Asked by: Natascha Engel (Labour - North East Derbyshire)
Question
To ask the Deputy Prime Minister, if he will bring forward legislative proposals to give 16 and 17 year olds the vote.
Answered by Nick Clegg
I am a strong advocate of lowering the voting age to 16. I look forward to a time when we have genuine cross-party consensus to give all 16 and 17 year olds across the United Kingdom the right to vote, and bring forward legislation to that effect.
Asked by: Natascha Engel (Labour - North East Derbyshire)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what the level of GP (a) recruitment and (b) retention was in (a) Derbyshire and (b) England in (i) 2010 and (ii) on the latest date for which figures are available.
Answered by Dan Poulter
The information requested is not available.
The annual National Health Service General and Personal Medical Services workforce census, published by the Health and Social Care Information Centre, shows there were 36,294 full time equivalent general practitioners (GP’s) working and training in the NHS in England as at 30 September 2013. This is an increase of 1,051 compared to the position in September 2010, the most recent figures after the General Election. The next census, reflecting the position in September 2014 will be published in March 2015.
The Government’s mandate to Health Education England requires them to ensure that 50% of trainee doctors (currently 3,250 based on current forecasts) enter GP training programmes by 2016. This will enable further increases in the GP workforce across England.
Asked by: Natascha Engel (Labour - North East Derbyshire)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, if he will make an assessment of whether changes made to child benefit legislation since May 2010 have resulted in unfair tax burdens falling on people who are living with a partner who has his or her own children in the household.
Answered by Baroness Morgan of Cotes
Child Benefit is paid for the welfare of the child/children in the household. If any partner in the household has income over £50,000 then they are required to register for the Higher Income Child Benefit Charge regardless of whether or not they are the biological parent.
This approach withdraws Child Benefit from those on high incomes, whilst leaving the majority of claimants completely unaffected by the changes. Those families with at least one taxpayer with an income over £60,000 can choose not to receive the Child Benefit, which means that they do not have to pay the tax charge at all.
Asked by: Natascha Engel (Labour - North East Derbyshire)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, if he will (a) review and (b) amend or provide an exemption to the five-year housing land availability test for councils who have land on the proposed High Speed 2 rail route.
Answered by Nick Boles
High Speed 2 provides the opportunity to be a significant catalyst for locally-led growth and regeneration at proposed station locations, with the potential to support new homes and new jobs, benefiting from the new high-speed connections. This is illustrated by how High Speed 1 has helped extend regeneration and growth across East London and Kent. The Government will in due course be responding to the High Speed 2 Growth Taskforce Report on how best to work with local councils and Local Enterprise Partnerships to seize the regeneration opportunities from the new line.
This Government is a strong advocate of locally-led development. The Local Plan process helps councils shape where new development should and should not go. In that context, it does not make sense to exempt councils along the route from having an up to date Local Plan; councils should be in the driving seat to determine what it best for their local communities.
Asked by: Natascha Engel (Labour - North East Derbyshire)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what the average waiting time is for all (a) NHS patients classified as urgent and (b) NHS cancer patients classified as urgent.
Answered by Jane Ellison
There are no National Health Service waiting time standards specifically for patients classified as ‘urgent'. It is the objective of this government to ensure that all patients receive timely and high quality care.
Clinical priority is – and remains – the main determinant of when patients should be treated within existing waiting times targets.
Asked by: Natascha Engel (Labour - North East Derbyshire)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether debt accrued by non-resident parents transfers automatically to the Child Maintenance Service for enforcement when the Child Support Agency is abolished.
Answered by Steve Webb
Our first priority is to collect money for children who will benefit from regular ongoing maintenance payments, rather than the pursuit of historic arrears in cases where the children have now grown up.
However, where arrears of child maintenance are linked to an on-going child maintenance case on the 2012 scheme, we will move arrears in those cases to the Child Maintenance Service and pursue them as appropriate alongside the on-going maintenance case.
In cases where the arrears are not linked to an on-going 2012 case, and a parent with care does not request that their arrears are written off, we will transfer them to the Child Maintenance Service and pursue collection as resources allow.
Asked by: Natascha Engel (Labour - North East Derbyshire)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what charges are incurred by those appealing against a benefit assessment ruling.
Answered by Mike Penning
This is a matter for the Ministry of Justice.
They have no plans to introduce fees to bring an appeal to the First-tier Tribunal (Social Security and Child Support).