Tag: 2016

  • Rebecca Long Bailey – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    Rebecca Long Bailey – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Rebecca Long Bailey on 2016-01-28.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if she will consider including young adult carers in the vulnerable bursary criteria for the 16 to 19 Bursary Fund.

    Mr Sam Gyimah

    The Government recognises the extremely valuable service that young carers provide to their community as well as to their families.

    Additional disadvantage funding is given to schools and colleges through Block 1 and 2 funding to provide extra educational and pastoral support for students whose education has fallen behind for any reason, such as having caring responsibilities.

    The 16 to 19 vulnerable bursary targets specific groups of vulnerable young people whom we know experience financial hardship and we have no plans to change the qualifying criteria.

    The 16 to 19 discretionary bursary is available to support any student who needs financial assistance to stay in education and we will strengthen the guidance provided to the schools and colleges that administer discretionary bursary funds to ensure the needs of young carers are recognised.

  • Owen Thompson – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    Owen Thompson – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Owen Thompson on 2016-02-24.

    To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment he has made of the implications for his Department’s policies of the findings of the most recent OECD Interim Economic Outlook.

    Harriett Baldwin

    The OECD forecasts show the cocktail of risks facing the world this year, with expectations for global growth downgraded in 2016 and 2017. This is expected to have an impact on the UK as well, but we are forecast to be the fastest growing G7 economy this year.

    We need to keep taking action to restore order to the public finances and deliver economic security for working people.

  • Dan Jarvis – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Dan Jarvis – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Dan Jarvis on 2016-03-23.

    To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment she has made of the contribution of the UK’s membership of the EU to the Government’s aims of tackling terrorist and criminal networks.

    James Brokenshire

    Terrorism and serious organised crime are global threats that cross national borders. Our unique relationship with the EU gives UK law enforcement access to EU tools and instruments that help keep people safe and tackle serious and organised crime, but also mean we are not obliged to participate in new measures when we do not judge them to be in the national interest.

    The tools and instruments that the UK participates in include Europol, an EU agency which supports cross-border police operations and intelligence sharing, and can assist in the identification of terrorist threats; the European Arrest Warrant, which allows swift extradition between EU countries of individuals accused or convicted of a criminal offence; and the second generation Schengen Information System (SIS II), which enables law enforcement agencies around the EU to share live alerts, for example, for missing people and stolen vehicles. The UK is also in the process of implementing Prum, which will give us access to fingerprint and DNA data from other member states.

    Since 2004, using the European Arrest Warrant, over 1,000 individuals accused or convicted of a criminal offence have faced justice in UK courts and over 7,000 have been extradited from the UK.

  • Lord Myners – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    Lord Myners – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Myners on 2016-04-21.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what plans they have, if any, to review the competition implications for central counterparty clearing of the proposed takeover of the London Stock Exchange by Deutsche Bourse.

    Lord O’Neill of Gatley

    I refer the noble Lord to my written answer of 26 April (HL7583, HL7584, HL7585, and HL7586).

  • Dan Jarvis – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    Dan Jarvis – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Dan Jarvis on 2016-06-06.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps her Department is taking to close attainment gaps within schools in the north of England that are rated good or outstanding.

    Nick Gibb

    The Department’s recent White Paper, Educational excellence everywhere, sets out the action we are taking to support all pupils to reach their full potential and close the gaps in attainment that exist between different groups.

    The gap in attainment between disadvantaged pupils and their peers is closing at both Key Stage 2 and Key Stage 4. Our protection of the pupil premium at current rates for the remainder of the Parliament will help schools to build on this success. In 2015-16 we provided schools in the north of England with £768 million of pupil premium funding. We are supporting schools to make more effective use of the pupil premium, including by appointing a teaching school in each region to champion the use of the pupil premium. These schools will train successful school leaders to review the way schools are using the pupil premium and to act as regional hubs for effective practice.

