Tag: Barry Sheerman

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Barry Sheerman on 2014-05-02.

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment his Department has made of the effectiveness of the Highways Agency in maintaining roads in (a) Huddersfield, (b) Kirklees and (c) Yorkshire; and if he will make a statement.

Mr Robert Goodwill

The Highways Agency Business Plan sets out the strategic objectives and the in-year targets to be achieved. It includes a target covering road surface condition. Each Highways Agency region contributes to those targets, including Yorkshire and the North East. The Agency’s performance against the targets for the financial year 2013/14 is due to be published in its Annual Report by summer 2014.

The Agency is unable to identify separately the contribution to Business Plan targets by individual constituency or local authority area.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Barry Sheerman on 2014-06-04.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what recent meetings he has had with NHS England on the contracting of provision of television services in hospitals.

Dr Daniel Poulter

My Rt. hon. Friend the Secretary of State has not had any recent meetings with NHS England on the contracting of the provision of television services in hospitals.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Barry Sheerman on 2014-04-30.

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what proportion of local authorities in England and Wales have plans in place for tackling potential child sexual exploitation.

Mr Edward Timpson

The independent report of the Office of the Children’s Commissioner (OCC)’s Inquiry into Child Sexual Exploitation (CSE) in gangs and groups, published on 26 November 2013, found that 98% of Local Safeguarding Children’s Boards (LSCBs) in England considered CSE to be a strategic priority and that 57% of LSCBs had agreed a joint CSE strategy with their partner agencies.[1] These figures were taken from evidence gathered by the OCC in early 2013. The OCC are planning to review the position later this year. Current statutory guidance on CSE says that LSCBs should ensure that specific local procedures are in place covering the sexual exploitation of children and young people and that the needs of the children affected are considered when local services are planned and commissioned.[2] LSCBs should set up a sub-group, reporting to the Board, to drive progress on CSE. The guidance does not place a requirement on LSCBs to develop a CSE strategy, but this has come to be regarded as best practice. It does, however, say:

‘Sexual exploitation should be covered in local needs assessments and, where it is a significant issue, the LSCB should help ensure it is regarded as a priority’.

More recently, the Tackling Child Sexual Exploitation Action Plan, published by the Department for Education in November 2011, set out actions to help LSCBs to prioritise CSE, including to ‘develop an effective local strategy ensuring there is a co-ordinated multi-agency response to child sexual exploitation, based on a robust, thorough risk assessment of the extent and nature of CSE locally’.[3]

The Department for Education is not responsible for child protection in Wales.

[1] If only someone had listened – final report of the Office of the Children’s Commissioner’s Inquiry into Child Sexual Exploitation in Gangs and Groups, http://www.childrenscommissioner.gov.uk/content/publications/content_743

[2]https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/278849/Safeguarding_Children_and_Young_People_from_Sexual_Exploitation.pdf

[3]https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/tackling-child-sexual-exploitation-action-plan

“

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Barry Sheerman on 2014-04-30.

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what estimate his Department has made of the cost of urgent repairs to roads managed by the Highways Agency in (a) Huddersfield constituency, (b) Kirklees and (c) Yorkshire.

Mr Robert Goodwill

The Highways Agency does not separately identify the cost of urgent repairs on its roads by constituency area. This type of expenditure forms part of a wider contracted service, which includes a number of other general maintenance activities.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Barry Sheerman on 2014-06-04.

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessments he has made of the successes and failures of the differing primary school starting age in other countries such as Finland and Norway.

Elizabeth Truss

Formal school starting ages vary across OECD member states. However it is useful to compare the state provision of education for young children prior to the start of compulsory education as the majority of children in OECD countries have entered the education system at a young age – participation rates in formal childcare and pre-school are broadly similar across Finland, Norway and the United Kingdom.

Research indicates that most countries have published curricula governing the provision of early years education from the ages four to six years which are consistent in their use of learning objectives and expected outcomes. The Department has commissioned the OECD to carry out an international review of pedagogy and practice in the early years to investigate this issue further. We anticipate a report in autumn 2014.

Research has demonstrated that all-round development is enhanced for those children attending nursery compared to those who don’t before starting school. This suggests that attending a formal learning environment from an earlier age is typically beneficial. Furthermore duration in nursery matters, with every month of nursery experience after age two years linked to better intellectual development and improved independence, concentration and sociability at age five with a continued effect at Key Stage 1.

High quality early years education will help close the attainment gap that already exists by the beginning of primary school between disadvantaged children and their peers. Evidence is clear that children’s learning and development in their early years is crucial to later attainment. The Effective Provision of Pre-School Education Project found that high quality early years education is a strong predictor of achievement in English and mathematics later on in school.

We cannot provide the information requested on representations on this topic. The Department receives a huge volume of mail and representations on education and children’s issues. There would be a disproportionate cost to providing a response in this case.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Barry Sheerman on 2014-06-04.

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, with reference to his Department’s School Admissions Code, published in February 2012, what steps his Department is taking to ensure the consistent and effectual application of sections 2.16 and 2.17 of that code to primary education admissions for summer-born children.

Mr David Laws

We published advice on the admission of summer-born children in July 2013. We are now monitoring the impact of this advice and have committed to review it one year after its publication.

Officials are investigating cases referred to them to ensure admission authorities are complying with the provisions in the Code.