Tag: 2015

  • Sharon Hodgson – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    Sharon Hodgson – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Sharon Hodgson on 2015-10-29.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if she will ensure that spending on play is protected in the forthcoming Comprehensive Spending Review.

    Edward Timpson

    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 [1], 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. Children learn by leading their own play, and by taking part in play which is guided by adults.”

    Early Years educators and Early Years teachers are required to have an understanding of different pedagogical approaches, including the role of play in supporting early learning and development. It is for individual schools and settings to provide opportunities for play for their children and pupils, including those with special educational needs.

    We welcome the report published by Sense and their continuing efforts to support deafblind children and young people.

    As the Spending Review is underway, we are unable to give details of which programmes will be funded. We have committed to protecting the core schools budget throughout this Parliament at flat cash per pupil. We will look carefully at the impact of changes in schools’ and early years settings’ costs when making plans for education spending as part of the spending review.

    [1] https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/early-years-foundation-stage-framework–2

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  • Stephen Timms – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    Stephen Timms – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Stephen Timms on 2015-11-26.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether it is his policy that a claimant of employment and support allowance (ESA) in the Support Group who transfers to the Work Related Activity Group will receive the current rate of ESA, as an existing claimant, or the reduced rate of ESA proposed in the Welfare Reform and Work Bill.

    Priti Patel

    Existing claimants, whether in the work-related activity group or the support group, who undergo a work capability assessment after April 2017 and are placed in, or remain in, the work-related activity group, will continue to receive the work-related activity component.

  • Douglas Chapman – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Douglas Chapman – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Douglas Chapman on 2015-10-29.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what recent discussions the Government has had with the Russian government on cultural events.

    Mr David Lidington

    The UK and Russia have a long history of cultural collaboration that encourages and strengthens people-to-people links.

    The Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) supports the annual ‘Days of Scotland’ cultural festival in Russia, and is hosting a reception at the Consulate General in St Petersburg this year. FCO officials have discussed Scotland’s cultural and and people-to-people links with Russian Government officials

  • Callum McCaig – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Cabinet Office

    Callum McCaig – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Cabinet Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Callum McCaig on 2015-11-26.

    To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what assessment he has made of the potential effect of the provisions in the Trade Union Bill on industrial relations within the civil service.

    Matthew Hancock

    Modernising the law governing Trade Unions will improve industrial relations. We have already seen the benefits in the Civil Service of reforming facility time, where we have delivered a saving to the taxpayer of over £52million, and the majority of departments have removed the outdated system of collecting union dues by check off. These benefits will now be delivered across the public sector.

  • Greg Mulholland – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Greg Mulholland – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Greg Mulholland on 2015-10-29.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what steps he is taking to secure licences for existing off-patent drugs.

    George Freeman

    The Government does not normally apply for medicines licenses, which is rightly an obligation of the company who has developed the drug. The Secretary of State is the United Kingdom licensing authority for medicines and cannot become a routine applicant to himself nor can he become a routine participant in pharmaceutical markets which holders of licenses are obliged to do. The Government has not secured any licenses for off-patent drugs in the past five years.

  • Frank Field – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    Frank Field – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Frank Field on 2015-11-25.

    To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, how many tax credit claimants lost their entitlement as a result of action taken by Concentrix in the last financial year.

    Mr David Gauke

    5,244 tax credit claims were amended as a result of checks undertaken by Concentrix during 2014-15. This includes both partial and full loss of entitlement cases.

  • Rosie Cooper – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    Rosie Cooper – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Rosie Cooper on 2015-11-04.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, why HM Courts and Tribunals Service officials based in Lancashire were not informed that courts in that county were to be considered for closure before the consultation on the proposal for a single local justice area for Lancashire.

    Mr Shailesh Vara

    The consultation on the merger of the Local Justice Areas in Lancashire was launched on behalf of the Cumbria and Lancashire Judicial Business Group. This consultation closed on the 10 July 2015 and is separate to the consultation on the court and tribunal estate which I announced on 16 July 2015.

  • Luciana Berger – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Luciana Berger – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Luciana Berger on 2015-11-25.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how much of the £600 million additional funding for mental health announced in the Spending Review and Autumn Statement 2015 will be allocated in (a) the 2015-16 financial year and (b) each financial year.

    Alistair Burt

    The additional £600 million for mental health over the next five years announced in the Spending Review and Autumn Statement is additional to current spending. The levels of funding in individual years and the specific mental health service improvements it will fund will be determined in the new year, once the Mental Health Taskforce has reported.

  • Gavin Newlands – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Gavin Newlands – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Gavin Newlands on 2015-11-04.

    To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, pursuant to the Answer of 14 October 2015 to Question 11080, on deportation: appeals, in how many of the 426 cases referred to was certification withdrawn.

    James Brokenshire

    Of the 426 cases referred to in answer of 14 October to Question 11080:

    – none were certification withdrawn

    – 359 have been certified under Regulation 24AA

    – all data provided relates to the First Tier Tribunal only

    – 25 are listed as abandoned or withdrawn by the appellant

    – 89 were dismissed by the relevant tribunal

    The Home Office does not disclose country specific information as its disclosure could prejudice relations between the UK and foreign governments.

    Notes : (1) All figures quoted have been derived from management information and are therefore provisional and subject to change. This information has not been quality assured under National Statistics protocols.

    (2) Data Extracted on 28th September, 2015 in line with response to Question 11080

  • Maria Eagle – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    Maria Eagle – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Maria Eagle on 2015-11-25.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, for what reasons the latest estimate of the cost of the Successor class submarine programme has increased to £31 billion; and whether he expects that cost to rise.

    Mr Philip Dunne

    Designing and building submarines is one of the largest programmes and one of the most complex activities that the Ministry of Defence and UK Industry has ever undertaken. It is the purpose of a design phase to improve our understanding of costs and timescales, which we have now done. The current estimates reflect what we have learned since the design phase began.

    As stated in the Strategic Defence and Security Review (SDSR) 2015 (Cm9161), our latest estimate of the total cost to manufacture the four Successor submarines reflects greater maturity of the design and understanding of the supply chain, amounts to £31 billion; we will also set a contingency of £10 billion. This level of contingency represents about 35% of the costs to completion and is a prudent estimate based on past experience of large, complex projects.