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Tag: 2016

  • Wendy Morton – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for International Development

    Wendy Morton – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for International Development

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Wendy Morton on 2016-02-09.

    To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, with which other Government departments her officials have held discussions on their role in the delivery and monitoring of spending under the Government’s aid strategy; and if she will make a statement.

    Mr Nick Hurd

    The UK Aid Strategy, Tackling Global Challenges in the National Interest, notes that the government will sharpen oversight and monitoring of all Official Development Assistance (ODA) spend. This will apply to all government ODA spend including through cross-government funds. HM Treasury and DFID will co-chair a working group, reporting to ministers, in order to ensure value for money. DFID officials are working with HM Treasury to agree the remit of this working group. All government departments and funds spending ODA will be invited to attend the group. The group will meet for the first time in spring 2016. In addition, DFID reports UK ODA to the OECD and is responsible for reporting to Parliament on whether the 0.7 per cent GNI/ODA target is met. As part of this, DFID engages with all ODA-spending departments to: collate and quality assure UK ODA spend data for the previous calendar year for reporting to the OECD; monitor ODA spend within each current calendar year to meet the 0.7 per cent GNI/ODA target; and make arrangements for the independent evaluation of the extent to which all ODA provided by the UK represents value for money.

  • Emily Thornberry – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Emily Thornberry – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Emily Thornberry on 2016-03-07.

    To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment she has made of whether the diversion of Border Force Cutters to support Frontex’s Operation Triton had an effect on the effectiveness of the Cutter Fleet in preventing the importation of contraband goods to the UK.

    James Brokenshire

    Border Force has maintained, and will continue to maintain, appropriate capability in UK waters for the period of the ongoing deployments to the Mediterranean. Whilst Border Force does not provide seizure information specific to ports of mode of activity for border security reasons, we can confirm that our maritime assets made record seizures for Class A drugs and detected a significant importation of firearms in UK waters during the calendar year 2015.

  • Stuart C. McDonald – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Stuart C. McDonald – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Stuart C. McDonald on 2016-04-08.

    To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what guidance her Department has issued to caseworkers on handling applications from international students to study at UK colleges and universities in a way that ensures the applicants are not disadvantaged by accusation of fraud in English language tests made by ETS.

    James Brokenshire

    UK Visas and Immigration caseworkers were issued with guidance on how to handle applications made by international students who had taken ETS English language tests in February 2014. This guidance has been updated as required. This is part of the reasonable and proportionate action we have taken in response to the clear evidence provided by ETS to identify those who had sought to profit from abuse of the English language testing system. The guidance does not disadvantage students who obtained an ETS test certificate properly, but ensures that due scrutiny is being applied by caseworkers where individuals have been identified as having obtained invalid test certificates.

    We received the determination in the case of Qadir and SM from the Upper Tribunal on 8 April, providing full reasons for the summary decision handed down on 23 March. Although the Upper Tribunal found that the Home Office did discharge the evidential burden on it in establishing fraud at ETS test centres and that each appellant would need to establish an innocent explanation, it went on to allow the appeals. We are disappointed by the decision and we are currently reviewing it with a view to challenging before the Court of Appeal. Given this, there are no current plans to issue further updated guidance to caseworkers following the recent Upper Tribunal determination.

  • Jack Dromey – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Jack Dromey – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jack Dromey on 2016-05-09.

    To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many traffic police officers were employed in each police force area in each of the last five years.

    Mike Penning

    The number of full time equivalent police officers employed in traffic policing roles as at 31 March in each of the last 5 years is provided in the tables. Officers with multiple responsibilities are recorded under their primary function or role. Data for 31 March 2015 (the latest period for which figures are available) can also be found in the supplementary tables of the July 2015 police workforce statistics publication:

    https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/444537/police-workforce-supptabs-mar15.ods

    Reclassification of roles within a force can lead to fluctuations in the number of officers in a particular role.

    As HMIC has made clear, there is no simple link between police numbers and crime levels, between numbers and the visibility of police in the community, or between numbers and the quality of service provided.

    Decisions on the size and composition of the police workforce are operational matters for Chief Officers working with their Police and Crime Commissioners and taking into account local priorities. What matters is how officers are deployed, not how many of them there are.

  • David Mackintosh – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    David Mackintosh – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by David Mackintosh on 2016-06-28.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what recent steps her Department has taken to encourage students at Key Stage 3 to take up modern foreign languages.

    Nick Gibb

    The Government expects all pupils in secondary education to be taught a broad and balanced curriculum, and that includes the opportunity to study a foreign language at Key Stage 3 and 4. In 2010, only 43% of pupils were studying a GCSE in a foreign language, down from 76% in 2000. Since the Government introduced the English Baccalaureate (EBacc), the proportion of the cohort in state schools that are entered for a modern foreign language GCSE increased by 20% between 2011 and 2015. Our ambition is that 90 per cent of pupils in mainstream secondary schools will enter GCSEs in the EBacc subjects, including a foreign language.

