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Tag: 2015

  • Chi Onwurah – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    Chi Onwurah – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Chi Onwurah on 2015-11-04.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what representations she has received on increasing the number of English and mathematics teachers in further education and sixth form colleges.

    Nick Boles

    Ministers and officials at both the Department for Education and the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills have on-going discussions with stakeholder organisations and colleges about the need to ensure well qualified and skilled teachers of English and mathematics in both FE colleges and sixth form colleges, as we set out in our FE Workforce Strategy and National College for Teaching and Leadership business plan.

  • Baroness Sharp of Guildford – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    Baroness Sharp of Guildford – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Baroness Sharp of Guildford on 2015-12-03.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether the annual £210 million ring-fenced funding for adult community education is to be continued; and if not, what level of funding such community education will receive in future.

    Baroness Neville-Rolfe

    We have protected the core adult skills participation budget in cash terms, at £1.5 billion. Further details on what the settlement means for the Further Education sector is set out in the Skills Funding Letter.

  • Ann Clwyd – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Ann Clwyd – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Ann Clwyd on 2015-11-04.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what representations he made to the President Abdel Fatah al-Sisi of Egypt about the case of Israa Al-Taweel.

    Mr Tobias Ellwood

    Although the Prime Minister, my right hon. Friend the Member for Witney (Mr Cameron) did not raise this specific case on 5 November, he discussed human rights issues in Egypt with President Sisi. He raised a number of concerns, including around the detention of political activists, mass trials and restrictions on freedom of expression.

  • Baroness Howe of Idlicote – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Culture, Media and Sport

    Baroness Howe of Idlicote – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Culture, Media and Sport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Baroness Howe of Idlicote on 2015-12-02.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government how a child is defined within the Ofcom Broadcasting Code.

    Baroness Shields

    For the purposes of protecting children from viewing or listening to unsuitable material, section one of the Broadcasting Code defines children as those aged under fifteen years. For the purporses of safeguarding children involved in programmes, the Code protects all young people under the age of eighteen.

  • Natalie McGarry – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    Natalie McGarry – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Natalie McGarry on 2015-11-04.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many women aged (a) 60, (b) 61, (c) 62, (d) 63, (e) 64, (f) 65, (g) 66 and (h) 67 were in receipt of carer’s allowance in (i) the UK, (ii) Scotland, (iii) Glasgow and (iv) Glasgow East constituency in the most recent period for which figures are available.

    Justin Tomlinson

    The information requested is shown in the table below as at February 2015, which is the latest data available.

    Carer’s Allowance recipients, by age for Great Britain, Scotland, Glasgow City Local Authority and Glasgow East constituency – February 2015:

    All Females

    Age of claimant Great Britain Scotland Glasgow City LA Glasgow East Constituency
    Total all ages 519,740 43,110 7,050 1,340
    60 12,410 1,140 170 30
    61 12,470 1,070 140 30
    62 5,820 530 60 10
    63 550 30 10 –
    64 610 40 10 –
    65 1,130 60 10 –
    66 1,040 60 10 –
    67 1,080 80 10 –

    Source: DWP 100% WPLS.

    Notes:
    1. "-" denotes nil or negligible; Caseload figures are rounded to the nearest ten; some additional disclosure control has also been applied. Totals may not sum due to rounding.
    2. STATE PENSION AGE: The age at which men and women reach State Pension age is gradually increasing. Under current legislation, State Pension age for women will equalise with State Pension age for men at 65 in 2018. Both men’s and women’s State Pension age will increase from 65 to 66 between December 2018 and October 2020. The Pensions Bill 2013-14 contains provision for a State Pension age of 67 to be reached by 2028. For more information see https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/207966/espa.pdf.
    3. Parliamentary Constituency of claimant (Westminster) these constituencies are used for the Westminster parliament

    4. Information for Northern Ireland is the responsibility of the Department for Social Development. Northern Ireland statistics can be found at:
    http://www.dsdni.gov.uk/index/stats_and_research/benefit_publications.htm

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  • – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Cabinet Office

    – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Cabinet Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by on 2015-12-02.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government, further to the remarks by Lord Faulks on 18 November (HL Deb, col 176), which scientific studies informed the comments that there is a considerably held view” that the adult brain reaches maturity at age 25

    Lord Bridges of Headley

    The age of majority is a complex subject and one which requires careful consideration. A range of differing academic views on adolescent brain development exist, for example those set out by Professor Laurence Steinberg or Dr Jay Giedd. In ‘Changing Prisons, Saving Lives – Report of the Independent Review into Self-inflicted Deaths in Custody of 18-24 year olds’ (published in July 2015), the Harris review panel comment that ‘research shows that brain structures continue to mature and develop well into the twenties’(citing ‘White Matter Development in Adolescence: A DTI Study’ by Dr Miya Asato et al).

