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Tag: 2016

  • Lord Warner – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    Lord Warner – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

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

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what consideration they have given to the finding of the report by the Fair Admissions Campaign and the British Humanist Association last year An Unholy Mess that a significant number of religiously selective schools are not allowing all applicants to be admitted, even when a school is undersubscribed, and what steps they are taking to ensure that all schools comply with the School Admissions Code in this regard.

    Lord Nash

    Admission authorities for all state-funded schools, including schools with a religious designation, are required to comply with the mandatory provisions of the School Admissions Code and other admissions law.

    Where an objection is made to the Schools Adjudicator, if the arrangements are found to be unfair or fail to comply with the Code, the admission authority must make changes to ensure their arrangements are compliant without undue delay. Where an admission authority fails to implement decisions of the adjudicator, the Secretary of State may direct the admission authority to do so.

    We continue to keep the Code under review, and, where we consider any changes are necessary to make the admissions system work more effectively for parents, these will be subject to a full public consultation.

  • Kevan Jones – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    Kevan Jones – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Kevan Jones on 2016-02-29.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many UK armed forces personnel have been committed to NATO’s Very High Readiness Joint Task Force.

    Mr Julian Brazier

    The numbers of UK personnel committed to NATO’s Very High Readiness Joint Task Force (VHRJTF), is set out below:

    Year

    Number of Personnel

    2016

    1,200

    2017

    3,500-4,000

    The UK will be the lead nation for the VHRJTF in 2017. The exact number of UK personnel for 2017 will not be confirmed until the contributions from other NATO members has been finalised.

  • 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 2016-03-24.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, to which location he plans to relocate his Department’s functions out of London.

    Joseph Johnson

    The Department has not yet made final decisions on its future estate. As my right hon. Friend the Minister of State for Small Business, Industry and Enterprise has already informed the House, the current plans for the Department’s future estate are for:

    • A combined HQ and policy centre in London
    • Business-facing centre, likely to be in South Wales
    • Institutional and Research funding centre, likely to be in Swindon, but may initially also include Bristol
    • Further education funding centre – location yet to be decided but may initially be in Coventry
    • Higher education student finance centre, initially in Glasgow and Darlington
    • A regulation centre likely to be in Birmingham
    • A combined regional footprint for where service delivery to local users need to happen on a local basis, comprising the BIS Local offices and local service delivery
  • Oliver Colvile – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Oliver Colvile – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Oliver Colvile on 2016-04-27.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what steps he is taking to (a) promote the protection of marine biodiversity in areas beyond national jurisdiction and (b) ensure that the agreed commitment to establish marine protected areas in 10 per cent of the world’s oceans by 2020 is effectively implemented in such areas.

    James Duddridge

    The UK is fully committed to promoting the protection of marine biodiversity in areas beyond national jurisdiction.

    Without prejudice to Article IV of the Antarctic Treaty 1959, in 2009 the UK led negotiations within the Commission on the Conservation of Antarctic Marine Living Resources which resulted in the establishment of the world’s first high-seas Marine Protected Area (MPA) covering 94 000 km2. The UK supports the establishment of further MPAs within the area covered by the Convention on the Conservation of Antarctic Marine Living Resources, and is working closely with members to designate MPAs in the Ross Sea, East Antarctic and the Weddell Sea.

    The UK is a leading member of the OSPAR Commission which has designated 7 MPAs in the high seas of the North-East Atlantic and works closely with other regional and international organisations to manage these.

    We are a signatory to the Hamilton Declaration on Collaboration for the Conservation of the Sargasso Sea 2014, which established the Sargasso Sea Commission to encourage and facilitate voluntary collaboration toward the conservation of the Sargasso Sea.

    We support the work of the International Seabed Authority in establishing Areas of Particular Environmental Interest in the Clarion-Clipperton Zone. We also support the work of the International Maritime Organisation in identifying “Special Areas” which benefit from additional pollution protection and “Particularly Sensitive Sea Areas” which may benefit from specific measures to control certain maritime activities.

