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 - Minister without Portfolio (Cabinet Office)
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 - Minister without Portfolio (Cabinet Office)
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 - Minister without Portfolio (Cabinet Office)
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 - Secretary of State for Transport
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 - Secretary of State for Transport
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
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 his Department has made of the potential effects of the Gaming Machine (Circumstances of Use) (Amendment) Regulations 2015 (S.I., 2015, No. 121) on (a) gambling addiction levels, (b) the total amount of money staked and (c) the profits of bookmakers and fixed odds betting terminal providers.
Answered by Helen Grant
The Gaming Machine (Circumstances of Use) (Amendment) Regulations 2015 (S.I., 2015 No. 121) were laid alongside an Impact Assessment carried out by DCMS (http://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukia/2015/69/pdfs/ukia_20150069_en.pdf). In assessing the potential impact, the Impact Assessment took into account problem gambling levels as measured by Health Surveys for England and Scotland, the potential impact on staking behaviour and the profits of bookmakers.
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, how many people in each Scottish city have been subject to a benefits sanction in each of the last five years; and what proportion of such sanctions were imposed for each reason.
Answered by Esther McVey - Minister without Portfolio (Cabinet Office)
The information we have for Jobseeker’s Allowance and Employment and Support Allowance adverse sanction decisions, by geography and reason, is published at:
https://stat-xplore.dwp.gov.uk/
Guidance on how to extract the information required can be found at:
https://sw.stat-xplore.dwp.gov.uk/webapi/online-help/Stat-Xplore_User_Guide.htm
Proportions can then be calculated using the published figures.