The below Parliamentary question was asked by Barry Sheerman on 2016-04-08.
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many vacancies were identified in free schools in the school census in (a) 2012, (b) 2013, (c) 2014, (d) 2015 and (e) 2016.
Edward Timpson
The school census does not collect information on vacancies in schools.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Julie Cooper on 2016-05-10.
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how many students in (a) the UK, (b) the North West and (c) Lancashire are studying for a clinical pharmacy diploma.
Ben Gummer
The Department does not hold this information centrally.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Stephen Timms on 2016-06-14.
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what the maximum duration should be for a degree apprenticeship.
Nick Boles
There is no maximum duration for Degree Apprenticeships. The pattern of delivery of the degree will be a key component in the length of a Degree Apprenticeship, both employers and Higher Education providers will want to ensure the apprenticeship standard is achieved in full.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Natalie McGarry on 2016-09-09.
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, if he will make it his policy that all Government departments undertake a cross-cutting review on the effect of their policies on (a) inequalities in health and (b) deprivation in (i) Glasgow and (ii) Scotland.
Ben Gummer
All UK Government policies and legislation that extend to Scotland in reserved areas, as would be the case with Wales and Northern Ireland, are accompanied by the necessary economic and equality impact assessments, which are published.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Tim Loughton on 2015-11-10.
To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, when the funding offer for the Pioneer Communities Project was withdrawn; and what the basis was for the withdrawal.
Greg Hands
The Government announced at Autumn Statement 2014 funding for the Department for Education for an “Early intervention pilot for 0-2 year olds – to pilot a new approach to ensure that the most effective early intervention actions are taken during a child’s earliest years, to prevent avoidable problems later.”
This measure was to be delivered by the Department for Education, who worked with a number of stakeholders including Her Majesty’s Treasury, the Wave Trust and the Early Intervention Foundation to identify options to deliver the project.
As no contract has been signed for this measure, in June 2015 the Department for Education undertook not to proceed with the measure in this financial year.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Andrew Rosindell on 2015-12-07.
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, what binding measures have been agreed at COP21 which commit China and the US to reducing their carbon emissions.
Andrea Leadsom
The 21st Conference of Parties (CoP) in Paris delivered an historic and unprecedented legally binding agreement that takes a significant step forward towards reducing, on a global scale, the emissions that cause climate change.
For the first time, all countries, including China and the US, are legally bound to: set out their plans to reduce emissions; take domestic mitigation measures towards implementing those plans; revisit those plans every five years in light if a global stocktake of progress towards the long term goal in the Agreement; and report on progress made to implement and achieve these plans and subject their report to independent review and multilateral consideration.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Philip Davies on 2016-01-18.
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, what progress has been made on the White Rose Carbon Capture and Storage Project; and if she will make a statement.
Andrea Leadsom
The Government confirmed as part of the 2015 Spending Review that the £1 billion ring-fenced capital budget for the CCS Competition was no longer available.
Following confirmation from both bidders that they will not proceed with their respective projects in the absence of Government capital funding support, Government has taken the decision to close the CCS Competition.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Tulip Siddiq on 2016-02-09.
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, how many calls the Pay and Work Rights helpline received in (a) 2009-10, (b) 2014-15 and (c) 2015-16; and how much funding that helpline received in each year between 2010-11 and 2013-14.
Nick Boles
Table 1: Total enquiries to the Pay and Work Rights Helpline, 2009/10 to 2014/15.
|
2009/10 |
2010/11 |
2011/12 |
2012/13 |
2013/14 |
2014/15 |
|
|
Total |
66,300 |
50,500 |
47,500 |
41,300 |
42,900 |
41,500 |
Source: Pay and Workers Rights Helpline
Notes: 1. Reporting years are based on April to March, with the exception of 2009/10 as the Helpline opened in May 2009.
Since 1 April 2015, the Acas Helpline has, in addition to its usual services, been answering queries previously handled by the Pay and Work Rights Helpline (PWRH). Between April 2015 and January 2016, the latest period for which data is available, Acas have handled 768,849 calls on workplace relations and employment law. This figure is not directly comparable to the number of calls received by the PWRH in previous years as Acas handle a much wider range of enquiries on employment matters. It is not possible to specifically identify the number of calls received by Acas that would previously have been handled by the PWRH.
The allocated funding for the PWRH was as follows:
|
2010/11 |
2011/12 |
2012/13 |
2013/14 |
|
|
Total |
£588,185 |
£588,185 |
£655,760 |
£802,500. |
Notes: 2. Reporting years are based on April to March with the exception of 2010/11 and 2011/12 which are based on 11 May to 10 May.
All figures are ex-VAT.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Stephen Timms on 2016-03-01.
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what steps he is taking to encourage more people to train as adults’ social workers.
Alistair Burt
The Chief Social Worker for Adults is actively working with the profession to create a highly skilled, flexible workforce which is able to contribute to improved outcomes for people in all settings.
She is developing a comprehensive framework for continuous professional development for adult social work, which will include development of specialisms in key areas of practice, such as dementia, end of life care and learning disabilities. This will provide a clear progression route for both newly qualified and experienced social workers to deepen their knowledge, skills and practice.
The Government has funded four teaching partnerships which build on and enhance the existing arrangements between Higher Education Institutions and employers. The key aims are to improve the quality of education received by social work students, mainly through a greater experience of quality statutory placements and employer involvement in the selection of students and provision of placements.
The Department has also developed Think Ahead, a new fast-track scheme for exceptional graduates and career-changers to become mental health social workers. The programme has been in development since 2014 and will take its first graduates in July 2016.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Alison Thewliss on 2016-04-08.
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, whether her Department has a strategy to ensure that the growth of district heating is accompanied by the development of non-fossil fuel heat sources that are compatible with long term carbon emissions targets.
Andrea Leadsom
Yes. The development of heat networks and non-fossil fuel heat sources needs to go hand in hand. One of the key benefits of heat networks is that they can be used to transport heat from a wide range of low carbon heat sources.
The Government’s support for both renewable heating and district heating (heat networks) was confirmed in the Autumn Statement. My Rt Hon friend the Chancellor of the Exchequer made clear that the Renewable Heat Incentive will see an increase in funding to £1.15 billion by 2020-21 and separately that over £300 million of funding would be made available for up to 200 heat networks to generate enough heat to support the equivalent of 400,000 homes.
We are currently designing the Heat Network Investment Fund to allocate this funding, which is due to launch later in 2016 and run until 2021. We are keen to ensure that the projects supported by the fund are low carbon, economically viable and strategically designed to ensure future growth and development. We expect a range of projects with a mix of different heat sources to come forward for support, as we have seen with those Local Authority projects already supported at the development stage by the Government’s Heat Network Delivery Unit. As well as fossil fuelled Combined Heat and Power, such sources include non-fossil fuel heat from waste, deep geothermal heat, water-sourced heat pumps and heat from underground minewater. In addition, DECC’s innovation budget was doubled; some of this will be used to support the development of low carbon technology in heat delivery.