Tag: 2016

Kate Hoey – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Kate Hoey on 2016-04-14.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what records the Government holds on how many job opportunities have been lost due to the time taken for Disclosure and Barring Service checks to be made.

Karen Bradley

The Disclosure and Barring Service is a non-departmental public body which provides access to appropriate criminal record information for employers through its disclosure service for England and Wales. It also makes independent barring decisions about people who have harmed, or where there is considered to be a risk of harm to, a child or vulnerable person within the workplace. Given the sensitive nature of this work and the reliance on police forces to provide locally held intelligence, it would not be appropriate to introduce competition.

Whilst no assessment has been made of the affect of timeliness on the number of job opportunities which may have been lost, the impact which delays may have on applicants is recognised. The DBS is reliant on police forces completing their checks in a timely manner and is working closely with those forces whose performance does not meet turnaround time targets. In very exceptional cases, where it is apparent that a delay is likely to cause undue hardship to an applicant, the DBS will do all it can to expedite the process by raising an escalation with the relevant police force.

The average end to end time taken to complete a DBS check, including the time taken by police forces, is listed in following table.

Financial Year	Average calendar days for a disclosure to be processed
13/14	11.5
14/15	14.4
15/16	14.5

The proportion of checks which took longer than (a) eight weeks (b) 12 weeks and (c) six months is listed in the following table.

Financial Year	Disclosures which took longer than 8 weeks	Disclosures which took longer than 12 weeks	Disclosures which took longer than 6 Months
% of Disclosures	% of Disclosures	% of Disclosures
13/14	2.6%	0.8%	0.0%
14/15	4.9%	2.1%	0.1%
15/16	5.2%	3.5%	0.3%

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01/01/2023

Maria Eagle – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Culture, Media and Sport

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Maria Eagle on 2016-05-23.

To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what estimate his Department has made of staffing levels for Ofcom in each year up to 2028.

Mr Edward Vaizey

Ofcom decides resource allocation and staffing levels based on the activities identified in its annual planning process. For 2014/15 the average resource cost was £63.8m and average number of staff was 787. The 2015/16 figures will be published and laid before Parliament in July.

01/01/2023
Richard Burden – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Richard Burden on 2016-07-19.

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps his Department is taking to help define the fair share contribution for the global shipping sector as part of the International Maritime Organisation’s work on tackling climate change.

Mr John Hayes

With greenhouse gas emissions from international shipping expected to grow as others sectors act to reduce theirs, the UK Government is clear that the International Maritime Organization (IMO) should take further steps to reduce emissions and improve the energy efficiency of ships, in line with the long term goal set out in the Paris Agreement of keeping the global temperature rise well below 2 degrees.

At the 69^th session of the IMO’s Marine Environment Protection Committee, there was broad support from Member States and industry for proposals to define international shipping’s fair share of global greenhouse gas emissions. The UK strongly supports the establishing of a Working Group at the 70^th session of the Committee (MEPC70) to discuss how the Organization should take this work forward and will play an active part in this group.

01/01/2023
Tulip Siddiq – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Tulip Siddiq on 2016-10-07.

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps have been taken to prevent taxi drivers charging extra to disabled people.

Andrew Jones

Government is committed to building transport networks that work for everyone, including ensuring that disabled people have the same travel choices as other members of society.

Nobody should face discrimination when accessing transport services, and it is unacceptable for any provider to charge a disabled person extra on account of their disability.

The Equality Act 2010 requires service providers to make reasonable adjustments to enable disabled people to access their services, and Sections 168 to 173 specifically prevent a taxi or Private Hire Vehicle driver from charging an assistance dog owner extra.

I have also committed to commencing Sections 165 and 167, which will require drivers to provide assistance to passengers in wheelchairs and prevent them from charging more.

01/01/2023
Roger Godsiff – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for International Development

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Roger Godsiff on 2016-01-04.

To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what plans she has to attend the World Health Organisation meeting in March 2016; and what her policy is on proposals to be discussed at that meeting on creating a system of health research which prioritises need and efficiency over profit.

Mr Nick Hurd

Arrangements for the meeting at the World Health Organisation (WHO) in March 2016 are at an early stage. DFID officials will be in discussion with WHO senior managers about UK representation at the meeting.

The UK Government supports systems that separate the market incentives to produce a drug or vaccine from the Research & Development process, that prioritise public health need over profit and that work in partnership with a wide range of different organisations, covering the public, private and philanthropic sectors. The proposals to be discussed at the meeting at the WHO in March are one element of a wider system. The UK is the second largest government supporter of the development of new products through product development partnerships, which prioritise need over profit.

