Tag: 2016

  • Charles Walker – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Cabinet Office

    Charles Walker – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Cabinet Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Charles Walker on 2016-07-19.

    To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, in respect of which private members bills presented on 29 June 2016 the Office of Parliamentary Counsel has been authorised to offer drafting support to the sponsor; and which bills (a) have received such support and (b) he expects to receive such support in the current session.

    Ben Gummer

    To date none of the Members successful in the ballot, and who introduced their bills on 29 June, have handed in the text of their bill. Departments are in discussions with several Members at this time and where a bill aligns with Government policy Parliamentary Counsel will be providing support.

  • Steve McCabe – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    Steve McCabe – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Steve McCabe on 2016-10-07.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, for what reason the Civil Service Code does not apply to those undertaking public sector work for her Department in the private sector.

    Sir Oliver Heald

    The Civil Service Code only applies to Civil Servants. There is however a contractual expectation that privately contracted services are carried out in line with Ministry of Justice principles and policy.

  • Christina Rees – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    Christina Rees – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Christina Rees on 2016-01-25.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, for what reasons he ended the insolvency exemption from the 2012 Legal Aid, Sentencing and Punishment of Offenders Act on 17 December 2015.

    Dominic Raab

    Since the passage of the Legal Aid, Sentencing and Punishment of Offenders Act (LASPO) 2012, it has always been the government’s stated intention that the exemption for insolvency cases would be temporary. Commencement of Part 2 of LASPO’s conditional fee (or ‘no win no fee’) arrangement reforms for insolvency, was announced in December and will apply from April this year. The aim of LASPO’s reforms was to control the cost of civil litigation.

    Ministry of Justice Officials discussed Professor Walton’s report with him, but the Ministry of Justice did not agree with his conclusions. Officials have also met representatives of insolvency practitioners who use no win no fee arrangements to fund these cases, as well as those who fund them in other ways.

  • Lord Condon – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Lord Condon – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Condon on 2016-02-22.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of the report by Sir Stephen Bubb The Challenge Ahead and his proposal for a Commissioner to protect and promote the rights of people with learning difficulties.

    Lord Prior of Brampton

    The Government welcomes Sir Stephen Bubb’s report Time for Change – the Challenge Ahead which focuses on improving the experience of care and outcomes for people with learning disabilities. Sir Stephen’s report acknowledges the real progress that has been made in the last year.

    The Department will consider the recommendations in Time for Change – the Challenge Ahead in our development of a Learning Disability Action Plan. However, new statutory roles and legislation are not necessarily the answer to achieving the changes envisaged by the Steering Group. We believe that we can make more rapid and meaningful progress by ensuring that the rights that exist under current laws and statutes are properly understood, implemented and exercised by those with learning disabilities and/or autism.

  • Kevin Brennan – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    Kevin Brennan – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Kevin Brennan on 2016-03-16.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, with reference to Best in Class, published by the CBI in December 2015, if he will make an assessment of the potential merits of Swedish four box grid approach to analysing the attractiveness of international markets.

    Anna Soubry

    In CBI’s Best in Class report, the reference to the Swedish four box grid approach was part of a wider recommendation on allocating overseas resources for business support.

    The UK Government recognises that it has a crucial role to play in supporting businesses that export and invest in international markets.

    The Government is committed to focusing UK Trade and Investment (UKTI) overseas resources for business support in those markets that can deliver greatest benefit for the UK. UKTI uses similar publicly-available market data to Sweden (including GDP growth, political risk and the ease of doing business) in its assessment of export markets, but importantly this is just one input into the opportunity-focused, five-year rolling business planning process being developed to guide resource decisions.

  • Dawn Butler – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    Dawn Butler – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Dawn Butler on 2016-04-14.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what plans her Department has to reduce teacher workload and maintain pupil well-being when new Key Stage 1 and Key Stage 2 assessments are introduced.

    Nick Gibb

    Primary schools already carry out assessments at the end of key stages 1 and 2. We have developed new forms of assessment to align with the new National Curriculum. We recognise that in this first year of the new the assessments pupils and teachers will be adapting to the change, but the best way to prepare pupils remains to focus on teaching the new National Curriculum, which schools have been doing since September 2014.

    The removal of unnecessary workload is a priority for this Department. Our primary assessment reforms have been designed to put arrangements for the majority of classroom assessment, between key stages, back into the hands of schools and to reduce the tracking burdens that national curriculum levels encouraged. We believe schools are best placed to decide how to assess pupils in line with their curriculum and that over time this should lead to a reduction in workload for teachers so that their efforts can focus on teaching.

    As previously, schools should encourage high attainment among all pupils to but we do not recommend that they devote excessive preparation time for assessment and certainly not at the expense of a pupil’s wellbeing. We trust teachers to administer tests in a way that does not put undue pressure on pupils. 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.

    While we have set a more challenging expected standard to reflect our high aspirations for children, the new statutory assessments still measure the same range of attainment as previously. In addition, statutory assessments only form part of the broader assessments that teachers make on an ongoing basis. Schools should continue to put statutory assessment outcomes in the context of pupils’ overall achievements and progress. We expect schools to ensure that assessment is reported in an appropriate and proportionate manner.

  • Baroness Parminter – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    Baroness Parminter – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Baroness Parminter on 2016-05-23.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government, further to the Written Answer by Lord Gardiner of Kimble on 15 December 2015 (HL4104), when they intend to make public the report of the Lead Ammunition Group, which was submitted on 3 June 2015, and their response.

    Lord Gardiner of Kimble

    The Government is still in the process of considering the report’s findings and recommendations and will respond to it as soon as possible.

  • Nicholas Soames – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Culture, Media and Sport

    Nicholas Soames – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Culture, Media and Sport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Nicholas Soames on 2016-07-19.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what additional support and resources her Department is providing to assist West Sussex County Council in meeting its universal broadband obligations.

    Matt Hancock

    The Government has implemented a basic broadband scheme to enable all premises to gain access to speeds of at least 2Mbps. This enables residents to gain access to every government service available online. Funding for subsidised connections through the scheme is provided by Broadband Delivery UK (BDUK) as part of the government’s superfast broadband programme. Consumers in eligible premises can access services from any of the suppliers who have been entered onto the scheme by BDUK.

    In addition it is the Government’s intention to implement a new broadband Universal Service Obligation. This will give people the legal right to request a broadband connection, no matter where they live, by the end of this Parliament. Our ambition is that the minimum download speed should initially be set at 10 Mbps.

  • David Hanson – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    David Hanson – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by David Hanson on 2016-10-07.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many people prosecuted in their absence were on bail in each year since 2010.

    Mr Sam Gyimah

    Information on whether or not a defendant is in attendance at their hearing is not held centrally and can only be obtained at disproportionate cost.

  • Stephen Hepburn – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Stephen Hepburn – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Stephen Hepburn on 2016-01-06.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how many NHS GPs were working in (a) Jarrow constituency, (b) South Tyneside, (c) the North East and (d) the UK in each year since 2005.

    Ben Gummer

    The number of general practitioners employed in the National Health Service for South Tyneside and the North East region since 2005 is in the attached table. The figures are taken from the NHS annual workforce statistics published by the Health and Social Care Information Centre.

    Figures are only available for recognised NHS geography and therefore no information has been provided for Jarrow constituency.

    The provision of health services in the United Kingdom is a devolved matter so total figures are for England only.