Category: Speeches

  • Tom Brake – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    Tom Brake – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Tom Brake on 2016-02-25.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if she will make an assessment of the potential effect on the number of school support staff who are from non-EU countries of the salary threshold increase for Tier 2 visa applications to £35,000.

    Nick Gibb

    The requested information is not available. The Department does not collect data on the nationality or the immigration status of the school workforce.

    This is a local matter for schools and all schools must employ members of the school workforce in accordance with employment law.

  • Neil Coyle – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Neil Coyle – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Neil Coyle on 2016-10-20.

    To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps her Department is taking to advertise the independence of Crimestoppers to encourage more people, particularly young people, to come forward with information on crime.

    Sarah Newton

    The Home Office has provided grant funding of £770,500k in this financial year to support the work of Crimestoppers to encourage the public to report information on crime.

    In addition, this year we are also working closely with Crimestoppers to support the re-development of their ‘Fearless’ campaign and website which is targeted at encouraging children and young people to report crime, including through work in schools to raise awareness of the risks and consequences of knife crime.

  • Ian Murray – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    Ian Murray – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Ian Murray on 2016-04-08.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many and what proportion of men in Scotland who reach state pension age in 2016-17 will receive the full flat rate of the new state pension.

    Justin Tomlinson

    The Department cannot model the impact of the new State Pension at a regional or country specific level. Results for the whole of Great Britain can be found at:

    https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/491845/impact-of-new-state-pension-longer-term-reserach.pdf

    “

  • Gordon Marsden – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    Gordon Marsden – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Gordon Marsden on 2016-04-25.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what discussions he has had with the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions on taking steps to tackle recent reductions in the number of employers posting apprenticeship vacancies.

    Nick Boles

    Latest data shows that whilst the number of employers advertising vacancies has fallen, the number of apprenticeship opportunities posted on the ‘Find an Apprenticeship’ website has increased each year from 71,060 in 2010/11 to 200,460 in 2014/15.

    The Apprenticeship Delivery Board and Apprenticeship Ambassadors Network work with employers to champion apprenticeships and increase the number of places on offer. The Skills Funding Agency also works closely with the National Employer Services Team in the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) to encourage employers to offer apprenticeships.

    We are launching a new apprenticeships communications campaign in May, jointly designed with DWP, which will promote the benefits of apprenticeships to young people, parents and employers. This will build on National Apprenticeship Week 2016, which saw more than 30,000 apprenticeship places pledged by businesses.

    We also work closely with DWP to ensure that information about apprenticeship vacancies is available to jobseekers through Universal Jobmatch.

  • Julian Lewis – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    Julian Lewis – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Julian Lewis on 2016-06-07.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what the average length is of the transition period for personnel of each of the Armed Forces between a decision of the Medical Board recommending discharge and that discharge taking place; and what support is given to personnel during that period to support the transition to civilian life.

    Mark Lancaster

    This information is not held in the format requested. However, the Ministry of Defence (MOD) does hold information on the average length of time between attendance at a medical board and the date of medical discharge for UK Regular Armed Forces personnel.

    For those UK Regulars discharged between 1 April 2010 and 31 March 2015, the median averages are as follows:

    Service

    Median average number of days between a medical board and subsequent medical discharge

    Royal Navy

    132

    Royal Marines

    133

    Army

    223

    Royal Air Force

    173

    Those who are medically discharged are entitled to the highest level of resettlement provision through the Career Transition Partnership (CTP), regardless of how long they have served or the nature and cause of injuries. We also offer specialised support for wounded, injured and sick personnel and those with the most complex barriers to employment to ensure they receive the most appropriate support within their recovery pathway. This is delivered through the Defence Recovery Capability and is supported by the Career Transition Partnership Assist (CTP Assist) programme. The purpose of CTP Assist is to deliver an individualised, needs-based service to those Service personnel who face the greatest barriers to employment given their medical condition.

    The MOD Veterans’ Welfare Service (VWS) provides welfare support automatically to those medically discharged, with an ‘on request’ service for all other members of the veterans community.

    The Transition Protocol is an established practice to ensure the effective transition of health and social care for injured Service leavers to local public providers. There is regular and close co-operation between the MOD, the Department of Health, NHS England and the Devolved Administrations in order to ensure that it is working successfully.

  • Jamie Reed – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy

    Jamie Reed – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jamie Reed on 2016-09-05.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what his Department’s policy is on making the pension age for Civil Nuclear Constabulary police officers the same as that for police forces under the responsibility of the Home Office.

