Category: Speeches

Nick Clegg – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Nick Clegg on 2016-04-28.

To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what assessment he has made of the effectiveness of the assets of community value scheme in protecting community pubs in (a) Sheffield and (b) England.

Mr Marcus Jones

The Department has made no specific assessment of the effectiveness of the scheme in protecting community pubs in Sheffield or in England, although my officials are undertaking a review of the implementation of the policy in relation to all assets across the country. They are engaging a broad range of stakeholders – local authorities, community groups, property owners – to listen to their reflections and experiences concerning the policy and any evidence on how the Community Right to Bid is working in practice. The Community Right to Bid is seen by many stakeholders as a powerful way for local people to send a clear signal to their local authorities and to owners of assets that they are keen to have say on the future of buildings which are central to their lives.

01/01/2023
Matthew Pennycook – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Matthew Pennycook on 2016-06-13.

To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what recent assessment he has made of the potential effect on the UK economy of the increase in corporate debt in China.

Damian Hinds

The Treasury continuously monitors global economic developments, including in China, and their impact on the UK as part of the normal process of policy development. As one of the most open trading economies in the world with a large financial sector, we have to recognise that the UK is not immune to the continued problems being experienced in the world economy. Nonetheless, the Bank of England’s 2015 stress tests modelled a severe slowdown in commodities and emerging markets. No banks were required to submit revised capital plans following the stress tests. These results indicate that the UK banking system would have the capacity to continue to lend to the real economy, even under such a severe adverse scenario.

01/01/2023
Amanda Solloway – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Amanda Solloway on 2016-09-02.

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if she will ensure that the review of fair funding for early years education includes steps to close the attainment gap in children at age five.

Caroline Dinenage

This Government is committed to narrowing the gap in attainment between the most disadvantaged children and their peers, including in the early years. We will be investing over £1 billion more per year by 2019-20 to fund our commitments on the early years entitlements – this includes £300 million per year from 2017-18 for a significant increase to the hourly rate paid for the two, three and four year old entitlements.

The 2014-15 Early Years Foundation Stage Profile results tell us that the proportion of children achieving a good level of development continues to increase – 66% in 2015, compared to 60% in 2014 and 52% in 2013. A higher proportion of children eligible for free school meals are achieving a good level of development – 51% in 2015 compared to 45% in 2014.

We need to continue this improvement. This is why we propose an additional needs factor in our new early years national funding formula, to channel funding towards local authorities with a higher relative proportion of children with additional needs.

The Government already provides additional funding for the most disadvantaged three- and four-year olds through the Early Years Pupil Premium. This will continue as a separate funding stream, additional to the early years national funding formula.

01/01/2023
Khalid Mahmood – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Khalid Mahmood on 2016-10-18.

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if she will publish an updated timetable on the development of the Institute for Apprenticeships.

Robert Halfon

The Institute for Apprenticeships will come into being in April 2017. We expect to publish further information about how the Institute will operate in due course.

01/01/2023
Bob Stewart – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Bob Stewart on 2015-11-05.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, if he has any plans to inform NHS users of the actual costs of visits, treatments and prescriptions.

Alistair Burt

The Government intends to publish the indicative medicine costs to the National Health Service on the dispensing label of all medicines dispensed in the community in England costing more than £20 from late 2016.

Reference costs, which show the average unit costs to National Health Service hospital trusts of treatments and visits, are published annually by the Department on the Government website. There are no plans to inform patients of these costs each time they use the service.

01/01/2023
Jim Shannon – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Shannon on 2015-11-30.

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what recent discussions he has had on the steps necessary to ensure driverless cars are safe before they are permitted on the road.

Andrew Jones

Officials in the Department for Transport, the Department for Business, Innovation & Skills and the Centre for Connected and Autonomous Vehicles are engaging on this issue at a national and international level. In July 2015 the Department for Transport published a Code of Practice for driverless cars to help make the UK the best place for testing without placing additional regulatory burden on industry and ensuring safety and security.

01/01/2023
Lord Polak – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Polak on 2016-01-11.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what representations they have made to Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas over recent reports that he said that violence by Palestinians constitutes a justified popular uprising”.”

