The below Parliamentary question was asked by Barry Sheerman on 2016-10-17.
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what recent representations she has received from the National Union of Teachers on the effect of children’s centre closures.
Caroline Dinenage
We have no record of having recently received representations from the National Union of Teachers on the effect of children’s centre closures.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Craig Mackinlay on 2015-11-04.
To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, if he will (a) consider legal action to recover tax due from Volkswagen as a consequence of carbon dioxide outputs and nitrogen dioxide levels and (b) commit to not reassessing tax payments for an additional benefit in kind as a result of higher carbon dioxide outputting vehicles.
Damian Hinds
The Government takes the unacceptable actions of Volkswagen extremely seriously and is taking robust action to get to the bottom of the emissions sandal.
The Government has announced that no UK taxpayers will be penalised by higher taxes if their existing vehicles are found to be affected by the emissions testing scandal.
The Government continues to monitor the actions of Volkswagen closely and will consider all options once the facts are fully clarified.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Alan Brown on 2015-11-25.
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what assessment his Department has made of the feasibility of retaining the Vanguard submarines in service for approximately five years longer than envisaged in the 2010 Strategic Defence and Security Review.
Mr Philip Dunne
As set out in the 2010 Strategic Defence and Security Review, we have assessed that we can safely manage and maintain the Vanguard boats until the Successor submarines are introduced into service in the early 2030s. The marginal costs associated with maintaining the submarines can be contained within the existing running cost of the deterrent, which is around 6% of the defence budget per year.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Anne Main on 2016-01-08.
To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what steps she is taking to provide assistance to people in Madaya, Syria; and if she will work with allies of the UK, the United Nations and non-governmental organisations to provide humanitarian relief to that region.
Mr Desmond Swayne
The UK has been at the forefront of the response to the crisis in Syria and the region. We have pledged over £1.1 billion, making us the second largest bilateral donor after the US. We also co-sponsored and lobbied hard for the passage of UN Security Council Resolutions 2165, 2191 and 2258 which call on the parties to allow rapid, safe and unhindered access for humanitarian aid to besieged and hard to reach places. We are working to bring about an inclusive political solution to end the conflict in Syria through our engagement in the International Syria Support Group, with the UN Special Envoy for Syria, and with the Syrian Opposition.
The UK has provided support to the UN and international NGOs (INGOs) since the start of the conflict to deliver aid in hard to reach and besieged areas of Syria, including Madaya.
On 11 January 2016, the UN, the International Committee of the Red Cross and the Syrian Arab Red Crescent confirmed that aid convoys of humanitarian assistance had arrived in the hard to reach towns of Madaya, Foah and Kefraya. Two further convoys have been given permission. The convoy is expected to meet survival needs of the 40,000 persons inside Madaya, and of 20,000 people inside Foah and Kefraya. DFID funding to UN agencies is directly supporting the current convoy with food parcels, nutritional supplements, essential drugs and non-food items including winterisation kits.
The UK worked with partners in the UN Security Council to put humanitarian access in Madaya, and across Syria, on the Security Council’s agenda on Monday 11 January.
In February 2016, the UK will invite world leaders to London for a Conference to support immediate needs and identify longer-term solutions to address the needs of those affected by the crisis.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Charlotte Leslie on 2016-02-02.
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what proportion of total postings and how many ambassadors have held Operational level (C1) examination passes in the official language of the country to which they were posted in each year since 2006.
Mr Tobias Ellwood
We appointed 53 Ambassadors in 2015. Of these 24 were appointed to speaker slots and 10 have an Operational level C1 examination pass. The FCO Language Centre was re-opened in September 2013 to renew the focus and investment in languages as a core diplomatic skill to ensure that we get the right people with the right skills in the right jobs to deliver our foreign policy objectives. The Language Centre gives us a strong platform to grow our language skills as an organisation and develop a pipeline of talent to fill language slots on a continuous basis. To provide statistics for the years 2006-14 would incur disproportionate cost.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Nadine Dorries on 2016-02-23.
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, how many women have died from primary cervical cancer at the age of (a) 20, (b) 21, (c) 22, (d) 23, (e) 24 and (f) 25 in each year since 2003.
Mr Rob Wilson
The information requested falls within the responsibility of the UK Statistics Authority. I have asked the Authority to reply.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Ruth Cadbury on 2016-03-22.
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment he has made of the potential effect on the availability of housing of plans to demolish homes in the event of a third runway being built at Heathrow Airport.
Mr Robert Goodwill
The Government continues to consider the large amount of very detailed analysis contained in the Airports Commission’s Final Report, including on housing demand and loss, before taking any decisions on next steps.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Northbourne on 2016-04-27.
To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of whether their proposal to change the status of all secondary schools in England to academies would mean that maintained schools no longer have an obligation to deliver sex and relationship education.
Lord Nash
Maintained secondary schools must continue to meet their existing statutory duties. All maintained secondary schools are required to teach sex and relationship education and we expect academies to teach it as part of a broad and balanced curriculum.
As announced in February, we will continue to keep the status of PSHE under review and work with a group of leading headteachers and practitioners to identify further action we can take to ensure that all pupils receive high quality, age appropriate PSHE and sex and relationship education.
When any school, including academies, teaches sex and relationship education, they must have regard to the Secretary of State’s statutory Sex and Relationship Education Guidance (2000). The guidance makes clear that all such lessons should be age-appropriate and that schools should ensure young people develop positive values and a moral framework that will guide their decisions, judgments and behaviour.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Shannon on 2016-06-06.
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what guidance his Department has issued to parents on recommended amounts of sleep for children.
Jane Ellison
NHS Choices provides guidance for parents on the amounts of sleep for children at different ages as well as advice and support for parents and children about sleep hygiene. There is no national guidance on evidence-based recommended sleep duration for children because of the significant variation between children and the focus of advice to parents is on good bedtime routines and how to prevent and respond to common sleep problems.
The Start4Life Information Service for Parents includes advice on how to ease babies into good sleeping habits and dealing with common sleep problems. Content for the service is regularly updated and Public Health England (PHE) will continue to address the issue of sleep in children under five via the Start4Life Information Service for Parents.
PHE has also developed specific advice resources on sleep issues for children and young people with the Royal College of Psychiatrists in the MindEd programme.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by David Lammy on 2016-09-02.
To ask the Secretary of State for Exiting the European Union, what budget his Department has set for paying staff (a) on secondment from external companies and (b) engaged as external contractors or consultants for each year from 2016 to 2020.
Mr David Jones
The new Department for Exiting the European Union is properly resourced. Detailed work is underway to establish the final budget required to fulfill the Department’s functions, set-up and responsibilities. This budget will be voted on by Parliament at the Supplementary Estimate.