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  • Chi Onwurah – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    Chi Onwurah – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Chi Onwurah on 2015-02-12.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how much his Department spent on training in each of the last three financial years.

    Anna Soubry

    The Ministry of Defence undertakes a wide range of training activity; from phase 1 and phase 2 training for new recruits to complex joint exercises with other nations to specialist training for specific trades and skills requirements, such as nuclear engineering. The costs for these activities encompass nearly all of the Defence Lines of Development and can not be broken out without incurring disproportionate cost.

  • Tom Watson – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    Tom Watson – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Tom Watson on 2015-02-12.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, whether the Strategic Defence and Security Review will address the issues identified in Joint Doctrinal Note 2/11, the UK Approach to Unmanned Aircraft Systems.

    Michael Fallon

    The next Strategic Defence and Security Review will be a matter for after the General Election.

  • Chi Onwurah – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    Chi Onwurah – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Chi Onwurah on 2015-02-12.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how much her Department spent on training in each of the last three financial years.

    Mr Nick Gibb

    The Department for Education holds a central training and development budget covering core education and training undertaken through Civil Service Learning. This includes development in core Civil Service skills including leadership and management, financial management and analysis. The table below shows the centrally managed budget for each of the past three financial years.

    Financial Year

    Budget

    12/13

    £700,000

    13/14

    £700,000

    14/15

    £600,000

    Additionally, directorates across the Department spend an element of their budgets on training and development which varies dependant on in-year development needs. The table below shows both central training and development spend and Directorate spend for each last 3 financial years.

    Financial Year

    Total spend

    Average number of staff (based on Full Time Equivalents)

    Average spend per member of staff (based on Full Time Equivalents)

    2014/15 (covering the period April to December only)

    £1.3m

    3353.7

    £390

    2013/14

    £2.2m

    3539.4

    £620

    2012/13

    £3.2m

    3801.1

    £840

    In addition to formal training, the Department for Education encourages staff to take advantage of a variety of different professional development opportunities not captured by this expenditure, including job shadowing, on-the-job training and peer mentoring.

  • Chi Onwurah – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    Chi Onwurah – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Chi Onwurah on 2015-02-12.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what her Department’s training budget was in each of the last three financial years.

    Mr Nick Gibb

    The Department for Education holds a central training and development budget covering core education and training undertaken through Civil Service Learning. This includes development in core Civil Service skills including leadership and management, financial management and analysis. The table below shows the centrally managed budget for each of the past three financial years.

    Financial Year

    Budget

    12/13

    £700,000

    13/14

    £700,000

    14/15

    £600,000

    Additionally, directorates across the Department spend an element of their budgets on training and development which varies dependant on in-year development needs. The table below shows both central training and development spend and Directorate spend for each last 3 financial years.

    Financial Year

    Total spend

    Average number of staff (based on Full Time Equivalents)

    Average spend per member of staff (based on Full Time Equivalents)

    2014/15 (covering the period April to December only)

    £1.3m

    3353.7

    £390

    2013/14

    £2.2m

    3539.4

    £620

    2012/13

    £3.2m

    3801.1

    £840

    In addition to formal training, the Department for Education encourages staff to take advantage of a variety of different professional development opportunities not captured by this expenditure, including job shadowing, on-the-job training and peer mentoring.

  • Chi Onwurah – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    Chi Onwurah – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Chi Onwurah on 2015-02-12.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what the average number of days training of full-time equivalent staff employed in her Department was in each of the last three financial years.

    Mr Nick Gibb

    The civil service aspiration is for five days’ training and development for each member of staff every year.

    The majority of training and development is not formal training but is carried out within teams and groups and includes: research; on the job training; shadowing; mentoring; and coaching. Staff record their own personal development in line with the Department for Education’s Capability Review which is on an individual and local basis.

    Information on the amount of time spent undertaking informal training is not collated centrally.

  • Chi Onwurah – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    Chi Onwurah – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Chi Onwurah on 2015-02-12.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what guidance her Department provides to its managers on how many days training should be made available to staff.

    Mr Nick Gibb

    In line with the Capabilities Plan as part of the Civil Service Reform, the Department for Education recommends that all staff undertake at least five days of training and development every year. This could include formal training courses but may also be made up of other professional development opportunities, for example job shadowing and on the job training. This is not a maximum or minimum target, but a benchmark of expectations. This guidance is available to all managers and staff through the Department’s intranet pages.

  • Jesse Norman – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    Jesse Norman – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jesse Norman on 2015-02-12.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Education, when she plans to announce funding for music hubs in 2016-17.

    Mr Nick Gibb

    The Secretary of State confirmed £75 million of funding for music hubs for 2015-16 on 26 January 2015. The next spending review, covering the 2016-17 financial year, will take place after this year’s general election, and therefore no commitments can be made at this stage.

  • Steve McCabe – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    Steve McCabe – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Steve McCabe on 2015-02-12.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if she will make it her policy to collect information on waiting times for students referred to educational psychologists.

    Mr Edward Timpson

    The Department for Education has no plans to collect information on waiting times for students referred to educational psychologists. Recruitment and deployment of educational psychologists is a matter for local authorities taking into account their statutory duties. In 2013 the Department invested an additional £6.194 million, to increase the number of training places by 10% (from 120 to 132 intakes in 2014 and 2015).

  • Steve McCabe – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    Steve McCabe – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Steve McCabe on 2015-02-12.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what background checks are carried out when a qualified teacher from (a) outside and (b) inside the EU applies to teach in England.

    Mr David Laws

    The School Staffing (England) Regulations 2009, the Education (Independent School Standards) (England) Regulations 2014 and the Non-maintained Special Schools (England) Regulations 2011 require schools to carry out specific checks before they may appoint an individual, including from abroad, to work at the school.

    The regulations require schools to check: the identity of the individual; that the person meets any relevant staff qualification requirements; and that the person has a right to work in the UK. In addition, the school must obtain an enhanced Disclosure and Barring Certificate and where relevant a check of the children’s barred list. For those appointed into a teaching position, schools must ensure that the individual is not prohibited by the Secretary of State for Education from carrying out teaching work in England.

    Where the person to be appointed has lived outside of the United Kingdom the regulations require further checks to be made and that the school must have regard to statutory guidance issued by the Secretary of State when deciding what those additional checks should be.

    The Department’s ‘Keeping Children Safe in Education’ (KCSIE) statutory guidance makes clear that all schools and colleges have a duty to carry out mandatory safer recruitment checks that help to identify individuals who are not suitable to work with pupils. This guidance also signposts Home Office advice about obtaining criminal record information from overseas police forces and certificates of good conduct.

  • Henry Bellingham – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Energy and Climate Change

    Henry Bellingham – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Energy and Climate Change

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Henry Bellingham on 2015-02-12.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, what estimate he has made of how many families with children are currently in debt to their energy companies.

    Matthew Hancock

    The Department does not hold information on how many families with children are in debt to their energy companies.

    Ofgem closely monitors domestic energy suppliers’ performance and publishes information in relation to debt owed by domestic electricity and gas accounts holders in Great Britain, but they do not publish data relating to families with children.