Tag: 2016

  • Lord Condon – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Lord Condon – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Condon on 2016-05-18.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government how many of the 10 most recently appointed Chief Constables in the UK were not internal candidates from the appointing police force, and over what period of time those appointments have taken place.

    Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon

    Three of the ten most recently appointed chief constables in England and Wales were not internal candidates from the appointing police force, although eight of the chief constables have served as a chief officer outside of the force.

    These appointments have taken place over the period from June 2015 to March 2016.

  • Norman Lamb – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    Norman Lamb – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Norman Lamb on 2016-07-12.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if she will consider the introduction of a programme to reduce or write off student loans for top graduates entering teaching or social work in areas (a) of high social need and (b) struggling to recruit to such professions.

    Nick Gibb

    Recruiting sufficient, high-quality teachers is central to the Government’s ambition to deliver educational excellence everywhere. High-quality teachers are the single most important factor determining how well pupils achieve in schools. That is why we have already committed to spend over £1.3 billion on teacher recruitment up to 2020. This includes continuing to provide generous tax-free teacher training bursaries to graduates, which are worth up to £30,000 for academic year 2016/17.

    More trainee teachers started training in 2015/16 than in 2014/15, and a record proportion of new trainees held a first class degree. For courses beginning in 2016/17, so far around 26,000 people have secured a teacher training place, and we have already recruited in excess of targets in primary and several secondary subjects.

    We review the financial incentives for teacher training every year, and we will continue to test new approaches to recruiting teachers, such as the STEM teacher supply package announced in March 2015.

    Recruiting and retaining high quality social workers is essential to ensure we deliver high quality services to vulnerable children and families. As already announced, the Government will consult on the future funding of social work education in order to ensure that there will be an adequate supply of social workers with the right skills and training. This is part of a wider, ongoing programme which has seen investment of over £700m since 2010 in social worker training and improvement programmes, including support for a range of routes to expand entry into the profession such as Frontline, a scheme specifically aimed at bringing top graduates into social work, and Step Up.

  • Madeleine Moon – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Madeleine Moon – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Madeleine Moon on 2016-10-07.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, whether the UK has ratified Montenegro’s accession to NATO; and if he will make a statement.

    Sir Alan Duncan

    The Government laid Montenegro’s Protocol of Accession before Parliament on 29 June 2016, under the Constitutional Reform and Governance Act 2010. Following the summer recess, the Protocol completed its Parliamentary scrutiny period on 15 September. We are currently finalising the process to confirm the UK’s acceptance of the Protocol and allow us to deposit it with the US Government (depositary for the Treaty), as stipulated by the North Atlantic Treaty. We expect to complete this shortly and look forward to welcoming Montenegro as the 29th NATO Ally, once all current NATO Allies have ratified according to their own national processes.

  • Debbie Abrahams – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    Debbie Abrahams – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Debbie Abrahams on 2016-01-26.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether he plans to commission and publish an independent evaluation of the universal credit in-work conditionality pilots.

    Priti Patel

    We will publish a full evaluation of the In-Work Progression Randomised Control Trial, which will include both in-house and externally commissioned research.

  • Lord Storey – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    Lord Storey – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Storey on 2016-02-11.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether they have any plans to produce a strategy for careers education in schools.

    Lord Nash

    Helping all young people, regardless of background, to get the inspiration and guidance they need for success in working life is a key part of this Government’s commitment to delivering real social justice.

    Later this year, the Department for Education will publish a comprehensive careers strategy, outlining this Government’s plans for improving careers provision by 2020.

    The work of The Careers & Enterprise Company, an initiative by the Department, is vital in transforming careers and enterprise provision in schools and colleges. The Company has launched its £5 million Careers and Enterprise Fund to scale good ideas and fill gaps in provision as well as rolling out its Enterprise Adviser Network; a programme connecting employees from firms of all sizes to schools through a network of enterprise advisers drawn from business volunteers

    Over the course of this Parliament, we are committing a total of £70m to our strategy to continue to transform the quality of the careers education, advice and guidance offered to young people.

