Blog

  • Maria Eagle – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    Maria Eagle – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Maria Eagle on 2016-03-21.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many and which local authority areas in England have no schools with sixth form provision.

    Nick Boles

    As at 22 March 2016, two local authority areas in England, City of London and Isles of Scilly, have no state funded schools with sixth form provision.

    This information is publically available through the EduBase system run by the Department for Education, available at: http://www.education.gov.uk/edubase/home.xhtml.

    “

  • Maria Eagle – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    Maria Eagle – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Maria Eagle on 2016-03-21.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what her policy is on whether each local authority area should have at least one school with sixth form provision.

    Nick Boles

    There are a range of institutions which provide high quality 16-19 provision, including Sixth Form Colleges and Further Education Colleges as well as school sixth forms.

    The Department for Education does not prescribe the exact balance of providers across a local area. Instead, it is crucial that we ensure that together the local provider base meets the needs of all young people in a local area with reasonable travel to learn distances. We are currently taking forward a series of area reviews which provide the opportunity to review post-16 provision with the aim of ensuring the provider base is strong and resilient.

    The decision about which schools should have sixth forms rests with schools themselves in partnership with key local stakeholders, including Regional Schools Commissioners and local authorities. A maintained school can apply to its local authority if it wishes to extend the age range of its school to add a sixth-form. We would expect this decision to take account of a range of factors including breadth of provision and local demand.

  • Maria Eagle – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    Maria Eagle – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Maria Eagle on 2016-03-21.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if she will take steps to ensure that there is high-quality sixth form provision within the Knowsley Borough Council area.

    Nick Boles

    There are a range of institutions which provide high quality 16-19 provision, including Sixth Form Colleges and Further Education Colleges as well as school sixth forms.

    The Department for Education does not prescribe the exact balance of providers across a local area. Instead, it is crucial that we ensure that together the local provider base meets the needs of all young people in a local area with reasonable travel to learn distances. We are currently taking forward a series of area reviews which provide the opportunity to review post-16 provision with the aim of ensuring the provider base is strong and resilient.

    The decision about which schools should have sixth forms rests with schools themselves in partnership with key local stakeholders, including Regional Schools Commissioners and local authorities. A maintained school can apply to its local authority if it wishes to extend the age range of its school to add a sixth-form. We would expect this decision to take account of a range of factors including breadth of provision and local demand.

  • Stephen Timms – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    Stephen Timms – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Stephen Timms on 2016-03-21.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many schools participated in the Schools Direct programme in each year since 2010.

    Nick Gibb

    The School Direct programme began in 2012. School Direct lead school information was not published prior to 2013/14 and partner school information was not collected prior to 2015/16. The summary data below reflects this:

    2013/14

    2014/15

    2015/16

    2016/17

    Number of School Direct lead schools

    788

    887

    773

    818

    Number of partner schools

    No data available

    No data available

    8,184

    8,956
  • Maria Eagle – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    Maria Eagle – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Maria Eagle on 2016-03-21.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what evidence her Department holds on the effect of schools having no sixth form provision on (a) their ability to attract high-quality teaching staff, (b) their ability to attract pupils to fill available places and (c) the likelihood of them being good or outstanding schools.

    Nick Boles

    There is no available evidence on the effect of schools having no sixth form provision on the likelihood of them being good or outstanding schools, attracting staff or pupils..

  • Diane Abbott – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for International Development

    Diane Abbott – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for International Development

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Diane Abbott on 2016-03-15.

    To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what additional revenues were achieved for developing countries as a result of the pilot scheme for Tax Inspectors Without Borders; and how much such revenue derived from improved tax settlements with clients of the so-called big four accounting firms.

    Justine Greening

    The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development has recently reported that Tax Inspectors Without Borders (TWIB) deployments have assisted countries to increase their tax collected by over $185 million.

    DFID does not have access to information about which professional services companies are used under the TIWB programme.

  • Diane Abbott – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for International Development

    Diane Abbott – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for International Development

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Diane Abbott on 2016-03-15.

    To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, if she will make an assessment of the extent to which recent changes to the OECD’s Official Development Assistance (ODA) definition will divert ODA away from welfare programmes into military programmes.

    Justine Greening

    The recent DAC High Level Meeting was able to agree the first update in the ODA rules in over 40 years and reflect the changing nature of aid delivery. All of this is in line with the primary purpose of ODA – to support the economic development and welfare of development countries – and this has not changed.

  • Stephen Gethins – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for International Development

    Stephen Gethins – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for International Development

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Stephen Gethins on 2016-03-15.

    To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, how much her Department has provided to UNOCHA for work in Libya to date.

    Mr Desmond Swayne

    As part of DFID’s humanitarian programme in Libya, we are funding a secondment position within the UN’s Office of the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) until August 2016. This OCHA position will support a more coordinated international response, and the establishment of an information management system to strengthen understanding of the humanitarian situation.

  • Tom Brake – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Tom Brake – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Tom Brake on 2016-03-15.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what financial support and other support his Department gives to civil society organisations, trades unions, charities and organisations devoted to democracy building in Iraq.

    Mr Tobias Ellwood

    We continue to support Prime Minister Abadi in his efforts to deliver the inclusive government, reconciliation and reform needed to give all Iraqi citizens a stake in the future of their country, and unite them against Daesh.

    Through our Conflict, Security and Stability Fund, we are supporting a number of projects designed to strengthen democratic institutions in Iraq. This includes support for Global Partners Governance, who are working to strengthen the Iraqi parliament, enhance legislative processes and improve coordination between central and local government.

  • Paul Flynn – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Paul Flynn – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Paul Flynn on 2016-03-15.

    To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether GEO received full payment for its contracted services to run Harmondsworth Removal Centre for each year of that contract.

    James Brokenshire

    The Home Office has not pursued legal action against GEO for its performance in managing Harmondsworth immigration removal centre (IRC). Under the terms of the contract signed on 20th January 2009, deductions were made from payments to GEO for performance-related service credits and dilapidation costs.