Sorcha Eastwood MP: written questions 2024
88 published records · newest first.
Written questions
Funerals: FraudDepartment for Science, Innovation and TechnologyTabled 16 Oct 2024AnsweredUIN 9591More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, what steps his Department is taking to shut down online scams related to funeral homes.
Answer: Fraud offences are designated as priority under the Online Safety Act, which means that user-to-user and search services in scope of the Act must implement measures to prevent users encountering scams and frauds via their services.Additional duties to hav...
Answered 25 Oct 2024
Original Parliament recordForeign Investment in UK: Northern IrelandDepartment for Business and TradeTabled 16 Oct 2024AnsweredUIN 9563More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, with reference to the press release entitled Record-breaking International Investment Summit secures £63 billion and nearly 38,000 jobs for the UK, published on 14 October 2024, whether she has made an
Answer: The International Investment Summit on the 14th October sought to drive investment across the entirety of the UK. The announcement on 8th of October by bus operator Go Ahead, saw £500 million investment, supporting up to 500 UK manufacturing jobs, to deca...
Answered 25 Oct 2024
Original Parliament recordDublin Belfast Economic CorridorNorthern Ireland OfficeTabled 15 Oct 2024AnsweredUIN 9389More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, whether he has had discussions with the Dublin-Belfast Economic Corridor.
Answer: The Government’s priority is to ensure that Northern Ireland remains an attractive destination in which to live, work and invest. I regularly discuss opportunities for economic growth, including mutually beneficial cross-border opportunities, with the Nor...
Answered 21 Oct 2024
Original Parliament recordUK Commission on Covid CommemorationDepartment for Culture, Media and SportTabled 11 Oct 2024AnsweredUIN 8706More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, whether her Department plans to take forward recommendations from the UK Commission on Covid Commemoration: Final Report, published in March 2023.
Answer: We are considering the Commission’s recommendations and have been working with bereaved family groups and other stakeholders, including other government departments and Devolved Governments.We want to do justice to the hard work of the Commission for Covi...
Answered 21 Oct 2024
Original Parliament recordCancer: ScreeningDepartment for Science, Innovation and TechnologyTabled 8 Oct 2024AnsweredUIN 7954More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, with reference to the press release of 6 October 2024 entitled New government tech deals boost the business of cancer detection, whether (a) that initiative extends to Northern Ireland
Answer: The cancer detection initiatives announced on 06 October 2024 were part of UK-wide funding calls led by the Office for Life Sciences (OLS), UK Research and Innovation (UKRI), and the National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR). Northern Ireland...
Answered 15 Oct 2024
Original Parliament recordInfected Blood Compensation SchemeCabinet OfficeTabled 8 Oct 2024AnsweredUIN 7953More
Question: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what steps he is taking to ensure that (a) claims under the Infected Blood Compensation Scheme can be inherited by the families of deceased claimants and (b) people who are unable to receive their payments due t
Answer: Where a person who would have been eligible to apply to the Scheme as an infected person has tragically died, the personal representatives of the deceased person’s estate can apply for compensation on behalf of the estate of the deceased infected person. ...
Answered 21 Oct 2024
Original Parliament recordInfected Blood Compensation SchemeCabinet OfficeTabled 8 Oct 2024AnsweredUIN 7952More
Question: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, if he will take steps to expedite the payment process for (a) elderly and (b) vulnerable people eligible for compensation under the Infected Blood Compensation Scheme.
Answer: The Infected Blood Compensation Authority is responsible for making payments to those eligible under the scheme, and they are carefully considering all options around payments, including the prioritisation of any payments. For those who are infected, the ...
Answered 18 Oct 2024
Original Parliament recordLocal Growth Deals: Northern IrelandNorthern Ireland OfficeTabled 7 Oct 2024AnsweredUIN 7629More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, what steps he is taking to progress funding for the Mid South West and Causeway Coast and Glens growth deals; and for what reason those projects have been paused.
Answer: I understand the enormous importance of the City and Growth Deals in Northern Ireland for economic growth. However, we are facing a £22 billion black hole in the public finances. Many of the City and Growth Deals have decades’ worth of funding attached so...
