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.
Asked by: Marie Goldman (Liberal Democrat - Chelmsford)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether she plans to review the (a) Ebbsfleet and (b) Ashford services of the Eurostar line.
Answered by Simon Lightwood - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
Whilst it is a commercial decision for Eurostar to make on the reinstatement of these services, I recognise the continued disappointment felt by local communities and businesses and I too am keen to see the reinstatement of these services. Officials regularly engage with Kent stakeholders, including MPs, councillors and representatives to discuss this and are committed to continue explore potential solutions.
Asked by: Marie Goldman (Liberal Democrat - Chelmsford)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, if she will make an assessment of the adequacy of the availability of fire safety risk assessors who are able to carry out fire risk assessments of external wall systems.
Answered by Alex Norris - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
The Department conducts regular capacity surveys and supplier engagement to ensure we have enough assessors to meet the expected requirement, in line with our objective in the Department’s Remediation Acceleration plan to ensure capacity in the remediation supply chain. Our research to date demonstrates sufficient assessor capacity to meet expected demand, though with some local supply pinch points. Where this is the case, we support applicants in sourcing assessors.
Asked by: Marie Goldman (Liberal Democrat - Chelmsford)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if she will make an assessment of the potential merits of establishing a new public inquiry into the Windrush scandal.
Answered by Seema Malhotra - Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State (Department for Education) (Equalities)
This government is determined to put right the appalling injustices caused by the Home Office’s treatment of members of the Windrush community, making sure that those affected receive the compensation they rightly deserve, and ensuring cultural change is embedded permanently into the fabric of the Home Office.
We have established a new Windrush Unit in the Home Office with a remit dedicated to driving systemic and cultural change across the whole organisation. The new Windrush Unit will be undertaking a review of the Home Office’s response to the Windrush Lessons Learned Review to assess how far the department has come and what more needs to be done.
We will be appointing a Windrush Commissioner to act as an independent advocate for all those affected. This independent advocate will ensure the voices of Windrush victims and communities are heard throughout government and will help ensure lasting change is delivered and lessons of the past are truly learned.
We believe that these measures will be the quickest and most effective way to learn lessons and ensure victims get the support they deserve.
Asked by: Marie Goldman (Liberal Democrat - Chelmsford)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps she is taking to ensure the safety of British Pakistanis speaking out about human rights violations in Pakistan.
Answered by Dan Jarvis - Minister of State (Home Office)
The Government regularly assesses potential threats to the UK, and takes the protection of individuals' rights, freedoms, and safety in the UK very seriously.
As you would expect, Home Office officials work closely with the FCDO and MHCLG as well as other Government departments to ensure that the UK is a safe and welcoming place.
The Home Secretary regularly discusses issues regarding national security with her counterparts, including the Foreign Secretary.
Asked by: Marie Goldman (Liberal Democrat - Chelmsford)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, if she will make an assessment of the potential merits of (a) providing support for victims to recover investments and (b) holding perpetrators accountable in cases of fraudulent property sales.
Answered by Matthew Pennycook - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
HM Land Registry provides a state guarantee which in appropriate circumstances financially compensates victims of property registration fraud.
HM Land Registry has the power to seek recovery of indemnity payments from perpetrators of fraud and conveyancers who are complicit. It can also seek to recover such payments from those who, through negligence, have failed to prevent property fraud from occurring.
HM Land Registry also offers a free Property Alert service to try to avoid people becoming the victims of property fraud.
Property fraud can be prosecuted in the criminal courts resulting in a criminal conviction and punishment. Civil or commercial fraud may result in a claim of compensation brought by the claimant against the party who committed the fraud.
Asked by: Marie Goldman (Liberal Democrat - Chelmsford)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether she plans to extend the flexible fund beyond February 2025.
Answered by Diana Johnson - Minister of State (Home Office)
The Government is committed to supporting victims of domestic abuse.
At the beginning of October, we launched a £1.96m investment into the Flexible Fund. The Flexible Fund, administered by Women’s Aid Federation of England, can be accessed through over 470 specialist domestic abuse services.
Following the spending review announcements in October, the Home Office is now deciding how the total funding settlement is allocated across the Department to deliver the Government’s priorities. Further announcements regarding funding, including on the Flexible Fund, will follow in due course.
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, what assessment he has made of the potential merits of standardising of NHS IT systems to help increase levels of efficiency.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
Interoperability between IT systems would improve the quality of care and safety for patients, as well as enabling better informed clinical and care decision-making, by allowing for information to be shared easily, in real time, between organisations that use different systems.
Information standards relating to information technology would enable such interoperability. The Government will shortly commence section 95 of the Health and Care Act 2022 and introduce regulations, which will, with Parliament’s approval, set out the procedure for preparing and publishing mandatory information standards for public and private health and adult social care providers.
The Data (Use and Access) (DUA) Bill will, Parliament permitting, subsequently make standards mandatory for IT providers in the health and care system, and make provision for ensuring compliance.
The impact assessment for these measures in the DUA Bill estimates benefits in terms of efficiencies of over £100 million over ten years. This is available at the following link:
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, whether he has made an assessment of the potential merits of introducing a hardship fund for parents of children who have been diagnosed with chronic illnesses and have been hospitalised for more than 2 months.
Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Building the Right Support Action Plan, published in 2022, contains commitments which have not yet passed their delivery dates, including the commitment to reform the Mental Health Act.
We do not plan to create new actions in a new action plan while the bill is before Parliament. However, we recognise that this is a vitally important area, and we are considering how to ensure that more people with a learning disability and autistic people are supported well in the community, ahead of the commencement of the Mental Health Act reforms.
Asked by: Marie Goldman (Liberal Democrat - Chelmsford)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, if she will legislate to cap annual service charge rises at consumer price index inflation rates.
Answered by Matthew Pennycook - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
I refer the Hon Member to the answer to Question UIN 7465 on 15 October 2024