The below Parliamentary question was asked by Ian Austin on 2016-01-28.
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many and what proportion of short school inspections carried out last term were converted into a full section 5 inspection; and if she will list those inspections.
Nick Gibb
This is a matter for Her Majesty’s Chief Inspector, Sir Michael Wilshaw. I have asked him to write to you and a copy of his reply will be placed in the House Libraries.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Stephen Phillips on 2016-02-24.
To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what steps his Department is taking to increase the number of successful prosecutions for tax evasion.
Mr David Gauke
At Summer Budget 2015, the Government announced an investment of £800 million to tackle non‑compliance and tax evasion.
This investment includes £266 million and 670 new HMRC staff to tackle tax fraud, which will lead to a tripling of the number of criminal investigations into the most serious and complex tax crimes.
The Government is also consulting on new criminal powers to tackle offshore tax evasion and corporate facilitation of tax evasion.
This all builds on the Government’s earlier investment into HMRC, which enabled the Department to achieve a seven-fold increase in the number of prosecutions over the course of the last parliament and contributed to the protection over £2 billion of vital public revenue last year.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Richard Burgon on 2016-03-23.
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many Tier 2 intra-company transfers for what roles or job descriptions were issued to UK companies in each of the last five years; and what salary each such transferee received.
James Brokenshire
Information on the number of Certificates of Sponsorship (CoS) that have been issued by Tier 2 (Intra Company Transfer) sponsors, broken down by the job titles of those they sought to employ and the salary each transferee was to receive, for each of the last five years, will be placed in the House Library. To break these figures down further into in and out of country applications, and whether the application was successful would require manual intervention that would incur disproportionate costs.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Wills on 2016-04-22.
To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether they intend fully to fund measures to implement the recommendations set out in the Choice in end of life care review.
Lord Prior of Brampton
The Government recognises that the response to the Review of Choice in End of Life Care is keenly awaited. Ensuring that everyone at, or nearing, the end of life receives high quality, compassionate care, tailored to their individual needs and preferences is a priority for this Government, and the response to the Choice Review is therefore being carefully considered.
As previously set out, in its response the Government will address each of the Review recommendations including: care coordination; improving the quality, availability and responsiveness of care; improving the quality and use of data; care planning and the use of digital care records; and the involvement of family members and carers in discussions about care. Further details regarding the publication of the response, which is expected shortly, will be made available when it is appropriate to do so.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Sir Nicholas Soames on 2016-06-06.
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what will comprise a Carrier Escort Group in respect of (a) air-defence, (b) counter-mine and (c) anti-submarine escorts.
Penny Mordaunt
The Queen Elizabeth Class (QEC) Aircraft Carriers will operate as part of a Maritime Task Group, tailored to specific operational requirements, including any potential threats from land, air or sea.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Mark Hendrick on 2016-09-02.
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what steps her Department is taking to implement the actions identified for it in the Government’s Ending Violence against Women and Girls Strategy 2016-2020, published in March 2016; and when a member of staff from her Department last attended a Violence against Women and Girls Stakeholder Meeting chaired by the Home Office.
Dr Phillip Lee
Actions in the VAWG Action Plan are monitored through the VAWG Delivery Board, the VAWG Inter Ministerial Group and bilateral meetings between Home Office and OGD officials.
The VAWG Stakeholder Meeting is a meeting between Home Office officials and attendees from the voluntary and community sector working in the violence against women and girls policy area. It is not routinely attended by officials from other government departments. The most recent meeting took place on July 11. While OGDs do not routinely attend, as this meeting is primarily between the Home Office and the sector, an action point raised by the sector at this meeting was their desire for other Government departments to be represented at future meetings. This will be taken forward by the Home Office by inviting OGD officials to future meetings.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Baroness Hayter of Kentish Town on 2016-10-10.
To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether they plan to repeal the European Parliamentary Elections Act 2002 which provides for elections to the European Parliament.
Baroness Chisholm of Owlpen
On 23 June, the EU referendum took place and the people of the United Kingdom voted to leave the European Union. That is exactly what this Government will deliver. We will review in due course the appropriate legislative changes needed to enable Britain’s exit from the European Union. Our Great Repeal Bill will end the primacy of EU law in the UK, and transpose the acquis into domestic law, helping us in this process.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Hunt of Kings Heath on 2015-10-29.
To ask Her Majesty’s Government how they have ensured that the National Health Service has fully absorbed the lessons of the Public Accounts Committee report identifying significant weaknesses in central government’s capacity to monitor and enforce contracts with large private companies.
Lord Prior of Brampton
The Department is addressing the recommendations set out in the Public Accounts Committee Report. Through our normal accountability arrangements we have sought assurance from our arm’s length bodies (ALBs), including NHS England, that they have the necessary organisational architecture in place to support good contract management and will continually strive to improve by applying best practice. The Department is building a contract management function which will seek to advise ALBs on how to apply effective contract management.
Each ALB will be responsible for determining its next steps. Each ALB will need to provide the necessary assurances that it is operating effectively and that it has the requisite capability and capacity to support effective contract management of significant amounts of public money.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Kevan Jones on 2015-11-26.
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, how much his Department has spent on Rapid Deployment Teams in each year since 2010.
James Duddridge
The running costs, including recruiting, training and exercising the four global Rapid Deployment Team cadres were £633,735 in FY 2011/12, £626,466 in FY 2012/13, £720,731 in FY 2013/14 and £578,832 in FY 2014/15. We have spent £397,913 in FY 2015/16 to date. Due to the introduction of a new financial accounting system in 2010, figures for 2010/11 are not readily available.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Ben Howlett on 2016-01-11.
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if she will make representations to exam boards to remove the five per cent marking for spelling and grammar for dyslexic students.
Nick Gibb
In 2013 the Government restored the policy of marks for spelling, punctuation and use of grammar (SPaG)to GCSE exams as a key part of our commitment to high standards and to ensuring that GCSEs match expectations set in the highest performing jurisdictions internationally. It gives a real incentive to teachers to provide effective support to all their students to improve their written communication skills.
For those pupils with special educational needs, including those with dyslexia, appropriate reasonable adjustments, including extra time, are available, as necessary. Details can be found in the Joint Council for Qualifications’ “Access Arrangements, Reasonable Adjustments and Special Consideration” at: http://www.jcq.org.uk/exams-office/access-arrangements-and-special-consideration/regulations-and-guidance
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