Tag: Bridget Phillipson

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Bridget Phillipson on 2016-05-04.

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether his Department is taking steps to provide support for people living in supported housing who will be affected by the cap of housing benefit at the same level as local housing allowance.

Justin Tomlinson

On 1 March 2016 we announced, via a Written Ministerial Statement, that the effect of the LHA cap for those living in social sector supported housing would be deferred by a year, pending the outcome of a review, This means that the measure will only effect those who have taken on or renewed a tenancy from April 2017 rather than April 2016.

We have done this because we understand the importance of ensuring that both those living in supported housing and those who provide this type of accommodation receive appropriate protections. This is why we are awaiting the outcome of a “Supported Accommodation” research project and subsequent policy review, to ensure support is focused on the most vulnerable and appropriate groups are safeguarded.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Bridget Phillipson on 2016-10-07.

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether she plans to bring forward legislation to allow for the forcible conversion of schools to academy status in underperforming local authority areas.

Edward Timpson

We have been clear that we want to see all schools, over time, become academies. But our focus is on schools where standards need to be raised. So we will continue to convert all schools that are judged inadequate by Ofsted, and work with those that are coasting or otherwise underperforming to identify the support they need to improve. We expect that in some cases this support will be through conversion to become a sponsored academy. No new legislation is required for these purposes.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Bridget Phillipson on 2016-10-18.

To ask the Secretary of State for International Trade, pursuant to the Answer of 12 October 2016 to Question 47347, whether during those discussions concerns were raised by Japanese investors and the Japanese ambassador about the UK’s decision to leave the EU; and whether any conditions were placed on continued Japanese investment in the UK.

Greg Hands

A range of topics have been discussed with the Ambassador of Japan to the United Kingdom and Japanese investors, notably the Japanese memorandum and the opportunities presented by the United Kingdom exiting the European Union to strengthen its role as a global leader for free trade, including its trade links with Japan.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Bridget Phillipson on 2015-11-27.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what support is offered to families with children suffering from life-limiting or life-threatening conditions in England.

Jane Ellison

Information is not held centrally on how many children in England required 24-hour care due to life-limiting or life-threatening conditions in 2014-15. The local clinical commissioning groups (CCGs) do not collect information for the North East and Sunderland.

CCGs (and in the case of specialised services, NHS England), will commission a range of care to support children with life-limiting and life-threatening conditions, including paediatric care, and community-based nursing. A child with a life-limiting condition may be eligible for a package of continuing care, where their needs are such that they require clinical care in addition to that routinely commissioned. This might include one-to-one support. NHS England also allocates an annual grant of £11 million to children’s hospices to support their provision of palliative and respite care.

Children and young people with complex needs may also be eligible for local authority-commissioned social care to support living, short-breaks, and special educational support, where they have a special educational need.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Bridget Phillipson on 2016-01-11.

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, when his Department last audited the management of Northumbria Probation Service by Sodexo.

Andrew Selous

We regularly review the operations of each Community Rehabilitation Company to make sure they fulfil their contractual commitments to maintain service delivery, reduce reoffending, protect the public and deliver value for money to the taxpayer. An operational assurance audit of Northumbria Community Rehabilitation Company was completed in June 2015.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Bridget Phillipson on 2016-02-09.

To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what recent discussions he has had with HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) on that body’s record of (a) call waiting times, (b) call handling and (c) the steps HMRC plans to take to increase the level of service to telephone customers.

Mr David Gauke

Treasury Ministers and officials have meetings with a wide variety of organisations in the public and private sectors as part of the process of policy development and delivery.

Details of ministerial and permanent secretary meetings with external organisations on departmental business are published on a quarterly basis and are available at:

http://www.hm-treasury.gov.uk/minister_hospitality.htm

“

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Bridget Phillipson on 2016-05-09.

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many responses to freedom of information requests have been reviewed by her Department’s special advisers before being issued to the individual or organisation requesting information in each of the last five years for which figures are available.

Nick Gibb

Special advisers do not routinely review responses to all FOI requests, nor have figures in relation to this been routinely collected. The information requested could only be provided at disproportionate cost.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Bridget Phillipson on 2016-10-07.

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps she is taking to ensure that the introduction of a new national funding formula will prioritise schools in disadvantaged areas for the allocation of funding.

Nick Gibb

The national funding formula will ensure that all children, whatever their background, are supported to achieve their full potential. Children from deprived backgrounds will attract funding in addition to the basic per pupil amount so that they get the extra help they need to succeed. We will also continue to provide targeted funding through the pupil premium, worth £2.5 billion this year.

We proposed in the first stage of the national funding formula consultation to use a combined pupil-and area-level deprivation measure in the formula to best identify those children and schools that need additional support. We will put forward our detailed proposals in the next stage of consultation later this year.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Bridget Phillipson on 2015-11-26.

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what information her Department holds on the cost of broadband access for primary and secondary schools.

Mr Sam Gyimah

£1.7 billion of public funding has been committed to support improvements in broadband services across the UK. The Superfast Broadband Programme aims to make superfast broadband available to 95 per cent of UK premises by 2017.

Costs will vary from school to school depending on location and how much they use the internet. The type of connectivity that the government funded broadband programme needs will not be suitable for secondary schools. They will need a dedicated connection because of their high bandwidth demands. The Department for Education does not hold information about the cost of broadband access for schools.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Bridget Phillipson on 2016-01-13.

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, which community rehabilitation companies have been placed on a formal remedial plan under their contract in each year since 2010; and what the outcome of those plans was in each case.

Andrew Selous

We monitor the performance of Community Rehabilitation Companies (CRCs) closely, to make sure they fulfil their contractual commitments to maintain service delivery, reduce reoffending, protect the public and deliver value for money to the taxpayer. No CRC has been placed on a formal Remedial Plan under the contract.