Tag: 2016

  • Steve McCabe – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    Steve McCabe – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Steve McCabe on 2016-09-08.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment she has made of the implications for her policies of the potential effect of the decreasing uptake of languages at A-level on (a) the uptake of language courses at university and (b) the number of language graduates training to be language teachers.

    Nick Gibb

    The decline in the study of modern foreign languages started in 2004 when the former Government removed the compulsory study of languages from the Key Stage 4 curriculum. By 2010 fewer than half – 43 per cent – of pupils took a GCSE in a modern foreign language, down from 76 per cent of pupils in 2000. The inclusion of a modern foreign or ancient language in the English Baccalaureate (EBacc) increased the number of students studying at least one language at GCSE between 2010 and 2015. This has increased the pool of students able to progress to study languages at A level and beyond. The Government will publish their response to the EBacc consultation in due course and is already incentivising the take-up of language A levels in the 16-19 performance tables through the facilitating subject measure.

    To support prospective students’ choice of degree we are making improvements to the information they can access, particularly on the employment outcomes they can expect from their Higher Education (HE) studies. This should allow students to understand better the advantages of studying a language at university. Furthermore, provisions in the Higher Education and Reform Bill, currently before Parliament, will allow Government, in future, to instruct the HE regulator to incentivise or protect the supply of courses, such as language courses, which are economically and culturally important.

    We are also encouraging the best language graduates to enter the teaching profession, through financial incentives such as a bursary of £25,000 for trainees with a first class or 2:1 degree in languages.

  • Lord Truscott – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    Lord Truscott – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Truscott on 2016-01-14.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether any part of the proposed HS2 rail line is to be built on a flood plain.

    Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon

    Given HS2 is a national infrastructure project of over 350 miles, HS2 does currently plan to cross floodplains. For Phase One, the assessment of all sources of flood risk can be found in Volume 5 of the Environmental Statement. For Phase Two, flood risk is detailed in the Appraisal of Sustainability.

    HS2 Ltd has a design aim that, for the lifetime of the development, there should be no increased risk of flooding for vulnerable receptors, including residential property, taking projected climate change impacts into account. The design of HS2 does consider the practicalities of a range of environmental factors, including flooding.

  • Jim McMahon – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    Jim McMahon – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim McMahon on 2016-02-09.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what proportion of the Housing Investment Fund devolved to Greater Manchester Combined Authority homes over 10 years is in the form of (a) loans and (b) grants.

    Brandon Lewis

    The Housing Investment Fund is a loan, supported by a legal agreement in place between Manchester City Council (as the lead authority for the Greater Manchester Combined Authority) and DCLG. All of the Housing Investment Fund must be used as financial transactions to private sector organisations for the funding to qualify under the terms of that legal agreement.

  • Daniel Kawczynski – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    Daniel Kawczynski – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Daniel Kawczynski on 2016-03-07.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what notification was given to women affected by the Pensions Act 1995.

    Justin Tomlinson

    Following the Pensions Act 1995, State Pension estimates, issued to individuals on request, made the changes clear. The DWP’s State Pension estimates have been providing individuals with their most up-to-date date of reaching State Pension age since 1995. Over that period, we have encouraged anyone seeking to plan for their retirement to get a pension statement. Since April 2000, the Department has issued more than 11.5 million personalised State Pension statements to people who requested them. We continue to encourage people to request one, as part of our on-going communications.

    DWP also ran a pensions education campaign in 2004, which included informing people of the future equalisation of SPA. The campaign included:

    • Advertising features in the press and women’s magazines
    • A ‘Women’s Pensions Pack’ containing leaflets for women about changes in State Pension age, made available through the Pensions Service
    • Direct mailings targeted specifically at women highlighting that women’s SPA is changing
    • Sending State Pension forecast letters and accompanying leaflet showing the person’s SPa and explaining who is affected by the changes to women’s SPa (issued to those who requested them)
    • Developing an interactive State Pension date/age calculator facility on the Pensions Service website

    In addition to these efforts, all those affected by the 1995 Act changes were sent letters between April 2009 and March 2011 using the address details held by HMRC at that time.

  • Gareth Johnson – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Gareth Johnson – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Gareth Johnson on 2016-04-08.

    To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what estimate she has made of the quantity of cannabis recovered from cannabis factories in the UK in each of the last 10 years.

    Karen Bradley

    The Home Office does not hold data centrally on the quantity of cannabis recovered specifically from cannabis factories in the UK. However, the Home Office does hold data on the total quantity of cannabis seized in England and Wales.

    The statistical release ‘Drug Seizures in England and Wales, 2014/15’ covers the number and quantity of drug seizures made by both police forces and Border Force in England and Wales from 2006/07 to 2014/15.

