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Tag: 2015

  • Steve McCabe – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    Steve McCabe – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Steve McCabe on 2015-10-09.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what options are available to parents who cannot send their children to a co-educated secondary school because of a lack of local availability and do not wish to set up a free school themselves.

    Edward Timpson

    Local authorities are under a statutory duty to provide a sufficient supply of schools and school places that meet the needs of the communities they serve.

    When a parent is refused a school place they have an unqualified right of appeal to an independent appeal panel. The decision of the appeal panel is binding – if the appeal is upheld, the admission authority must offer the child a place at the school.

    If a local authority decides that there is a need for additional co-educational places in its area, it could either expand an existing co-educational school or set up a new Free School, via the free school presumption route.

  • Ian Austin – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    Ian Austin – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Ian Austin on 2015-10-09.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what recent assessment she has made of the (a) quality and (b) adequacy of the number of Ofsted inspectors.

    Nick Gibb

    The assessment of the quality or adequacy of Ofsted inspectors is the responsibility of Her Majesty’s Chief Inspector.

  • Alan Brown – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Energy and Climate Change

    Alan Brown – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Energy and Climate Change

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Alan Brown on 2015-10-09.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, what decommissioning provision is allowed within the proposed strike rate of £92.50/MWh for the electricity from the proposed Hinkley Point C power station.

    Andrea Leadsom

    The decommissioning costs for the Hinkley Point C power station, together with the waste management and waste disposal costs, account for £2-£3/MWh of the strike price.

  • Susan Elan Jones – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Energy and Climate Change

    Susan Elan Jones – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Energy and Climate Change

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Susan Elan Jones on 2015-10-09.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, if she will hold talks with the Financial Conduct Authority on lifting the moratorium on registering new renewable energy cooperatives.

    Andrea Leadsom

    This Government strongly supports the community energy sector, including the mutual society model for community groups. However the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) is an independent non-governmental body and it is important that the Government does not interfere with its work. The FCA recently consulted on their registration function under the Co-operative and Community Benefit Societies Act 2014 and it is working to ensure the right balance is struck between investor protection and continued growth of this form of investment. The FCA will respond to this consultation later this year.

  • Zac Goldsmith – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    Zac Goldsmith – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Zac Goldsmith on 2015-10-09.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, if her Department will revise its consultation paper on air quality draft plans, published on 12 September 2015, to take into account findings by the US Environmental Protection Agency of car manufacturers cheating in vehicle emissions tests.

    Rory Stewart

    The projections modelled in the draft plans were based on road transport emission factors from COPERT (Computer Programme to calculate Emissions from Road Transport). These take into account the gap between real world emissions and those from testing.

  • Mark Pritchard – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Mark Pritchard – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Mark Pritchard on 2015-10-09.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, if he will make representations to his Israeli counterpart on reducing the number of attacks on Christian religious sites in Israel.

    Mr Tobias Ellwood

    We condemn all extremist violence, including attacks against religious buildings. We are aware that on 18 June, the Benedictine Church of the Multiplication at Tabgha, on the Sea of Galilee, was set on fire and vandalised with graffiti. Officials from our Embassy in Tel Aviv raised this at the time with the Israeli Foreign Ministry and National Security Council. On 10 September the Prime Minister, my right hon. Friend the Member for Witney (Mr Cameron), and the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, my right hon. Friend the Member for Runnymede and Weybridge (Mr Hammond), raised their concerns for peace in the region with Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu.

  • Mark Pritchard – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Mark Pritchard – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Mark Pritchard on 2015-10-09.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, if he will make representations to the government of the Republic of Congo on the payment of UK companies for infrastructure work undertaken in that country on behalf of the Congolese government.

    Grant Shapps

    We were recently made aware of a case where a company owned by a British national has found it difficult to secure payment for infrastructure projects carried out on behalf of the Government of the Republic of Congo. In June this year, my officials raised this case with the Congolese authorities, and highlighted the importance to all involved of resolving this case in accordance with the court decisions made in the Republic of Congo and elsewhere.

  • Matthew Pennycook – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Matthew Pennycook – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Matthew Pennycook on 2015-10-09.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what assessment he has made of the effectiveness of the Gaza Reconstruction Mechanism in enabling the construction and reconstruction of the Gaza Strip.

    Mr Tobias Ellwood

    Through the Gaza Reconstruction Mechanism (GRM) over 95,000 people have now been able to buy materials to repair homes that were damaged during the conflict. However, we are concerned that none of the homes destroyed have been rebuilt yet. We therefore welcome the June 2015 agreement between the Israeli and the Palestinian authorities on the Residential Stream of the GRM to support the reconstruction of homes that were completely destroyed. DFID is providing £700,000 to the Materials Monitoring Unit which monitors the import, storage, supply and use of construction materials into Gaza under the GRM. The UK is also calling on all donors to disburse pledges made at the October 2014 Cairo Gaza Reconstruction Conference without delay.

  • David Anderson – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    David Anderson – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by David Anderson on 2015-10-09.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what steps he plans to take to increase the awareness of autism among the public and encourage patients to request a referral for diagnosis from their GP.

    Alistair Burt

    The Department has discussed with NHS England the difficulties that people on the autistic spectrum can have in getting an appropriate diagnosis in a timely manner. With support from the Department, NHS England and the Association of Directors of Social Services will undertake a series of visits to clinical commissioning groups (CCGs) to gather information that can be shared between areas that have arrangements in place to meet National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) Quality Standard 51 Autism: support for commissioning, and those that do not, with the aim of supporting more consistent provision. These NICE guidelines already recommend that there should be a maximum of three months between a referral and a first appointment for a diagnostic assessment for autism. We expect the National Health Service to be working towards meeting the recommendations.

    NHS England has also been working with the Health and Social Care Information Centre to develop the Mental Health Minimum Data Set. This will include provision for the diagnosis of autism to be recorded. This mandatory data set will, for the first time, provide data about diagnosis rates. The data will be published and available for everyone to use to support and develop services. NHS England has a commitment, over the next five years, to improve waiting times and this data will be invaluable for this. Information on average waiting times for autistic diagnosis in each clinical commissioning group area is not collected centrally.

    The Department issued new statutory guidance in March this year for local authorities and NHS organisations to support the continued implementation of the 2010 Autism Strategy, as refreshed by its 2014 Think Autism update. This guidance sets out what people seeking an autism diagnosis can expect from local authorities and NHS bodies including general practitioners.

    We are due to consult on how we set the mandate to NHS England prior to publication of the mandate itself. The mandate will be published following the Government’s Spending Review which is due to complete on 25 November.

  • Liam Byrne – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Liam Byrne – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Liam Byrne on 2015-10-09.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what forecast his Department has made of the cost of alcoholism over the next 20 years.

    Jane Ellison

    Estimates for the cost of alcoholism over the next 20 years are not available centrally.