Alison Bennett MP: written questions
247 published records · newest first.
Written questions
Housing Benefit: Young PeopleDepartment for Work and PensionsTabled 12 Feb 2025AnsweredUIN 31310More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether she plans to reform the benefit system for young people living in supported accommodation to ensure that the taper rate for Housing Benefit does not disincentivise them from working.
Answer: The income taper in Housing Benefit ensures people in work are better off than someone wholly reliant on benefits. The Department acknowledges, however, there is a challenge presented by the interaction between Universal Credit and Housing Benefit for tho...
Answered 24 Feb 2025
Original Parliament recordPesticides: RegulationDepartment for Environment, Food and Rural AffairsTabled 10 Feb 2025AnsweredUIN 30493More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether he plans to change pesticide maximum residue level regulations in Great Britain to align with the EU regime still in place in Northern Ireland.
Answer: GB operates a pesticides regime based on assimilated EU law and continues to base decisions on the use of pesticides on careful scientific assessment. This includes maximum residue levels, which are set below, and usually well below, the level considered ...
Answered 25 Feb 2025
Original Parliament recordTrastuzumab DeruxtecanDepartment of Health and Social CareTabled 3 Feb 2025AnsweredUIN 28293More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if he will make a comparative assessment of levels of access to Enhertu for cancer patients in (a) England, (b) Wales, (c) Northern Ireland and (d) Scotland.
Answer: No assessment has been made, as health is a devolved matter and decisions on the availability of medicines in Scotland, Wales, and Northern Ireland are a matter for their own administrations.Decisions on whether new medicines should be routinely funded by...
Answered 11 Feb 2025
Original Parliament recordME/CFS: Health ServicesDepartment of Health and Social CareTabled 27 Jan 2025AnsweredUIN 26770More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, with reference to Coroner Deborah Archer's report entitled Maeve Boothby O’Neill: Prevention of Future Deaths Report, reference 2024-0530, dated 7 October 2024, what steps he has taken to ensure th
Answer: We are committed to improving care and support for people with myalgic encephalomyelitis, also known as chronic fatigue syndrome (ME/CFS). We recognise how devastating the symptoms can be, and the significant impact they can have on patients and their fam...
Answered 30 Jan 2025
Original Parliament recordParental Pay: Multiple BirthsDepartment for Work and PensionsTabled 27 Jan 2025AnsweredUIN 26769More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether she plans to review the rates paid by employers of (a) Statutory Maternity Pay, (b) Statutory Paternity Pay and (c) Statutory Shared Parental Pay for parents of (i) twins and (ii) higher order m
Answer: We want new mothers to be able to take time away from work in the later stages of their pregnancy and in the months following childbirth, in the interests of their own and their baby’s health and wellbeing. Maternity pay is paid for each pregnancy, not in...
Answered 4 Feb 2025
Original Parliament recordCohabitation: Inheritance TaxTreasuryTabled 27 Jan 2025AnsweredUIN 26768More
Question: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether she has made an assessment of the potential merits of exempting the transfer of property between co-habiting siblings from inheritance tax.
Answer: I refer the Honourable Member to the answer given to UIN 3433.
Answered 4 Feb 2025
Original Parliament recordElectric VehiclesTreasuryTabled 27 Jan 2025AnsweredUIN 26639More
Question: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether she plans to take steps to support the used electric vehicle market.
Answer: The Government is fully committed to the transition to electric vehicles and a strong second-hand market for EVs plays an important role in this.The Company Car Tax regime helps support the used electric vehicle markets, where electric company cars are so...
Answered 4 Feb 2025
Original Parliament recordFractures: Health ServicesDepartment of Health and Social CareTabled 16 Jan 2025AnsweredUIN 24591More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps he is taking to ensure the universal provision of Fracture Liaison Services by 2030.
Answer: The Government and NHS England support the clinical case for services which help to prevent fragility fractures and support the patients who sustain them. According to the Fracture Liaison Service Database 2022, at least 60 trusts in England had access to...
Answered 4 Feb 2025
Original Parliament recordSipavibart: LicensingDepartment of Health and Social CareTabled 18 Dec 2024AnsweredUIN 21239More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether he has had discussions with the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence on the licensing process for the drug sipavibart.
Answer: Department officials regularly discuss a range of topics with the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE), including progress with specific appraisals, such as for sipavibart.The NICE started its appraisal of the medicine sipavibart for p...
Answered 6 Jan 2025
Original Parliament recordImmunosuppression: Health ServicesDepartment of Health and Social CareTabled 18 Dec 2024AnsweredUIN 21237More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if he will have discussions with representatives of Forgotten Lives UK on access to (a) preventative treatments and (b) support services for immunosuppressed people.
Answer: Ensuring that the United Kingdom is prepared for a future pandemic is a top priority for the Government, and we are embedding lessons from the COVID-19 pandemic within our approach to pandemic preparedness.Whilst we cannot predict the exact timing or char...
Answered 7 Jan 2025
Original Parliament recordSixth Form Colleges: PayDepartment for EducationTabled 13 Dec 2024AnsweredUIN 20104More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if she will take steps to provide additional funding to non-academised sixth form colleges for increasing the pay of teachers to the same level as teachers in academised sixth form colleges.
Answer: The government is not responsible for setting or making recommendations about teacher pay in further education (FE) colleges, including sixth form colleges which unlike 16-19 academies are part of the statutory FE sector.The Autumn Budget 2024 set out the...
