Asked by: Patricia Ferguson (Labour - Glasgow West)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what discussions she has had with the Pensions Ombudsman on the adequacy of the time taken for complaints to be resolved.
Answered by Torsten Bell - Parliamentary Secretary (HM Treasury)
I recently met with the Pensions Ombudsman and Chief Operating Officer to discuss performance of the organisation and significant increases in requests for The Pensions Ombudsman (TPO) services. The time taken by TPO to resolve cases is dependent on several factors often external to TPO. For example, the complexity of the complaint, Ombudsman jurisdiction, and response times taken by the industry and the complainant to reply to information gathering requests from TPO.
In response to these pressures, TPO have implemented an Operating Model Review (OMR) programme. DWP are working closely with TPO to rigorously monitor the impact the OMR is having on the complaint management and resolution of cases.
Asked by: Patricia Ferguson (Labour - Glasgow West)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what discussions she has had with the Pensions Ombudsman on the adequacy of the time taken for a complaint to be allocated to an adjudicator.
Answered by Torsten Bell - Parliamentary Secretary (HM Treasury)
I met with the Pensions Ombudsman and Chief Operating Officer to discuss the significant increase over a period of several years in complaints received; a trend that is continuing. This increase has impacted on waiting times for cases to be allocated to an adjudication specialist. In response, The Pension Ombudsman has implemented an Operating Model Review (OMR) programme.
DWP are working closely with TPO to rigorously monitor the impact the OMR is having on waiting times and case allocation to adjudication specialists.
Asked by: Patricia Ferguson (Labour - Glasgow West)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, whether members of the Royal Fleet Auxiliary Service present at the nuclear test on Christmas Island are entitled to a pension of compensation.
Answered by Maria Eagle - Minister of State (Ministry of Defence)
Members of the Royal Fleet Auxiliary (RFA) are civilians and may receive pensions for their Service under the terms of any civilian pension scheme to which they belonged. The Ministry of Defence does have a scheme to provide compensation to members of the RFA who suffer war injuries or detention, but this scheme does not cover peacetime activities, such as the nuclear tests on Christmas Island. However, other options may be sought such as recourse to common law claims under the Workmen’s Compensation Act or the Industrial Injuries Scheme.
Asked by: Patricia Ferguson (Labour - Glasgow West)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what assistance his Department has provided to Alawite civilians living in Syria.
Answered by Hamish Falconer - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
In all our engagement with the Syrian Government we consistently emphasise the need to protect the rights of all Syrians. I discussed these points in my meeting with Syrian Foreign Minister Asaad al-Shaibani on 17 March and the UK Special Representative for Syria spoke directly to members of the Alawite community following the violence in coastal areas in early March. We will continue to monitor the treatment of all civilians in Syria, and this issue will continue to be an important aspect of our engagement with the Syrian Government.
Asked by: Patricia Ferguson (Labour - Glasgow West)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, whether each person impacted by the Grenfell Tower fire has been permanently rehoused.
Answered by Alex Norris - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
200 of the 201 households from Grenfell Tower and Grenfell Walk have been permanently rehoused.
One household is currently living in a high quality temporary home within the borough.
We continue to work closely with the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea, which is responsible for housing decisions in the borough and supporting each person impacted by the tragedy to settle into permanent homes.
Asked by: Patricia Ferguson (Labour - Glasgow West)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, how much funding the Scottish Government will receive through Barnett consequentials as a result of highway maintenance funding being provided to England and Wales.
Answered by Darren Jones - Chief Secretary to the Treasury
At Phase 1 of the 2025 Spending Review, the UK Government allocated an additional £500 million to the Department for Transport for local highways maintenance in 2025-26. The Barnett formula was applied in the usual way to changes in the Department for Transport’s Delegated Expenditure Limit (DEL) budget.
At Spending Reviews, the Barnett formula is applied to changes to each UK Government department’s overall DEL budget, not to individual programmes.
The Scottish Government is receiving over £47.7 billion in 2025-26 following Phase 1 of the Spending Review 2025. This is the largest in real terms of any settlement since devolution and ensures that the Scottish Government continue to receive at least 20% more per person than equivalent UK Government spending in the rest of the UK.
The Block Grant Transparency publication breaks down all changes in the devolved governments’ block grant funding from the 2015 Spending Review up to and including Main Estimates 2023-24. The most recent report was published in July 2023. An update to Block Grant Transparency to include Autumn Budget 2024 changes will be published in due course:
https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/block-grant-transparency-july-2023
Asked by: Patricia Ferguson (Labour - Glasgow West)
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 consider amending legislation to allow overseas voters to receive ballots for elections by secure email.
Answered by Rushanara Ali - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
I refer the hon Member to the answer given to Question UIN 40375 on 27 March 2025.
Asked by: Patricia Ferguson (Labour - Glasgow West)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what assessment she has made of the adequacy of the time taken for Access to Work applications to be allocated to a case manager; and what steps she is taking to help reduce this waiting time.
Answered by Stephen Timms - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
We are committed to reducing waiting times for Access to Work and are considering the best way to deliver that for customers. We have increased the number of staff processing Access to Work claims and applications from customers who are about to start a job or who are renewing are prioritised.
The Pathways to Work: Reforming Benefits and Support to get Britain Working’ Green Paper was published on 18 March. Alongside the Access to Work reform proposals introduced in the Green Paper, we are considering further options to reduce the waiting time for customers
Asked by: Patricia Ferguson (Labour - Glasgow West)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether he has had discussions with the Infected Blood Compensation Authority on the proposed timetable for payments to family members of those affected.
Answered by Ashley Dalton - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The delivery of compensation is a matter for the Infected Blood Compensation Authority, an independent arms-length body. The Cabinet Office is the sponsor department for the authority. My Rt Hon. Friend, the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care has not discussed the proposed timetable for payments to family members of those affected with the Infected Blood Compensation Authority.
However, on 12 February 2025, the Infected Blood Compensation Scheme Regulations 2025 were laid before Parliament. Subject to Parliamentary approval, the Government is aiming for these regulations to be in place by 31 March 2025, to support our goal that family members of those who have been affected can start receiving payment this year.
In addition, the Government has committed in legislation to pay £100,000 to the estates of the deceased infected persons. The process under which estates can apply for interim compensation payments opened in October 2024, and so far over 350 interim payments have been paid to the estates of deceased infected people, totalling over £35 million. This is important progress in getting money into the hands of the families of victims of the infected blood scandal.
Asked by: Patricia Ferguson (Labour - Glasgow West)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what assessment she has made of the adequacy of the time taken for cases to be allocated to a case manager.
Answered by Andrew Western - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Work and Pensions)
The department administers a wide range of benefits, and as such the information you have requested is not held centrally and to provide it would incur disproportionate cost.