Tag: 2016

  • Liam Byrne – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    Liam Byrne – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Liam Byrne on 2016-01-20.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps she is taking to promote character education in schools; and if she will make a statement.

    Edward Timpson

    All schools should develop character traits like self-confidence, motivation and resilience in their students. These traits support academic attainment, are valued by employers, and encourage young people to make a positive contribution to British society.

    At the Character Symposium in January 2016, the Secretary of State for Education outlined her vision for character education. She announced that the Department intends to promote character education through the building and strengthening of our evidence base. We will facilitate this via an online digital platform which will share evidence, innovation, and examples of best practice in character education. We will also promote character education to schools and organisations through a new round of character awards.

    To support schools in this, we are already investing £5 million in character education. This figure includes £3.5m of grants for 14 projects and £1m to the Education Endowment Foundation to build research the most effective ways that character can be developed.

    Of course, many schools and organisations are already supporting children to develop their character, through programmes such as National Citizen Service. We will be investing over a billion pounds over the next four years to make NCS a rite of passage and toensure that 60% of 16 year olds can take part by 2021.

    In addition, school sport can help children and young people develop positive character traits such as fair play, leadership and resilience. It can teach them how to bounce back from defeat, how to respect others and how to work together in teams to achieve a goal. PE remains a compulsory subject at all four key stages in the new national curriculum which came into force in September 2014.

  • Richard Burden – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    Richard Burden – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Richard Burden on 2016-02-19.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what steps his Department has taken to ensure the (a) maintenance of and (b) appropriate location for public weighbridges.

    Joseph Johnson

    a) Public weighbridges are regulated under the Weights and Measures Act 1985 and the Non Automatic Weighing Instrument Regulations 2000. It is the responsibility of the owner of the instrument to ensure that it is maintained and continues to operate in line with the legal requirements for accuracy. Local Weights and Measures Authorities (LWMAs) are responsible for enforcement of weights and measures requirements and undertake enforcement using a risk based approach. The National Measurement and Regulation Office (NMRO) issues risk ratings for equipment for use by LWMAs which is updated each year and have rated weighbridges as high risk equipment.

    b) The operation of public weighbridges is a commercial service and their location will be a commercial decision for the operators concerned.

  • Baroness Doocey – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    Baroness Doocey – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Baroness Doocey on 2016-03-14.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government how many disabled people who receive Disability Living Allowance (DLA) have so far been reassessed for Personal Independence Payment (PIP), and of those that have been reassessed, how many have lost the top level of mobility allowance as they move from DLA to PIP, in each case broken down by disability.

    Baroness Altmann

    The Department intends to provide detailed breakdowns of DLA to PIP reassessment outcomes in due course. The Department is working to guidelines set by the UK Statistics Authority to ensure we are able to publish statistics that meet high quality standards at the earliest opportunity.

    The latest available data on Personal Independence Payment (PIP) claims in payment, registrations, clearances and awards for both new claims and reassessed claims (for those previously in receipt of Disability Living Allowance (DLA)) are published on the Gov.UK website. Breakdowns of reassessed claims in payment by type and rate of awards can be found through Stat-Xplore, a statistical exploration tool available on the Gov.UK website.

  • Andy Slaughter – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for International Development

    Andy Slaughter – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for International Development

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Andy Slaughter on 2016-04-12.

    To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, pursuant to the Answer of 17 March 2016 to Question 30955, what the financial and other practical implications are of the UK joining the EU Consortium to support the construction of small-scale infrastructure in Area C.

    Mr Desmond Swayne

    The UK has allocated £900,000 for the development of basic social infrastructure in areas which have an outline plan in the approval process, through an EU multi-donor programme. We continue to urge the Government of Israel to develop improved mechanisms for zoning, planning and permitting in Area C for the benefit of the Palestinian population, including by facilitating local Palestinian participation in such processes.

  • Thangam Debbonaire – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Thangam Debbonaire – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Thangam Debbonaire on 2016-05-19.

    To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if she will increase the number of her officials working in Calais to process applications from unaccompanied child refugees for family reunion in the UK; and what steps she is taking to ensure that the applications from 157 children in Calais estimated as eligible for family reunion can be processed in time for them to start school in the UK in September 2016.

