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Tag: 2015

  • Steve McCabe – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    Steve McCabe – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Steve McCabe on 2015-10-19.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many children with autism spectrum disorders are excluded from secondary school in Year 10; and what comparative assessment she has made of the level of such exclusions in Year 10 and in other years.

    Edward Timpson

    In the academic year 2013/14, there were 700 fixed period exclusions and 10 permanent exclusions for Year 10 pupils with an autistic spectrum disorder primary need. In percentage terms, 15.33% of such pupils were excluded for a fixed period, while 0.23% were permanently excluded.

    A table showing the number of exclusions for these pupils is attached. The rate of exclusions for these Year 10 pupils is consistent with the rate in Years 7 through 11.

    We recognise that pupils with an autism spectrum disorder can be vulnerable to exclusion. The department is working with the National Autistic Society and is funding their project to help reduce exclusions. The project includes advice to professionals on early intervention, information for parents and guidance on good practice in alternative provision.

  • Jim Shannon – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    Jim Shannon – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Shannon on 2015-10-19.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what recent discussions she has had with representatives of countryside organisations on the effect of the numbers of badgers on numbers of hedgehogs.

    Rory Stewart

    Defra is working with partners to identify actions that will help the conservation of hedgehogs, particularly though the Terrestrial Biodiversity Group chaired by Natural England. The reasons for the decline of the hedgehog population are complex. Badgers are one of a number of potential factors in the decline in hedgehog numbers.

  • Andrew Rosindell – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Andrew Rosindell – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Andrew Rosindell on 2015-10-19.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what steps his Department is taking to fully implement the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action with Iran.

    Mr Tobias Ellwood

    The UK is committed to implementing fully the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) with Iran. Following ‘Adoption Day’ on 18 October, FCO officials attended the inaugural meeting of the Joint Commission, the body established to monitor implementation of the JCPOA. They will continue to work closely with their E3+3, EU and Iranian counterparts as we move towards Implementation Day to ensure that implementation of the JCPOA gives the international community confidence that Iran’s nuclear programme is, and will remain, exclusively peaceful.

  • Alex Cunningham – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Alex Cunningham – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Alex Cunningham on 2015-10-19.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what assessment his Department has made of the implications for its policy of the Carers Trust report on local authority support for carers, published on 16 September 2015; and if he will make a statement.

    Alistair Burt

    The Government recognises the valuable contribution made by carers, many of whom spend a significant proportion of their life providing support to family members or friends.

    That is why we continue to support implementation of the improved rights for carers enshrined in the Care Act 2014. The Department has provided £104 million of funding to local authorities for these rights in 2015/16, which include an extended right to assessment and, for the first time, a duty on local authorities to meet carers’ eligible needs for support.

    To support implementation of the reform programme, we have established a joint Programme Management Office between the Department, Local Government Association and Association of Directors of Adults Social Services (ADASS). This unprecedented partnership is driving collaborative working with the sector, influencing the local implementation of these changes to support a consistent and coherent approach. This approach was recognised by the National Audit Office as best practice and should be adopted by other programmes.

    The programme includes a series of stocktakes of Local Authority readiness and the latest, from June 2015, demonstrates an overall positive picture on implementation:

    – Councils’ confidence in their ability to deliver the Care Act Reforms in 2015/16 remains high, with 99% very or fairly confident.

    – 89% of councils say that they are ‘on track’ with their implementation. The remaining 11% report themselves as only slightly behind.

    We have also produced a suite of implementation support documents around the new carers’ rights, one of which is The Economic Case for Investment in Carers, a short factsheet for local authorities to use in considering whether to put in place a policy of charging carers, setting out the evidence that charging would be a false economy. This expands on the position set out in the Care Act statutory guidance, which at paragraph 8.50 states that:

    “Local authorities are not required to charge a carer for support and indeed in many cases it would be a false economy to do so. When deciding whether to charge, and in determining what an appropriate charge is, a local authority should consider how it wishes to express the way it values carers within its local community as partners in care, and recognise the significant contribution carers make.”

    The Care Act replicates the previous position where charging carers was permissible. It would not have been appropriate to impose a blanket ban on charging for carers services, because in some cases small charges are necessary to the viability of services. However, the Care Act provides additional protection to carers by making it clear that local authorities cannot charge carers for services provided to the person being cared for. This means that carers may only be charged for services provided directly to them.

    Most local authorities do not routinely charge carers in recognition of the valuable contribution carers make to their local communities, and the Carers Trust report confirms that this is still the case. We will continue to make the case against routine charging of carers and to monitor the situation closely through the implementation monitoring process set out above.

