Asked by: Marie Goldman (Liberal Democrat - Chelmsford)
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 adequacy of the universal credit assessment period; and whether she plans to change the frequency of that assessment.
Answered by Stephen Timms - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
The first payment of Universal Credit is usually made around five weeks after the claim is made.
The first calendar month is the initial assessment period, during which information is verified to ensure accurate payments. At the end of that period, entitlement for that month is calculated and paid seven days later. Payments thereafter are made monthly in arrears. Assessment Periods, once made, are set and cannot be changed.
Universal Credit is designed to top-up earnings from employment, adapting to changes in the amount of earnings received each month. Assessing UC monthly ensures that we receive at least one update of earnings information for each working member of a household, meaning that the benefit calculated accurately reflects the needs of the household.
There are currently no plans to change Universal Credit assessment periods.
Asked by: Marie Goldman (Liberal Democrat - Chelmsford)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, when he expects the NHS-commissioned report on community pharmacy funding to be published.
Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
NHS England commissioned Frontier Economics to undertake an independent economic analysis of National Health Service pharmacy funding in 2024. This work is nearing completion and will be published.
Asked by: Marie Goldman (Liberal Democrat - Chelmsford)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps her Department plans to take to consult with occupational therapists as part of investment plans to increase the number of children with special education needs and disabilities in mainstream schools in England.
Answered by Catherine McKinnell - Minister of State (Education)
The government is committed to ensuring that every child has the best start in life. This includes all children and young people with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND). We are committed to improving inclusivity and expertise in mainstream schools.
The department regularly consults with various experts, stakeholders and stakeholder groups, including the Royal College of Occupational Therapists. We will continue to work with the sector as essential and valued partners to deliver our shared mission.
The department is working closely with NHS England to improve access to community health services, including occupational therapy, for children and young people with SEND. NHS England continues to monitor community services waiting lists to assess the number of people on them and the length of time they wait for services, and continues to look at actions to reduce waiting times for these services.
The Department of Health and Social Care have launched a 10 Year Health Plan to reform the NHS. A central part of this will be workforce and how they ensure they train and provide the staff the NHS needs to care for patients across our communities.
Asked by: Marie Goldman (Liberal Democrat - Chelmsford)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps she is taking with the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care to increase recruitment of specialist occupational therapists supporting children with special educational needs and disabilities; and what steps she is taking to reduce waiting times for children's occupational therapy services.
Answered by Catherine McKinnell - Minister of State (Education)
The government is committed to ensuring that every child has the best start in life. This includes all children and young people with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND). We are committed to improving inclusivity and expertise in mainstream schools.
The department regularly consults with various experts, stakeholders and stakeholder groups, including the Royal College of Occupational Therapists. We will continue to work with the sector as essential and valued partners to deliver our shared mission.
The department is working closely with NHS England to improve access to community health services, including occupational therapy, for children and young people with SEND. NHS England continues to monitor community services waiting lists to assess the number of people on them and the length of time they wait for services, and continues to look at actions to reduce waiting times for these services.
The Department of Health and Social Care have launched a 10 Year Health Plan to reform the NHS. A central part of this will be workforce and how they ensure they train and provide the staff the NHS needs to care for patients across our communities.
Asked by: Marie Goldman (Liberal Democrat - Chelmsford)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, if he will make an assessment of the potential merits of introducing mandatory country-of-origin labelling for the (a) manufacturing facility and (b) parent company on non-food products.
Answered by Sarah Jones - Minister of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
We have no current plans to introduce country-of-origin marking requirements on non-food products and it is a commercial matter for business to decide where they source their products and to assess to what extent the origin might affect the potential market for those products.
More broadly, the government encourages traders to include helpful information on goods on a voluntary basis, particularly where this may be in the best interests of the consumer or represents a unique selling point for a business, as long as the additional information is true and not misleading in any way.
Asked by: Marie Goldman (Liberal Democrat - Chelmsford)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps her Department is taking to increase the number of apprenticeship opportunities within the hairdressing industry; and what support her Department provides salons to help them hire apprentices.
