Tag: Caroline Ansell

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Caroline Ansell on 2015-11-09.

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, if he will make an assessment of potential risks associated with vulnerable witnesses and defendants travelling by public transport when considering potential court closures as part of proposals on the future of the court and tribunal estate; and if he will make a statement.

Mr Shailesh Vara

To ensure that access to justice is maintained, we are committed to providing alternative ways for users to access our services. This includes the use of other civic buildings and extending video conferencing facilities. This will further reduce the need for vulnerable victims and witnesses to travel to attend court.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Caroline Ansell on 2015-11-26.

To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what steps he is taking to ensure that the UK remains competitive with other countries in attracting overseas students to higher and further education; and if he will make a statement.

Joseph Johnson

The UK welcomes international students and there is no cap on the number that can study here. The Government promotes study in the UK through the Britain is GREAT marketing campaign and through the British Council, which promotes UK education in over 100 countries, connecting millions of people with the United Kingdom.

The Government has a number of major education agreements with overseas partners. Key programmes include the UK-China Partners in Education Programme, the UK-India Education Research Initiative and engagement in Brazil’s ‘Science without Borders’ scholarship scheme.

Government also supports student exchange, such as through the Erasmus Scheme, which enables international students to take short placements in the UK and British students to gain valuable overseas experience.

As part of our recent Spending Review the Government has also reaffirmed the importance international students to the success of UK universities and the economy. To ensure universities can continue to compete with the US, Australia and Canada for top international students, dependants of postgraduates on courses lasting more than a year will be welcome to come and work. Current English language requirements will be maintained.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Caroline Ansell on 2016-04-19.

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps she is taking to assist teachers in managing their workload.

Nick Gibb

We are continuing our extensive work with the profession to remove unnecessary workload so that teachers can concentrate on teaching and not bureaucracy and paperwork.

This includes establishing three review groups to tackle the top issues raised by teachers in the Government’s Workload Challenge in 2014: marking, lesson planning, and data management.

The reports from these review groups were published on 26 March 2016. We have accepted all their recommendations for Government.

As the reports make clear, it is for everybody involved in education to act on the principles and recommendations in these reports so teachers can focus on what really matters – inspiring their pupils to achieve their full potential.

We will continue to work with the teaching profession to make sure they have the ongoing support they need. We have recently conducted the first biennial Teacher Workload Survey, a commitment which will allow us to track teacher workload over the coming years. The results of the first survey will be published later this year.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Caroline Ansell on 2015-11-09.

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what account he has taken of accessibility of digital services for people who do not have access to the internet when considering potential court closures as part of proposals on the provision of the court and tribunal estate; and if he will make a statement.

Mr Shailesh Vara

An impact assessment was published alongside the consultation document. An updated impact assessment will be published with the consultation response, which will assess any further impacts identified from the responses received.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Caroline Ansell on 2015-11-26.

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what training his Department has provided to staff on the family test; what other steps he has taken to raise awareness of the family test among staff of his Department; and if he will make a statement.

Mark Lancaster

I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave on 16 November 2015 to Question 15341 to the hon. Member for Stretford and Urmston (Kate Green).

http://www.parliament.uk/business/publications/written-questions-answers-statements/written-question/Commons/2015-11-06/15341/

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Caroline Ansell on 2016-04-22.

To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, whether he has made an estimate of the cost to East Sussex County Council of changes to business rate retention consequent to changes announced in Budget 2016; and if he will make a statement.

Mr Marcus Jones

I refer the hon. Member for Eastbourne to the answer given to the hon. Member for Croydon North on 31 March to Question 31745.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Caroline Ansell on 2015-11-09.

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what assessment he has made of the potential opportunities to enhance local services on pre-existing estates by co-locating services as part of proposals on the provision of the court and tribunal estate; and if he will make a statement.

Mr Shailesh Vara

The consultation on the provision of court and tribunal services in England and Wales included details of plans to integrate services in 31 existing court buildings. The court estate is kept under review and any further opportunities to integrate services will be carefully considered.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Caroline Ansell on 2015-11-26.

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps she is taking to improve the retention rate of newly qualified teachers; and if she will make a statement.

Nick Gibb

Teacher retention rates have remained stable for over a decade. Approximately 90 per cent of teachers are in service in the year after they qualify, and 72 per cent of those who qualified in 2009 were still teaching 5 years later. Over the longer term, over 60 per cent of teachers remain in service 10 years after qualifying.

But we recognise that it is vital for schools to be able to retain good teachers – that is why we have made significant policy interventions in the areas that teachers tell us matter most such as improving pupil behaviour and reducing unnecessary workload. We have appointed behaviour expert Tom Bennett to lead a review to ensure new teachers are fully trained in dealing with disruptive children, and to consider all of the challenges of managing behaviour in 21st century schools.

We have established three groups to address the biggest concerns that teachers raised in the workload challenge – marking, planning and data management. The groups will create principles for practice and make specific recommendations for action. All three groups are due to report to Ministers in spring 2016.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Caroline Ansell on 2016-04-22.

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps she is taking to ensure that schools make use of a broad curriculum in meeting their EBacc obligations under the new performance measures; and if she will make a statement.

Nick Gibb

All state-funded schools, including academies and free schools, must provide a broad and balanced curriculum that promotes spiritual, moral, cultural, mental and physical development of pupils. Ofsted inspectors examine whether schools are providing a broad and balanced curriculum which meets statutory requirements and the needs and interests of pupils.

The EBacc has been designed to be limited in size to provide a rigorous academic core whilst leaving space in the curriculum for other subjects. On average, pupils in state-funded schools enter nine GCSEs and equivalent qualifications, rising to more than ten for more able pupils. For many pupils, taking the EBacc will mean taking seven GCSEs; and for those taking triple science, it will mean taking eight. This means that there will continue to be room for pupils to study other subjects.

We set out our EBacc proposals in our consultation. We will respond to the consultation in due course.