Karen Lee
Labour - Former Member for Lincoln
First elected: 8th June 2017
Left House: 6th November 2019 (Defeated)
12 Former APPG memberships
Adverse Childhood Experiences, Breast Cancer, Children, Teenagers, and Young Adults with Cancer, Cuba, Democracy and Human Rights in the Gulf, East Midlands, Families in the Early Years, Multiple Sclerosis, Nigeria, Ovarian Cancer, Trailer and Towing Safety, Youth AffairsDivision Voting information
Karen Lee voted No - against a party majority and in line with the House
One of 42 Labour No votes vs 143 Labour Aye votes
Tally: Ayes - 188 Noes - 283
Karen Lee voted No - against a party majority and against the House
One of 94 Labour No votes vs 119 Labour Aye votes
Tally: Ayes - 415 Noes - 119
All Debates
Speeches made during Parliamentary debates are recorded in Hansard. For ease of browsing we have grouped debates into individual, departmental and legislative categories.
Sparring Partners
(20 debate interactions)
(10 debate interactions)
(9 debate interactions)
Department Debates
(67 debate contributions)
(27 debate contributions)
(26 debate contributions)
(19 debate contributions)
Legislation Debates
(1,434 words contributed)
(1,390 words contributed)
(690 words contributed)
(646 words contributed)
Latest EDMs signed by Karen Lee
THE CONTRIBUTION OF THE TEMPLE OF BOOM VENUE TO LEEDS
Tabled by: Richard Burgon (Independent - Leeds East)That this House notes the significant contribution that live music makes to the UK's cultural life and economy; recognises that in the past decade the UK has seen nationwide closures of music venues; further notes the concerns raised and recommendations made in the Digital, Culture, Media and Sport Committee report, …
(Most recent: 4 Jul 2019)
Signatures by party:
Labour: 23
Democratic Unionist Party: 1
Scottish National Party: 1
Independent: 1
IPSA AND MPs STAFF PAY
Tabled by: Lord Cryer (Labour - Leyton and Wanstead)That this House recognises the vital role that hon. Members' staff play and the hard work they do in supporting the work of hon. Members; notes with alarm that the Independent Parliamentary Standards Authority's increase to hon. Members staffing budgets of 1.5 per cent for 2019-20 falls below the rate …
(Most recent: 2 Jul 2019)
Signatures by party:
Labour: 85
Scottish National Party: 15
Conservative: 7
Independent: 7
Liberal Democrat: 3
Plaid Cymru: 3
Democratic Unionist Party: 1
Crossbench: 1
The Independent Group for Change: 1
Non-affiliated: 1
Commons initiatives
These initiatives were driven by Karen Lee, and are more likely to reflect personal policy preferences.
MPs who are act as Ministers or Shadow Ministers are generally restricted from performing Commons initiatives other than Urgent Questions.
Karen Lee has not been granted any Urgent Questions
Karen Lee has not been granted any Adjournment Debates
72 Bills introduced by Karen Lee
A bill to make provision establishing a new financial guidance body; to make provision about the funding of debt advice in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland; and to make provision about the regulation of claims management services.
This Bill received Royal Assent on 10th May 2018 and was enacted into law.
A Bill to impose and regulate a duty of customs by reference to the importation of goods into the United Kingdom; to confer a power to impose and regulate a duty of customs by reference to the export of goods from the United Kingdom; to make other provision in relation to any duty of customs in connection with the withdrawal of the United Kingdom from the EU; to amend the law relating to value added tax, and the law relating to any excise duty on goods, in connection with that withdrawal; and for connected purposes.
This Bill received Royal Assent on 13th September 2018 and was enacted into law.
A Bill to make provision for members of the Regular Forces to serve part-time or subject to geographic restrictions
This Bill received Royal Assent on 8th February 2018 and was enacted into law.
The Bill failed to complete its passage through Parliament before the end of the session. This means the Bill will make no further progress. A Bill was introduced to authorise the making of provision by reference to certain EU financial services legislation adopted on or before, or no later than two years after, the United Kingdom's withdrawal from the EU
Tuesday 26th February 2019
The Bill failed to complete its passage through Parliament before the end of the session. This means the Bill will make no further progress. A Bill to make provision about identifying and supporting victims of modern slavery; and for connected purposes
Thursday 17th May 2018
A Bill to give effect to Law Commission recommendations relating to commencement of enactments relating to sentencing law and to make provision for pre-consolidation amendments of sentencing law
A Bill to amend the House of Lords Act 1999 so as to abolish the system of by-elections for hereditary Peers.
