Tag: Barry Sheerman

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Barry Sheerman on 2015-11-13.

To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what steps he is taking to promote joint work between special needs assessors and disability advisers within universities on ensuring that appropriate support is given and provision made for disabled students and for students with dyslexia.

Joseph Johnson

Higher education institutions are responsible for meeting their legal obligations under the Equality Act 2010, including for students with dyslexia.

The legal duty to provide reasonable adjustments applies to all disabled students. In addition Disabled Students Allowances (DSAs) are available where the needs of the student cannot be met by the institution by way of such a reasonable adjustment. A consultation on DSAs closed on 24 September and the Government response will be published in due course.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Barry Sheerman on 2015-12-08.

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what recent representations he has received from (a) charities, (b) lobby groups, (c) experts, (d) social workers and (e) law professionals on the treatment of female prisoners with young children.

Caroline Dinenage

The information requested could only be obtained at disproportionate cost.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Barry Sheerman on 2016-01-19.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, if he will undertake an inquiry into the value for money of the PFI deal which funded the building of Calderdale Royal Hospital.

Alistair Burt

We have no plans to undertake such an inquiry. This Government launched an initiative in 2011 to extract savings and optimise value for money in operational private finance initiative (PFI) contracts. This included a pilot exercise at a major NHS PFI scheme which resulted in guidance with appropriate methodology and lessons learned being issued to all relevant NHS trusts in 2012. The Department has specialist officials to assist trusts in implementing the guidance.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Barry Sheerman on 2016-01-26.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many people have been extradited from India to the UK in each of the last five years.

James Brokenshire

Between 1 January 2010 and 31 December 2015, the UK has extradited one person from India. This extradition took place in 2013.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Barry Sheerman on 2016-02-01.

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment her Department has made of the volume of (a) office equipment and (b) printer cartridges sent to landfill sites in the UK in each of the last three years.

Rory Stewart

Neither Defra nor the Environment Agency hold any specific data on waste office equipment. The data on waste tonnages accepted in disposal and recovery facilities is based on standard European Waste Classification (EWC) codes. These codes do not map directly to waste office equipment. Therefore, the data provided is based on the most relevant codes. These relate to ‘wastes from electrical and electronic equipment’, ‘separately collected fractions from municipal wastes’ for discarded electrical equipment and ‘wastes from the manufacture, formulation, supply and use of printing inks’. Figures for discarded equipment will not include office equipment only.

Waste electrical and electronic equipment and waste printer cartridges accepted at landfill sites in England (tonnes):

	2012	2013	2014
Discarded waste electrical & electronic equipment*	101.03	99.64	134.92
Waste printer cartridges**	134.15	159.30	136.57

* based on EWC code 160213.160214, 200135, 200136.

** based on EWC code 080317, 08318.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Barry Sheerman on 2016-03-07.

To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what funding his Department allocated in (a) 2011-12 and (b) 2015-16 to reduce the number of people who were classified as not in education, employment or training.

Nick Boles

Further education funding is demand led. We do not allocate funding to specific groups but our entitlements are aimed at supporting disadvantaged groups, including the unemployed.

168,900 benefit claimants aged 19-24 started further education training in 2013/14, compared to 132,000 in 2011/12.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Barry Sheerman on 2016-04-08.

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment her Department has made of the capacity of existing multi-academy trusts to absorb the remaining community schools in (a) England and (b) Yorkshire.

Edward Timpson

Existing schools are choosing to join or form a multi-academy trust (MAT); in 2014/15 over 90% joined or formed a multi-academy trust with one or more other schools. They are doing this because forming these MAT partnerships creates capacity in the system allowing schools to pool resources, share best practice, and benefit from strong leadership.

We are committing over £500M to build capacity and convert schools over the next four years – including recruiting excellent sponsors and encouraging the development of strong multi-academy trusts.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Barry Sheerman on 2016-04-08.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how many staff in his Department have received autism awareness training.

Alistair Burt

The Department does not collect information on how many of its staff have received autism awareness training. However following the success of its own pilot sessions, the Department will be offering further autism awareness sessions to staff over the summer.

Through the Cross Government Autism Strategy, most recently updated as Think Autism, we have worked alongside people with autism, their families and carers to improve their lives and mortality through better access to healthcare by making adjustments for their conditions. This includes supporting the Royal College of General Practitioners (RCGPs) Autism Initiative to improve understanding of autism amongst GPs.

Information on how many people with autism were admitted to hospital as an emergency in 2015 is not collected by the Department.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Barry Sheerman on 2016-04-19.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what steps his Department is taking to measure and improve the rate of premature mortality of people with autism who have no co-occurring learning disability.

Alistair Burt

The National Health Service is taking action to reduce premature death by increasing annual health checks for people with learning disabilities, including for those who also have autism. The NHS is working to reduce variation and improve care for physical health conditions that disproportionately impact on people with learning disabilities who also may have autism, including epilepsy and cancer. NHS England has commissioned the world’s first Learning Disability Mortality Review Programme to support local areas to review deaths of people with learning disabilities and to use the information to improve service provision. This review programme for people with learning disabilities includes those who also have autism.

Think Autism set out a clear, cross Government programme of action, developed alongside people with autism, their families and carers to improve their lives and reduce premature mortality through better access to healthcare by making adjustments to services. This includes supporting the Royal College of General Practitioners Autism Initiative to improve understanding of autism amongst general practitioners (GPs).

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Barry Sheerman on 2016-05-24.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether her Department has received representations from professionals working in criminal justice on the appropriate punishment for young people who have committed cyber crimes.

Mr John Hayes

The Home Office have not received any representations from professionals working in criminal justice on the appropriate punishment for young people who have committed cyber crimes.

The Computer Misuse Act 1990 provides the legislative framework for cyber offences and sets out the sentencing for each of the five offences. Determination of sentencing guidelines is a matter for the Ministry of Justice.