Asked by: Rupa Huq (Labour - Ealing Central and Acton)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, if his Department will take steps to allow British nationals to register their presence in Iran.
Answered by Hamish Falconer - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
We continue to advise against all travel to Iran and have long made it clear that UK Government support is extremely limited in country. British nationals already in Iran, either resident or visitor, should carefully consider their presence there and the risks they take by staying, with land borders potentially closing at short notice. Due to the current security situation, we have taken the precautionary measure to temporarily withdraw our UK staff from Iran. Our Embassy will continue to operate remotely.
Asked by: Rupa Huq (Labour - Ealing Central and Acton)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what support her Department provides to people who suffer with disabilities after retirement.
Answered by Stephen Timms - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
Attendance Allowance (AA) is a weekly benefit for those over State Pension age who require care or supervision as a result of a physical or mental disability. AA is paid at two rates. A higher rate of £110.40 a week for claimants who need help or supervision for both day and night or who are terminally ill. And a lower rate of £73.90 for claimants who need frequent help or supervision during the day or night.
AA provides financial support towards the extra costs faced by those with a severe disability. It is neither means-tested, nor based on National Insurance contributions paid and recipients can choose how they wish to spend it. Receipt of AA can provide a passport to additional amounts in means-tested benefits (notably Pension Credit and Housing Benefit) for those on low incomes and to Carer’s Allowance for the person providing care for them.
Asked by: Rupa Huq (Labour - Ealing Central and Acton)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what steps her Department is taking to support employment opportunities for ex-offenders.
Answered by Nicholas Dakin - Government Whip, Lord Commissioner of HM Treasury
We know that finding employment after release reduces the chance of reoffending significantly, by up to nine percentage points. That is why the Government’s manifesto commits to break the cycle of reoffending by better supporting prisons to link up with employers and the voluntary sector to get more people with convictions into work.
Key employment roles are in place across all 93 resettlement prisons to prepare prisoners for work on release, match them to jobs and provide critical ID documents to secure work and a home.
We have launched regional Employment Councils which, for the first time, brings businesses together with prisons, probation and the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) to support offenders leaving prison. This builds on the work of Employment Advisory Boards linking prisons with business leaders to ensure prisoners have the skills and training employers need to meet labour market demand.
In addition, HM Prison and Probation Service’s Creating Future Opportunities programme offers tailored support for ex-offenders - particularly those who are furthest from the labour market - to secure employment, training and education opportunities for release.
Supporting further, the criminal records regime is designed to strike a balance providing employers with the information they need to make safer recruitment decisions and enabling ex-offenders to rebuild their lives. We also work closely with DWP to ensure support is in place for ex-offenders in the community, for example through co-location of services.
Asked by: Rupa Huq (Labour - Ealing Central and Acton)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps her Department is taking to support medical training for transport staff.
Answered by Mike Kane - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
In the UK, there are well-established legal requirements to support medical training for transport staff and those in safety-critical roles. These statutory duties apply to all employers and include the provision of appropriate training to staff to manage the risks associated with the environment and operations in which they work. My Department will keep these legal requirements under review to ensure they remain fit for purpose. The transport industry will also continue to produce and update guidance to inform the training needs of its workforce including on medical matters.