A Bill to clarify the extent to which a medical practitioner with a conscientious objection may refrain from participating in certain medical activities; and for connected purposes
A Bill to make provision for clinical commissioning groups to ensure that persons in their area have access to specialist and generalist palliative care and appropriate support services; and for connected purposes
Friday 14th June 2019
A Bill to confer relief from non-domestic rates for hereditaments in England and Wales that consist wholly or mainly of public lavatories; and for connected purposes
Wednesday 10th July 2019
A Bill to make provision for specifying new statutory rights and entitlements for victims of crime under the Code of Practice for Victims of Crime; to require elected local policing bodies to assess victims services; to increase the duties of the Commissioner for Victims and Witnesses; to grant victims the right to request a review of a decision not to prosecute; to establish reviews in homicides where no criminal charge has been made; to create an obligation on professions to notify cases of possible victims of child sexual abuse; and for connected purposes
Friday 19th July 2019
A Bill to amend the Immigration Act 1971 to grant indefinite leave to remain in the United Kingdom to all EEA nationals, their family members and extended family members who are resident in the United Kingdom on the date of exit from the European Union
Friday 19th July 2019
A Bill to make provision for Members of the House of Lords to vote in elections to the House of Commons
Friday 19th July 2019
A Bill to provide certain protections for persons who live together as a couple or have lived together as a couple as cohabitants; to make provision about the property of deceased persons who are survived by a cohabitant; and for connected purposes
A Bill to prohibit the publication of certain information regarding persons who have been arrested until they have been charged with an offence; to set out the circumstances where such information can be published without committing an offence; and for connected purposes
A Bill to make provision to enhance the protection available for bat habitats in the vicinity of a building site and to limit the protection for bat habitats in buildings used for public worship
A Bill to amend the succession to the title of the Duke of Cornwall, to remove various powers, exemptions and immunities from the Duchy of Cornwall, to make provisions relating to the Treasury Solicitor and any solicitor or attorney appointed in the affairs of the Duchy, and for connected purposes
A Bill to make provision for information and statistics to be available in various public places about the European Union; and to provide information to further the establishment of twinning arrangements between towns in the United Kingdom and elsewhere in the European Union in accordance with the European Union’s town twinning support scheme
A Bill to amend the Civil Partnership Act 2004 to include sibling couples
A Bill to amend the length of time for which an individual may have a criminal record under the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974.
A Bill to make provision for marriages taking place in any Church of England chapel licensed for the solemnization of marriages under sections 20 and 21 of the Marriage Act 1949 to be solemnized according to the rites and ceremonies of Christian denominations other than the Church of England.
A Bill to promote continued membership of the Open Skies Agreement.
A Bill to make provision for the holding of referenda in relation to voting systems in local government elections
A Bill to enable the Secretary of State, or an immigration officer to refuse entry, or to vary or curtail leave to enter or remain already granted, to a person who is a non-UK or non-EEA national who is known to be, or to have been, involved in gross human rights abuses
A Bill to amend the Equality Act 2010 to improve access to public buildings by introducing six-inch and 12-inch rules for step-free access
A Bill to make provision for the regulation of funding and expenditure of political parties; to make provision for the phased introduction of a cap on donations to political parties; to make provision for affiliation fees from trades unions and membership organisations to political parties to be counted as individual donations in prescribed circumstances; to make provision for the public funding of political parties; to make provision for the modification of rights of candidates and parties to election addresses; to make provision for limits on political parties’ expenditure between regulated periods; to confer powers on the Electoral Commission, and for connected purposes
The 2017-2019 session of Parliament has prorogued and this Bill will make no further progress. A Bill to make provision for the holding of a referendum in the United Kingdom and Gibraltar on whether the United Kingdom should accept the outcome of negotiations between the Government and the European Union regarding the United Kingdom’s exit from the European Union
A Bill to make provision for ensuring that police forces in England and Wales have sufficient resources to deliver police services; and for connected purposes
A Bill to amend the arrangements for making regulations, and provision for commencement of changes to the law, on abortion in Northern Ireland
A Bill to provide that the Secretary of State’s powers in relation to the management of the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, include the power to grant a lease in respect of land for a period of up to 150 years
A Bill to make it an offence to provide or advertise cheating services for Higher Education assessments
A Bill to make provision for children adopted from overseas to receive the same priority for admission to maintained schools as children looked after or previously looked after by a local authority in England
A Bill to amend the Digital Economy Act 2017 in respect of TV licence fee concessions by reference to age
A bill to provide for a review by the Secretary of State of the regulations governing gamete storage periods.
The Bill failed to complete its passage through Parliament before the end of the session. This means the Bill will make no further progress. A Bill to provide that the Health and Care Professions Council be the regulatory body for counsellors and psychotherapists; to prohibit conversion therapy; to make related provision for the protection of children and adults; and for connected purposes.
Wednesday 18th July 2018
A Bill to make provision to establish elections for Members to the House of Lords; to restrict the number of voting Members in the House of Lords to 292; to exclude all remaining hereditary Peers; and for connected purposes
The Bill failed to complete its passage through Parliament before the end of the session. This means the Bill will make no further progress. A Bill to make provision about transport services for patients travelling to and from hospital appointments, including requiring the Government to review the current provision of public and private transport services for such purposes; and for connected purposes.
