The below Parliamentary question was asked by Julie Cooper on 2016-01-21.
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, when she expects the Government’s response to the impact assessment of reductions to feed-in tariffs to be published.
Andrea Leadsom
The Government published an impact assessment for the feed-in tariff review on 17 December 2015, alongside the Government response to the consultation on this review.
The impact assessment is available at:
“
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jeff Smith on 2016-02-19.
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if she will make an assessment of the implications for her policy on school admissions of the finding of the report, An Unholy Mess, published by the Fair Admissions Campaign in October 2015, relating to information made available on requirements for religious observance as part of the admissions process for certain religiously selective schools.
Nick Gibb
Admission authorities for all state-funded schools, including schools with a religious designation, are required to comply with the mandatory provisions of the School Admissions Code (the code) and other admissions law.
Where an objection is made to the Schools Adjudicator, if the arrangements are found to be unfair or fail to comply with the code, the admission authority must make changes to ensure their arrangements comply within two months of a determination. This includes requiring schools to amend their supplementary information forms when they do not comply with the code.
We support the right of schools with a religious designation to prioritise children of their faith designation but the code requires that any measure of religious activity used for admission purposes must be as laid out by their faith body.
The Government will shortly consult on a package of changes to the School Admissions code which will both respond to concerns from parents and to the findings in the Chief Adjudicator’s Annual Report. That package will include measures to improve fairness and transparency.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Stuart C. McDonald on 2016-03-07.
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many care leavers who were aged 19, 20 or 21 in the years ending 31 March (a) 2013, (b) 2014 and (c) 2015 were former unaccompanied asylum-seeking children.
Edward Timpson
Data on the number of care leavers aged 19 to 21 years is published in table F1 of the statistical first release ‘Children looked after, including care leavers and adoption’[1].
Data is not published on the number of care leavers who were formerly unaccompanied asylum seeking children.
“
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Cunningham on 2016-04-13.
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what estimate her Department has made of the cost of the Syrian Vulnerable Persons Resettlement Scheme since its inception; and if she will make a statement.
Richard Harrington
At the Spending Review, the Chancellor announced an estimated £460 million over the spending review period to cover the first 12 months’ costs for each of the 20,000 refugees being resettled in the UK under the Syrian Vulnerable Persons Scheme. He also announced an estimated £129 million to assist with local authority costs for years two to five of each refugee’s stay in the UK. The cost of the scheme since inception is subject to audit by the National Audit Office as part of the finalisation of the 2015-16 Home Office Annual Report and Accounts, which are expected to be published this summer.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Gloria De Piero on 2016-05-20.
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, whether Sherwood Forest Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust will receive further funding from the Government to provide any extra A&E care required as a result of Central Nottinghamshire Clinical Services no longer providing such care.
Ben Gummer
Additional funding for Sherwood Forest Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust (SFHFT) would be a matter for the local clinical commissioning groups.
NHS England advises that SFHFT has neither requested nor received additional funding as a result of the new caretaker arrangements. Nottingham Emergency Medical Services, the new caretaker provider of out of hours urgent care services at King’s Mill and Newark hospitals, has met the needs of the patients.
We are advised by NHS England that in the period since the handover took place there has been no material impact on the performance of either SFHFT or the mid Nottinghamshire health and social care system against the national four-hour accident and emergency standard.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Baroness Northover on 2016-07-06.
To ask Her Majesty’s Government what discussions they have had with the Kurdistan Regional Government in the light of reports of the recent closure of the Kurdish Women’s Relations Office in Erbil, and what was the outcome of those discussions.
Baroness Anelay of St Johns
We are aware of the recent closure of the Kurdish Women’s Relations Office, also known as REPAK. Our Consulate-General in Erbil raised this issue with the Kurdistan Regional government (KRG) through the Head of Asayish (part of the Kurdish Internal Security Services), General Esmat Argooshi, and the KRG Prime Minister’s Private Secretary.
We have also discussed the matter with the Human Rights Office at the United Nations Assistance Mission for Iraq (UNAMI). UNAMI have engaged with the Kurdistan Regional government’s Department of Foreign Relations, who said that they would monitor the situation. We are encouraging the Kurdistan Regional Government to respect the legal rights of all legally registered Non Governmental Organisations (NGOs) and we support UNAMI’s efforts to promote the legal rights of NGOs operating in Iraq.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Gloria De Piero on 2016-09-15.
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what his policy is on hearing and sight tests being carried out by school nurses in primary schools.
Nicola Blackwood
At the age of school entry, most children will have a hearing test and an eye test. The tests may be conducted at school but can be carried out elsewhere depending upon the arrangements in the local area.
The UK National Screening Committee (UK NSC) advises Ministers and the National Health Service about all aspects of screening policy and supports implementation. Using research evidence, pilot programmes and economic evaluation, it assesses the evidence for programmes against a set of internationally recognised criteria.
In November 2013 the UK NSC re-affirmed its recommendation that child vision screening between four and five years of age should be offered by an orthoptic-led service. Public Health England is working to improve the quality and consistency of current vision screening services across the UK.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Charlotte Leslie on 2016-01-21.
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, how many officials of his Department and at which grades are classified speakers of foreign languages for each such language spoken.
Mr Tobias Ellwood
Records from the last 5 years (up to the end of 2015) show that the Foreign and Commonwealth Office has 505 officers with an Operational level (C1) exam pass across 33 different languages. This figure comprises 94 Senior Management Staff officers and 411 officers from the delegated grades.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Margaret Beckett on 2016-02-19.
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if she will estimate the number of children from families from Eastern European countries that have entered the care system in the latest period for which figures are available.
Edward Timpson
The Department does not hold the information requested.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Nicholas Soames on 2016-03-07.
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, at which fora discussion takes place between Russia and (a) officials of the UK Government and (b) officials or diplomats of Western countries.
Mr David Lidington
Discussions between UK and Russian officials take place as appropriate within those international institutions where both countries are represented. As a permanent member of the UN Security Council, such contact is essential as we confront international challenges such as the conflict in Syria.
In the context of the NATO-Russia Council, however, dialogue with Russia has been largely suspended since Russia’s illegal annexation of Crimea in March 2014.
Discussions take place within international institutions between Russian officials and officials or diplomats of Western countries on a range of key international issues.