The below Parliamentary question was asked by Fabian Hamilton on 2015-10-20.
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, who is responsible for the oversight of US armed forces bases on UK soil.
Penny Mordaunt
The Ministry of Defence retains oversight of those UK military bases on UK territory which are made available for use by the US.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Nicholas Soames on 2015-10-20.
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps are being taken to ensure that schools in West Sussex are delivering educational excellence.
Nick Gibb
Provisional information on the latest Key Stage 2 results in West Sussex and other local authorities is published as part of the “National curriculum assessments: key stage 2, 2015 (provisional)” release[1].
These indicate that 77% of pupils in West Sussex local authority achieved level 4 or above in reading, writing and mathematics, below the national average of 80%. This is down from 78% in 2013/14.
In the same year, 21% of pupils in West Sussex local authority achieved level 5 or above in reading, writing and mathematics, below the national average of 24%. This is down from 22% in 2013/14.
Since the phonics check was introduced in West Sussex, the proportion of children who achieve the expected standard has risen each year to 73% in 2015. This remains, however, below the national average of 77%.
Standards in some West Sussex schools are currently too low. I have therefore written to West Sussex County Council, asking them to set out their plans to improve results, so that more children in West Sussex receive the standard of education to which they are entitled.
This is part of our national plan to raise standards, by setting higher expectations in our curriculum and qualifications; creating a self-improving school system; and promoting strong school governance through academies and free schools. We are also committed to making sure schools are funded fairly so all pupils have access to a good education – a key part of our core mission ensure every child reaches their full potential.
[1] 2014/15 provisional local authority level tables can be found at: https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/456135/SFR30_2015_KS2_LA_Tables.xls
“
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Roger Mullin on 2015-10-20.
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, whether the new smart meters being rolled-out under her Department’s initiative are competitively-priced as required under EU Directive 2006/EC/32; and what information her Department holds on their competitive pricing.
Andrea Leadsom
Meters being rolled-out as part of the DECC programme are compliant with this requirement. Meters are within the competitive part of the GB energy market and are the responsibility of energy suppliers to procure, install and operate. Energy suppliers have a competitive incentive to ensure that they achieve value for money for their customers when purchasing meters.
DECC has assessed the development of smart meters by manufacturers, as well as the supply chains of energy suppliers in relation to smart metering, and is confident that a well-developed market exists based on competitive pricing.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Fiona Bruce on 2015-10-20.
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, if he will express concern about the effect of the one-child policy on human rights in China with President Xi Jinping during his visit to the UK.
Mr Hugo Swire
We pay close attention to the human rights situation in China. The Government is committed to engaging with China on the issue and Ministers will continue to raise concerns with their counterparts. Discussions during the State Visit will be broad and cover issues where we agree and where we disagree.
The Government’s policy on population and sexual and reproductive health and rights is about providing women and girls with a voice, choice and control. We do not condone coercion or support sex-selective abortion. We provide core funding to the United Nations Population Fund who do work in China; they work to promote and uphold the principles of free and informed choice and to challenge the gender norms that de-value girls.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Steve McCabe on 2015-10-20.
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what steps he is taking to ensure that NHS hospital trusts are not placed in special measures.
Ben Gummer
The Care Quality Commission’s (CQC) rigorous inspection regime means that the full picture of services at a particular provider is known and published, and if required, the provider knows what it must do to improve.
Importantly, if the Chief Inspector finds serious failures in quality of care and where there are concerns that existing leadership cannot make the necessary improvements without support, he can recommend that the trust be placed into Special Measures.
Poor care should not be tolerated and Special Measures ensures trusts receive a tailored package of support to enable them to improve.
The CQC uses a risk-assessment approach to inform the order in which providers are inspected. This means where there are concerns about a particular provider they are inspected as a priority, allowing action to be taken earlier.
Early intervention is important and these inspections allow the CQC to get a much more detailed picture in hospitals. If the Chief Inspector concludes that the care needs to improve, he can recommend Monitor and the NHS Trust Development Authority take action.
The NHS Trust Development Authority and Monitor oversee, manage performance and, in Monitor’s case for foundation trusts, regulate hospital trusts. Both organisations have a number of options at their disposal to support trusts if they have concerns about their performance before they reach the stage where Special Measures may be required.
In establishing NHS Improvement, we are bringing these two organisations together meaning all NHS providers will be able to access the same support and be subject to the same types of intervention. NHS Improvement will foster, nurture and share best practice. It will help to drive and support both urgent operational improvement at the frontline and the long term sustainability of the healthcare system.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Luciana Berger on 2015-10-20.
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how many perinatal mental health specialist (a) doctors and (b) nurses were in place in each year since 2009-10.
Ben Gummer
The information is not collected.
Perinatal mental health specialist midwives, doctors and nurses are not identified separately in the Health and Social Care Information Centre’s workforce statistics. Mental health specialists work predominantly in psychiatric services but also across a range of settings and the independent sector.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Shannon on 2015-10-20.
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what recent steps he has taken to ensure that people diagnosed with cancer are (a) diagnosed early and (b) treated immediately.
Jane Ellison
The Independent Cancer Taskforce’s report recognised the importance of early, and faster, diagnosis to improve both patient outcomes and experience. The Taskforce particularly recommended the implementation of a new cancer waiting times standard that, by 2020, everyone referred with a suspicion of cancer would receive either a definitive diagnosis or the all-clear within four weeks. We have committed to implementing this, and NHS England is working with partners across the health system to consider how best to take this forward.
NHS England has launched a major early diagnosis programme, Accelerate, Co-ordinate, Evaluate (ACE), working jointly with Cancer Research UK and Macmillan Cancer Support to test new innovative approaches to identifying cancer more quickly. Outputs from the first wave of test sites, which commenced in April 2015, will be delivered on a phased basis, with the majority falling between September 2015 and December 2016. A number of the Proactive Lung cluster projects are running for 2-3 years but is hoped that there will be sufficient data after one year to enable evaluation. It is expected that ACE Wave 1 evaluation will be complete by mid-2017.
We welcome the very positive reaction we saw earlier this year to the publication of the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence updated referral guidelines for suspected cancer. The new guideline focuses on key symptoms rather than which cancer a patient might have, to help make it easier to use and more applicable to the day-to-day experience of general practitioners and their patients.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Greg Mulholland on 2015-10-20.
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps she is taking to tackle stone theft.
Mike Penning
We would encourage all victims of stone theft to report these crimes to the police so that they can be investigated and, where appropriate, taken through the courts and met with tough sentences.
In addition, the police are working with Historic England and others to ensure that they have an up-to-date understanding of the nature of stone theft, in order to ensure a proportionate policing response.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Cunningham on 2015-10-20.
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what estimate his Department has made of the level of public subsidy for train operators in the last 12 months; and if he will make a statement.
Claire Perry
Actual figures for public subsidy are published on the Office of Rail and Road’s (‘ORR’) website at http://dataportal.orr.gov.uk/browsereports/1.
“
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lucy Frazer on 2015-10-20.
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps the Government is taking to improve science education.
Nick Gibb
Science is vital to our economy and science skills are in high demand. Our reforms to the curriculum and qualifications are designed to ensure young people acquire the knowledge and skills they need to succeed in a modern economy and to progress.
Bursaries and scholarships of up to £30,000 are designed to attract the best science graduates into teaching. We have also announced £67m to train up to 17,500 new and existing maths and physics teachers by 2020.
We also fund a range of programmes to provide high quality professional development for science teachers.