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  • Helen Hayes – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    Helen Hayes – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Helen Hayes on 2016-01-29.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment she has made of the potential effect of the lack of creative subjects in the Ebac on the creative sector of the economy.

    Nick Gibb

    This Government’s aim is to have at least 90% of pupils taking GCSEs from the English Baccalaureate subjects of English, maths, science, humanities and languages.

    These subjects are part of a broad and balanced curriculum. The EBacc has been designed to be limited in its size in order to provide a rigorous academic core whilst leaving space in the curriculum for pupils to study other subjects of their choice, including creative subjects. A good foundation in the EBacc subjects will help students keep their options open for work and further study.

    On 3 November 2015 the Secretary of State for Education launched a public consultation seeking views on the government’s proposals for the implementation of the English Baccalaureate[1]. The consultation closed on 29 January 2016 and the government response will be published in the spring.

    [1] https://www.gov.uk/government/consultations/implementing-the-english-baccalaureate

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  • Gareth Thomas – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    Gareth Thomas – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Gareth Thomas on 2016-01-29.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps she is taking to encourage the teaching and examination of GCSE and A-level (a) Gujarati and (b) Hindi; and if she will make a statement.

    Nick Gibb

    Awarding organisations currently offer GCSEs and A levels in a range of languages, which includes Gujarati. Hindi is not currently offered. The Department is working with awarding organisations, and Ofqual, to consider how best to enable the current range of languages to be maintained at GCSE and A level in future years.

  • Gareth Thomas – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    Gareth Thomas – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Gareth Thomas on 2016-01-29.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Education, pursuant to the Answer of 7 January 2016 to Question 20756, whether a response from the Chief Regulator of the Office of Qualifications and Examinations Regulation has been received by her Department; and when that response will be placed in the Library.

    Nick Gibb

    Glenys Stacey, Chief Regulator of the Office of Qualifications and Examinations Regulation (Ofqual), has written to the Hon Member in response to written question 20756. This letter, dated 24 February 2016, is attached and will be placed in the Library.

  • Helen Hayes – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    Helen Hayes – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Helen Hayes on 2016-01-29.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment she has made of the potential effect of the introduction of the Ebac on the take-up of creative subjects by pupils.

    Nick Gibb

    This Government’s aim is to have at least 90% of pupils taking GCSEs from the English Baccalaureate subjects of English, maths, science, humanities and languages.

    These subjects are part of a broad and balanced curriculum. The EBacc has been designed to be limited in its size in order to provide a rigorous academic core whilst leaving space in the curriculum for pupils to study other subjects of their choice, including creative subjects. A good foundation in the EBacc subjects will help students keep their options open for work and further study.

    On 3 November 2015 the Secretary of State for Education launched a public consultation seeking views on the government’s proposals for the implementation of the English Baccalaureate[1]. The consultation closed on 29 January 2016 and the government response will be published in the spring.

    [1] https://www.gov.uk/government/consultations/implementing-the-english-baccalaureate

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  • Dan Jarvis – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    Dan Jarvis – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Dan Jarvis on 2016-01-29.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what progress her Department has made on the implementation of the new GCSE grading system.

    Nick Gibb

    This is a matter for Ofqual, the Office of Qualifications and Examinations Regulation. I have therefore asked its Chief Regulator, Glenys Stacey, to write directly to the Honourable Member. A copy of her reply will be placed in the House of Commons Library.

  • Jamie Reed – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Energy and Climate Change

    Jamie Reed – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Energy and Climate Change

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jamie Reed on 2016-01-29.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, how much was spent by Sellafield Ltd on supply chain services in each of the last six years; what proportion of that expenditure in each of those years was to SMEs; and what proportion of those services was provided from each region and constituent nation of the UK.

    Andrea Leadsom

    The department does not hold this information as it is the responsibility of the NDA.

  • David Anderson – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Energy and Climate Change

    David Anderson – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Energy and Climate Change

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by David Anderson on 2016-01-29.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, pursuant to the Answer of 27 January 2016 to Question 23662, if she will make an assessment of the risk of coal sourced by owners of power stations in the UK coming from countries where safety and labour standards in mining are poor.

    Andrea Leadsom

    Decisions on where to source coal are a commercial matter for the owners of coal-fired power stations. Contracts for the purchase of coal are awarded to individual mining companies, not countries. The majority operators of power stations in the UK are members of BetterCoal, an industry-led initiative which is taking action to promote responsible coal mining and has established a set of ethical, social, and environmental principles which companies in the supply chain are expected to align with.

  • David Anderson – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Energy and Climate Change

    David Anderson – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Energy and Climate Change

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by David Anderson on 2016-01-29.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, if she will discuss with her German counterpart the steps the German government plans to take to ensure that it can meet its carbon reduction targets while expanding coal-fired power stations in that country.

    Andrea Leadsom

    Ministers and officials in the department regularly discuss a range of energy and climate change issues with our German counterparts.

    Emissions in the traded sector (including German energy sector) are capped under the EU Emissions Trading System (EU-ETS) which is set to decrease emissions within these sectors by 43% by 2030 compared to 2005 levels.

    Germany has national targets to reduce greenhouse gas emissions to at least 40% below 1990 levels by 2020 and 80% to 95% below 1990 levels by 2050. In 2014, the German government published their Climate Action Programme with additional measures to achieve their 2020 target. Later this year, the German government is expected to adopt its national Climate Action Plan 2050 which will include interim targets for post 2020 period and next steps in light of the Paris Agreement.

  • Hilary Benn – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    Hilary Benn – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Hilary Benn on 2016-01-29.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether marketing standards conformity certificates issued by Israel covering consignments of fresh fruit and vegetables grown in the occupied Palestinian territories indicate that the products they cover originate in Israel.

    George Eustice

    The Horticultural Marketing Inspectors have no reason to believe that these certificates do not contain correct information. In 2012, the European Commission announced that their research into Israeli/Palestinian export certificates “did not reveal any evidence of non-conformity regarding the indication of the country of origin”. The Commission also reaffirmed the requirement that the origin needed to be clearly indicated whether it was Israel or an Occupied Territory.

  • Hilary Benn – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    Hilary Benn – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Hilary Benn on 2016-01-29.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether it is part of the remit of the Rural Payments Agency to check the conformity to EU marketing standards of consignments of fresh fruit and vegetables entering UK ports.

    George Eustice

    All fruit and vegetables must meet the EU marketing standards in Regulation 543/2011. These standards require that fruit and vegetables which are intended to be sold fresh to the consumer, may only be marketed if they are of sound, fair and marketable quality and if the country of origin is indicated. Horticultural Marketing Inspectors are part of the Rural Payments Agency and carry out these inspections for Her Majesty’s Government.