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  • Tom Greatrex – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Energy and Climate Change

    Tom Greatrex – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Energy and Climate Change

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Tom Greatrex on 2014-04-07.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, what assessment he has made of the likely effect of the Supplemental Balancing Reserve on energy bills for the year (a) 2014-15 and (b) 2015-16.

    Michael Fallon

    The cost of procuring Supplemental Balancing Reserve and Demand Side Balancing Reserve is a matter for Ofgem and National Grid. In its draft Impact Assessment Ofgem estimated the cost of buying these services would be less than £1 a year for the average domestic customer. Ofgem’s final Impact Assessment did not revise or update this estimate. DECC has not carried out a separate assessment.

    Ofgem’s draft Impact Assessment can be found at https://www.ofgem.gov.uk/ofgem-publications/84629/nationalgridsproposednewbalancingservices-draftimpactassessment.pdf

    A final Impact Assessment is available at: https://www.ofgem.gov.uk/ofgem-publications/85278/decisiontoacceptngetapplicationtointroducetwonewbalancingservicesandsubsequentconsultationonfundingarrangements.pdf

    “

  • Mark Hoban – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    Mark Hoban – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Mark Hoban on 2014-04-07.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps he is taking to ensure parents are aware of the early years educational support available to children with cerebral palsy under two years of age.

    Elizabeth Truss

    The Early Years Foundation Stage framework makes clear that providers must have and implement a policy and procedures to promote equality of opportunity for children in their care, including support for children with special educational needs (SEN) or disabilities.

    The Government is introducing wide-ranging reforms through the Children and Families Act 2014 to improve provision and support for children and young people with SEN and disabilities from birth up to the age of 25.

    The Act requires local authorities to publish a local offer of services for children with SEN or a disability which will include children with cerebral palsy. The local offer will set out in one place information about provision families can expect to be available across education, health and social care for children and young people who have SEN or are disabled, including those who do not have Education, Health and Care (EHC) plans.

    The local offer will also provide parents with clear, comprehensive and accessible information about the services and support available and how to access it, including that from Early Years services. This should include relevant services from agencies such as Portage and Early Support, arrangements for identifying and assessing children’s needs in the early years and support available to parents to aid their child’s development at home.

    The offer will make provision more responsive to local needs and aspirations by directly involving families and service providers in its development and review, enabling them to have a greater say in how services and support develop over time.

    The new birth to 25 SEN Code of Practice, due to come into force from September 2014, will set out clear expectations for practitioners on how they work together with families of children with SEN or disability to understand their child’s needs and help them to access support quickly.

  • Stephen Timms – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    Stephen Timms – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Stephen Timms on 2014-04-07.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if he will visit further education colleges to discuss the effect of his proposed 17.5 per cent reduction from September for funding for 18 year olds in full-time education.

    Elizabeth Truss

    I have received a large number of invitations to discuss this topic and sadly cannot accept nearly as many as I would like to.

    Nevertheless, I have listened to the views of the hon. and Rt hon. Members, as well as those of colleges and other providers of 16-to-19 education. I am pleased that we have been able to afford to mitigate the impact of the funding reduction on 18-year-olds in the academic year 2014/15. We will cap any losses in relation to this at 2% of the funding that an institution receives for the education of 16-to-19 year olds.

    However, the overriding need to tackle the budget deficit remains, and so the full funding reduction for 18-year-olds will still be necessary in 2015/16. We have carried out and published an impact assessment, which is available online:https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/funding-reduction-for-18-year-olds-impact-assessment.

    “

  • Roger Godsiff – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    Roger Godsiff – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Roger Godsiff on 2014-04-07.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether academies are permitted to (a) sell and (b) otherwise financially profit from their holding of school title deeds which were formally held by local authorities.

    Mr Edward Timpson

    When community schools convert to academies, the freehold is retained by the local authority and a lease is granted to the academy trust.

    There are strict rules protecting publicly funded land used by academies, regardless of who holds the freehold. This is set out in published guidance, which is available at:

    www.gov.uk/government/publications/protection-of-school-playing-fields-and-public-land-advice

    A copy of the guidance has been placed in the House Library.

    “

  • Bridget Phillipson – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    Bridget Phillipson – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Bridget Phillipson on 2014-04-07.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Education, pursuant to the Answer of 12 March 2014, Official Report, column 250W, on schools construction, if he will place in the Library a copy of his Department’s non-firm, estimated dates for the start and finish of construction for each PSBP school.

    Mr David Laws

    The Department for Education does not hold firm predictions for when every project will start or finish construction as time scales can shift in either direction.

    I do not believe it is appropriate to publish non-firm, estimated dates for the start and finish of construction for each Priority Schools Building Programme school.

  • Lucy Powell – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    Lucy Powell – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lucy Powell on 2014-04-07.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many jobs have been transferred from the public to the private sector as a result of privatisations or outsourcing by his Department since May 2010.

    Elizabeth Truss

    The number of jobs transferred from the Department for Education to the private sector since May 2010 is set out in the table below:

    2010-2011

    2011-2012

    2012-2013

    2013-2014

    0

    0

    12

    0
  • Chris Leslie – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    Chris Leslie – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Chris Leslie on 2014-04-07.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Education, which 10 consultancy firms were paid the most by his Department in the last financial year; and how much each of those firms was paid.

    Elizabeth Truss

    Under this Government’s transparency programme, details of spend is published on gov.uk which is available at: http://data.gov.uk/data/openspending-report/index

    “

  • Chris Leslie – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    Chris Leslie – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Chris Leslie on 2014-04-07.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Education, which five companies were used most often to provide temporary workers for his Department in the last financial year; and how much in agency fees was paid to each of them.

    Elizabeth Truss

    Under this Government’s transparency programme, details of spend for the Department for Education are published on gov.uk which are available at:

    https://www.gov.uk/government/publications?departments%5B%5D=department-for-education

    To provide the level of detail requested in relation to agency fees would incur disproportionate cost.

    “

  • Tim Loughton – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    Tim Loughton – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Tim Loughton on 2014-04-07.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what progress he has made on the Social Work Practice pilots; and which local authorities are taking part in those pilots.

    Mr Edward Timpson

    The Social Work Practices pilot concluded in 2012. In November last year the Government commenced Part 1 of the Children and Young Persons Act 2008 to allow all local authorities to explore new models of provision if they wish to.

  • Tim Loughton – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    Tim Loughton – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Tim Loughton on 2014-04-07.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Education, which children’s services departments have instituted the role of Principal Social Worker; and how many people each such department employs.

    Mr Edward Timpson

    The Department for Education does not hold this information. Local authorities are responsible for the recruitment and deployment of social workers, including those they appoint to the Principal Social Worker role.