Tag: Ben Howlett

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Ben Howlett on 2015-11-13.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what steps his Department is taking to reduce variations in the quality of at-home care given by carers’ agencies across the UK.

Alistair Burt

The Government is committed to improving the quality of adult social care. We have taken a number of recent steps to do so.

In October 2014, we introduced a tougher inspection system by the Care Quality Commission (CQC). Following inspections, CQC now also awards each service a single quality rating, with providers rated as “Outstanding”, “Good”, “Requires Improvement” or “Inadequate”. Services rated “Inadequate” are being placed into Special Measures. They will have access to a range of resources to help them to improve, but if they fail to do so, they could face closure.

These new ratings and other information about the type and quality of care at every care home and homecare service in the country are now available on NHS Choices and the MyNHS Transparency website, making it much easier for people to compare the quality of services.

This year we introduced a Certificate of Fundamental Care, now known as the Care Certificate. This will help ensure that care workers can deliver a consistently high quality standard of care.

The Department is funding and working with a number of organisations including the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE), Skills for Care, the Social Care Institute for Excellence, the Association of Directors of Adult Social Services and the Local Government Association on a range of projects to help adult social care organisations and staff improve the quality of care. These resources include new NICE Quality Standards and Guidelines which bring clarity to what excellence looks like in care and Commissioning for Better Outcomes – A Route Map^* that sets out a series of commissioning standards that will

be used as part of local government sector-led improvement to drive best practices in local authority commissioning under their new duties in the Care Act 2015.

^*Available at http://www.local.gov.uk/documents/10180/5756320/Commissioning+for+Better+Outcomes+A+route+map/8f18c36f-805c-4d5e-b1f5-d3755394cfab

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The below Parliamentary question was asked by Ben Howlett on 2015-11-26.

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps she is taking to ensure that schools address sexual harassment and bullying.

Edward Timpson

All forms of bullying and harassment are unacceptable and every school is required to have in place a behaviour policy with measures to tackle all forms of bullying. They are held to account by Ofsted and inspectors will look at records and analysis of bullying, discriminatory and prejudicial behaviour.

The Longitudinal Study of Young Peoplein England(LSYPE), which was published by the Department in November 2015, compared bullying among two cohorts of 14 year olds (year 10 students)from 2004 and 2014. It found that 30,000 fewer people in year 10 said they had been bullied in the last twelve months. This represents a drop from 41 per cent in 2004 to 36 per cent in 2014.

Good schools have a whole school approach to behaviour management that fosters tolerance and respect. Schools can also choose to teach about internet safety and the safe use of social media through their PSHE and sex and relationships provision. Under the computing curriculum, children from the age of five are taught how to stay safe online and how to communicate safely and respectfully.

All schools must have regard to the statutory guidance ‘Keeping children safe in education’. This highlights the specific safeguarding issues that staff should be aware of including bullying, child sexual exploitation, gender based violence against girls, sexting and teenage relationship issues, and signposts staff to additional information and support.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Ben Howlett on 2016-01-12.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps she is taking to encourage volunteers to monitor CCTV to help the police service.

Mike Penning

The Government believes that volunteers could play a greater role in policing, which is why a consultation was recently held to give Chief Constables greater flexibility to designate police powers to staff and volunteers, to enable them to support officers more effectively in keeping their communities safe.

I am aware that a number of forces use volunteers within their CCTV control rooms already and more are currently recruiting for these roles. However all decisions on the recruitment, size and composition of a police force’s workforce are rightly a local matter for chief officers and Police and Crime Commissioners (PCCs).

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Ben Howlett on 2016-02-29.

To ask the Minister for Women and Equalities, what proportion of girls in (a) state and (b) private schools took physics A-level in 2015.

Nick Gibb

Information on the proportion of girls who took A level physics in state-funded schools in 2014/15 is published as part of the “A level and other level 3 results: 2014 to 2015 (revised)” statistical first release.[1] In independent schools[2] 9.3% of girls took A level physics in 2014/15.

[1] https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/a-level-and-other-level-3-results-2014-to-2015-revised (Document titled: Maths and science tables; Tab titled: Table 18)

[2] Excludes independent special schools and non-maintained special schools.

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The below Parliamentary question was asked by Ben Howlett on 2016-06-20.

To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, when she expects the airport at St Helena to open to commercial flights; and if she will make a statement.

Sir Desmond Swayne

A number of options are being explored. The aim is to establish scheduled services once an operator is identified and regulatory conditions are met.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Ben Howlett on 2015-11-13.

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what estimate his Department has made of the value of economic output lost as a result of industrial action in the transport sector in each of the last three years.

Mr Robert Goodwill

Industrial action in the transport sector has significant and serious disruptive impacts to the country. Indicative analysis undertaken by the Department for Transport to understand the potential immediate costs to the wider economy from a one-off 24 hour National Rail Strike estimated those costs to be around £80million.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Ben Howlett on 2015-11-26.

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment she has made of the effect of the introduction of statutory PHSE on the uptake of STEM subjects by girls.

Edward Timpson

Through the introduction to the national curriculum, the Government has made clear that all schools should make provision for Personal, Social and Health Education (PSHE). PSHE is, however, a non-statutory subject.

The Government is determined to increase the number of young people studying Science, Technology, Engineering and Maths (STEM) subjects, particularly girls. There have been 12,000 more A Level entries in STEM subjects for girls over the last five years.

PSHE plays an important part in preparing young people for the world of work including dispelling gender stereotyping. Resources to support PSHE include those produced by Siemens in collaboration with the PSHE Association. These resourced explore equality and the world of work which aim to inspire the next generation of female scientists, technicians and engineers.

We are also supporting schools in other ways to tackle this issue through professional development and enrichment activities, including the Stimulating Physics Network, and the inspiring “Your Life” campaign, which will transform perceptions of science and mathematics.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Ben Howlett on 2016-01-12.

To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, if he will take steps to prevent the exploitation of consumers by salesmen of stair lifts and other aids to the elderly and disabled.

Nick Boles

The Department funds the Citizens Advice Service to provide valuable advice to consumers, including how to avoid scams. Citizens Advice also lead the annual Scams Awareness Month, working with Trading Standards to help give consumers the confidence to spot and report a scam.

Trading Standards Officers have powers to take action under the Consumer Protection from Unfair Trading Regulations 2008 against salesmen who use misleading practices and aggressive pressure selling. Additionally, National Trading Standards Scambuster Teams take action against large scale national and regional scammers, including those who exploit the elderly and vulnerable through the sale of substandard or unnecessary mobility aids.

Since 2014 the Consumer Protection (Amendment) Regulations 2014 introduced important new rights for consumers to take their own action against such traders to get their money back.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Ben Howlett on 2016-03-07.

To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what recent assessment he has made of the potential effect of plans under the Immigration Bill to introduce a charge on UK employers for employing skilled foreign workers on the number of people applying to study STEM subjects at university.

Joseph Johnson

The Government is considering carefully the Migration Advisory Committee’s recommendations on migration including the likely impact on different sectors. It is essential that the UK remains open for business, while migration levels are controlled.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Ben Howlett on 2016-06-15.

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, if his Department will introduce a time scale that insurance companies must comply with for responding to correspondence relating to car accidents.

Andrew Jones

It is important that insurance companies are able to fully investigate any claim that they receive. Cases will vary in their complexity and so timescales need to be flexible to ensure that all issues are considered fairly for the benefit of all parties involved. The motor insurance industry is very competitive so it is in their own interest to resolve these cases in a timely manner. Customers can contact their insurance companies and the Financial Ombudsman if they are unhappy about the service they have received.