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Tag: Bill Esterson

  • Bill Esterson – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    Bill Esterson – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Bill Esterson on 2014-06-05.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what evidence his Department holds or has assessed on the effects of conversion to academy status on the test results of children in primary schools.

    Michael Gove

    In 2013, the percentage of pupils in converter academies that achieved level 4 or above in reading, writing (teacher assessment) and mathematics was 81%.[1] This was an improvement of one percentage point from 2012, and compares with 76% of pupils that achieved the same threshold in local authority maintained mainstream schools. Furthermore, the percentage of pupils in converter academies that exceeded this threshold was 25%, compared with 21% in local authority maintained mainstream schools.

    [1] Table 5, National Tables, SFR51/2013: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/national-curriculum-assessments-at-key-stage-2-2012-to-2013

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  • Bill Esterson – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    Bill Esterson – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Bill Esterson on 2014-03-17.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what the average length of time between judgement and sentencing in criminal trials in England was in the latest period for which figures are available; and what assessment he has made of the trends in the time taken.

    Shailesh Vara

    HMCTS can only answer this question for trials in the Crown Court. The case management database for magistrates’ courts does not hold the date of conviction in a way we can calculate the time from conviction to sentence for all defendants so the only way we could answer the question would be to manually check each case file which would incur disproportionate costs.

    The Crown Court database does and Table 1 below shows the average length between the latest conviction date in a trial and the date of sentence. The trend has seen the time between conviction and sentence falling from an average of 35.8 calendar days in 2007-08 to 24.6 calendar days in the first half of 2013-14. When a trial has more than one offence the jury may not reach verdicts against all on the same day, and the sentence cannot take place until all offences have a verdict.

    Table 1 -Average length between conviction and sentence in Crown Court centres in England for defendants sentenced between April and September 2013

    Period

    Average

    April to September 2013

    24.6 calendar days

    2012-13

    28.2

    2011-12

    28.2

    2010-11

    30.2

    2009-10

    32.8

    2008-09

    34.4

    2007-08

    35.8

    Notes:

    1. The average number of calendar days between the latest jury conviction date and the earliest substantial sentence date.
    2. Includes cases where the defendant changes their plea to guilty during the trial.
    3. This is internal management information run specifically to answer this question.

    The judiciary are able to sentence following conviction without the need for additional hearings as a result of initiatives currently in place. The judicially lead early guilty plea scheme aims to have guilty plea cases concluded at a single hearing. Similarly the probation service are able to provide reports on the day of conviction to facilitate the sentencing of the defendant.

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  • Bill Esterson – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    Bill Esterson – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Bill Esterson on 2014-03-27.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if he plans to allow Ofsted to inspect bodies which run chains of academy schools.

    Mr Edward Timpson

    Ofsted already inspects academy chains through batched inspections of schools within chains. It has recently undertaken focused inspections of academies within the E-ACT multi-academy trust and has previously inspected a group of academies within the AET chain. This has shown to be an effective approach and there are no plans to widen Ofsted’s role to inspect head offices.

  • Bill Esterson – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    Bill Esterson – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Bill Esterson on 2014-04-09.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Education, for what reasons local authorities are inspected by Ofsted separately from schools maintained by local authorities.

    Mr David Laws

    The Chief Inspector has powers to carry out an inspection of the performance of a particular local authority function as set out in Section 136(1)(b) of the Education and Inspections Act 2006. Specifically, he can use this power to inspect how well the local authority is fulfilling its general duty to promote high standards and fulfilment by every child of their educational potential as set out in Section 13A of the Education Act 1996.

    These powers are separate from his powers and duties in relation to the inspection of individual schools which are set out in Section 5 and Section 8 of the Education Act 2005. Section 5 requires Her Majesty’s Chief Inspector to inspect individual schools at prescribed intervals, and Section 8 Education Act 2005, contains a general power which enables the Chief Inspector to call for the inspection of a school in circumstances where he is not required to inspect.

  • Bill Esterson – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    Bill Esterson – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Bill Esterson on 2014-04-09.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Education, pursuant to the Answer of 7 April 2014, Official Report, column 81W, on academies, for what reason bodies which run academy chains are not inspected by Ofsted separately from the individual schools run by the academy chains.

    Mr Edward Timpson

    Ofsted already inspects academy chains through batched inspections of schools within chains. It has recently undertaken focused inspections of academies within E-ACT multi-academy trust, and has previously inspected a group of academies within the AET chain. This has shown to be an effective approach and there are no plans to widen Ofsted’s legal powers to include the inspection of head offices.