Answered 14 Oct 2024
Original Parliament recordInfected Blood Compensation SchemeCabinet OfficeTabled 4 Oct 2024AnsweredUIN 6909More
Question: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, whether the option for individual assessment of claims will be made to victims of the infected blood scandal.
Answer: The Government expects the majority of claims will be made via the tariff-based Core Route. In some exceptional cases however, the level of compensation awarded through the Core Route may not be sufficiently reflective of the financial loss and care costs...
Answered 14 Oct 2024
Original Parliament recordInfected Blood Compensation SchemeCabinet OfficeTabled 4 Oct 2024AnsweredUIN 6908More
Question: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, whether the infected blood compensation scheme will deliver compensation in the event of an infected person's death to (a) their surviving partner and (b) their estate.
Answer: Where a person who would have been eligible to apply to the Infected Blood Compensation Scheme as an infected person has died, the personal representatives of the deceased person’s estate may apply for compensation on behalf of their estate. People who ar...
Answered 14 Oct 2024
Original Parliament recordInfected Blood Compensation SchemeCabinet OfficeTabled 4 Oct 2024AnsweredUIN 6907More
Question: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, how the infected blood compensation scheme will account for the additional financial burdens experienced by (a) carers and (b) bereaved partners.
Answer: Compensation paid through the Infected Blood Compensation Scheme will be calculated in line with tariffs and based on the severity of infection and negative impacts suffered by victims - both infected and affected - in different aspects of their lives. Al...
Answered 14 Oct 2024
Original Parliament recordInfected Blood Compensation SchemeCabinet OfficeTabled 4 Oct 2024AnsweredUIN 6906More
Question: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, how the Infected Blood Compensation Authority will determine the date of infection for individuals where no definitive medical records are available; and what criteria will be used to make these determinations.
Answer: Given the historic nature of the infected blood scandal, the Government recognises that not all medical records will still be available. The Scheme has been designed to minimise as far as possible the burden on those applying, and as set out in the Infect...
Answered 14 Oct 2024
Original Parliament recordInfected Blood Compensation SchemeCabinet OfficeTabled 4 Oct 2024AnsweredUIN 6905More
Question: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, whether his Department plans to support the provision of (a) legal advice and (b) advocacy services to potential claimants under the Infected Blood Compensation Scheme.
Answer: The Infected Blood Compensation Authority will aim to ensure that appropriate advice and support is available to assist people with managing their compensation awards, accessing financial services, and accessing benefits advice where relevant. Sir Robert ...
Answered 14 Oct 2024
Original Parliament recordCarer's Allowance: EligibilityDepartment for Work and PensionsTabled 4 Oct 2024AnsweredUIN 6904More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, if she will make an assessment of the adequacy of the eligibility criteria for Carer’s Allowance for people in receipt of the State Pension who have provided long-term unpaid care.
Answer: Although there is no upper age limit to claiming Carer’s Allowance, it cannot normally be paid with the State Pension. It has been a long-held feature of the GB benefit system, under successive Governments, that where someone is entitled to two benefits f...
Answered 14 Oct 2024
Original Parliament recordLocal Housing AllowanceDepartment for Work and PensionsTabled 4 Oct 2024AnsweredUIN 6903More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether she plans to ensure Local Housing Allowance keeps pace with local rents.
Answer: Local Housing Allowance (LHA) rates were restored to the 30th percentile of local market rents from April 2024 for one year. Decisions on LHA for future years will be taken in the context of the Government’s missions, housing priorities, and the fiscal co...
Answered 14 Oct 2024
Original Parliament recordMaternity Pay and Paternity PayDepartment for Work and PensionsTabled 4 Oct 2024AnsweredUIN 6902More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what assessment she has made of the adequacy of (a) maternity and (b) paternity pay for (i) one child and (ii) multiple child births.
Answer: Maternity pay is primarily a health and safety provisions for pregnant working women. It is not intended to replace a woman's earnings completely, rather it provides a measure of financial security to help pregnant working women take time off work in the ...
Answered 14 Oct 2024
Original Parliament recordPensions: Self-employedDepartment for Work and PensionsTabled 4 Oct 2024AnsweredUIN 6901More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether her Department has made an assessment of the potential merits of defaulting self-employed people into pension savings.
Answer: Finding effective and enduring solutions to enable self-employed people to achieve greater financial security in later life is a challenge, which the UK like other countries is confronting. Research has highlighted that while self-employments are diverse,...
