The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Cunningham on 2016-03-21.
To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what information his Department holds on the salary levels of elected mayors of each of the combined authorities; and if he will make a statement.
James Wharton
The Department holds no information about the salary levels of elected mayors of combined authorities.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Cunningham on 2016-03-21.
To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, pursuant to the Answer of 17 March 2016 to Question 31008, how many officials of his Department worked full-time on strategies to tackle homelessness in each of the last five years.
Mr Marcus Jones
Over the years, this Department always ensured that policy areas, including homelessness, were suitably resourced in order to provide the best possible response to deal with changing priorities.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by James Berry on 2016-03-21.
To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what proportion of the local government finance settlement announced in the 2015 Spending Review his Department plans to spend on homelessness prevention in each year up to 2019-20; and if he will make a statement.
Mr Marcus Jones
The Government has always been clear that we are committed to supporting the most vulnerable people in our society. One person without a home is one too many. That is why we have protected the homelessness prevention funding local authorities receive, totalling £315 million by 2019-20.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Andy Slaughter on 2016-03-21.
To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what assessment his Department has made of the potential merits of underwriting a national rent deposit scheme to help more homeless people access the private rented sector.
Mr Marcus Jones
One person without a home is one too many and we are committed to doing all we can to prevent homelessness. That is why we have increased central investment to tackle homelessness over the next four years to £139 million. At Budget, we went one step further and announced £100 million to deliver low cost ‘move on’ accommodation to enable people leaving hostels and refuges to make a sustainable recovery from a homelessness crisis, providing at least 2,000 places for vulnerable people to enable independent living.
We have also protected Homelessness Prevention Grant for local authorities, totalling £315 million by 2019-20. In doing so, we expect them to provide quality advice and assistance to all those that approach them for help. The Homelessness Code of Guidance for local authorities, developed by my Department working with local authorities and the voluntary and community sector, already encourages them to use this grant to provide rent deposits, guarantees or rent in advance. Many local authorities, housing associations or charities in England have put such schemes in place.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Tom Pursglove on 2016-03-21.
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, if he will make it his policy to extend the protection granted to playing fields to any community leisure facilities, by ensuring that Sport England must be consulted before the sale of any such facility; and if he will ensure that Sport England is sufficiently resourced to carry out that role effectively.
David Evennett
Government recognises the important contribution that opportunities for sport and recreation make to the health and wellbeing of communities. Planning policies should be based on robust and up-to-date assessments of community needs. Any change of policy to allow Sport England (or any other public body) to have similar responsibilities for community leisure facilities, as it does for playing fields, would be a matter for DCLG.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Tom Pursglove on 2016-03-21.
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, when he plans to publish further details of his Department’s draft plans to change the way sports funding is allocated, with reference to pages 16 and 17 of Sporting Future: A New Strategy for an Active Nation.
David Evennett
Sport England’s new strategy, which is due to be published in Spring, will set out how the actions in Sporting Future will be delivered at grassroots level. This will set out the way in which funding will be allocated, in accordance with the principles set out in the government’s strategy for sport.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Flick Drummond on 2016-03-21.
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, when the power systems upgrade for the Type 45 destroyer will commence fitting; and whether that work will be carried out by a contractor using facilities at HMNB Portsmouth for each ship in the class.
Mr Philip Dunne
On the question of when the power systems upgrade for the Type 45 Destroyers will commence, I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave to Question 25149 on 8 February 2016 to the hon. Member for Dunfermline and West Fife (Mr Douglas Chapman).
A decision on where the work will be carried out will be taken when the technical option and delivery model have been selected.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Flick Drummond on 2016-03-21.
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what recent assessment his Department has made of the potential merits of fitting Mark 41 vertical launch capability to the Type 45 destroyer.
Mr Philip Dunne
The Strategic Defence and Security Review 2015 directed that further investigation be undertaken into the potential of the Type 45 Destroyers to operate in a Ballistic Missile Defence role. This work is under way and a range of potential capability development routes are being considered. It would be inappropriate to comment on specific missile systems at this stage.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Royston Smith on 2016-03-21.
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment she has made of the role of the local authority in terms of (a) child protection, (b) safeguarding and (c) other duties for schools which become academies; and who will finance those roles.
Edward Timpson
Local authorities’ responsibilities in relation to child protection and safeguarding are unaffected by schools becoming academies, as they are not dependent on the type of school which a child attends. Details of the role we expect local authorities to play are set out in the statutory guidance “Working together to safeguard children 2015”[1]. Ofsted also inspects local authorities’ children’s social care services against the rigorous ‘Single Inspection Framework’, which includes a review of the effectiveness of the Local Safeguarding Children Board.
The White Paper, Educational Excellence Everywhere,[2] sets out the education functions which we expect local authorities to provide when schools have become academies. These are focussed on supporting the interests of pupils and parents rather than services related to maintaining schools.
Local authority funding for children’s social care is administered by the Department for Communities and Local Government. As part of our ongoing National Funding Formula consultation[3], we are proposing to create a new central schools block, which will fund a range of education services that local authorities carry out for all pupils and parents, regardless of whether they are in a maintained school or an academy.
[3] https://consult.education.gov.uk/funding-policy-unit/schools-national-funding-formula
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The below Parliamentary question was asked by Royston Smith on 2016-03-21.
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps her Department is taking to ensure that supply teachers are trained to an appropriate standard in the subjects they teach.
Nick Gibb
The qualifications of supply teachers are currently governed by the same regulations as teachers employed by schools.
In maintained schools, teachers must hold Qualified Teacher Status (QTS) except those who satisfy the requirements for non-qualified teachers to carry out specified work set out in the Education (Specified Work) (England) Regulations 2012, for example, instructors with special qualifications or experience. Academies and Free Schools can employ teaching staff without the automatic requirement for them to hold QTS. This applies equally to supply teachers and teachers employed by schools.
To be awarded QTS, a teacher must demonstrate that they meet all of the Teachers’ Standards at the appropriate level. This includes a requirement to “demonstrate good subject and curriculum knowledge” and to have “a secure knowledge of the relevant subject(s) and curriculum areas” relevant to their teaching.
Our recent White Paper, Educational Excellence Everywhere, set out our proposals to reform the way in which teachers qualify, by replacing the existing arrangements for QTS with a new, more challenging accreditation. This will be based on a teacher’s demonstration of proficiency in the classroom over a sustained period, rather than being awarded at the end of initial teacher training. It will require teachers to demonstrate advanced subject knowledge and an awareness of how evidence and research should inform effective teaching practice. The award of the new qualification will be confirmed by heads of some of our best schools, ensuring the consistency and quality of teacher accreditation. We will be publishing further information about how we intend to implement this reform in due course.
Head teachers are, and will remain, responsible for the employment of teaching staff in their schools; this includes satisfying themselves that the teacher is suitably qualified, and providing appropriate training opportunities.