The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Ahmed on 2014-06-25.
To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether they have made any representations to the government of Sri Lanka regarding the murder of Muslims and the destruction of commercial property in Colombo.
Baroness Warsi
I refer my noble Lord to the reply I gave on 25 June 2014, Official Report, columns WA171-172.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jonathan Edwards on 2014-06-24.
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what assessment he has made of the effect of the US-EU Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership on the cost of medicine procurement for the NHS.
Michael Fallon
Previous trade agreements outline a number of high-level principles in relation to arrangements for controlling the prices of medicines. We do not expect the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership to include any additional obligations in this area.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Graham Jones on 2014-06-24.
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps he is taking to ensure Ofsted is able to undertake the proposed increase in inspections of apprenticeship providers.
Matthew Hancock
Our apprenticeship reforms will improve quality by involving employers in defining the new standards and assessment and by controlling the funding of apprenticeships. Ofsted will continue to play an important role in ensuring the quality of teaching and learning in registered training providers. We are discussing the arrangements with Ofsted as part of the Trailblazer project.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Cheryl Gillan on 2014-06-24.
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what steps his Department is taking to ensure that the Care Act 2014 Part I regulations are compatible with the revised Adult Autism Strategy (a) in general and (b) in relation to autism training for community care assessors.
Norman Lamb
The core principles of the Care Act 2014 and the regulations and statutory guidance which supports its implementation are to maintain the wellbeing of people who have care and support needs; support them in living independent lives; and ensuring there is a vibrant market to offer choice on how their needs might be met. These enhance the areas of action set out in the 2010 Autism Strategy and reaffirmed recently in Think Autism.
The Act will require local authorities to ensure all assessors are appropriately trained to carry out assessments. This builds on the statutory guidance Implementing Fulfilling and Rewarding Lives which followed the 2010 Adult Autism Strategy for England, and which required autism awareness training to be available to all staff working in health and social care and specialist training for those in key roles that have a direct impact on access to services for adults with autism.
Due to the complexities of assessing people who are deafblind, regulations under the Act will require their assessments to be carried out by a specialist assessor. One of the questions in the consultation document is whether specialist assessors should be required to carry out the assessment of people with other conditions, such as autism, and to explain why this should be the case. Based on the evidence we receive through the consultation we will consider if this requirement should be extended to other conditions.
The draft regulations and guidance were co-produced with stakeholders, and this included engaging with the National Autistic Society. The public consultation runs until 15 August 2014.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Emma Lewell-Buck on 2014-06-24.
To ask the Attorney General, what proportion of (a) disabled and (b) all other staff employed by the Law Officers’ Departments received each level of performance rating in their end of year performance assessment for 2013-14.
Oliver Heald
It is not possible to provide figures for all the Law Officers’ Departments as their staff performance appraisal processes for 2013-14 have yet to be completed. Figures should be available in the autumn.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Nick Gibb on 2014-06-24.
To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what current contracts (a) his Department and (b) each of his Department’s executive agencies or non-departmental public bodies hold with the Educational Testing Service or any of that organisation’s subsidiaries.
Andrea Leadsom
Since January 2011, central government departments have been required to publish on Contracts Finder information on the contracts they award (www.contractsfinder.businesslink.gov.uk/). In addition, departments publish details of spend in excess of £25,000.
HM Treasury and its executive agencies and non-departmental public bodies do not hold any current contracts with the Educational Testing Service or any of that organisation’s subsidiaries.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Gregory Campbell on 2014-06-24.
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what plans he has for the issuing of further licences for local television.
Mr Edward Vaizey
As part of our Local TV licencing programme, Ofcom advertised the following locations with a deadline of 7 January 2014: Barnstaple, Basingstoke, Derry/Londonderry, Gloucester, Guildford, Limavady, Luton, Maidstone, Plymouth, Reading and Salisbury and Ofcom is in the process of considering the resulting applications. Out of these locations, Ofcom only received applications for five: Reading, Basingstoke, Guildford, Salisbury and Maidstone. The licences for Reading, Salisbury and Guildford have been awarded by Ofcom (on 3 June 2014) and Ofcom expects to be able to make a decision on the remaining two locations, namely Basingstoke and Maidstone shortly.
Ofcom plans to invite applications for further areas later this year.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Stephen Doughty on 2014-06-24.
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many British armed forces personnel were operationally deployed to Northern Ireland in each year from April 1984 to April 2010; and how many such personnel were accompanied by a (a) spouse or (b) civil partner in each such year.
Mr Mark Francois
| The information is not held centrally and could be provided only at disproportionate cost. | |||||||
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The below Parliamentary question was asked by Alex Cunningham on 2014-06-24.
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if he will make it his policy to compensate local authorities whose leasehold title to land is transferred to academy trusts when the associated school achieves academy status.
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.
We have no plans to compensate local authorities in relation to the transfer of leasehold title to academy trusts as the land in question will continue being used for its original purpose: the education of children in high-quality local schools. In addition, there are strict rules protecting publicly funded land used by academies, regardless of who holds the freehold. This is set out in guidance published online 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.
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The below Parliamentary question was asked by Emma Lewell-Buck on 2014-06-24.
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, what proportion of (a) disabled and (b) all other staff employed by his Department received each level of performance rating in their end of year performance assessment for 2013-14.
Gregory Barker
In DECC the staff declaration rate for disability is:
The 2013/14 performance ratings breakdown for these groups is:
|
Declared have a disability |
Declared don’t have a disability |
Disability status not declared |
|
|
1- SCS, Top; AO-G6, Exceptional performance. |
12.2% |
27.1% |
22.5% |
|
2 – SCS, Achieving; AO-G6, Effective performance. |
70.7% |
67.5% |
70.7% |
|
3 – SCS, Low; AO-G6, Need for improvement/ developing |
17.1% |
5.5% |
6.8% |