Tag: 2015

  • Baroness Coussins – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    Baroness Coussins – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Baroness Coussins on 2015-11-05.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government how many additional modern foreign language teachers they estimate will be needed in order to achieve the target of 90 per cent of mainstream pupils achieving the English Baccalaureate by 2020.

    Lord Nash

    The proposals in the English Baccalaureate consultation launched on 3 November imply an increase in the numbers of teachers of languages needed. The EBacc-related increase is over and above the additional teachers needed to keep up with the rise in the secondary school pupil population.

    We will forecast the demand for additional Modern Foreign Language teachers following the conclusion of the consultation. This will give us a better understanding of how schools plan to respond to the resulting workforce requirements from 2017/18.

    The Department does this, in part, by adding policy assumptions into the Teacher Supply Model (TSM), which informs the Initial Teacher Training (ITT) targets each year.

    More details as to how the policy assumption process is managed within the TSM itself, along with some previous examples, can be found in both the 2016/17 TSM and the accompanying user guide.

  • Craig Whittaker – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    Craig Whittaker – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Craig Whittaker on 2015-11-30.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how many train services on the Calder Valley rail line have been cancelled as a result of train reliability issues in the last 12 months.

    Claire Perry

    The Department for Transport does not usually hold information at this level of detail. However, the operator has on this occasion informed us that from mid-October to the beginning of December, 17 trains during the morning and evening peaks were cancelled as a result of train reliability issues on the Calder Valley rail line.

    As one of the signatories to the Northern Franchise Agreement, West Yorkshire Combined Authority – who are responsible for specifying and sponsoring local rail services in West Yorkshire – may be able to supply the information requested to the level of detail you require. They can be contacted at West Yorkshire Combined Authority, Wellington House, 40-50 Wellington Street, Leeds LS1 2DE; by phone: 0113 251 7272 or email at enquiries@westyorks-ca.gov.uk.

  • Lord Hylton – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Lord Hylton – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Hylton on 2015-11-05.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what steps they are taking to remind the government of Turkey of its undertakings contained in the Dolmabahçe Declaration of 27 February.

    Baroness Anelay of St Johns

    We welcomed previous steps taken by the Turkish government to take forward the Kurdish peace process, including through discussions with Abdullah Öcalan and his representatives. We understand that the Government of Turkey did not commit itself to specific undertakings following the talks at the Dolmabahçe Palace in February. We have been very clear that the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) violence must end and that the peace process should be resumed, in the interests of Turkey and the wider region. The UK stands ready to help in any way it can.

  • Martyn Day – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    Martyn Day – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Martyn Day on 2015-12-07.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what timetable the Government plans to follow for the proposed sale of its share in NATS.

    Mr Robert Goodwill

    The Government is currently committed to exploring the sale of its 49% shareholding in NATS and maximise returns to the taxpayer.

    We have not yet set a timetable for the sale.

  • Lord Taylor of Warwick – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    Lord Taylor of Warwick – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Taylor of Warwick on 2015-11-05.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what steps they are taking to support growth in UK exports in the light of recent reports from the British Chambers of Commerce that growth in orders for export has slowed.

    Lord Maude of Horsham

    Last week, we launched the new Exporting is GREAT marketing campaign which aims to inspire and support 100,000 additional exporters by 2020. This will run for five years as part of the world-renowned GREAT campaign and presents real-time export opportunities across various media and digital channels to UK businesses. We will ensure that in future the whole of Government isengagedin providing support forexports.

  • Nicholas Soames – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    Nicholas Soames – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Nicholas Soames on 2015-12-04.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what the planned schedule of disbursements from the Joint Security Fund is for (a) his Department and (b) the security and intelligence agencies in each year from 2016-17 to 2020-21.

    Michael Fallon

    The Ministry of Defence will be able to spend £2.1 billion from the Joint Security Fund over the rest of this Parliament. The annual profile is subject to formal confirmation of the Chancellor’s settlement for defence expected later this month.

    Use of the Joint Security Fund by the Security and Intelligence Agencies is a matter for the Cabinet Office.

  • Alan Brown – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    Alan Brown – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Alan Brown on 2015-11-05.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what steps his Department is taking to prevent the loss of skilled manufacturing jobs to other countries in the EU.

    Anna Soubry

    The best way the Government can help retain skilled manufacturing jobs in the UK is by continuing to ensure a strong economy. We are cutting red tape by a further £10billion, creating three million apprenticeships and lowering corporation tax. This will create the right economic conditions to encourage the investment crucial to UK manufacturing productivity growth and jobs. The UK is the number one destination in Europe for foreign direct investment and around a third of the 2,000 new inward Foreign Direct Investment projects in 2014/15 were in the areas of advanced manufacturing and life sciences. Since the Government’s Reshore UK initiative was launched in January 2014, it has advised more than 140 companies, helping to create or safeguard 4,789 jobs so far, with over 4,000 more in the pipeline.

  • Callum McCaig – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Energy and Climate Change

    Callum McCaig – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Energy and Climate Change

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Callum McCaig on 2015-12-04.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, what recent estimate the Government has made of the potential annual value of the carbon capture and storage industry to the UK economy by 2020.

    Andrea Leadsom

    A report1 published by the Department of Business, Innovation & Skills estimated that the Carbon Capture and Storage sector and supply chain contributed £200m of Gross Value Added to the UK economy in 2013. The Government has not made a recent estimate of the potential annual value of the CCS industry to the UK economy by 2020.

    1 The size and performance of the UK low carbon economy, BIS, March 2015.

    https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/416240/bis-15-206-size-and-performance-of-uk-low-carbon-economy.pdf

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

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

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Mark Durkan on 2015-11-05.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what assessment he has made of the time taken by the Cayman Islands government to respond to its consultation on a public register of beneficial ownership.

    James Duddridge

    I refer the Honourable Gentleman to the answer given by my Rt Hon Friend, the Member for South West Hertfordshire (David Gauke MP), the Financial Secretary to the Treasury, to questions 10437, 10438 and 10448, which sets out the criteria we expect the Overseas Territories to meet in relation to their central register of company beneficial ownership, or similarly effective system.

    We are continuing our dialogue with the Anguilla authorities on this and have offered any technical support that might be required as they develop their proposals.

  • Luciana Berger – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Luciana Berger – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Luciana Berger on 2015-12-04.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what steps he is taking to ensure the efficient and timely transfer of prisoners to hospitals under the Mental Health Act 1983; and how many prisoners have waited for more than 14 days for such a transfer in each of the last five years.

    Ben Gummer

    NHS England has revised good practice guidance on transferring adult prisoners to secure hospitals under sections 47 and 48 of the Mental Health Act 1983. This guidance includes the expectation that a transfer will take place within 14 days, when the need for hospital admission is urgent, and that longer transfer periods should be reported to NHS commissioners, so that steps can be taken to improve. The guidance will be published shortly.

    Between April to September 2015, 343 prisoners waited more than 14 days for a transfer. Data on prisoner transfer waiting times was not held centrally prior to April 2015. Since then, NHS England has collected data from Health and Justice Indicators of Performance (HJIPs) at a national level.

    HJIPs include data on waiting times for transfers between prisons and secure hospitals in England since April 2015 and available information is shown in the attached table, Health & Justice Indicators of Performance – Mental Health Secure Assessment and Transfer. NHS England intends to publish future HJIP data online from April 2016.