The below Parliamentary question was asked by Peter Kyle on 2015-11-04.
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what assessment he has made of the effect of the planned increase in the national minimum wage on the level of provision of care homes.
Alistair Burt
I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave on 21 October 2015 to Question 11609.
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The below Parliamentary question was asked by Louise Ellman on 2015-12-01.
To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment he has made of the effect of his plans for HM Revenue and Customs offices in Liverpool on jobs and services in that area; and if he will make a statement.
Mr David Gauke
HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) announced the planned locations of its future Regional Centres based on a number of key principles. In addition to cost, HMRC has taken account of the quality of local transport links, the local labour market and future workforce supply, and the need to retain the staff and skills they need to continue their transformation. These changes will reduce HMRC’s estates costs by around £100 million a year by 2025. HMRC intends to have extensive discussions with all our staff to keep them fully informed of their options as the programme continues.
HMRC views Liverpool as a key site for customer service activity. The Department will be making a long term investment in the City and is planning to open a Regional Centre there from 2018/19 employing between 2,800 and 3,100 employees.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Danny Kinahan on 2015-11-04.
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what discussions she has had with her counterpart in the Northern Ireland Executive on the need for that Executive to help increase shared and integrated education.
Nick Gibb
At this time, no such discussions have taken place.
The International Education Division leads the relationship with the devolved administrations and is currently developing a Devolution Plan that will outline the steps that we as a Department will take to improve our collaboration with the devolved administrations.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Bridget Phillipson on 2015-12-01.
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, pursuant to the Answer of 17 November 2015 to Question 15582, if he will define bus franchising in relation to the North East Devolution Deal and how it differs from a Quality Contact Scheme.
Andrew Jones
The Buses Bill will provide the powers for local transport authorities to franchise their local bus services subject to agreement from Government. It will allow local transport authorities to replace the current deregulated bus market with a system of contracting, whereby the authority specifies the services or outcomes they are looking to achieve and bus companies bid to provide those services.
The final content of the Bill is still being developed, but the process through which the franchising powers are exercised is likely to differ from that set out in the Quality Contract Scheme process. The intended outcome of franchising is similar to that of a Quality Contract Scheme, although there are likely to be some differences. For example, the ten-year time limit that applies to Quality Contract Schemes is not expected to apply under franchising.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Andrew Smith on 2015-11-04.
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how much the NHS has spent on maternity services in each of the last 10 years.
Ben Gummer
Not all of the information requested is collected centrally. Data for primary care trusts (PCTs) secondary healthcare commissioning spend on maternity services for the years 2005/06 to 2012/13 is shown in the tables below. Maternity services may also be commissioned in primary care environments. However, it is not possible to separately identify the amount of primary care expenditure on maternity services from the statutory accounting data collected by the Department.
Table 1: 2005/06 to 2007/08. NHS expenditure figures on a pre-Clear Line of Sight resource budgeting basis.
|
Year |
Maternity services commissioned by PCTs 2005/06 to 2012/13 |
Spend on maternity services as % of NHS revenue expenditure |
|
2005/06 |
1.67 |
2.25% |
|
2006/07 |
1.62 |
2.06% |
|
2007/08 |
1.79 |
2.07% |
Source: NHS (England) Summarised Account (2005/06 to 2010/11)
Table 2: 2008/09 to 2012/13. NHS expenditure figures on an aligned basis following the HM Treasury’s Clear Line of Sight programme.
|
Year |
Maternity services commissioned by PCTs 2005/06 to 2012/13 |
|
|
|
2008/09 |
1.97 |
2.25% |
|
|
2009/10 |
2.41 |
2.55% |
|
|
2010/11 |
2.53 |
2.60% |
|
|
2011/12 |
2.62 |
2.61% |
|
|
2012/13 |
2.58 |
2.52% |
Source: NHS (England) Summarised Account (2005/06 to 2010/11) and the Department of Health Annual Report and Accounts (2011/12 and 2012/13).
Notes:
Following the abolition of PCTs and strategic health authorities at 31 March 2013, NHS England became responsible for the commissioning of healthcare in England via the network of individual clinical commissioning groups (CCGs). The Department does not collect data on maternity services spend by CCGs.
NHS England has published expenditure on ‘maternity and reproductive health’ services commissioned by CCGs for 2013/14, which was estimated to be £2.8 billion (4% of total CCG expenditure). CCG spend represents a proportion of overall NHS expenditure on maternity services. NHS England also commissions some services that were previously included within PCT estimates, such as antenatal screening services. NHS England is currently reviewing the data on direct commissioning expenditure and plans to publish this when finalised.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by David Amess on 2015-12-01.
