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 assessment he has made of the potential effect of changes to disabled students’ allowances on students with dyslexia.
Joseph Johnson
The Government has undertaken an Equality Analysis of the proposed changes to DSAs. The Equality Analysis will be published alongside the Government response to the consultation.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Barry Sheerman on 2015-12-08.
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what guidance his Department issues to prisons on female prisoners’ access to and rights to care for young children.
Caroline Dinenage
The policy and guidance on the treatment of female offenders is contained in Prison Service Order 4800, which can be found at: https://www.google.co.uk/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=1&cad=rja&uact=8&ved=0ahUKEwj8yJvt2N3JAhVFuBQKHTxXAwcQFggdMAA&url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.justice.gov.uk%2Fdownloads%2Foffenders%2Fpsipso%2Fpso%2FPSO_4800_women_prisoners.doc&usg=AFQjCNHEKdUSQ34oce66F47zApSRhF35Iw
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The below Parliamentary question was asked by Barry Sheerman on 2016-01-18.
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, what steps she is taking to implement the Paris climate change agreement.
Andrea Leadsom
The Paris Agreement marks a significant step forward towards reducing, on a global scale, the emissions that cause climate change. The agreed long-term goal of net zero emissions in the second half of the century shows that the world is committed to decarbonisation and the agreement drives us forward on our path to limiting the average global temperature rise to well below 2°C, and to pursue efforts to 1.5 °C. We must now work hard to continue the global momentum created by the Paris deal by supporting countries to implement their emission reduction commitments; ensuring we meet our own commitments; and continuing to build the conditions for the transition to a low carbon economy to enable further ambition in the future.
The UK’s contribution to the Paris Agreement will be determined by our commitments to meeting EU climate and energy targets, and by the UK’s own domestic framework, comprising a 2050 emissions reduction target of at least 80% on 1990 base year levels and a series of five-year carbon budgets, as established by the Climate Change Act 2008.We will also set the level of the Fifth Carbon Budget, covering the period 2028-2032, in law by the end of June this year. This will be followed by our new emission reduction plan, which is due to be published towards the end of the year.
Governments alone cannot deliver the scale of action required, businesses, investors and civil society all have a role to play. Many are already acting and Paris saw an unprecedented level of engagement and commitment to reduce emissions and drive forward low carbon growth and markets. This action will help unlock the transition to a low carbon economy and support the implementation of the Paris Agreement.
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 Bangladesh to the UK in each of the last five years.
James Brokenshire
Between 1 January 2010 and 31 December 2015 the UK has extradited two people from Bangladesh. These extraditions occurred in 2010 and in 2011.
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 steps her Department is taking to (a) increase the share of remanufacturing in public procurement and (b) reduce the volume of office equipment currently going to landfill.
Rory Stewart
Defra encourages Departments’ efforts to take account of sustainability in public procurement and to reduce waste through its role in developing, co-ordinating and reporting on the Greening Government Commitments. The commitments for 2010 to 2015 included to reduce the amount of waste generated and to buy more sustainable and efficient products. A new set of Greening Government Commitments for the period to 2020 is currently being developed.
Defra and the Environment Agency are also among the Government Departments and agencies planning to participate in a pilot programme being run by HM Revenue and Customs in 2016-17 to promote reuse and recycling of Government assets.
The 2014-15 Annual Report on the Greening Government shows that between 2009-10 and 2014-15 the Government reduced the amount of waste, including office equipment, it sent to landfill from 37% of its total waste to 17%.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Barry Sheerman on 2016-03-07.
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what funding will be available for third-sector training providers to support young people who are not in education, employment or training once the Youth Contract comes to an end.
Nick Boles
Local authorities have a duty to track, support and encourage young people to participate in education and training, with a particular focus on those who are not in employment, education or training (NEET). The Department for Education supports local authorities in meeting this duty by: providing a secure portal for them to exchange data about young people’s activities; collating and publishing data about young people’s activities; sharing good practice; and publishing a NEET Scorecard to help local authorities manage their performance.
Local authorities decide how they will work with and support education and training providers, the Voluntary and Community Sector (VCS), and other agencies in meeting these requirements.
