Tag: 2016

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

    Lord Ouseley – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Ouseley on 2016-01-11.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government, in the light of the Prime Minister’s commitment to tackle race inequality in the labour market, what action they propose to end the current situation identified by the Resolution Foundation that the black and minority ethnic group find it twice as hard to secure employment as their white counterparts.

    Baroness Williams of Trafford

    The Equality Act 2010 protects all individuals against racial and other forms of discrimination in the workplace. The Prime Minister has underlined the Government’s commitments to increasing racial diversity in the workplace in his 2020 Vision in which he made a commitment to increase BAME employment by 20% by 2020. The Government is aware of the forthcoming report by the Resolution Foundation and will study its recommendations carefully when it is published.

  • Geoffrey Cox – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    Geoffrey Cox – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Geoffrey Cox on 2016-02-03.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, when he plans to announce a decision on the planning appeal submitted by the Route 39 free school in Torridge.

    Mr Marcus Jones

    This decision has now been announced. The announcement was made on Thursday 18 February.

  • Nic Dakin – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    Nic Dakin – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Nic Dakin on 2016-02-24.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many applicants to the Future Teaching Scholars programme to date have been (a) women and (b) men.

    Nick Gibb

    To date we have received applications from 27 women and 23 men. We remain confident that we will secure 110 scholars by the end of summer 2016.

  • The Earl of Clancarty – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    The Earl of Clancarty – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by The Earl of Clancarty on 2016-03-23.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government how many individuals took Art and Design GCE AS/A level in each year since 2011 in England, Wales and Northern Ireland combined, and what percentage of the total number of GCE AS/A levels this constitutes.

    Lord Nash

    The Department for Education produces statistics on England only.

    Information on the number of entries of art and design GCE AS/A level and the percentage of the total number of all GCE AS/A level entries for the 2010/11 to 2014/15 academic years is provided in the table below. This information is published in the “A level and other level 3 results: 2014 to 2015 (revised)” Statistical First Release available on GOV.UK.

    GCE/A level[1] entries

    2011

    2012

    2013

    2014

    2015

    Art and Design

    42,633

    43,236

    41,388

    40,763

    40,747

    Percentage of all A level entries that were in A level art and design

    5.4

    5.5

    5.3

    5.5

    5.4

    GCE/AS level[2] entries

    2011

    2012

    2013

    2014

    2015

    Art and Design

    64,945

    60,179

    59,457

    58,460

    55,430

    Percentage of all AS level entries that were in AS level art and design

    5.5

    5.3

    5.3

    5.2

    5.1

    [1] A level only.

    [2] AS level only.

  • Nick Clegg – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    Nick Clegg – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Nick Clegg on 2016-04-28.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what processes are in place to enable a community to appeal against the rejection of an asset of community value application.

    Mr Marcus Jones

    There is no specific appeals process in place to enable a community to appeal against the rejection of an asset of community value application. If the nominating group feel that the local authority has not followed the due legal process in reaching a decision, the nominating group may bring any such irregularities to the attention of the local authority’s monitoring officer. In addition, if new evidence comes to light to support the case for the asset being listed, the community are able to re-nominate the asset.

  • Chris Stephens – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    Chris Stephens – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Chris Stephens on 2016-06-13.

    To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, pursuant to the Answer of 26 May 2016 to Question 38066, what the (a) number, (b) current responsibilities and (c) current locations are of any National Savings and Investment roles undertaken by employees of Atos which are planned to be off-shored.

    Harriett Baldwin

    NS&I and Atos regularly review the mix of where roles are undertaken so as to best meet the needs of the business. There are no current plans to move roles in the UK undertaken by employees of Atos off-shore.

  • Anne-Marie Trevelyan – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    Anne-Marie Trevelyan – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Anne-Marie Trevelyan on 2016-09-02.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many children in an early years setting are in receipt of the service pupil premium.

    Edward Timpson

    No children in an early years setting are in receipt of the service child element of the pupil premium grant. The grant is payable to schools and local authorities for pupils in year groups reception to year 11.

    The number of school-age children in England eligible for the service child pupil premium in January 2016, broken down by Key Stage, is provided in the table.

