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The below Parliamentary question was asked by Mr David Hanson on 2014-03-13.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what estimate she has made of the number of people from Syria who will relocate through the vulnerable persons relocation scheme between 29 January 2014 and 30 May 2015.

James Brokenshire

The Vulnerable Persons Relocation scheme has been put in place to relocate to the UK some of the most vulnerable Syrian refugees, displaced to neighbouring countries by the on going conflict. We anticipate that it will support several hundred people over the next three years. On-going discussions with a number of local authorities regarding participation in the scheme will determine exact numbers to be relocated between 29 January 2014 and 30 May 2015. Given the continuing nature of these discussions, it is therefore too early to have a clear indication of the type of accommodation that will be available to house the relocated refugees.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Mr David Hanson on 2014-03-13.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps she has taken to implement changes as a result of the Chief Inspector of Borders and Immigration report Exporting the border?: An inspection of e-Borders.

James Brokenshire

The Home Office has responded to the report on Exporting the border?: An
inspection of e-Borders. This response can be found at:
http://icinspector.independent.gov.uk/inspections/inspection-reports/2012-inspec
tion-reports-2/.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Mr David Hanson on 2014-03-13.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, which local authorities are participating in the vulnerable persons relocation scheme.

James Brokenshire

The Vulnerable Persons Relocation scheme has been put in place to relocate to the UK some of the most vulnerable Syrian refugees, displaced to neighbouring countries by the on going conflict. We anticipate that it will support several hundred people over the next three years. On-going discussions with a number of local authorities regarding participation in the scheme will determine exact numbers to be relocated between 29 January 2014 and 30 May 2015. Given the continuing nature of these discussions, it is therefore too early to have a clear indication of the type of accommodation that will be available to house the relocated refugees.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Mr David Hanson on 2014-03-13.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what estimate she has made of how many (a) private and (b) public sector properties will be used for the vulnerable persons relocation scheme in 2014-15.

James Brokenshire

The Vulnerable Persons Relocation scheme has been put in place to relocate to the UK some of the most vulnerable Syrian refugees, displaced to neighbouring countries by the on going conflict. We anticipate that it will support several hundred people over the next three years. On-going discussions with a number of local authorities regarding participation in the scheme will determine exact numbers to be relocated between 29 January 2014 and 30 May 2015. Given the continuing nature of these discussions, it is therefore too early to have a clear indication of the type of accommodation that will be available to house the relocated refugees.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Mr David Hanson on 2014-03-13.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, when the decision to cancel the e-borders programme was taken.

James Brokenshire

The activities of the e-Borders programme have been absorbed into the Border
Systems Programme. The estimated cost to close the e-Borders programme and
define the Border Systems Programme was £340,000. These costs are attributable
to civil servants already in post and there has been no additional expenditure
or procurement in order to move the work from e-Borders to Border Systems.

The procurement approach to replacing the primary border security elements of
the Border Systems Programme will reflect broader Government ICT and Commercial
strategy, and there will be no single, large supplier. The Home Office will
lead development, with services procured from a range of providers, potentially
including small and medium enterprises; no tenders have been received at this
time.

By March 2015 the Border Systems Programme aims to:

• Complete resilience of all current business critical systems;
• Develop replacement primary border security systems;
• Provide the capability to support commitments on exit checks;
• Establish a programme for the next generation of Radiological and Nuclear
detection (Cyclamen);
• Continue the implementation of second generation e-Gates across the estate;
• Develop and implement new freight targeting capability for Sea Containers;
• Establish contracts to purchase new detection equipment;
• Continue to assure live operations of existing systems.

The breakdown of FTE Civil Servants engaged by the e-Borders and subsequently
the Border Systems Programme in each year since 2010, is:

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Mr Jim Cunningham on 2014-03-13.

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many service leavers have (a) applied to and (b) been accepted on the Troops to Teachers programme to date.

David Laws

The Troops to Teachers undergraduate programme is a brand new programme, which started in January 2014. It provides a route into teaching for non-graduates with relevant skills and experience. It is a school-based two year programme, at the end of which service leavers will have both a degree and Qualified Teacher Status.

982 service leavers submitted an initial application to cohort 1 of the new undergraduate Troops to Teachers programme. 332 of these applications went forward to be considered by the initial teacher training provider, which is the normal first stage for initial teacher training applications. 41 service leavers joined the Troops to Teachers programme in January 2014.

These figures represent only the first cohort of Troops to Teachers trainees. We are looking forward to more service leavers joining the programme this September.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Mr Jim Cunningham on 2014-03-13.

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what proportion of service leavers (a) applied to and (b) were accepted on initial teacher training in (i) 2008-09, (ii) 2009-10, (iii) 2010-11, (iv) 2011-12, (v) 2012-13 and (vi) the current academic year to date.

David Laws

In the 24 month period between March 2011 and April 2013, 322 service leavers applied to postgraduate initial teacher training (ITT). 132 of these were successful. This is an average of six successful applicants per month.

In the current academic year we have introduced the new Troops to Teachers undergraduate route. This is not comparable to previous years as it is a dedicated undergraduate route which is only for service leavers.

982 service leavers applied to Cohort 1, and the application process ran for 4 months. 41 service leavers joined the programme in January 2014. This is an average of 10 successful applicants per month. We expect a higher acceptance rate for Cohort 2 as we develop this new programme.