Local authorities receive funding from central government to enable them to meet their statutory obligations including this duty, but it is up to them to determine exactly how much they spend on these activities, and whether and how much funding should be provided to VCS organisations to help with this. Reflecting its continued commitment to supporting young people NEET, the government has allocated £30 million for the Youth Engagement Fund and Fair Chance Fund Social Impact Bond (SIB) schemes, and the recent Spending Review settlement saw over £100 million for further SIBs, tackling issues such as youth unemployment, homelessness and mental health.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Barry Sheerman on 2016-04-08.
To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, how many workers his Department estimates will be financially worse off as a result of the recent increase in the minimum wage.
Damian Hinds
The introduction of the National Living Wage on April 1st marked a pay rise for low paid workers across the UK. Our objective is for it to reach over £9 by 2020. This means an employee aged 25 or over working full-time on the National Minimum Wage will earn over £4,200 a year more by 2020 in cash terms, or £3,800 after taking into account inflation. 2.9m low wage workers are expected to benefit directly, and up to 6m could see a pay rise as a result of a ripple effect up the earnings distribution.
The independent Office for Budget Responsibility estimated that the NLW would have, in their words, only a “fractional” effect on unemployment. And taking into account the NLW, the OBR forecast that employment would rise by 1.1 million by 2020.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Barry Sheerman on 2016-04-08.
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what estimate her Department has made of the proportion of free schools that have participated in local authority pupil place planning in each of the last three years.
Edward Timpson
Data reported at May 2015 showed that local authorities (LAs) already had plans in place to deliver more than 80,000 new places in 2016/17, and we know many more will have been planned and delivered since then, including through central programmes.
Free schools can play an important part in helping LAs meet place pressures, and every free school has been opened in response to either the need to provide extra school places, the need to provide parents with greater choice or the need to provide more high quality school places. 85% of mainstream free schools approved since January 2014 are in areas where there was a basic need for additional school places. An additional group of schools were approved on the basis of more up-to-date LA data on future need for places and where section 106 agreements suggest need related to new housing developments. There are currently 117 mainstream free schools in the pipeline.
Many local authorities are recognising the opportunity that the free schools programme provides and are encouraging new and existing high quality education providers to apply to set up a new school in their area. We encourage all local authorities to do likewise.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Barry Sheerman on 2016-04-19.
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, what steps she is taking to ensure that people in receipt of Government administered free cavity wall insulation schemes do not suffer damp in their houses after insulation.
Andrea Leadsom
Under the Energy Company Obligation, which is the primary government support for measures of this type, the insulation of a cavity wall must be accompanied by an appropriate guarantee, approved by Ofgem. Amongst other criteria, the guarantee must include an assurance framework for the quality of the installation and the product used in the installation. As the administrator of ECO, Ofgem assess the suitability of this framework.
Alongside this, the Department for Communities and Local Government has begun research into dampness in buildings caused by both internal moisture and wind-driven rain and related to insulation. This project is due for completion later this year. We are also aware of the recent publication of BBA Technical report No. 3, Full fill cavity wall insulation in areas of very severe exposure to wind driven rain.
The results of both projects, together with any other relevant information, will be considered as part of any review of the regulations and associated statutory guidance. DECC and DCLG have also commissioned Dr Peter Bonfield to conduct a wider independent review of consumer advice, quality and standards and consumer protection for energy efficiency and renewable installations. The findings of this review will cover installations of Cavity Wall insulations. This report will be published in due course.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Barry Sheerman on 2016-05-24.
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps the Government is taking to deter young people from committing cyber crime.
Mr John Hayes
The Government’s Serious and Organised Crime Strategy (2013) sets out our approach to deterring people from becoming involved in serious and organised crime, including cyber crime.
In March 2015, the Home Office published additional guidance to support local partners to understand pathways into serious and organised crime and put in place Prevent interventions for individuals at risk. The Home Office works closely with law enforcement, in particular the National Crime Agency (NCA) , to understand the drivers behind young people committing cyber crime.
Working to the Serious and Organised Crime Strategy, the NCA aims to prevent young people from becoming involved in cybercrime in the first place, moving deeper into cyber crime and/or reoffending. The NCA works with both domestic and international partners to raise awareness of what activity is illegal, what are the consequences and the many positive career pathways available for those with technical cyber skillsets.