Tuesday 6th March 2018
A Bill to require Her Majesty’s Government to negotiate with the European Union for the United Kingdom to remain in the European Union, with enhanced voting rights and immigration controls
A Bill to make provision for the next election to the Scottish Parliament to take place in 2020
A Bill to make provision for a new form of non-possessory security which may be created over goods owned by individuals; to repeal the Bills of Sales Acts 1878 and 1882; and for connected purposes
The Bill failed to complete its passage through Parliament before the end of the session. This means the Bill will make no further progress. A Bill to allow the production, supply, possession and use of cannabis and cannabis resin for medicinal purposes; and for connected purposes.
A Bill to provide a renewed constitutional form for the peoples of England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland, to continue to join together to form the United Kingdom, to affirm that the peoples of those nations and parts have chosen, subject to and in accordance with the provisions of this Act, to continue to pool their sovereignty for specified purposes, and to protect social and economic rights for citizens
A Bill to provide for a review by the Lord Chancellor of the law of England and Wales relating to divorce and judicial separation and to the dissolution of civil partnerships and the separation of civil partners
A Bill to establish the right to breathe clean air; to require the Secretary of State to achieve and maintain clean air in England and Wales; to involve Public Health England in setting and reviewing pollutants and their limits; to enhance the powers, duties and functions of the Environment Agency, the Committee on Climate Change, local authorities (including port authorities), the Civil Aviation Authority, Highways England, Historic England and Natural England in relation to air pollution; to establish a Citizens’ Commission for Clean Air with powers to institute or intervene in legal proceedings; to require the Secretary of State and the relevant national authorities to apply environmental principles in carrying out their duties under this Act and the clean air enactments; and for connected purposes
A bill to make provision for the marriage of same sex couples in Northern Ireland; to make provision for the legal recognition of the same sex marriage of armed forces personnel overseas and of other same sex marriages solemnised outside Northern Ireland; to make provision in the law of Northern Ireland for the conversion of civil partnerships to marriages and for the review of civil partnerships; to make provision for rights to pensions and social security contributions for same sex married couples and civil partners; to make provision for gender change by married persons and civil partners; and for connected purposes
A Bill to repeal the International Development (Official Development Assistance Target) Act 2015.
A bill to impose certain duties upon Her Majesty’s Government to ensure the accuracy, completeness and utility of electoral registers; to make provision for the sharing of data for the purposes of electoral registration; and for connected purposes.
A Bill to amend the target for reducing net carbon emissions in the UK to 100% by 2050.
A Bill to make provision for the resolution of disputes concerning the location or placement of boundaries and private rights of way relating to the title of an estate in land; and for connected purposes
A Bill to provide for the High Court of England and Wales to make a preliminary finding on cases of alleged genocide; and for the subsequent referral of such findings to the International Criminal Court or a special tribunal
A Bill to amend the Civil Partnership Act 2004 to make provision for mixed sex couples to enter into a civil partnership
A Bill to make further provision for transparency in supply chains in respect of slavery and human trafficking
A Bill to prohibit the wearing of medals or insignia awarded for valour, with the intent to deceive
A Bill to make provision to include medical practitioners specialising in cosmetic surgery in the Specialist Register for medical practitioners
A Bill to establish the BBC Licence Fee Commission to make recommendations to the Secretary of State on a settlement for BBC funding from 1 April 2022, after conducting public and parliamentary consultation
A Bill to permit young persons to carry out voluntary work on a heritage railway or tramway
A Bill to make provision for disability equality and for the provision of balanced information in respect of abortions
A Bill to amend the Political Parties, Elections and Referendums Act 2000 to improve transparency in respect of election and referendum material
A Bill to make provision about the surrender, production or other delivery up of driving licences, or test certificates, in relation to certain offences; to make provision in relation to identifying persons in connection with fixed penalty notices, conditional offers and the payment of fixed penalties under the Road Traffic Offenders Act 1988; and for connected purposes
A Bill to make provision for the Secretary of State to undertake a public consultation reviewing the provision of comprehensive and integrated services for adults with learning disabilities
A Bill to create a right to die at home
A Bill to make amendments to the Marriage Act 1949 to make provision for all religious marriages to be solemnized on the authority of a superintendent registrar
A Bill to amend the definition of extreme pornography in the Digital Economy Act 2017
A Bill to make provision for the sale of adjustable focus spectacles
A Bill to make provision for a certificate to be issued to mothers in respect of miscarried and stillborn children not eligible for registration under the Births and Deaths Registration Act 1953; for establishing a database for archiving the certificate and recording information about the miscarriage or still birth; and for connected purposes
A Bill to make provision for state-maintained schools to promote the mental health and well-being of their pupils alongside academic attainment
A Bill to lower the gestational time limit for abortion to 12 weeks
A Bill to extend the franchise for parliamentary and other elections to all citizens over the age of 16 years
