The below Parliamentary question was asked by Sadiq Khan on 2015-11-09.
To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, how many and what proportion of first time buyers there were in each London (a) borough and (b) constituency in each of the last 10 years.
Brandon Lewis
The requested information is not available.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Craig Whittaker on 2015-12-08.
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what steps his Department is taking to work with sports clubs to discourage young people from taking performance enhancing drugs.
Tracey Crouch
Performance enhancing drugs remain a threat to the integrity of sport and the health and wellbeing of all our athletes. The Government supports the work of UK Anti-Doping which works tirelessly to ensure athletes and sport are clean. Through testing programmes, intelligence sharing with law-enforcement agencies on supplying and trafficking, and its excellent athlete education initiatives, UKAD is one of the world’s most highly regarded national anti-doping organisations.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Stephen Phillips on 2015-11-09.
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how much Department for International Development expenditure his Department reported to NATO as defence spending in each year from 2006 to 2014.
Michael Fallon
This information is not held centrally and could be provided only at disproportionate cost.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Steven Paterson on 2015-12-08.
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, with reference to paragraph 4.62 in the Strategic Defence and Security Review, published on 23 November 2015, what estimate he has made of the revenue that will be received from the sale of 30 per cent of the built estate.
Mark Lancaster
As stated in the Spending Review 2015 the Ministry of Defence (MOD) expects to generate £1 billion through the disposal of sites in the financial years 2016-17 to 2020-21.
The MOD does not disclose annual breakdowns due to the potential for prejudice to its commercial interests.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Peter Dowd on 2015-11-09.
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, why school and academy sixth forms have not been included in recommendations arising out of reviews of post-16 education and training; and if she will make a statement.
Nick Boles
Area reviews of post-16 education and training institutions are predominantly focused on general further education and sixth form colleges in order to ensure that there are high quality, financially resilient colleges across the country. Schools with sixth forms can opt in to a review, if they wish to do so, and if they have the agreement of the review’s local steering group.
Each review will conduct a comprehensive analysis of the current post-16 provision in the area which will include the offer made by schools with sixth forms. Regional Schools Commissioners and local authorities will sit on local area review steering groups. These groups will identify issues with school sixth form provision, including provision by academy sixth forms, free school sixth forms, and University Technical Colleges, and feed these issues into the reviews. We expect Regional Schools Commissioners and local authorities to take account of the analysis from area reviews in any decisions they make about future provision.
The reviews are aimed at delivering a skills system that meets the economic and educational needs of areas whilst also ensuring the long term sustainability of colleges to support productivity. Early evidence from the pilot reviews indicates that there is also potential for the reviews to secure efficiency savings.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Craig Whittaker on 2015-12-08.
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps her Department is taking to increase educational attainment among white boys from low-income socio-economic groups.
Nick Gibb
We are determined to deliver educational excellence everywhere so that every child, regardless of background, reaches their potential. The latest statistics show that more white boys eligible for FSM are achieving the expected standard in reading, writing and mathematics at the end of primary school, rising from 51 per cent in 2012 to 59 per cent in 2015.
It is unacceptable, however, that fewer than one in four white boys eligible for free school meals (FSM) achieves the expected standard at the end of secondary school.
Through the pupil premium, the government is providing additional targeted money, worth £2.5 billion in this year, to help schools support their disadvantaged pupils and improve their progress and attainment.
We are raising expectations further for all pupils. We are determined to ensure that every child masters the basics of literacy and numeracy at primary school, and that those who do not will re-sit the tests at secondary school. We are also committed to introducing an expectation that every child who is able studies the EBacc combination of subjects – maths, English, history or geography, a language and the sciences – up until the age of 16.
We are also introducing reforms that will further help ensure high standards throughout every child’s education and tackle entrenched underperformance, particularly amongst schools serving deprived communities.
The National Teaching Service (NTS) will deploy the country’s best teachers and leaders to underperforming schools that struggle to attract and retain the professionals they need. 1,500 outstanding teachers will be part of NTS by 2020.
The introduction of the national funding formula for schools will ensure that funding is transparently and fairly linked to children’s needs, ending the unfair system where children from identical disadvantaged circumstances attract significantly different levels of funding, simply because of where they live.
We have also made a commitment to double the percentage of disadvantaged pupils accessing higher education by 2020, and this will include a focus on children from disadvantaged backgrounds.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Emily Thornberry on 2015-11-09.
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what plans her Department has to increase the number of early education places for children (a) under the age of three and (b) aged three and four; and if she will make a statement.
