Tag: 2015

Kate Green – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Kate Green on 2015-11-06.

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps her Department is taking to implement the family test.

Edward Timpson

The family test was announced by the Prime Minister in August 2014 and introduced in October 2014. The Department for Work and Pensions published guidance for Departments and officials on how the test should be applied when formulating policy which can be found online[1]. The Department for Education follows this guidance.

The family test is an integral part of the policy making process and is applied in a proportionate way in the development of all new policies in line with the family test guidance.

As stated in the guidance, there is no requirement to publish family test assessments. The Department has published the outcome of such assessments on a number of occasions, including as part of the impact assessments of the Childcare Bill[2] and the Education and Adoption Bill[3].

[1] https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/family-test-assessing-the-impact-of-policies-on-families

[2] https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/childcare-bill-impact-assessment

[3] https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/education-and-adoption-bill-impact-assessment

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January 1, 2023
Kevan Jones – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Kevan Jones on 2015-12-07.

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what his Department’s planned expenditure is on television recruitment campaigns for the (a) Royal Navy and (b) Royal Navy Reserve in (i) 2015-16, (ii) 2016-17, (iii) 2017-18, (iv) 2018-19 and (v) 2019-20.

Penny Mordaunt

The expenditure, or planned expenditure, of each Service on television recruitment campaigns in Financial Year (FY) 2015-16 is as follows:

Naval Service – planned expenditure has not been finalised but is currently forecast to be £4.3 million for Regular personnel and £0.72 million for Reserves.

Army – planned expenditure is £0.94 million for Regular personnel and £0.65 million for Reserves.

Royal Air Force (RAF) – planned expenditure has not been finalised but is currently forecast to be £3.46 million. It is not possible to differentiate between Regular and Reserve spend as the majority of RAF advertisements are targeted towards both cadres.

Plans for expenditure in FY 2016-17 and onwards have not been finalised.

January 1, 2023
Biography information for Baroness Afshar – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Biography information for Baroness Afshar on 2015-11-11.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of the impact of the claim by the Secretary of State for Education that those studying solely arts and humanities subjects will be held back” on students who are

Lord Nash

The government wants all young people to benefit from a broad and balanced education that equips them with the knowledge, skills and character they need to thrive in modern Britain and realise their full potential. Arts and humanities subjects form part of a broad and balanced curriculum. Our expectation is that every child should experience a high quality arts and humanities education. That is why the national curriculum sets the expectation that pupils study these subjects in key stages 1 to 3.

At key stage 4, the government wants to increase the number of pupils who take GCSEs in the EBacc subjects of English, maths, science, history or geography and a language. These are the subjects that give young people the most options in their futures and will help to secure a place at university or in employment.

As the EBacc is a specific, limited measure consisting of five subject pillars and up to eight GCSEs, there is time in the curriculum for most pupils to study other valuable subjects. The proportion of pupils in state-funded schools taking at least one GCSE in an arts subject has increased since the EBacc was first introduced, rising from 46% in 2011 to 50% in 2015.

January 1, 2023
Andrew Rosindell – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Energy and Climate Change

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Andrew Rosindell on 2015-12-07.

To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, what binding measures have been agreed at COP21 which commit China and the US to reducing their carbon emissions.

Andrea Leadsom

The 21^st Conference of Parties (CoP) in Paris delivered an historic and unprecedented legally binding agreement that takes a significant step forward towards reducing, on a global scale, the emissions that cause climate change.

For the first time, all countries, including China and the US, are legally bound to: set out their plans to reduce emissions; take domestic mitigation measures towards implementing those plans; revisit those plans every five years in light if a global stocktake of progress towards the long term goal in the Agreement; and report on progress made to implement and achieve these plans and subject their report to independent review and multilateral consideration.

January 1, 2023
Lord Marlesford – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Marlesford on 2015-11-11.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether they recognise President Bashar al-Assad as the de jure President of Syria.

Baroness Anelay of St Johns

The British Government recognises nation states and not governments. Assad has forfeited his legitimacy and any plausible claim to be part of Syria’s future. A transition away from Assad, to a more inclusive government that represents all Syrians is what the 2012 Geneva communiqué envisages, and this is what we will continue to work towards.

January 1, 2023
Kate Hoey – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Kate Hoey on 2015-12-07.