    James Brokenshire

    Under the UK-France Joint Declaration of 20 August 2015, the UK and France have committed to ensuring that the provisions of the Dublin III Regulation are used efficiently and effectively. To assist the handling of such cases, the two Governments have established a permanent official contact group, agreed single points of contact within respective Dublin Units and the UK seconded an asylum expert to the French administration to improve all stages of the process of identifying, protecting and transferring relevant cases to the UK. The Home Office will review the existing arrangements as part of the work to implement relevant provisions of the Immigration Act 2016. Between the start of January 2016 and 30th April 2016 our records indicate that the UK has accepted over 30 requests from France under the Dublin Regulations to take charge of asylum seeking children on family grounds of which more than 20 have already been transferred to the UK.

    To assist with the identification of potential victims of trafficking and exploitation (including unaccompanied children) in Calais, the UK has funded a project run by a French non-governmental organisation which aims to identify and direct these vulnerable people to the appropriate support services in France.

    The UK and France are running regular joint communication campaigns in northern France which informs individuals (including unaccompanied children) of their rights to claim asylum in France and gives them information on family reunification. The frequency of these campaigns has been increased in line with the Joint Declaration signed in August 2015.

  • Stephen Timms – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    Stephen Timms – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Stephen Timms on 2016-07-13.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Education, under what circumstances a formal notice can be issued to a multi-academy trust, rather than to an individual Academy.

    Edward Timpson

    Where there is a concern about an academy that is part of a Multi-Academy Trust (MAT), any formal notice will be sent to the MAT as the accountable body.

    This information is publicly available and can be found in the Schools Causing Concern guidance available on GOV.UK at: https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/510080/schools-causing-concern-guidance.pdf

    “

  • John Pugh – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    John Pugh – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by John Pugh on 2016-10-07.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, approximately how many (a) British and (b) non-British nationals are employed cleaning the Westminster estate of her Department.

    George Eustice

    This information is not held. The cleaners for Defra’s Westminster estate are provided by Interserve (Facilities Management) Ltd. The contract with the supplier requires them to follow all the appropriate checks when employing non British nationals, but the supplier has advised that they do not keep internal statistics about employees being British or non-British.

  • Sharon Hodgson – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    Sharon Hodgson – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Sharon Hodgson on 2016-01-20.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many deaf students achieved three A* to A grades or better in their A-levels in 2015.

    Edward Timpson

    Information regarding the attainment of students with special educational needs (SEN) in England is broken down by type of SEN and published in the “Phonics screening check and key stage 1 assessment: England 2015”[1], “National curriculum assessments at key stage 2: 2015”[2] and “GCSE and equivalent results in England: 2015”[3] statistical first releases.

    A wider summary of available SEN information is provided in “Special educational needs – an analysis and summary of data sources”[4]

    Information on the average points score of students with a hearing impairment or the number that achieve three A* to A grades or better at A level is not held by the Department. The Department also does not hold information on the number of students with a hearing impairment who have not achieved a level 2 qualification in English by the age of 19.

    Currently, there are no plans for the Department to publish A-level data split by type of special educational need or to collect additional data on the outcomes achieved by students who have a disability but not an identified special educational need, although this is reviewed every year as part of the collection process.

    [1] Phonics and KS1 assessments for 2014/15: https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/phonics-screening-check-and-key-stage-1-assessments-england-2015

    [2] KS2 for 2014/15: https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/national-curriculum-assessments-at-key-stage-2-2015-revised

    [3] KS4 for 2014/15: https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/revised-gcse-and-equivalent-results-in-england-2014-to-2015

    [4] https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/472575/Special_educational_needs-_an_analysis_and_summary_of_data_sources.pdf

    “

  • Frank Field – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    Frank Field – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Frank Field on 2016-02-19.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what (a) proportion of vacancies listed on Universal Jobmatch that are within 20 miles of Birkenhead are unfilled and (b) wage levels those vacancies are listed at; and for how long those vacancies have been unfilled.

    Priti Patel

    The information requested is not available, as Universal Jobmatch is a self-service job posting and matching service. Outcomes of vacancies posted on the site are not monitored.

  • Lord Ahmed – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Lord Ahmed – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Ahmed on 2016-03-14.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what representations they have made to the government of Iraq and Kurdish Peshmerga forces in relation to defending Turkmen civilians.

    Baroness Anelay of St Johns

    We are aware of reports that Turkmen civilians have been targeted by Daesh in Iraq, as well as Christians, Yazidis, Muslims and others. In October the Parliamentary Under-Secretary for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, my Hon. Friend the Member for Bournemouth East (Mr Ellwood), met the President of the Iraqi Turkmen Front to discuss the situation for Turkmen in Iraq.

    We condemn in the strongest terms the targeting and persecution of all communities by Daesh. We continue to urge the Government of Iraq and the Kurdistan Regional government to do all they can to ensure the security and rights of all Iraqis.