Category: Speeches

  • Stephen Timms – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    Stephen Timms – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Stephen Timms on 2014-03-24.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what proportion of people on the Work Programme with (a) no qualification, (b) a qualification below Level 2, (c) a qualification at Level 2 and (d) a qualification at Level 3, 4 or above secured a sustained job outcome within two years of starting on the programme.

    Esther McVey

    The information as requested is not readily available and could only be provided at disproportionate cost.

  • Hugh Bayley – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    Hugh Bayley – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Hugh Bayley on 2014-06-04.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how much has been spent on (a) civil and (b) criminal legal aid in (i) cash and (ii) real terms in (A) England and (B) York in each year since 1995.

    Mr Shailesh Vara

    The amount spent on (a) civil and (b) criminal legal aid in (i) cash (i.e. net of operating receipts) and (ii) real terms in each of the last 20 years was provided by way of a written response on 18 June 2013 to the hon. Member for York Central’s Parliamentary Question 160682.

    The Legal Aid Agency does not record the number of people who receive legal aid. Instead it records the number of ‘acts of assistance’. One individual may receive a number of separate acts of assistance, and one act of assistance can help more than one person. As the categorisation of legal aid has changed over the last 20 years, acts of assistance relating to representation in court cannot be accurately compared over time. The total acts of assistance relating to civil and criminal cases from 1995 onwards were provided by way of a written response on 18 June 2013 to the hon. Member for York Central’s Parliamentary Question 160683.

    With regard to the breakdowns requested for England and York, to extract the information requested from the Legal Aid Agency’s IT Systems would incur disproportionate cost.

  • Graham Stuart – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    Graham Stuart – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Graham Stuart on 2014-04-01.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment he has made of how well-prepared school governors are in advance of their taking the first decisions regarding performance-related pay.

    Mr Edward Timpson

    Governors have held school leadership to account for school performance, including the assessment of overall teacher performance, for some time. With the introduction of performance-related pay, governing bodies will have already approved revised pay policies that set out precisely how their schools will make performance and pay decisions.

    To support governors in exercising their responsibilities, the Department for Education issued advice on implementing the new pay arrangements. The National College for Teaching and Leadership has also offered training for governors on performance-related pay and financial efficiencies. In addition, the National Governors Association has published guidance on how governors should prepare to deal with pay appeals. We believe that, with this support, most governing bodies will have the knowledge and awareness of the key issues they need to address to ensure that robust evidence-based pay decisions are made this September.

  • Hugh Bayley – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    Hugh Bayley – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Hugh Bayley on 2014-06-04.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what funding has been allocted to (a) York College and (b) Askham Bryan College by the Skills Funding Agency and the Young People’s Learning Agency in (i) cash and (ii) real terms in each year since 2009-10.

    Matthew Hancock

    The Skills Funding Agency is responsible for the allocation of funding to further education college for post-19 education and training, and for Apprenticeships for people aged 16 and over. The information requested is available in the following tables.

    Table 1 sets out funding allocations for 2014/2015 to York College by the Skills Funding Agency. Previous PQs provided data up to and including 2013/2014 academic year.

    Table 2 sets out funding allocations for 2014/2015 by the Education Funding Agency (the successor body to the YPLA) to York College. Previous PQs provided data up to and including 2013/2014 academic year.

    Table 1: SFA Funding allocations for York College

    Academic year

    19+ Cash allocation (1) (£)

    Real terms (2) (£)

    2014/15

    Adult allocations (3)

    3,382,992

    3,382,992

    Table 2: EFA Funding allocations for York College

    Academic year

    16-18 Cash allocation (£)

    Real terms (2) (£)

    2014/15

    15,900,930

    15,900,930

    Table 3 sets out funding allocations for 2010/2011 to 2014/2015 to Askham Bryan College by the Skills Funding Agency. Data is available from the creation of the Skills Funding Agency in April 2010.

    Table 4 sets out funding allocations for 2010/11 to 2014/15 to Askham Bryan College by the YPLA and its successor body, the Education Funding Agency.

    Table 3: SFA Funding Allocations for Askham Bryan College

    Academic year

    19+ Cash allocation (1) (£)

    Real terms (2) (£)

    2010/11

    Adult allocations

    2,264,811

    2,455,137

    2011/12

    Adult allocations

    3,106,679

    3,291,154

    2012/13

    Adult allocations

    3,249,205

    3,382,422

    2013/14

    Adult allocations (3)

    3,045,779

    3,108,486

    2014/15

    Adult allocations (3)

    2,846,003

    2,846,003

    Table 4: EFA Funding Allocations for Askham Bryan College

    Academic year

    16-18 Cash allocation (£)

    Real terms (2) (£)

    2010/11

    6,668,827

    7,229,250

    2011/12

    11,277,092(4)

    11,946,729

    2012/13

    12,342,976

    12,849,038

    2013/14

    13,451,499

    13,728,442

    2014/15

    14,840,339

    14,840,339

    Notes

    (1) Skills Funding Agency allocation data for 19+ participation, additional learning support and discretionary learner support.

