Tag: 2016

  • Lord Ouseley – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Lord Ouseley – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Ouseley on 2016-02-01.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government how they intend to respond to the Institute of Race Relations’ recent analysis Prevent and the Children’s Rights Convention in which the new duties placed on schools to prevent children being drawn into terrorism have been tested against the key articles in the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child.

    Lord Bates

    The Prevent duty is foremost about safeguarding vulnerable people – including children – from the dangers of radicalisation. We expect front line professionals, including teachers, to apply the duty in a proportionate manner.

    To support schools in understanding their responsibilities in relation to the duty, we published statutory guidance in March last year which set out what is expected of them. In June last year, the Department for Education issued practical advice for schools which complemented the statutory guidance. Last month a website called ‘Educate Against Hate’ was launched specifically for schools and parents, which provides advice and support on how to identify and respond to concerns about radicalisation. We are also rolling out a training programme to equip all teachers with an awareness of radicalisation and an understanding of what they can do to ensure that children and young people are safeguarded from its risks.

    It is important that when they have genuine concerns, people refer an individual to Channel, our voluntary programme to counter radicalisation, with the benefits that brings. A referral to Channel will be gauged in a way that defines an appropriate response.

  • Baroness Suttie – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for International Development

    Baroness Suttie – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for International Development

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Baroness Suttie on 2016-02-25.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of the number of Libyan refugees currently residing in Tunisia.

    Baroness Verma

    Since 2014, UNHCR has co-ordinated inter-agency efforts to prepare for a possible influx of refugees and asylum-seekers from Libya, at the request of the Tunisian government and in close cooperation with UN agencies and partners. Its most recent assessment reported that there were 928 people of concern residing in Tunisia, mostly from Syria.

  • David Burrowes – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    David Burrowes – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by David Burrowes on 2016-03-21.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how much was spent by the Government on relationship support in 2015-16; and to what programmes that funding was allocated.

    Priti Patel

    A total of £11.2m is forecast to be spent in the full year 2015/16 on relationship support as follows:

    Legacy Relationship Support Contracts £7.0m

    Evaluation of Legacy Relationship Support Contracts £0.3m

    Innovation Fund £2.5m

    Evaluation of Innovation Fund £0.5m

    Local Family Offer £0.7m

    Perinatal Pilot £0.2m

    Total £11.2m

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

    Lord Storey – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Storey on 2016-04-26.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what are the legal requirements for home-educated pupils to sit SATs.

    Lord Nash

    Legislation which requires the administration of the tests at the end of key stages 1 and 2 only applies to state-funded schools.

    Independent schools and home-educated pupils can choose to participate in the national curriculum tests if they wish. Home-educated pupils can only do so by registering with a maintained school, academy or other independent school that is participating in the tests.

    Parents are entitled to educate their children at home; when they do so they opt out of state education. The education provided must comply with the duty in section 7 of the Education Act 1996 to cause the child to receive efficient full-time education suitable to the child’s age, ability and aptitude, and to any special educational needs the child may have.

  • Tom Blenkinsop – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Energy and Climate Change

    Tom Blenkinsop – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Energy and Climate Change

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Tom Blenkinsop on 2016-06-08.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, what steps her Department has taken to support the Teesside Carbon Capture Storage Collective since the announcement of the reduction in government funds in that sector.

    Andrea Leadsom

    The Department of Energy and Climate Change continues to work closely with Teesside, including through providing funding to the Collective for further work on how Carbon Capture and Storage (CCS), carbon usage, hydrogen production and other technologies could reduce carbon emissions from industrial processes.

    This support follows £1m previously awarded to Teesside as part of the 2013 Tees Valley City Deal, to undertake engineering and commercial studies into the scope for industrial CCS for the Tees Valley industrial cluster, and the October 2015 Tees Valley Devolution Deal, which committed DECC to work with Tees Valley to explore how it can continue to develop its industrial CCS proposals.

