UKPOL.CO.UK

Tag: 2016

  • Dan Jarvis – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    Dan Jarvis – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Dan Jarvis on 2016-10-14.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what estimate his Department has made of the number of children living in relative poverty in the UK (a) on the latest date for which figures are available and (b) a year before that date.

    Damian Hinds

    Estimates of the number of children in relative low income in the UK are published in the National Statistics Households Below Average Income (HBAI) series.

    In 2014/15 on a Before Housing Cost basis (BHC); there were 2.5 million children in relative poverty in the UK. In the previous year (2013/14) there were 2.3 million children in relative poverty in the UK. This increase however is not statistically significant.

    The Prime Minister is clear that tackling poverty and disadvantage, and delivering real social reform, is a priority for this Government and we will be coming back to the House with a number of announcements over the coming months.

  • Alison Thewliss – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    Alison Thewliss – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Alison Thewliss on 2016-01-06.

    To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, if he will prepare contingency plans for flexible funding for small and medium-sized enterprises to replace JEREMIE funding in the event of UK withdrawal from the EU.

    Mr David Gauke

    The Government is fighting hard to fix the aspects of our EU membership that cause so much frustration in the United Kingdom – so we can get a better deal for our country and secure our future. We are confident that the right agreement can be reached.

  • Lord Quirk – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    Lord Quirk – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Quirk on 2016-02-01.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what is their assessment of the report of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, Building Skills for all: A Review of England, published in January, in respect of the report’s findings that (1) seven per cent of university graduates in England under the age of 35 have numeracy skills below level 2, and that 3.4 per cent have literacy skills below level 2; (2) competition between universities in England for the ablest students has intensified to the point that less successful universities have lowered their admission demands to attract applicants; and (3) with a record number of students now entering for degree courses, money should be diverted from universities and deployed to enhance basic school education.

    Baroness Neville-Rolfe

    The Government agrees it is critical that all students acquire the essential literacy and numeracy skills they need to make the most of their courses and progress into a fulfilling career.

    Alongside the reforms to raise standards in schools and increase the number and quality of apprenticeships, our Higher Education Green Paper sets out further measures to ensure all students benefit from high-quality teaching.

    Decisions about which students to admit is ultimately a matter for individual institutions, but by lifting the cap on student numbers we are ensuring that more students can benefit from higher education than ever before.

  • Tom Watson – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Cabinet Office

    Tom Watson – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Cabinet Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Tom Watson on 2016-02-25.

    To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what steps he has taken to increase the number of public appointments of BAME representation in the last three months.

    Matthew Hancock

    The Government is committed to increasing the diversity of public appointments. The Centre for Public Appointments in the Cabinet Office supports departments on all issues relating to the diversity of public appointments. Steps we are taking to increase diversity include streamlining the application process​, placing an emphasis on ability over previous experience,​ and increasing awareness of opportunities by using a central website, social media. The Centre for Public Appointments also engages extensively with a variety of diversity networks​ and groups representing the views of ethnic minorities to raise awareness and increase the number of applications coming from BAME candidates and understand any potential issues or barriers.

    I hosted an event in February for a variety of diversity networks to encourage people from underrepresented groups to apply for Public Appointments and to advertise them in their own networks. The Cabinet Office is also represented at events run by diversity networks to raise awareness of the opportunities available.

  • Royston Smith – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    Royston Smith – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Royston Smith on 2016-03-21.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many teachers have left the teaching profession in each of the last five years.

    Nick Gibb

    The Department publishes statistics showing the number and rate of qualified teachers who enter service and the number and rate of qualified teachers leaving service.

    The latest available statistics, for 2011 to 2014, are in Table C1b of the additional tables in the statistical first release ‘School Workforce in England, November 2014’, which was published in July 2015:

    https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/school-workforce-in-england-november-2014

    The statistics show that the qualified teacher entry rate has been higher than the qualified teacher leavers rate throughout 2011 to 2014.

