Tag: 2016

  • Sharon Hodgson – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    Sharon Hodgson – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Sharon Hodgson on 2016-02-29.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether she plans to monitor local authority spending in 2016-17 on specialist education services for children with special educational needs and disabilities.

    Edward Timpson

    Local authorities’ (LAs) spending on education and children’s social care is monitored on a twice yearly basis. LAs are required under Section 251 (S251) of the Apprenticeships, Skills, Children and Learning Act 2009, to submit their planned (budget) and actual (outturn) expenditure to the Secretary of State, which includes spending in support of children with special educational needs and disabilities. The data collection began in early March 2016 for the 2016-17 budget statements, and the 2015-16 outturn statements are due to start being collected in early July 2016, with the 2016-17 outturn collection beginning in July 2017.

    The department publishes the data from these S251 financial collections on the GOV.UK website, usually in the following September for budget and in the following December for outturn. The department also requires LAs to provide us with an annual assurance statement from the Chief Finance Officer that confirms the funding given for the purpose of education has been spent in line with the regulations.

  • Chris Leslie – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    Chris Leslie – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Chris Leslie on 2016-03-24.

    To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, with reference to Table 2.1 of the March Budget 2013, what his most recent estimate is of the effect of employee shareholder status income tax measures in 2015-16.

    Mr David Gauke

    The most recent estimate of the Exchequer cost in 2015-16 of employee shareholder status from Income Tax and National Insurance Contribution relief is the figure published in Table 2.1 of the 2013 March Budget.

  • Alan Brown – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Alan Brown – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Alan Brown on 2016-04-27.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what recent discussions the Government has had with the government of Morocco on the holding of a free and fair referendum on the governance of Western Sahara.

    Mr Tobias Ellwood

    It is for the parties to the dispute to agree a resolution of the final status of Western Sahara. The UK encourages both sides to cooperate with the United Nations process to reach a mutually acceptable solution that provides for the self-determination for the people of Western Sahara.

  • Carol Monaghan – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    Carol Monaghan – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Carol Monaghan on 2016-06-09.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, whether there is a mechanism equivalent to the Cross-Council Funding Agreement to ensure fair peer review and transparency for research proposals crossing the border between the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council and the UK Space Agency.

    Joseph Johnson

    The UK Space Agency and the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC) follow the Cross-Council Funding Agreement.

  • Jim Shannon – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Northern Ireland Office

    Jim Shannon – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Northern Ireland Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Shannon on 2016-09-06.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, what steps his Department has taken to encourage the growth of and strength of local business associations and trade partnerships in Northern Ireland.

    James Brokenshire

    Many aspects of local economic development are the responsibility of Northern Ireland Executive Ministers but promoting the commercial, business, trade and investment interests of Northern Ireland is also part of my Department’s core business. I recognise the importance of dialogue with business associations and trade partnerships. I have already met a number of business associations in Northern Ireland. I and my NIO Ministerial colleagues will be trying to meet as many local associations over the coming months as I continue my engagements with the business community across Northern Ireland.

  • Baroness Tonge – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Baroness Tonge – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Baroness Tonge on 2016-10-17.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what discussions they have had with the government of Israel concerning the repatriation of Palestinian refugees fleeing Syria.

    Baroness Anelay of St Johns

    While we have not had any discussions with the Israeli authorities on this specific issue, we continue to be clear with both sides that there must be a just, fair and agreed settlement for refugees as part of a negotiated two-state solution.

  • Stephen Timms – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    Stephen Timms – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Stephen Timms on 2016-01-14.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, pursuant to the Answers of 11 January 2015 to Questions 21337 and 21336, what the evidential basis is for the statement that the vast majority of existing universal credit claimants will see no change in entitlement.

    Priti Patel

    The latest statistics indicate that the majority of existing Universal Credit claimants are not yet in work.

    As such they will not see a change in entitlement as a result of the April 2016 changes.

  • Maria Eagle – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Cabinet Office

    Maria Eagle – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Cabinet Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Maria Eagle on 2016-02-02.

    To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what meetings (a) Ministers and (b) civil servants in his Department have had with (i) James Murdoch and (ii) representatives from Sky UK Limited in each year since 2012.

    Matthew Hancock

    Details of Ministers’ meetings with external organisations, including senior media figures, are published routinely and can be found here: https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/ministers-transparency-publications on Gov.uk.

    “

  • Stephen Timms – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    Stephen Timms – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Stephen Timms on 2016-02-29.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps she is taking to encourage more people to train as children’s social workers.

    Edward Timpson

    Government policy intends to improve the quality of social work and overhaul the system of social worker education to make it more effective.

    In December 2015, the Prime Minister announced a further package of measures to underpin the Government’s commitment to reforming social work and protecting vulnerable children, part of which is a £100m investment during the current parliament for fast-track social work training programmes such as Step Up and Frontline.

    There were 1875 applications for the 2015 cohort of Frontline, and 4306 applications for 2016 Cohort of Step Up. We aim to train over 3,000 new social workers through fast-track schemes over the Spending Review period.

    In addition to this commitment to fast-track schemes government invested £695m into mainstream social work training between 2010-15, including social work bursaries and Education Support Grant, which supported generic qualifications for those wishing to enter social work. The 2015/16 funding for social work bursaries and Education Support Grant is £81M. There is no confirmation for the 2016/7 allocation.

  • Neil Parish – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    Neil Parish – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Neil Parish on 2016-03-24.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what lessons were learned from the universal credit scheme pilot; and what changes have been put in place as a result of those lessons.

    Priti Patel

    The Department published a series of reports on Universal Credit. The latest can be found here:

    https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/483029/universal-credit-at-work-december-2015.pdf

    “