A Bill to provide for the independence of the British Broadcasting Corporation
A Bill to replace the current regime of limits on local housing authorities’ debt with limits determined by the existing prudential regime for local authority borrowing for non-housing-related purposes
A Bill to restrict membership of the House of Lords by virtue of a peerage; to make related provision about disqualifications for voting at elections to, and for membership of, the House of Commons; and for connected purposes
A Bill to amend the law regarding the succession to Peerages; and for connected purposes
3 Bills co-sponsored by Karen Lee
Human Fertilisation and Embryology (Welfare of Women) Bill 2017-19
Sponsor - Siobhain McDonagh (Lab)
Marriage and Civil Partnership (Consent) Bill 2017-19
Sponsor - Fabian Hamilton (Lab)
Youth (Services and Provisions) Bill 2017-19
Sponsor - Lloyd Russell-Moyle (LAB)
Latest 50 Written Questions
(View all written questions)Capita operates a number of national contracts that may provide services to individuals or cover areas in Lincolnshire. In addition, there are individual contracts with local contracting authorities. Details of contracts with a value over £10,000 are published on the Contracts Finder website. https://www.contractsfinder.service.gov.uk/Search
Shadow Deputy Prime Minister
3 Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy Questions
(View all Karen Lee's BEIS questions)This Government made a clear Manifesto commitment to tackle fuel poverty by committing to upgrading all fuel poor homes to EPC Band C by 2030.
We are making progress in particular by tackling the most energy inefficient homes. Since 2010 there are almost 800,000 fewer fuel poor households living in homes rated E, F or G.
The average fuel poverty gap has also dropped 6 per cent in real terms since 2010 and last year I refocused the whole of the £630m ECO annual budget on tackling fuel poverty without the help of her party I might add who voted against the measures.
On 1 April the Government launched a UK Research and Innovation, a new body that brings together nine councils including the Medical Research Council (MRC), Innovate UK and Research England into a single organisation. UK Research and Innovation aims to ensure the UK maintains its world-leading position in research and innovation.
UK Research and Innovation is one of the main means by which the Government funds medical research. It is committed to transparency in the medical research it funds. Information on all research projects funded by MRC, including information on outcomes and research publications will continue to be published on the Gateway to Research. By publishing this information, the research councils help to improve the public view of the progress of research, down to the individual project level. The Research Councils UK Open Access policy aims to ensure that ideas and knowledge derived from publicly funded research are made available and accessible for public use.
The National Audit Office published a report on cross-government funding of research and development in November 2017. This found that, for research in human health, coordination mechanisms and leadership arrangements are well established and functioning, consolidated data on funding and capability is used to support decision-making, and steps are being taken towards consolidated evaluation of research outcomes
Through the Teaching and Leadership Innovation Fund, the Department for Education is funding Accelerate – a professional development programme that will provide specialist support for early career teachers.
Accelerate, delivered by the Education Development Trust, is free to eligible teachers in their first five years of teaching. As a part of the programme, schools will be remunerated for teachers or leaders who are involved in aspects of delivery, for example, for coaching participants. No additional funding is provided to cover supply staff costs for staff undertaking the programme.
As set out in the Children Act 1989, local authorities are responsible for delivering children’s social care services. Ofsted is responsible for the Inspection of Local Authority Children’s Services (ILACS) and these inspections provide a robust assessment of the quality and outcomes of local services. The department publishes a range of statistics on activity rates, timeliness and costs of children’s services and these data are available to all local authorities to help benchmark their services. The department has no current plans to develop a national outcomes framework for children’s services.
As set out in the Children Act 1989, local authorities are responsible for delivering children’s social care services. Ofsted is responsible for the Inspection of Local Authority Children’s Services (ILACS) and these inspections provide a robust assessment of the quality and outcomes of local services. The department publishes a range of statistics on activity rates, timeliness and costs of children’s services and these data are available to all local authorities to help benchmark their services. The department has no current plans to develop a national outcomes framework for children’s services.
The government recognises the importance of securing permanence for looked after children and young people. Planning for permanence is central to children and families social work.
The Care Planning, Placement and Case Review Regulations 2010 and the supporting statutory guidance set out clear expectations on planning for permanence to ensure that children have a secure, stable and loving family to support them through childhood and beyond and to give them a sense of security, continuity, commitment, identity and belonging. This includes those children identified as having special educational needs.
The government wants all children and young people with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND), and looked after children, to achieve well in early years, at school, in further and higher education and be prepared for adulthood.
We have put in place a number of programmes to support improved outcomes for children and young people with SEND, including, from September 2014, introducing the largest reforms to the SEND system in a generation.
