Category: Speeches

  • Yasmin Qureshi – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    Yasmin Qureshi – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Yasmin Qureshi on 2016-06-06.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps she has taken to implement the provision of 15 additional hours of free childcare for working parents provided for under the Childcare Act 2016.

    Mr Sam Gyimah

    At the 2015 Spending Review, the Government announced that we would provide £300 million for a significant uplift to the rate paid for the free childcare entitlements for two-, three- and four-year-olds from 2017-18. Together with the funding announced at last summer’s Budget, we will be investing over £1 billion more per year by 2019-20 to fund our commitments on the entitlements.

    The Childcare Act, which provides the legal framework for the extended entitlement, received Royal Assent in March. We also announced in February the eight early implementer local authorities which will offer the extended free childcare entitlement from September 2016. This means around 5,000 children will be able to benefit from 30 hours of high-quality free childcare places a year earlier than planned.

    The Department is also consulting on key elements of the operation and delivery of the extended free entitlement. This includes how the entitlement will be delivered, and how it will meet and be responsive to the needs of working parents. To date we have received over 1000 responses from a wide range of childcare providers, local authorities and provider organisations. We will use these views to inform our thinking as we move to delivering the 30 hours policy. The consultation is available at: https://consult.education.gov.uk/early-years-funding/childcare-free-entitlement

    “

  • Jo Stevens – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    Jo Stevens – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jo Stevens on 2016-09-02.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what estimate she has made of the cost of recalling 22,412 people to custody over the last 12 months.

    Mr Sam Gyimah

    There are several agencies involved in recalling and returning offenders to custody. The information requested is not held centrally.

  • Lord Inglewood – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    Lord Inglewood – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Inglewood on 2016-10-10.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether they have any plans to reintroduce exchange controls following Brexit.

    Lord Young of Cookham

    The UK has an inflation target, not an exchange rate target, and Her Majesty’s Government does not express a view on the level of exchange rates. Instead, the exchange rate is allowed to adjust flexibly in response to economic conditions and movements in sterling are determined by market forces.

    This framework means we do not need to introduce exchange rate controls.

  • Lord Marlesford – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    Lord Marlesford – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Marlesford on 2015-10-29.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government in what circumstances they would consider using British military assets to prevent President Assad from using barrel bombs against civilians in Syria.

    Earl Howe

    We have repeatedly demanded that Assad ceases the use of barrel bombs and called on his allies, Russia and Iran, to apply pressure to that end. Ultimately, a negotiated political transition is the only way to end the conflict and alleviate Syria’s humanitarian crisis. Any decision to commit UK military assets in order to prevent Assad’s use of these indiscriminate weapons would be subject to appropriate legal consideration, close consultation with allies and the endorsement of the House of Commons.

  • Luciana Berger – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Luciana Berger – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Luciana Berger on 2015-11-26.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, with reference to the Answer of 12 September 2014 to Question 208785, how much of the £17 million budget for the NHS England Children and Young People’s Improving Access to Psychological Therapies Transformation programme for 2014-15 was spent; and on what that funding was spent.

    Alistair Burt

    The full £17 million has been spent on the NHS England and Health Education England Children and Young People’s Improving Access to Psychological Therapies (CYP IAPT) Transformation programme for 2014-15.

    The funds were spent on delivering the programme to 65 Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services (CAMHS) partnerships of National Health Service and local authority commissioners working with statutory and non-statutory providers covering 68% of the 0-19 population in England. The model of delivery for the programme is through five Learning Collaboratives made up of Higher Education Institutes and the relevant CAMHS partnerships.

    The collaboratives deliver training, peer mentoring for new partnerships and have a support and challenge role to enable services to deliver a choice of evidence based outcomes focussed interventions in collaboration with children, young people and their families.

    Partnerships also receive funds to backfill staff whilst training, outreach service development and infrastructure improvement.

    In addition, the programme funded participation by children, young people and parents at a national and local level and data capture to inform service planning.

