Tag: 2016

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

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

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Baroness Tonge on 2016-04-18.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government how closely they monitor the weekly UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs statistics of death, injuries and house demolitions in East Jerusalem, the West Bank and Gaza, and what conclusions they have drawn from those statistics.

    Baroness Verma

    We follow all briefings and updates from the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs closely, and are greatly concerned with the deteriorating humanitarian situation across the occupied Palestinian territories. We raise these concerns regularly with the Government of Israel and development partners, and continue to call for the lifting of movement and access restrictions.

  • Julian Lewis – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    Julian Lewis – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Julian Lewis on 2016-05-25.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what assessment he has made of the value for money of the investment made by the Portsmouth Naval Base Property Trust from his Department’s reverse premium of £6 million on assets previously transferred; and what investment he expects the proposed further reverse premium of £13 million to attract.

    Mark Lancaster

    The Ministry of Defence has not made an assessment of the value of the investment made or proposed by the Portsmouth Naval Base Property Trust. This is a matter for the Trust.

  • Tom Blenkinsop – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Tom Blenkinsop – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Tom Blenkinsop on 2016-07-21.

    To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many reports of sexual offences Cleveland Police received in each of the last five years; and what proportion of those reports led to prosecutions.

    Brandon Lewis

    The number of sexual and violence against the person offences recorded by Cleveland police from 2011/12 to 2015/16 are given in the table.

    The Home Office does not hold data on the number of prosecutions resulting from offences recorded by the police. Information on crimes assigned a charge or summons outcome is available from April 2014, when data on outcomes were first collected linked specifically to their associated crimes. Previously, outcomes data supplied by forces related to the volume recorded regardless of when the crime was committed. The new method of collection was implemented to provide greater transparency and highlight how each crime recorded in any period is resolved by the police.

    The table shows the proportion of sexual and violent offences that resulted in a police charge or summons in 2014/15 and 2015/16. In addition, it shows the proportion of each offence group that has not been assigned an outcome. This is important to note, in particular for sexual offences, because length of investigations mean that the most recent year has more crimes that have yet to be assigned an outcome than the previous year.

    Not all charges or summonses will lead to a prosecution, the Ministry of Justice hold and publish data on prosecutions.

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

    Jonathan Lord – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jonathan Lord on 2016-10-07.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what proportion of children who receive free school meals in (a) Woking constituency, (b) Surrey, (c) the South East and (d) the UK have achieved at least five GCSEs at grades A*-C in each year since 2010.

    Edward Timpson

    Information on the percentage of pupils who are eligible for free school meals and achieved five GCSEs at grades A*- C, in each local authority area and at regional level in England for each of the last six years is published as part of the GCSE and equivalent results, and the attainment by pupil characteristics statistical first releases (SFRs)[1] [2]. Parliamentary constituency level information is not available.

    The Department for Education produces statistics on England only. The responsibility for education statistics in Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales lies with each devolved administration.

    [1] KS4 SFR 2014/15: https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/493475/SFR01_2016_LA_Tables.xlsx (Table LA8)

    [2] KS4 SFR: Years: 2009/10 to 2013/14:

    https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/gcse-and-equivalent-attainment-by-pupil-characteristics-2014 (table 5)

    “

  • Liz Kendall – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Liz Kendall – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Liz Kendall on 2016-01-06.

    To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many people of each gender work in her Department.

    Karen Bradley

    As at 30th November 2015 there were 14,835 members of staff that identified themselves as female and 13,718 that identified themselves as male in the Home Department.

    (Figures are based on all paid civil servants in line with Office for National Statistics standards as published in the Annual Civil Service Employment Survey on ons.gov.uk in Autumn 2015)

  • Chi Onwurah – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Culture, Media and Sport

    Chi Onwurah – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Culture, Media and Sport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Chi Onwurah on 2016-01-26.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what his policy is on (a) the number and type of wheelchair access and accompanying person spaces at sports stadiums and (b) ticketing prices and arrangements for those spaces; and what support his Department advises such stadiums to extend to those who use wheelchairs and those who accompany them.

    David Evennett

    We believe that all people should be able to enjoy and participate in sports – and that disability should not be a barrier to that. Approved accessibility audits should be undertaken by individual clubs and stadia to determine the number and type of wheelchair access and accompanying person spaces which are available at those venues. The Accessible Stadia guide also sets out the minimum guidelines for such accommodation. Ticketing prices and arrangements for those spaces are a matter for the individual club or stadium to determine. My Department advises that such stadiums and clubs make the reasonable adjustments necessary to accommodate those who use wheelchairs and for those who accompany them in line with the provisions of the Equality Act 2010.

  • Grahame Morris – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    Grahame Morris – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Grahame Morris on 2016-02-23.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what steps he has taken to ensure that local authorities meet their obligation under the National Planning Policy Framework to meet the housing needs of disabled people requiring wheelchair accessible homes.

    Brandon Lewis

    Local authorities are best placed to understand the housing needs in their area. We expect them to work closely with key partners and their local communities in deciding what type of housing is needed.

    National policy sets out clearly the need for local authorities to plan for the housing needs of all members of the community and that planning should encourage accessibility. The introduction of optional requirements for accessibility in the Building Regulations provides local authorities with the tools needed to ensure that new homes are accessible and that in particular the needs of disabled people are met.

    Local authorities are held accountable for their housing delivery via their Local Plans which are tested by local independent planning inspectors and are scrutinised via yearly Authority Monitoring reports which set out progress on delivery against Local Plan targets. In addition local authorities must determine individual decisions in line with the development plan and other material considerations, such as the National Planning Policy Framework and having regard to viability considerations.

  • Lord Green of Deddington – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Cabinet Office

    Lord Green of Deddington – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Cabinet Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Green of Deddington on 2016-03-21.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government when they will publish the net migration statistics for 2015.

    Lord Bridges of Headley

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

  • Baroness Coussins – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    Baroness Coussins – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Baroness Coussins on 2016-04-18.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what progress has been made in discussions with examination boards about retaining accreditation routes for lesser-taught languages at GCSE and A-level.

    Lord Nash

    Government action has resulted in GCSEs and A levels in a range of community languages being continued, to ensure young people can carry on studying a diverse range of foreign languages.

    This follows a Government commitment in 2015 to protect a number of language GCSEs and A levels after the exam boards announced that from 2017 they would be withdrawing several courses.

    Since then the Government has worked with Ofqual and the exam boards and we have been successful in securing most of the less-taught languages at GCSE and A level for future years. In addition to Chinese, Italian and Russian, the languages now secure are Arabic, Bengali, Biblical Hebrew, Modern Greek, Gujarati, Japanese, Modern Hebrew, Panjabi, Polish, Portuguese, Turkish and Urdu.

  • Gordon Marsden – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    Gordon Marsden – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Gordon Marsden on 2016-05-25.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what consultations she has had with trades unions and staff representative organisations on the future of technical and professional recruitment planned for inclusion in the proposed Skills Plan.

    Nick Boles

    The Government is taking forward reforms to the skills system to ensure we have the technical skills that the economy needs. We will publish details of our plans for further reform of the skills system in due course and will engage with stakeholders from across the sector on these plans.