We assess outcomes for children and young people with SEND through external measures. For example, GSCE exam results (including attainment 8 and Progress 8 measures), the early years foundation stage profile; phonics screening check, key stage 1, key stage 2, numbers of tribunal cases (including the number decided in the appellant’s favour), and destinations data (the numbers going into further and higher education, and employment), absence and exclusions data.
We have also started looking at longer-term outcomes for special educational needs (SEN) pupils. This has been possible through analysis of the longitudinal educational outcomes (LEO) dataset. This dataset, for the first time, brings together information about learners including: personal characteristics such as gender and ethnicity; education, including schools, colleges and higher education institution attended, courses taken and qualifications achieved; PAYE and self-assessed employment and income data from Her Majesty’s Revenue and Customs; and data on benefits claims from the Department of Work and Pensions.
Initial analysis relating to longer term employment and benefit outcomes of SEN pupils was published in July 2018. This analysis was based on those who completed key stage 4 in academic years 2002/03 and 2003/04. The data can be accessed via: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/school-and-labour-market-outcomes-by-pupil-characteristics.
The corporate parenting principles, which local authorities must have regard to, require them to secure the best possible outcomes for looked after children and young people. The principles include promoting high aspirations, their health, stability in their homes lives and preparing them for adulthood and independence. Statutory guidance on applying the corporate parenting principles is available via https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/applying-corporate-parenting-principles-to-looked-after-children-and-care-leavers. Data on the outcomes of looked after children and care leavers is available in the statistical first release on ‘Children looked after in England including adoption’ (https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/children-looked-after-in-england-including-adoption-2016-to-2017) and on ‘Outcomes for children looked after by local authorities’ in England (https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/outcomes-for-children-looked-after-by-las-31-march-2017).
The department currently has no plans to reinstate the Commissioning Support Programme.
We are providing funding through our £200 million Children’s Social Care Innovation Programme to test new commissioning arrangements so that children and young people are matched to the right care placements to meet their needs.
We are developing central commissioning arrangements for secure children’s homes placements and will be providing seed funding for fostering partnerships to introduce new or expanded collaborative approaches for commissioning, sufficiency planning and integrated models of care.
We have set up a Residential Care Leadership Board to drive forward improvements in commissioning and share learning and best practice across the sector.
The national curriculum for science includes content on puberty and the menstrual cycle in key stages 2 and 3. The government also provides guidance on Sex and Relationship Education which outlines how and when schools can prepare girls and boys for puberty and menstruation.
Under reforms in the Children and Social Work Act 2017, all primary schools will be required to teach Relationships Education and all secondary schools to teach Relationships and Sex Education (RSE). We are also considering compulsory status for Personal, Social, Health and Economic Education.
To help reach evidence-based decisions on what these subjects may look like, the government has been conducting a thorough engagement process with a wide range of expert stakeholders. Departmental officials are currently analysing the evidence gathered during this process and intend to put new statutory guidance and regulations out for public consultation later in the year.
1 Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs Questions
(View all Karen Lee's Defra questions)The Government has published contaminated land statutory guidance which explains how local authorities should implement the contaminated land regime under Part 2A of the Environmental Protection Act 1990.
We continually monitor the humanitarian situation in the Occupied Palestinian Territories, and in particular the major pressure on Gaza’s health sector. Last month DFID announced a new aid package of £2 million to the International Committee for the Red Cross to support delivery of vital medicines, equipment and rehabilitation services.
Yemen remains the world’s largest humanitarian crisis with nearly 80 per cent of the entire population – 24 million people – requiring some form of humanitarian assistance and protection. The number of food insecure people has also risen from 17 million to over 20 million and for the first time, there are people (almost 240,000) in the most severe food security category, IPC 5 - at high risk of death.
The UK is providing £170 million in response to the humanitarian crisis in Yemen this financial year, including food for the equivalent of 4 million Yemenis for one month. Our funding over the next three years will screen 2.2 million children under the age of five for malnutrition and provide urgent treatment for 70,000 of the most vulnerable children. However, a political settlement is the only way to address the worsening humanitarian crisis and we encourage further constructive engagement from all parties to achieve this.
We oppose the US embargo on the grounds of its damaging impact on the Cuban economy, its counterproductive effect in achieving positive change in Cuba, and the negative extra-territorial effects that it has on UK business. We oppose any possible tightening in the future for these reasons.
The EU and UK have already passed legislation – the EU Regulation 2271/96 (“The EU Blocking Regulation”) and the Extraterritorial US Legislation (Sanctions against Cuba, Iran and Libya) (Protection of Trading Interests) Order 1996 that makes it illegal to comply with the extraterritorial effects of the embargo. We will continue to work together with our EU partners to provide UK companies with the support they need to be able to trade with Cuba. Officials in London and the British Embassy in Havana provide a range of bespoke assistance to companies and regularly raise our objections to trade restrictions on Cuba with US counterparts.
