Category: Speeches

  • Nic Dakin – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    Nic Dakin – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Nic Dakin on 2016-01-19.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps her Department is taking to increase the number of qualified teachers.

    Nick Gibb

    Teaching continues to be a hugely popular career. The number of teachers returning to the classroom continues to rise and in 2015/16 we recruited more trainee primary school teachers than our target. We recognise the challenge school leaders face in some parts of the country, and are working to address this with action.

    We are committed to attracting more top graduates into teaching, and have already announced increased bursaries and other financial incentives in those core academic subjects that help children achieve their potential; including tax free bursaries of up to £30,000.

    We have significantly expanded the School Direct teacher training route which gives schools more opportunity to recruit and train their own high-quality teachers and future leaders. This year over 10,000 trainees are starting School Direct courses, up from 9,000 last year.

    We have funded the expansion of Teach First into every region of England. Teach First will have the scope to reach 90 per cent of eligible schools by 2016, boosting our commitment to recruit more top teachers in rural, coastal and disadvantaged areas.

    In addition, the Department recently announced the ‘Supporting Returning Teachers’ pilot, to support secondary schools to improve teacher recruitment in priority subjects by removing the barriers that prevent inactive but qualified teachers from returning to the classroom. As part of this pilot, we are helping schools to provide a tailored package of support for those wishing to return to the profession and offering grant funding of up to £1,900 per teacher recruited.

  • Nicholas Soames – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    Nicholas Soames – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Nicholas Soames on 2016-02-10.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what countries take part in Flag Officer Sea Training courses for surface ships and submarines.

    Penny Mordaunt

    Each year, a number of countries participate in training with Flag Officer Sea Training. In 2015, the following 58 countries undertook training: Albania, Australia, Austria, Azerbaijan, Bahamas, Bahrain, Bangladesh, Belize, Brunei, Canada, Chile, Colombia, Denmark, Egypt, Estonia, France, Germany, Georgia, Ghana, India, Indonesia, Ireland, Italy, Jamaica, Jordan, Kenya, Korea, Kuwait, Lebanon, Libya, Malaysia, Malta, Morocco, Mozambique, Netherlands, New Zealand, Nigeria, Norway, Oman, Pakistan, Philippines, Poland, Portugal, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Senegal, Seychelles, Singapore, Somaliland, South Africa, Trinidad and Tobago, Tunisia, Turkey, Ukraine, United Arab Emirates, Uruguay, Vietnam and Yemen.

  • Helen Jones – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    Helen Jones – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Helen Jones on 2016-03-08.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how much funding her Department has made available for training teachers to undertake the new key stage 1 and key stage 2 tests.

    Nick Gibb

    Schools are provided with general funding to teach the programmes of study, as set out in the national curriculum, to their pupils and to administer the statutory tests. Teaching the curriculum provides the best possible preparation for pupils to undertake the new key stage 1 and key stage 2 tests.

  • Baroness Featherstone – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Baroness Featherstone – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Baroness Featherstone on 2016-04-11.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what is the 10 year rule that is given as the reason that Lord Owen’s and Lord Jenkin of Roding’s ministerial papers in regard to contaminated blood were destroyed.

    Lord Prior of Brampton

    We do not recognise that a ten year rule has been established for the destruction of records created by ministers. The Department works to the guidance published by The National Archives on the appraisal and selection of official records which are retained and transferred for permanent preservation.

  • Paul Monaghan – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Energy and Climate Change

    Paul Monaghan – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Energy and Climate Change

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Paul Monaghan on 2016-05-18.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, what recent estimate she has made of the cost to the National Grid of the London Power Tunnels project; and how much of that cost is related to (a) civil engineering, (b) electrical engineering and (c) equipment.

    Andrea Leadsom

    National Grid has said that the overall cost of the project is around £1bn and while it is always difficult to breakdown costs simply into different engineering elements, they have estimated the following:

    Tunnels and associated mechanical and electrical work 50%

    High voltage cable procurement, installation and testing 15%

    Substation works (including civil ground works at these locations) 26%

    Land and required permissions 9%

    Ofgem is responsible for regulating National Grid, to ensure that the work they do represents value for money for consumers.

