Asked by: John Milne (Liberal Democrat - Horsham)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, whether he has had recent discussions with his Moroccan counterpart on the potential merits of a compensation scheme for UK citizens that lost their investments in the Paradise Golf and Beach Resort project; and whether he has taken other steps to help ensure adequate (a) financial and (b) other compensation for those affected.
Answered by Hamish Falconer - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
The Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office remains committed to helping all British investors affected by the failure of the Paradise Golf & Beach Resort (PGBR) development and will continue in its efforts to work with the Moroccan authorities to help them receive the compensation to which they are entitled. His Majesty's Ambassador to Rabat continues to seek opportunities to raise PGBR with his counterparts and relevant stakeholders in Morocco to encourage a satisfactory resolution to this longstanding issue. FCDO officials in London continue to raise the issue with their counterparts in the Embassy of the Kingdom of Morocco.
Asked by: John Milne (Liberal Democrat - Horsham)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what proportion of defined contribution pensions were accessed after a Pension Wise guidance appointment in each of the last five years.
Answered by Emma Reynolds - Economic Secretary (HM Treasury)
The information is not available. There are two sources which provide relevant data in relation to the request. The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) publish the number accessing a pension pot in the contract-based market (from 2015/16 to 2023/24) and whether this was accessed following financial advice, a Pension Wise appointment (and no financial advice), or no financial advice or guidance: Retirement income market data 2023/24 | FCA.
The Money and Pension Service (MaPS) have previously published survey data on outcomes of Pension Wise appointments. A copy has been attached (see figure 12).
Asked by: John Milne (Liberal Democrat - Horsham)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, with reference to her Department's guidance entitled Pension freedoms and DWP benefits, published on 27 March 2015, what assessment she has made of the impact of that policy on defined contribution pension savers.
Answered by Emma Reynolds - Economic Secretary (HM Treasury)
The Government is committed to enabling savers to achieve security in retirement. We’ve announced as part of the King’s Speech that the Pensions Bill will include measures to give savers the benefit of guided retirement products, with a retirement income; this will change the experience of Defined Contribution savers as our approach would provide a secure income over retirement as a default, unless the member chooses something different.
We have also committed to assess adequacy for future savers as part of the second phase of the pensions review. We closely monitor the decumulation decisions of Defined Contribution savers. This has included research on retirement planning and decumulation decisions, such as Planning and Preparing for Later Life and analysis of Pensions Freedoms.
Planning and Preparing for Later Life - GOV.UK
Pension Freedoms: a qualitative research study of individuals’ decumulation journeys - GOV.UK
Asked by: John Milne (Liberal Democrat - Horsham)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps her Department is taking to help reduce the level of dependence on emergency food parcels.
Answered by Alison McGovern - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
We are committed to tackling poverty and reducing mass dependence on emergency food parcels.
On 30 July, the Secretary of State held a food poverty roundtable with key food poverty stakeholders to understand the key priorities in this area.
We know that good work can significantly reduce the chances of people falling into food poverty so this will be the foundation of our approach. Backed by £240 million investment, the Get Britain Working White Paper launched on 26 November will target and tackle economic inactivity and unemployment and join up employment, health and skills support to meet the needs of local communities.
Additional steps include our plans to triple investment in breakfast clubs to over £30 million, introduce a Fair Repayment Rate for deductions from Universal Credit, and increase the National Living Wage to £12.21 an hour from April 2025 to boost the pay of 3 million workers.
In addition, on 17th July, we announced our joint ministerial taskforce, jointly chaired Work and Pensions and Education Secretaries, to begin work on an ambitious Child Poverty Strategy, to reduce child poverty, tackle the root causes, and give every child the best start in life.
The Taskforce’s publication of 23 October ‘Tackling Child Poverty: Developing our Strategy’ sets out how we are developing the Strategy, exploring all available levers across Government to deliver an enduring reduction in child poverty this parliament. This is part of a 10-year strategy for lasting change which will be published in the Spring.
Asked by: John Milne (Liberal Democrat - Horsham)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether she plans to publish research on the (a) Midlife MOT initiative and (b) digital Midlife MOT website.
Answered by Alison McGovern - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
The Midlife MOT initiative consists of three key work strands: the Job Centre Plus (JCP) Midlife MOT, the Private Sector Midlife MOT and the Digital Midlife MOT.
The Private Sector Midlife MOT pilot programmes concluded at the end of June 2024. Findings from qualitative research, conducted in house by the Department for Work and Pensions, will be published in early 2025.