During the recent high level and historic visit led by the Cuban President Miguel Diaz-Canel to London in November 2018, the Secretary of State for International Trade met with the Cuban Vice President Ricardo Cabrisas Ruiz to discuss Cuba’s trade and investment plans, and the trading relationship between the UK and Cuba.
Local bus journeys remain central to transport choices, accounting for around 59% of all public transport journeys. The number of local bus passenger journeys in England fell by 1.5% to 4.44 billion in the year ending March 2017.
The change of operator is not expected to have any impact on this issue. We expect to provide additional services between London and Lincoln from May 2019.
On 11 July the Secretary of State launched an in depth evaluation of how the benefits system supports people nearing the end of their life and those with severe conditions.
The Department is taking this work forward as a priority and will be seeking input from a range of stakeholders including those who have first-hand experience of the special rules, whether clinicians or others supporting people applying for benefit, in due course.
Pension Credit is an important benefit specifically intended to help the poorest pensioners. There are over 1.6m pensioners already claiming Pension Credit worth over £5billion a year. However, the Government wants to ensure that all pensioners eligible can claim the Pension Credit to which they are rightly entitled.
We also welcome and encourage initiatives to promote take up of Pension Credit by national and local organisations who may often be best placed to understand the local circumstances and needs in the community. For this reason we have developed the Pension Credit toolkit, as an on-line tool for agencies and welfare rights organisations to use in order to encourage Pension Credit take-up. It can be found at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/pension-credit-toolkit
The toolkit contains resources for anyone working with pensioners and includes guides to Pension Credit. It also contains publicity material and guidance designed to help older people understand how they could get Pension Credit and help organisations support someone applying for Pension Credit as well as ideas for encouraging take-up. The toolkit also provides links to information about disability and carers benefits.
Organisations can use the Pension Credit calculator https://www.gov.uk/pension-credit-calculator to help people check if they are likely to be eligible and get an estimate of what they may receive.
In addition, the DWP targets activity on engaging with people who may be eligible to benefits at pivotal stages, such as when they claim State Pension or report a change in their circumstances. The DWP uses a wide range of channels to communicate information about benefits to potential customers; including information on https://gov.uk/, but also in leaflets and by telephone. DWP staff in Pension Centres and Jobcentres including visiting officers are able to provide help and advice about entitlement to benefits, as are staff in Local Authorities who administer Housing Benefit.
In Lincoln there are just under 3,000 pensioners already claiming Pension Credit. The easiest way to make a claim is by telephone. People can telephone either the Pension Service helpline for general enquiries on 0800 731 0469 or those wishing to claim Pension Credit can do so by calling 0800 99 1234.
The information requested on the number of potentially eligible claimants of pension credit who have not claimed the benefit and the average amount of unclaimed pension credit per eligible claimant in the constituency of Lincoln is not available at constituency level.
Official statistics on the take-up of income related benefits at Great Britain level, including pension credit, can be found in the ‘Income-related benefits: estimates of take-up 2016 to 2017’ publication.
The information requested on the number of potentially eligible claimants of pension credit who have not claimed the benefit and the average amount of unclaimed pension credit per eligible claimant in the constituency of Lincoln is not available at constituency level.
Official statistics on the take-up of income related benefits at Great Britain level, including pension credit, can be found in the ‘Income-related benefits: estimates of take-up 2016 to 2017’ publication.
Pension Credit is an important benefit specifically intended to help the poorest pensioners. There are over 1.6m pensioners already claiming Pension Credit worth over £5billion a year. However, the Government wants to ensure that all pensioners eligible can claim the Pension Credit to which they are rightly entitled.
We also welcome and encourage initiatives to promote take up of Pension Credit by national and local organisations who may often be best placed to understand the local circumstances and needs in the community. For this reason we have developed the Pension Credit toolkit, as an on-line tool for agencies and welfare rights organisations to use in order to encourage Pension Credit take-up. It can be found at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/pension-credit-toolkit
The toolkit contains resources for anyone working with pensioners and includes guides to Pension Credit. It also contains publicity material and guidance designed to help older people understand how they could get Pension Credit and help organisations support someone applying for Pension Credit as well as ideas for encouraging take-up. The toolkit also provides links to information about disability and carers benefits.
Organisations can use the Pension Credit calculator https://www.gov.uk/pension-credit-calculator to help people check if they are likely to be eligible and get an estimate of what they may receive.
In addition, the DWP targets activity on engaging with people who may be eligible to benefits at pivotal stages, such as when they claim State Pension or report a change in their circumstances. The DWP uses a wide range of channels to communicate information about benefits to potential customers; including information on https://gov.uk/, but also in leaflets and by telephone. DWP staff in Pension Centres and Jobcentres including visiting officers are able to provide help and advice about entitlement to benefits, as are staff in Local Authorities who administer Housing Benefit.
In Lincoln there are just under 3,000 pensioners already claiming Pension Credit. The easiest way to make a claim is by telephone. People can telephone either the Pension Service helpline for general enquiries on 0800 731 0469 or those wishing to claim Pension Credit can do so by calling 0800 99 1234.