  • Paul Blomfield – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Paul Blomfield – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Paul Blomfield on 2016-07-11.

    To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many slavery and trafficking prevention orders on sentencing have been (a) applied for and (b) made under section 14 of the Modern Slavery Act 2015.

    Karen Bradley

    16 Slavery and Trafficking Prevention Orders (STPOs) have been made on sentencing in the Crown Court under section 14 of the Modern Slavery Act. Data on the number of STPOs applied for on sentencing is not collated centrally. No STPOs have been applied for or made in the Magistrates’ Court.

    No slavery and trafficking prevention orders have been applied for or made on application under section 15 of the Modern Slavery Act in the Magistrates’ Court.

    Nine Slavery and Trafficking Risk Orders have been applied for on application to the Magistrates’ Court, of which three have been made. Of the remaining six, two were refused, one was withdrawn and three cases were adjourned.

    This data has been run specifically to answer this question and is not verified to the same standard as Official Statistics.

  • Lord Jopling – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Leader of the House of Lords

    Lord Jopling – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Leader of the House of Lords

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Jopling on 2016-09-13.

    To ask the Leader of the House what explanation she has received from the Ministry of Justice concerning its failure to answer by 9 September a Question for Written Answer that was asked on 20 July (HL1379).

    Baroness Evans of Bowes Park

    The Lord Privy Seal (Baroness Evans of Bowes Park):

    I regularly stress to departments the importance of giving timely answers to Questions for Written Answer. My office immediately approach departments who have not responded to questions after 10 working days, and remain in contact with them until the questions are answered. This process has been followed in both of the cases to which the noble Lord refers.

    In the case of the Ministry of Justice question, I am informed that the delay related the process of transferring it to the right department for response. After discussion it was transferred to the Cabinet Office, who will provide a substantive answer by close of play this week. As regards the Department for Education questions, I am informed that the delay related to gathering complex data spanning a long period and the need to obtain clearance from across government. Both of the questions concerned have now been answered.

    Regarding timely replies more generally, I have recently written to the three departments with the greatest proportion of late responses in the last session and I regularly set out the House’s expectations as they apply to QWAs to my frontbench team. Notwithstanding the cases referenced above, I am pleased to say that the proportion of on-time responses from the Ministry of Justice rose from 74% of questions in 2014-15 to 87% in 2015-16; while the Department for Education answered well over 90% of questions on time in both sessions.

  • Barry Sheerman – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Culture, Media and Sport

    Barry Sheerman – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Culture, Media and Sport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Barry Sheerman on 2015-11-13.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what estimate his Department has made of the value to tourism and to the national economy of the UK coastline.

    Tracey Crouch

    There were more than 23 million overnight visits to the English, Scottish and Welsh seaside by GB residents in 2014, which resulted in spending of £4.9 billion, according to the Great Britain Tourism Survey. Additionally, therewere 144 million day visits by GB residents where the seaside was the main place visited in 2014 which resulted in spending of almost £5 billion.

  • Henry Smith – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    Henry Smith – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Henry Smith on 2015-12-14.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what programmes there are for companies who will not be covered by the Apprenticeship Levy to assist with the creation of apprenticeship positions; and if he will make a statement.

    Nick Boles

    All employers in England will be able to access funding for apprenticeships after the introduction of the Apprenticeship Levy in 2017. We will set out further details about how this will operate in due course, including any programmes available for employers who will not pay the levy.

    We will also continue to offer employers an apprenticeship recruitment service through Find an Apprenticeship on gov.uk. We are continuing the Apprenticeship Grant for Employers (AGE) to support more small firms to take on 16-24 year old apprentices.

  • Catherine West – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Catherine West – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Catherine West on 2016-01-19.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, whether Law Enforcement Adviser, Larry Covington, declared any interests relevant to his employment by his Department.

    James Duddridge

    We do not comment on individual staff matters. There are strict rules about staff declaring outside interests, such as accepting employment or engaging business activities to ensure that there are no conflicts of interest.