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, pursuant to the Answer of 27 October 2015 to Question 13645, what process was followed in the appointment of each headteacher to assist her Department on improving the provision of PSHE in schools; where each post was advertised; how many people applied for each such post; how many headteachers were short-listed for interview for those posts; whether consideration was given to each candidate’s (a) political views and (b) views on (i) PSHE, (ii) contraception and (iii) abortion in the appointment process; how each candidate was appraised in that process; what criteria were adopted by each candidate; how many candidates for each such post were rejected; and if she will make a statement.
Edward Timpson
We selected these headteachers to work with us on this issue because of the high quality of provision of PSHE education in their schools. The group of headteachers and practitioners that we are currently working with includes Carl Ward of Haywood Academy in Stoke on Trent; Cathie Paine of the Reach2 Academy Trust; Jerry Rayner of Rugby Independent School in Warwickshire; Michelle Colledge-Smith of the Outwood Grange Academy Trust; and Vanessa Ogden of Mulberry School in Bethnal Green.
The group has not been asked to advise the Government on the content of PSHE. Their focus is to produce an action plan and recommendations for improving the quality of PSHE teaching. We want to draw on expertise from a range of headteachers and practitioners and will invite others to join the group as appropriate. The Department regularly speaks to a wide range of stakeholders and will continue to do so regarding PSHE.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Anna Turley on 2015-11-03.
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what discussions he has had with the Prime Minister about the value of the Government support package for people affected by the closure of the SSI Steelworks in Redcar.
Anna Soubry
The package, worth up to £80 million, announced to support former SSI workers and the Tees Valley economy more broadly was agreed across Government.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Caroline Lucas on 2015-12-01.
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, what estimate she has made of the proportion of existing fossil fuel reserves that are (a) unburnable under a scenario of keeping temperature increases to below two degrees C and (b) unburnable; and what her policy is on the proportion of primary energy supply (i) in the UK, (ii) globally that should come from oil and gas in (A) 2030 and (B) 2050; and if she will make a statement.
Andrea Leadsom
The International Energy Agency has suggested that around a third of global fossil fuel reserves are burnable under a 2°C scenario.
In the UK, we are committed to implementing the Wood Review recommendations to maximise economic recovery of oil and gas in a way that is compatible with our climate change targets. Maximising recovery both in terms of increasing efficiency of production, as well as increasing levels of production of the UK’s oil and gas, will help maintain security of supply as well as boost growth and jobs.
This Government remains committed to the Climate Change Act and to meeting our climate change target of an 80% emissions reduction by 2050. This will mean reducing the amount of fossil fuels we use – through improved energy efficiency and increased supplies of low carbon energy – as well as reducing other sources of emissions. As part of our efforts to reduce emissions I have already announced that the Government will consult on proposals to end coal power generation by 2025 and restrict its use from 2023.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Louise Haigh on 2015-11-03.
To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what recent assessment he has made of the effectiveness of the Shares for Rights scheme.
Damian Hinds
No assessment has been made of the effectiveness of employers offering employee shareholder shares to their employees.
Employee shareholder status has been carefully designed as light touch and accessible, and to conduct an assessment of the policy effectiveness would require detailed information gathering from businesses and employees. There is no requirement on any company wishing to offer an employee shareholder contract to contact or notify any Government department or agency in advance or ‘apply’ to Government if they intend to use this measure.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Andrew Rosindell on 2015-12-01.
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, whether the Government held discussions with Commonwealth Heads of Government at the Commonwealth Heads of Government Conference in Malta in November 2015 on increasing the proportion of the UK’s trade with Commonwealth countries.
Mr Hugo Swire
I spoke at the Commonwealth Business Forum to underline the British Government’s strong interest in strengthening our international trade links. The Minister for Trade and Investment, the right hon the Lord Maude of Horsham, addressed the same forum on the importance of leveraging trade networks across the Commonwealth. He also pushed for progress on free trade agreements that will facilitate and increase trade between Commonwealth countries, as well as promoting direct trade with the UK in meetings with ministers from Ghana, Nigeria, Bangladesh, the Bahamas, and Malawi.
In negotiations on the CHOGM communiqué, the UK ensured Commonwealth leaders committed to advance global trade negotiations, including during the WTO ministerial in Kenya this December, and to encourage more states to ratify the WTO Trade Facilitation Agreement.