Category: Speeches

  • Chi Onwurah – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Culture, Media and Sport

    Chi Onwurah – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Culture, Media and Sport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Chi Onwurah on 2016-06-13.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what assessment he has made of the potential merits of moving television from broadcast spectrum to other delivery mechanisms.

    Mr Edward Vaizey

    The most recent assessment was made by the independent regulator, Ofcom, in their report: The Future of Free to View TV (May 2014). This is a fast moving market and as it evolves, the Government will keep these issues under review.

    Detailed spectrum planning is a matter for Ofcom.

  • Steve McCabe – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    Steve McCabe – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Steve McCabe on 2016-09-02.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment she has made of the implications for her Department’s funding of free early education of the conclusions of the report of the Family and Childcare Trust, Driving High Quality Childcare: the role of local authorities, published on 11 August 2016, on the proportion of local authorities which use such funding to encourage graduate-led care.

    Caroline Dinenage

    We recognise that high quality childcare improves children’s long-term educational outcomes and helps close the gap in attainment between the most disadvantaged children and their peers. We want to enable all children, whatever their background and individual needs, to access high quality early education. Investment has an important part to play in achieving continued improvements in quality. We have committed over £1 billion more per year by 2019-20 to fund the early years entitlements – this includes £300 million per year from 2017-18 for a significant increase to the rate paid for the two, three and four year old entitlements.

    We know that high quality childcare has the most significant impact on those from disadvantaged homes. Therefore it is important that funding is targeted at those areas and children who need it most. This is why we propose an additional needs factor in the early years national funding formula, on which we are currently consulting. This will channel funding towards local authorities with a higher relative proportion of children with additional needs.

    Whilst we know funding plays a role in the quality of childcare, we also recognise the importance of the early years workforce in improving quality and delivering better outcomes for children. That is why we are committed to publishing an early years workforce strategy. The Government currently delivers early years initial teacher training places in England. We fund eligible graduates to undertake the training, and provide student bursaries. Information about training routes is available on the Get into Teaching website at: https://getintoteaching.education.gov.uk/

    “

  • Rosie Cooper – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    Rosie Cooper – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Rosie Cooper on 2016-10-18.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether her Department owns the site of the former Glenburn Sports College in Skelmersdale.

    Edward Timpson

    Ownership of the site of the former Glenburn Sports College is currently under review in the Department. The site was originally owned by Lancashire County Council, and was then transferred to the Glenburn Education Trust when the school became a foundation school.

    However, when the school closed earlier this year, the governing body was required under the law to apply for a Secretary of State determination as to the future of the site. No application was made, and in the absence of a determination, the Department is considering a representation from the local authority that the land should revert to them.

    Any parties wishing to express an interest in facilities on the site should approach Lancashire County Council in the first instance, though any plans for future use will be for the eventual agreed holder of the site to take forward. The land will continue to be protected under legislation against disposal without the consent of the Secretary of State. As part of considering whether to grant consent, the Secretary of State will consider if the land can be redeployed for education.

  • Jamie Reed – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Jamie Reed – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jamie Reed on 2015-11-05.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what steps he is taking to improve access to specialist health facilities for children with cerebral palsy.

    Jane Ellison

    The commissioning of health services generally, including provider facilities, is the responsibility of local clinical commissioning groups (CCGs). When considering what services should be commissioned we would expect CCGs to take account of best practice and guidance such as the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence guideline on the management of spasticity in under 19s, and the local Joint Strategic Needs Assessment, and Joint Health and Wellbeing Strategy, which captures local need.

    Children with particularly complex needs may also be eligible for continuing care, commissioned by the CCG to meet the needs of children or young people which cannot be met through universal services. The continuing care framework is currently being updated following a public consultation, to ensure it provides the right guidance on assessing and planning for needs.

    Specialised services are commissioned by NHS England. For cerebral palsy it has commissioned Selective Dorsal Rhizotomy procedures as part of its Commissioning through Evaluation (CtE) programme.