    The publication contains the number and quantity of seizures of herbal cannabis, resin cannabis, and cannabis plants for England and Wales only. The Home Office does not hold information centrally on the number of drug seizures in Scotland or Northern Ireland.

    The publication can be found at:

    https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/seizures-of-drugs-in-england-and-wales-financial-year-ending-2015

    Data specifically on the quantity of cannabis seizures, made by police forces and Border Force in England and Wales, can be found in Summary Table 2 of the data tables.

    Border Force publishes the number and quantity of seizures of drugs at the UK border on Gov.UK:

    https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/border-force-transparency-data-february-2016

  • Keir Starmer – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Keir Starmer – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Keir Starmer on 2016-05-09.

    To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what plans she has to publish asylum support statistics by gender as part of the Government’s quarterly immigration statistics.

    James Brokenshire

    The information published in the quarterly Immigration Statistics is kept under review, taking into account the needs of users, burdens on suppliers and producers, in line with the Code of Practice for Official Statistics. There are currently no plans to publish data relating to asylum support statistics by gender.

    Statistics on asylum seekers in receipt of Section 95, Section 4 or Section 98 support are available in Tables as_16_q, as_17_q and as_18_q of the quarterly Immigration Statistics release, available here:

    https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/immigration-statistics-october-to-december-2015

  • Steve McCabe – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Steve McCabe – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Steve McCabe on 2016-06-28.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, if he will request that the UN Human Rights Council establishes an international commission of inquiry to investigate alleged violations of human rights and international humanitarian law in Yemen by all parties to the conflict in that country.

    Mr Tobias Ellwood

    The UK supported a UN Human Rights Council resolution in October 2015, which called on the UN to provide technical assistance to the Government of Yemen, assist the Yemeni National Independent Commission of Inquiry, and report back to the next session of the Human Rights Council in September. The UK welcomes Yemen’s commitment to cooperate with the UN on protection of human rights

    We are aware of reports of alleged violations of International Humanitarian Law (IHL) by actors in the conflict and take these very seriously. It is important that all sides conduct thorough and conclusive investigations into all incidents where it is alleged that IHL has been breached. We regularly raise the importance of compliance with International Humanitarian Law with the Saudi Arabian Government and other members of the military Coalition. The Saudis have their own internal procedures for investigations and they announced more detail of how they investigate such incidents of concern on 31 January.

  • Diana Johnson – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Diana Johnson – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Diana Johnson on 2016-09-08.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what the total budget in each year of the Spending Review Period will be for the new support package for people affected by contaminated blood.

    Nicola Blackwood

    The annual budget for the new support scheme will range between £46.2 million and £46.6 million for each year of the Spending Review period.

  • Steve Rotheram – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    Steve Rotheram – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Steve Rotheram on 2016-01-14.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what estimate he has made of the number of construction workers expected to leave that industry through (a) ill-health and (b) retirement in the next (i) five and (ii) 10 years.

    Nick Boles

    The Construction Industry Training Board’s (CITB) Construction Skills Network estimates224,000 new construction jobs are set to be created throughout the UK in the next five years. This means that more than 44,000 jobs could be created every year for the next five years.

    According to CITB estimates, 19% of UK construction workers are aged 55+, and are set to retire in the next 10 years (406,000 people), creating equivalent replace demand.

    The Government has no estimate of the number of construction workers expected to leave the industry due to ill-health.

    The Government is committed to significantly increasing the quantity and quality of all apprenticeships in England to 3 million starts by 2020; the construction industry will have an important part to play in achieving this target. Development of skilled labour can only be achieved with engagement of the industry. Construction employers in England are engaged in the Trailblazer process to develop apprenticeship standards that are fit for business, and we have announced a new apprenticeships levy which will put investment in training, and apprenticeships specifically, on a long-term, sustainable footing. CITB returned over £42m last year, supporting 18,500 first, second and third year construction apprentices.

    Initiatives, by the Construction Leadership Council, or through the CITB are seeking to encourage more young people into construction careers. This work includes the launch of the GO-Construct website and work with the National Careers Service and Construction Ambassadors for schools. The CITB has also developed a range of initiatives, working closely with the Department for Work and Pensions, the Armed Forces resettlement service and Local Enterprise Partnerships, to encourage experienced individuals into the sector.

  • Gavin Robinson – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    Gavin Robinson – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Gavin Robinson on 2016-02-09.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, if she will provide an estimate of the number of environmental laws, derived from the EU, that are (a) ignored and (b) unused by the devolved administrations.

    Rory Stewart

    Environmental law is an area of devolved competence. Transposition and implementation of EU environmental law therefore rests with the devolved administrations. The obligation to transpose and implement EU environmental law applies across the whole of the UK.