Tag: 2016

Julie Cooper – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Julie Cooper on 2016-03-14.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how many cancer patients in Lancashire started treatment within 62 days of an urgent referral from a GP in 2015.

Jane Ellison

Data on the number of patients that started first treatment for all cancers within 62 days of an urgent general practitioner referral in Lancashire clinical commissioning groups (CCGs) in 2015 is published by NHS England on a monthly basis and is available at the following link:

https://www.england.nhs.uk/statistics/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2015/02/Cancer-Waiting-Times-Provider-Time-Series-Q4-2008-09-to-Q3-2015-16-Provider-based-XLSX-1.6MB.xlsx

The relevant CCGs are as follows:

– NHS Blackburn with Darwen CCG

– NHS Blackpool CCG

– NHS Chorley And South Ribble CCG

– NHS East Lancashire CCG

– NHS Fylde & Wyre CCG

– NHS Greater Preston CCG

– NHS Lancashire North CCG

– NHS West Lancashire CCG

01/01/2023
Stephen Timms – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Stephen Timms on 2016-04-12.

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what financial provision he has made for supporting armed forces recruits to obtain A* to C passes in GCSE English and mathematics if required.

Mark Lancaster

The Ministry of Defence does not make financial provision to improve the Functional Skills (FS) of recruits before they are selected to join the UK Armed Forces.

For those who join the UK Armed Forces, there are clearly identified routes to ensure acceptable levels of FS. Over 95% of all recruits, no matter what their age or prior qualifications, enrol in an Apprenticeship Programme each year. Apprenticeships ensure that Service personnel (SP) will gain level 2 in literacy and numeracy – which is the equivalent to GCSE level. The Armed Forces also offer courses in a wide range of skills, such as engineering, information and communications technology (ICT), construction, driving, and animal care.

All recruits aged under 18 receive key skills education in literacy and numeracy, should they need it, and all are enrolled onto apprenticeships. The Armed Forces remain the UK’s largest apprenticeship provider, equipping young people with valuable and transferable skills for life. Ofsted regularly inspects our care of newly joined young recruits, and we are very proud of the standards we achieve.

Since September 2012, Defence has adopted FS qualifications (FS (English) and FS (Mathematics)) as the accredited measures of literacy and numeracy skills for all SP accessing in-Service literacy and numeracy provision. Defence FS provision will be (in most cases) a blend of in-house and external provision. FS provision and qualifications have been available and publicly funded in England since September 2010, with the single Services funding the following elements:

Specialist manpower. Sufficient in-house specialist practitioners to meet the FS requirements that are not met from external or Skills Funding Agency and Education Funding Agency funded providers and, co-ordinate the delivery of that provision across their Service.

FS staff training. Training for in-house specialist practitioners and support staff to meet the required professional standards, where this is not externally funded.

Trainee costs. All direct and indirect costs incurred by Initial Training Establishments, where training has to be extended to cover FS provision to meet the minimum FS Entry Level 3 standard, by the start of Phase 2 training.

FS resources. FS support materials, essential ICT, audio-visual equipment and associated consumables, and any other essential resource costs.

01/01/2023
David Lammy – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Culture, Media and Sport

The below Parliamentary question was asked by David Lammy on 2016-05-19.

To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what Tech North’s (a) operational and (b) communications budget was for (i) 2015 and (ii) 2016; and what Tech North’s total expenditure on third party communications consultancy and public relations agencies was in each of those two years.

Mr Edward Vaizey

Tech City UK (including Tech North) total operations budget was £2,500,000 in 2014-15; £4,223,000 in 2015-16; and £4,100,000 in 2016-17. Tech City UK (including Tech North) communications costs were £173,091 in 2014-15; £279,355 in 2015-16; and £5,000 in 2016-17 (YTD). These costs were all expenditure on third party communications, consultancy and public relations agencies

Tech North’s communication costs were nil in 2014-15 and 2016-17 (YTD), and £74,500 in 2015-16. These costs were all expenditure on third party communications, consultancy and public relations agencies.

01/01/2023
Jim Cunningham – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Cunningham on 2016-07-13.

