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  • Lord Hunt of Kings Heath – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    Lord Hunt of Kings Heath – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Hunt of Kings Heath on 2016-01-26.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of current morale in the teaching profession.

    Lord Nash

    According to the OECD’s ‘Teaching and Learning International Survey’ (2013), 82 per cent of teachers surveyed in England either agreed or strongly agreed with the statement that ‘all in all, I am satisfied with my job.’ This information is published in the attached research report ‘Teachers in England’s Secondary Schools: Evidence from TALIS 2013’.

    In addition, the latest statistics (School Workforce Census, November 2014) show that teacher retention rates one year after qualifying have remained stable for the past two decades, at around 90 per cent. Furthermore, 72 per cent of those who qualified in 2009 were still in teaching five years later, and the long-term retention rate is also stable, with over 60 per cent of teachers remaining in the classroom 10 years after qualifying.

    The Government is committed to raising the status of the teaching profession. We are supporting the establishment of a new, independent College of Teaching, and are offering postgraduate bursaries of up to £30,000 for trainee teachers starting initial teacher training in 2016/17, depending on their degree classification and the subject they plan to teach.

  • Lord Hunt of Kings Heath – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    Lord Hunt of Kings Heath – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Hunt of Kings Heath on 2016-01-26.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what is their assessment of the number of hours a week worked by (1) teachers, and (2) school leaders.

    Lord Nash

    Removing unnecessary workload for teachers is a priority for this Government. On 6 February 2015, we published the response to our Workload Challenge alongside the findings in an independent research report. In response, a comprehensive programme was put in place to help address the complex issues raised. This included a commitment to continue to track teachers’ workload by carrying out a large scale survey every two years. This will start in spring 2016. Three review groups are also in progress to address the causes of unnecessary workload in relation to three of the biggest issues emerging from the Workload Challenge, namely: marking, planning, resources and data management. The groups will report to the Secretary of State in the spring of 2016 with principles for teaching practice and recommendations for the Department, schools and headteachers on how to eliminate unnecessary workload.

    Information on hours worked by teachers was collected in the 2013 Teaching and Learning International Study.

  • Lord Hunt of Kings Heath – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    Lord Hunt of Kings Heath – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Hunt of Kings Heath on 2016-01-26.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of whether the School Direct programme is ensuring a sufficient supply of teachers for schools in England.

    Lord Nash

    Teaching continues to represent an attractive choice for top graduates and career changers – last year we recruited over 1,000 more secondary teachers than the previous year, and we exceeded our target for new primary teachers.

    Our best schools have a crucial role to play in training the next generation of outstanding teachers. That is why we introduced the School Direct training programme, which gives schools the opportunity to recruit and select their own trainee teachers, and to play a central part in both the design and delivery of teacher training. School Direct is only one of a range of routes through which new teachers can choose to train.

    We initially piloted the School Direct programme with a cohort of 351 trainees in the academic year 2012/13; thanks to its popularity with schools the scheme rapidly expanded to deliver 6,676 training places the following year. This has continued to rise each year, and provisional data show that 10,252 trainees have commenced School Direct programmes in the current academic year. This represents 39 per cent of all postgraduate teacher training places in the current year, and makes a significant contribution to the 51 per cent of all postgraduate training places that are now school-led.

    We recognise that recruitment to teacher training is becoming increasingly challenging as the economy improves and the graduate labour market strengthens. That is why we are giving schools greater direct involvement in selecting and training the high-quality teachers they need.

  • Baroness Whitaker – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the The Lord Chairman of Committees

    Baroness Whitaker – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the The Lord Chairman of Committees

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Baroness Whitaker on 2016-01-26.

    To ask the Chairman of Committees whether the House will provide further bicycle parking spaces, and if so, when.

    Lord Laming

    The House of Lords currently has 47 covered bicycle parking spaces in State Officers’ Court, 12 spaces in Chancellor’s Court and six spaces in Black Rod’s Garden. The House keeps opportunities to increase the number of spaces under review, and following completion of works on the Cast Iron Roofs and Chancellor’s Court, will consider again the provision of further bicycle parking spaces.

  • Lord Condon – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Culture, Media and Sport

    Lord Condon – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Culture, Media and Sport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Condon on 2016-01-26.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what is their assessment of the efficacy of the rollout of high speed broadband, and when they expect the rollout to be completed.