As announced, all Personal Independence Payment claimants of State Pension age and above will be placed on an ongoing award with a light touch review at 10 years, unless notified of a change of circumstance. We are working to implement this change as soon as possible and expect this to occur by late spring 2019.
The latest available data on Personal Independence Payment (PIP) clearances split by geographical area within Great Britain (region), by type of clearance (i.e. whether the claim was awarded, disallowed or withdrawn) and by main disabling condition for both new claims and Disability Living Allowance (DLA) reassessment claims for each month from the introduction of PIP in April 2013 to the last available data in January 2019, can be found at https://stat-xplore.dwp.gov.uk/
Guidance on how to use Stat-Xplore can be found here: https://sw.stat-xplore.dwp.gov.uk/webapi/online-help/index.html
Please note that a PIP claimant’s disability is not recorded until they attend an assessment so the Department does not hold data on how many claimants with a particular condition made an application for PIP. Data on the number of registrations (applications) to PIP each month from April 2013 to January 2019 is available on Stat-Xplore.
Please note that the Department of Work and Pensions (DWP) is only responsible for benefits in Great Britain. Social security benefits including PIP are a devolved matter in Northern Ireland and your questions regarding PIP in Northern Ireland should be directed at the Department of Communities in Northern Ireland who are responsible for PIP.
The latest available data on Personal Independence Payment (PIP) clearances split by geographical area within Great Britain (region), by type of clearance (i.e. whether the claim was awarded, disallowed or withdrawn) and by main disabling condition for both new claims and Disability Living Allowance (DLA) reassessment claims for each month from the introduction of PIP in April 2013 to the last available data in January 2019, can be found at https://stat-xplore.dwp.gov.uk/
Guidance on how to use Stat-Xplore can be found here: https://sw.stat-xplore.dwp.gov.uk/webapi/online-help/index.html
Please note that a PIP claimant’s disability is not recorded until they attend an assessment so the Department does not hold data on how many claimants with a particular condition made an application for PIP. Data on the number of registrations (applications) to PIP each month from April 2013 to January 2019 is available on Stat-Xplore.
Please note that the Department of Work and Pensions (DWP) is only responsible for benefits in Great Britain. Social security benefits including PIP are a devolved matter in Northern Ireland and your questions regarding PIP in Northern Ireland should be directed at the Department of Communities in Northern Ireland who are responsible for PIP.
Since September 2017, Employment and Support Allowance claimants who have the most severe/lifelong conditions and that meet the Severe Conditions Criteria are not required to attend further routine reassessments. Furthermore, in August 2018, we introduced updated guidance for Personal Independence Payment (PIP) case managers which will ensure that those who receive the highest level of support under PIP, and whose needs are unlikely to change or may get worse, will now receive an ongoing award with a light touch review at the ten year point.
I refer the Hon. Member to the answer provided to Question 6374 on 5 September 2017 by the then Minister of State for Employment, Damian Hinds.
COP26 President (Cabinet Office)
Current recipients of Widowed Parent’s Allowance will continue to receive that benefit for the natural lifetime of their award. There will be no change in payments of Widowed Parent’s Allowance to these claimants.
Bereavement Support Payment (BSP) replaced Widowed Parent’s Allowance for those whose spouse or civil partner died on or after 6 April 2017.
BSP is designed to provide targeted support to help with the immediate costs of bereavement without affecting access to financial help towards everyday living costs.
It is for this reason that BSP is paid in addition to income related benefits, is not taxable and is not taken into account when calculating income for the benefit cap. These measures protect the financial security of the least well off families and ensure that they are not disadvantaged by the reform.
The Department does not directly fund Lincoln’s Citizens Advice to provide Universal Support.
For 2017/18, we estimated the City of Lincoln Council’s funding to help them provide Universal Support to Universal Credit claimants to be £4,107, and for 2018/19 we are increasing this funding to £11,131 to reflect that the City of Lincoln went live with Universal Credit full service on 7 March 2018.
The City of Lincoln Council has full discretion as to whether they provide this Universal Support themselves or contract out to another organisation, such as Citizens Advice.
Any such sub-contraction is a matter between the council and the sub-contractor.
COP26 President (Cabinet Office)
Clinical commissioning groups are responsible for commissioning secondary care ophthalmology services to meet local need. We would expect services to be commissioned in line with National Institute for Health and Care Excellence guidance where it is available or best available evidence and for patients to receive treatment, in line with their clinical priority, without any undue delay at any stage of their referral, diagnosis or treatment.
Getting It Right First Time (GIRFT) is a national clinical improvement programme, working with frontline clinicians to identify and reduce unwarranted variations in service delivery and clinical practice. NHS England advises the GIRFT report into ophthalmology, which will contain recommendations for service improvement, is due for publication shortly.
