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Tag: 2016

  • Luciana Berger – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    Luciana Berger – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Luciana Berger on 2016-02-11.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what estimate her Department has made of the number of schools which have restricted the school trips which children with autism spectrum disorder can attend in each of the last five years.

    Edward Timpson

    The Department does not collect data on schools which have restricted the school trips that children with autism can attend.

    Public sector bodies, including maintained schools, are covered by the public sector equality duty under the Equality Act 2010. When carrying out their functions they must have regard to the need to eliminate discrimination, promote equality of opportunity and foster good relations between disabled and non-disabled children and young people. This duty is anticipatory, which means that schools must take into account the needs of disabled pupils, such as those with autism, when planning school trips and other events.

    The Special Educational Needs and Disability Code of Practice: 0-25 emphasises that school leaders should establish and maintain a culture of high expectations that expects those working with children and young people with SEN or disabilities to include them in all the opportunities available to other children and young people so that they can achieve well. This would include opportunities to socialise and attend external school trips.

    If parents believe that a school has discriminated against their autistic child in planning school trips, they can make a claim for disability discrimination to the First-tier Tribunal.

  • Sarah Champion – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    Sarah Champion – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Sarah Champion on 2016-03-10.

    To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, when he expects the European Commission to publish the VAT Action Plan; and what plans he has to respond to that plan.

    Mr David Gauke

    The Action Plan is due to be published by the Commission shortly. It will be subject to the normal parliamentary scrutiny process.

  • Tristram Hunt – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    Tristram Hunt – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Tristram Hunt on 2016-04-15.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, how many jobs in (a) his Department and (b) each of his Department’s non-departmental public bodies, executive agencies, non-ministerial departments, advisory bodies and other accountable statutory bodies (i) have been abolished in or relocated from East Cheshire Local Authority since 2010 and (ii) will be abolished in or relocated from East Cheshire Local Authority by 2020.

    Joseph Johnson

    Historical information that is readily available suggests that the Department and its partner organisations had no jobs based within the East Cheshire Local Authority in 2010 or since.

  • Tom Brake – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Tom Brake – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Tom Brake on 2016-05-24.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, pursuant to the Answer of 23 May 2016 to Question 37106, whether the potential use of RAF aircraft to deliver airstrikes on Daesh targets in Libya has been discussed with the UK’s international partners.

    Mr Tobias Ellwood

    We are working closely with the new Government of National Accord and international partners to develop a comprehensive approach to defeat Daesh in Libya. Planning so far has focused on training Libyan forces to provide their own security.

  • Lord Willoughby de Broke – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    Lord Willoughby de Broke – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Willoughby de Broke on 2016-07-12.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government, further to the Written Answers by Lord Gardiner of Kimble on 17 June (HL446) and 27 June (HL808), whether when providing those answers they were aware that the payment window had already been extended to October, and if so, why that was not reflected in those answer.

    Lord Gardiner of Kimble

    The deadline for 2015 Basic Payment Scheme (BPS) payments remains 30 June 2016 and as stated in the response of 17 June, this is the deadline the Rural Payments Agency was working towards for the remaining top up BPS payments. On 8 June, Commissioner Hogan confirmed his intention to extend the date by which Member States may make CAP direct payments without the usual reductions in the rate of reimbursement from the EU to the Member States concerned. This does not constitute an extension to the payment window. It means that, subject to a successful request, payments can continue to be made after 30 June without the application of the usual reductions for late payments on the Member State.

    We are currently assessing the UK position in terms of the value of payments made by 30 June and the expected value of payments to be made before 15 October for each of the four UK paying agencies. Once this assessment has been completed we will be in a position to decide whether the UK needs to submit a request to the Commission for such penalties to be waived.

  • Barry Sheerman – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Barry Sheerman – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Barry Sheerman on 2016-10-07.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, whether his Department plans to put in place measures to ensure that funding for atypical GP practices is ring-fenced.

    David Mowat

    NHS England is developing national guidance for commissioners illustrating the workload challenges faced by practices with atypical patient populations, to assist them in making decisions regarding sustainable support.

    There is no formal ring-fencing of primary care allocations within commissioners’ plans.

