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Tag: 2015

  • Lord Watson of Invergowrie – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    Lord Watson of Invergowrie – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Watson of Invergowrie on 2015-12-16.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether they will publish in their list of sponsors of academies the sponsor identification number for each sponsor, and the trust identification number for each academy trust that the sponsor is sponsoring.

    Lord Nash

    The Department has no plan to publish in its list of sponsors of academies the sponsor and trust identification number for each sponsor and trust. The Department regularly publishes a variety of information.

    Information on current open academies, together with their sponsor and trust name, can be found on Edubase online.

    Sponsor information is also available within the Department’s monthly list of open academies and academy projects in development, which can be found on GOV.UK.

  • John Glen – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    John Glen – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by John Glen on 2015-11-17.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment she has made of the level of support available to help families with disabled children find appropriate play opportunities.

    Edward Timpson

    Since 1 September 2014, local authorities have been under a duty to develop and publish a Local Offer, which sets out the support they expect to be available for children and young people with special educational needs (SEN) or disabilities in their local area. This must provide clear, comprehensive, accessible and up-to-date information about the available provision and how to access it, and must make provision responsive to what parents and children want by involving them in its development. The Local Offer must include information about leisure activities, which could include information about play opportunities.

    Play has an important role in supporting all young children to develop and prepare for later learning. The importance of play is recognised in the Early Years Foundation Stage framework, which states: “Each area of learning and development must be implemented through planned, purposeful play and through a mix of adult-led and child-initiated activity. Play is essential for children’s development, building their confidence as they learn to explore, to think about problems, and relate to others.”

    Since September 2014, two year olds who have a statement of SEN, or an Education, Health and Care Plan, or who are receiving Disability Living Allowance, have also been entitled to 570 hours of free early education, to support their families.

    For older children, the Equality Act 2010 requires all schools to publish an accessibility plan. These plans are about ensuring that all aspects of school life, including facilities used for play, are accessible to disabled pupils. In addition, local authorities are required to publish an accessibility strategy which must be published as part of their Local Offer.

  • Lord Kennedy of Southwark – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Lord Kennedy of Southwark – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Kennedy of Southwark on 2015-12-16.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what action the National Food Crime Unit is taking to protect consumers from counterfeit alcoholic drinks.

    Lord Prior of Brampton

    During November, the National Food Crime Unit (NFCU) jointly headed Operation OPSON, which encourages participating countries to observe a period of particular focus on fake and illicit food and drink. A day of action against counterfeit vodka took place on 11 November. Intelligence gathered from seizures will be fed into the NFCU and results sent onwards to Europol for analysis. Alongside this, the NFCU will conduct its own assessment in order to inform the overall understanding of the threat. This assessment will be published after the official publication of the OPSON results by Europol/Interpol.

    The NFCU has also worked with partners (including HM Revenue & Customs, the Intellectual Property Office, UK Border Force, the National Trading Standards Intelligence Hub and Food Standards Scotland) to form a counterfeit alcohol working group. This group is working to improve the United Kingdom’s strategic understanding of the threats from counterfeit and substandard alcohol.

    In support of the Food Standards Agency’s wine inspectorate, the NFCU is coordinating enquiries with the Government Agency Intelligence Network and with the European Food Fraud Network in relation to wine fraud. The NFCU has also developed an intelligence bulletin to be shared with local trading standards and other agencies nationwide in order to raise awareness of this form of crime and increase reporting.

  • Paul Monaghan – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    Paul Monaghan – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Paul Monaghan on 2015-11-17.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps she is taking to establish a central database of horse movement as required by the Equine Identification Regulations by 1 July 2016.

    George Eustice

    Defra is taking a number of steps to simplify and strengthen existing rules for horses. These include implementation of new tighter EU legislation for equine identification, introduction of a new UK equine database recording horse identification information, and continuing to take an intelligence-led and risk based approach to enforcing the regulatory framework which relates to the domestic and international trade in horses.

  • Lord Norton of Louth – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Cabinet Office

    Lord Norton of Louth – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Cabinet Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Norton of Louth on 2015-12-16.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what steps they are taking to introduce a Civil Service parliamentary scheme to enhance civil servants’ awareness of the role of both Houses of Parliament.

