Tag: 2016

  • Baroness Masham of Ilton – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    Baroness Masham of Ilton – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Baroness Masham of Ilton on 2016-06-27.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what steps they are taking to implement health education as a compulsory part of the PSHE curriculum, inspected by Ofsted, from age five to 18, in the light of the recommendation from the All-Party Parliamentary Group on Primary Care and Public Health’s Inquiry Report into NHS England’s Five Year Forward View: Behaviour Change, Information and Signposting published in March 2016.

    Lord Nash

    All schools are required to teach a balanced and broadly based curriculum that promotes the spiritual, moral, cultural, mental and physical development of pupils, and prepares them for adult life.

    The national curriculum focuses on the essential knowledge children need so that teachers can design a wider school curriculum that is responsive to the needs of their pupils. This teaching can include a range of topics that fall under PSHE, such as health education and health awareness.

    To help schools plan their provision, the PSHE Association has produced a suggested programme of study for schools to follow, which includes content about ‘Health and Wellbeing’.

    Ofsted do not inspect individual curriculum subjects. Instead, the framework enables important aspects of PSHE to be considered in a proportionate and integrated way, linked to the core inspection areas.

  • Justin Tomlinson – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    Justin Tomlinson – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Justin Tomlinson on 2016-09-14.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, if he will take steps to inform rail commuters of the protections available to them under the Consumer Rights Act 2015.

    Paul Maynard

    It is the responsibility of train operators, as service providers, to ensure that their customers are made aware of their rights to compensation or other redress in cases of service failure or disruption. Train operators’ existing compensation schemes will continue to provide the main means of redress for passengers after 1 October 2016, when the Consumer Rights Act came into force for all transport providers.

    Information about the Consumer Rights Act is widely available from the Citizens Advice Consumer Service, consumer organisations and government websites.

  • Stephen Phillips – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Stephen Phillips – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Stephen Phillips on 2016-01-20.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, on how many occasions his Department has been notified by external consultants or other third parties of breaches by employees or subcontractors of those consultants of document retention or security policies relating to confidential or secure materials in each of the last two years.

    Jane Ellison

    The Department’s Security and Business Continuity team does not collect this information centrally and therefore does not hold this information.

    The Department includes terms and conditions in its contracts that require suppliers to inform us of any such breaches that may have taken place. Any occurrences would have to be reported directly to all local contract owners and to identify these would require trawling across all the Department’s branches that would incur a disproportionate cost.

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

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

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Turnberg on 2016-02-09.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what representations they have made to the government of Palestine about recent pronouncements by Mr Abbas praising the actions of Palestinians who have killed Israeli civilians.

    Baroness Anelay of St Johns

    On 17 December, our Deputy Consul General in Jerusalem raised comments attributed to President Abbas, characterising events since last October as a “justified popular uprising”, with the President’s Diplomatic Adviser, Majdi Khaldi. Mr Khaldi informed us that President Abbas condemned violence against Israelis and Palestinians.

    On several occasions in recent months, our Consul General in Jerusalem has expressed our deep concern about comments made by other Palestinian figures.

  • Gerald Kaufman – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    Gerald Kaufman – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Gerald Kaufman on 2016-03-04.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, when he intends to answer the letter dated 22 December 2015 from the Right hon. Member for Manchester, Gorton with regard to Mrs J. Brown.

    Justin Tomlinson

    The Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, Mr Iain Duncan Smith replied to the Rt. Hon. Member on 2 February 2016.

  • Greg Knight – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    Greg Knight – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Greg Knight on 2016-04-12.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, when he expects the potholes on the northbound carriageway of the M1 motorway between junctions 10 and 11 to be repaired and the carriageway resurfaced; and if he will make a statement.

    Andrew Jones

    Highways England completed temporary surface repairs and filled nine potholes overnight on 30-31 March. They plan to carry out permanent surface repairs between junctions 10 and 11 in mid-May 2016. These will be hot patch repairs, which are just as effective as permanent resurfacing and are durable enough to last until the next resurfacing scheme.

    Highways England inspects the M1 between junctions 10 and 11 twice weekly, with the latest safety inspection completed on Wednesday 13 April.