  • Karl Turner – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    Karl Turner – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Karl Turner on 2016-01-26.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what recent assessment he has made of the rate of compliance on routes from (a) Hull and (b) in the North Sea with lower sulphur dioxide emission limit for merchant vessels which came into force on 1 January 2015.

    Mr Robert Goodwill

    There are no figures for 2015.

    However, since 1 January 2016 the Maritime and Coastguard Agency has inspected 34 ships within the North Sea Sulphur Emission Control for compliance with the lower 0.1 per cent sulphur limit. Eleven of these ships had fuel samples taken and analysed, and one ship was found to be marginally non-compliant.

    The one ship that was inspected and had its fuel sampled at the port of Hull was found to be within the limit.

  • Alex Cunningham – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    Alex Cunningham – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Alex Cunningham on 2016-02-11.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what powers she intends to extend to farmers in relation to the dredging of watercourses on their land.

    Rory Stewart

    The Environmental Permitting (England and Wales) Regulations 2016 were laid before Parliament on 2 February. Subject to parliamentary approval, from April the Regulations will remove a number of low risk activities from the need for a flood defence consent permit from the Environment Agency, enabling it to focus on the highest risk activities. This includes allowing farmers to maintain ditches up to 1.5km long subject to a number of conditions.

  • Jonathan Ashworth – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Culture, Media and Sport

    Jonathan Ashworth – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Culture, Media and Sport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jonathan Ashworth on 2016-03-10.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, how many and what proportion of officials of his Department took sick leave for reasons relating to stress in each of the last five years; and what proportion of total sick leave that leave was in each such year.

    Mr Edward Vaizey

    The average days’ sickness absence per full time equivalent employed by DCMS during the last financial year was 2.0 days.

    The Civil Service takes a holistic approach to managing sick absence and improving wellbeing and we have focussed on specific actions to reduce the incidence of mental disorders, including stress related absence. This includes

    • early referral to occupational health experts, particularly for mental health, stress or musculoskeletal conditions,

    • early referral to Employee Assistance Programmes (EAP) for CBT based counselling support for mental health issues,

    • workplace adjustments that help to prevent conditions from developing or worsening, whilst reducing the barriers to work for those affected by mental or physical impairments,

    • extensive training for managers and employees including on disability and mental health awareness, well-being, resilience and stress.

    Financial Year

    Number of officials who took sick leave for reasons relating to stress

    Proportion of officials who took sick leave for reasons relating to stress

    Proportion of total sick such sick leave was in the department

    Apr 14 – Mar 15

    1

    0.2%

    0.5%

    Apr 13 – Mar 14

    2

    0.5%

    0.9%

    Apr 12 – Mar 13

    3

    0.8%

    1.2%

    Apr 11 – Mar 12

    5

    1.1%

    2.1%

    Apr 10 – Mar 11

    6

    1.4%

    2.5%

    Background

    We have reported on the average sickness absence in the annual report (link) and do not specifically report on sickness absence due to stress.

    The DCMS sick absence data is low in comparison with the Civil Service average of 7.4 Average Working Days Lost. We do not have any evidence to know why this is. HR continues to remind all staff and managers of the importance of accurate and prompt recording on the HR system.

    Financial Year

    Number of officials who took sick leave for reasons relating to stress

    Proportion of officials who took sick leave for reasons relating to stress

    Department FTE

    Total sickness in department

    Percentage of staff who took Stress Related Absence against total staff who recorded a sick absence

    Apr 14 – Mar 15

    1

    0.2%

    461

    203

    0.5%

    Apr 13 – Mar 14

    2

    0.5%

    381

    234

    0.9%

    Apr 12 – Mar 13

    3

    0.8%

    376

    259

    1.2%

    Apr 11 – Mar 12

    5

    1.1%

    457

    243

    2.1%

    Apr 10 – Mar 11

    6

    1.4%

    443

    242

    2.5%

    ¹Department FTE from DCMS Annual Report & Accounts 2010-11 and 2014-15

    “

  • Kevin Brennan – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Cabinet Office

    Kevin Brennan – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Cabinet Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Kevin Brennan on 2016-04-15.

    To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what the mean annual gross pay was for jobs in (a) manufacturing, (b) services and (c) the whole economy in each of the last five years for which data is available.

    Mr Rob Wilson

    The information requested falls within the responsibility of the UK Statistics Authority. I have asked the Authority to reply.