Rupert Lowe MP: written questions 2024
625 published records · newest first.
Written questions
Department for Work and Pensions: Translation ServicesDepartment for Work and PensionsTabled 21 Oct 2024AnsweredUIN 10317More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how much has been spent on (a) translation and (b) interpretation for individuals contacting her Department in each of the last five years.
Answer: Translation CostInterpretation Costs2019/20£ 472,539£ 2,219,6132020/21£ 398,270£ 3,537,8722021/22£ 518,927£ 6,823,1402022/23£ 641,747£ 5,668,8222023/24£ 677,614£ 6,195,053
Answered 28 Oct 2024
Original Parliament recordTelevision Licences: Non-paymentDepartment for Culture, Media and SportTabled 21 Oct 2024AnsweredUIN 10196More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, how many people were prosecuted for the non-payment of a TV licence fee in each of the last three years.
Answer: The Ministry of Justice currently publishes the annual number of prosecutions, convictions, and sentencing outcomes for non-payment of the TV licence fee as part of their criminal justice quarterly publications. The publications can be viewed here: https:...
Answered 29 Oct 2024
Original Parliament recordUtilities: Standing ChargesDepartment for Energy Security and Net ZeroTabled 21 Oct 2024AnsweredUIN 10195More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, if he will make an assessment of the potential merits of reviewing the system of standing charges for utilities.
Answer: The Government has worked constructively with the regulator on the issue of standing charges, and we are committed to lowering the cost of them. The setting of standing charges is a commercial matter for suppliers. Ofgem’s recently published discussion pa...
Answered 28 Oct 2024
Original Parliament recordRoad TrafficDepartment for TransportTabled 21 Oct 2024AnsweredUIN 10193More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether his Department has made an assessment of the potential impact of (a) mass immigration and (b) population increase on the road system.
Answer: The Department for Transport published the latest National Road Traffic Projections in 2022. These are projections of road traffic, congestion and emissions for England and Wales. These include outputs for the Common Analytical Scenarios, a set of seven s...
Answered 25 Oct 2024
Original Parliament recordImmigrationHome OfficeTabled 18 Oct 2024AnsweredUIN 9999More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps she is taking to ensure that foreign nationals do not stay in the UK beyond their visa expiry date.
Answer: It is the responsibility of foreign nationals to ensure they are compliant with the terms of their visa. However, we have a range of measures in place to ensure that those who do not comply with their visa conditions are unable to access benefits and serv...
Answered 28 Oct 2024
Original Parliament recordDental Services: Great YarmouthDepartment of Health and Social CareTabled 18 Oct 2024AnsweredUIN 9998More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what measures he plans to take to help improve access to NHS dentistry in Great Yarmouth constituency.
Answer: The Government plans to tackle the challenges for patients trying to access National Health Service dental care with a rescue plan to provide 700,000 more urgent dental appointments, and recruit new dentists to the areas that need them most. To rebuild de...
Answered 23 Oct 2024
Original Parliament recordVeterans: Great YarmouthMinistry of DefenceTabled 18 Oct 2024AnsweredUIN 9997More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what steps he plans to take to support homeless military veterans in Great Yarmouth constituency.
Answer: This is a Government of service that will always stand up for those who serve our country. I am working across Government to ensure veterans across the UK have access to the support they need on housing, as well as health, employment and other areas. The ...
Answered 24 Oct 2024
Original Parliament recordUndocumented MigrantsHome OfficeTabled 18 Oct 2024AnsweredUIN 9996More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what estimate her Department has made of the number of irregular migrants in the UK.
Answer: By its very nature, it is not possible to know the exact size of the irregular migrant population. In June 2019, the Office for National Statistics (ONS) published a note on ‘measuring illegal migration’.The Home Office does publish statistics on detected...
Answered 28 Oct 2024
Original Parliament recordDepartment for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs: Departmental ResponsibilitiesDepartment for Environment, Food and Rural AffairsTabled 18 Oct 2024AnsweredUIN 9995More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, if he will arrange a meeting between the hon. Member for Great Yarmouth and the Minister of State for Food Security and Rural Affairs.
Answer: My Defra private office handles all meeting requests. Please contact them directly to request a meeting.
Answered 25 Oct 2024
Original Parliament recordVaccine Damage Payment Scheme: ApplicationsDepartment of Health and Social CareTabled 18 Oct 2024AnsweredUIN 9994More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many applications were made to the Vaccine Damage Payment Scheme in each of the last three years; and how many and what proportion of those applications were unsuccessful.
Answer: Between January to December 2021, a total of 686 applications were made to the Vaccine Damage Payment Scheme. Between January and December 2022, 2,828 applications were made to the Vaccine Damage Payment Scheme, and between January and December 2023, 5,61...
Answered 23 Oct 2024
Original Parliament recordVisas: Married PeopleHome OfficeTabled 18 Oct 2024AnsweredUIN 9993More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many spousal visas were rejected in each of the last five years by nationality.
Answer: The Home Office publishes information on Family-related visas in the Immigration system statistics quarterly release - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk), direct link to the Entry clearance (family-related) visa data tables. The statistics relate to applications and out...
Answered 28 Oct 2024
Original Parliament recordSocial Security Benefits: Foreign NationalsDepartment for Work and PensionsTabled 18 Oct 2024AnsweredUIN 9992More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, pursuant to the Answer of 14 October to Question 6949 on Social Security Benefits: Foreign Nationals, if she will make it her policy to collect data on the nationality of those claiming benefits.
Answer: There are no plans to start consistently collecting nationality data across all DWP benefit lines. This is because DWP policy responsibility lies in establishing a customer’s eligibility to claim benefits. An individual’s specific nationality does not pla...
