The below Parliamentary question was asked by Andrew Percy on 2016-01-14.
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, how many defibrillators are provided in each building his Department manages.
Mr Tobias Ellwood
At the 18 January 2016, the Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) had a total of 12 public use Automated External Defibrillators (AEDs) across the FCO’s four UK sites while FCO tenants at Hanslope Park have an additional 15 AEDs for their own internal use.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Alan Brown on 2016-02-03.
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what progress he has made on the junior doctors’ contract renegotiation process.
Ben Gummer
Progress in negotiations has led to substantial agreement on a fairer contract with safety and training at its heart. The door remains open to the BMA to negotiate on the remaining issue of pay for unsocial hours, as they agreed to do in the joint agreement at ACAS in November.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Peter Kyle on 2016-02-29.
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what assessment he has made of the effect on organisations commissioning academic research of his Department’s proposed regulations that would prevent recipients of government grant funding for research in using that work to call for government policy changes.
Matthew Hancock
The new clause is about ensuring taxpayers money is only used for the intended purposes. The use or otherwise of research findings is already set out in grant agreements. There should, therefore, be no effect on organisations, which are free to use other funding to lobby, but not to spend taxpayers’ hard-earned cash on lobbying.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by David Lammy on 2016-04-08.
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many days it took his Department to answer hon. Members’ correspondence on average in (a) 2013, (b) 2014, (c) 2015 and (d) 2016.
Justin Tomlinson
The Cabinet Office publishes information on the performance of Departments and agencies on handling correspondence from hon. Members and peers annually by way of a written statement.
The information for the years that is available, 2013 and 2014, are in the Official Record (13 May 2014: Column 17WS and 3 Jun 2015: Column 15WS, respectively).
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jess Phillips on 2016-04-27.
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many academy schools have been re-brokered to other academy sponsors in each year since 2010.
Edward Timpson
There have been 130 academies and free schools (2% of academies) moved from a trust that had not been able to secure necessary improvements, to a strong sponsor. Regional Schools Commissioners (RSCs) are looking at the appropriate action to take with those that currently have no formal action, working with trusts to improve school performance or looking at sponsor solutions where they feel that the trust is not meeting the required standards.
The table below shows the numbers of academies which have been re-brokered to other academy sponsors, split by academic year.
|
Academic Year |
Number of academies re-brokered to other academy sponsors |
|
2011/12 |
2 |
|
2012/13 |
2 |
|
2013/14 |
13 |
|
2014/15 |
64 |
|
2015/16 |
49 |
|
Total |
130 |
There are 38 academies in the process of moving from a trust that has not been able to secure necessary improvements, to a strong sponsor.
The Department does not hold information on the number of academies which are awaiting re-brokerage. RSCs will work with schools in a number of ways before considering moving them to a new sponsor.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Stephen Timms on 2016-06-10.
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what plans she has to ensure that multi-academy trusts are accountable to the parents of students in those academies.
Edward Timpson
Our White Paper Educational Excellence Everywhere set out the Government’s intention to introduce a new duty on academies to ensure that they listen to the views and needs of all parents, particularly when key decisions are made about their child’s school. For Multi Academy Trusts (MATs) we will expect all academies to engage meaningfully at a local level.
We are committed to ensuring parents have a more significant voice in their child’s school. Through the new Parent Portal, we will ensure parents have access to clear and simple information about the school system and how to support their child. This will work alongside the new performance tables website which is making it easier for parents to find out how well their child’s school is performing and to compare schools across a range of key measures.
We will provide guidance on handling complaints to ensure a common approach for all schools and MATs so that all parents know where they can go if a problem arises. In addition, we will make it simpler for parents to escalate complaints to the Department, and beyond that to a public service ombudsman.
Finally, we are considering how parents might petition Regional Schools Commissioners for their child’s school to move to a different MAT where there is underperformance or other exceptional circumstances.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Anne Main on 2016-09-06.
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what assessment he has made of the potential benefits of mobile surgical health theatres; and whether such centres are included in the Sustainability and Transformation Plans.
David Mowat
Under the Directed Enhanced Services directions to NHS England, there is a Minor Surgery Scheme, the underlying purpose of which is to ensure that a wide range of minor surgical procedures are made available as part of the primary medical services provided throughout England. Minor surgery is also one of the additional services which are set out in the General Medical Services Contract Regulations. It is for local areas to decide whether they include the development of these centres in their Sustainability and Transformation Plan.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Jones on 2016-10-18.
To ask Her Majesty’s Government what is their estimate of the total workforce employed in the UK’s aerospace industry.
Baroness Neville-Rolfe
The ONS estimate the UK civil aerospace sector employs 116,000 people and supports a further 113,000 indirectly through its supply chains.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Roger Godsiff on 2016-01-14.
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what steps his Department is taking to improve the back-to-work support which is available for people with mental health problems.
Alistair Burt
We are working with the Department for Work and Pensions and other government departments through the Work and Health Unit. Over the next three years the Work and Health Unit are investing over £43 million in a range of voluntary mental health and employment trials to test what works in improving both the employment and health outcomes for people with common mental health problems. The Work and Health Unit will also invest around £115 million in testing wider support to improve health and employment outcomes. Additionally, The Improving Access to Psychological Therapies programme has already helped over 100,000 people to move off sick pay and benefits, with nearly 25,000 moving off in 2014/15.
In each of the last five years the Department of Health has not provided specific central programme funding for back-to-work support for people with mental health problems.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Baroness Quin on 2016-02-02.
To ask Her Majesty’s Government in what ways they are currently supporting the education and advancement of women in Afghanistan.
Baroness Verma
The UK has prioritised education for girls as part of its development support to Afghanistan. The UK provides £58 million through its Girls Education Challenge Fund, which supports over 180,000 girls in some of the poorest rural and hard to reach areas of Afghanistan to have better access to a quality education. In addition the UK supports the Afghan Reconstruction Trust Fund (ARTF), a World-Bank managed multi-donor fund. A proportion of this is used to support education and as a result, in 2015 there were more than 3.2 million Afghan girls attending school compared to virtually none in 2001.
The UK also supports programmes to protect women from violence, promote women’s economic empowerment, and strengthen political participation – all necessary to achieve lasting and transformative change for women in Afghanistan.