  • Gordon Marsden – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    Gordon Marsden – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Gordon Marsden on 2015-11-04.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, pursuant to the Answer of 3 November 2015 to Question 13325, how many mathematics enhancement programmes his Department offered people in the further education sector in each year from 2010-11 to 2014-15; and how many such programmes he estimates his Department will offer in 2015-16.

    Nick Boles

    The Department for Business, Innovation and Skills (BIS) began offering bursaries to graduates to train to teach maths in the academic year 2013/14. 61 and 136 people took up such bursaries in 2013/14 and 2014/15, respectively. It is estimated that 167 maths bursaries will be taken up in 2015/16.

    The maths enhancement is a joint BIS/Department for Education supported programme and commenced in the academic year 2013/14. During 2013/14 and 2014/15 over 2,450 existing further education teachers participated in the maths programmes. During 2015/16 we are continuing to support access to a pipeline programme to enhance the maths skills of existing teachers. This is being delivered by the Education and Training Foundation. We have not made an estimate of the number of programmes that will be taken up in 2015/16.

    Emerging findings from the evaluation of the further education (FE) workforce programmes have shown a positive impact on the confidence and effectiveness of FE teachers delivering maths either as a core subject or in vocational context. The evidential basis for intervention in maths teaching was based on the clear need to raise the Maths attainment rates of students in further education; and improve the quality of Maths teaching as identified by Ofsted inspection reports.

  • Lord Rowlands – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    Lord Rowlands – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Rowlands on 2015-12-02.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government on what basis, and by which process, the relevant shares of the proposed Apprenticeship Levy will be distributed to the devolved administrations.

    Baroness Neville-Rolfe

    We are working with the devolved administrations to ensure fair and transparent funding and, as far as possible, to develop a system for administering the levy which complements the skills and apprenticeship policies of each of the devolved administrations. We are committed to doing all we can to make the system work for employers wherever they are in the UK.

  • Joanna Cherry – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Joanna Cherry – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Joanna Cherry on 2015-11-10.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what plans he has to improve the availability of off-patent drugs for novel uses through non-legislative measures.

    George Freeman

    Clinicians can already prescribe off-patent drugs off-label on clinical grounds if they judge this is the right thing to do to meet the individual clinical needs of their patients.

    The Government is keen to accelerate the adoption of innovative medicines and increase the innovative use of existing medicines where the evidence reports clinical benefits and cost effectiveness to patients. To that end, we are seeking a number of initiatives to provide innovation but whilst supporting the aims of the Private Member’s Bill on this subject, we do not believe the proposed mechanism is either practicable and desirable.

    We are working with NHS England, the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence, the General Medical Council and the Medicines and Health products Regulatory Agency to ensure that there is better information available to support clinicians who wish to prescribe off-patent drugs for off-label indications, and to ensure that new evidence is picked up more quickly and reliably and translated into clinical practice and can be fed through into licensing applications.

    A huge amount of work is also going on in the Accelerated Access Review which will support the “pull” of innovation through to clinical practice.

    As part of the debate on the Access to Medical Treatments Bill, we are working with officials in the Department, the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency, and the Health and Social Care Information Centre to see how the power in the Bill, if it were to pass, could address the lack of provision of information on new uses for existing medicines via the power to create a database of innovations in order to support evidence-based prescribing.

  • Emma Lewell-Buck – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    Emma Lewell-Buck – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Emma Lewell-Buck on 2015-12-02.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what assessment he has made of the potential economic effect on Scotland of Buchan Deep supply chain work being awarded to a company that will undertake the work overseas.

    Anna Soubry

    I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave on 7 December 2015 to Question UIN 18533.

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