Category: Speeches

The Earl of Clancarty – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

The below Parliamentary question was asked by The Earl of Clancarty on 2016-03-23.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government how many individuals took Art and Design GCSE in each year since 2011 in England, Wales and Northern Ireland combined, and what percentage of the total number of GCSEs this constitutes.

Lord Nash

The Department for Education produces statistics on England only.

The table below shows the total number of pupils attempting Art and Design and the percentage this represents of all pupils attempting GCSEs at the end of key stage 4 for the years requested. This information is published in the “Revised GCSE and equivalent results in England: 2014 to 2015” Statistical First Release available on GOV.UK.

	2010/11	2011/12	2012/13	2013/14	2014/15
Number of pupils attempting Art and Design	155,724	151,601	156,482	164,648	170,783
Pupils[1] attempting GCSE[2] Art and Design as a percentage of all pupils attempting GCSEs	25.4	25.0	25.3	27.1	28.5

[1] Pupils at the end of key stage 4.

[2] GCSE only.

01/01/2023

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 information he holds on the number of community pubs with assets of community value status that have been closed or that no longer operate as a pub.

Mr Marcus Jones

The Department for Communities and Local Government does not collect this information.

01/01/2023
Paul Blomfield – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Paul Blomfield on 2016-06-13.

To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, how many enquiries have been made by hon. Members to HM Revenue and Customs on tax credits claims by (a) e-mail, (b) telephone and (c) letter in the last 12 months.

Damian Hinds

HMRC receives enquiries from hon. Members about tax credit awards in a number of different ways. HMRC seeks to answer every one as a high priority.

HMRC collates internal management statistics relating to tax credit enquiries but does not hold comprehensive figures as to how many of these were submitted by hon. Members via each medium.

01/01/2023
Tom Blenkinsop – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Tom Blenkinsop on 2016-09-02.

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if she will consider changing adult learning funding to fund British Sign Language courses for families of children who are born deaf.

Robert Halfon

This Department funds British Sign Language (BSL) qualifications in England through the Adult Education Budget (AEB). In the current economic climate, our funding must be focussed where it can have the most impact, so we support young adults aged 19 and over to gain the skills and qualifications they need to get work or to progress in their chosen career.

Learners who need lip reading skills to access work or stay in work are eligible to receive public funding through the Skills Funding Agency, and we are introducing changes that will make BSL qualifications acceptable, for the purposes of apprenticeship completion requirements, as an alternative to Functional Skills English for apprentices whose first language is BSL.

Colleges and training providers are independent and autonomous bodies and are responsible for their course provision. They are required to respond to the needs of learners, employers and communities to ensure that provision meets the need of local people, and we would expect every college or training organisation that receives public investment to consider offering lip-reading and sign language provision if there is a demand for it locally. Our more flexible adult education budget funding rules for 2016/17 enable broader types of learning activities that re-engage people in learning, build confidence, and enhance well-being.

01/01/2023
Desmond Swayne – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Desmond Swayne on 2016-10-18.

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps the Forestry Commission is taking to reduce potential conflicts of interest arising from contracts to carry out wetland restoration projects; and if she will make a statement.

Dr Thérèse Coffey

Potential conflict of interest is addressed by the existence of a formal partnership agreement which sets out the basis on which the Verderers of the New Forest, the Forestry Commission and the New Forest National Park Authority will work together to implement the Verderers’ New Forest Higher Level Stewardship (HLS) Agreement. The partnership has appointed a project board to steer and oversee the implementation of the HLS agreement and the board’s terms of reference enable it to address any potential conflicts of interest.

01/01/2023
Caroline Ansell – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Caroline Ansell on 2015-11-05.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what guidance his Department issues to hospital trusts on the account they should take of the availability of transport links when making decisions on reconfiguring services across two sites; and if he will make a statement.

Ben Gummer

The Government is clear the reconfiguration of front line health services is a matter for the local NHS.

NHS England has issued guidance on Planning and Delivering Service Change for Patients. As part of this guidance, NHS England specifies that: ‘Based on evidence and national clinical reference groups’ advice, commissioners need to determine the appropriate range of providers and interplay of key access requirements such as travel time.’

