Category: Speeches

  • Luciana Berger – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Luciana Berger – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Luciana Berger on 2016-01-06.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how many Band 7 NHS psychologists were employed in each year since 2010-11.

    Ben Gummer

    The attached table shows the number of Band 7 clinical psychology staff employed in the National Health Service in England each year from September 2010 to September 2015. The figures are taken from the NHS hospital and community health services monthly workforce statistics, which are published by the Health and Social Care Information Centre.

  • Imran Hussain – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    Imran Hussain – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Imran Hussain on 2015-11-18.

    To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, how many HM Revenue and Customs jobs in (a) Bradford and (b) West Yorkshire will be lost as a result of the proposed restructuring plan.

    Mr David Gauke

    HM Revenue and Customs’ (HMRC) restructuring plans will mean it is even more effective in raising the taxes on which public services depend.

    HMRC has around 3,774 Full Time Equivalent (FTE) jobs in the Yorkshire and the Humber Region. The intention to consolidate HMRC operations across Yorkshire and the Humber into a single regional centre in Leeds accommodating between 4,100 and 4,400 FTE, by 2021, is expected to result in an overall increase in jobs in the region.

    In offices which will close and are outside reasonable travel distance of Leeds, HMRC employees will have the opportunity to discuss their personal circumstances in one-to-one meetings with their manager. Until then HMRC cannot be certain of the number staff who are unable to move to a Regional Centre.

    More details on the number of people relocating from individual offices, including Bradford, Leeds and Shipley, will be known when lines of business have finalised their plans and individuals have had the opportunity to discuss their personal circumstances in one-to-one meetings with their manager.

    HMRC will look at redeployment opportunities for people who are unable to move, helping and supporting them to find another role, possibly in other government departments.

  • Andy Slaughter – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    Andy Slaughter – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Andy Slaughter on 2015-12-14.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, whether revenue received from the criminal courts charge has exceeded the cost to the public purse of running such courts since that charge was introduced.

    Mr Shailesh Vara

    The principle underlying the Criminal Courts Charge was for offenders to contribute towards the cost of running the Criminal Courts, not to cover the full running costs.

    Data on the amount of the Criminal Courts Charge imposed and collected from April to September can be found here – https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/criminal-court-statistics.

    “

  • Lord Browne of Belmont – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    Lord Browne of Belmont – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Browne of Belmont on 2016-01-21.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what resources and schemes are being targeted at those who lack the basic levels of literacy and numeracy.

    Baroness Neville-Rolfe

    This Government understands the importance of English and maths and makes these subjects a priority for support within the adult skills system. Adults who improve their literacy and numeracy are more likely to experience better health and well-being, increase their chances of employment and progress to better jobs.

    We fully fund, through a statutory entitlement, all adults to achieve their first English and maths GCSE at grade C or above as well as other qualifications which help them get to that level. The total funding for English and maths for academic year 2013/14 (including for apprenticeships, English for Speakers of Other Languages and prisoners) was £563,961,000. Of this £142m was spent on English and maths in apprenticeships. (905,600 learners participated in English and maths courses in 2013/14)

    We fund a wide range of learners to study English and maths including:
    • Prisoners, through the Offender Learning and Skills Service
    • Learners in the community, including through Family English, Maths and Language
    • People who need English for Speakers of Other Languages
    • Trainees as part of their traineeship
    • Apprentices as part of their apprenticeship
    • Jobseekers

    We have increased our expectations of what learners should achieve in order to increase the standard of literacy and numeracy. To do this we have embedded English and maths at the heart of all our major programmes. This means:
    • Learners who did not achieve a good GCSE pass in English and/ or maths by the age of 16 are now required to continue to study those subjects post-16;
    • Since 2014/15, the English and maths requirement for Intermediate Apprenticeships has been stronger, with all apprentices who have already achieved level 1 English and maths having to work towards level 2;
    • Since 2014/15, young people undertaking a traineeship have been required to study English and maths unless they already have level 2 qualifications in these subjects;
    • In August 2014, we introduced mandatory assessment of maths and English for all newly-received prisoners to ensure that all offenders, not just those that go into learning, receive a learning assessment (focused around English and maths, but also covering learning difficulties and disabilities)

    We have reformed GCSEs to ensure they are more stretching and provide greater assurance of core literacy and numeracy than the old GCSEs. We also recognise that some people are not ready to take GCSE so we are also improving the rigour and relevance of English and maths Functional Skills qualifications, which are taken by many students and apprentices aged 16 and over. We have commissioned the Education and Training Foundation to revise the National Literacy and Numeracy Standards and reform Functional Skills. The foundation has launched a consultation which will run until April and which will involve employers, teacher and subject experts.

    We recognise the need to improve the quality of English and maths teaching in further education. We have invested over £30m over the past 3 years to fund a range of measures to improve the workforce in areas such as leadership, governance, teaching and learning, with a particular focus on maths and English. This has resulted in over 1,000 bursaries to attract graduates to teach in further education and over 3,800 teachers have benefited from training to improve the quality of their English and maths courses.
    We are undertaking a range of research to best understand where Government investment in English and maths has the greatest impact and delivers value for money. This includes:
    • Using behavioural insights to identify how to motivate adults to improve their English and maths and encourage learners to keep studying once enrolled on a course; ;
    • Longitudinal research into skills gain and skills atrophy of adult English and maths learners
    • Comparing the impact of blended and more traditional classroom learning.

