Tag: 2016

  • Gordon Marsden – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    Gordon Marsden – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Gordon Marsden on 2016-02-29.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, whether he plans to ring-fence funding for adult basic skills within the adult skills budget for 2016-17.

    Nick Boles

    No. Funding for basic skills is a crucial part of the Adult Education Budget. But a ring-fence means central Government deciding how money should be spent. We prefer to allow colleges and other providers to decide how best to meet the needs of the communities they serve. The interests of learners who lack basic skills are protected by statutory entitlements to free provision in basic English and maths.

  • Frank Field – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Women and Equalities

    Frank Field – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Women and Equalities

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Frank Field on 2016-04-08.

    To ask the Minister for Women and Equalities, what assessment she has made of the effectiveness of the enforcement of age discrimination legislation in respect of people seeking employment.

    Caroline Dinenage

    Age is a protected characteristic in the Equality Act 2010. Where differential treatment because of age cannot be objectively justified, this will constitute unlawful age discrimination both in employment and in the provision of goods and services. Enforcement of the Act’s employment provisions is undertaken by Employment Tribunals, to which a person must make a claim if they feel that they have been discriminated against because of age.

    Prior to an Employment Tribunal claim, conciliation services are provided by the Advisory, Conciliation and Arbitration Services (Acas). According to the Employment tribunal statistics, 1,087 age discrimination claims were made to Employment Tribunals in 2014/15. 70% (761) of these claims were either withdrawn or successfully conciliated by Acas without the need for a full hearing. The Acas process is intended to enable employers and employees to resolve disputes without the need for a full Employment Tribunal hearing.

    The Equality and Human Rights Commission’s enforcement powers under the Equality Act 2006 apply to age discrimination as they do to other protected characteristics.

  • Kirsten Oswald – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    Kirsten Oswald – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Kirsten Oswald on 2016-04-27.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, with reference to his Department’s press release, A new pay model for the Armed Forces, published on 7 January 2016, what assessment he has made of the potential effect of the reformed pay structure on the number of complaints about terms and conditions received through the service complaints process.

    Mark Lancaster

    The changes associated with the new Armed Forces pay model have been extensively communicated, both prior to and since their announcement in January. These communications are expected to address a significant proportion of the questions and concerns that might otherwise have been raised as service complaints. Whilst it is impossible to predict how many service complaints might be raised, planning is in place for a means of dealing with them if they do arise in volume in a way that is fair, effective and efficient and does not overwhelm the system.

  • Nicholas Brown – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    Nicholas Brown – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Nicholas Brown on 2016-06-10.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what plans the Government has to increase the number of teachers in training.

    Nick Gibb

    The Government is investing heavily in the future of our teaching profession. Between now and 2020, we have committed to spending more than £1.3bn on initiatives aimed at attracting more people into the profession.

    Teaching remains a profession that is attracting the brightest and best new graduates as well as career changers. We achieved 94% of our postgraduate ITT target for 2015/16, of which 7% was additional recruitment beyond the target in primary, English, history and PE. Although we recognise that teacher recruitment remains challenging, particularly in some priority subjects and in certain areas of the country, we are nevertheless confident that overall recruitment to ITT remains strong.

    We have already put in place a number of measures aimed at attracting more top graduates into teaching, particularly in the core academic subjects that help children reach their full potential. We are continuing to offer generous financial incentives, including prestigious scholarships, worth up to £30,000 tax-free for trainees with top degrees in priority subjects.

    In March 2015, the Prime Minister announced a package of up to £67m to recruit an additional 2,500 maths and physics teachers and to train 15,000 existing non-specialist teachers in those subjects over the term of this Parliament.

  • Liz McInnes – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Liz McInnes – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Liz McInnes on 2016-09-06.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, for what reasons restrictions on advertising and promotional deals on unhealthy foods were not included in the Government’s childhood obesity plan.

    Nicola Blackwood

    In developing the plan we have been very open about the fact we considered a number of different policies and have focused on the ones that are likely to have the biggest impact on childhood obesity.

    The policies in the plan are informed by the latest research and evidence, including from the Scientific Advisory Committee on Nutrition report Carbohydrates and Health, Public Health England’s evidence package Sugar reduction: the evidence for action, other government departments, debates in this House and various reports from key stakeholders including the Health Select Committee.

    Evidence shows that current restrictions on the advertising of less healthy food and drink in the United Kingdom are amongst the toughest in the world.

  • Lord Harris of Haringey – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Lord Harris of Haringey – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Harris of Haringey on 2016-10-18.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether they intend to seek to remain a member of Europol following the UK’s departure from the EU.

    Baroness Williams of Trafford

    The Prime Minister has made clear that law enforcement cooperation with our European partners will continue after the UK leaves the EU we will do what is necessary to keep our people safe.

    We value the role of Europol in helping law enforcement agencies coordinate investigations in cross border organised crime. We are exploring options for our relationship with Europol once the UK has left the EU but it is too early to speculate at this stage what future arrangments may look like.

  • Pauline Latham – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Pauline Latham – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Pauline Latham on 2016-01-14.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what steps his Department is taking to improve GP education on skin cancer and dermatology.

    Jane Ellison

    In 2011, the Department of Health funded Cancer Research UK to work in partnership with the British Association of Dermatologists, to develop a Skin Cancer Toolkit for general practitioners (GPs). The toolkit was launched in 2012 and is currently available to GPs via doctors.net.

    In June 2015, the National Institute for Care Excellence published new cancer referral guideline for GPs, including guidance for GPs on investigating patients with signs suggestive of skin cancer. The guideline will continue to support GPs to identify patients with signs and symptoms of suspected cancer, including skin cancer and urgently refer them as appropriate. The Royal College of General Practitioners (RCGP) in collaboration with Cancer Research UK has worked on a programme of regional update events for GPs to enable GPs to adopt the new guidelines.

    More generally, it is the responsibility of the General Medical Council (GMC) to set the standards and outcomes for the education and training of doctors and to approve training curricula to ensure newly qualified doctors are equipped with the knowledge, skills and attitudes to provide high quality patient care.

    The royal colleges, for example the RCGP have responsibility for developing curricula for doctors, in particular postgraduate curricula. Health Education England will work with bodies that set curricula such as the GMC and the RCGP to seek to ensure general practice training meets the needs of patients.

  • Lord Hunt of Kings Heath – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Lord Hunt of Kings Heath – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Hunt of Kings Heath on 2016-02-02.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government how many prescriptions, per year, are (1) made for adults aged 70–76, and (2) not collected by adults aged 70–76.

    Lord Prior of Brampton

    We do not collect this information.

  • Catherine McKinnell – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    Catherine McKinnell – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Catherine McKinnell on 2016-02-29.

    To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, when he plans to publish an updated timeline for the delivery of tax-free childcare.

    Damian Hinds

    The Government confirmed that Tax-Free Childcare will be launched from early 2017. To roll out the scheme in a safe and managed way, we will be gradually opening up the scheme to all eligible parents within 12 months.

    We will provide further details of the exact plans for this rollout in due course, in good time for parents and childcare providers to prepare for the introduction of Tax-Free Childcare.

    Once the scheme is fully open, we estimate that around 2 million families will be eligible for Tax-Free Childcare. And we estimate that up to 1 million families may take up the scheme in ‘steady state’.

    The Tax-Free Childcare system will be extensively tested with users before the scheme is launched.

  • Debbie Abrahams – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    Debbie Abrahams – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Debbie Abrahams on 2016-04-08.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many people in England are currently registered disabled as a result of having a stroke.

    Justin Tomlinson

    This information is unavailable as the department does not collect this data.