Answered 23 Oct 2024
Original Parliament recordMotorways: SafetyDepartment for TransportTabled 18 Oct 2024AnsweredUIN 9991More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether she has made an assessment of the (a) costs and (b) benefits of smart motorways.
Answer: National Highways publish reviews on major road schemes which measure their impact against anticipated benefits.National Highways also report on safety data annually, with the latest published data showing, overall, all three types of smart motorway are s...
Answered 28 Oct 2024
Original Parliament recordDepartment of Health and Social Care: EqualityDepartment of Health and Social CareTabled 17 Oct 2024AnsweredUIN 9844More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what data his Department holds on (a) the number of equality, diversity and inclusion champions and (b) the salary bands of those staff in each NHS trust.
Answer: The Department does not hold this information centrally. The National Health Service is one of the most diverse organisations in this country and we hugely value the contribution that all staff make to delivering care and supporting patients. We are commi...
Answered 28 Oct 2024
Original Parliament recordDevelopment AidForeign, Commonwealth and Development OfficeTabled 17 Oct 2024AnsweredUIN 9843More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, if he will commission a review of the (a) effectiveness of development aid and (b) proportion of such aid that does not reach its intended destination.
Answer: This Government is committed to development effectiveness, transparency and scrutiny. Across the FCDO, robust systems and frameworks help ensure we achieve value for money, spend British taxpayers' money well, and that development assistance reaches its i...
Answered 25 Oct 2024
Original Parliament recordFlexible Support FundDepartment for Work and PensionsTabled 16 Oct 2024AnsweredUIN 9593More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how much her Department spent on the Flexible Support Fund for (a) laptops and (b) mobile phones in the last financial year.
Answer: The information requested is not collated centrally and could only be provided at disproportionate cost.
Answered 23 Oct 2024
Original Parliament recordJobcentres: Translation ServicesDepartment for Work and PensionsTabled 16 Oct 2024AnsweredUIN 9592More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how much was spent on translation in Jobcentres in the last financial year.
Answer: The total spend for jobcentres in 23/24 was £3,420,480.
Answered 23 Oct 2024
Original Parliament recordInternal Drainage Boards: FinanceDepartment for Environment, Food and Rural AffairsTabled 16 Oct 2024AnsweredUIN 9578More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, if he will (a) review and (b) implement changes to the funding structure for Internal Drainage Boards to reduce the financial impact on local councils.
Answer: Defra has committed to work with the internal drainage board (IDB) sector and the Ministry for Housing, Communities and Local Government to review IDBs’ current funding and costs. This will include examination of whether any changes are needed to their fu...
Answered 23 Oct 2024
Original Parliament recordSocial Security Benefits: Undocumented MigrantsDepartment for Work and PensionsTabled 15 Oct 2024AnsweredUIN 9302More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps her Department has taken to prevent illegal immigrants claiming benefits.
Answer: All benefits claimants have to verify their identity before they can receive payments. For any claimants who aren’t British or Irish, we verify that they have a valid UK immigration status. Illegal immigrants cannot access taxpayer-funded benefits (public...
Answered 21 Oct 2024
Original Parliament recordCovid-19 Inquiry: CostsCabinet OfficeTabled 15 Oct 2024AnsweredUIN 9301More
Question: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what steps he is taking to reduce the costs associated with the covid-19 inquiry.
Answer: It is important that lessons are learnt from the Covid-19 pandemic and the response to it. The UK Covid-19 Inquiry is independent of government and it is right that we allow the Chair to continue her important work. The Chair is under a statutory obligati...
Answered 23 Oct 2024
Original Parliament recordPrivate Education: VATTreasuryTabled 15 Oct 2024AnsweredUIN 9300More
Question: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, if she will make an estimate of the cost to the public purse of legal fees relating to the introduction of VAT on independent school fees.
Answer: Following scrutiny of the Government’s costing by the independent Office for Budget Responsibility, the Government will confirm its approach to these reforms at the Budget on 30 October, and set out its assessment of relevant expected impacts of this poli...
Answered 23 Oct 2024
Original Parliament recordBoarding Schools: Armed ForcesTreasuryTabled 15 Oct 2024AnsweredUIN 9299More
Question: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what steps she plans to take to support military families who rely on fee-paying boarding schools for their children.
Answer: The Government is committed to breaking down barriers to opportunity, ensuring every child has access to high-quality education. We have made the decision to end tax breaks for private schools, to raise revenue for essential public services, including inv...
Answered 23 Oct 2024
Original Parliament recordStudents: Freedom of ExpressionDepartment for EducationTabled 15 Oct 2024AnsweredUIN 9298More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps her Department is taking to protect free speech for students in higher education.
Answer: This government is absolutely committed to freedom of speech and academic freedom. Higher education (HE) must be a space for robust discussion and intellectual rigour. This is outlined in the existing legislation, whereby universities have a legal obligat...
Answered 23 Oct 2024
Original Parliament recordDomicilTreasuryTabled 15 Oct 2024AnsweredUIN 9297More
Question: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether her Department has carried out a cost-benefit analysis of removing non-domiciled tax status.
Answer: The Government is committed to addressing unfairness in the tax system, so that everyone who makes their home in the UK pays their taxes here. The Government will therefore remove the outdated concept of domicile status from the tax system and implement a...
Answered 23 Oct 2024
Original Parliament recordPolice: Community DevelopmentHome OfficeTabled 15 Oct 2024AnsweredUIN 9296More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps her Department is taking to ensure that police officers are able to effectively engage with all communities.
Answer: Police forces that reflect the communities they serve are crucial to maintaining public trust and confidence in a modern diverse society, and the police workforce is now more representative than it has ever been.The Home Secretary has also made a clear co...
Answered 23 Oct 2024
Original Parliament record
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