  • Kerry McCarthy – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    Kerry McCarthy – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Kerry McCarthy on 2016-03-11.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment her Department has made of the economic, ecological and public health effects on the UK of aquatic invasive species introduced by shipping discharging ballast water.

    George Eustice

    Defra has commissioned or undertaken a number of assessments that inform our understanding of the impacts of aquatic invasive species. These include, but are not limited to:

    • Risk assessments for non-native species to understand the risk of arrival, establishment, spread and impact of such species.
    • A study in 2010, ‘Economic Cost of Invasive Non-native Species to the British Economy’, which looked at the costs associated with aquatic invasive species, though it did not separately identify the cost of those introduced in ballast water;
    • Work in 2012, modelling the risk of introduction and spread of non-native species in the UK and Ireland. This project identified areas, such as ports, which present greatest risk for the introduction, establishment and spread of such species, through pathways including ballast water; and
    • A study in 2013 identifying those invasive non-native species most likely to arrive, establish and pose a threat to native biodiversity in Great Britain within the next 10 years.

    Defra also supports a database, the Great Britain Non-native Species Information Portal. This provides information on more than 3,700 non-native species including where they are present and the likely means by which they have arrived in this country.

  • Roger Godsiff – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Roger Godsiff – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Roger Godsiff on 2016-04-18.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, for what reasons the Government did not meet Olivier Bancoult, Chair of the Chagos Refugees Group, during his recent visit to the UK.

    James Duddridge

    I am not aware of any invitations to the government to meet Mr Bancoult during his recent visit to the UK. Officials who were asked whether they might wish to meet Mr Bancoult were concerned about the propriety and appropriateness of doing so at a time when he is litigating against the Government.

  • Lord Oates – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for International Development

    Lord Oates – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for International Development

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Oates on 2016-05-18.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what estimate they have made of the current gap in donor funding to tackle the food shortages in Ethiopia, and what steps they are taking to encourage other donor countries to meet their obligations.

    Baroness Verma

    Britain is working closely with the Government of Ethiopia and the international community to ensure adequate funding for drought response activities. Britain’s overall funding for the drought to date is £145 million, making the UK the second largest donor.

    In December, the Government of Ethiopia and the United Nations launched an appeal for 2016 to fundraise $1.4 billion (~£923 million) to respond to the drought in Ethiopia. By the beginning of May, 66% of the required funds had been raised.

    DFID is working closely with other donor governments to monitor the response and to lobby for support for the Government of Ethiopia and the UN appeal. Most recently, Parliamentary Under Secretary of State, Hurd discussed the current crisis with EU Commissioner Stylianides and in particular how to encourage others to step-up. DFID has also been working closely with the Ethiopian Government to support their leadership of the humanitarian response. To date, the Government of Ethiopia has allocated $381 million (~£269 million) to address the crisis. This is commendable.

  • Caroline Lucas – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Cabinet Office

    Caroline Lucas – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Cabinet Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Caroline Lucas on 2016-07-12.

    To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what estimate he has made of the likely cost to the public purse of additional staff to be recruited from outside the civil service to work on preparations for negotiation of the UK’s withdrawal from the EU.

    Mr David Davis

    A new Department for Exiting the European Union has been established by the Prime Minister. The staffing requirements for the new department, and their costs, are now being identified.

  • Mark Durkan – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Mark Durkan – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Mark Durkan on 2016-10-07.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, how many UK citizens have raised the issue of poor treatment by Israeli authorities at border crossings and entry points with the (a) UK Government, (b) embassy in Tel Aviv and (c) consulates in Jerusalem and Ramallah in the last 12 months.

    Mr Tobias Ellwood

    Since January 2016, 15 British nationals have alleged poor treatment by Israeli authorities at border crossings.