Asked by: Owen Thompson (Scottish National Party - Midlothian)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what is the longest wait for a case to be heard at tribunal once referred.
Answered by Mike Freer
The information requested is not held centrally.
Asked by: Owen Thompson (Scottish National Party - Midlothian)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what recent progress her Department has made on its review of the Gambling Act 2005.
Answered by Stuart Andrew - Shadow Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport
The Government is working at pace with the Gambling Commission, industry and others to deliver the white paper.
The Government recently confirmed plans for the introduction of stake limits for online slots games, and last week published our plans for reforms to the land-based sector.
The Gambling Commission have also confirmed proposals for a range of measures, including financial risk checks and strengthened protections on direct marketing.
Asked by: Owen Thompson (Scottish National Party - Midlothian)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what the average response time is for cases that have been sent to tribunal.
Answered by Mims Davies - Shadow Minister (Women)
The information requested is not readily available and to provide it would incur disproportionate cost.
Asked by: Owen Thompson (Scottish National Party - Midlothian)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether his Department publishes statistics on response times for cases that have been sent to tribunals.
Answered by Mims Davies - Shadow Minister (Women)
DWP does not publish statistics on departmental response times for tribunal cases.
Asked by: Owen Thompson (Scottish National Party - Midlothian)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps her Department is taking to ensure myalgic encephalomyelitis receives a proportionate share of National Institute for Health and Care Research funding.
Answered by Andrew Stephenson
The Department funds research on health and social care through the National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR). The NIHR welcomes funding applications for research into any aspect of human health including myalgic encephalomyelitis. These applications are subject to peer review and judged in open competition, with awards being made based on the importance of the topic to patients and health and care services, value for money and scientific quality. In all areas, the amount of NIHR funding depends on the volume and quality of scientific activity.
Asked by: Owen Thompson (Scottish National Party - Midlothian)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if she will instruct the National Institute for Health and Care Research to increase the level of funding available for myalgic encephalomyelitis research.
Answered by Andrew Stephenson
The Department funds research on health and social care through the National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR). The NIHR welcomes funding applications for research into any aspect of human health including myalgic encephalomyelitis. These applications are subject to peer review and judged in open competition, with awards being made based on the importance of the topic to patients and health and care services, value for money and scientific quality. In all areas, the amount of NIHR funding depends on the volume and quality of scientific activity.
Asked by: Owen Thompson (Scottish National Party - Midlothian)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, whether she is taking steps in the negotiations on the UK-Israel Free Trade Agreement to ensure that any such agreement includes a clear definition of the territory to which it applies.
Answered by Greg Hands
The UK’s position on settlements within the Occupied Palestinian Territories is clear: they are illegal under international law and undermine the prospect of a two-state solution.
Under the existing UK-Israel trade agreement, goods originating from illegal Israeli settlements are not entitled to tariff and trade preferences under either the agreement between the UK and Israel, or the agreement between the UK and the Palestinian Authority.
This will not change in the Israel FTA. The UK will maintain its long-standing foreign policy positions throughout this negotiation, including with respect to settlements.
Asked by: Owen Thompson (Scottish National Party - Midlothian)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether his Department is providing additional support to carers to help with rising costs of living.
Answered by Mims Davies - Shadow Minister (Women)
The current rate of Carer’s Allowance is £81.90. Since 2010 it has increased from £53.90 to £81.90 a week, providing just under an additional £1500 a year for carers through Carer’s Allowance.
In addition to Carer’s Allowance, carers on low incomes can claim income-related benefits, such as Universal Credit and Pension Credit. These benefits can be paid to carers at a higher rate than those without caring responsibilities through the carer element and the additional amount for carers respectively. Currently, the Universal Credit carer element is £198.31 per monthly assessment period. The additional amount for carers in Pension Credit is £45.60 a week.
Since 2022, the Government has demonstrated its commitment to supporting the most vulnerable by providing one of the largest support packages in Europe. The Government has provided support from 2022-23 to 2024-2025 to help households with the cost of living totalling £108 billion.
This includes up-rating working age benefits by 6.7% and raising the Local Housing Allowance rates to the 30th percentile of local market rents, benefiting 1.6 million low-income households.
Since October 2022, CPI has already more than halved. This is stabilising the financial situation for many families, and the OBR expects that by Quarter 4 2024 (October-December) CPI will have fallen to 1.4%.
In the meantime, some people will need further, targeted help to get back to a stable financial position.
The Government is providing an additional £500m to enable the extension of the Household Support Fund, including funding for the Devolved Administrations through the Barnett formula to be spent at their discretion. This means that Local Authorities in England will receive an additional £421m to support those in need locally through the Household Support Fund. The funding will be available to Local Authorities in England from 1 April 2024 and will run until 30 September 2024.
Carer’s Allowance is a devolved benefit in Scotland.
Asked by: Owen Thompson (Scottish National Party - Midlothian)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what recent assessment his Department has made of the potential merits of extending the eligibility criteria for Carer’s Allowance to a larger number of unpaid carers; and if she will make an assessment of the potential impact of unpaid care work on the (a) physical and (b) mental health of women.
Answered by Mims Davies - Shadow Minister (Women)
The Government keeps Carer’s Allowance under review to see whether it is meeting its objectives. It has no current plans to extend the eligibility criteria.
Questions on the impact of unpaid care work on individuals are matters for the Department of Health and Social Care in England and for the Devolved Administrations in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland.
Carer’s Allowance is a devolved benefit in Scotland.
Asked by: Owen Thompson (Scottish National Party - Midlothian)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what recent assessment his Department has of the potential merits of extending the eligibility criteria for Carers Allowance for carers with overlapping benefits.
Answered by Mims Davies - Shadow Minister (Women)
I refer the Hon. Member to the answer to question UIN 21151 given on 22 April 2024.
Carer’s Allowance is a devolved benefit in Scotland.