    Jesse Norman

    Government policy is for public sector workers to have a normal pension age equal and linked to the state pension age. Parliament defined ‘members of a police force’ in the Public Service Pensions Act 2013 in such a way as to exclude Civil Nuclear Constabulary officers from the special arrangements that were made for Home Office police forces under that Act. A recent High Court judgement confirmed this interpretation. The Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy will work with the Civil Nuclear Police Authority to put in place the appropriate pension arrangements for Civil Nuclear Constabulary officers, within the parameters set out in the legislation.

  • Michael Dugher – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    Michael Dugher – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Michael Dugher on 2016-10-13.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how much funding per head has been allocated for childcare in (a) Barnsley East constituency, (b) Barnsley, (c) Yorkshire and the Humber and (d) the UK in the financial years (i) 2016-17 and (ii) 2017-18.

    Caroline Dinenage

    Funding for the free early years entitlements is allocated on a local authority basis. In 2016-17, the relevant hourly funding rates per child were as follows:

    LAs

    Three and Four Year old Entitilement

    Two year old entitlement

    Barnsley

    £3.99

    £4.85

    Bradford

    £5.19

    £4.85

    Calderdale

    £4.15

    £4.85

    Doncaster

    £3.87

    £4.85

    East Riding of Yorkshire

    £4.40

    £4.85

    Kingston upon Hull City of

    £4.20

    £4.85

    Kirkless

    £4.37

    £4.85

    Leeds

    £4.09

    £4.85

    North East Lincolnshire

    £3.72

    £4.85

    North Lincolnshire

    £4.39

    £4.85

    North Yorkshire

    £4.49

    £4.85

    Rotherham

    £4.07

    £4.85

    Sheffield

    £4.51

    £4.85

    Wakefield

    £4.14

    £4.85

    York

    £3.63

    £4.85

    The figures given above relate to England. Childcare policy for Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland is devolved. In 2016-17, the national average hourly funding rate paid by the Department for Education to local authorities in England, is £4.51 for three and four-year-olds and £5.09 for two-year-olds.

    All funding rates for three and four-year-olds are exclusive of the Early Years Pupil Premium which is an additional funding stream for disadvantaged children.

    The new funding rates under our proposed early years national funding formula from 2017-18, can be found here:

    https://www.gov.uk/government/consultations/early-years-funding-changes-to-funding-for-3-and-4-year-olds

    “

  • Jonathan Edwards – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Wales Office

    Jonathan Edwards – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Wales Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jonathan Edwards on 2015-10-29.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Wales, with which non-party political organisations he has met to discuss the proposed Wales Bill since March 2015.

    Stephen Crabb

    As Secretary of State I meet regularly with many non-party political organisations to discuss a range of issues, including the draft Wales Bill. These include business organisations, representatives of the legal profession, academics and representatives of Welsh civil society.

  • Jim Shannon – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Energy and Climate Change

    Jim Shannon – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Energy and Climate Change

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Shannon on 2015-11-25.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, what steps she is taking to ensure companies that install solar panels on homes are insured for that installation.

    Andrea Leadsom

    Under the Feed-in Tariff (FITs) and Domestic Renewable Heat Incentive (RHI) schemes installers are required to be certified under the Microgeneration Certification Scheme (MCS), whose requirements include companies carrying the appropriate insurance and product warranties.

  • Steve McCabe – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Steve McCabe – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Steve McCabe on 2016-01-12.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, for what reasons his Department has decided not to include Saudi Arabia in its Strategy for the Abolition of the Death Penalty.

    Mr David Lidington

    The criteria used in 2010 to draw up the list of priority countries within the “HMG Strategy for the Abolition of the Death Penalty 2010-2015” are set out in that document. The previous Government decided that limited resources should focus on countries ready to engage in a dialogue about capital punishment likely to lead to reform. Many of the countries prioritised in 2010 have implemented reforms in the intervening five years. Saundi Arabia is included in the 2015 Annual Human Rights Report as a country of concern, primarily because of its use of the death penalty. We do not intend to publish a new strategy specific to the death penalty; but we will be publishing a strategy for the FCO’s Human Rights and Democracy Programme Fund on 18 January, which will show how work to abolish the death penalty is important under all three of the strategy’s new themes. The FCO’s death penalty-related work will also be covered in future instalments of the FCO’s Annual Human Rights Report.