    We have no plans to create a new duty around NHS identification of carers. The Care Act requires NHS bodies and local authorities to co-operate with each other in the exercise of their respective functions relevant to care and support, including those relating to carers, so we would expect local authorities and NHS bodies to cooperate in identifying and signposting carers. The Department is working with ADASS and NHS England to produce a “local pathway” for carer identification and support that will set this out in more detail.

    The Department has also provided over £2 million in recent years to the professional bodies such as the Royal College of General Practitioners and the Royal College of Nursing, as well as Carers UK and the Carers Trust, to develop initiatives to raise awareness of carers among healthcare professionals and to help identify and support carers.

    The Department is also leading on the development of a new National Carers’ Strategy that will be looking at the best of international practice and examine what more we can do to support existing carers and the new carers.

  • Jim Shannon – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Jim Shannon – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Shannon on 2015-10-19.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how many people have been diagnosed with liver disease in each of the last five years.

    Jane Ellison

    Information is not available in the format requested.

  • Chuka Umunna – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Chuka Umunna – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Chuka Umunna on 2015-10-19.

    To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment she has made of the adequacy of funding for investigations into cases of historical child sexual abuse in (a) the London Borough of Lambeth, (b) London and (c) England and Wales.

    Karen Bradley

    No case of child abuse is ‘historical’ for victims and survivors. They must live with the consequences of their abuse each and every day of their lives. The allocation of resources on investigations into cases of child sexual abuse, including abuse that has taken place in the past, is an operational matter for the police and law enforcement.

    We have prioritised child sexual abuse as a national threat which means that police forces and Police and Crime Commissioners must have in place the capabilities they need to protect children from sexual abuse. In 2015/16 we provided an additional £10 million to the National Crime Agency for the creation of more specialist teams to tackle online child sexual exploitation. We have also made available £1.7 million to fund Operation Hydrant, which coordinates the handling of multiple historical child sexual abuse investigations specifically concerning institutions or persons of public prominence, and up to £1.5 million to support regional coordinators and analysts to oversee the implementation of the National Policing Plan for tackling Child Sexual Exploitation.

  • Greg Mulholland – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Greg Mulholland – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Greg Mulholland on 2015-10-19.

    To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, pursuant to the Answer of 16 October 2015 to Question 11726, how many Prevent co-ordinators are employed in England and Wales.

    Mr John Hayes

    The Home Office provides funding for the necessary numberof Prevent co-ordinators in priority areas. The list of areas is kept under review.

  • Andy Slaughter – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    Andy Slaughter – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Andy Slaughter on 2015-10-19.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what meetings he has had with trades union officials on the Trade Union Bill.

    Mike Penning

    Details of ministerial meetings are published in transparency returns at https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/moj-gifts-hospitality-travel-and-meetings

    “

  • Stephen Hammond – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Scotland Office

    Stephen Hammond – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Scotland Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Stephen Hammond on 2015-10-19.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland, what steps his Department has taken to prepare for the implementation of the proposed General Data Protection Regulation; and what estimate he has made of the potential liability of his Department in connection with that proposed Regulation.

    David Mundell

    Negotiations on the proposed General Data Protection Regulation are still continuing and our negotiating position has taken into account the likely impact on Government Departments, NDPBs and agencies. Once the outcome of trilogue negotiations between the Council of the European Union, the European Parliament and the Commission are complete, and the Regulation has been adopted, the liabilities will be further assessed. There will then follow a maximum implementation period of two years. Between now and then, Government departments who will be affected by the Regulation are closely involved in work led by the Department for Culture, Media & Sport to consider the implications of the text as it develops through the negotiating process.

  • Stephen Hammond – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Wales Office

    Stephen Hammond – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Wales Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Stephen Hammond on 2015-10-19.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Wales, what steps his Department has taken to prepare for the implementation of the proposed General Data Protection Regulation; and what estimate he has made of the potential liability of his Department in connection with that proposed Regulation.

    Alun Cairns

    Negotiations on the proposed General Data Protection Regulation are still continuing and our negotiating position has taken into account the likely impact on Government Departments, NDPBs and agencies. Once the outcome of trilogue negotiations between the Council of the European Union, the European Parliament and the Commission are complete, and the Regulation has been adopted, the liabilities will be further assessed. There will then follow a maximum implementation period of two years. Between now and then, Government departments who will be affected by the Regulation are closely involved in work led by the Department for Culture, Media & Sport to consider the implications of the text as it develops through the negotiating process.