To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, if he will request that the European Commissioner for Competition investigate whether McDonald’s has reduced its UK tax liability through an unlawful state aid agreement with Luxembourg.

Mr David Gauke

As set out in its press release of 3 December, the European Commission has opened a formal investigation into Luxembourg’s tax treatment of McDonald’s. Treasury and HM Revenue and Customs officials will examine the Commission’s final decision when it is published.

January 1, 2023
Baroness Jones of Whitchurch – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Baroness Jones of Whitchurch on 2015-11-11.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether they are encouraging supermarkets to abandon strict cosmetic specifications for farm products that result in edible food being wasted.

Lord Gardiner of Kimble

The Government, through the Waste and Resources Action Programme (WRAP), is working with food manufacturers and retailers, including all the major UK supermarkets, to meet targets to reduce food waste from the grocery supply chain under the Courtauld Commitment. Signatories have reported a 7.4% reduction in supply chain waste between 2009-2012, with interim results for Courtauld 3 showing a further 3.2% reduction by 2014.

WRAP has worked with supermarkets and consumers to support acceptance and use of ‘imperfect’ fruit and vegetables. Work is also in progress with signatories, trade bodies and redistribution organisations to build a better understanding of the amounts and causes of waste in the supply of food and drink. WRAP is currently brokering a new agreement, Courtauld 2025, which will build on this progress.

January 1, 2023
Tom Brake – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Tom Brake on 2015-12-07.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what steps his Department is taking to ensure there are enough neonatal nurses who have completed accredited training in specialised neonatal care to enable neonatal units to meet marker of good practice 2.2.3 in the Toolkit for High Quality Neonatal Services, published by the NHS and his Department in October 2009.

Ben Gummer

A key standard set out within NHS England’s service specification for specialised neonatal critical care is that hospitals trusts who do not meet the staffing levels recommended by the British Association of Perinatal Medicine, must be working towards an agreed plan with their respective Regional Specialised Commissioning Teams to meet and maintain the nurse staffing levels in line with the Department’s Toolkit for High Quality Neonatal Services.

The increasing demand for neonatal care has resulted in additional challenges for some trusts in meeting the recommended nurse to patient ratios. However, 71 (54%) of the 131 neonatal critical care services now meet required staffing ratios and NHS England Regional Specialised Services Commissioning Teams continue to work with their respective hospital trusts to improve this situation.

January 1, 2023
Baroness Uddin – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Baroness Uddin on 2015-11-10.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government how they plan to ensure that all academy schools, their leaders, boards of directors, advisers and heads of department, adhere to all aspects of equality legislation in the UK.

Lord Nash

Academy trusts, and the academies they run, are required to adhere to all aspects of equality legislation. The Department’s model funding agreement for academy trusts, available on GOV.UK, states that the academy trust must ensure the academy promotes principles that support equality of opportunity for all. The Education Funding Agency is responsible, on behalf of the Secretary of State, for holding academy trusts to account for meeting the terms of their funding agreements.

January 1, 2023
Andrew Rosindell – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Andrew Rosindell on 2015-12-07.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what steps he is taking to ensure that the implementation of European Professional Cards for doctors does not inhibit his Department’s ability to perform background checks on doctors from European countries and to ensure that they meet the medical qualification standards required by the NHS.

Ben Gummer

The European Professional Card (EPC) will not be introduced for doctors until 2018 at the earliest. The European Commission will review the effectiveness of the EPC process for the first wave of professions, which includes nurses, pharmacists and physiotherapists, before any decision is taken to extend the EPC to other professions.

In the United Kingdom, independent health regulators are responsible for performing checks on health professionals from European countries to ensure that they meet agreed standards of fitness to practise. For doctors, this role is undertaken by the General Medical Council.

Although under the EPC system the responsibility for carrying out initial background checks will transfer to the home regulator of the professional, UK regulators will continue to be able to carry out registration checks, and can require additional information if there are any justifiable doubts about a registrant’s application or fitness to practise.

The UK Government has negotiated new safeguards to ensure that the high standards we expect from staff in this country are met by those from elsewhere in Europe who come to work here. These include:

– the introduction of an EU-wide alert mechanism which regulators will use to inform other countries of professionals who have been restricted from practising; and

– applying language controls for healthcare professionals from the EU so that regulators are able to ensure that professionals have the necessary knowledge of English before they are able to work in the UK.

January 1, 2023