The below Parliamentary question was asked by Barry Sheerman on 2015-10-26.
To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, if he will ensure that the science budget will be maintained in real terms.
Greg Hands
This Government has made a long term science capital commitment investing £6.9bn in the UK’s research infrastructure up to 2021.
Future allocations for science resource funding will be determined at the forthcoming Spending Review.
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.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Barry Sheerman on 2015-10-21.
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what guidance her Department issues to police forces on the presence of social workers at the questioning of 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.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Barry Sheerman on 2015-10-21.
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what changes have been made to the implementation of Achieving Best Evidence procedures in relation to investigations into domestic and sexual abuse in the last 10 years.
Mike Penning
Achieving Best Evidence (ABE) is a guide to best practice when interviewing vulnerable and intimidated witnesses. It was last updated in 2011 and we are currently revising this guidance.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Barry Sheerman on 2015-10-09.
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what her policy is on free school meals for children aged between four and seven.
Mr Sam Gyimah
The government recognises the benefits of providing a healthy school meal to the most disadvantaged children. Children in England who receive, or whose parents receive, specified benefits[1] are entitled to receive free school meals. Free meals were also extended to disadvantaged students in further education institutions from September 2014.
Since 1 September 2014, state-funded schools in England have been required by law to provide free lunches to all pupils in reception, year one or year two.
The provision of universal infant free school meals was a commitment in the Conservative Party Manifesto.
[1] Income Support (IS); Income Based Jobseekers Allowance (IBJSA); an income-related employment and support allowance; support under part VI of the Immigration and Asylum Act 1999; Child Tax Credit (provided they are not entitled to Working Tax Credit) with an annual income, as assessed by Her Majesty’s Revenue and Customs (HMRC), that does not exceed £16,190; the guarantee element of State Pension Credit; or Universal Credit. Where a parent is entitled to Working Tax Credit run-on – the payment someone receives for a further four weeks after they stop qualifying for Working Tax Credit -their children are entitled to free school meals.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Barry Sheerman on 2015-10-09.
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, what plans she has to ensure that energy companies do not overcharge consumers.
Andrea Leadsom
Competition is a key element to keeping prices as low as possible. There are now 25 independent suppliers for households to choose from in addition to the 6 largest suppliers, giving more choice than ever before. By switching from the standard tariff to the best fixed deal on the market, many people can save around £200 and some could save more. We have already made it simpler and quicker to switch supplier and are working towards next day switching.
In addition, we supported Ofgem’s reference of the energy markets to the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) and are committed to implementing any recommendations the CMA deem necessary.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Barry Sheerman on 2015-10-09.
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, what steps she is taking to move the UK’s energy supply to more renewable resources.
Andrea Leadsom
Renewable electricity capacity has trebled since 2010. The most recent step we have taken to support deployment is the introduction of Contracts for Difference, which gives companies long-term revenue certainty and drives down costs for consumers through competition. We will set out our proposals in respect of the next CFD allocation round in due course.
Under existing renewable heat schemes, the Government has supported around 40,000 homes and 12,000 businesses, schools, farms and other organisations with new renewable heating systems. Almost 5 terawatt hours of eligible heat have been generated and paid for under the Renewable Heat Incentive (RHI) at the end of August 2015.
The Government is investing £500 million over the next 5 years in making ultra-low emission vehicles more accessible to families and businesses across the country, and fuel suppliers are already required to meet a 4.75% renewable transport fuel target by ensuring that sustainable biofuel is supplied.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Barry Sheerman on 2015-10-09.
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, what assessment her Department has made of the relative safety, sustainability and threats to the environment of the various types of nuclear reactors used in nuclear power stations, including liquid fluoride thorium reactors.
Andrea Leadsom
The UK’s independent nuclear regulators assess individual nuclear reactor designs proposed for development in the UK. In doing so, their aim is to ensure the safety, security and high environmental standards of nuclear installations in the UK, rather than to compare proposed designs with each other. As yet, no liquid fluoride thorium based designs have been submitted to the UK regulators for such an assessment.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Barry Sheerman on 2015-10-09.
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, what assessment her Department has made of the safety, sustainability and absence of risk to the environment of methods available for disposing of radioactive waste.
Andrea Leadsom
Government policy on disposing of higher activity radioactive waste is based on a comprehensive review of all the available options for existing wastes originally carried out by the independent Committee on Radioactive Waste Management between 2003 and 2006. Based on their consideration of all the evidence, including international best practice and scientific advice, they recommended geological disposal in an engineered facility at least 200m below ground as the best available option.
The independent nuclear safety, security and environmental regulators will only allow a Geological Disposal Facility (GDF) to be built and operated if they are satisfied it will meet their demanding regulatory requirements. The developer of any GDF will be required to present a detailed set of safety arguments for all aspects of a proposed facility. This includes everything from transporting the waste to the facility, to its design, construction and operation and safety in the long term, following closure.
Disposal routes for low level waste are already in operation in the UK. All proposals for radioactive waste disposals, including existing low level waste disposals, are subject to permitting by the Environment Agency who require operators to demonstrate that they are applying the best available techniques.