All commissioners proposing reconfiguration must include an analysis of travelling times and distances in their Pre-Consultation Business Case. As part of the Best Practice Check guidelines issued by NHS England, commissioners are asked: ‘Has the travel impact of proposed change been modelled for all key populations including analysis of available transport options, public transport schedules and availability/ affordability of car parking?’ and asked to provide evidence of this through a travel impact assessment.

01/01/2023
Julie Cooper – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Julie Cooper on 2015-11-30.

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many people are currently in receipt of disability benefits in (a) Burnley, (b) Lancashire and (c) the North West.

Justin Tomlinson

The available information for Attendance Allowance and Disability Living Allowance, by age and a range of geographical breakdowns, is available using the Department’s Tabulation Tool: http://tabulation-tool.dwp.gov.uk/.

Similar information for Personal Independence Payment and Employment Support Allowance is available using Stat-Xplore: https://stat-xplore.dwp.gov.uk/.

Guidance on how to use Stat-Xplore is available here: https://sw.stat-xplore.dwp.gov.uk/webapi/online-help/index.html.

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

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

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what representations they have made to the Palestinian Authority Ministry of Health following its description of Nashat Milhem as one of the dearest Martyrs

Baroness Anelay of St Johns

We have not raised this specific issue with the Palestinian Authority. Since the start of the current violence we have spoken regularly to both the Israeli government and the Palestinian Authority, urging them to use their influence to de-escalate the tensions. We continue to support the reinstatement of the Tripartite Committee as the appropriate channel to deal with allegations of incitement from either side.

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, whether she has carried out a review since 2014 of whether local authorities are meeting statutory requirements for the content of Education, Health and Care plans.

Edward Timpson

Since September 2014, Education, Health and Care (EHC) plans have been regularly monitored and reviewed. This is part of the Department’s ongoing work to support and challenge local authorities’ implementation of the reforms to the Special Educational Needs and Disability (SEND) system. The Department also gathers information about EHC plans from parents and young people, through termly surveys of Parent Carer Forums, correspondence, and regular dialogue with parents’ and young people’s groups.

Where individual EHC plans are considered not to be fully compliant, advice on how to improve them has been provided directly to the local authorities concerned by the Department’s team of SEND advisors. Thus far, our SEND advisors have noted issues around non-compliance for 29 local authorities, all of which were subsequently given advice about improving their EHC plans in order to fulfil statutory requirements

Our advisors are currently delivering a number of workshops for local authorities on how to write high quality, legally compliant EHC plans, and to share good practice. The training resources from these workshops will be published shortly.

There are a number of places where local authorities can find guidance about EHC plans. This includes the statutory SEND Code of Practice, which clearly sets out what must be included in a plan, and provides detailed guidance on the process that must be followed to produce one. There are also examples of good quality EHC plans produced by the SEND Pathfinder local authorities.

The review of EHC plans carried out in 2014 looked specifically at EHC plan templates.

01/01/2023
Jim Fitzpatrick – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Speaker’s Committee on the Electoral Commission

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

To ask the hon. Member for South West Devon, representing the Speaker’s Committee on the Electoral Commission, whether the Electoral Commission has given any early indication to Ministers of the likely outcomes of its investigations into electoral fraud in Tower Hamlets; and when the Commission expects that investigation to be complete.

Mr Gary Streeter

The Electoral Commission is not currently carrying out any investigations into electoral fraud in Tower Hamlets. Any allegations of electoral fraud offences under the Representation of the People Act 1983 can only be investigated by the police, on behalf of the Director of Public Prosecutions. The Metropolitan Police Service is responsible for investigating any allegations relating to elections in Tower Hamlets, and the Commission will monitor the outcome of any investigations relating to electoral fraud offences.

In advance of the elections this May, the Commission is working closely with the police and electoral administrators in each of the 18 areas it has identified as being at higher risk of allegations of electoral fraud, including Tower Hamlets, to ensure that robust plans are in place to detect and prevent fraud.

01/01/2023