  • Lord Young of Cookham – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    Lord Young of Cookham – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Young of Cookham on 2016-06-10.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government when the Secretary of State will make a determination under section 69 of the Housing and Planning Act 2016.

    Baroness Williams of Trafford

    Before any determination is issued and any payments made under that determination, regulations on the definition of higher value assets must first be passed by both Houses of Parliament. We are currently working on the detail of the regulations.

    We shall consult with local authorities and other stakeholders before issuing the determination.

  • Chris Stephens – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    Chris Stephens – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Chris Stephens on 2016-09-06.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what assessment she has made of whether the level of tribunal fees acts as a disincentive to women pursuing a sex discrimination claim.

    Sir Oliver Heald

    We will publish the outcome of our review into Employment Tribunal Fees in due course.

  • Baroness Goudie – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Exiting the European Union

    Baroness Goudie – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Exiting the European Union

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Baroness Goudie on 2016-10-17.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether the Department for Exiting the EU plans to remain within the Cabinet Office premises or to relocate; and if it plans to relocate, whether it will move to its own building, or move, in its entirety or in part, to premises of another government department.

    Lord Bridges of Headley

    The department is permanently headquartered at 9 Downing Street. This will not change and Ministers will continue to operate from this building. Staff are also accommodated in 70 Whitehall.

    We are working with the Government Property Unit as where to locate further staff on a more permanent basis.

    DExEU staff will continue to be employed on the basis of being ‘on loan’ from a wide variety of departments and will not permanently transfer departments. No staff have been formally moved from DExEU to the Ministry of Defence, the Foreign and Commonwealth Office, the Cabinet Office, or other government departments.

  • Angela Eagle – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    Angela Eagle – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Angela Eagle on 2016-01-14.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether he has made an assessment of the potential merits of Jobcentre Plus operating a smaller client facing office within Liscard Town Centre.

    Priti Patel

    The Department for Work and Pensions explored the option of a smaller client facing office as part of the business case.

  • Lord Watson of Invergowrie – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    Lord Watson of Invergowrie – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Watson of Invergowrie on 2016-02-02.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what proportion of those who started with Teach First in August 2013 were still teaching in state-funded schools in England in September 2015.

    Lord Nash

    The Teach First programme aims to raise levels of pupil attainment in challenging schools. Since it was founded, Teach First has trained over 5,000 teachers in England, with a further 1,622 starting training in 2015, covering every region of the country.

    Figures supplied to the Department by Teach First show that 1,206 trainees started the two-year leadership development programme in schools in September 2013. Of those, 544[1] are known to be still teaching in state-funded schools in England in September 2015.

    Additionally, the Teach First programme has acted as a positive springboard for participants to continue their commitment to the education sector; a number of trainees from this cohort have remained in the education industry in wider roles including outside the classroom, in charities and overseas. Data provided by Teach First in December 2015 shows that 69%[1] of the participants who had completed the two-year programme are known to be in teaching or in these wider educational roles.

    [1] Only participants that choose to become Ambassadors for Teach First are tracked in relation to future employment. A total of 1,041 participants completed the two year programme; of these 981 chose to become Ambassadors for Teach First, and by doing so, were tracked in relation to future employment.

  • Andrew Rosindell – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Andrew Rosindell – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Andrew Rosindell on 2016-02-29.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, if he will estimate the average cost to the public of each Bachelor of Medicine and Bachelor of Surgery degree.

    Ben Gummer

    The Department does not hold information on the average cost to the taxpayer of training someone to become a Bachelor of Medicine and Bachelor of Surgery in the United Kingdom.

    The Personal Social Services Research Unit at the University of Kent estimates within their report ‘Unit Costs of Health and Social Care 2015’, training a doctor for their undergraduate degree (years one-five) to be £240,870 in total. This figure reflects the pre-registration costs of tuition, living expenses and clinical placements.