Mr Sam Gyimah
We have already made significant progress in ensuring that there are more childcare places available. There has been an increase of 230,000 places since 2009 and a significant increase in the take up of childcare provision in low- and middle-income areas.
This government has also supported providers by reducing bureaucracy and making it easier for providers such as childminders and schools to provide places. We continue to work with providers to increase the number of childcare places, for example by sharing good practice on working in partnership.
Subject to the will of Parliament, the Childcare Bill will introduce an entitlement to 30 hours of funded childcare for working parents of three- and four-year olds from 2017. New childcare places will be required for this age group, and the government wishes to encourage new providers to enter the childcare market and existing providers to expand. On top of the steps already being taken, such as the extension of the Childcare Business Grant Scheme, our planned Early Implementers will test provider capacity and market innovation and flexibility from 2016.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Shannon on 2015-12-08.
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps her Department is taking to encourage coppicing of woodland.
Rory Stewart
By increasing awareness and demand for coppice products, woodland owners will be encouraged to reintroduce coppice management in their woods. For this reason, we are working with ‘Grown in Britain’, along with the Forestry Commission and the National Coppice Federation, to introduce a ‘Grown in Britain Coppice’ licence category. This will allow coppice owners and workers to benefit from the ‘Grown in Britain’ brand as it raises the profile of the home grown woodland industry.
Where significant biodiversity improvement can be achieved, the practice of coppicing can also be supported through Countryside Stewardship. Under the Priority Habitat (broadleaved woodland) or Priority Species objectives of Woodland Improvement (WD2) schemes, the payment of £100 per hectare per year will be paid for activities which improve the biodiversity of woodland or make it more resilient to climate change. Where coppicing forms part of the sustainable long term management of a woodland, it can be supported though this scheme under a multi-annual agreement.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Caroline Lucas on 2015-11-09.
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, if she will list the average wholesale price for electricity in (a) nominal and (b) real pounds sterling for each year from 2000 to 2015.
Andrea Leadsom
DECC receives wholesale prices data from Argus Media on a daily basis. The following table shows the yearly average of day-ahead baseload prices since 2001 when this data is available from. We have converted the daily data into a yearly average, and converted nominal data into real data using HM Treasury’s GDP deflators1.
|
Calendar Year |
Yearly Average (nominal) |
Yearly Average (2014 prices) |
||
|
2015* |
41.5 |
41.9** |
||
|
2014 |
42.5 |
42.5 |
||
|
2013 |
50.8 |
51.7 |
||
|
2012 |
45.3 |
47.0 |
||
|
2011 |
48.3 |
50.9 |
||
|
2010 |
42.0 |
45.2 |
||
|
2009 |
37.8 |
41.9 |
||
|
2008 |
74.8 |
84.7 |
||
|
2007 |
31.1 |
36.2 |
||
|
2006 |
42.6 |
51.0 |
||
|
2005 |
39.5 |
48.7 |
||
|
2004 |
23.3 |
29.6 |
||
|
2003 |
21.3 |
27.9 |
||
|
2002 |
16.8 |
22.5 |
||
|
2001*** |
21.3 |
29.4 |
||
|
Source: Argus Media |
||||
|
* Data available until November 11th 2015 |
||||
|
** Percentage change on previous year in line with July 2015 Budget *** Data available since October 15th 2001 |
||||
“
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Kate Osamor on 2015-12-08.
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what recent reports he has received on Turkish military action in Kobane; and if he will make a statement.
Mr David Lidington
We are closely monitoring all of these and related events in Turkey and the region. The Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) continues to kill members of the Turkish police service and security forces. We support Turkey’s right to defend itself against all forms of terrorism. We have been clear that the PKK must cease its violence and the peace process needs to be resumed. The UK stands ready to help in any way it can in this regard. I last raised this with my Turkish counterpart when we met in August.
The Government continues to monitor closely Turkey’s democratic reforms, including as part of the EU accession process, focusing particularly on freedom of expression, respect for the rule of law and minority rights.
We welcome Turkey’s invaluable contribution to the international campaign against Daesh, particularly its agreement for the use of its airspace and airbases, as a member of the Global Coalition committed to defeating it. Turkey has been carrying out military strikes against Daesh since July 2015, and state that they have detained over 2,500 Daesh suspects since 2013, of whom one third are foreigners. Turkey recognises the role that Syrian Kurds have to play in the fight against Daesh, and accepts that Syrian Kurds receive Coalition support.