Tag: 2016

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

    Lord Lingfield – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Lingfield on 2016-01-27.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what actions they are taking to increase the take-up of personal budgets and direct payments, in particular for educational provision, in line with section 49 of the Children and Families Act 2014, the Special Educational Needs (Personal Budgets) Regulations 2014, and Chapter 9 of the Special Educational Needs and Disability Code of Practice 2015.

    Lord Nash

    The Department is monitoring the implementation of the Special Educational Needs and Disability (SEND) reforms and securing a wide range of feedback. This feedback is collected through statutory data collection; regular surveys of local authorities, parents and carers; regular inputs for the Special Educational Consortium (which represents more than 30 organisations); and reports from contractors such as the Council for Disabled Children, which provides Independent Support services in all local authority areas, and Contact a Family, which runs a national helpline for parents of children with SEND.

    The Department provides support to local areas in a range of ways, such as voluntary and community sector experts and a team of specialist SEND Advisers.

    Local authorities must include information about Personal Budgets in their Local Offers, including information on how to request one. Parents and young people have the right to request a Personal Budget for elements of an Educational Health and Care (EHC) plan; local authorities are under a duty to prepare a budget when requested. Our termly surveys collect responses on the number of EHC plans which carry a Personal Budget.

    Since April 2013, the Government has provided nearly £1.5 million in funding to a number of projects with voluntary sector organisations to develop materials to support local areas to introduce Personal Budgets. We regularly promote these projects in our communications to families and to organisations in the sector. For example, KIDS produced guidance in 2015, through the Making it Personal 2 project. The Department is currently funding KIDS to build on this project, to develop further guidance and training resources, including some specifically aimed at young people with SEND, in a range of accessible formats. The SEND Gateway, which is run by the National Association for Special Educational Needs, also offers practical resources on Personal Budgets to assist both users and professionals.

    Through our regional support networks, we have funded a number of workshops aimed at local authorities, parents and others about Personal Budgets and we will continue to offer support for of this kind.

    Following publication of the Children and Families Act 2014, the Government set out the statutory duties to which local authorities and those working with children and young people must adhere, in the SEND Code of Practice: 0-25 years[1]. The Code of Practice includes clear information on the processes of EHC plan assessment and production. The Department’s team of specialist SEND Advisers are working with local areas to improve the quality of EHC plans, and are currently leading workshops on this across England.

    The SEND Code of Practice includes clear requirements that all local authorities must meet when developing, publishing and reviewing their Local Offer. All local areas have Local Offers in place, but we recognise that the quality varies. This is another area we are monitoring through our termly surveys, our voluntary and community sector experts and specialist SEND Advisers. We have provided regular advice to local areas about how to improve the quality of Local Offers. We are confident that local authorities are working with their partner bodies and with families and young people to continue to improve their Local Offers to ensure they respond to local needs.

    [1] https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/398815/SEND_Code_of_Practice_January_2015.pdf

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

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

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Daniel Zeichner on 2016-02-22.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, if he will carry out an impact assessment of the effect that the replacement of disability living allowance by personal independence payment has had on the mobility of disabled people.

    Justin Tomlinson

    The Department published an impact assessment about the reform of Disability Living Allowance (DLA) and the introduction of Personal Independence Payment (PIP) under the Welfare Reform Act 2012 in May 2012: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/disability-living-allowance-reform-personal-independence-payment-impact-assessment.

    A further assessment on estimates of projected DLA and PIP caseloads was published in December 2012: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/timetable-for-introducing-personal-independence-payment-and-estimates-of-projected-caseloads-policy-briefing-note

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  • Baroness Miller of Chilthorne Domer – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    Baroness Miller of Chilthorne Domer – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Baroness Miller of Chilthorne Domer on 2016-03-16.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of any studies that have been conducted in the UK about integrating the cultivation of trees, crops and livestock on the same agricultural area, and of the conclusions of those studies.

