The below Parliamentary question was asked by Philip Davies on 2016-06-03.
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, how many complaints relating to equal pay were made by (a) male and (b) female employees of government departments in each of the last three years.
Matthew Hancock
This information is not held centrally.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Rob Marris on 2016-09-02.
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what steps she is taking to ensure that public-facing staff at sports venues have disability equality awareness training.
Tracey Crouch
Our Sports Strategy recognises the need for everyone to be able to access live sport and to benefit from the experience. It makes clear that sports venues need to provide an inclusive environment that welcomes all spectators.
We want sport to be at the forefront of equality and want to see all sports venues proactively consider and put into practice ways of engaging with and attracting a wider range of spectators, including disabled fans, ensuring the offer and the environment are inclusive and accessible to all.
We expect all sports and all clubs to take the necessary action to fulfil their legal obligation under the Equality Act of 2010 to make reasonable adjustments so that disabled people are not placed at a substantial disadvantage when accessing sports venues.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Ian Austin on 2016-10-17.
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps her Department is taking to ensure that local authorities are using the Community Trigger for reviewing reports of anti-social behaviour in a consistent way with respect to (a) the thresholds involved, (b) publicising the process and (c) publishing information on uses of the Community Trigger.
Sarah Newton
The Home Office does not collect or hold information on anti-social behaviour case reviews undertaken by local agencies using the Community Trigger process. The Government issued statutory guidance for frontline professionals in July 2014 on the use of powers to tackle anti-social behaviour introduced by the Anti-social Behaviour, Crime and Policing Act 2014.
This included information on the Community Trigger, including setting an appropriate threshold, publishing the procedure to be followed when making an application, and relevant data relating to use of the Trigger. We are currently reviewing the statutory guidance and we will publish revised guidance in due course if changes are required.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Caroline Lucas on 2015-11-04.
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many and what proportion of primary schools signed up to (a) Centre for Education and Monitoring, Durham University, (b) Early Excellence, (c) GL Assessment, (d) Hodder Education, (e) National Foundation for Educational Research and (f) Speech Link as baseline assessment providers by 30 April 2015; and which schemes were subsequently approved by her Department.
Nick Gibb
A full break down of suppliers which were removed from the approved list has not been provided because of potential commercial sensitivities for the suppliers.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Ouseley on 2015-12-01.
To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of the extent of self-harm among school children as a consequence of bullying in the education system.
Lord Nash
The Department has not made a systematic assessment of the extent of self-harm as a consequence of bullying. There is wide variation in reported rates of self-harming among school children because individuals often do not disclose it. However, schools are well placed to spot a change in behaviour that may indicate something is wrong. To assist school staff, we published advice for schools on mental health and behaviour, providing teachers with information and tools that will help them to identify and support pupils with mental health needs, including advice about making referrals to a specialist service when necessary. The advice includes specific information about self-harm and effective treatment, as well as a school case study about how to address mental health issues in a non-stigmatising way in the classroom.
The SEND Code of Practice makes it clear that schools need to look past any behaviour issues to identify underlying problems, including mental health issues, and put support in place where learning is affected. Our new joint training pilots with the NHS will further help to schools to effectively support children and young people with mental health concerns.
The new PSHE lesson plans include teaching about self-harm and to help schools teach about mental health we have funded the PSHE Association to provide new mental health guidance and resources. This will help schools provide age appropriate teaching about mental health issues through the teaching of PSHE.
All bullying is unacceptable and every school is required to have a behaviour policy with measures to tackle all forms of bullying. They are held to account by Ofsted and inspectors will look at records and analysis of bullying, discriminatory and prejudicial behaviour. In 2015-16, the Government has provided £3.3m to charitable organisations to help tackle bullying and to provide support for those who are bullied. This is further to the £4m provided over the period 2013-15.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Ian Austin on 2016-01-07.
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, how much funding has been allocated to the Illegal Money Lending Units over the next three years.
Nick Boles
A decision on funding allocations for the Illegal Money Lending teams will be taken shortly.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Andy Slaughter on 2016-02-02.
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, if he will issue a response to the Dying for Justice report published by the Institute of Race Relations in March 2015.
Dominic Raab
Every death in custody is a tragedy. Each one is investigated independently by the Prisons and Probation Ombudsman or the Independent Police Complaints Commission, and is the subject of a coroner’s inquest. Every effort is made to learn lessons from these investigations, and the prevention of further deaths is a priority for police, prisons and immigration detention services. The very small number of cases in which criminal offences are believed to have been committed are referred for further investigation by the police and/or to the Crown Prosecution Service, and where appropriate charges are brought. The final outcome in such cases is a matter for the courts.
The Dying for Justice report by the Institute of Race Relations, published in March 2015, highlighted the particular issue of deaths of Black and Minority Ethnic people in custody The Government is not intending to issue a response to the report though has considered its findings.
The report acknowledges some of the improvements that have been made during that period. It also reminds us of the enduring nature of many of the issues related to deaths in custody, particularly that the families of the deceased and others in the Black and Minority Ethnic community continue to lack confidence that appropriate action is being taken in response to such deaths. The Government is working to address this, for example through more effective liaison with families, as well as improvements to restraint techniques and training.
The Prime Minister has asked David Lammy MP to lead a review of the Criminal Justice System in England and Wales to investigate evidence of possible bias against black defendants and other ethnic minorities. With significant overrepresentation of Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic (BAME) individuals in the criminal justice system, the review will consider their treatment and outcomes to identify and help tackle potential bias or prejudice.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Andy Slaughter on 2016-02-23.
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many concerted indiscipline incidents of each type have occurred in each prison establishment in each month since May 2005.
Andrew Selous
Violence in prisons has increased in recent years. The nature of offenders currently in custody and the widespread availability of new psychoactive substances have both contributed to making prisons less safe. There is no single, simple solution to the problems we face but we are making progress.
We have launched a two year Violence Reduction project to help us to gain a better understanding of the causes and characteristics of violence. We are also trialling the use of body worn cameras in prisons, training sniffer dogs to detect new psychoactive substances and have made it an offence to smuggle new psychoactive substances into prison. However, ultimately the only way to reduce violence in our prisons is to give governors and those who work in prisons the tools necessary to more effectively reform and rehabilitate offenders.
Many Concerted indiscipline incidents vary widely in nature and duration and many of these incidents are relatively minor and of short duration and cause little disruption to the prison regime.
Note: The figures included in the table attached, have been drawn from the NOMS Incident Reporting System. Care is taken when processing and analysing the returns but the detail collected is subject to the inaccuracies inherent in any large scale recording system. Although the figures are shown to the last case the figures may not be accurate to that level.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Rupa Huq on 2016-03-22.
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many convictions for benefit fraud were overturned on appeal between 2010 and 2014.
Dominic Raab
The information requested is not available.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Diana Johnson on 2016-04-26.
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, if he will publish a summary of the findings of the Insolvency Service’s inquiry into the collapse of Comet.
Anna Soubry
The Insolvency Service investigated Comet under provisions of the Companies Act, which means it is not possible to publish the report.
However, I can confirm that, after careful consideration of the facts obtained in this investigation, it has been decided that no further enforcement action will be taken at this time.