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  • Lord Mawhinney – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Northern Ireland Office

    Lord Mawhinney – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Northern Ireland Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Mawhinney on 2014-04-09.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government how many so-called peace walls currently exist in Belfast; what is their total size (meaning their height multiplied by their breadth); and what were the equivalent figures in 2000 and 2010, or their best estimates of those figures.

    Lord Bates

    This is a devolved matter and the responsibility of the Northern Ireland Minister of Justice. The Noble Lord may, however, wish to note the Community Relations Council publication at: http://www.community-relations.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2013/11/Peace-Monitoring-Report-2014.pdf. This refers to the number of peace walls as part of its report.

    The Northern Ireland Office does not keep statistics on peace walls which became the responsibility of the Northern Ireland Executive following the devolution of policing and justice matters in 2010. The Noble Lord may wish to contact the Department of Justice to obtain the information he seeks.

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  • Lord Willis of Knaresborough – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Cabinet Office

    Lord Willis of Knaresborough – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Cabinet Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Willis of Knaresborough on 2014-04-09.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government, according to the latest data available, how many young people in England were claiming Jobseeker’s Allowance at age (1) 18, (2) 19, (3) 20, (4) 21, (5) 22, (6) 23 and (7) 24; and, for each age group, how many were claiming for (a) less than 3 months, (b) 3–6 months, (c) 6–12 months, and (d) 12 or more months.

    Lord Wallace of Saltaire

    The information requested falls within the responsibility of the UK Statistics Authority. I have asked the Authority to reply.

  • Lord Bourne of Aberystwyth – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    Lord Bourne of Aberystwyth – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Bourne of Aberystwyth on 2014-04-09.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what they are doing to help young people buy their own homes.

    Baroness Stowell of Beeston

    This Government is committed to supporting people’s aspirations to own their own home. That is why we have introduced schemes such as Help to Buy Equity Loan and Mortgage Guarantee, and reinvigorated Right to Buy. Since the spring of 2010, these, together with our affordable housing schemes have helped or are helping nearly 112,000 people to buy a home of their own. Since April 2010, 420,000 homes have been built, with new housing construction output now at its highest level since 2007.

  • Lord Bourne of Aberystwyth – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    Lord Bourne of Aberystwyth – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Bourne of Aberystwyth on 2014-04-09.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what they are doing to ensure the protection of bees.

    Lord De Mauley

    The importance of pollinators, including the honeybee, and their value to both food security and sustaining the natural environment is recognised as a high priority. In view of this, Defra has taken action on a number of fronts, including:

    · contributing £2.5 million over five years to the Insect Pollinators Initiative;

    · establishing the Healthy Bees Plan, a ten year plan to protect and improve the health of honeybees in England and Wales, of which five years has already been completed;

    · continuing to fund the long-established National Bee Unit bee health programme, which includes inspection of colonies, diagnosis of bee pests and diseases, and training for beekeepers; and

    · launching a public consultation on the National Pollinator Strategy this month.

  • Lord Bourne of Aberystwyth – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    Lord Bourne of Aberystwyth – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Bourne of Aberystwyth on 2014-04-09.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what they are doing to support the teaching of foreign languages in schools.

    Lord Nash

    The new national curriculum sets out clearly what should be taught to pupils, and gives teachers the flexibility to decide how to teach it. We expect schools to identify the support that they need to prepare for the new curriculum, recognising that different schools will face different challenges.

    We are allocating £350,000 to fund teaching school alliances and others to provide training on the new national curriculum for teachers of modern foreign languages in primary and secondary schools. Also, in terms of overall support for the new national curriculum, we have allocated some £1.9 million to teaching schools to lead curriculum change across and within their teaching school alliances.

    To support the introduction of a compulsory foreign language at key stage 2 (ages seven to 11) from September 2014, the independent Expert Group, chaired by a leading primary headteacher, has provided links to useful resources, which are hosted on the website of the Association for Language Learning.

    We are also making extensive use of social networking, including using high profile headteachers and others to raise the profile of the new curriculum, including for languages, through podcasts, webchats and blogs.

  • Lord Roberts of Llandudno – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    Lord Roberts of Llandudno – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Roberts of Llandudno on 2014-04-09.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government, further to the Written Answer by Lord Faulks on 7 April (WA 249), in the light of HM Prison The Verne being used to take immigration detainees exclusively and the number of persons held under Immigration Act powers within HM Prisons, what plans they have to extend Rule 35 to the prison estate by an amendment to the Prison Rules; and, if there are no such plans, how a prison doctor’s concerns that a prisoner may be a victim of torture may be made known to the Secretary of State for the Home Department.

    Lord Faulks

    Prison Rule 21 provides that a medical practitioner shall report to the governor on the case of any person whose health is likely to be injuriously affected by continued imprisonment or any conditions of imprisonment. The governor is required to send any such reports to the Secretary of State. Although Prison Rule 21 does not replicate Detention Centre Rule 35 it performs a similar function. We therefore have no plans to amend Prison Rules in this case.