  • Julian Sturdy – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    Julian Sturdy – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Julian Sturdy on 2016-09-08.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps have been taken to ensure that teachers are able to identify the progress of students in (a) English language, (b) English literature and (c) mathematics who will be assessed using the new GCSE grading structure in the summer of 2017.

    Nick Gibb

    The Department, together with Ofqual and Awarding Organisations, is working closely with schools to help them to understand and be ready for new GCSEs. Sample assessment materials, mark schemes and grade descriptors are all available and will help schools to understand what is required.

    Assessment of pupils’ progress is a matter for schools. School leaders and teachers should use their professional judgement to establish their own assessment systems that best support teaching.

    From this year, Progress 8, which measures the progress that pupils make across 8 qualifications compared to other pupils nationally with similar prior attainment, will be reported for the first time. Progress in each of the subject elements of Progress 8, including English and maths, will also be published. This new accountability system is a fairer way of measuring school performance and will incentivise and reward the good teaching of all pupils.

  • Baroness Randerson – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Baroness Randerson – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Baroness Randerson on 2016-01-14.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what advice and guidance has been provided by Public Health England in relation to the commissioning and performance management of prison healthcare service for prisoners diagnosed with Hepatitis C or identified as being at risk of developing Hepatitis C.

    Lord Prior of Brampton

    Public Health England (PHE), NHS England and the National Offender Manager Service (NOMS) have worked together to improve the diagnosis of blood-borne viruses (BBVs) (including Hepatitis C) among people in prison and to provide access to treatment and care for those infected through collaborative implementation of the BBV opt-out testing programme, published in the National Partnership Agreement in 2015. A copy of the Agreement is attached.

    PHE has published detailed expert advice to commissioners and prison healthcare services on all aspects of implementation of BBV opt-out testing, including testing and treatment algorithms. Further, PHE has supported dissemination of guidance through a programme of training and engagement events in partnership with the voluntary sector. PHE has co-developed with NHS England and NOMS a set of performance metrics called the Health & Justice Indicators of Performance (HJIPs) to provide data on the number of people tested, the number requiring treatment and those referred for treatment which supports commissioners in performance management of prison healthcare services.

  • Jim McMahon – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Cabinet Office

    Jim McMahon – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Cabinet Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim McMahon on 2016-02-09.

    To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what land and property in Oldham his Department has identified for disposal as part of the One Public Estate programme over the next five years.

    Matthew Hancock

    I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave to him on 5 February 2016 to UIN: 25342.

  • Scott Mann – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    Scott Mann – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Scott Mann on 2016-03-07.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment he has made of the effects on rural communities of disbursements from the community transport minibus fund.

    Mr Patrick McLoughlin

    The Community Transport Minibus Fund will provide over 300 organisations with a new minibus so that they can continue to provide vital services to help elderly residents, people with learning and physical disabilities and those who do not have access to a commercial bus service.

    Approximately one third of the organisations obtaining vehicles through the Fund are based in rural areas.

  • Meg Hillier – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Meg Hillier – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Meg Hillier on 2016-04-08.

    To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, which police forces take longest to process applications from the Disclosure and Barring Service; and what the average processing time for such application is for each police force in England.

    Karen Bradley

    The Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) processes applications in date order and is reliant on the police completing their checks in a timely manner. 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 table below shows the average time spent by each police force in England to process disclosure applications between 1 April 2015 and 31 March 2016.

    Force Name

    Average Days Taken By Force

    Avon And Somerset

    7.4

    Bedfordshire

    3.5

    Cambridgeshire

    10.9

    Cheshire

    10.7

    City of London

    9.0

    Cleveland

    8.6

    Cumbria

    13.8

    Derbyshire

    14.8

    Devon And Cornwall

    4.7

    Dorset

    76.6

    Durham

    15.3

    Essex

    16.2

    Gloucester

    11.1

    Greater Manchester

    12.8

    Hampshire

    11.4

    Hertfordshire

    10.5

    Humberside

    9.8

    Kent

    18.5

    Lancashire

    5.0

    Leicestershire

    7.7

    Lincolnshire

    9.2

    Merseyside

    8.2

    Metropolitan

    85.2

    Norfolk

    1.6

    North Yorkshire

    17.9

    Northamptonshire

    17.1

    Northumbria

    13.9

    Nottinghamshire

    10.9

    South Yorkshire

    21.7

    Staffordshire

    10.7

    Suffolk

    8.8

    Surrey

    13.1

    Sussex

    17.5

    Thames Valley

    60.3

    Warwickshire

    7.2

    West Mercia

    9.3

    West Midlands

    21.2

    West Yorkshire

    12.3

    Wiltshire

    4.8