Tag: 2014

  • Stephen Timms – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    Stephen Timms – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Stephen Timms on 2014-03-24.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what proportion of people on the Work Programme with (a) no qualification, (b) a qualification below Level 2, (c) a qualification at Level 2 and (d) a qualification at Level 3, 4 or above secured a sustained job outcome within two years of starting on the programme.

    Esther McVey

    The information as requested is not readily available and could only be provided at disproportionate cost.

  • Baroness Tonge – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    Baroness Tonge – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Baroness Tonge on 2014-06-11.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what action they plan to take to promote the education of United Kingdom citizens about the events of 1948 in Palestine.

    Lord Nash

    The new national curriculum for history, to be taught in maintained schools in England from September 2014, requires that 11-14 year olds be taught about the challenges for Britain, Europe and the wider world from 1901 to the present day. This can cover Britain’s place in the world since 1945, including the events of 1948 in Palestine. It is for schools to decide what to teach and how to teach it. In accordance with Section 407 of the Education Act 1996, we would expect that the teaching of any issue in schools be consistent with the principles of balance and objectivity.

  • Graham Stuart – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    Graham Stuart – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Graham Stuart on 2014-04-01.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment he has made of how well-prepared school governors are in advance of their taking the first decisions regarding performance-related pay.

    Mr Edward Timpson

    Governors have held school leadership to account for school performance, including the assessment of overall teacher performance, for some time. With the introduction of performance-related pay, governing bodies will have already approved revised pay policies that set out precisely how their schools will make performance and pay decisions.

    To support governors in exercising their responsibilities, the Department for Education issued advice on implementing the new pay arrangements. The National College for Teaching and Leadership has also offered training for governors on performance-related pay and financial efficiencies. In addition, the National Governors Association has published guidance on how governors should prepare to deal with pay appeals. We believe that, with this support, most governing bodies will have the knowledge and awareness of the key issues they need to address to ensure that robust evidence-based pay decisions are made this September.

  • Lord Black of Brentwood – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Lord Black of Brentwood – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Black of Brentwood on 2014-06-11.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government, further to the Written Answer by Earl Howe on 6 May (WA 358), whether they are considering introducing legislation to prevent the practice of reparative or conversion therapy on homosexual men and women.

    Earl Howe

    This Government does not believe that being lesbian, gay or bisexual is an illness to be treated or cured. We have no current plans to ban or restrict conversion therapy via legislation as we do not feel this would be an effective preventive measure.

    We do, however, fully recognise the importance of this issue. Therefore, the Minister of State for Care and Support, Norman Lamb, convened a roundtable with professional bodies and charities in February of this year to discuss collaborative measures to help prevent the use of such therapies. The Department continues to work with these organisations.

  • Maria Eagle – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    Maria Eagle – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Maria Eagle on 2014-04-01.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, how many full-time employees in the operations and legal services departments of the Environment Agency work on (a) operations and (b) legal services.

    Dan Rogerson

    As of 28 February this year, the Environment Agency directly employs 8,532 full-time equivalent employees within Operations and Legal Services, shown below. These figures exclude employment agency staff and contractors and are rounded to whole full time equivalent numbers.

    Operations

    8,377

    Legal Services

    155

    Total

    8,532

  • Sharon Hodgson – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    Sharon Hodgson – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Sharon Hodgson on 2014-06-10.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what consideration his Department gives to the diversity policies and records of businesses or other organisations when considering their bid for commercial contracts or grants.

    Jenny Willott

    I refer the Hon. Member to the answer by my Rt. Hon. Friend the Minister for the Cabinet Office (Francis Maude) on 16 June 2014, Official Report, column 434W.

  • Jeremy Lefroy – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for International Development

    Jeremy Lefroy – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for International Development

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jeremy Lefroy on 2014-04-01.

    To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what steps she is taking at the High Level Meeting of the Global Partnership for Effective Development to ensure that future aid delivery via the private sector follows the Busan Principles.

    Justine Greening

    I refer my Hon. Friend to the answer I gave to Rt Hon. Member for East Renfrewshire (Jim Murphy) on 27 March 2014, Official Report (Col. 390W).

  • Sharon Hodgson – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Culture Media and Sport

    Sharon Hodgson – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Culture Media and Sport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Sharon Hodgson on 2014-06-10.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what targets his Department has for increasing diversity; and what progress has been made on meeting those targets in the last year.

    Mrs Helen Grant

    The Department for Culture, Media and Sport, which includes the Government Equalities Office, has no specific targets for increasing employeediversity. DCMS publishes its employee diversity information on data.gov.uk annually. The most recent diversity information can be found at the following link

    https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/237397/DCMS_Equality_Workforce_Data_2012-2013.csv/preview

    “

  • Helen Jones – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    Helen Jones – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Helen Jones on 2014-04-01.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, which rape support centres and helplines that received funding from the Rape Support Fund in any of the last three years will not receive any such funding fund in 2014-15.

    Damian Green

    The Ministry of Justice remains committed to supporting organisations that deliver specialist support to female victims of rape and sexual violence and has committed £4.4m per year over 2014-2016 through the Rape Support Fund.

    Detail regarding all organisations funded through the Victim and Witness Fund, which includes the Rape Support Funds 2011-2014 and 2014-2016 can be found at gov.uk the information provided includes the amount of funding awarded to each organisation. The documents are located in the transparency data section of the Publications tab; https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/victims-and-witnesses-funding-awards

    The document for the 2014-2016 Rape Support Fund is divided into Police and Crime Commissioning Areas and includes the funding amounts awarded for both 2014/2015 and 2015/2016. The document was published on the 8 April 2014.

    “

  • Sharon Hodgson – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    Sharon Hodgson – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Sharon Hodgson on 2014-06-10.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what targets his Department has for increasing diversity; and what progress has been made on meeting those targets in the last year.

    Elizabeth Truss

    Whilst the Department for Education does not set explicit targets for increasing diversity, Management Committee monitors representation rates on a monthly basis.

    The table below shows the change to the workforce over the past year:

    May-13

    May-14

    Annual change (percentage points)

    Workforce

    Black and minority ethnic

    16.6%

    16.6%

    0.0

    Women

    59.0%

    57.8%

    -1.2

    Disabled

    11.7%

    12.1%

    +0.4

    LGBT

    4.0%

    4.1%

    +0.1

    We also monitor the Department’s representation rates at SCS against Civil Service 2013 targets:

    Female

    BME

    Disabled

    DfE

    CS target

    DfE

    CS target

    DfE

    CS target

    SCS

    44.1%

    39%

    5.4%

    5%

    5.7%

    5%

    Women (Director and above)

    42.9%

    34%

    “