The below Parliamentary question was asked by Craig Whittaker on 2016-06-13.
To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what assessment his Department has made of the effectiveness of local authorities in processing and deciding planning applications within recommended timescales.
Brandon Lewis
Between January and March 2016, local planning authorities decided 82 per cent of major applications on time; the highest figure on record.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Karin Smyth on 2016-09-02.
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps she is taking to ensure incentives and support packages meet the needs of small businesses in order to increase their ability to take on apprentices.
Robert Halfon
We want to continue to support small employers to take on younger apprentices and so propose that employers with fewer than 50 people working for them will be able to train 16 to 18 year old apprentices at no cost.
We propose to extend this to small employers who take on a 19 to 24 year old apprentice who was formerly in care or has a Local Authority Education, Health and Care plan. The government will pay 100% of the apprenticeship training costs for these individuals. Further funding detail and provisional funding rates were published in August.
Since April, employers have not been required to pay employer National Insurance contributions for almost all apprentices aged under 25 up to the Upper Secondary Threshold (£827 per week in 2016-17).
This change makes the business case for apprenticeships even stronger, reducing the cost of employing a young apprentice by over £500 a year on a salary of £12,000, and over £1,000 a year on a salary of £16,000.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Shannon on 2016-10-18.
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what steps his Department is taking to reduce the incidence of food poisoning in chickens.
Nicola Blackwood
The Food Standards Agency (FSA) is working with industry to tackle Campylobacter, the most common source of foodborne illness, through the Acting on Campylobacter Together campaign. The FSA has agreed a joint industry target of achieving no more than 10% of birds contaminated at over 1,000 Campylobacter colony forming units per gram (viable cells) at the end of the slaughterhouse line. Using this target, together with the ongoing publication of surveillance results of Campylobacter contamination in fresh whole chickens at retail, the FSA is encouraging industry to implement interventions to reduce contamination levels. This has resulted in a downwards trend of the Campylobacter levels on chickens sold at retail. Additionally, the FSA continues to provide guidance for consumers on the measures that they can take to reduce their risk of spreading and contracting Campylobacter poisoning from raw poultry in the home.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Polak on 2016-01-11.
To ask Her Majesty’s Government what representations have they made to the Palestinian Authority following the seizure by Israeli customs of 4,000 incitement dolls, allegedly designed to encourage stone throwing, destined for the West Bank.
Baroness Anelay of St Johns
We have not raised this specific issue with the Palestinian Authority. Since the start of the current violence we have spoken regularly to both the Israeli government and the Palestinian Authority, urging them to use their influence to de-escalate the tensions. We continue to support the reinstatement of the Tripartite Committee as the appropriate channel to deal with allegations of incitement from either side.
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, what account she takes of the recreational benefit of maintaining school playing fields when considering a school disposal request.
Edward Timpson
The Education Funding Agency and the Independent School Playing Fields Panel who advise on playing field disposals will look at a range of factors before advising the Secretary of State on disposals, including any reduction in access to playing fields for the school, other local schools and the local community.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Louise Haigh on 2016-03-01.
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what annual rent his Department paid at (a) 1 Victoria Street, London and (b) St Paul’s Place, Sheffield in each of the last five years for which figures are available.
Joseph Johnson
We have committed to making changes to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills (BIS) by 2020 that will result in a more flexible Department, reduced headcount and far fewer delivery bodies.
Our business needs to be designed in a way that works for this smaller workforce and more streamlined structures.
To support this direction of travel, we are moving towards seven or so centres by 2020, supported by a regional footprint for those whose work needs to be at a local level.
We want each of these centres to focus on a key business activity so that we can bring the relevant expertise together.
We are proposing that one of these centres will be a combined BIS headquarters and policy centre in London, close to our Ministers.
The average cost of floor space at each of the Department’s offices is:
a) £483.64 per sqm at St Paul’s Place
b) £686.20 per sqm at 1 Victoria Street
The annual rent paid by BIS over the last 5 years is:
|
Year |
(a) 1 Victoria Street |
(b) St Paul’s Place |
|
2015-16 |
£11,004,000 |
£209,304 |
|
2014-15 |
£11,004,000 |
£209,304 |
|
2013-14 |
£11,004,000 |
£209,304 |
|
2012-13 |
£11,004,000 |
£209,304 |
|
2011-12 |
£11,004,000 |
£209,304 |
By the end of this reform programme in 2020, we will have fewer employees in London and BIS as a whole, and aim to save £350million in operating expenditure overall. The vast majority of employees within the BIS Group will continue to be based outside London.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Kevin Brennan on 2016-03-23.
To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what estimate he has made of the number of businesses that have registered for (a) VAT and (b) PAYE in each region and nation of the UK between 2010 and 2014.
Mr David Gauke
The Office for National Statistics publishes a breakdown of the number of businesses registered for VAT and/or PAYE by region:
Previous releases of this publication including data from 2010 onwards can be found here:
https://www.ons.gov.uk/businessindustryandtrade/business/activitysizeandlocation/bulletins/ukbusinessactivitysizeandlocation/previousReleases
“
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Kelly Tolhurst on 2016-04-28.
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment she has made of the practical implications of schools having their own admissions criteria under a fully-academised system; and how local authorities will manage that situation.
Nick Gibb
The schools white paper, ‘Educational Excellence Everywhere’, sets out the Government’s aim that every school should become an academy. In this context, it also sets out our intention to seek views on a number of changes to the admissions system to support parents in understanding how to get a place at their local schools.
As part of this, we will seek views on requiring the Local Authority to take on greater responsibility for certain admissions functions – in particular, co-ordinating in-year admissions and handling the administration of the independent appeal panels for all schools (including academies) in their area. These changes will make the system clearer and simpler for parents to navigate.
Any parent who has concerns regarding an individual school’s admission arrangements will continue to be able to refer an objection to the Office of the Schools Adjudicator. We intend to streamline the functions of the Office of the Schools Adjudicator so that objections to admission arrangements are resolved more quickly.
The white paper is available at https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/educational-excellence-everywhere.
“
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Andrew Gwynne on 2016-06-13.
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many and what proportion of aircraft in the Voyager surge fleet has been used by the Royal Air Force in each month since the first aircraft of that fleet was delivered.
Mr Philip Dunne
Voyager surge aircraft are owned by AirTanker Services Ltd and leased to civil airlines. No Voyager surge aircraft have been recalled to the military aircraft register for use by the Royal Air Force’s Voyager Squadrons. However, there have been seven occasions when Civilian registered Voyager surge aircraft have been chartered for individual tasks to transport troops.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Craig Whittaker on 2016-09-02.
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what mental health support is provided in schools to assist pupils with (a) self-harm and (b) body image related issues.
Edward Timpson
Good mental health and wellbeing is a priority for this Department. We have high aspirations for all children and want them to be able to fulfil their potential both academically and in terms of their mental wellbeing.
Schools should take prompt action to deal with cases of self- harm. The Department has taken a range of actions to help schools build a school-wide approach to good mental wellbeing. We have funded guidance and age-appropriate lesson plans on teaching mental health in personal, social, health and economic education, which covers teaching about self-harm and body image. In addition, training for teachers on self-harm is available through MindEd, a free online portal that has been developed to enable all adults working with children and young people to learn more about specific mental health problems and how to support them. We have also revised and updated our blueprint for effective school-based counselling.
However, teachers are not mental health specialists. We have contributed to a £3 million joint pilot between schools and children and young people’s mental health services to help schools access specialist support for their pupils, where needed.