Tag: Andrew Gwynne

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Andrew Gwynne on 2015-11-26.

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what her policy is on future provision of universal early childhood services through childhood centres.

Mr Sam Gyimah

Children’s centres provide access to health services – either by providing the services or by providing advice and assistance on gaining access to services. Local authorities and local health commissioners have statutory duties to consider providing services through children’s centres to ensure that families get access to the services they need. The transfer of responsibility for public health services to local authorities in October this year provides new opportunities for local areas to configure health services to best effect.

The Department of Health has been working with local authorities in order to ensure sharing regular and timely updates of live birth data between NHS trusts and children’s centres and have mapped out a process for putting in place appropriate arrangements to support a national solution.

Children’s centres can also have a key role in delivering integrated reviews, which check a child’s health and educational progress at age two.

Future policy on children’s centres will be informed by the planned consultation on the future of children’s centre services, which is due to be launched shortly.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Andrew Gwynne on 2016-01-06.

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many golf courses his Department owns; and what plans his Department has to sell such property.

Mark Lancaster

There are currently 11 operating golf courses, one pitch and putt centre and one driving range on Ministry of Defence (MOD) land.

Of these 11 courses seven are on land leased by MOD that have no other direct connection to the Department, one is occupied by the United States Air Force and three are military encroachments.

The majority of the golf courses located on MOD land are linked to sites that will be addressed as part of the MOD Estate Footprint Strategy to release surplus land.

Once the future use of any site has been agreed, MOD will look at how to make best use of land that will be retained or bring to the market sites that are being vacated. This will include the potential release of the golf course element.

As part of the Defence Infrastructure Organisation’s ongoing work to rationalise the Defence estate the courses at DMRC Headley Court and Ballykinler are being examined for potential disposal through the Department’s standard disposal process. Ballykinler and RM Condor are no longer in use as golf courses.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Andrew Gwynne on 2016-01-26.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how much his Department and its executive agencies spent on advertising to promote awareness of the health risks associated with alcohol in each of the last five years.

Jane Ellison

Spend on advertising is defined as covering only media spend (inclusive of agency commissions but excluding production costs, Central Office of Information commission and VAT).

In reference to the Department’s media spend on advertising to promote awareness of the health risks associated with alcohol, spend is set out below:

Financial Year	Expenditure
2010-11	£0
2011-12	£980,000
2012-13	£1,840,000

Public Health England (PHE) took over responsibility for public health campaigns formerly run by the Department on 1 April 2013. Although there was no advertising spend in 2013-14, other marketing activity would have taken place. For example: the publication and distribution of leaflets and the maintenance of the website. In 2014-15, in addition to this activity, PHE allocated £530,000 of media spend on advertising.

All figures are rounded to the nearest £10,000.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Andrew Gwynne on 2016-01-26.

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what factors she takes into account in considering a request from a local authority to dispose of school sites under Schedule 14 of the Education Act 2011.

Edward Timpson

Since January 2013, the Secretary of State for Education has received:

• 1 application from Stockport Metropolitan Borough Council, this is currently being considered.
• 4 applications from Tameside Metropolitan Borough Council, all have been approved.
• 19 applications from the Greater Manchester combined authority, 1 is being considered and the other 18 have been approved.

These figures include applications in those local authorities relating to land held by Academy Trusts under a lease from the local authority.

The Education Act 2011 requires that the Secretary of State must give consent prior to the disposal of land which has been used for any school or academy in the last eight years. Secretary of State consent is also required under section 77 of the School Standards and Framework Act 1998 where local authorities wish to dispose of playing field land that has been used by a school in the last ten years. A key consideration for the government is whether the land proposed for disposal could be suitable for use by a new school.

There are a range of reasons for these disposals. Some disposals are leases from the academy trustees back to the local authority, which allow a children’s centre on site to continue or which provide land for another school. A substantial number of consents refer to local authority maintained school sites for outright disposals where the school has closed or relocated to a new build site.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Andrew Gwynne on 2016-01-28.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, pursuant to the contribution of the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Health of 21 January 2016, Official Report, column 1634, when his Department plans to release the Government’s comprehensive childhood obesity strategy.

Jane Ellison

We will be launching our childhood obesity strategy shortly.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Andrew Gwynne on 2016-02-01.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what discussions (a) he and (b) the Minister for Public Health has had with Ministers in HM Treasury on the fiscal effect of an additional tax on soft drinks containing sugar.

Jane Ellison

There are ongoing discussions between the Department and other Government departments, including HM Treasury, to consider a range of options to reduce sugar consumption.

We will be launching our childhood obesity strategy in due course. It will look at everything, including sugar, that contributes to a child becoming overweight and obese.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Andrew Gwynne on 2016-02-10.

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment she has made of the potential effect of a British exit from the EU on the international legal enforceability of protected UK food names.

George Eustice

We have not made an assessment of the potential effect of a British exit from the EU on the international legal enforceability of protected UK food names.

Separately, the Government is taking steps to achieve a significant increase in the number of UK food products covered by the EU’s protected food names scheme. We continue to exert pressure on the European Commission to secure wider international recognition of these products, as well as our wines and spirits drinks that are protected by Geographical Indications, in the context of EU bilateral trade negotiations.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Andrew Gwynne on 2016-02-24.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what proportion of the £570 million referred to in paragraph 0.5 of his Department’s paper, Infected blood: reform of financial and other support, published in January 2016, will be spent in each year of the programme; what the average spend per recipient will be in each such year; and in what categories of spending that funding will fall in each such year.

Jane Ellison

The Department estimates that it would pay out £570 million over the next 45 years, based on the existing unreformed scheme. The Department currently anticipates that it will disburse the same sum under a reformed scheme plus the additional £125 million over the current spending review period of five years. We are currently consulting on the reformed scheme and are unable to estimate the future average annual spend beyond the current spending review or the categories of spend for the period. For the current spending review period the planned expenditure is £47.5 million for each of the next five years.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Andrew Gwynne on 2016-03-02.

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how much has been spent on mindfulness in (a) primary and (b) secondary schools in each year since 2010.

Edward Timpson

The Department for Education does not hold information about the amount of money spent on mindfulness in primary or secondary schools.

Schools are free to provide the support they feel is most appropriate for their pupils, based on their pupils’ needs.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Andrew Gwynne on 2016-03-08.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what buildings owned by his Department are empty or vacant.

Jane Ellison

The Department own three buildings that are empty or vacant; all are part of the Department’s retained estate.

They are the former Harperbury Hospital, the former Little Plumstead Hospital and 100 Churchill Rd, Wisbech.

The future use of all sites is subject of active consideration, which is at different stages.