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  • Steve McCabe – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    Steve McCabe – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Steve McCabe on 2014-04-30.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what discussions Ministers of his Department have had with representatives of sixth form colleges on the effects of reductions in education funding for 18 year olds on students with severe or complex disabilities.

    Matthew Hancock

    We are protecting the funding that sixth-form colleges receive for 18-year-old students with severe or complex disabilities. The funding reductions that apply generally to 18-year-old students do not apply to those assessed to have special educational needs, learning difficulties or disabilities.

  • Steve McCabe – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    Steve McCabe – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Steve McCabe on 2014-04-30.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if he will take steps to implement the recommendations on support for the reading skills of oral deaf children in the Reading, Dyslexia and Oral Deaf Children report published by City University and the Nuffield Foundation.

    Mr Edward Timpson

    The report by City University and Nuffield Foundation[1] considers ways and strategies to help teachers identify reading problems and dyslexia for deaf children. There are no specific recommendations for Government in the report, it is for schools and professionals working with deaf children to consider the significance of the findings and how it informs their practice in identifying and supporting children with hearing loss.

    Through the Children and Families Act 2014, the Government aims to improve support for children with special educational needs and disability (SEND) including deaf children. It also includes support for teachers and other school staff to gain the knowledge and skills to support pupils with SEN and disabilities.

    The new SEND Code of Practice due to come into force in September, will set out clear guidance for schools on the process for appropriate identification, assessment, monitoring and securing further support for all children and young people with SEN and disabilities including those with sensory impairments.

    In addition, the Department for Education is funding the National Deaf Children’s Society to provide information, curriculum support and impartial advice to enable deaf children and young people to achieve expected levels of achievement in learning at all key stages.

    [1] http://www.nuffieldfoundation.org/reading-and-dyslexia-deaf-children

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  • Steve McCabe – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    Steve McCabe – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Steve McCabe on 2014-04-30.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what representations he has received on extending the powers provided to the National College for Teaching and Leadership for the investigation of historical incidents of abuse; and if he will make a statement.

    Mr Edward Timpson

    The Secretary of State for Education has received no representations on extending the powers provided to the National College for Teaching and Leadership (NCTL) for investigation of historical incidents of abuse.

    The NCTL’s remit sits within a broad safeguarding framework. The investigation of incidents of abuse by the NCTL historically or current will depend on the nature of the abuse. Where incidents of abuse relate to issues of child protection these would not ordinarily be matters that the NCTL would be directly involved in.

    All employers of people working with children have a statutory duty to refer to the Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) all individuals who have been:

    1. convicted or cautioned for a relevant offence;
    2. engaged in conduct that has harmed a child or put them at risk of harm; or
    3. deemed to have satisfied the ‘harm test’ in relation to children, i.e. there has been no relevant conduct but a risk of harm to a child still exists.

    The DBS will then consider whether to bar that person from working with children. Alongside this duty, where a teacher has been dismissed or resigned in the face of dismissal for a serious conduct matter, employers have a statutory duty to consider referring that teacher to the NCTL. In circumstances where the DBS decides to bar an individual any ongoing NCTL case would be discontinued. The NCTL primarily takes to a conclusion cases which have not met the DBS threshold for barring.

  • Steve McCabe – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    Steve McCabe – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Steve McCabe on 2014-04-30.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what advice his Department provides to local authorities when a school governing body is found guilty of disability discrimination.

    Mr Edward Timpson

    The advice that the Department for Education provides to local authorities in relation to disability discrimination is contained in its publication ‘Equality Act 2010 – Advice for School Leaders, School Staff, Governing Bodies and Local Authorities’, which is available at:

    https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/269341/Equality_Act_2010_-_advice.pdf.

    The publication does not advise local authorities in relation to governing bodies that are found to be in breach of the provisions set out in the Equality Act 2010. Consideration of and remedy for disability discrimination is a matter for the First-tier Tribunal (Special Educational Needs and Disability).

  • Steve McCabe – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    Steve McCabe – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Steve McCabe on 2014-04-30.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if he will take steps to ensure that governors are disqualified when a school governing body is found guilty of disability discrimination.

    Mr Edward Timpson

    Regulations set out the circumstances in which a person is disqualified from holding or continuing to hold office as a governor at a maintained school. These include bankruptcy, conviction for an offence carrying a sentence of imprisonment, disqualification from being a company director or charity trustee, and persons whose employment is prohibited or restricted.

    The Department for Education has issued advice to school governing bodies on their duties under the Equality Act 2010, including in respect of disability.

    It is for governing bodies of state-funded schools to comply with any orders of the First-tier Tribunal (Special Educational Needs and Disability) in relation to claims of disability discrimination.

  • Frank Field – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    Frank Field – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Frank Field on 2014-04-30.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what proportion of local authorities have higher than average not known rates for young people not in employment, education or training; and what steps he is taking to address such gaps in data.

    Matthew Hancock

    It is local authorities who are responsible for collecting data about the activity of young people in their area.

    The Department for Education regularly publishes locally collected data on young people’s activities, including the proportion of young people whose activity is not known. The latest quarterly figures covering young people of academic age 16 and 17 as at the end of December 2013 are available online at: www.gov.uk/government/publications/participation-in-education-and-training-by-local-authority. These include both the average for England and the figures for each local authority.

    The Department published statutory guidance in March 2013 setting out the requirement of local authorities to track young people’s participation so that those who are not in education or training can be identified. The guidance is available online at: www.gov.uk/government/publications/participation-of-young-people-education-employment-and-training.