Answered 19 Dec 2024
Original Parliament recordCouncil Tax: ExemptionsMinistry of Housing, Communities and Local GovernmentTabled 2 Dec 2024AnsweredUIN 17425More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, if she will make an assessment of the potential merits of a time limit for claiming Council Tax exemption under Class F.
Answer: This exemption will apply until probate is granted (or letters of administration are signed) and while the dwelling remains unoccupied. A further 6-month exemption may apply following probate, so long as the dwelling remains unoccupied and has not been so...
Answered 9 Dec 2024
Original Parliament recordSocial Services: National Insurance ContributionsTreasuryTabled 25 Nov 2024AnsweredUIN 16116More
Question: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what estimate her Department has made of how much businesses in the social care sector will pay as a result of the increase in employers National Insurance contributions (a) nationally and (b) in each constituency.
Answer: A Tax Information and Impact Note that covers the Employer National Insurance changes was published by HMRC on 13 November. The Government will provide support for departments and other public sector employers for additional Employer National Insurance co...
Answered 29 Nov 2024
Original Parliament recordSocial Services: National Insurance ContributionsTreasuryTabled 25 Nov 2024AnsweredUIN 16115More
Question: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what estimate her Department has made of the number of businesses in the social care sector that will pay the increase in employers National Insurance contributions (a) nationally and (b) in each constituency.
Answer: A Tax Information and Impact Note that covers the Employer National Insurance changes was published by HMRC on 13 November. The Government will provide support for departments and other public sector employers for additional Employer National Insurance co...
Answered 29 Nov 2024
Original Parliament recordSocial Services: National Insurance ContributionsTreasuryTabled 25 Nov 2024AnsweredUIN 16114More
Question: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what estimate her Department has made of the (a) overall cost to businesses in the social care sector of the increase in employers National Insurance contributions and (b) average cost to each business in this secto
Answer: A Tax Information and Impact Note that covers the Employer National Insurance changes was published by HMRC on 13 November. The Government will provide support for departments and other public sector employers for additional Employer National Insurance co...
Answered 29 Nov 2024
Original Parliament recordSocial Services: National Insurance ContributionsTreasuryTabled 25 Nov 2024AnsweredUIN 16113More
Question: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether her Department has made an estimate of the number of social care providers affected by the increase in employers National Insurance contributions.
Answer: A Tax Information and Impact Note that covers the Employer National Insurance changes was published by HMRC on 13 November. The Government will provide support for departments and other public sector employers for additional Employer National Insurance co...
Answered 29 Nov 2024
Original Parliament recordHeart Diseases: Health EducationDepartment of Health and Social CareTabled 1 Nov 2024AnsweredUIN 12318More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether he is taking steps to increase awareness amongst GPs of the signs and symptoms of cardiomyopathy.
Answer: As part of the 2023 England Rare Disease Action Plan, NHS England’s Genomics Education Programme has developed GeNotes, to increase the awareness of genetic and rare diseases amongst healthcare professionals. GeNotes puts information on genetic and rare d...
Answered 8 Nov 2024
Original Parliament recordAutism: EmploymentDepartment for Work and PensionsTabled 28 Oct 2024AnsweredUIN 11486More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps her Department is taking to enable people with autism spectrum disorder conditions into employment in Mid Sussex constituency.
Answer: We recognise that autistic people face particular barriers to employment, which is reflected in a poor overall employment rate. In our plan to make work pay, we committed to raising awareness of neurodiversity in the workplace. Our forthcoming employment ...
Answered 5 Nov 2024
Original Parliament recordTax AllowancesTreasuryTabled 4 Oct 2024AnsweredUIN 7224More
Question: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, when she plans to publish guidance for the Transitional Tax Free Allowance Certificate.
Answer: Legislation concerning the abolition of the Lifetime Allowance (LTA) was included in Finance Act 2024. The legislation introduced transitional arrangements including Transitional Tax-Free Amount Certificates (TTFACs). Guidance was published alongside the ...
Answered 11 Oct 2024
Original Parliament recordBatteries: StorageMinistry of Housing, Communities and Local GovernmentTabled 11 Sept 2024AnsweredUIN 5520More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, if she will bring forward legislative proposals to make (a) the Environment Agency, (b) the Health and Safety Executive and (c) local fire and rescue services statutory consultee
Answer: The Government has no plans to make these bodies statutory consultees on applications for battery energy storage systems. I would encourage applicants to refer to the relevant Planning Practice Guidance, which details what applicants seeking planning perm...
Answered 11 Oct 2024
Original Parliament recordBatteries: StorageDepartment for Energy Security and Net ZeroTabled 11 Sept 2024AnsweredUIN 5519More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, whether he has made a recent assessment of the effectiveness of regulations on battery energy storage systems.
Answer: There is a robust regulatory framework that addresses the health and safety risks associated with grid-scale battery storage. Specifically, the Health and Safety at Work Act and secondary legislation places legal duties on employers to manage risks to emp...
Answered 11 Oct 2024
Original Parliament recordUnemployment: Chronic IllnessesTreasuryTabled 27 Aug 2024AnsweredUIN 900223More
Question: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what recent assessment she has made with Cabinet colleagues of trends in the level of economic inactivity owing to ill-health.
Answer: There are 9.4 million working age people who are economically inactive in the UK, an increase of 860,000 since the start of the pandemic. Inactivity due to ill health is a major reason for economic inactivity and stands at a near-record high of 2.8 millio...
Answered 3 Sept 2024
Original Parliament record
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