    Reception

    Key Stage 1

    Key Stage 2

    Key Stage 3

    Key Stage 4

    Total

    Number of pupils (headcount)

    6,008

    13,098

    26,489

    17,479

    10,358

    73,432

    Source: School Census, January 2016

  • Edward Argar – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    Edward Argar – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Edward Argar on 2016-10-18.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what the tree-planting rates have been in England in each year since 2006.

    Dr Thérèse Coffey

    The Forestry Commission collect and publish National Statistics for England on the area, in hectares, of new woodland planting. It also estimates the number of trees planted, based on the average number of trees planted per hectare in the grant supported planting. In 2015-16 this average was 1,566 trees per hectare.

    Table 1 below provides annual planting area published by the Forestry Commission since 2006 and its estimate of the number of trees planted.

    In 2015-16 the Rural Development Programme for England (RDPE) supported 546 hectares of planting and it is estimated that 165 hectares of woodland was created, without RDPE support, bringing the total created during 2015-16 to 711 hectares.

    In the period April 2016 to June 2016, a further 422 hectares of woodland was recorded as being planted with RDPE support.

    The RDPE figures reflect the slow initial take up of Countryside Stewardship support for woodland planting. Planting is recorded at the time the grant is paid, which means that some planting will have taken place in the previous financial year to that in which it is recorded. Approximately 1,292,000 trees were planted in England with RDPE support since April 2015.

    Table 1: New planting of woodland in England since 2005-06

    Financial Year to 31st March

    a) New planting by land area

    b) Estimated number of trees

    Thousand hectares

    Million trees

    2005-06

    3.7

    4.1

    2006-07

    3.2

    3.5

    2007-08

    2.6

    2.9

    2008-09

    2.5

    2.8

    2009-10

    2.3

    2.5

    2010-11

    2.5

    2.8

    2011-12

    2.7

    3.0

    2012-13

    2.6

    2.9

    2013-14

    3.3

    3.6

    2014-15

    2.4

    2.6

    2015-16

    0.7

    0.8

    Source: Forestry Statistics 2016 (Forestry Commission)

  • Lord Patten – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Lord Patten – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Patten on 2016-01-11.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government, further to the Written Answer by Baroness Anelay of St Johns on 9 December 2015 (HL4410), whether any other Commonwealth countries prohibit the public observance of any religion other than Islam; and what discussions they have held with the Commonwealth authorities over freedom of religion.

    Baroness Anelay of St Johns

    Further to my previous answer there are no other Commonwealth countries where the public observance of any religion other than Islam is prohibited. We continue to believe that all Commonwealth members should abide by the Commonwealth Charter which emphasises the need to promote tolerance, respect, understanding, moderation and religious freedom as critical steps in promoting peace and prosperity.

    At the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting in Malta in November 2015, Heads reaffirmed the importance of human rights. They recognised that freedom of opinion and expression, freedom of peaceful assembly and association, and freedom of religion or belief are cornerstones of democratic societies, and important for the enjoyment of all human rights, including the right to development, and are fundamental to achieving the Sustainable Development Goals. They also emphasised the need to protect individuals from all forms of violence and discrimination.

    We will continue to raise individual cases and highlight practices and laws that discriminate against people on the basis of their religion or belief with those countries concerned. We will also continue to encourage Commonwealth partners to embrace the values set out in the Commonwealth Charter, including the freedom of religion or belief. We also look forward to discussing freedom of religion and other issues with the new Commonwealth Secretary General when she takes up office in April.

  • Andrew Gwynne – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    Andrew Gwynne – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Andrew Gwynne on 2016-02-03.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Education, pursuant to the Answer of 3 February 2016 to Question 24211, whether it is her policy that former school sites should be retained for potential new school provision in areas of expected new housing growth.

    Edward Timpson

    The Secretary of State is keen to ensure that education land is used to support the stated priority for the Department in ensuring that there are sufficient good quality school places in the system. In granting consent for any disposal of publicly-funded land, the Secretary of State takes into account whether there is a basic need for additional school places in the area, and whether the land could be used to support an academy or free school. The requirement for the Secretary of State’s consent to dispose of publicly funded land extends to former school sites that have been used as a school within the last 8 years. For former playing field sites, it extends to 10 years.