    The direct training delivered includes:

    – Cognitive Behavioural Therapy for the treatment of anxiety and depression;

    – Parenting Therapy for the treatment of conduct disorders in those aged 0-10;

    – Interpersonal Therapy for Adolescents for the treatment of moderate to severe depression;

    – Systemic Family Practice for the treatment of conduct disorders in the over 10s, self-harm and depression, and eating disorders;

    – Enhanced Evidence Based Practice which teaches practitioners the basic principles of CYP IAPT;

    – All therapy courses have a course for training supervisors; and

    – Service leadership and management.

    The table below outlines the numbers of trainees that were recruited in the 14-15 academic year.

    Training Numbers from 14-15

    Course

    Number of trainees

    Therapy training

    262

    Supervisor training

    87

    Practitioner training

    178

    Service leaders

    59

  • Fiona Bruce – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    Fiona Bruce – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Fiona Bruce on 2016-01-11.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Education, with reference to her Department’s consultation, Out-of-school education settings: call for evidence, published on 26 November 2015, what definition her Department uses for (a) supplementary schools, (b) tuition centres, (c) intensive education and (d) the eight hours threshold for inspection.

    Nick Gibb

    The Government wants children to be educated in a safe environment where they are not exposed to hateful and extremist views that undermine British values.

    The call for evidence on out-of-school settings described:

    (a) Supplementary schools as settings which offer support or education in addition to mainstream or core learning, and which operate after school hours and on the weekends; and

    (b) Tuition centres as settings which could often be used in place of mainstream education and support home education, and which can operate at any time of day.

    The proposals are about making sure that where there are concerns raised by parents and others about issues of extremism, child cruelty or inappropriate teaching in unregulated settings, the Government can take action to protect children and empower parents.

    The call for evidence defined intensive education as anything which entails an individual child attending a setting for more than betweensix toeight hours a week. Such settings would be required to register with their local authority and be eligible for inspection where concerns were reported.

    Settings providing ad hoc classes or regular classes below a specified time threshold would not be captured by the proposal. One-week holiday clubs and Sunday schools would not, therefore, be covered. The proposal is intended to capture settings where children receive intensive education, regardless of faith or whether provided by a community group.

  • Gregory Campbell – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    Gregory Campbell – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Gregory Campbell on 2016-01-28.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, within what timescale she expects the Common Fisheries Policy objectives to be met.

    George Eustice

    On the Common Fisheries Policy’s principal objectives with deadlines, the UK is committed to implementing the landing obligation on all quota species by 2019, and to be fishing all stocks at Maximum Sustainable Yield (MSY) by 2020 at the latest.

  • Kate Hoey – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    Kate Hoey – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Kate Hoey on 2016-02-23.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, how many and what proportion of trade union members in (a) Great Britain and (b) Northern Ireland pay the political levy.

    Nick Boles

    The latest Annual Report of the Certification Officer shows that 4,954,606 union members in Great Britain paid the political levy in the period 2013-2014. This represents 70.67% of the total number of individuals who were union members in the same period.[1]

    Employment law is a devolved matter in Northern Ireland and I am not able to respond to the questions relating to Northern Ireland.

    [1] Political Funds of Trade Unions, 2013-2014, Annual Report 2015/2016 of the Certification Officer, page 68-69, available at https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/449387/CO_Annual_Report__2014-2015_.pdf

    “

  • Nigel Evans – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for International Development

    Nigel Evans – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for International Development

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Nigel Evans on 2016-03-23.

    To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, when the UK is joining the EU Consortium to support the construction of small-scale infrastructure in Area C; and whether such construction has received planning permission from the Israeli government.

    Mr Desmond Swayne

    The UK is committed to Palestinian development in Area C. We continue to urge the Government of Israel to develop improved mechanisms for zoning, planning and permitting in Area C for the benefit of the Palestinian population, including by facilitating local Palestinian participation in such processes. The UK has allocated £900,000 for the development of basic social infrastructure in areas which have an outline plan in the approval process, through an EU consortium. The EU consults with the local communities themselves and the Israeli authorities where necessary.

  • Viscount Waverley – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Viscount Waverley – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Viscount Waverley on 2016-04-21.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government how many UK Heads of Mission in Arabic-speaking countries speak Arabic.

    Baroness Anelay of St Johns

    In the Middle East and North Africa region approximately 95 per cent of our Heads of Mission speak Arabic or other local languages (e.g. French or Hebrew).