The below Parliamentary question was asked by Baroness Tonge on 2016-03-21.
To ask Her Majesty’s Government what representations they have made to the Palestinian Authority regarding reported Palestinian General Intelligence Service raids on female students’ houses in Hebron at night.
Baroness Anelay of St Johns
Officials from our Consulate-General raised this issue with the Palestinian Authority on 23 March.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Sharon Hodgson on 2016-04-25.
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many pupils who had either a Statement of Special Educational Needs or an Education, Health and Care Plan were excluded from schools in England in each of the last five years.
Edward Timpson
The transition period from statements to Education, Health and Care plans (EHCPs) runs until April 2018. Every local authority has published an individual Local Transition Plan setting out the timings for transfers to the new system. We are monitoring local authority progress and published figures about transition up to January 2015, returned by local authorities, in the Special Educational Needs in England Statistical First Release of May 2015[1]. We will publish the figures up to January 2016 in May 2016.
The Department does not collect information on the number of children who are home educated. Some local authorities choose to maintain registers so that parents can voluntarily register children being educated at home.
The number and proportion of school pupils who had a Statement of Special Educational Needs or an EHCP in each of the last five years is as follows:
|
x |
2011 |
2012 |
2013 |
2014 |
2015 |
|
Pupils with statements or EHCPs |
224,210 |
226,125 |
229,390 |
232,190 |
236,165 |
|
Pupils on roll |
8,123,865 |
8,178,200 |
8,249,810 |
8,331,385 |
8,438,145 |
|
Incidence (%) |
2.8 |
2.8 |
2.8 |
2.8 |
2.8[2] |
The number of permanent and fixed period exclusions received by pupils with a Statement of Special Educational Needs in each of the last five years for which data is available is as follows:
|
x |
2009/10 |
2010/11 |
2011/12 |
2012/13 |
2013/14 |
|
Fixed period exclusions |
37,140 |
36,740 |
35,640 |
32,210 |
33,190 |
|
Permanent exclusions |
420 |
430 |
380 |
330 |
330[3] |
[1] https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/statistics-special-educational-needs-sen
[2] https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/special-educational-needs-in-england-january-2015
[3] https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/statistics-exclusions
“
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Kate Green on 2016-05-25.
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what steps he is taking to ensure that training in the diagnosis and treatment of ME forms part of medical students’ training.
Ben Gummer
It is the responsibility of the professional regulators, such as the General Medical Council (GMC), to set the standards and outcomes for education and training and approve training curricula to ensure newly qualified healthcare professionals are equipped with the knowledge, skills and attitudes to provide high quality patient care.
Higher Education Institutions are responsible for ensuring the programmes they provide allow healthcare students to meet the outcomes set out by the regulators upon graduation.
The royal colleges, for example the Royal College of Nursing, the Royal College of General Practitioners and the Royal College of Surgeons, also have responsibility for developing curricula for doctors and nurses, in particular postgraduate curricula.
Health Education England works with bodies that set curricula such as the GMC and the royal colleges to seek to ensure training meets the needs of patients.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Judith Cummins on 2016-07-21.
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many people have had their payment of employment and support allowance suspended whilst waiting for a work capability assessment to be completed in Bradford South constituency in each of the last three years.
Penny Mordaunt
Information on Employment and Support Allowance, outcomes of Work Capability Assessments and Mandatory Reconsiderations are published at https://www.gov.uk/government/organisations/department-for-work-pensions/about/statistics.
Constituency level information is not readily available and could only be provided at disproportionate cost.
“
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Cunningham on 2016-10-12.
To ask the Secretary of State for Exiting the European Union, how many civil servants are employed by his Department; and if he will make a statement.
Mr David Jones
All departments are equipping themselves with the resources they need to get the best deal for the UK. The Department for Exiting the European Union now has over 250 staff plus the expertise of over 120 officials in Brussels, and we are still growing rapidly.
The term ‘secondment’ to refers to an interchange of staff between the Civil Service and an external organisation as such we have not brought any secondees into the Department from elsewhere in the Civil Service. All joiners from other Government departments have been on a loan basis, which refers to an interchange of staff between Civil Service departments or Agencies.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Helen Goodman on 2016-01-06.