    “

  • Karl McCartney – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Karl McCartney – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Karl McCartney on 2016-04-26.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what financial impact analysis his Department has conducted on the proposed new model of community pharmacy.

    Alistair Burt

    Community pharmacy is a vital part of the National Health Service and can play an even greater role. In the Spending Review, the Government re-affirmed the need for the NHS to deliver £22 billion in efficiency savings by 2020/21 as set out in the NHS’s own plan, the Five Year Forward View. Community pharmacy is a core part of NHS primary care and has an important contribution to make as the NHS rises to these challenges. The Government believes efficiencies can be made without compromising the quality of services or public access to them. Our aim is to ensure that those community pharmacies upon which people depend continue to thrive and so we are consulting on the introduction of a Pharmacy Access Scheme, which will provide more NHS funds to certain pharmacies compared to others, considering factors such as location and the health needs of the local population.

    The Government’s vision is for a more efficient, modern system that will free up pharmacists to spend more time delivering clinical and public health services to the benefit of patients and the public.

    We are consulting the Pharmaceutical Services Negotiating Committee (PSNC) and others, including patient and public representatives, on our proposals for community pharmacy in 2016/17 and beyond. We announced on 16 March 2016 that the consultation period was to be extended to allow more time to develop the proposed changes with the PSNC and others. It will now close on 24 May 2016.

    The proposals were considered against the Public Sector Equality Duty and other duties. The consultation responses will inform the final impact assessment, which will be published in due course.

  • Paul Blomfield – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    Paul Blomfield – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Paul Blomfield on 2016-06-07.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, if he will publish his Department’s consultation response on the proposal for a combined headquarters and policy centre in London.

    Joseph Johnson

    The Department for Business, Innovation and Skills (BIS) recognises the interest in its decision to establish a combined headquarters and policy centre in London, which is why a summary of the decision and its rationale was issued on BIS’ website, and why a Written Ministerial Statement was laid informing all MPs on the day of the decision.

    The document was written specifically with staff in mind as a piece of internal communications and as a response to the staff consultation BIS conducted. The Department’s top priority is ensuring staff have the most up to date and accurate information about the support available to them. We have no plans to publish the document because it contains information on issues which are the subject of on-going internal discussions with staff.

  • Richard Bacon – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Richard Bacon – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Richard Bacon on 2016-09-05.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how much Homerton University Hospital NHS Foundation Trust has paid Cerner in the last 10 years.

    Mr Philip Dunne

    The Department has not, over the last 10 years, made payments to Cerner for National Health Service systems. The Department does not hold information centrally about contracts that are held by NHS Trusts locally.

  • Lord Browne of Belmont – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Lord Browne of Belmont – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Browne of Belmont on 2016-10-13.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what recent assessment they have made of the extent of human trafficking in Northern Ireland.

    Baroness Williams of Trafford

    An in depth assessment of the scale and nature of modern slavery and human trafficking across the UK, including in Northern Ireland, can be found in the recently published Inter-Departmental Ministerial Group (IDMG) report on modern slavery, available via the following link:

    https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/report-of-the-inter-departmental-ministerial-group-on-modern-slavery-2016.

    The latest published figures from the National Crime Agency reveal that in 2015, the National Referral Mechanism (NRM) – the framework which identifies and supports potential human trafficking victims – received 53 referrals of potential victims first encountered in Northern Ireland. This represents a 17% increase on 2014 referrals and 1.6% of UK referrals to the NRM.

  • Stephen Gethins – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Culture, Media and Sport

    Stephen Gethins – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Culture, Media and Sport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Stephen Gethins on 2016-01-06.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what steps he is taking to prepare for the outcome of the EU referendum.

    Mr Edward Vaizey

    The Government is fighting hard to fix the aspects of our EU membership that cause so much frustration in Britain – so we get a better deal for Britain and secure our future. The Government is focused on delivering a successful renegotiation: it believes it can and will succeed in reforming and renegotiating our relationship with the EU.