    Baroness Neville-Rolfe

    Broadband Delivery UK’s (BDUK) Superfast Broadband Programme remains on track to achieve 90% superfast broadband coverage within the next few months, and 95% by December 2017. The programme has provided coverage to more than 3.5 million homes and businesses across the UK that would otherwise not have it, and will reach 4 million by spring 2016.

  • Lord Condon – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Lord Condon – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Condon on 2016-01-26.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what progress has been made regarding Chief Constable David Shaw’s Use of Force Data Review.

    Lord Bates

    Further to the Noble Lord’s previous question HL2559, the Home Secretary has received the conclusions of Chief Constable David Shaw’s Use of Force Review and will report on its recommendations shortly.

  • Lord Dholakia – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Lord Dholakia – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Dholakia on 2016-01-26.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government how many prisoners have been tested for (1) hepatitis B, (2) hepatitis C, and (3) HIV, in each of the last three years.

    Lord Prior of Brampton

    Public Health England (PHE) collects data on people in prison tested for blood-borne viruses (BBVs) via the Sentinel Surveillance Study. This system does not currently receive reports from all prisons in England where testing occurs. Currently 28 prisons report data representing approximately 30% of the standing prison population in England so this data does not represent the total amount of testing currently happening in the prison estate.

    Table 1 shows data from this system on the total number of prisoners tested for BBVs in the calendar years 2012-2014. Similar information from this study for the year 2015 will not be available until mid-year 2016. NHS England also collects data on levels of testing for BBVs in prisons via the Health & Justice Indicators of Performance (HJIPs). The numbers of tests for BBVs in these data are presented in Table 2. The higher number is due to the greater coverage of prisons by this dataset. NHS England data is not used for 2012, 2013 and 2014 is not available because HJIPs were only introduced last year.


  • Lord Dholakia – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Lord Dholakia – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Dholakia on 2016-01-26.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what percentage of prisoners they plan to test for blood-borne viruses in each of the next five years, in the light of the introduction of opt-out testing in prisons.

    Lord Prior of Brampton

    Public Health England (PHE) working in partnership with NHS England and the National Offender Management Service (NOMS) have been implementing opt-out testing for blood-borne viruses (BBVs) since 2013/14 through a phased implementation programme using ‘pathfinder prisons’ with plans for the programme to be available in every adult prison in England by the end of financial year 2016/17. All consenting eligible adult prisoners will be offered the opportunity to test.

    Prisoners eligible for testing include those not known to be infected with BBVs who have not been tested recently and/or who had risk behaviour since their last test. Therefore over the next five years and beyond, we plan to offer tests for BBVs to all adult prisoners who fall into these categories. Phased implementation of the BBV opt-out testing programme in prisons has been informed by evaluation of pathfinder prisons. Preliminary data from suggests a near doubling of BBV testing following the introduction of the opt-out testing policy. Offer, uptake and outcome of testing is being collected by both the Health & Justice Indicators of Performance at prison level as well as through PHE’s sentinel surveillance study.

  • Lord Dholakia – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Lord Dholakia – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Dholakia on 2016-01-26.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government how many individuals have commenced interferon-free treatment for hepatitis C within a prison or secure institution in the last 12 months.

    Lord Prior of Brampton

    NHS England collect data on the offer, uptake and outcome of testing for hepatitis C for people in prison using a system of metrics co-designed with Public Health England (PHE) called the Health & Justice Indicators of Performance (HJIPs). This dataset includes information on whether those requiring treatment were referred to specialist services but does not record details of the treatment provided.

    PHE has been working with NHS England and Operational Delivery Networks (ODNs) and others on a dataset which would allow for more detailed monitoring of treatments but these have not yet been introduced. Therefore, we do not currently have any data on the number of individuals commenced on treatment for hepatitis C within a prison or other prescribed place of detention in the last 12 months. Further, we do not have data on those former prisoners commenced on treatment in the community.

  • Lord Dholakia – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Lord Dholakia – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Dholakia on 2016-01-26.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether new Operational Delivery Networks established to manage the treatment of hepatitis C have a duty to ensure equity of access to treatment for prisoners within their catchment area.

    Lord Prior of Brampton

    NHS England has published the service specification for Operational Delivery Networks (ODNs). The specification directs that ODNs include organisations and providers engaging with populations known to have a high prevalence of infection, such as prisoners, with the view to developing services designed to meet their specific needs. Further, the specification directs that specialist service providers will accept inward referrals of patients for treatment from prisons and other prescribed places of detention. NHS England has worked with each of the ODNs to map every prison to the relevant network and ensure that people in prison are being supported to access treatment.