The below Parliamentary question was asked by Kate Hoey on 2015-11-04.
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, whether Moussa Koussa’s arrival in the UK by aeroplane at Farnborough in March 2011 was by prior agreement with the UK Government; and if he will make a statement.
Mr Tobias Ellwood
Moussa Koussa flew to the UK from Tunisia of his own volition, having notified our authorities shortly before his departure of his intention to travel here.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Storey on 2015-12-03.
To ask Her Majesty’s Government who line manages Regional School Commissioners.
Lord Nash
The eight Regional Schools Commissioners (RSCs) take decisions in the name of the Secretary of State in relation to schools and academies (including free schools, university technical colleges and studio schools). The RSCs were appointed through open competition, with successful candidates being appointed for their outstanding leadership skills and track record. The process was overseen by the Civil Service Commissioner. RSCs are line managed by the national Schools Commissioner.
The responsibilities of RSCs include:
a) monitoring the performance of the academies, free schools, UTCs and studio schools in their area;
b) taking action when an academy, free school, UTC or studio school is underperforming;
c) approving the conversion of maintained schools to academies and making the decision on the sponsor for new academies in areas where the local authority has identified a need for additional school places;
d) making recommendations to ministers about free school applications and advising on whether approved free school projects are ready to open;
e) encouraging organisations to become academy sponsors or to establish free schools, approving applications to become sponsors and helping to build the capacity and capability of existing sponsors within their area;
f) approving changes to open academies, for example: changes to age ranges, mergers between academies, and changes to MAT arrangements;
g) addressing underperformance in local authority maintained schools through sponsored academy arrangements.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Chi Onwurah on 2015-11-04.
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment she has made of the effect on the financial sustainability of sixth form colleges of (a) VAT and (b) pension costs; and if she will estimate the average proportion of a sixth form college’s budget which is spent on those costs.
Mr Sam Gyimah
The Education Funding Agency (EFA) regularly assesses the financial viability of sixth-form colleges on behalf of the department. Those assessments take account of all income and costs for colleges, including costs relating to VAT and pension liabilities.
The department estimates that VAT accounts for about 3% of sixth form colleges’ expenditure each year.
With regards to pension costs, sixth-form colleges may contribute to a number of pension schemes. The SFC financial returns are available online at https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/sfa-financial-management-college-accounts and show employer contributions to pensions. The EFA does not routinely collect data on the cost of other pension schemes through financial returns.
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The below Parliamentary question was asked by Baroness Sharp of Guildford on 2015-12-03.
To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether, in developing their plans for improving the careers service for young people up to the age of 18, they have consulted the National Careers Service about possible collaboration.
Lord Nash
The Department for Education works closely with the National Careers Service (NCS), which supports young people directly through a website, telephone helpline and webchat service and through a brokerage role with schools and employers.
We consulted the NCS in advance of establishing The Careers & Enterprise Company, and since then the two organisations have worked together to understand where and how services can be coordinated to ensure that they complement each other.
In the spring we will publish a strategy for improved careers provision for young people and we are engaging with the NCS as we develop our proposals. In particular the NCS will support one of our key aims, which is to ensure that young people and their parents or carers can access the information they need to make informed decisions on their education, training and employment options.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Ann Clwyd on 2015-11-04.
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, whether he raised with the President Abdel Fatah al-Sisi of Egypt the case of Mahmoud Mohamed Ahmed Hussein.
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.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Baroness Howe of Idlicote on 2015-12-02.
To ask Her Majesty’s Government how Ofcom is ensuring that persons under the age of 18 are protected from inappropriate content in television and radio services.
Baroness Shields
Section One of the Broadcasting Code serves to protect children from unsuitable content in television and radio services. The rules in this section include specific provisions, and cover areas such as drugs, smoking, violence and dangerous behaviour, offensive language, sexual material and nudity. The rules also specifically protect children before the watershed on television at 9pm and at times when they are particularly likely to be listening to radio services. Ofcom enforces these rules robustly, and can impose statutory sanctions on any broadcaster that breaches them.
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 people in (a) the UK, (b) Scotland, (c) Glasgow and (d) Glasgow East constituency are in receipt of both the state pension and carer’s allowance in the 2015-16 financial year.
Justin Tomlinson
The information as requested for 2015/16 is not available.
However information on the number of people in receipt of both the State Pension and Carer’s Allowance is published by the Department on a quarterly basis. The latest data available is February 2015 which can be found at:
https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/dwp-statistics-tabulation-tool
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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The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Rana on 2015-12-02.
To ask Her Majesty’s Government how they plan to spend the £1 billion pledged for post-war reconstruction in Syria.
Baroness Verma
The UK has been at the forefront of the international response to the humanitarian crisis in Syria. We have committed over £1.1 billion to date, making us the second largest bilateral donor to the international response.
We have planned for the endgame since the beginning of the conflict and during the Geneva process. We are now updating our planning to reflect the timeline envisaged in the Vienna process and are asking others to do the same. The initial priorities for Syria post-conflict will be protection, security, stabilisation and confidence building measures, including meeting basic needs and helping displaced people to return. Over time the focus will shift to longer-term re-building of Syria’s shattered infrastructure, harnessing the expertise of the UN, International Financial Institutions and the private sector. On 26 November, the Prime Minister announced at least £1 billion for Syria’s reconstruction. We anticipate that we would allocate reconstruction funds against a plan agreed between a new, inclusive Syrian government and the international community, once the conflict has ended.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Gordon Marsden on 2015-11-04.
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what assessment he has made of the effect of his Department’s policies of providing bursaries and mathematics enhancement programmes to teaching staff in the further education sector on the total number of mathematics teachers in that sector; and on what evidential basis he made the decision to offer bursaries and mathematics enhancement programmes to teaching staff in the further education sector.
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.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Pearson of Rannoch on 2015-12-02.
To ask Her Majesty’s Government, further to the Written Answer by Lord Bridges of Headley on 10 June (HL56), whether they will provide updated statistics for the tables entitled Growth in the UK Muslim Population, to show the most recent figures available.
Lord Bridges of Headley
The information requested falls within the responsibility of the UK Statistics Authority. I have asked the Authority to reply.