NHS Improvement collects vacancy data for three staff groups; doctors, nurses and ‘other staff’. These vacancy statistics are published for England and at the regional level of North, Midlands and East, London and South.
NHS Digital published the latest NHS Improvement vacancy data which can be found at the following link:
The large majority of vacancies are filled by a combination of bank and agency staff.
The interim NHS People Plan, published on 3 June 2019, puts the workforce at the heart of the National Health Service and will ensure we have the staff needed to deliver high quality care. A final People Plan will be published soon after the conclusion of the 2019 Spending Review.
The Cancer Workforce Plan for England, published in December 2017 by Health Education England (HEE), set out plans to expand capacity and skills in the cancer workforce, including targeting additional training support for seven priority professions which are key to cancer prevention, diagnosis and treatment, such as clinical radiology, histopathology, oncology and diagnostic and therapeutic radiography. HEE will now work with NHS England and NHS Improvement to understand the longer-term workforce implications of further development of cancer services. This work will inform the final People Plan.
The Royal College of General Practitioners’ (RCGP) curriculum statement, ‘Professional & Clinical Modules’, makes clear the importance of a prompt diagnosis and treatment of inflammatory arthritis, such as rheumatoid arthritis (RA).
The condition is identified as a key area of clinical knowledge in the RCGP Advanced Knowledge Test (AKT) content guide. The AKT is a summative assessment of the knowledge base that underpins general practice in the United Kingdom within the context of the National Health Service and is a key part of GPs’ qualifying exams.
The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence’s (NICE) Quality Standard ‘Rheumatoid arthritis in over 16s’, updated in July 2018, emphasises the need for early for urgent referral to a specialist rheumatologist on suspicion of rheumatoid arthritis within three weeks.
The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) Guidance ‘Rheumatoid Arthritis in Adults: management’, published in July 2018, sets out best practice on the diagnosis, treatment, care support of people living with the condition. The guidance recommends patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA) are managed by a multidisciplinary team and have access to non-pharmacological management including physiotherapy, occupational therapy and psychological support. Psychological interventions (for example, relaxation, stress management and cognitive coping skills) can be used to help adults with RA adjust to living with their condition. NICE has also published guidance on ‘Depression in adults with a chronic physical health problem: recognition and management’, which provides advice and guidance for the appropriate use of cognitive behavioural therapy in the management of a long-term condition. Both sets of guidance can be found via the following links:
Public Health England has no plans to introduce blood tests for effluents in public health checks after large-scale fires.
The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence will begin scoping what will be considered in the review of its technology appraisal methods in the 2019/20 business year.
The NHS Cancer Programme aims to improve access to cancer Clinical Nurse Specialists (CNS) for all cancer patients when they need it, including those with secondary breast cancer. Health Education England is also working to expand the number of CNS and develop clear CNS competencies and routes into training.
Off patent drugs are widely used every day in the National Health Service, and there are no barriers to their use.
NHS England announced on 9 October 2018 that up to £50 million will be available over five years to ensure that adequate and ongoing physical and mental health services are available for those affected by the Grenfell fire. This includes the victims, the bereaved, neighbouring residents, the wider local population and the first responders.
As set out in the Manual for Prescribed Specialised Services 2018/19, NHS England commissions inherited cancer services. This includes genetic testing for inherited cancer through the Genomic Laboratory Hubs and the genetic clinical service through the Regional Clinical Genetics Services.
NHS England does not hold data on access to family history clinics for people with a family history of breast cancer across England.
As set out in the Manual for Prescribed Specialised Services 2018/19, NHS England commissions inherited cancer services. This includes genetic testing for inherited cancer through the Genomic Laboratory Hubs and the genetic clinical service through the Regional Clinical Genetics Services.
NHS England does not hold data on access to family history clinics for people with a family history of breast cancer across England.
NHS England is committed to ensuring that more patients have access to a Clinical Nurse Specialist (CNS) or other specialist from diagnosis onwards to guide them through treatment options and ensure they receive appropriate information and support. 91% of patients reported having access to a CNS in the 2017 Cancer Patient Experience Survey.
In December 2017, Health Education England published its first ever cancer workforce plan which commits to the expansion of CNSs so that every patient has access to a CNS or other support worker by 2021. They will do this by developing national competencies and a clear route into training, with a more detailed report on nursing and cancer in the light of new census data in spring 2018.
NHS England intends to review access to tracers that have a short half-life, such as 11C Choline, following the conclusion of the national Phase II Positron Emission Tomography- Computed Tomography procurement. It is expected that this work will be undertaken in early 2019.
The clinical commissioning policy statement can be found at the following link:
Guidance on fire safety, including patients with specific dependencies such as vulnerable adults and young children, is provided to National Health Service organisations in the Health Technical Memorandum 05 publications, generally referred to as Firecode. All Firecode guidance will be reviewed in the light of the recommendations of the Grenfell Inquiry.