Asked by: Annette Brooke (Liberal Democrat - Mid Dorset and North Poole)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how many NHS patients were prescribed off-patent drugs outside their licensed indications in (a) 2013, (b) 2012 and (c) 2011.
Answered by George Freeman
It is not possible to determine if a drug is prescribed within its licensed indication as information on the condition for which a drug is prescribed by a clinician to his/her patient is not recorded.
Asked by: Annette Brooke (Liberal Democrat - Mid Dorset and North Poole)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what consultation with GPs he undertook when developing his position on the Off-patent Drugs Bill.
Answered by George Freeman
In developing our response, we have taken advice from clinicians and officials at NHS England, the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence and the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency, and taken account of views expressed by other stakeholder organisations.
Asked by: Annette Brooke (Liberal Democrat - Mid Dorset and North Poole)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, if he will make an assessment of the extent of the use of cold calling in relation to pension fund transfers.
Answered by Steve Webb
The National Crime Agency monitors trends in fraudulent activity, including cold calls, to help target action. Whilst we cannot put a precise figure on transfer-related activity initiated by cold calls it is apparent that cold calling is a route often used by scammers. The public and industry can do their bit to help develop the intelligence picture by reporting concerns to Action Fraud (http://www.actionfraud.police.uk/).
More generally, both the Pensions Regulator and the Financial Conduct Authority are running information campaigns (Scorpion and ScamSmart respectively) as part of Project Bloom to raise the profile of the threat posed by pension and investment scams.
Asked by: Annette Brooke (Liberal Democrat - Mid Dorset and North Poole)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what recent assessment he has made of the threat posed to the UK by extremist training camps in southern Libya.
Answered by Philip Dunne
We keep the security situation in southern Libya under close review. We assess that a number of extremist groups consider that region to be an increasingly permissive environment. We continue to work closely with other Government Departments and agencies, particularly JTAC (the Joint Terrorism Analysis Centre), to monitor, and consider how best to deal with, potential threats to the UK and UK interests.
Asked by: Annette Brooke (Liberal Democrat - Mid Dorset and North Poole)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what recent representations he has received on the movement of illegal arms in and out of Libya.
Answered by Philip Dunne
The Ministry of Defence has regular discussions with international partners and Other Government Departments to address the security situation in Libya and the region, including the issue of unsecured arms and ammunition. Instability in Libya is exacerbated by the scale of the now largely unsecured arms and ammunition amassed earlier by the Ghadaffi regime and the porosity of Libya's borders. Illegal flows of arms and ammunition, extremism and the growing terrorist threat from Libya affect the whole region and are significant issues of concern for the international community.
Asked by: Annette Brooke (Liberal Democrat - Mid Dorset and North Poole)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what recent reports he has received on the extent of the circulation of illegal weapons in Libya.
Answered by Mark Francois
We closely monitor the illegal arms trade with regards to Libya, and the risks of proliferation associated with uncontrolled stocks of weapons and ammunition.
Asked by: Annette Brooke (Liberal Democrat - Mid Dorset and North Poole)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what representations he has received on the future of the winter fuel allowance for UK citizens living in mainland France on a state pension; and if he will make a statement.
Answered by Steve Webb
We have received correspondence relating to Winter Fuel Payments, to which we have replied.
The Government intends to bring in an eligibility criterion derived from average winter temperatures with payments going only to eligible people living in EEA countries with cold climates. Legislation will need to be passed before any change can be made.
Asked by: Annette Brooke (Liberal Democrat - Mid Dorset and North Poole)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what representations she has received on park home owners being able to be individually metered for water use.
Answered by Dan Rogerson
We have not received any recent representation from park home owners on this topic.
The majority of premises either receive their water and sewerage services from a water company or a reseller. A customer of a water company can request (under the Water Industry Act 1991) a water meter and if it is not feasible to fit one (due to it being impractical or unduly costly) they will be moved across to an assessed charge. The assessed charge should ‘bear as much relation as possible to the volumes of water such customers would be likely to use’ and are normally based on the average metered bill for the area or the number of bedrooms.
Those customers of resellers (and this can include sheltered accommodation, housing association properties, flats above commercial premises, caravan parks and park homes) can ask for a meter to be fitted but there is no legal requirement on the reseller to do this.
The industry regulator, Ofwat, regulates the resale market through The Water Resale Order 2006 (section 150 of the Water Industry Act 1991) and provides examples on how the charges should be apportioned.
Asked by: Annette Brooke (Liberal Democrat - Mid Dorset and North Poole)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps he plans to take to ensure that consumers are protected from rogue pension schemes.
Answered by Steve Webb
Under Project Bloom DWP and other agencies are already working together with the pensions industry to crackdown on pensions scams. Actions include:
· A tightening of HMRC’s pension scheme registration, as called for by industry, including the introduction of a fit and proper person test.
· A further wave of the Pensions Regulator’s well-received Scorpion information campaign highlighting the threat posed by pension scams, with further waves happening early next year.
· The launch of the Financial Conduct Authority’s Scamsmart campaign.
· Police raids.
· Closing down websites used to facilitate pension scams.
More generally, the Pensions Regulator and the Financial Conduct Authority work together with trustees and providers to ensure that occupational pension scheme members’ and consumers’ contract based pensions are safe.
Asked by: Annette Brooke (Liberal Democrat - Mid Dorset and North Poole)
Question to the Department for International Development:
To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what steps her Department is taking to seek international consensus on post-2015 education goals and targets.
Answered by Justine Greening
The Government is advocating for a simple, inspiring, and relevant post-2015 development framework, centred on eradicating extreme poverty. We are actively working with international partners to ensure that access to education and quality of learning is at the heart of the post-2015 focus on education.