  • Greg Knight – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    Greg Knight – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Greg Knight on 2014-04-30.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what funding the UK has given (a) directly and (b) indirectly to the European Space Agency in each of the last five years; what that funding was for; and what assessment he has made of the benefits arising from that funding to the UK.

    Mr David Willetts

    Direct UK funding of the European Space Agency (ESA) has been as follows:

    2009/10: £242.8m

    2010/11: £231.1m

    2011/12: £232.0m

    2012/13: £207.6m

    2013/14: £267.5m

    In addition, national expenditure averaging £20M a year has been expended within the UK to build and operate scientific instruments carried on spacecraft of ESA. The funding to ESA has been used to contribute to missions and technology in the fields of space science and exploration, Earth observation for science and applications, telecommunications and broadband delivery, access to microgravity facilities for life and physical sciences, space weather, navigation technologies, human spaceflight and weather monitoring. As well as resulting expenditure in the UK due to the just retour principle, wider benefits have accrued in new scientific knowledge; and improved delivery of public services.

    ESA is the primary route for Government R&D space investment. Several economic analyses of investment impact have been undertaken, drawn together in BIS Economics Paper No3[1]. The UK Space Agency (part of BIS) undertakes a biennial survey of the size and health of the UK space industry[2] showing growth from £3.4B turnover in 1999/2000 to £9.5B in 2011, reflecting the results of sustained investment as well as the growth of the market.

    The UK Space Agency monitors contracts that return back to UK industry from our ESA subscriptions and also monitors where R&D work has positioned UK industry for success in larger operational contracts.

    A UK R&D investment of £15M for the Astrium E3000 Spacecraft through the ESA telecoms programme (‘ARTES’) was more than matched by industry and resulted in the award of 41 spacecraft contracts worth over £600M to UK industry, an un-discounted ROI of over thirty. Analysis has shown that the return on investment from UK ARTES programmes ranges from 2 to 30 with an average of 6:1. The UK Space Agency also works with the OECD to pool analysis of benefits from space funding as reflected in the OECD Handbook on Measuring the Space Economy[3].

    The scientific programmes of ESA directly contribute to UK academic excellence. The ‘Wakeham Review of Physics'[4] reported to government that in terms of impact (citations) in the space sciences, the UK “is second to the USA and well separated from the following pack”. Data from satellites such as ESA’s Cryosat 2 have directly informed the IPCC 5th Assessment on climate change[5].

    An example of a public service benefit space investment is the weather forecast. The MetOffice (also part of BIS) has undertaken analysis showing that satellites have made the greatest impact in improving weather prediction among available observing techniques[6] “accounting for 64% of short-range global forecast error reduction”. Of all the nine data sources used, the new European Metop satellite has made the largest single impact: “about 25% of the total impact on global forecast error reduction”.

    [1]http://webarchive.nationalarchives.gov.uk/+/http://www.berr.gov.uk/files/file54519.PDF

    [2] http://www.bis.gov.uk/assets/ukspaceagency/docs/industry/size-and-health-report-oct-2012.pdf

    [3] http://www.oecd.org/futures/oecdhandbookonmeasuringthespaceeconomy.htm

    [4] http://www.rcuk.ac.uk/RCUK-prod/assets/documents/reviews/physics/review.pdf

    [5] https://www.ipcc.ch/report/ar5/wg1/

    [6] http://www.metoffice.gov.uk/media/pdf/9/m/FRTR562.pdf

  • Christopher Chope – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Christopher Chope – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Christopher Chope on 2014-04-30.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, on what date officials of his Department were informed that arrangements had failed for a commercial bank to facilitate payments to overseas pensioners out of funds reserved by the government of Zimbabwe; and when he expects an alternative service provider to be in place.

    Mark Simmonds

    We were in regular contact with the commercial bank following the request by the Government of Zimbabwe to facilitate the payment of pensions. They formally confirmed to the Government of Zimbabwe on 6 November that they were unable to act as the service provider, though had informed us of this decision in the preceding weeks.

    The payment of Zimbabwe public service pensions is the responsibility of the Government of Zimbabwe. We will continue to encourage them, and any possible service provider, to resolve the issue as soon as possible.

  • Christopher Chope – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Christopher Chope – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Christopher Chope on 2014-04-30.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, when officials of his Department in Harare last met the Zimbabwean government director of pensions to discuss distribution of the funds reserved for payment to overseas pensioners; and if he will make a statement.

    Mark Simmonds

    We continue to pursue a resolution to the non-payment of Zimbabwe civil servant pensions and are in regular contact with the interested parties, including the Overseas Service Pensioners Association (OSPA) and the Federal Pensioners Association in Harare.

    UK officials last spoke with the Director of Pensions at the end of January and are still pursuing a response from the Zimbabwean Civil Service Commission to our letter from December 2013. We have also raised the issue since with other interlocutors, including the Zimbabwean Ambassador in London.

  • Christopher Chope – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Christopher Chope – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Christopher Chope on 2014-04-30.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what information his Department holds on how many UK citizens are not being paid those Zimbabwean government pensions to which they are entitled; and what steps the UK Government is taking to end that default.

    Mark Simmonds

    The Overseas Service Pensioners Association (OSPA) have estimated that there are approximately 1250-1500 pensioners who are entitled to a pension from the Government of Zimbabwe, of whom 300-400 are estimated to be resident in the UK. This is unverified by the Government of Zimbabwe.

    The payment of Zimbabwe public service pensions is the responsibility of the Government of Zimbabwe. We appreciate the frustration and financial burden the non-payment of pensions puts on many pensioners and have continually pressed the Government of Zimbabwe to fulfil their obligations.