    Lord Gardiner of Kimble

    Natural England commissioned a report from the Organic Research Centre and Abacus Organics considering the potential for agro-forestry options in the Countryside Stewardship scheme. The Land Use Policy Group commissioned an independent review of the evidence on agro-ecology including a consideration of agro-forestry, which was published in June 2015.

    The Government has not yet made an assessment of these studies but officials will be exploring the evidence base for agro-forestry and how this measure might operate in practice within the Rural Development Programme.

  • Richard Burden – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    Richard Burden – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Richard Burden on 2016-04-20.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, which Departments provide how much funding to the Centre for Connected and Autonomous Vehicles.

    Andrew Jones

    The Centre for Connected and Autonomous Vehicles is funded by the Department for Transport (DfT) and the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills (BIS).

    The total amount of funding for 2016/17 is £0.4m from DfT and £6.3m from BIS. This includes admin and programme spend.

  • Andrew Smith – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Andrew Smith – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Andrew Smith on 2016-05-23.

    To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what the average time taken was to decide applications for the change of conditions of leave granted on the basis of family or private life during the last 12 months.

    James Brokenshire

    The average time taken between January 2015 and December 2015 to consider whether an application meets the requirements to change a condition code is 83 calendar days.

    January 2015 – December 2015 was taken as the 12 month time frame to fall in line with data that is published.

  • Tom Watson – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Cabinet Office

    Tom Watson – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Cabinet Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Tom Watson on 2016-07-18.

    To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what severance pay has been granted to the special advisers that left his Department in the last week.

    Ben Gummer

    Severance payments are in the process of being calculated. Details of the costs will be published in due course.

  • Helen Goodman – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy

    Helen Goodman – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Helen Goodman on 2016-10-10.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, when the Government plans to begin the ratification process of the December 2015 Paris Agreement.

    Mr Nick Hurd

    An explanatory memorandum initiating the UK’s domestic approval of the Agreement was laid on 7th October 2016 with a view to completing the domestic procedures that will enable ratification before the end of the year.

  • Andy Slaughter – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    Andy Slaughter – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Andy Slaughter on 2015-12-17.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, with reference to the oral contribution of the Foreign Secretary of 16 December 2015, on Daesh: Syria/Iraq, if he will take steps to assess whether there have been civilian casualties as a result of UK airstrikes in Iraq and Syria through means other than receipt of reports.

    Penny Mordaunt

    We analyse the risks involved in any potential strikes in advance in order to minimise risks to civilians. Once a mission is launched, our aircrew assess and minimise risks prior to weapons being released. Every strike is subjected to careful post-mission scrutiny to confirm the aircrew’s assessment, allowing us to examine in detail any claim of civilian casualties. We would publish any report which concluded that civilian casualties had resulted from UK military action.

  • Lord Taylor of Warwick – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Lord Taylor of Warwick – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Taylor of Warwick on 2016-01-27.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government how they are supporting and promoting the #itaffectsme campaign, which aims to raise awareness of mental health issues and their prevalence.

    Lord Prior of Brampton

    This Government is working to reduce stigma around mental health and supports all campaigns, including #itaffectsme, in this area. Any campaign, such as #itaffectsme, which raises awareness in mental health issues, is welcomed. In his speech announcing almost a billion pounds in investment into mental health services on 11 January, the Prime Minister recognised the need to reduce the stigma around mental illness. He said that, ‘as a country, we need to be far more mature about this. Less hushed tones, less whispering; more frank and open discussion. We need to take away that shame, that embarrassment, let people know that they’re not in this alone’.

    We continue to provide financial support to the Time to Change programme which works to reduce the stigma associated with mental health and to encourage people to talk about mental health issues and seek help when needed. We are working with the programme and funders to develop the next stage of the programme.

  • Rob Marris – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    Rob Marris – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Rob Marris on 2016-02-19.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, which British Overseas Territories will be included within the proposed Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership.

    Anna Soubry

    Free Trade Agreements (FTAs) made between the EU and other countries do not automatically apply to Overseas Territories. However, the UK does work to ensure that the impact of FTAs on Overseas Territories is assessed and taken into account during negotiations.