Answered 15 Oct 2024
Original Parliament recordTrastuzumab Deruxtecan: Northern IrelandDepartment of Health and Social CareTabled 4 Oct 2024AnsweredUIN 6900More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if he will have discussions with the Northern Ireland Health Minister on access to Enhertu in Northern Ireland.
Answer: My Rt Hon. Friend, the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, has no plans to speak to the Minister of Health for Northern Ireland about the specific issue of access to the medicine Enhertu in Northern Ireland. Decisions on the availability of ind...
Answered 11 Oct 2024
Original Parliament recordAsylum: Temporary AccommodationHome OfficeTabled 4 Oct 2024AnsweredUIN 6899More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what the average length of time asylum seeker families are spending in contingency accommodation is in (a) the UK and (b) Northern Ireland.
Answer: The Home Office does not publish information regarding the length of time spent in contingency accommodation by asylum seekers. This period of time is determined by a number of factors including overall demand and availability of dispersal accommodation a...
Answered 14 Oct 2024
Original Parliament recordBlood CancerDepartment of Health and Social CareTabled 12 Sept 2024AnsweredUIN 5813More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if he will take steps to help ensure blood cancer is routinely included as a distinct category when reporting on (a) prevalence, (b) healthcare utilisation and (c) other appropriate benchmarks.
Answer: The National Disease Registration Service, through the National Cancer Registration and Analysis Services (NCRAS), collects information on how many people in England have cancer. Blood cancer is included as a distinct category, labelled haematological neo...
Answered 8 Oct 2024
Original Parliament recordBlood CancerDepartment of Health and Social CareTabled 12 Sept 2024AnsweredUIN 5812More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if he will take steps to hold discussions with his counterparts in the devolved Administrations on co-ordinating national cancer registries in their (a) collection, (b) analysis and (c) reporting o
Answer: There are no current plans to hold discussions with the devolved administrations on co-ordinating national cancer registries. The National Disease Registration Service (NDRS), which includes the National Cancer Registration and Analysis Service, is a memb...
Answered 8 Oct 2024
Original Parliament recordBlood Cancer: Clinical TrialsDepartment of Health and Social CareTabled 12 Sept 2024AnsweredUIN 5811More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what recent assessment he has made of the adequacy of participation in clinical trials for blood cancer; and whether he plans to take steps to increase the level of participation among underreprese
Answer: No such assessment has been made. The Department-funded National Institute of Health and Care Research (NIHR) funds research and research infrastructure which supports patients and the public to participate in high-quality research. The NIHR supported the...
Answered 8 Oct 2024
Original Parliament recordBlood Cancer: Clinical TrialsDepartment of Health and Social CareTabled 12 Sept 2024AnsweredUIN 5810More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether his Department is taking steps to support (a) investigator-led and (b) commercially-sponsored clinical trials in blood cancer research.
Answer: The Department-funded National Institute of Health and Care Research (NIHR) funds research and research infrastructure which supports patients and the public to participate in high-quality research, including clinical research on blood cancer.NIHR infrast...
Answered 8 Oct 2024
Original Parliament recordBlood CancerDepartment of Health and Social CareTabled 12 Sept 2024AnsweredUIN 5809More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps he is taking to (a) help improve patient understanding of self-monitoring of blood cancer and (b) increase funding for (i) sign-posting and referrals into charity support services and (i
Answer: NHS England is committed to ensuring that all cancer patients are offered Holistic Needs Assessment and Personalised Care and Support Planning, ensuring care is focused on what matters most to each person. This is being delivered in line with the NHS Comp...
Answered 8 Oct 2024
Original Parliament recordBlood Cancer: DiagnosisDepartment of Health and Social CareTabled 12 Sept 2024AnsweredUIN 5808More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps he is taking improve the disparities experienced by those from (a) ethnic minorities, (b) deprived backgrounds and (c) geographically remote locations in accessing a timely diagnosis of
Answer: Making improvements across different cancer types is critical to reducing disparities in cancer survival. Early cancer diagnosis is also a specific priority within the National Health Service’s wider Core20Plus5 approach to reducing healthcare inequalitie...
Answered 8 Oct 2024
Original Parliament record
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