The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim McMahon on 2016-02-29.
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, pursuant to the Answers of 5 and 16 February 2016 to Questions 25342 and 26658, by when he expects the land and property for disposals to be identified; and whether he expects the decisions on the selection of that property to be subject to public consultation.
Matthew Hancock
The land and property for disposals will be identified in due course.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by John Glen on 2016-02-29.
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, how many people died from liver disease in (a) England and (b) each parliamentary constituency in the most recent year for which figures are available.
Mr Rob Wilson
The information requested falls within the responsibility of the UK Statistics Authority. I have asked the Authority to reply.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Royston Smith on 2016-02-29.
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what the (a) average and (b) total cost incurred by a Government department was of replying by letter to hon. Members raising matters of policy or casework with that Department in each of the last three years.
Matthew Hancock
This information is not held and could only be obtained at disproportionate cost.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Louise Haigh on 2016-02-29.
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what estimate he has made of the scale of fraud carried out against the public sector by (a) individuals and (b) serious and organised criminals by means of (i) identity theft and (ii) creation of fake identities.
Matthew Hancock
We do not have any estimates on the scale of public fraud carried out by individuals or by serious and organised criminals in relation to identity theft or the creation of fake identities.
In the financial year 2014/15, £4.13m worth of detected external identity theft was reported to the Cabinet Office through the fraud and error MI collection. Identity theft includes: fraudulently obtained genuine documents; counterfeit documents; and, forged documents. We do not have a breakdown of whether this was committed by individuals or organised criminals.
The National Crime Agency, not the Cabinet Office, lead on matters related to serious and organised crime.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Tulip Siddiq on 2016-02-29.
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what legal advice the Government has sought on the potential effect of the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership on the NHS; what the cost was to the public purse of provision of such advice; and if he will publish the legal advice on this matter his Department has received.
Anna Soubry
Legal advice the Government has received in relation to the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP) is subject to legal professional privilege and as such is not disclosable. This is a well-established principle which there is compelling public interest in upholding.
It is essential for the effective conduct of the Government’s business that ministers are able to seek candid advice from their lawyers and to discuss and debate possible policy options fully. They are less likely to hold full and frank discussions with their legal advisers if there is an expectation that the advice will subsequently be disclosable.
We do not maintain records of the total cost of the legal advice.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Gordon Marsden on 2016-02-29.
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what assessment he has made of the implications for UK universities of the proposal for a £1,000 a year levy on all businesses employing skilled non-EU staff.
Joseph Johnson
The Government is considering carefully the Migration Advisory Committee’s recommendations on the rate and scope of the Immigration Skills Charge. In advance of finalising the regulations that will introduce the charge from April 2017, we will take account of evidence about the likely impact on different types of organisation, including universities.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Gordon Marsden on 2016-02-29.
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, if he will hold discussions with individual sector skills councils on the proportion of the three million new apprenticeships that need to be at level 3 and level 4.
Nick Boles
Apprenticeships are jobs, so employers themselves decide what occupations and levels they employ apprentices in.
Employer-led Trailblazers are designing apprenticeship standards at a range of levels to meet the skill needs of their industries.
We will continue to encourage the growth of apprenticeships at all levels to meet our commitment to 3 million new starts in England by 2020, including Level 3, Level 4 and Degree Apprenticeships.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Gordon Marsden on 2016-02-29.
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what discussions he has had with Ofsted on assessing the quality of teaching English and mathematics in adult basic skills courses undertaken by (a) further education providers and (b) other providers.
Nick Boles
The Department for Business, Innovation and Skills is in regular contact with Ofsted both at Ministerial and official level to discuss the performance of further education (FE) colleges and providers. This includes the extent to which teaching, learning and assessment support adult learners to develop their skills in English and maths.
Together with Department for Education, we have invested over £30m over the past 3 years to fund a range of measures to improve the further education workforce, with a focus on improving the teaching of English and maths. This has resulted in over 1,000 bursaries to attract graduates to teach in further education and over 3,800 existing FE teachers have benefited from training to improve their capability to teach high quality English and maths courses.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Gordon Marsden on 2016-02-29.
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, whether he plans to ring-fence funding for adult basic skills within the adult skills budget for 2016-17.
Nick Boles
No. Funding for basic skills is a crucial part of the Adult Education Budget. But a ring-fence means central Government deciding how money should be spent. We prefer to allow colleges and other providers to decide how best to meet the needs of the communities they serve. The interests of learners who lack basic skills are protected by statutory entitlements to free provision in basic English and maths.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Gordon Marsden on 2016-02-29.
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, when his Department plans to publish a response to his Department’s consultation, A dual mandate for adult vocational education, which closed in June 2015.
Nick Boles
The Dual Mandate for adult vocational education was published by the previous Government. Since the election of the new Government there have been a number of significant developments including: the commitment to 3 million apprenticeship starts between 2015 and 2020; the announcement of a levy to fund apprenticeships; the new Institute of Apprenticeships; the commission to Lord Sainsbury to review routes to employment; devolution of adult education funding and responsibilities to combined authorities; commitment to Institutes of Technology; the launch of area reviews; a spending review which has protected adult education from further cuts.
Taken together these amount to a sea change in the Government approach to Professional and Technical Education and associated landscape. We have used the responses to the Dual Mandate to shape our thinking and will continue to do so.