    (2) These figures have been calculated using HM Treasury deflators, last updated 5 December 2013.

    (3) Includes 24+ Advanced Learning Loans that were introduced in 2013/14.

    (4) Askham Bryan college took over the land-based provision from University of Cumbria in 2011/12.

  • Maria Eagle – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    Maria Eagle – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Maria Eagle on 2014-04-01.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, how many full-time employees in the operations and legal services departments of the Environment Agency work on (a) operations and (b) legal services.

    Dan Rogerson

    As of 28 February this year, the Environment Agency directly employs 8,532 full-time equivalent employees within Operations and Legal Services, shown below. These figures exclude employment agency staff and contractors and are rounded to whole full time equivalent numbers.

    Operations

    8,377

    Legal Services

    155

    Total

    8,532

  • Richard Burden – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    Richard Burden – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Richard Burden on 2014-06-04.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what steps he is taking to increase the manufacture of electronic components in the UK.

    Michael Fallon

    The Government recognises that electronic components and systems are key enabling technologies which underpin many key industrial sectors both in the UK and worldwide. In line with the Industrial Strategy, the Government is working with the industry-led Electronics Systems Community (ESCO) Council to support its aims of achieving sustainable growth within the sector. This Council is co-chaired by myself and Warren East, formerly Chief Executive of ARM, and is made up of senior business leaders from within the electronics systems sector.

    The ESCO Council is working within the UK electronics community, with government, with academia and is building close ties with leadership groups from other industries in taking forward the industry’s blueprint for transforming the electronic systems sector in the UK. The Council’s aims and priorities are set out in the ‘Electronic Systems: Challenges and Opportunities’ report, which the industry published in summer 2013. The ESCO Council has set itself the goals for 2020 of increasing employment in the electronics systems sector from 850,000 to 1,000,000, and the contribution that electronics makes to the economy from around £80bn to £120bn per year.

  • Jeremy Lefroy – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for International Development

    Jeremy Lefroy – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for International Development

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jeremy Lefroy on 2014-04-01.

    To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what steps she is taking at the High Level Meeting of the Global Partnership for Effective Development to ensure that future aid delivery via the private sector follows the Busan Principles.

    Justine Greening

    I refer my Hon. Friend to the answer I gave to Rt Hon. Member for East Renfrewshire (Jim Murphy) on 27 March 2014, Official Report (Col. 390W).

  • Barry Sheerman – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Barry Sheerman – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Barry Sheerman on 2014-06-04.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what steps he is taking to reduce human rights abuses in Tibet and to offer support for victims of such abuses.

    Mr Hugo Swire

    We remain concerned about the situation in Tibet.

    We regularly discuss our concerns on Tibet with the Chinese authorities, most recently through the UK-China Human Rights Dialogue on 19-20 May 2014 where we covered concerns about ethnic minority rights, as well as the criminalisation of self immolation. Our concerns are also highlighted in the Foreign and Commonwealth Office’s Annual Report on Human Rights and Democracy, the latest edition of which was published on 10 April.

  • Helen Jones – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    Helen Jones – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Helen Jones on 2014-04-01.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, which rape support centres and helplines that received funding from the Rape Support Fund in any of the last three years will not receive any such funding fund in 2014-15.

    Damian Green

    The Ministry of Justice remains committed to supporting organisations that deliver specialist support to female victims of rape and sexual violence and has committed £4.4m per year over 2014-2016 through the Rape Support Fund.

    Detail regarding all organisations funded through the Victim and Witness Fund, which includes the Rape Support Funds 2011-2014 and 2014-2016 can be found at gov.uk the information provided includes the amount of funding awarded to each organisation. The documents are located in the transparency data section of the Publications tab; https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/victims-and-witnesses-funding-awards

    The document for the 2014-2016 Rape Support Fund is divided into Police and Crime Commissioning Areas and includes the funding amounts awarded for both 2014/2015 and 2015/2016. The document was published on the 8 April 2014.

    “

  • David Ruffley – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    David Ruffley – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by David Ruffley on 2014-06-04.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what the cost was of translation and interpreter services used by each borough and county council in England and Wales in each of the last five years.

    Brandon Lewis

    This information is not centrally held.

    As outlined in the Written Ministerial Statement of 12 March 2013, Official Report, column 5WS, we have given guidance to local authorities to stop translating into foreign languages, as it wastes taxpayers’ money, undermines community cohesion, promotes segregation and discourages integration into British society.

    In that Statement, it was noted that estimates had suggested that local authorities were previously spending nearly £20 million a year translating into foreign languages. This illustrates the scope for councils to make savings by stopping such translation, using the money instead to support frontline services and keep council tax down.