  • Bill Esterson – 2022 Tribute to HM Queen Elizabeth II

    Bill Esterson – 2022 Tribute to HM Queen Elizabeth II

    The tribute made by Bill Esterson, the Labour MP for Sefton Central, in the House of Commons on 10 September 2022.

    Like so many people, I have only known a world in which Queen Elizabeth II was our Queen. The wonderful tributes we have heard often include reference to the amazing longevity of her reign, and I was reminded of this when I looked at the dates of her many visits to Sefton. When the Queen first visited Bootle, Crosby and Southport in the early 1950s, they were all in the county of Lancashire. They became part of the borough of Sefton only some 20 years later with local government reorganisation, which is a story familiar to many people across the country.

    The Queen also visited Bootle in 1962 and as part of her silver jubilee tour in 1977. She went to the Altcar training camp in my constituency in 1985, and she went to Southport again on the same visit. Aintree racecourse is in my Sefton Central constituency and is, of course, home to the world’s most famous horserace. Given the Queen’s love of horses, it is perhaps no surprise that she first attended the grand national in 1956, and it is fitting that Red Rum saved his record third win in the grand national for 1977 and the Queen’s silver jubilee.

    People across Sefton have fond memories of the Queen’s visits, and none more so than in 1993 when she joined the commemoration of the 50th anniversary of the battle of the Atlantic at Bootle town hall. The links to the armed forces and to the merchant navy, which she recognised through her visits to Sefton, have provided service personnel and civilians with fond memories and demonstrated her gratitude for their service to our nation.

    The messages of condolence from my constituents have displayed warmth and gratitude to the Queen. Memories of her will be treasured for years to come. Queen Elizabeth II did her duty for my constituents and deserves our heartfelt thanks for her service to our nation. May she rest in peace. Long live the King.

  • Bill Esterson – 2021 Comments on Trade Safeguards on Steel

    Bill Esterson – 2021 Comments on Trade Safeguards on Steel

    The comments made by Bill Esterson, the Shadow International Trade Minister, on 11 June 2021.

    This is a deeply disappointing – if sadly unsurprising – recommendation from an organisation that is fundamentally flawed in its composition and its remit and has simply not given sufficient weight to the implications of this verdict for steelworkers, their families, and the communities that rely on that industry.

    The Government will say their only option is now to accept this recommendation, but that is simply not true. They must instead accept Labour’s offer to work together in the national interest and come forward with emergency legislation, which we will support, to amend the regulations and allow Britain’s steel safeguards to be maintained in full.

    That is the only responsible and acceptable course of action to protect the British steel industry and the tens of thousands of jobs it supports.

  • Bill Esterson – 2021 Comments on Government Education Policy

    Bill Esterson – 2021 Comments on Government Education Policy

    The comments made by Bill Esterson, the Labour MP for Sefton Central, on 1 January 2021.

    The government has announced all London Primary Schools will stay shut. My constituents are asking whether schools here will be opening. If the government is going to u-turn on schools opening across the country they have to do so quickly. Stop the dither and delay.

  • Bill Esterson – 2020 Comments on Ed Davey

    Bill Esterson – 2020 Comments on Ed Davey

    The comments made on Twitter by Bill Esterson, the Labour MP for Sefton Central, on 27 August 2020.

    None of this sanctimonious self justification. Ed Davey was a cabinet minister in Cameron’s government. He supported austerity, the Health and Social Care Act and Gove’s destruction of our schools system. The Lib-Dems were willing Tory accomplices and Davey was at the forefront.

  • Bill Esterson – 2020 Comments on Government’s Trade Negotiations

    Bill Esterson – 2020 Comments on Government’s Trade Negotiations

    Comments made by Bill Esterson, the Shadow Minister for International Trade, on 23 July 2020.

    The Government’s approach to its trade negotiations is extremely worrying. The only reason to impose these long-term gagging orders is to prevent the public discovering the reality of what the government is willing to give up to get these free trade deals.

    On a practical level, these NDAs will make it impossible for business and union representatives to consult their members on the implications of specific proposals, and make it more likely that damaging provisions will slip into these trade agreements unchecked.

    Instead of operating in this way, the government should increase the transparency of these trade negotiations, and allow effective scrutiny of what is being proposed, by business, by unions, by civil society and by Parliament. If they have nothing to hide, they have nothing to fear.