    Highways England will continue to ensure that the M1 between junctions 10 and 11 remains safe and serviceable. This section is not due for resurfacing in the current Delivery Plan, due to the general condition being satisfactory.

  • Lord Blencathra – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    Lord Blencathra – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Blencathra on 2016-05-05.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of the potential for the reintroduction of pine martens into areas of the UK that are infested with grey squirrels.

    Lord Gardiner of Kimble

    The Forestry Commission is involved in the Vincent Wildlife Trust’s pine marten recovery project in mid and north Wales. The Forestry Commission in England is supporting a project in the Forest of Dean with the Gloucestershire Wildlife Trust, Natural England, Forest Research and others to pursue a pine marten restoration project. This project includes studies into impacts of pine martens including on trees and other wildlife. Natural England is also working with the Trust to restore viable populations of pine martens to northern England.

    The Forestry Commission is also working closely with one of the authors of the paper that identified the decline in grey squirrel populations in the Irish midlands, which may be associated with the abundance of pine martens. The work with the author and others will further explore the relationship between red squirrels, grey squirrels and pine martens in the UK.

  • Paul Maynard – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Culture, Media and Sport

    Paul Maynard – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Culture, Media and Sport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Paul Maynard on 2016-06-27.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, if he will consider the proposal from contributors to the report entitled Ambition for Public Libraries in England 2016 to 2021 to redefine what constitutes a comprehensive and efficient service under the 1964 Public Libraries and Museums Act.

    Mr Edward Vaizey

    Responses to the Leadership for Libraries Taskforce’s Ambition consultation are being carefully considered and the Ambition document will be published in due course. There are no plans to amend the Public Libraries and Museums Act 1964.

    The 1964 Act does not seek to be overly prescriptive in defining comprehensive and efficient, and it is a matter for local authorities to determine how to provide a public library service to their local community, within available resources.

    The ‘Libraries as a Statutory Service’ was published in December 2015 and contains information on the legislative framework for library services under the Act. This sets out the factors to which the Secretary of State gives consideration in response to complaints about whether a local authority is providing a comprehensive and efficient library service.

  • Nicholas Soames – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for International Trade

    Nicholas Soames – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for International Trade

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Nicholas Soames on 2016-09-14.

    To ask the Secretary of State for International Trade, what proportion of UK trade was with (a) Germany, (b) France, (c) Italy, (d) Spain, (e) Australia, (f) China, (g) Singapore, (h) US, (i) Canada and (j) other EU member states in each of the last five years.

    Mark Garnier

    The proportion of UK trade (exports and imports) with Australia, Canada, China, Singapore, the US and all EU member states in each of the last five years is given in the attached table. The estimates are based on data sourced from the latest Office for National Statistics’ Pink Book 2016 release.

  • Jim Shannon – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Jim Shannon – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Shannon on 2016-01-20.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what assessment his Department has made of the potential link between social media and self-harm among young people.

    Alistair Burt

    We recognise the potential influence of online platforms, including social media, on both promoting self-harm and supporting people who have or may be at risk of self-harm.

    There is a link between bullying including cyberbullying and self-harm and the Department for Education produced guidance in October 2014, advising schools about preventing bullying. This guidance refers to new powers under the Education Act 2011 for teachers to search pupils, to confiscate IT equipment including mobile phones and to destroy offensive or inappropriate images.

    The Government continues to provide financial support for the Multi-Centre Study of Self-Harm in England, which monitors trends in self-harm and recognises the potential influence of online platforms on self-harming in young people.

    The Department for Culture, Media and Sport expects social media companies to have robust processes in place to address inappropriate and abusive content on their sites. This includes having clear reporting channels, acting promptly to assess reports, and removing content which does not comply with their acceptable use policies or terms and conditions. Social media can also help signpost vulnerable users to helpful sources of information and support.

    Recently, Ofcom led a social media working group on behalf of UK Council for Child Internet Safety to develop best practice guidance to encourage responsible practice from industry, and ensure children using their services are able to do so in a safe and protected way. This guidance was delivered on 22 December 2015 and can be found at:

    https://www.gov.uk/government/groups/uk-council-for-child-internet-safety-ukccis

    The Department of Health’s National Institute for Health Research has also funded ongoing research by the Samaritans and Bristol University into the influence on online platforms on suicidal behaviour.

    “