  • Lord Roberts of Llandudno – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Lord Roberts of Llandudno – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Roberts of Llandudno on 2014-04-09.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government, further to the recent medical evaluation by Dr Emily Keram of the British Guantánamo Bay detainee, Shaker Aamer, whether they will make further representations to the government of the United States concerning Mr Aamer’s release; and whether they intend to provide an amicus curiae brief in support of Mr Aamer’s motion for release, as requested by his lawyers.

    Lord Wallace of Saltaire

    Mr Aamer’s case remains a high priority for the Government. We take Mr Aamer’s welfare very seriously and continue to make clear to the US at the highest levels that we wish to secure his release, and return to the UK, as a matter of urgency. Most recently, the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, my Rt. Hon. Friend the Member for Richmond (Yorks) (Mr Hague), raised Mr Aamer’s case in a meeting with the US Secretary of State, John Kerry, in February this year. We are currently considering Reprieve’s request for the Government to provide an amicus curiae brief and will respond in due course.

  • Lord Roberts of Llandudno – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Lord Roberts of Llandudno – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Roberts of Llandudno on 2014-04-09.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government, further to the judgment issued on 9 April by Mr Justice Popplewell in Refugee Action v Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether they have any plans to establish an inquiry into the way asylum support rates are calculated.

    Lord Taylor of Holbeach

    The Government plans to review asylum support rates. That review will take account of the judgment and other information. The review will be completed by 9 August 2014.

  • Helen Goodman – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Attorney General

    Helen Goodman – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Attorney General

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Helen Goodman on 2014-04-09.

    To ask the Attorney General, how many prosecutions have taken place under the Obscene Publications Act 1959 for the offence of providing unrestricted access to hardcore pornography online, as set out in the 2005 Crown Prosecution Service guidelines, disaggregated by year.

    Oliver Heald

    The records held by the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS)indicate the number of offences charged, in which a prosecution commenced at magistrates’ courts under Section 2 of the Obscene Publications Act 1959 (publishing or having an obscene article for publication for gain), rather than identifying the number of people prosecuted.

    Section 2 of the Obscene Publications Act 1959 creates the offence of publishing or having an obscene article for publication for gain.

    The table below shows, in each of the last 8 years, for which figures are available, the number of offences, charged by way of Section 2 of the OPA 1959, and which reached a first hearing at magistrates’ courts, in England and Wales.

    Financial Year

    Obscene Publications Act 1959 { 2 }

    2005-2006

    111

    2006-2007

    105

    2007-2008

    111

    2008-2009

    152

    2009-2010

    82

    2010-2011

    71

    2011-2012

    76

    2012-2013

    34

    Data Source: CPS Case Management Information System

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  • Iain Wright – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    Iain Wright – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Iain Wright on 2014-04-09.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, with reference to Growth is Our Business: A Strategy for Professional and Business Services published in July 2013, what progress his Department has made in establishing the effect of school reporting metrics on the prestige of higher apprenticeships as a destination.

    Matthew Hancock

    These questions ask about a number of actions related to skills development from “Growth is our business: a strategy for professional and business services”, published in July 2013 as part of Government’s industrial strategy. The strategy was developed in collaboration with the professional and business services sector, focusing on the industry’s agenda for long term growth. It is led by the Professional and Business Services Council.

    The strategy reflects two key business priorities in skills development. First, to expand recruitment routes into the sector, in particular higher apprenticeships, to access a wider, more diverse talent pool. Second, to help businesses engage with the education system to raise aspirations and promote work readiness. A business-led skills taskforce for professional and business services has been established. It is developing approaches to implement the strategy and will report progress at the end of this year.

    The skills taskforce is leading work to help towards the strategy’s ambitious target to treble the number of higher apprenticeship starts across professional and business services to 10,000 over five years; and to follow progress in the interim, so that the numbers of these apprenticeships can be monitored. As a first step, the taskforce is supporting the London Professional Apprenticeship scheme, which was launched in December 2013, and is now recruiting apprentices and employers to take part. The scheme will pilot the proposal for a “clearing house” to help small firms access higher apprenticeships in professional and business services. In addition, the taskforce is backing new ‘trailblazer’ initiatives, announced in March 2014, to develop employer-driven standards for apprenticeships in several professional and business services occupations.

    The skills taskforce is currently researching the metrics for schools’ reporting and their effect on the prestige of higher apprenticeships as initial career destinations. It will consider if more could be done to ensure higher apprenticeships have parity of esteem with higher education.

    The taskforce is also mapping current school engagement activity involving professional and business services firms with a view to identifying and sharing good practice.

    The new emphasis on wider use of higher apprenticeships across professional and business services should contribute towards a greater diversity of routes into these careers in the years to come; potentially offering opportunities to a wider pool of talent.

    The skills taskforce intends to consider how the employability of young people can be supported within the national curriculum, but believes that greater engagement between employers and young people is the best way of improving employability skills.

    My noble friend Lord Lingfield has set up the independent Institution for Further Education to take forward work on a new chartered status quality schemeand is considering the application and assessment process for Further Education providers.

    The skills taskforce is exploring how web-based services can support engagement between firms and the education sector, including a planned digital “inspiration” tool being developed by this Department to encourage business-schools engagement.

    Further information on the implementation of “Growth is our business: a strategy for professional and business services” is included in a progress report on industrial strategy, published on 23 April 2014: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/industrial-strategy-early-successes-and-future-priorities.

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