Tag: Barry Sheerman

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.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Barry Sheerman on 2016-09-02.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what recent representations he has received from charities and health experts on the allocation of funding for second stem cell transplants.

David Mowat

The Department has received representations from a range of individuals and organisations including the charity Anthony Nolan.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Barry Sheerman on 2016-09-12.

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps he is taking to increase the number of talking buses in the UK.

Andrew Jones

Clear, accessible information can be very useful to a range of passengers when travelling by bus. Tourists, people new to a given route and those who are disabled may all feel more confident in the knowledge that they will know when to alight when the time comes.

The Bus Services Bill will specifically allow enhanced partnership schemes to require all buses within a local area to provide such information. Authorities using the new franchising powers will be able to place similar requirements on affected operators. The Government has also agreed to consider amendments on this issue which were tabled during the Bill’s committee stage in the House of Lords.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Barry Sheerman on 2016-10-07.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, whether his Department plans to put in place measures to ensure that funding for atypical GP practices is ring-fenced.

David Mowat

NHS England is developing national guidance for commissioners illustrating the workload challenges faced by practices with atypical patient populations, to assist them in making decisions regarding sustainable support.

There is no formal ring-fencing of primary care allocations within commissioners’ plans.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Barry Sheerman on 2016-10-17.

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps the Government plans to take to include remanufactured paint as a material in Green Public Procurement.

Dr Thérèse Coffey

The Government has been engaging constructively with the British Coatings Federation on making better use of leftover paint, including identifying potential regulatory barriers to its recycling and remanufacture and how these might be overcome.

The Waste and Resources Action Programme (WRAP) encourages consumers to recycle and re-use household paint by providing information through the Recycle Now website. This includes a postcode locator which helps pinpoint local Household Waste Recycling Centres (HWRCs) that accept leftover paint. The Government’s Innovation in Waste Prevention Fund has also supported a pilot paint re-use project in Cheshire involving local charities, working with HWRCs and housing associations to increase paint donation and minimise disposal. WRAP will publish a summary of the project, lessons learned and a video case study later in the year.

In terms of public procurement, it is for each Government department to consider sustainability and put this into practice in its own procurement activity. Government Buying Standards do not currently include remanufactured paint. WRAP has recently published a guide on ‘How to Include Re-use in Local Authority HWRC Procurement’.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Barry Sheerman on 2015-10-21.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps she is taking to ensure that the questioning by police of children and vulnerable adults who are possible victims of child abuse is both effective at gathering evidence and sensitive to the vulnerability of those being interviewed.

Karen Bradley

Tackling abuse is a priority for this Government. We will continue the work of overhauling how our police, social services and other agencies work together to protect vulnerable children. To this end, we have prioritised child sexual abuse as a national threat like serious and organised crime, which means police forces now have a duty to collaborate with each other across force boundaries to safeguard children.

The provision of police training is an operational matter. The College of Policing and the National Policing Lead for child protection and abuse investigation have set the requirement for all forces to train all new and existing police staff to respond to child sexual exploitation and abuse, including call handlers, Police Community Support Officers, police officers, detectives and specialist investigators.

The College of Policing has issued Achieving Best Evidence guidance and training for all officers engaged in interviewing children and vulnerable witnesses. This includes training on the sensitivity needed when dealing with victims and witnesses who may be vulnerable as well as working with partners – such as social workers – and their involvement in interviews.

Specialist courses for child sexual abuse and rape specialist investigators also expand on these requirements in relation to interviewing children and vulnerable adults.

The role of social workers in these investigations, including their training, is a matter for the Department for Education. The guidance issued by DfE in March 2015, “Working Together to Safeguard Children”, sets out how social workers and their managers, as well as other agencies including the police, should work together and follow the Achieving Best Evidence guidance.

The Department of Health are responsible for the training of social workers working with vulnerable adults who may have been sexually abused as children or in adulthood.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Barry Sheerman on 2015-10-21.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what training her Department provides to police officers and social workers for interviewing children and vulnerable adults who are possible victims of child abuse.

Karen Bradley

Tackling abuse is a priority for this Government. We will continue the work of overhauling how our police, social services and other agencies work together to protect vulnerable children. To this end, we have prioritised child sexual abuse as a national threat like serious and organised crime, which means police forces now have a duty to collaborate with each other across force boundaries to safeguard children.

The provision of police training is an operational matter. The College of Policing and the National Policing Lead for child protection and abuse investigation have set the requirement for all forces to train all new and existing police staff to respond to child sexual exploitation and abuse, including call handlers, Police Community Support Officers, police officers, detectives and specialist investigators.

The College of Policing has issued Achieving Best Evidence guidance and training for all officers engaged in interviewing children and vulnerable witnesses. This includes training on the sensitivity needed when dealing with victims and witnesses who may be vulnerable as well as working with partners – such as social workers – and their involvement in interviews.

Specialist courses for child sexual abuse and rape specialist investigators also expand on these requirements in relation to interviewing children and vulnerable adults.

The role of social workers in these investigations, including their training, is a matter for the Department for Education. The guidance issued by DfE in March 2015, “Working Together to Safeguard Children”, sets out how social workers and their managers, as well as other agencies including the police, should work together and follow the Achieving Best Evidence guidance.

The Department of Health are responsible for the training of social workers working with vulnerable adults who may have been sexually abused as children or in adulthood.