Category: Speeches

  • Catherine West – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    Catherine West – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Catherine West on 2016-09-02.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what information her Department holds on the frequency with which children move (a) house and (b) school.

    Edward Timpson

    The Department does not hold any information specifically on the frequency with which a child moves house or school. Via the termly school census we collect pupil level data, which includes pupil home address and school entry and leaving dates. The National Pupil Database (NPD) is populated with data from the school census and other pupil level collections. To the extent that data are collected termly, it is possible to use NPD data to provide data on home and school moves. However, such analysis has not been carried out to date and developing a sufficiently robust approach and quality assuring the results could only be completed at disproportionate cost.

  • Tim Farron – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    Tim Farron – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Tim Farron on 2016-10-18.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, how many farmers had still not received the money they are due from the Rural Payments Agency under the 2015 Basic Payment Scheme by the end of 14 October 2016 in (a) England, (b) Cumbria and (c) Westmorland and Lonsdale constituency.

    George Eustice

    As at close of business 14 October, in addition to claims which the Rural Payments Agency (RPA) cannot pay due to legal reasons such as probate, there are 2 BPS claims to complete for England. For Cumbria and the Westmorland and Lonsdale constituency all claims have been completed and payments issued.

    RPA has investigated all 13,600 claim queries identified since June through its planned payments reconciliation process and made top-up payments where necessary. The Agency continues to review new queries.

  • Philip Davies – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Philip Davies – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Philip Davies on 2015-11-05.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how many secondments have taken place between his Department and the Chartered Institute of Trading Standards in the last 15 years; and in what capacity each such secondment was undertaken.

    Jane Ellison

    At senior civil servant level (SCS) there have been no secondments between the Department and the Chartered Institute of Trading Standards.

    For civil servants and posts at grades lower than SCS, no such secondments have taken place, as far back as our central records for these secondments extend, that is, back to 2009.

  • Eilidh Whiteford – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    Eilidh Whiteford – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Eilidh Whiteford on 2015-12-07.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what proportion of (a) jobseeker’s allowance and (b) employment and support allowance claims were subject to a sanction (i) pre-challenge and (ii) post-challenge in 2013-14.

    Priti Patel

    The information requested is not readily available and could only be provided at disproportionate cost.

    The latest Jobseeker’s Allowance and Employment and Support Allowance sanctions statistics can be found at:

    https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/jobseekers-allowance-sanctions

    “

  • Paul Flynn – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    Paul Flynn – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Paul Flynn on 2016-01-11.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, with reference to the Answer of 19 December 2006 to an oral question from the former hon. Member for North Devon, on Nuclear Weapons, Official Report, column 1902W, what plan his Department has for ensuring an adequate supply of tritium to maintain the UK’s nuclear weapons’ capability until 2055; and what the projected cost of those plans is.

    Mr Philip Dunne

    This information is being withheld for the purpose of safeguarding national security.

  • Karen Buck – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    Karen Buck – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Karen Buck on 2016-02-03.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if she will rank primary schools in each London borough by the proportion of pupils with non-statutory special needs; and what type each such school is.

    Edward Timpson

    The proportion and number of children with non-statutory special needs, identified as ‘SEN support’ in each primary and secondary school, including type of school in London can be calculated from the underlying data of the publication Special educational needs in England: January 2015. This publication can be found on GOV.UK: https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/special-educational-needs-in-england-january-2015

    We have no plans to rank this data.

    “

  • Sarah Champion – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Sarah Champion – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Sarah Champion on 2016-03-01.

    To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what guidance she has issued to local authorities on the provision of specialist BME domestic violence services.

    Karen Bradley

    We are determined to ensure that all victims of domestic violence, including those from black and minority ethnic communities, have the same opportunities to access the criminal justice system and the appropriate support and services.

    The Government has already committed £40 million for domestic abuse services including refugees between 2016 and 2020, provided a £2 million grant to Women’s Aid and SafeLives to support a new domestic abuse early intervention project, protected funding of over £6.4 million to 86 female Rape Support Centres for 2016/17. We have also committed to a further year of funding to support the local provision of 144 Independent Domestic Violence Advisers (IDVAs) and 87 Independent Sexual Violence Advisers for 2016/17.

    The Government will shortly publish an updated Violence Against Women and Girls (VAWG) strategy which will set out how we will work with local areas and specialist charities to support all victims of VAWG, including black and ethnic minority victims.

  • Robert Syms – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    Robert Syms – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Robert Syms on 2016-03-23.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what estimate he has made of the number of public houses which have gone out of business since 1 July 2007.

    Anna Soubry

    The Government does not compile statistics on pub closures and has made no estimate of the number of pubs that have closed.

  • Kelly Tolhurst – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    Kelly Tolhurst – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Kelly Tolhurst on 2016-04-28.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether local authorities will retain responsibility for school deficits under the proposals in her Department’s White Paper, Educational excellence everywhere, published in March 2016.

    Edward Timpson

    Deficits for schools which convert to become sponsored academies remain with the local authority. These deficits remain with their local authority as these schools were the responsibility of the authority when they were found to be failing or underperforming and it is the authority’s responsibility for ensuring the school managed its expenditure satisfactorily. Guidance on how deficits for converter and sponsored academies are dealt with is available on GOV.UK at: https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/416430/School_balances_on_conversion_submission.pdf

    Local authorities are responsible for ensuring the financial viability of maintained schools and ensuring any deficits are cleared within 3 years.

    “

  • Emily Thornberry – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    Emily Thornberry – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Emily Thornberry on 2016-06-13.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, with reference to the oral contribution of the Minister of State, Earl Howe, House of Lords Official Report, 27 April 2016, column 1202, when the new crime registrar for the service police will be appointed.

    Mark Lancaster

    The post of Service Police Force Incident and Crime Registrar is currently being advertised internally to Ministry of Defence civil servants in accordance with civil service recruiting rules. The closing date is 28 June. In the event that no one suitable is identified, the position will be advertised more widely in the civil service before consideration for external recruitment. The date of appointment to the position is dependent on the outcome of the recruitment process.