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The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Storey on 2015-02-10.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what steps they are taking to ensure that young people whose 18th birthdays fall on or before the voter registration application deadline know that they can register to vote before they turn 18.

Lord Wallace of Saltaire

The Government recently announced that organisations that work with people who are underrepresented on the electoral register will share some £2.5 million of funding to ensure they register to vote. This includes UK Youth and British Youth Council who will target young people.

In addition, £6.8 million has been shared across every Electoral Registration Officer (ERO) in Great Britain. EROs are best placed to determine the type of activity they deliver through this funding to maximise registration levels in their area according to local circumstances. This could include specific activity aimed at registering attainers or a write out to all households to prompt those missing to register.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Storey on 2015-02-10.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made in the last six months of Sustainable Mode of Travel to School strategies; how well they consider that they are being implemented; and when they last reviewed them.

Lord Nash

The duty to promote the use of sustainable modes of travel to school and to develop a strategy for sustainable local travel is a statutory duty for the local authority (LA). LAs are best placed to address the needs of children and young people in their area and local walking, cycling and bus strategies should inform their approach. The Department for Education does not monitor or review these plans.

Guidance issued by the Department advises LAs of their duties and makes it clear that it is for the LA to monitor the implementation of their strategies and revise these as they feel necessary. LAs are also required to publish their Sustainable Modes of Travel Strategy on their website by 31 August each year. The guidance issued by the Department is published online at:

www.gov.uk/government/publications/home-to-school-travel-and-transport-guidance

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The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Storey on 2015-02-10.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what steps they have taken to ensure that consent and emotional safety in relationships are given enough emphasis with sexual and relationship education.

Lord Nash

Education has an important role to play in encouraging young people to build healthy relationships, and to identify those relationships which are unhealthy. The statutory sex and relationships education (SRE) guidance, which schools must have regard to when teaching SRE, makes clear that teaching should ensure young people develop positive values and a moral framework that will guide their decisions, judgments and behaviour. This is particularly relevant to sexual consent and the guidance makes clear that all young people should understand how the law applies to sexual relationships.

We have commissioned the PSHE Association to produce guidance for teachers on teaching about consent, which will be published shortly.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Storey on 2015-02-10.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government, further to the Written Answer by Earl Howe on 3 February (HL4358), what assessment they have made of the placement of defibrillators in schools in Liverpool; and whether there are plans to increase the number of defibrillators in schools across the country.

Lord Nash

The Department for Education is encouraging schools to purchase automated external defibrillators (AEDs) as part of their first aid equipment. To help them do this, on 26 November 2014, we announced new arrangements to allow schools to purchase AEDs at a competitive price. This is the result of a unique agreement between the Department for Education and the Department of Health, enabling NHS Supply Chain to purchase devices in batches from approved framework suppliers via a reverse auction process. The discount achieved on each batch is then passed on to schools through a reduced unit price.

The Department for Education does not collect information about the placement of defibrillators in schools but is able to provide details of which schools have purchased an AED under the arrangements described above.

To help schools in considering whether to purchase a defibrillator, the Department has also published advice on installing and maintaining AEDs on school premises. This has been developed drawing on the expertise of NHS ambulance services and voluntary and community sector organisations.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Storey on 2015-02-10.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what action has been taken to ensure that the proposed Royal College of Teaching does not alienate some teachers with expensive annual membership fees.

Lord Nash

The Government welcomes the proposed establishment of a new, independent College of Teaching as a positive step towards raising standards and championing the professional status of teaching. However, a key determinant of such a body’s future success will be its independence from Government. For that reason any question of membership costs would be wholly for the new organisation itself to determine. It is clearly important, however, that a new body has broad appeal for teachers and is able to establish a strong membership.