The below Parliamentary question was asked by Nicholas Brown on 2014-06-27.
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how much has been paid to converter academies towards pre-opening costs since 2010.
Mr Edward Timpson
The total pre-opening costs for converter academies from 2010 to the end of March 2014 are £102 million.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Cunningham on 2014-06-27.
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what Pearson VUE’s process is for appealing test results and complaints procedure.
Mr David Laws
Pearson VUE operates a skills test helpline through which candidates’ queries and complaints are managed. There is no appeals process against test results.
If a candidate considers that there was a technical or administrative error with the delivery of the test or marking, they are able to raise this either at the test centre at the time of the test or subsequently via the skills test helpline.
All such requests are considered on a case-by-case basis by Pearson VUE. Where appropriate, Pearson VUE escalates appeals to the Standards and Testing Agency to make the final determination.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Hugh Bayley on 2014-06-27.
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how much has been spent on NHS general dental services in North Yorkshire in 2008-09 and in each year since.
Dr Daniel Poulter
The information is not available in the format requested.
The total amount spent on general dental services and personal dental services contracts by the former North Yorkshire and York Primary Care Trust (PCT) for 2008-09 to 2012-13 is shown in the following table:
|
General and Personal Dental Services |
£000s |
|
2008-09 |
38,857 |
|
2009-10 |
40,632 |
|
2010-11 |
41,773 |
|
2011-12 |
43,438 |
|
2012-13 |
46,694 |
Source: NHS Summarisation schedules
Notes:
1. General dental services cannot be separately identified in the published figures. The total gross expenditure for general dental service and personal dental service contracts is categorised between either independent contractor led contracts or on salaried led services provided by the PCT.
2. Contractor led contracts are all primary care dental services commissioned from practitioners or corporate bodies where payments are processed on the PCT’s behalf by the Dental Services division of the NHS Business Services Authority. Salaried led services include the cost of any dental or support staff directly employed by the PCT and personal dental services or PCT dental services that are directly managed by PCTs or commissioned from other National Health Service trusts either within or outside their area.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by John Glen on 2014-06-27.
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what resources will be transferred from NHS England to clinical commissioning groups following the implementation of the recommendations in Prescribed Specialised Services Commissioning Intentions 2014-15 and 2015-16.
Jane Ellison
NHS England has advised that there have been no changes to the scope of specialised services directly commissioned by NHS England in 2014/15, in order to provide a period of stability following the major changes in 2013/14. There has therefore, been no transfer of resources to clinical commissioning groups (CCGs) in 2014/15, for any changes in commissioning responsibility.
The Manual for Prescribed Specialised Services 2013/14 describes the prescribed specialised services and sets out which elements of services are commissioned directly by NHS England, and which elements are commissioned by CCGs.
The Prescribed Specialised Services Commissioning Intentions 2014-15 and 2015-16 document sets out the firm plans for 2014/15 and the direction for 2015/16. There will be a new set of commissioning intentions for 2015/16 to take account of the new environment and to firm up the plans for next year.
The development of the commissioning intentions for 2015/16 is included in the work of the specialised commissioning taskforce and will be progressed over the next few months ready for publication in the autumn. The taskforce work streams also include actions relating to the future portfolio of services to be commissioned by NHS England and CCGs, and possible future commissioning models. This work will be further progressed over the summer and will inform the 2015/16 commissioning intentions.
NHS England advise that it is yet to be determined whether or not there will be changes to the scope of specialised services directly commissioned by NHS England in 2015/16 or whether any additional resources will be transferred between NHS England and CCGs.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by David Amess on 2014-06-27.
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what recent representations he has received requesting the Government to intervene to require the British Pregnancy Advisory Service to remove advice on its website which alleges that gender-selective abortion is not illegal; and if he will make a statement.
Jane Ellison
There has been one request for intervention by the Government to require the British Pregnancy Advisory Service to remove the advice from its web site.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Hugh Bayley on 2014-06-27.