    CtE schemes run in areas where the current evidence base on clinical and cost effectiveness of a particular treatment is insufficient to support routine funding, and where further research is unlikely to be forthcoming. In these circumstances, NHS England identifies funding for a CtE scheme to gather and support a review of the national clinical commissioning policy position.

  • Daniel Zeichner – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    Daniel Zeichner – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Daniel Zeichner on 2015-11-30.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, if he will identify which government-funded cycling programmes will (a) continue to be funded, (b) cease to be funded and (c) have their funding reduced in each of the next five years.

    Mr Robert Goodwill

    The DfT is funding a number of cycling programmes as below:

    • the Cycling Ambition City programme until 2017/18; any further investment is subject to future spending decisions;
    • the Highways England cycling programme until 2020-21;
    • the DfT is funding Bikeability until 2019-20;
    • the Local Growth Fund, which includes funding for cycling schemes, is being funded until 2020-21.
    • the new Access fund, which will build on the legacy of the Local Sustainable Transport Fund, will be funded until 2019-20.
    • The Cycle / Rail programme will run until the end of 2015/16.
  • Seema Malhotra – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    Seema Malhotra – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Seema Malhotra on 2016-01-11.

    To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what steps he is taking to address the forecast rise in household debt as defined by the Office for Budget Responsibility on page 69 of its November 2015 report, the Economic and Fiscal Outlook.

    Harriett Baldwin

    To avoid repeating the mistakes of the past we have created the independent Financial Policy Committee (FPC) within the Bank of England to ensure emerging risks and vulnerabilities across the financial system as a whole are identified, monitored and effectively addressed. The FPC has taken action on loan-to-income ratios and mortgage affordability to ensure against a significant rise in the number of highly indebted households.

  • Karen Buck – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Karen Buck – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Karen Buck on 2016-02-03.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how many children and young people have been referred to Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services in each clinical commissioning group area in each quarter since April 2013.

    Alistair Burt

    We do not hold this information centrally.

  • Karen Buck – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    Karen Buck – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Karen Buck on 2016-03-01.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many applications for judicial review against local authorities in England related to those authorities’ responsibilities under the Children Act 2004 have been (a) made and (b) successful in each of the last five years.

    Caroline Dinenage

    HMCTS does not collect data to the level of detail required to identify local authorities or social service authorities, or applications in respect of the Children Act 2004. The information can only be collated at disproportionate cost.

  • Justin Madders – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    Justin Madders – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Justin Madders on 2016-03-23.

    To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what discussions he has had with the Office for Budget Responsibility on the potential implications of the UK withdrawing from the EU.

    Mr David Gauke

    The Office for Budget Responsibility have set out their approach to assessing the implications of a UK withdrawal from the EU in their March 2016 Economic and fiscal outlook (see Box 3.4).

  • Kerry McCarthy – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    Kerry McCarthy – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Kerry McCarthy on 2016-04-28.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what estimate of real world diesel emissions for Euro 6 vehicles, relative to the laboratory test limit, was used in the evidential basis supporting her Department’s conclusion that eight air quality zones would not comply with Nitrogen Dioxide limits by 2020 if no action is taken.

    Rory Stewart

    The modelling used for the air quality plan was based on the best available data and uses the latest COPERT (Computer Programme to Calculate Emissions from Road Transport) (4v11) factors to calculate emissions from diesel cars.

    These COPERT factors reflect that there is a difference between laboratory testing of vehicle emissions and real world emissions. They assume Euro 6 diesel cars are, on average, emitting 2.8 times the level of emissions allowed for the Euro 6 standard.

    In May, the Government will present the results of its vehicle testing programme (www.gov.uk/government/publications/vehicle-emissions-testing-programme-conclusions) to European Research for Mobile Emission Sources (ERMES), the body responsible for collating vehicle emission data, to inform its updated emissions factors later this year. This will ensure that EU-wide emission factors continue to focus on the latest data updated on the basis of real world testing.