01/01/2023
Alison McGovern – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Alison McGovern on 2016-01-25.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what steps are being taken to implement the recommendation of Professor Steve Field in his report on how the NHS treats transgender people.

Jane Ellison

Specialised gender identity services are directly commissioned by NHS England.

NHS England has considered the outcomes of the listening exercise conducted by Professor Field and has put in place a significant programme of work to improve healthcare services for transgender and non-binary people. A dedicated task group has been established to provide leadership and coordination of NHS England’s work to improve transgender and non-binary people’s experience of the National Health Service, and NHS England holds a Transgender Network event twice a year. Regular updates on NHS England’s work to improve gender identity services are given on NHS England’s website by the Regional Director of Specialised Commissioning (London) who chairs the task group.

A Clinical Reference Group for Gender Identity Services has been established, comprising professional and lay experts. This group makes recommendations to NHS England on clinical matters. Issues around the standardisation of pathways across gender identity services and clinical protocols are being considered as part of the current work to develop a service specification that, it is proposed, will describe how NHS England will commission these services in the future. The process for developing a proposed service specification has included a period of public consultation.

01/01/2023
David Amess – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Energy and Climate Change

The below Parliamentary question was asked by David Amess on 2016-02-22.

To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, pursuant to the Answer of 1 February 2016 to Question 24408, if she will discuss with the Sustainable Energy Association and other relevant bodies how to achieve the potential for buildings to contribute to the Government’s goals on reducing carbon and tackling fuel poverty.

Andrea Leadsom

DECC officials and ministers will continue to discuss, with a range of stakeholders, the options for buildings to contribute to reducing carbon and tackling fuel poverty. Our approach is to consider the overall use of energy in buildings, and not energy efficiency or heat in isolation.

01/01/2023
Steve McCabe – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Steve McCabe on 2016-03-16.

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment she has made of the well-being of children being assessed at Key Stage 2 level in June 2016; and whether her Department has conducted an impact assessment of changes to primary school assessments at Key Stage 1 and Key Stage 2 level.

Nick Gibb

Assessment is a crucial part of a child’s schooling and is fundamental in a high-performing education system. It enables parents and teachers to see how pupils are performing in relation to national expectations and identifies the areas where additional support for pupils is needed.

The best way to prepare pupils for the tests is by teaching the National Curriculum and we do not recommend that schools devote excessive preparation time for Key Stage 2 tests. We trust teachers to prepare pupils in a way that does not put undue pressure on them. Schools are also required to provide continuous and appropriate support as part of a whole school approach to supporting the wellbeing and resilience of pupils. It is therefore recommended that any child experiencing high levels of stress should speak to their teachers or school counsellors.

The Government recognises that it will take time for schools to adjust to new primary assessment arrangements. We have developed new assessments to reflect the new National Curriculum and made the expected standard more challenging to align with the high expectations it sets. The new statutory assessments, however, still measure the same range of attainment. Additionally, statutory tests only form part of the broader assessments that teachers make about pupils on an ongoing basis.

Throughout the introduction of these reforms, we have worked closely with teachers, head teachers and their union representatives and considered their concerns fully. We will continue to do so in resolving any remaining issues.

01/01/2023
Stephen Timms – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for International Development

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Stephen Timms on 2016-04-14.

To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, with reference to the Government response to the International Development Committee’s Third Report of Session 2014-15, UK’s development work in the Occupied Palestinian Territories, what progress she has made on providing support from the Conflict, Stability and Security Fund to people-to-people projects in Palestine involving people of all faiths.

Mr Desmond Swayne

The UK has supported several people-to-people projects through the Conflict Stability and Security Fund (CSSF) which have now come to an end. We are open to considering further support through the CSSF for strong co-existence projects that bring Israelis and Palestinians together, where these would deliver a positive impact, represent value for money, and follow the requirements for how CSSF funds may be used.

01/01/2023
Catherine West – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Catherine West on 2016-05-23.

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, whether cluster bombs used in the Yemeni civil war are of British manufacture.

Mr Philip Dunne

I refer the hon. Member to the response I gave to the Urgent Question tabled by the hon. Member for Ochil and South Perthshire (Tasmina Ahmed-Sheikh) on 24 May 2016 (Official Report, column 401).

01/01/2023