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 estimate her Department has made of the capital and revenue costs of free schools in London that (a) have been provided to date, (b) are to be provided in 2016-17 and (c) are projected to be provided between 2017 and 2020.

Edward Timpson

The Department for Education’s accounts show that the total capital spend on free schools up to the end of 2013-14 was £1.029bn; the accounts for following years will be published in due course. The capital costs of individual projects are published once contracts are finalised and are no longer commercially sensitive. They are published, along with the costs of sixteen projects in London and one project in Kirklees, on GOV.UK at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/capital-funding-for-open-free-schools

The total pre- and post-opening revenue expenditure for free school projects that opened in 2011 to 2013 is also published on GOV.UK at: www.gov.uk/government/publications/revenue-expenditure-for-free-schools

We plan to publish updated revenue expenditure for free schools that were opened in 2014 and 2015 within the next few weeks. This data will be updated annually each Autumn.

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

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what steps his Department is taking to tackle premature mortality among people on the autism spectrum who do not have co-occurring learning disability.

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 2016-04-25.

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what steps he is taking to degrade and destroy Boko Haram in Nigeria.

James Duddridge

The United Kingdom is providing a substantial and increasing package of United Kingdom military, intelligence, development and humanitarian support to help Nigeria and the region tackle Boko Haram. This includes training and advice to Nigerian military units deployed against Boko Haram and £5 million to support the Multinational Joint Taskforce. We are also providing £32 million in humanitarian support over the next three years to the estimated seven million people affected by the conflict in north east Nigeria.

The Nigerian government will host a high-level Regional Security Summit in Abuja in May. This will bring together regional leaders and international partners, including the United Kingdom, to reaffirm their shared commitment to the fight against Boko Haram.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Barry Sheerman on 2016-06-03.

To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what steps he is taking to support third-sector training providers and local authorities in reducing the number of young people who are not in education, employment or training.

Nick Boles

Third sector providers and local authority adult education services access the Adult Education Budget as prime and sub-contractors, using the funding for training which helps young people who are not in education, employment or training prepare for work, amongst other objectives. They also compete to run local European Social Fund programmes; many of these programmes focus on helping young people improve their skills levels and employment opportunities.

Where combined authorities agree devolution deals which include devolution of the Adult Education Budget, they will assume full responsibility for decisions about what provision to commission from that budget. Nine areas have agreed such deals to date, with devolution of that budget due to take effect from 2018/19, subject to readiness conditions being met. BIS is working with those areas in advance of full devolution to help increase local influence over nationally-funded adult education provision in their locality in the interim.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Barry Sheerman on 2016-09-06.

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps she is taking to eradicate bovine tuberculosis.

George Eustice

Our comprehensive strategy to eradicate bovine tuberculosis includes strengthening cattle testing and movement controls, improving biosecurity on farm and when trading cattle, and badger control in areas where TB is rife.

We have recently launched a public consultation and a call for views on proposals for additional cattle measures. These proposals follow enhancements made in April 2016, including post-movement testing of cattle entering the Low Risk Area and a more sensitive TB testing regime for infected herds in the High Risk Area. Natural England has this year authorised licensed badger control in ten areas where TB is rife.

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

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what recent representations he has made to the South Korean government on the dog meat trade.

Alok Sharma

I spoke to the Republic of Korea (ROK) Ambassador on 12 September, ahead of a Westminster Hall Debate on the dog meat trade in ROK, to raise the issue of the dog meat trade and highlight the strength of feeling among the British public and Parliamentarians on this issue. As I stated in the Westminster Hall Debate, there is evidence that attitudes among the ROK public towards the dog meat trade and animal welfare are changing. We hope to encourage that change. The British Ambassador in RoK most recently raised the dog meat trade directly in Seoul on 1 September, highlighting our concerns about the treatment and welfare of animals. The UK has some of the highest animal welfare standards in the world and the British Government will continue to promote animal welfare with our international partners.

I have included a copy of the transcript of the 12 September Westminster Hall Debate with this answer.

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

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps he is taking to reduce (a) dangerous driving and (b) driving under the influence of alcohol.

Andrew Jones

I published the Road Safety Statement in December 2015 which sets out the measures Government is taking to improve road safety including the reduction of road traffic offences. Our award-winning THINK! campaigns have also been running throughout the year to educate drivers on the risk and consequences of a number of different type of offences. The Department is in regular contact with a range of organisations and their reports, such as the ‘RAC Report on Motoring 2016’, are provided to the Department. The Department often includes research evidence in its impact assessments, for example the Elvik ‘dose response’ model, which shows that rigorous enforcement increases the deterrent effect on offending. The Government continues to keep road safety and road traffic offences under review.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Barry Sheerman on 2016-10-14.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, if he will take steps to ensure that health providers commissioned to give influenza vaccinations to patients at home are also commissioned to provide such vaccinations for eligible carers.

Nicola Blackwood

Under the national enhanced service specification, general practitioners (GPs) are contracted to offer the influenza vaccination to those who are in receipt of a carer’s allowance, or those who are the main carer of an elderly or disabled person whose welfare may be at risk if the carer falls ill.

It is the responsibility of the GPs to ensure access to influenza immunisation services is as accessible, convenient and efficient as possible; in some cases GPs may include a service to immunise patients at home.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Barry Sheerman on 2015-10-28.

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, if he will take steps to reduce the number of false personal injury claims.

Dominic Raab

This Government is building on the significant reforms of the coalition Government to tackle fraudulent and unnecessary personal injury claims. We are looking forward to receiving the recommendations of the Insurance Fraud Taskforce later this year and will announce further reform in this important area in due course.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Barry Sheerman on 2015-11-13.

To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what discussions he has had with representatives from the Icelandic government on debt owed to (a) UK taxpayers and (b) the public purse by Icelandic banks.

Harriett Baldwin

HM Government officials continue to engage with the Icelandic authorities in order to complete the recovery process from the failed Icelandic banks. In total, £8.64 billion was paid out by HM Treasury to compensate UK depositors of the Icelandic banks Kaupthing, Singer and Friedlander Ltd (KSF), Heritable Bank plc and Landsbanki (Icesave).

All eligible UK retail depositors were fully compensated. To date, the Treasury has recovered £7.71 billion from the three estates. The Government expects to make a full recovery of the outstanding funds from the estates.