Answered by Janet Daby - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
Apprenticeships are a great way for individuals to begin, or progress in, a successful career in hairdressing. Employers in the sector have developed a level 2 Hairdressing Professional apprenticeship and a level 2 Barbering Professional apprenticeship to help them develop their workforces.
The department continues to promote the benefits that apprenticeships offer, to students in schools and colleges through the Apprenticeship Support and Knowledge programme, as part of the Skills for Life campaign.
Employers who do not pay the apprenticeship levy, that are usually small to medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), are important to the economy and to apprenticeships. SMEs are more likely to employ younger apprentices and apprentices from disadvantaged areas.
To support non-levy paying employers to access apprenticeships, the government pays full training costs for young apprentices aged 16 to 21, and for apprentices aged 22 to 24 who have an education, health and care (EHC) plan or have been in local authority care. Employers of all sizes, including SMEs, can also benefit from £1000 payments when they take on apprentices aged 16 to 18, or apprentices aged 19 to 24 who have an EHC plan or have been in local authority care.
Employers also benefit from not being required to pay anything towards employees’ National Insurance for all apprentices aged up to age 25 where they earn less than £967 a week, or £50,270 a year.
Asked by: Marie Goldman (Liberal Democrat - Chelmsford)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, what assessment his Department has made of recent trends in Royal Mail’s postal service deliveries times; and what steps the Government is taking to ensure that customers receive a reliable and timely service.
Answered by Justin Madders - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade)
It is for Ofcom, as the independent regulator of postal services, to set and monitor Royal Mail’s service standards, and to decide how to use its powers to investigate and take enforcement action. In December 2024, following its investigation of Royal Mail’s performance in the 2023-24 financial year, Ofcom fined the company £10.5m because of its failure to significantly improve service levels.
Ofcom is currently considering the future of the universal postal service and published a consultation in January proposing a package of reforms to better reflect people’s usage of postal services and support financial sustainability.
Asked by: Marie Goldman (Liberal Democrat - Chelmsford)
Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:
To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, what steps the Government is taking to ensure AI training models are subject to existing copyright laws; and what assessment he has made of the impact of the proposed exemption for text and data mining on (a) artists, (b) small businesses and (c) other creative industries.
Answered by Feryal Clark - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
Copying protected material in the UK will infringe copyright unless it is licensed, or an exception to copyright applies.
The Government published a consultation on Copyright and AI in December 2024 seeking views on proposals for a new regulatory model for text and data mining.
An initial assessment of the options under consideration and their impacts can be found in the summary assessment published alongside the consultation. The Government intends to update its assessment in light of evidence received through the consultation process.
The consultation closed on 25 February and the Government will respond in due course.
Asked by: Marie Goldman (Liberal Democrat - Chelmsford)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if the Government will make an assessment of the adequacy of existing health checks for retired firefighters; and if she will work with (a) NHS Trusts and (b) local healthcare providers in Essex to improve healthcare for firefighters.
Answered by Diana Johnson - Minister of State (Home Office)
The health and safety of firefighters is of paramount importance.
We will continue to engage with the Department of Health and Social Care, the Health and Safety Executive and the National Fire Chiefs Council on the development of policy in this area, including examining the potential benefits of health screening programmes for current and retired firefighters.
Fire and rescue authorities, as the employers, are responsible for the health and wellbeing of firefighters, and so it is for those authorities to take the appropriate action to protect their workforces.
Asked by: Marie Goldman (Liberal Democrat - Chelmsford)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, with reference to the Select Committee on Work and Pensions letter on the Pension Protection Fund and Financial Assistance Scheme payments of 17 December 2024, what progress she has made on implementing the recommendations on inflation protection for pre-1997 pensions.
Answered by Torsten Bell - Parliamentary Secretary (HM Treasury)
The PPF and FAS rules on indexation have been the subject of much discussion. I am aware of the concerns surrounding the matter and understand the problems experienced by Defined Benefit pension scheme members adjusting to an income in retirement which may be less than they were expecting. I will continue to consider this issue over the coming months.
The Government is considering the Select Committee’s valuable report and will respond fully to the report and recommendations later this year.