To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, pursuant to the Answer of 12 July 2016 to Question 42023, whether his Department has made an assessment of the potential effect of exchange rate fluctuations following the EU referendum on the (a) cost to the UK of importing energy and (b) levels imported; and if he will make a statement.

Jesse Norman

The Department has not made an assessment of the potential effect of exchange rate fluctuations on the levels or cost to the UK of imported energy following the EU referendum.

It is too early to speculate on any resulting medium and long-term exchange rate fluctuations. Furthermore, exchange rates are only one of the factors that will influence volumes and costs of imported energy.

01/01/2023
Yasmin Qureshi – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Yasmin Qureshi on 2016-09-15.

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many respondents to the first consultation on reforming housing benefit for supported housing in 2011 responded that a localised pot would support the right of disabled people to live independently.

Caroline Nokes

The consultation in 2011 sought views on a wide variety of options, and received a range of viewpoints, reflecting the diversity of the sector.

01/01/2023
Kevin Brennan – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Energy and Climate Change

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Kevin Brennan on 2016-01-20.

To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, what assessment she has made of whether there have been market failures in green and low carbon investment over the last five years; and if she will make an assessment of the most important potential threats to such investment.

Andrea Leadsom

Electricity Market Reform was introduced to overcome barriers to investment and deployment of large scale low carbon UK power generation. The UK has enjoyed record levels of deployment of renewables in recent years and the Government has also agreed a deal to bring forward the first new nuclear power station in a generation. Increasingly, as we benefit from the lower technology costs arising from this deployment, we can expect competitive forces increasingly to stimulate further investment in the low carbon power generation that the country needs.

01/01/2023
Ruth Smeeth – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Ruth Smeeth on 2016-02-19.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, when she plans to issue a response to the Migration Advisory Committee review of Tier 2 visas.

James Brokenshire

The Government is carefully considering the Migration Advisory Committee’s recommendations and has not yet made its final decisions. We will announce our response in due course.

01/01/2023

Jonathan Ashworth – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for International Development

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jonathan Ashworth on 2016-03-14.

To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, how many and what proportion of officials of her Department took sick leave for reasons relating to stress in each of the last five years; and what proportion of total sick leave that leave was in each such year.

Mr Desmond Swayne

The table below provides the overall sick leave taken by DFID staff, and the proportion of sick leave for reasons related to stress in each of the past three years. Information on 2011/12 and 2012/13 could only be provided at disproportionate cost.

Period	Stress Related Absence (Days )	Total Sick Leave (Days)	Percentage Stress Related Absence against Total Sick Leave	No of Staff who took Stress Related Absence	No of Staff who took Sick Leave	Percentage staff who took Stress Related Absence against total staff who recorded a sick absence
March 2015 – February 2016	1485	9087	16.3%	63	1294	4.9%
April 2014 – March 2015	1642	8889	18.5%	58	1367	4.2%
April 2013 – March 2014	1137	8427	13.5%	39	1180	3.3%

01/01/2023

Peter Kyle – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Peter Kyle on 2016-04-12.

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether the present amount of Continued Professional Development funding for training teachers in the new computing curriculum will be maintained for future academic years.

Nick Gibb

Over the last three years, the Department has spent more than £4.5 million to support the implementation of the new curriculum and is committed to support the high quality teaching of computing. This includes £3m to establish the Network of Teaching Excellence in Computer Science, building a national network of over 300 ‘Master Teachers’ whom schools can commission to provide training for their teachers; £1m for Computing at School (CAS) to meet the needs of primary schools teachers who lacked the specialist computer science subject knowledge required to teach the new curriculum; and a £500,000 competitive match-funded scheme that has supported innovative approaches to promoting excellent computing teaching and lever additional investment and engagement from business.

01/01/2023
Anne Main – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Anne Main on 2016-05-19.

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what estimate he has made of the number of UK military staff posted to (a) Eurocorps and (b) other EU institutions.

Mr Julian Brazier

The UK is not a member of Eurocorps and has no military staff posted to it. The UK currently has 17 military staff posted in the EU institutions.

01/01/2023