    Lord Heseltine’s recent report “Tees Valley: Opportunity Unlimited” welcomed the support that the Government is continuing to provide on industrial CCS in the Tees Valley area.

  • Helen Hayes – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Helen Hayes – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Helen Hayes on 2016-09-05.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what recent representations the Government has made to the government of Bahrain on reports of human rights abuses in that country.

    Mr Tobias Ellwood

    We are concerned by recent developments in Bahrain, and have responded robustly in public and private. The Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, my right hon. Friend the Member for Uxbridge and South Ruislip (Mr Johnson) issued a statement on 17 July expressing concerns about the Bahraini High Administrative Court’s decision to dissolve the main Bahraini Shia opposition political society Al Wefaq. In addition, we have issued two further statements on 22 and 15 June expressing concerns about the nationality of Bahraini Shia cleric Sheikh Isa Qassim being revoked, the suspension of Al Wefaq, the apparent prevention of human rights activists travelling to Geneva and the re-arrest of Nabeel Rajab. We regularly discuss human rights concerns and reform efforts with the Government of Bahrain, I did so during the biannual UK-Bahrain Joint Working Group meeting in Bahrain on 2 June.

  • Royston Smith – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Royston Smith – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Royston Smith on 2016-10-14.

    To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what her policy is on issuing visas for overseas academies to participate in research at UK institutions (a) during negotiations on the UK leaving the EU and (b) once the UK has exited the EU.

    Mr Robert Goodwill

    There will be no immediate changes to the immigration status of foreign students or the way universities are able to recruit students. While the UK remains in the EU, European Economic Area and Swiss students will continue to have the same rights and status they had before the referendum. The Prime Minister has been clear that she wants to protect the status of EU nationals already living and working in the UK, and the only circumstances in which that would not be possible is if British citizens’ rights in other EU Member States were not protected in return.

    The precise way in which the Government will control the movement of EU nationals, including students, to the UK after the UK has left the EU is yet to be determined and will be subject to the wider negotiations on the UK’s exit from the EU.

  • Gregory Campbell – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Cabinet Office

    Gregory Campbell – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Cabinet Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Gregory Campbell on 2016-01-06.

    To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what estimate he has made of the change in the proportion of the working age population employed by the public sector in (a) England, (b) Wales, (c) Scotland and (d) Northern Ireland between 2010 and 2015.

    Mr Rob Wilson

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

  • Earl Baldwin of Bewdley – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Earl Baldwin of Bewdley – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Earl Baldwin of Bewdley on 2016-02-01.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what is their estimate of the percentage of water involved in fluoridation schemes that reaches the teeth of children it is designed to benefit, taking account of industrial, agricultural, municipal, domestic and other usage, and of the leakage from mains supplies.

    Lord Prior of Brampton

    The 2008 Water Strategy for England reported that households account for 52% of the use of public water supplies. Around 7% of the water used in homes is used for drinking and cooking; an additional percentage will be used for tooth brushing.

    There are no separate figures for water supplied in fluoridation schemes. Such schemes tend to supply more urban areas and it is reasonable to expect a greater domestic use than would be the case for supplies serving areas with significant agricultural or industrial use.

  • Louise Haigh – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    Louise Haigh – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Louise Haigh on 2016-02-25.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what assessment he has made of the prevalence of the exploitation of unpaid trials in at-risk sectors.

    Nick Boles

    Entitlement to the National Minimum Wage (NMW) applies where someone meets the criteria of a worker. There is no legal or consistently-used definition of an internship and therefore no authoritative, single assessment of their prevalence, unpaid or otherwise. However, the Low Pay Commission 2015 Report on the National Minimum Wage sets out their findings from the evidence they have collated as well as research that they have commissioned to assess the prevalence of unpaid internships.

    The Government works to promote high-quality, paid internships through improved codes of practice, awareness campaigns and changes to the BIS-sponsored Graduate Talent Pool. We also continue to tackle exploitation. The Government invested over £13m in 2015/16 to ensure enforcement of the NMW and we continue to name and shame employers who break minimum wage law.