  • Lord Berkeley – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    Lord Berkeley – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Berkeley on 2016-02-10.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government when they intend to publish responses to the consultation on the draft Shaw Report on the future structure of Network Rail.

    Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon

    Government has asked Nicola Shaw to undertake an independent report on the future shape and financing of Network Rail and it is up to her whether she chooses to publish the responses to her consultation.

  • Lord Alton of Liverpool – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for International Development

    Lord Alton of Liverpool – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for International Development

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Alton of Liverpool on 2016-03-07.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of the level of engagement by the Disasters Emergency Committee, and other international donors, with representatives of Nepal’s civil society and charities such as Childreach Nepal.

    Baroness Verma

    The role of national Nepali civil society after the earthquake has been key to the emergency response, and will be important into the recovery and reconstruction phases. International humanitarian organisations who acted as part of the earthquake response, such as the UK Disaster Emergency Committee (DEC) members, have partnered with Nepal civil society organisations to deliver assistance to those most in need. These partnerships have combined international funding flows with local knowledge and expertise.

    Over the course of the humanitarian response UK government representatives in Nepal have met regularly with DEC members and other international donors in order to share situation analysis and learning, as well as jointly advocate on collective issues. The UK has supported over 20 trusted partners as part of its own Nepal earthquake response, including the UN, INGOs and the Red Cross. All have worked in partnership with Nepali civil society organisations on the ground. We have conducted three rounds of field-based monitoring, meet regularly with our partners, and receive frequent reporting, which has enabled us to assess with confidence the effectiveness of our direct partners and their Nepali civil society partners.

  • Emily Thornberry – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Cabinet Office

    Emily Thornberry – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Cabinet Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Emily Thornberry on 2016-04-13.

    To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, how many members of staff of the Infrastructure and Projects Authority have been assigned to work on the Government’s Successor submarine programme; and what (a) their grades, (b) their job titles and (c) the dates of their assignment to work on that programme are.

    Matthew Hancock

    The Successor programme is one of 188 projects reported on the Government Major Project Portfolio (GMPP) at the time of the last Major Projects Annual Report. The Infrastructure and Projects Authority undertakes a number of activities across the 188 major projects on the GMPP, including collecting quarterly programme performance data; the arrangement of independent assurance; and, providing expert advice to project and departmental leadership. These activities do not involve the assignment of individual IPA staff to work on this project specifically, but are undertaken by a number of staff working in a range of functions across the IPA.

  • Andy Slaughter – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    Andy Slaughter – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Andy Slaughter on 2016-05-18.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how much funding HM Young Offender Institution (a) Werrington, (b) Feltham and (c) Cookham Wood has received from the European Social Fund via the National Offender Management Service Co-Financing Organisation in each year since January 2010.

    Andrew Selous

    Money received from the European Social Fund (ESF) by the NOMS Co-financing Programme is published in the NOMS Annual Report and Accounts. No ESF funding has been used to finance employer roadshows at Sudbury, Drake Hall and Wayland prisons. Neither has any ESF money been awarded direct to HM Young Offender Institutions Werrington, Feltham or Cookham Wood.

    It is a condition of any award of core ESF funding to the NOMS Co-financing programme that it has to be spent on front line services for offenders (excluding the administration budget. Because of this, a separate application was made under the Technical Assistance grant to fund, among other things, the setting up and running of the Employers’ Forum for Reducing Re-offending (EFRR). The aim of the Technical Assistance grant is to fund services that will support the objectives of the main programme – employability of offenders. The amount spent from the ESF Technical Assistance fund on the EFRR from 2010 to 2015 was £280,403.

  • Deidre Brock – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Energy and Climate Change

    Deidre Brock – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Energy and Climate Change

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Deidre Brock on 2016-07-07.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, what the cost has been to date of each decommissioning exercise undertaken by the Nuclear Decommissioning Authority.

    Andrea Leadsom

    Net funding for the Nuclear Decommissioning Authority (NDA) has been maintained at around £3 billion a year. This will allow it to continue to deliver its vital mission of decommissioning and clean-up of the UK’s nuclear legacy, with particular focus on tackling the highest hazards at Sellafield. The NDA provides information on the cost for decommissioning each of its sites in its Business Plan and Report and Accounts. Both are published on an annual basis and are available at www.nda.gov.uk.

    “

  • Lord Alton of Liverpool – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Lord Alton of Liverpool – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Alton of Liverpool on 2016-10-03.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government, further to the Written Answer by Baroness Anelay of St Johns on 11 May (HL8212), what steps they are taking to ensure that the human rights of Christian pastors in Sudan are protected, in the light of the ongoing detention of Reverend Hasan Kodi Taour.

    Baroness Anelay of St Johns

    We are aware that the four men in question remain in detention. Officials from our Embassy in Khartoum were present in court to observe the most recent hearing on 26 September, and are in close contact with the lawyers representing the defendants. We regularly raise our concerns over this case with the government of Sudan, most recently during the visit of the UK Special Representative for Sudan and South Sudan to Khartoum in September. We will continue to monitor this case closely.

    More widely, freedom of religion or belief remains a consistent theme in our ongoing human rights dialogue with the government of Sudan. We consistently call on them to ensure all legislation is consistent with the commitment to their citizens in the Interim Constitution of 2005, within which religious freedom is enshrined.