Tag: Andy Sawford

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Andy Sawford on 2014-04-29.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what assessment his Department made of the prevalence of grade down-banding of podiatrists employed within the NHS.

Dr Daniel Poulter

There has been no assessment made by the Secretary of State for Health, my right hon. Friend the Member for South West Surrey (Mr Hunt) of the prevalence of grade down-banding of podiatrists employed within the National Health Service.

NHS Employers are responsible for their workforce structure. Grade down-banding or changing the pay structure of the role to a lower grade, is a measure undertaken by some NHS organisations due to re-organisation and restructure.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Andy Sawford on 2014-04-29.

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what assessment he has made of the level of TUPE contract protection available to fraud staff currently employed by local authorities who will be transferred to the Department for Work and Pensions as part of the single fraud investigation service.

Esther McVey

DWP has considered whether the creation of SFIS falls within the TUPE definitions. The regulations state “…the transfer of administrative functions between public administrative authorities is not a relevant transfer” (for the purpose of TUPE). After careful consideration, DWP has concluded that benefit fraud investigations fall within this category, and as such, TUPE would not apply.

DWP has however, made clear that the success of SFIS is a priority and we intend to transfer staff currently working on fraud investigations from Local Authorities. To effect those transfers, DWP will apply the approach set out in the Cabinet Office Statement of Practice for Staff Transfers in the Public Sector (COSOP) and staff will transfer under a Statutory Transfer Scheme (STS) as provided for under Section 38 of the Employment Relations Act 1999. In line with COSOP, the terms and conditions for transferring staff will be protected.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Andy Sawford on 2014-04-28.

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, which local authorities currently do not have enough childcare places available to cater for the extension of the childcare offer to the 40 per cent most disadvantaged two-year-olds in September 2014; and what the shortfall of places is in each such authority.

Elizabeth Truss

In February 2014 local authorities reported that around 103,000 two-year-olds were already accessing a funded early learning place. Local authorities are responsible for ensuring that every eligible child, whose parents wish them to take a place, is able to.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Andy Sawford on 2014-04-28.

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, which local authorities currently do not have enough childcare places available to cater for the 20 per cent most disadvantaged two-year-olds; and what the shortfall is in each such authority.

Elizabeth Truss

In February 2014 local authorities reported that around 103,000 two-year-olds were already accessing a funded early learning place. Local authorities are responsible for ensuring that every eligible child, whose parents wish them to take a place, is able to.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Andy Sawford on 2014-04-28.

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what the average cost was of a primary school meal in each local authority in (a) 2012 and (b) 2013.

Mr David Laws

The Department for Education does not hold the information requested.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Andy Sawford on 2014-04-28.

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps his Department plans to take to monitor how many primary schools offer a hot meal option to all pupils in reception, year one and year two from September 2014.

Mr David Laws

We have made it clear that, as schools implement the universal infant free school meals policy, they should ensure that pupils are routinely offered the option of a hot meal.

We will monitor the take-up of school meals through the Schools Census for children in reception, year one and year two beginning in the autumn term of the 2014/15 academic year.