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what reports he has received on the recent arrests of lawyers and opposition activists in China.
Mr Hugo Swire
We remain concerned that a number of Chinese lawyers and activists detained since July have not been released.
The Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, my right hon. Friend the Member for Runnymeade and Weybridge, (Mr Hammond), raised this issue with the Chinese Foreign Minister last week, requesting clarification about the situation of those detained.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Barry Sheerman on 2016-01-26.
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what recent discussions he has had with the UN, the EU and authorities in affected countries on (a) the spread of the Zika virus and (b) strategies to prevent the spread of the virus.
Jane Ellison
The Chief Medical Officer, Chief Scientific Adviser and Public Health England (PHE) have had a number of discussions over recent weeks with a wider range of international authorities. The Secretary of State has been briefed about all such discussions.
PHE and the National Travel Health Network and Centre have been carefully monitoring the Zika virus outbreak in the Americas since it was first reported in Brazil during May 2015. PHE and the Department attended a European Union Health Security Committee teleconference and PHE has shared a recent European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC) risk assessment on Zika virus with colleagues in England, the Devolved Administrations and Overseas Territories and Crown Dependencies. PHE has been in discussion with infectious disease authorities in Brazil with respect to understanding the epidemiological and clinical picture associated with Zika virus and microcephaly and other congenital malformations.
Through the International Health Regulations National Focal Point, PHE has shared information with the European Union, ECDC and other European Member States on the number of cases of Zika virus infection in returning travellers.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Stephen Doughty on 2016-02-23.
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, how much and what proportion of her Department’s overseas development assistance budget her Department spent was subject to the International Development Act 2002 in each of the last three years.
Andrea Leadsom
The Department of Energy and Climate Change (DECC) has spent the following amounts of Official Development Assistance (ODA) over the past three years
|
Year |
2013 |
2014 |
2015 |
|
Total ODA |
£408.4m |
£192.4m |
£336m |
|
Amount under the International Development Act 2002 |
£402.8m |
£187.7m |
£328.2m |
|
% under the International Development Act 2002 |
98.6% |
97.5% |
97.6% |
The spend that is under the International Development Act 2002 comes from the UK’s International Climate Fund (ICF) and the ODA-eligible proportion of the annual subscription to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change. The remaining DECC ODA spend is the ODA-eligible proportion of the annual subscriptions relating to the International Atomic Energy Agency. This spend is governed by the Supply and Appropriation Act; we seek to ensure this expenditure is consistent with the aims of the International Development Act.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Hunt of Chesterton on 2016-03-21.
To ask Her Majesty’s Government what has been the average time in post of Trade Ministers of Her Majesty’s Government in (1) the last five years, and (2) the five years before that.
Baroness Anelay of St Johns
The average tenure of Ministers for Trade & Investment from 2011 until the departure of my noble Friend Lord Maude in March 2016 is 628 days or approximately 1 year, 8 months.
The average tenure of Ministers for Trade & Investment between 2006 and 2011 was 342 days or approximately 11 months.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Barry Sheerman on 2016-04-25.
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what steps he is taking to support Christians facing persecution in Nigeria.
James Duddridge
In Nigeria, the right to freedom of religion is protected by the Constitution. Boko Haram seeks to undermine this right by attacking Nigerians of all faiths who do not subscribe to its extremist views. They have caused immense suffering in both Christian and Muslim communities. We assess that the majority of their victims are Muslim.
We are providing a substantial package of intelligence, military and development support to Nigeria in the fight against Boko Haram, including training and advice on counter-insurgency, £5 million of support to a regional military taskforce and humanitarian aid to support those affected by the conflict.
Elsewhere Nigeria faces inter-communal conflicts between farmers and herdsmen over land, farming rights, grazing routes and access to water. Through our development assistance, the United Kingdom supports initiatives to reduce these conflicts and build bridges between communities.
We will continue to work with the Nigerian Government, non-governmental organisations and civil society to improve the security situation and human rights for all in Nigeria.