NHS England, asked over 110,000 cancer patients across the country for their views on their care with 64% responding. Macmillan Cancer Support has published league tables constructed from the data. The tables can be found at:
My Rt. hon. Friend the Secretary of State meets with NHS England regularly and discusses a wide range of issues.
NHS England is working with NHS Improving Quality, Macmillan Cancer Support and Strategic Clinical Networks to spread good practice across hospitals providing cancer care, including how best to utilise CPES findings. Action includes:
- the launch of an NHS Improving Quality project that pairs highly-rated cancer trusts with trusts that have potential to improve;
- regional events for commissioners looking at how CPES results inform commissioning decisions around cancer patient experience;
- publication of guidance on using CPES data to drive improvement which will be sent to all Trusts who participate in the CPES.
NHS England committed in their Five Year Forward View to improving the information given to people who use services, their families and carers. This builds on NHS England’s Commitments to Carers, published in May 2014, with 37 commitments including NHS England supporting the relevant bodies in signposting carers to information and advice about available support.
NHS England also has a strand of work focusing on improving the quality, integrity and accessibility of health related information, including information targeting carers. In addition, NHS Choices holds a wide range of information relating to the support available for carers.
Asked by: Andrew Love (Labour (Co-op) - Edmonton)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what discussions he has had with (a) NHS England and (b) clinical commissioning groups on hospital trusts using action plans to improve their National Cancer Patient Experience Survey results; and if he will make a statement.
Answered by Jane Ellison
The 2014 National Cancer Patient Experience Survey (CPES), which is managed by NHS England, asked over 110,000 cancer patients across the country for their views on their care with 64% responding. Macmillan Cancer Support has published league tables constructed from the data. The tables can be found at:
My Rt. hon. Friend the Secretary of State meets with NHS England regularly and discusses a wide range of issues.
NHS England is working with NHS Improving Quality, Macmillan Cancer Support and Strategic Clinical Networks to spread good practice across hospitals providing cancer care, including how best to utilise CPES findings. Action includes:
- the launch of an NHS Improving Quality project that pairs highly-rated cancer trusts with trusts that have potential to improve;
- regional events for commissioners looking at how CPES results inform commissioning decisions around cancer patient experience;
- publication of guidance on using CPES data to drive improvement which will be sent to all Trusts who participate in the CPES.
NHS England committed in their Five Year Forward View to improving the information given to people who use services, their families and carers. This builds on NHS England’s Commitments to Carers, published in May 2014, with 37 commitments including NHS England supporting the relevant bodies in signposting carers to information and advice about available support.
NHS England also has a strand of work focusing on improving the quality, integrity and accessibility of health related information, including information targeting carers. In addition, NHS Choices holds a wide range of information relating to the support available for carers.
Asked by: Andrew Love (Labour (Co-op) - Edmonton)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, if he will estimate the annual cost of providing the rent-a-room tax scheme if the threshold were raised (a) in line with rental inflation since 1997-98 and (b) to £7,500 per year; and if he will make a statement.
Answered by David Gauke
The Government has made no such assessment but keeps all tax policies under review.
Asked by: Andrew Love (Labour (Co-op) - Edmonton)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what the annual cost was of providing the rent-a-room tax scheme for each of the last five years; and if he will make a statement.
Answered by David Gauke
HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) have published information on estimates of the cost of the relief. For the year 2009-10, HMRC estimated the relief cost £120 million. For the years 2010-11 through to 2013-14 HMRC estimate the cost of the relief to be £90 million per annum.
These figures are particularly tentative and subject to a wide margin of error.