The below Parliamentary question was asked by Andy Slaughter on 2015-11-17.
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what representations his Department received from the Mayor of London on the Transport for London Bill.
Mr Robert Goodwill
The Mayor has raised the Transport for London Bill with the Secretary of State in writing, and at several of their regular meetings.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Hunt of Kings Heath on 2015-12-15.
To ask Her Majesty’s Government why the training scheme to create a career ladder for care workers by developing the role of care practitioners has been cancelled.
Baroness Neville-Rolfe
The Government is spending significant sums this year (circa £130 million) to train and develop the adult social care workforce; this includes £12m for the Workforce Development Fund for training to develop the workforce.
Whilst pre-contract discussions had taken place, no formal financial commitment was made to this specific project by UK Commission for Employment and Skills and the project has been informed that funding is not available.
In order to prioritise funding on the adult skills participation budgets, savings are being made from supporting budgets such as the UKCES.
The Government is working closely with its delivery partners, Skills for Care and National Skills Academy Social Care to improve the level of skills of the adult social care workforce.
The adult social care workforce has a key role to play as service users experience of care depends heavily on the sensitivity and compassion of care workers. Better skills and training are an important part of raising standards overall.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Frank Field on 2015-11-17.
To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, when he expects to sign off in full the business case for universal credit.
Greg Hands
The 2nd Permanent Secretary to the Treasury explained to the PAC on the 10 December 2014 (see link below) the process for Business Case approvals within Government. The first stage of this process, the Strategic Outline Business Case, was agreed for Universal Credit in September 2014. The next step, the Outline Business Case, is now with Treasury Ministers for approval. The Full Business Case will follow for Ministerial approval by the end of 2017. This is in line with the process within Government and a Programme of the scale and complexity of Universal Credit.
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The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jo Stevens on 2015-12-15.
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what estimate his Department has made of the value of the contract of tender for the employers’ digital apprenticeship account; and when he plans to put that contract out to tender.
Nick Boles
The Department has completed an assessment of the cost to implement the Digital Apprenticeship Service. In line with Cabinet Office best practice, we do not intend to procure the full scope of the Digital Apprenticeship Service. We supplement in-house expertise with services from a range of suppliers and will procure any further services through government frameworks in phases over the next 12 months.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Owen Thompson on 2015-11-17.
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, how many community projects have benefited from monies allocated by Scotland’s Big Lottery Fund in the last five years.
Tracey Crouch
From 1 November 2010 to 31 October 2015, the Big Lottery Fund in Scotland has allocated monies to over 11,500 projects.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Daniel Zeichner on 2015-12-15.
To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, pursuant to the Answer of 17 November 2015 to Question 15349, if HM Revenue and Customs will expand the tax exemption associated with the Cycle to Work scheme to provide employees with access to tax-free physical activity accessories and personalised activity plans for themselves and their families.
Mr David Gauke
The tax exemption associated with the Cycle to Work scheme is for the loan or hire by an employer to an employee of a cycle or cyclist’s safety equipment. It was established to promote healthier journeys to work and to reduce environmental pollution. This and all other tax exemptions are kept under review.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Andy Slaughter on 2015-11-17.
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, how many of the (a) core recommendations and (b) specific recommendations of his Department’s report entitled Children in Military Custody, published in June 2012, the Israeli government has implemented.
Mr Tobias Ellwood
Since the publication of the Foreign and Commonwealth Office-funded independent report on Children in Military Custody in June 2012, there has been some progress on the issue of children held in military detention. This includes a pilot to use summons instead of night-time arrests, changes to standard operating procedures on methods of restraint, and steps to reduce the amount of time a child can be detained before seeing a judge. There has also been a reduction in the use of solitary confinement and an increase in the use of Arabic to give notifications of arrest.
While we welcome the improvements to date, we continue to press the Israeli authorities to make further progress on this important issue.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jo Stevens on 2015-12-15.
To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, how much the apprenticeship levy is expected to raise in (a) 2017-18, (b) 2018-19 and (c) 2019-20.
Greg Hands
The Apprenticeship Levy is expected to raise:
These figures are published in table 3.1 of the Spending Review and Autumn Statement 2015 document which is available on gov.uk.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Luciana Berger on 2015-11-17.
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what progress has been made on implementing the aspirations in NHS England’s report entitled, The Future in Mind, published in October 2012.
Alistair Burt
Children and young people’s mental health is a priority area for this Government and it is committed to delivering the vision set out in Future in Mind, the report published jointly by the Department and NHS England in March 2015. This is supported by an additional investment of £1.4 billion over the next five years.
Progress has been made on many of the key proposals set out in Future in Mind. One key proposal in Future in Mind is that Local Transformation Plans for Children and Young People’s Mental Health and Wellbeing should be produced covering the full spectrum of mental health issues. Plans covering all clinical commissioning groups areas in the country are currently being assured by NHS England’s regional teams. Funding will be released subject to satisfactory assessment.
Work is in progress to strengthen the capacity and capability of workforce and to improve data and information in order to deliver the vision set out in Future in Mind by 2020. In addition, the Children and Young People’s Improving Access to Psychological Therapies programme is continuing to be rolled out across the country.
Progress has also been made on making help and support to children and young people available online through the launch of an online hub for children and young people on the NHS Choices website and further investment made into a campaign to reduce stigma and discrimination as proposed in Future in Mind.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Vernon Coaker on 2015-12-15.
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, how public investment infrastructure in superfast broadband is calculated by his Department.
Mr Edward Vaizey
The funding allocations published by DCMS in February 2014 were based on maximising the numbers of premises that could be covered by superfast broadband, in addition to ensuring that each of the devolved nations had an allocation in line with the Barnett funding formula.