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many people in (a) York Central constituency and (b) York Unitary Authority area received pension credit in the last year for which data is available.
Steve Webb
Statistics for State Pension and Pension Credit are available from 100% data and are published on the Department’s website at:
http://tabulation-tool.dwp.gov.uk/100pc/pc/tabtool_pc.html
and
http://tabulation-tool.dwp.gov.uk/100pc/sp/tabtool_sp.html
Guidance for users is available at:
https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/dwp-tabulation-tool-guidance
“
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Bourne of Aberystwyth on 2014-06-27.
To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of the position of free media in Egypt.
Baroness Warsi
The British Government is appalled by the sentences given to Egyptian and international journalists in Cairo on 23 June, including to two British nationals being tried in absentia. The Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, my Right Hon. Friend the Member for Richmond (Yorks) (Mr Hague), made a statement on 23 June expressing his concerns and urging the Egyptian government to demonstrate its commitment to freedom of expression by reviewing this case as a matter of urgency.
The Egyptian Ambassador, Ashraf el-Kholy, was summoned to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) on 23 June. FCO Political Director, Simon Gass, told the Egyptian Ambassador that the Government was deeply concerned by the verdicts, along with the procedural shortcomings seen during the trials. Our Ambassador to Egypt raised this issue in Cairo with the Egyptian Ministry of Foreign Affairs on 24 June. We will continue to monitor the situation of these journalists very closely, and raise the issue with the Egyptian authorities. The UK believes that a free and robust media is a bedrock of democracy.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by David Crausby on 2014-06-26.
To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what discussions his Department has had with the (a) Prudential Regulation Authority and (b) Financial Conduct Authority about reports of UK banks paying allowances to employees in order to avoid the EU’s bonus cap; and what steps he plans to take to reduce such practices.
Andrea Leadsom
The UK is at the forefront of global efforts to tackle excessive pay in the financial sector and ensure that pay is aligned with performance, with a tough Remuneration Code that requires deferral of at least 60% of bonuses of senior bankers and limits the amounts that can be paid in cash. Bonuses are down significantly since their peak under the last Government, and are now largely deferred and paid in shares.
In contrast, the EU’s bonus cap is a poorly thought through measure that undermines rather than reinforces our efforts by pushing up fixed pay. It was introduced without any proper impact assessment and has issues around its compatibility with the EU Treaty; for these reasons we are challenging it in the European Court of Justice. However, pending the outcome, the Government is fully implementing the cap in the UK, and the Prudential Regulation Authority is responsible for ensuring that the banks comply with these rules.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Andrew Jones on 2014-06-26.
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many (a) primary and (b) secondary school places have been created in (i) Harrogate and Knaresborough constituency, (ii) Yorkshire and the Humber and (iii) the North of England since May 2010.
Mr Edward Timpson
The Department collects information from each local authority on the number of available school places (school capacity) in state-funded primary and secondary schools (except special schools) through an annual survey. The most recent data available relates to the position at May 2013 and can be found at:
https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/school-capacity-academic-year-2012-to-2013
Statistics for May 2010 can be found in table 1 of the SFR main tables:
https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/school-capacity-academic-year-2010-to-2011
“
The below Parliamentary question was asked by David Ward on 2014-06-26.
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what progress he has made in ensuring that Palestinian children are interrogated only in the presence of their parents and lawyers.
Hugh Robertson
The Lord Chancellor and Secretary of State for Justice, my right hon. Friend the Member for Epsom and Ewell (Mr Grayling), raised the treatment of child detainees with the Israeli Supreme Court President during his visit to Israel in May.
As a recent progress report by the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) indicates, Israel has taken some positive steps towards addressing the recommendations in UNICEF’s Children in Israeli Military Detention report. These include the introduction of legal obligations to inform the child’s parents of an arrest and grant them legal status to be represented in court, as well as to notify minors of their legal rights, and standard operating procedures on methods of restraint. We will continue to work, both through bilateral engagement and through the EU, to encourage Israel to take further positive steps.