The below Parliamentary question was asked by George Howarth on 2014-06-04.
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what support the Government is providing for community projects being conducted by UK zoos in collaboration with universities.
Mr David Willetts
Government funding to universities supports a range of collaborative activity. Information on specific work with zoos on community projects is not collected centrally.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Paul Blomfield on 2014-06-04.
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, with reference to the Oral Answer of 1 April 2014, Official Report, column 714, on physical and mental health (parity of esteem), in what ways he plans to achieve complete transparency in the availability of data on mental health spending.
Norman Lamb
NHS England currently collects and publishes information about mental health spending via its Programme Budgeting Dataset and published expenditure data for 2012-13 on 21 February 2014. This is available on its website at:
www.england.nhs.uk/resources/resources-for-ccgs/prog-budgeting/
We are working with NHS England to support its plans to develop this dataset for 2013-14 to provide a more meaningful analysis of expenditure.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Miss Anne McIntosh on 2014-06-04.
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what recent representations he has received on the funding formula for flood defence; and if he will make a statement.
Dan Rogerson
Defra regularly receives representation from those seeking Government funding for flood and coastal risk management schemes to be more focussed on delivering a particular type of outcome such as improved protection for homes, agricultural areas or infrastructure at risk of flooding. These representations are not in a consistent direction.
A recent external evaluation found that, on the whole, the current partnership funding approach is progressing well in meeting its policy objectives and that the funding formula should not be changed at present.
Our focus is on working with Risk Management Authorities and local communities to put together a six-year investment programme on the basis of the current funding formula, for announcement this autumn. The programme will reduce flood risk for 300,000 households by March 2021.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Miss Anne McIntosh on 2014-06-04.
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if he will commission a review of the 50 per cent rule whereby a GCSE grade may only be awarded for course assessment in the event of a student being severely incapacitated through illness; and if he will make a statement.
Elizabeth Truss
The Secretary of State for Education recently received a letter from the hon Member for Thirsk and Malton on this issue, raising the case of a student in her constituency, to which he has responded. From time to time Ministers receive representations from members of the public, and from hon Members on their behalf, on the same matter.
Neither the Department nor the Office of Qualifications and Examinations Regulation holds information on the number of pupils who have applied to be assessed for a GCSE grade on the basis of coursework. This information may be held by individual awarding bodies.
The rules governing the circumstances in which a GCSE grade may be awarded to a student who has not completed all the elements of the assessment are a matter for the Office of Qualifications and Examinations Regulation. I have therefore asked its Chief Regulator, Glenys Stacey to write directly to the hon Member. A copy of her reply will be placed in the House of Commons Library.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Miss Anne McIntosh on 2014-06-04.
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what recent representations he has received on the 50 per cent rule whereby a GCSE grade may only be awarded for course assessment in the event of a student being severely incapacitated through illness; and if he will make a statement.
Elizabeth Truss
The Secretary of State for Education recently received a letter from the hon Member for Thirsk and Malton on this issue, raising the case of a student in her constituency, to which he has responded. From time to time Ministers receive representations from members of the public, and from hon Members on their behalf, on the same matter.
Neither the Department nor the Office of Qualifications and Examinations Regulation holds information on the number of pupils who have applied to be assessed for a GCSE grade on the basis of coursework. This information may be held by individual awarding bodies.
The rules governing the circumstances in which a GCSE grade may be awarded to a student who has not completed all the elements of the assessment are a matter for the Office of Qualifications and Examinations Regulation. I have therefore asked its Chief Regulator, Glenys Stacey to write directly to the hon Member. A copy of her reply will be placed in the House of Commons Library.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Miss Anne McIntosh on 2014-06-04.
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many pupils have applied to be assessed for a GCSE grade on the basis of coursework under the 50 per cent rule in each of the last five years.
Elizabeth Truss
The Secretary of State for Education recently received a letter from the hon Member for Thirsk and Malton on this issue, raising the case of a student in her constituency, to which he has responded. From time to time Ministers receive representations from members of the public, and from hon Members on their behalf, on the same matter.
Neither the Department nor the Office of Qualifications and Examinations Regulation holds information on the number of pupils who have applied to be assessed for a GCSE grade on the basis of coursework. This information may be held by individual awarding bodies.
The rules governing the circumstances in which a GCSE grade may be awarded to a student who has not completed all the elements of the assessment are a matter for the Office of Qualifications and Examinations Regulation. I have therefore asked its Chief Regulator, Glenys Stacey to write directly to the hon Member. A copy of her reply will be placed in the House of Commons Library.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Alison McGovern on 2014-06-04.
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what estimate he has made of the cost of providing a BSL interpreter for each individual needing one to fill an access to work position adequately.
Mike Penning
Access to Work is a discretionary grant award designed to assist disabled people and their employers to overcome individual barriers encountered at work. We assess thecosts for all awards, including those for BSL interpreter support, against the specific needs of individual customers. As such, there is no single estimate of the cost of the support the scheme provides.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Alison McGovern on 2014-06-04.
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what estimate he has made of the number of applicants who have faced delays to their personal independence payment claim because of partial PA4 IT failures in the past 12 months.
Mike Penning
The requested data is not held by the Department.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Alison McGovern on 2014-06-04.
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what discussions she has had with the Immigration and Passport Service on (a) the service’s ability to meet the three-week timescale for processing an application for a child passport and (b) possible extension of that timescale.
James Brokenshire
Expected service standards for processing passports are given at: www.gov.uk.
My Rt. Hon. Friend the Home Secretary explained in the House on 12 June 2014
a set of measures to deal with the high level of passport demand has been put
in place. I refer the Hon. Member to the statement of 12 June 2014, Official
Report, columns 693 and 694.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Alison McGovern on 2014-06-04.
To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what steps her Department has taken to investigate allegations that employees of programmes in Bihar State funded by her Department are not receiving their salaries.
Mr Alan Duncan
DFID is aware of a contractual dispute between a contractor to the Government of Bihar and its sub-contractors. We have looked into this, and are clear that this is now a matter for the Government of Bihar.