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  • Lord Northbourne – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    Lord Northbourne – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Northbourne on 2016-10-18.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether the proposal to change the status of all secondary schools in England to become academies would mean that those schools which are now maintained schools will no longer have an obligation to deliver sex and relationship education.

    Lord Nash

    The Government is clear that all schools should make provision for high-quality sex and relationship education, which is a vital part of preparing young people for life in modern Britain.

    Academies, like maintained schools, must teach a broad and balanced curriculum and in respect of sex and relationship education, they must – under the terms of their funding agreement – have regard to the Secretary of State’s statutory Sex and Relationship Education guidance published in 2000.

    The issue of statutory personal, social, health and economic education and sex and relationship education was raised during the Education Select Committee session in September. The Secretary of State agreed that we need to look again at how schools deliver high-quality personal, social, health and economic education including sex and relationship education. The Government is considering all the options and will come to a view in due course.

  • Lord Northbourne – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    Lord Northbourne – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Northbourne on 2016-10-18.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether they plan to introduce legislation to require all schools, including academies, to provide high quality sex and relationship education as part of their syllabus.

    Lord Nash

    The Government is clear that all schools should make provision for high-quality sex and relationship education, which is a vital part of preparing young people for life in modern Britain.

    Academies, like maintained schools, must teach a broad and balanced curriculum and in respect of sex and relationship education, they must – under the terms of their funding agreement – have regard to the Secretary of State’s statutory Sex and Relationship Education guidance published in 2000.

    The issue of statutory personal, social, health and economic education and sex and relationship education was raised during the Education Select Committee session in September. The Secretary of State agreed that we need to look again at how schools deliver high-quality personal, social, health and economic education including sex and relationship education. The Government is considering all the options and will come to a view in due course.

  • Lord Storey – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    Lord Storey – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Storey on 2016-10-18.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what information schools are required by law to collect regarding their pupils.

    Lord Nash

    Schools collect a range of information on pupils for their own purposes. Full details of all the data collected by law is accessible via the links in the attached list.

    Some of this information is required to be submitted to the Department via various collections which are undertaken throughout the school year. The main types of information collected by the Department are:

    • pupil identifiers (name, date of birth, etc)
    • pupil characteristics (gender, ethnicity, language, etc.)
    • pupil attendance and exclusions
    • pupil special educational needs
    • pupil attainment and teacher assessments

    The school census has collected such data at pupil level from the introduction of the Pupil Level Annual School Census in 2002.

  • Lord Storey – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    Lord Storey – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Storey on 2016-10-18.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what oversight is provided to private higher education providers enrolling students onto degree courses to ensure minimum criteria are met for entry onto undergraduate degrees.

    Viscount Younger of Leckie

    It is for individual higher education providers to determine the minimum criteria for entry onto their courses.

    However, private providers must meet a number of conditions to gain designation for student support. These include having a successful Quality Assurance Agency Higher Education Review (Alternative Providers), which tests providers’ recruitment, selection and admission policies and procedures, as well as ensuring that all students recruited onto courses designated for student support meet a minimum English Language requirement.

    The Department monitors whether providers comply with the conditions of designation to ensure providers are held accountable and to protect the student and public interest. If at any point the Department determines that the conditions have not been met, it could put in place a range of sanctions, including the removal of course designation.

  • Lord Storey – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    Lord Storey – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Storey on 2016-10-18.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what regulatory provision the Quality Assurance Agency for Higher Education makes to ensure that private higher education providers maintain minimum admission standards for undergraduate degrees and provide value for money.

    Viscount Younger of Leckie

    The UK Quality Code, which the Quality Assurance Agency’s Higher Education Review (Alternative Providers) uses to assess private providers, sets out the following expectations about recruitment, selection and admission to higher education:

    “Recruitment, selection, and admission policies and procedures adhere to the principles of fair admission. They are transparent, reliable, valid, inclusive and underpinned by appropriate organisational structures and processes. They support higher education providers in the selection of students who are able to complete their programme.”

    It is a condition of designation for student support that private providers maintain successful outcomes from these QAA reviews and annual monitoring. QAA’s Concerns Scheme investigates specific concerns about the management of academic quality and standards, including recruitment, selection and admissions.

  • Lord Lester of Herne Hill – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Culture, Media and Sport

    Lord Lester of Herne Hill – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Culture, Media and Sport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Lester of Herne Hill on 2016-10-18.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government, further to the remarks by Lord Ashton of Hyde on 12 October (HL Deb, col 1996), whether they will clarify when the noble Lords can expect to receive written responses to the points they raised during the debate.

    Lord Ashton of Hyde

    A letter was sent to the Noble Lord and deposited in the House of Lords Library on Thursday 21st October.

  • Lord Bradshaw – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy

    Lord Bradshaw – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Bradshaw on 2016-10-18.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government how much has been spent by the Competition and Markets Authority conducting investigations into the bus industry, including fees paid to consultants and legal fees, over the last 10 years.

    Baroness Neville-Rolfe

    The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) was formed in 2014 after the Office of Fair Trading and the Competition Commission were merged. It has the function to carry out investigations into sectors where there is risk of anti-competitive behaviour.

    Since its inception in 2014, the CMA has carried out five Phase 1 merger investigations into the bus industry. The estimated cost for these investigations was £308,229.55. The Government does not hold information on the cost of individual investigations undertaken by the Office of Fair Trading or the Competition Commission.

  • Lord Bradshaw – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy

    Lord Bradshaw – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Bradshaw on 2016-10-18.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government how many investigations have been conducted by the Competition and Markets Authority into the bus industry over the last 10 years and how the total number compares to other sectors in the transport industry.

    Baroness Neville-Rolfe

    In the last ten years there were 43 investigations involving bus companies, 15 for rail, 11 for airports, 2 for trams, 1 for cars and 1 other.

    These figures include investigations carried out by the Competition and Markets Authority’s predecessors (the Office of Fair Trading and the Competition Commission).

  • Lord Bradshaw – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    Lord Bradshaw – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Bradshaw on 2016-10-18.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government to what extent emission standards for buses and coaches are set by (1) the Traffic Commissioners, (2) the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency and (3) highway authorities; and who is responsible for ensuring that these standards are adhered to.

    Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon

    Emissions standards for new buses and coaches are not set by any of the parties named, but by the government through EU type approval legislation. Type Approval Authorities such as the UK’s Vehicle Certification Agency (VCA) are responsible for ensuring that these standards are met. In-service emissions checking is carried out at the statutory annual inspection by the Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency (DVSA).

  • Lord Bradshaw – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    Lord Bradshaw – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Bradshaw on 2016-10-18.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what powers are available to highway authorities to enforce traffic management law; how many highway authorities have decided to use any powers available to them, and which highway authorities have chosen not to do so.

    Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon

    Highway authorities have a wide range of powers that they can use to deal with particular traffic management issues. A number of enforcement authorities are involved as well and, depending on the issue, includes local authorities themselves, Transport for London, Highways England and the Police. The Government does not keep central records of which enforcement authorities operate which regimes and to collate that information would not be possible except at disproportionate cost.