    Lord Bridges of Headley

    The Industry and Parliament Trust run the established Civil Service Attachment Scheme (CSAS) and Civil Service Learning endorses the use of this scheme, subject to departmental budgetary approval. This programme enables Civil Servants to shadow MPs, Peers (and MEPs where relevant) both in parliament and in their constituencies.

    Civil Service Learning provide two courses that address this subject area – “Induction: An introduction to Parliament” and “Parliamentary processes”. They also provide training on taking a Bill through Parliament.

  • Andrew Percy – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Andrew Percy – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Andrew Percy on 2015-11-17.

    To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what funding her Department plans to allocate to domestic and sexual violence support services after April 2016; and for how long she plans for that funding to be available.

    Karen Bradley

    Tackling violence against women and girls remains a priority for this Government. Allocation of funding for domestic and sexual violence support services is dependent on the outcome of the Spending Review.

  • Lord Bradley – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Lord Bradley – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Bradley on 2015-12-16.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government how many Clinical Commissioning Groups in England have achieved real terms increases in spending on mental health services in 2015–16.

    Lord Prior of Brampton

    As part of the mental health parity of esteem requirement for 2015-16, clinical commissioning groups (CCGs) were asked to plan for an increase in spend on mental health services at least in line with the increase in their overall funding allocation for the year, which set a higher bar than achieving a real terms increase in spending, though not all CCGs were able to achieve this target. 192 of the 209 CCGs achieved a real terms growth in mental health planned spend measured against the 1.4% Gross Domestic Product (GDP) deflator for 2015-16.

    The list attached shows which CCGs have achieved real terms increases in spending on mental health in 2015-16.

    The final data for CCGs’ spending on mental health in 2015-16 will be submitted to NHS England by commissioners in May 2016, and it is anticipated NHS England may be in a position to provide final spend information by around the end of the first quarter of 2016-17.

    NHS England has not yet published CCG planning guidance for 2016-17. Consideration will be given to holding commissioners to account for spending on mental health.

    CCG and NHS England mental health spending information is now routinely collected as party of NHS England’s monthly financial reporting regime. Monthly financial reports by CCGs are scrutinised and quality assessed by NHS England’s regional teams. The monthly reports also form part of the CCG assurance process. NHS England is also in the process of setting up the financial plan assurance process for 2016-17, which will incorporate the review of planned spending on mental health services for future years.

  • Ian Paisley – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Northern Ireland Office

    Ian Paisley – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Northern Ireland Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Ian Paisley on 2015-11-17.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, whether proposals to expand the Security Service include the expansion of its facilities and additional recruitment in Northern Ireland.

    Mr Ben Wallace

    It would not be appropriate for me to comment on these matters which are the responsibility of the Security and Intelligence Agencies.

  • 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 2015-12-15.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what evidence they have received, if any, of civilian casualties in Syria caused by Russian military action by air, by land, or by cluster weapons; and what assessment they have made of the means available to them to prevent Russian military action from increasing casualties in Syria.

    Baroness Anelay of St Johns

    It is difficult to ascertain with complete certainty the numbers of civilian casualties as a direct result of Russian attacks, though there are numerous, credible open source reports of civilian casualties as a result of Russian air strikes. Although Russian claims to be targeting Daesh, 75 per cent of their strikes have been against other targets. We continue to urge Russia to end strikes against the moderate opposition and, instead, to use its political leverage over the Assad regime to stop the regime’s indiscriminate bombing against civilians. In February 2014 we co-sponsored UN Security Council Resolution 2139 calling for the protection of civilians and an end to indiscriminate attacks, including the use of barrel bombs and obstructing the flow of humanitarian aid.

  • Peter Kyle – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Culture, Media and Sport

    Peter Kyle – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Culture, Media and Sport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Peter Kyle on 2015-11-17.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what assessment he has made of the likely effect of the apprenticeship levy on existing professional training and digital skills initiatives provided by the digital technology industry.

    Mr Edward Vaizey

    The digital sector contributes more than 7 per cent to the UK economy – it is one of our most innovative sectors, and needs a strong skills base to continue to grow and succeed. That is why this Government has implemented the new apprenticeship levy, and is consulting digital and technology employers to have a better understanding of their specific skills needs and assess the likely impacts of the levy on existing professional training programmes and initiatives.