The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Cunningham on 2016-05-25.
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what estimate her Department has made of the funding available to the Waste and Resources Action Programme in each of the next five years; and if she will make a statement.
Rory Stewart
The current 2016/17 grant agreement for the Waste and Resources Action Programme (WRAP) is £13m.
Future year’s allocations have yet to be finalised.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Antoinette Sandbach on 2016-07-21.
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether HS2 Ltd has used (a) InSAR surveys and (b) other survey methods to survey ground movements on the proposed route of phase 2B of HS2 between Crewe and Manchester/Leeds.
Andrew Jones
HS2 Ltd has not commissioned any satellite (InSAR) surveys nor (to date) any purchase of existing/historical data or bespoke analysis of that.
HS2 Ltd has carried out two Lidar surveys of the proposed route of phase 2B of HS2 between Crewe and Manchester, with a view to comparing the two datasets to appraise ground movements in the time between the two surveys. This is work in progress. Other available Lidar data (made available by the Environment Agency) has been used to manually appraise ground movements of specific locations in the saltfield.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Bridget Phillipson on 2016-10-07.
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps she is taking to ensure that the introduction of a new national funding formula will prioritise schools in disadvantaged areas for the allocation of funding.
Nick Gibb
The national funding formula will ensure that all children, whatever their background, are supported to achieve their full potential. Children from deprived backgrounds will attract funding in addition to the basic per pupil amount so that they get the extra help they need to succeed. We will also continue to provide targeted funding through the pupil premium, worth £2.5 billion this year.
We proposed in the first stage of the national funding formula consultation to use a combined pupil-and area-level deprivation measure in the formula to best identify those children and schools that need additional support. We will put forward our detailed proposals in the next stage of consultation later this year.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Maginnis of Drumglass on 2016-10-21.
To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether they are planning to restrict the ability of local authorities to request information about children’s self-perception of their sexual orientation.
Lord Nash
The Department for Education do not require schools or local authorities to collect any information on the sexual orientation of children. Any information collected locally by schools and / or local authorities on sexual orientation for their own purposes is a matter for them to manage locally.
The Department for Education has provided schools with guidance on complying with the Equality Act.
The Public Sector Equality Duty, at section 149 of the Equality Act 2010, is a duty on public bodies (and others carrying out public functions) to consider, in their day to day work, the needs of people who share particular protected characteristics. This includes schools and children’s services.
Under the Duty, public bodies must have due regard to the need to:
The Equality Duty covers the protected characteristics listed in the Equality Act, which includes age, disability, gender reassignment, pregnancy and maternity, race, religion or belief, sex and sexual orientation.
Guidance on complying with the Act and the Equality Duty can be found on GOV.UK (under Equality Act 2010 guidance). Earlier guidance formed under the Coalition Government has been archived on the National Archives website (under the ‘Equality Bill’ guidance). The Equality and Human Rights Commission has also issued guidance on the Public Sector Equality Duty.
Local authorities will also have to comply with the requirements of the Data Protection Act 1998 on the data they collect. The Information Commissioner’s Office state that data should only be collected if organisations have legitimate grounds for collecting and using the personal data; that they do not use the data in ways that have unjustified adverse effects on the individuals concerned; that they be transparent about how they intend to use the data, and give individuals appropriate privacy notices when collecting their personal data.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Helen Jones on 2015-11-10.
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, when post-16 education in Warrington is planned to be reviewed under the area review process; and if he will make a statement.
Nick Boles
All colleges in England will be subject to an Area Review. The timing of individual areas will be published in due course once they have been agreed by the National Area Review Steering Group. We have said that we will announce the area reviews in a series of waves, decisions on which area will be included in each wave will take account of a number of factors including whether colleges are deemed to be at financial risk.
We expect reviews to last 3-4 months based on our early experiences, and we anticipate they will all be completed by March 2017.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Daniel Zeichner on 2016-01-06.
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment he has made of the effect of the cycle to work scheme on the number of non-cyclists taking up cycling.
Mr Robert Goodwill
The Cycle to Work Scheme is an employee benefit covered by an exemption and therefore employers do not have to make an annual tax return regarding the benefit.
The Cycle to Work Alliance (made up of Cyclescheme, Cycle Solutions, Evans Cycles and Halfords) have provided figures of the take up from Jan –September 2015 141,454 people participated in the scheme.
A recent survey by the Alliance showed that 62% of participants in the scheme were either non-cyclists, novice cyclists (cycling less than once a month) or occasional cyclists (cycling once or twice a month) before joining the scheme. Having joined the scheme 79% of respondents described themselves as enthusiastic cyclists.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Andrew Gwynne on 2016-01-26.
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what factors she takes into account in considering a request from a local authority to dispose of school sites under Schedule 14 of the Education Act 2011.
Edward Timpson
Since January 2013, the Secretary of State for Education has received:
These figures include applications in those local authorities relating to land held by Academy Trusts under a lease from the local authority.
The Education Act 2011 requires that the Secretary of State must give consent prior to the disposal of land which has been used for any school or academy in the last eight years. Secretary of State consent is also required under section 77 of the School Standards and Framework Act 1998 where local authorities wish to dispose of playing field land that has been used by a school in the last ten years. A key consideration for the government is whether the land proposed for disposal could be suitable for use by a new school.
There are a range of reasons for these disposals. Some disposals are leases from the academy trustees back to the local authority, which allow a children’s centre on site to continue or which provide land for another school. A substantial number of consents refer to local authority maintained school sites for outright disposals where the school has closed or relocated to a new build site.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Emily Thornberry on 2016-02-23.
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many people in receipt of a war disablement pension are also in receipt of the (a) age-related tax allowance, (b) allowance for lowered standard of occupation and (c) unemployability supplement.
Mark Lancaster
The Ministry of Defence does not hold information on how many people in receipt of a War Pension are also in receipt of the age-related tax allowance, as this is administered by Her Majesty’s Revenue and Customs. However, as at 31 March 2015 (the latest date information is available) there were 41,470* disablement pensioners born before 6 April 1938 who may meet the eligibility criteria to receive age-related tax allowance.
As at 31 March 2015 (the latest date information is available) there were 116,050 disablement pensioners in receipt of an ongoing pension under the War Pension Scheme. Of these, 10,195 were in receipt of an allowance for lowered standard of occupation, and 6,250 were in receipt of unemployability supplement. All payments made under the War Pension Scheme are tax free.
These figures can be found on the Gov.uk website at the following link:
https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/war-pension-recipients-index
* In line with Defence Statistics’ Rounding Policy for War Pension Scheme data, all figures of five or more have been rounded to the nearest five.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Lester of Herne Hill on 2016-03-21.
To ask Her Majesty’s Government, in considering the future of the Human Rights Act 1998, what regard they will have to the findings of the Scottish Parliament’s European and External Relations Committee as outlined in the letter of 17 March from the Convener of that Committee to the Lord Chancellor on the proposal for the Supreme Court to function as a constitutional court and in particular that it would require significant constitutional change” and would pose “practical problems” for Scotland’s separate legal system.”
Lord Faulks
The Prime Minister indicated last year that he wanted to examine the way that Germany and other EU nations uphold their constitution and sovereignty. We have considered the Committee’s report with interest and will consult fully on our proposals for a Bill of Rights in due course.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Derek Thomas on 2016-04-18.
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, when the Government plans to publish the White Paper on the BBC Charter.
Mr Edward Vaizey
The Government will set out its plans for the future of the BBC in a White Paper in May.