Baroness Anelay of St Johns

Our Deputy Consul General to Jerusalem raised this issue with President Abbas’s Diplomatic Adviser, Majdi Khaldi, on 17 December. Mr Khaldi informed us that President Abbas condemned violence against Israelis and Palestinians.

01/01/2023
Sharon Hodgson – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Sharon Hodgson on 2016-02-03.

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, pursuant to the Answer of 28 January 2016 to Question 23325, how much specific additional funding her Department has provided to Ofsted and the Care Quality Commission to support their inspection of the effectiveness of local areas in fulfilling their new special educational needs and disabilities duties.

Edward Timpson

Local area inspections will begin in May 2016 and will be completed over the next five years. For this financial year of 2015-16, the Department has allocated £349,087 of funding to Ofsted and the Care Quality Commission to meet the costs of developing this new type of inspection. We intend to provide Ofsted with funding to support this activity over the next five years.

The data we will draw on to determine whether the special educational needs and disabilities provisions of the Children and Families Act have improved outcomes for children with special educational needs or a disability will include data on outcomes achieved by disabled children.

01/01/2023

Jim Fitzpatrick – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Fitzpatrick on 2016-03-01.

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many deaf children attended mainstream schools in England in each of the last 10 years; and how many such children were taught British Sign Language in each of those years.

Edward Timpson

The number of children with special educational needs (SEN) who have ‘hearing impairment’ listed as their primary need can be found in the annual statistical first release ‘Special Educational Needs in England’ on GOV.UK. Table 1, below, provides collated figures for the last ten years, for pupils attending state-funded primary and secondary schools. These figures include children in resourced provision or SEN units but not children in special schools. There will be children whose primary need is not ‘hearing impairment’ but who, nevertheless, have a hearing impairment. These children are not covered by this information.

From September 2014 the ’SEN support’ category replaced the ’school action’ and ‘school action plus’ categories. Those recoded, in 2015, as having ‘SEN support’ but who were formerly included in the ‘school action’ category will not previously have had a primary type of need recorded. This is likely to have contributed to the large increase – between 2014 and 2015 – in the numbers of children recorded as having a hearing impairment.

The Department does not collect statistics on the number of deaf children in mainstream schools who are being taught British Sign Language.

Table 1:

Year	2006	2007	2008	2009	2010	2011	2012	2013	2014	2015
State funded primary schools	6,390	6,570	6,650	6,860	7,230	7,370	7,510	7,610	7,915	9,275
State funded secondary schools	5,510	5,670	5,980	6,350	6,730	7,080	7,125	7,225	7,125	8,705
Total	11,900	12,240	12,630	13,210	13,960	14,450	14,635	14,835	15,040	17,980

The links to published data can be found here:

2015	https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/special-educational-needs-in-england-january-2015
2014	https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/special-educational-needs-in-england-january-2014
2013	https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/special-educational-needs-in-england-january-2013
2012	https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/special-educational-needs-in-england-january-2012
2011	https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/special-educational-needs-in-england-january-2011
2010	https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/special-educational-needs-in-england-january-2010
2009	http://webarchive.nationalarchives.gov.uk/20130401151655/http://www.education.gov.uk/researchandstatistics/statistics/allstatistics/a00196058/special-educational-needs
2008	http://webarchive.nationalarchives.gov.uk/20130401151655/http://www.education.gov.uk/researchandstatistics/statistics/allstatistics/a00195802/pupils-with-special-educational-needs
2007	http://webarchive.nationalarchives.gov.uk/20130401151655/http://www.education.gov.uk/researchandstatistics/statistics/allstatistics/a00195520/special-educational-needs-in-england-january-2007
2006	http://webarchive.nationalarchives.gov.uk/20130401151655/http://www.education.gov.uk/researchandstatistics/statistics/allstatistics/a00195201/special-educational-needs-in-england-january-2006

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01/01/2023

Lord Mancroft – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Mancroft on 2016-03-23.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether plans to introduce a hepatitis C improvement framework have been abandoned and, if so, why.

Lord Prior of Brampton

NHS England has been rapidly working on their plans for access to treatment during 2016/17 following enactment of the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence technical appraisal guidance and has committed to produce an operational framework for the treatment of hepatitis C during 2016/17. This will set out NHS England’s commitment to improving outcomes in hepatitis C across England.

01/01/2023