The evaluation for the Job Centre Plus Midlife MOT is not yet complete but is planned for publication during 2025. The Digital Midlife MOT Website evaluation will start in February 2025, and we plan to publish once complete.
Asked by: John Milne (Liberal Democrat - Horsham)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether she has made an assessment of the potential merits of creating an independent process to set benefit levels according to the cost of essentials.
Answered by Stephen Timms - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
No assessment has been made. The Social Security Administration Act 1992 requires the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions to review benefit and State Pension rates each year to see if they have retained their value in relation to the general level of prices or earnings. Where the relevant benefit or State Pension rates have not retained their value, legislation provides that the Secretary of State is required to, or in some instances may, up-rate their value.
Following this review, benefit and State Pension rates are increased in line with statutory minimum amounts and others are increased subject to Secretary of State’s discretion.
Following the Secretary of States’ up-rating decisions for 2025/26, DWP expenditure on state pensions and benefits will increase by £6.9 billion.
Asked by: John Milne (Liberal Democrat - Horsham)
Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:
To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, what steps he is taking with Cabinet colleagues to fund research into lobular breast cancer.
Answered by Feryal Clark - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
The Government doesn’t ringfence funding for specific diseases but is committed to funding cancer research, including lobular breast cancer. The Department of Health and Social Care spent £121.8 million in 2022/23 on cancer research through the National Institute for Health and Care Research.
The Department for Science, Innovation and Technology funds cancer research via UK Innovation and Research (UKRI). UKRI invests approximately £200 million annually into cancer research, of which £10m per year is for breast cancer research.
Office for Life Sciences’ Cancer Healthcare Goals programme funds innovations at the earlier stages of the research and development pipeline. Such innovations will have the potential to diagnose multiple tumour types, including breast cancer.
We have allocated £1.3 million of funding for a National Institute of Health and Care Research (NIHR) project that will assess the effectiveness of a new form of MRI scan to detect breast cancers that have been missed by mammograms.
Further NIHR research infrastructure funding supports Biomedical Research Centres and the NIHR Research Delivery Network, which has enabled delivery of 10 lobular breast-cancer studies.
Asked by: John Milne (Liberal Democrat - Horsham)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, if (a) she and (b) the Minister for Housing and Planning will meet the hon. Member for Horsham to discuss Horsham's Local Plan, the hearing process and water neutrality.
Answered by Matthew Pennycook - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
Due to the Secretary of State’s quasi-judicial role in the planning system, it would not be appropriate for me to discuss the details of the Horsham Local Plan and its progress through examination. However, I am happy to meet the hon. Gentleman to discuss general principles in relation to local development plans and water neutrality and I have asked my officials to contact his constituency office with a view to finding a mutually convenient date and time.
Asked by: John Milne (Liberal Democrat - Horsham)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if he will take steps to ensure that the early access programme for people with Duchennes is made available across all NHS trusts.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
Access to the Early Access Programme (EAP) for givinostat must be through one of the 23 NorthStar Centres in the United Kingdom. However, participation in the EAP is decided at an individual National Health Service trust level, and a North Star Centre will not be able to provide givinostat if its local trust has not approved participation. Under the EAP, givinostat is free to both patients taking part in it and to the NHS, although the NHS trusts must still cover the cost of administering it to patients. Only Duchenne muscular dystrophy clinicians can make requests for givinostat for their patients. Decisions are made on a case-by-case basis for individual named patients aligned to eligibility criteria.
Asked by: John Milne (Liberal Democrat - Horsham)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if he will meet the hon. Member for Horsham and Dr Susan Michaelis, founder of the Lobular Moon Shot Project, to discuss his Department's work on invasive lobular breast cancer.
Answered by Andrew Gwynne - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Health Mission sets the objective of building a National Health Service fit for the future. As part of that work, and in response to the Darzi report, we have launched an extensive programme of engagement to develop a 10-Year Health Plan to reform the NHS. The plan will set out a bold agenda to deliver on the three big shifts, from hospitals to the community, from analogue to digital, and from sickness to prevention.
In addition, following publication of the 10-Year Health Plan, we will develop a new national cancer plan. The cancer plan will include more details about how to improve outcomes for all tumour types, including lobular breast cancer, and ensure that patients have access to the latest treatments and technology.
We are now in discussions about what form that plan should take, and what its relationship to the 10-Year Health Plan and the Government’s wider Health Mission should be, and will provide updates on this, including on publication dates, at the earliest opportunity. We would encourage the Hon. Member for Horsham and Dr Michalis to input to the process, which would help to shape the national cancer plan.