    Schools will continue to be held to account for the standard of education they provide for all pupils, including disadvantaged pupils, through performance tables and Ofsted inspection. Our new headline measure of school performance, Progress 8, will encourage schools to push every child to achieve their best. The results of disadvantaged pupils will be reported separately in the school performance tables, ensuring a focus on the attainment of this group. In line with our high expectations for all pupils, performance data will emphasise the difference between disadvantaged pupils in the school and other pupils nationally, rather than focussing on gaps within the school. Data on the performance of disadvantaged pupils will feed into the risk assessment process that Ofsted uses to assess whether good and outstanding providers have declined since their last inspection. This will inform Ofsted’s prioritisation of short inspections for good schools and the identification of any concerns about outstanding schools.

  • Steve McCabe – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    Steve McCabe – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Steve McCabe on 2016-09-02.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many special educational needs and disability tribunals there have been in each year since 2010; and what the total cost to the public purse of defending the refusal to issue special educational statements was in each year since 2010.

    Sir Oliver Heald

    Information about the numbers of special educational needs and disability tribunals is published by the Ministry of Justice in the Tribunals and Gender Recognition Statistics Quarterly on gov.uk

    Information about the total cost to the public purse of defending the refusal to issue special educational statements each year since 2010 is not held centrally.

  • Lord Kennedy of Southwark – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    Lord Kennedy of Southwark – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Kennedy of Southwark on 2016-10-10.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what steps they are taking to ensure that they meet their target of halving the disability employment gap.

    Lord Freud

    In the last three years, the number of disabled people in work has increased by almost half a million. But we recognise that the gap between the employment rates of disabled people and non-disabled people remains too large. That is why we are committed to halving it.

    Last year the Work and Health Unit was established to lead the drive for improving work and health outcomes for people with health conditions and disabilities, as well as improving support for people absent from work through ill health and those at risk of leaving workforce.

    The Unit has begun work to build the evidence base of what works to support disabled people and people with health conditions to obtain and remain in work. We are increasing the reach of Access to Work which provide support to an additional 25,000 people per year by 2021, and we have recently launched the Access to Work Digital Service which as so far received an average of 500 claims per week. We are more than doubling Disability Employment Advisors in job centres to help disabled people into employment and embedding employment advisers in IAPT, so that individuals with mental health conditions can receive timely and tailored employment advice.

    We will soon publish a Green Paper that will explore a range of options for long-term reform across different sectors enabling everyone to realise their aspirations, regardless of their health condition or disability. We will engage with disabled people, their representative organisations and a wide range of other stakeholders, who all have an important part to play in making the transformative changes required for long-term reform on supporting disabled people into work.

  • Ben Howlett – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    Ben Howlett – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Ben Howlett on 2016-01-11.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, if he will bring forward legislative proposals to amend the Highways Act 1835 to allow for the use of self-balancing scooters, segways and z-boards on roads.

    Andrew Jones

    To maintain the UK’s position as a world-leading location to test, develop, and use connected and automated vehicle (CAV) technologies, the Department for Transport is planning a wider review of domestic regulations by Summer2017. The review is at an early stage.

    While the Highways Act 1835 will form part of the review, decisions have yet to be taken as to which regulatory changes will be necessary to support CAV technologies, or if the review will cover other forms of transport such as Segways, or so-called ‘hoverboards’, ‘balancing scooters’ and ‘z-boards’, all of which may already be used on private land.

  • Greg Mulholland – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    Greg Mulholland – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Greg Mulholland on 2016-01-28.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, pursuant to the Answer of 18 January 2016 to Question 21375, what information her Department holds on the population estimates for each of the Environment Agency regions.

    Rory Stewart

    Population figures are sourced from the Office for National Statistics from the 2011 Census for England and Wales.

  • Danny Kinahan – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    Danny Kinahan – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Danny Kinahan on 2016-02-23.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, if he will make an assessment of the variation in the number of teaching hours provided to and fees paid by university students.

    Joseph Johnson

    No such assessment currently exists. However, in our Green Paper: “Fulfilling our potential: Teaching Excellence, Social Mobility and Student Choice,” we proposed that the new Teaching Excellence Framework could consider information about levels of teaching intensity and contact hours. We will be setting out our response to the Green Paper in due course.