Asked by: Jim Murphy (Labour - East Renfrewshire)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what recent assessment he has made of the adequacy of teenage mental health services.
Answered by Norman Lamb
Improving children and young people’s mental health is a Government priority and part of our commitment to achieving equality between mental and physical health.
The Children and Young People’s Mental Health and Wellbeing Taskforce was launched in September to look at how we can provide more joined up and accessible services built around the needs of children, young people and their families. The Government report of the Taskforce’s findings, Future in mind, was published today, and sets out a clear national ambition in the form of key aspirations that the Government would wish to see by 2020. This includes: tackling stigma and improving attitudes, more access and waiting time standards, information and self-help via online tools and apps, changing the way services are commissioned, ‘one stop shop’ support services in the community, improved access to support through named points of contact in specialist mental health services and schools, improved care for children and young people in crisis, mental health training for health professionals including general practitioners, teachers and others who work with children and young people and improved access for children and young people who are particularly vulnerable.
Additionally, the Deputy Prime Minister announced this weekend that children and young people’s mental health services in England will receive £250 million a year over the course of the next Parliament. This investment will provide additional funding to improve access to high quality services across the country so that at least 110,000 more children and young people with mental health problems are able to receive treatment between now and 2019/20 and that there are new waiting times standards. This includes increased funding for the national roll-out and extension of the Children and Young People’s Improving Access to Psychological Therapies programme, which is a transformation programme which aims to improve access to evidence-based psychological therapies for children and young people. Additionally, the investment will also improve access to perinatal mental health services for women experiencing mental ill health during either the antenatal or perinatal period.
Asked by: Jim Murphy (Labour - East Renfrewshire)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, if he will estimate the number of people in Scotland subject to a benefit sanction who have used food banks.
Answered by Esther McVey
I refer the Rt. Hon. Member to the answer I gave the hon. Member for Birmingham, Hall Green, Roger Godsiff, Official Report, 13 January 2014, column 448W.
The answer can be found at the following link (UINs 181451 & 181511):
http://www.publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm201314/cmhansrd/cm140113/text/140113w0004.htm#column_448w
Asked by: Jim Murphy (Labour - East Renfrewshire)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, if he will estimate the number of customers of his Department in each Scottish city who are using the services of food banks.
Answered by Esther McVey
I refer the Rt. Hon. Member to the answer I gave the hon. Member for Birmingham, Hall Green, Roger Godsiff, Official Report, 13 January 2014, column 448W.
The answer can be found at the following link (UINs 181451 & 181511):
http://www.publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm201314/cmhansrd/cm140113/text/140113w0004.htm#column_448w
Asked by: Jim Murphy (Labour - East Renfrewshire)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, if he will estimate the number of customers of his Department in Scotland who are using the services of food banks.
Answered by Esther McVey
I refer the Rt. Hon. Member to the answer I gave the hon. Member for Birmingham, Hall Green, Roger Godsiff, Official Report, 13 January 2014, column 448W.
The answer can be found at the following link (UINs 181451 & 181511):
http://www.publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm201314/cmhansrd/cm140113/text/140113w0004.htm#column_448w
Asked by: Jim Murphy (Labour - East Renfrewshire)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, if he will estimate the number of people who have been signposted or referred to a food bank by each Jobcentre Plus office in Scotland.
Answered by Esther McVey
I refer the Rt. Hon. Member to the answer I gave the hon. Member for Birmingham, Hall Green, Roger Godsiff, Official Report, 13 January 2014, column 448W.
The answer can be found at the following link (UINs 181451 & 181511):
http://www.publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm201314/cmhansrd/cm140113/text/140113w0004.htm#column_448w
Asked by: Jim Murphy (Labour - East Renfrewshire)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, if he will assess the merits of extending the Diffuse Mesothelioma Payment Scheme to allow compensation to be paid to non-dependent children who were under 21 years of age at the time of the diagnosis of the deceased.
Answered by Mark Harper
The Scheme makes payments to eligible sufferers of diffuse mesothelioma, or, where that person has died, an eligible spouse, civil partner or other dependant, as defined in the Mesothelioma Act 2014.
This is because the purpose of making payments to people who would have been dependent on the deceased at the time of death is to recognise the loss of financial support caused by their death.
We are not considering extending the Scheme to those who were not dependent on a deceased sufferer of diffuse mesothelioma.
Asked by: Jim Murphy (Labour - East Renfrewshire)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, if he will assess the merits of extending the Diffuse Mesothelioma Payment Scheme to allow compensation to be paid to non-dependent children in the event of there being no dependent children or spouse to receive the payment.
Answered by Mark Harper
The Scheme makes payments to eligible sufferers of diffuse mesothelioma, or, where that person has died, an eligible spouse, civil partner or other dependant, as defined in the Mesothelioma Act 2014.
This is because the purpose of making payments to people who would have been dependent on the deceased at the time of death is to recognise the loss of financial support caused by their death.
We are not considering extending the Scheme to those who were not dependent on a deceased sufferer of diffuse mesothelioma.
Asked by: Jim Murphy (Labour - East Renfrewshire)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what assessment he has made of the effect of fixed odds betting terminals on levels of gambling addiction.
Answered by Helen Grant
The problem gambling rate among adults in England and Wales, as assessed by the Health Surveys which are published by the NHS information centre, is estimated to be less than 1%, which is lower than in comparable jurisdictions such as the USA, South Africa or Australia. Successive British Gambling Prevalence Survey results - 1999, 2007 and 2010 - as well as the more recent Health Survey results in 2012, which cover the period from when FOBTs were introduced to present, demonstrate that levels of problem gambling have been static over this period.
The Government is not complacent about levels of problem gambling. We consider the future of the regulation of FOBTs to be unresolved and will continue to be led by the evidence to devise effective measures to bear down hard on gambling-related harm wherever it is found.
Asked by: Jim Murphy (Labour - East Renfrewshire)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, when he last met representatives of Gamblers Anonymous to discuss the regulation of fixed odds betting terminals; and if he will make a statement.
Answered by Helen Grant
Details of ministerial meetings are published quarterly on the gov.uk website and are available at
Asked by: Jim Murphy (Labour - East Renfrewshire)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, when he last met representatives of the gambling industries to discuss the regulation of fixed odds betting terminals; and if he will make a statement.
Answered by Helen Grant
Details of ministerial meetings are published quarterly on the gov.uk website and are available at