Asked by: John Robertson (Labour - Glasgow North West)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what assessment he has made of the effect of welfare reforms since May 2010 on levels of child poverty.
Answered by Esther McVey
The Government has not made an assessment of the effect of welfare reforms on levels on child poverty. Given the large number of reforms and variables involved, the impact of welfare changes cannot be seen in isolation.
However, the guiding principles of all of this Government's welfare reforms are to get more people into work by making work pay.
A key component of the Welfare Reform is Universal Credit. Universal Credit is expected to improve work incentives by allowing individuals to keep more of their income as they move into work, and by introducing a smoother and more transparent reduction of benefits when they increase their earnings.
We estimate this new reform will lift around 300,000 children out of poverty.
Asked by: John Robertson (Labour - Glasgow North West)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what assessment he has made of the health dangers of wood dust.
Answered by Mike Penning
I have been asked to respond as this falls under the remit of the Health and Safety Executive (HSE).
Wood dust can cause non-reversible health problems including skin disorders, obstruction of the nose and rhinitis, asthma and nasal cancer. There are appropriate workplace controls and HSE provides comprehensive guidance for employers on these.
Exposure to wood dust in workplaces is regulated by the Control of Substances Hazardous to Health Regulations 2002 (as amended) which require exposures to be reduced as far below the Workplace Exposure Limit as is reasonably practicable. Suitable control measures may include local exhaust ventilation, on-tool extraction systems and in some cases respiratory protective equipment. Workers will usually require health surveillance checks.
HSE has recently commissioned a new study to update the evidence base for wood dust exposure and health effects in the UK construction and woodworking industries. The study will run over the next 2-3 years and is being undertaken by the Health and Safety Laboratory with support and assistance from industry.
Asked by: John Robertson (Labour - Glasgow North West)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what estimate he has made of the average broadband speed in (a) Glasgow North West constituency, (b) Glasgow, (c) Scotland and (d) the UK.
Answered by Lord Vaizey of Didcot
The Independent regulator and competition authority for the UK communications industries (Ofcom) publishes broadband coverage data for the UK; its 2013 UK fixed-line broadband performance report indicates the following average modem synchronisation speed for the Glasgow City, Scotland and the UK. Data by Constituency area is not available.
Average modem sync speed 2013 | |
Glasgow City | 17.2 Mbit/s |
Scotland | 15.8 Mbit/s |
UK | 17.6 Mbit/s |
Asked by: John Robertson (Labour - Glasgow North West)
Question
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, what assessment he has made of the adequacy of provision of information for carers on affordable energy.
Answered by Michael Fallon
DECC Ministers and officials meet energy company representatives on a regular basis to discuss market issues.
It is important that all consumers, including carers, have access to information to help them make informed decisions about their energy use. That is why Ofgem introduced a new simpler tariff framework consisting of a tariff information label and tariff comparison rate to make it easier for consumers to compare tariffs across the market. In April Ofgem launched the ‘Be An Energy Shopper' campaign to empower consumers to shop around for a better deal for their energy.
Asked by: John Robertson (Labour - Glasgow North West)
Question
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, what recent discussions he has had with energy companies on the affordability of energy tariffs for carers.
Answered by Michael Fallon
DECC Ministers and officials meet energy company representatives on a regular basis to discuss market issues.
It is important that all consumers, including carers, have access to information to help them make informed decisions about their energy use. That is why Ofgem introduced a new simpler tariff framework consisting of a tariff information label and tariff comparison rate to make it easier for consumers to compare tariffs across the market. In April Ofgem launched the ‘Be An Energy Shopper' campaign to empower consumers to shop around for a better deal for their energy.
Asked by: John Robertson (Labour - Glasgow North West)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what recent discussions he has had with the Scottish Government Minister for Transport and Veterans on the possibility of providing free or discounted travel for carers in Scotland.
Answered by Stephen Hammond
Concessionary Travel is a devolved policy area and the Secretary of State has not discussed carer discounts with Keith Brown MSP, the Scottish Minister for Transport and Veterans.
Asked by: John Robertson (Labour - Glasgow North West)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what estimate he has made of the number of employment and support allowance applicants who have been waiting to be given an assessment appointment for more than (a) three, (b) four, (c) five, (d) six and (e) seven months.
Answered by Mike Penning
The information requested is not available.
Asked by: John Robertson (Labour - Glasgow North West)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what estimate he has made of the time between applications for employment and support allowance and an assessment appointment for people who applied in (a) September 2013, (b) October 2013, (c) November 2013, (d) December 2013, (e) January 2014, (f) February 2014, (g) March 2014 and (h) April 2014 in (i) Glasgow North West constituency, (ii) Glasgow, (iii) Scotland and (iv) the UK.
Answered by Mike Penning
The information requested is not available.
Asked by: John Robertson (Labour - Glasgow North West)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, if he will publish the minutes of the meetings of the HM Revenue and Customs' Board and associated sub-committees for a) 2013 and b) 2014.
Answered by David Gauke
It is HMRC's policy to publish Board and Executive Committee minutes annually. The HMRC website is due to be updated with these in the next month. HMRC's Annual Report contains a summary of the key areas of work for each sub-Committee over the previous year.
Asked by: John Robertson (Labour - Glasgow North West)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what issues the HM Revenue and Customs' Scrutiny Committee has addressed since its establishment in 2013.
Answered by David Gauke
The remit of the Scrutiny Committee is to advise the Board and Principal Accounting Officer on issues referred by the Board for in-depth review, challenge or assurance. Since its establishment in 2013, the Committee has reviewed the departmental security strategy as well as the department's complaints handling processes.