Tag: Barry Sheerman

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Barry Sheerman on 2016-09-13.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what discussions his Department has had with Huddersfield and Calderdale Clinical Commissioning Groups on NHS Sustainability and Transformation Plans.

David Mowat

This is a matter for the local National Health Service and key stakeholders.

Sustainability and Transformation Plan (STP) proposals are currently at a draft stage. No changes to the services people currently receive will be made without local engagement. If final plans propose service changes, formal consultation will follow in due course in line with good practice and legislative requirements. All STP areas will submit an updated plan to NHS England in October, with appropriate formal public engagement and consultation. Many areas are already publishing summaries as part of their engagement programme.

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

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps she is taking to ensure that private higher education providers that have attained degree powers and university status provide an education of a sufficient quality.

Joseph Johnson

Private higher education providers can obtain Degree Awarding Powers (DAPs) and University Title (UT) if they meet the criteria. The criteria are set out in departmental guidance, and are the same for publicly-funded and private providers. For DAPs they include criteria around Governance and Academic Management, and Academic Standards and Quality Assurance. For UT they include good governance criteria such as quality assurance and academic standards, and criteria on student numbers.

Higher education providers that are publicly funded can obtain DAPs on an indefinite basis. All other organisations, including private providers, can be granted DAPs for a fixed term period of six years. The decision to renew degree-awarding powers after each term rests with the Privy Council and is subject to the organisation meeting the criteria for the renewals set out in our guidance. All holders of DAPs are expected to subscribe to the Quality Assurance Agency and the Office of the Independent Adjudicator.

A change in control at the provider may trigger a review to check that the provider in question continues to meet the criteria for UT, and remains the same cohesive academic community that was granted DAPs.

The current departmental guidance is available online at: https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/higher-education-market-entry-guidance

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The below Parliamentary question was asked by Barry Sheerman on 2015-11-10.

To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, how many local authority staff report bullying and intimidation each year.

Mr Marcus Jones

Bullying and intimidation are serious matters and all employers, including local authorities, should have in place arrangements to ensure employees can safely report this behaviour, including by those in a senior position.

My Department does not collect information about incidents of bullying or intimidation of local authority staff, nor have we made any assessment of council codes of conduct to protect officers from such behaviour.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Barry Sheerman on 2015-11-30.

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether sixth form colleges participating in the first wave of area reviews will be able to apply for academy status.

Nick Boles

Sixth form colleges participating in the first wave of area reviews will be able to apply for academy status.

The Joint Area Review Delivery Unit will work with sixth form colleges in the first wave of reviews to ensure that they have the opportunity to apply as part of the review in their area, and to prepare applications in advance of the publication of detailed criteria in February 2016.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Barry Sheerman on 2015-12-15.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps she has taken to ensure that the police are adequately trained to tackle online criminal activity involving young people.

Mike Penning

The last Parliament invested £860 million over five years through the National Cyber Security Programme (NCSP) to increase the cyber security of the UK. The Chancellor also announced on 17 November that we plan to almost double investment in cyber security, including cyber crime, to £1.9 billion over the next five years. This will enable us to continue to invest in training at the national, regional and local levels. NCSP funding is being used to deliver specific training for officers in the National Cyber Crime Unit within the National Crime Agency (NCA), cyber teams within each of the Regional Organised Crime Units and local police officers and staff to increase their capabilities to tackle this issue.

For example, the second Phase of the Mainstream Cyber Crime Training course was launched on 30 September 2015 by College of Policing to police officers and staff on cyber, digital and social media issues. The College and police forces also deliver a classroom-based course to police investigators, which includes bespoke modules on how young and vulnerable people become victims of cyber and digital crime online and what police can do to help, including preventing them from becoming victims.

The National Cyber Crime Unit in the National Crime Agency has also recently launched a communications campaign to deter young people, particularly young males aged 12-15 with an interest in computer gaming, from becoming involved in cyber criminality. The campaign, launched on 8 December, is aimed at parents, teachers and young people to educate them about the risks of becoming involved, and the career opportunities for those with cyber skills.

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

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what assessment his Department has made of the effectiveness of the UN stabilization meeting in Haiti in maintaining security in Haiti.

Mr Hugo Swire

The Foreign and Commonwealth Office maintains close links with the UN Stabilisation Mission in Haiti (MINUSTAH) through our Embassies in Port-au-Prince and Santo Domingo, and our offices at the United Nations Headquarters in New York. MINUSTAH has made a significant contribution to Haiti’s stability and law and order. However the main focus now should be continuing to build the capacity of the justice sectors and Haitian National Police to allow the Haitian government to take responsibility for their own national security.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Barry Sheerman on 2016-01-28.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what steps he is taking to maintain levels of access to A&E provision in Kirklees.

Jane Ellison

The provision of front line health services, including accident and emergency, is a matter for the local National Health Service, which has a responsibility to ensure that people have access to the best and safest healthcare possible. Any service changes should be led by clinicians and be based on a clear, robust clinical case for change that delivers better outcomes for patients.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Barry Sheerman on 2016-03-08.

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what data his Department collects on drunkenness of passengers on commercial flights.

Mr Robert Goodwill

The Government does not collect specific data on the frequency of incidents involving drunk or aggressive passengers.

If serious enough such incidents would be counted amongst data for safety related events. In accordance with (EU) Regulation No 376/2014, safety-related events which endanger or which, if not corrected or addressed, could endanger an aircraft, its occupants or any other person have to be reported to the Civil Aviation Authority as part of the Mandatory Occurrence Reporting Scheme (MORS). The Regulation requires that the reporting, analysis and follow-up to such occurrences remain confidential. However, the Regulation does permit information to be released on request to interested parties that have a genuine safety related need for the information. An application can be made at www.caa.co.uk.

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The below Parliamentary question was asked by Barry Sheerman on 2016-03-21.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment she has made of the level of involvement of autistic people in cybercrime offences.

Mr John Hayes

The National Crime Agency (NCA) is a non-ministerial government department, however it is accountable to Parliament via the Home Secretary. As such I have contacted the NCA to inform my answer to you.

During the course of cyber-dependent crime operations over the last five years (including SOCA Cyber and Metropolitan Police Central e-Crime Unit led operations) and based on recorded data following a subject’s arrest we are unable to determine the level of involvement of autistic individuals in cybercrime offences, or the level of vulnerability of individuals on the autism spectrum to various other aspects of cyber crime.

The NCA are now embarking on research in partnership with Academia, Private Industry and Special Interest groups to explore the possibility of links between Autism and cyber-dependent crime. Understanding gained from this research will inform the NCA on best practice for managing operations and educational Prevent activity.

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

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether her Department has made an assessment of new free schools’ capacity to meet pupil place demand in 2016-17.

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.