Tag: Dan Jarvis

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Dan Jarvis on 2016-02-08.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether the Government has a policy on resettling refugees from Syria who have previously been living in Syria as Palestinian refugees.

James Brokenshire

The UK operates three resettlement programmes: Gateway, Mandate and the Syrian Resettlement Scheme.

Only UNHCR registered Syrian nationals are eligible under the Syrian Resettlement Scheme, which has been expanded to resettle 20,000 individuals during this Parliament. We work closely with the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) to identify cases that they deem in need of resettlement according to agreed vulnerability criteria for the Syrian Resettlement Scheme.

Gateway and Mandate are not nationality specific.

The Gateway Protection programme resettles UNHCR recognised refugees from a small number of targeted locations.

The Mandate resettlement programme resettles individuals from anywhere in the world who have been recognised as refugees by UNHCR, and judged by them to be in need of resettlement; and who have a close family member in the UK who is willing to accommodate them.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Dan Jarvis on 2016-02-25.

To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what political engagement her Department had with the Afghan government on extractives governance in 2015.

Mr Desmond Swayne

The British Embassy regularly engages with the National Unity Government on improving extractives governance to encourage responsible development of the extractives sector. The UK-funded Extractive Sector Support Programme provides technical advice to the Ministry of Mines and Petroleum on legal and regulatory frameworks, contract management and fiscal regimes. The UK is also helping the Afghan Government to implement the Extractives Industry Transparency Initiative. I raised this matter when I met President Ghani in June 2015.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Dan Jarvis on 2016-03-03.

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if she will take steps to ensure that all supply agencies offer supply teachers’ pay and conditions at the same rate as national teachers’ pay.

Nick Gibb

Schools and local authorities are responsible for the recruitment of their supply teachers which includes deciding whether to use private agencies to recruit and manage them. If a supply teacher is employed by a private agency, this is a private commercial arrangement between the school and the agency, and the School Teachers’ Pay and Conditions Document (STPCD) does not apply. The agency can also decide the rate of pay and conditions of employment.

If agencies do not appear to be complying with legislation they can be investigated by the Employment Agency Standards Inspectorate (EASI). The EASI is part of the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills and has powers to investigate agencies for possible breaches of the law and to prosecute them where there is sufficient evidence. The EASI works with agencies, employers and workers to make sure that employment rights are complied with, particularly for vulnerable workers.

Conditions for agency workers have been improved through the Agency Workers Regulations (AWR) and supply teachers are entitled to the same pay and employment conditions they would be entitled to receive if they were employed directly by a maintained school or academy. This is subject to a qualifying period of 12 continuous calendar weeks working in the same role with the same school or local authority. The Regulations can be found here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/employing-agency-supply-teachers

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The below Parliamentary question was asked by Dan Jarvis on 2016-03-17.

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, how much funding her Department received from the European Social Fund (a) between 2007 and 2014 and (b) from 2014 to the last month for which data is available.

George Eustice

The Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs has not received any funding from the European Social Fund.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Dan Jarvis on 2016-03-21.

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, which non-UK EU armed forces procure materiel from British companies.

Mr Julian Brazier

In 2014, Europe accounted for 10% of UK defence exports, with a value of approximately £800 million. Additionally, details of all export licences granted in 2014 can be found at;

https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/491986/16-54-strategic-export-controls-country-pivot-report-2014.pdf,

However this cannot be treated as an exhaustive list of defence exports.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Dan Jarvis on 2016-04-12.

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what proportion of (a) Royal Navy, (b) British Army excluding Gurkhas and (c) Royal Air Force personnel are from an ethnic minority background.

Penny Mordaunt

The Ministry of Defence is committed to achieving a more diverse workforce and is developing plans to meet the Government’s commitment to increase the number of Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic (BAME) recruits into the Armed Forces to 10% by 2020 and have allocated resources for this purpose.

Planning is ongoing to ensure that new activity is evidence-based and resources are allocated in the best way to deliver the step change that is required.

Whilst this plan is being finalised, examples of steps already taken include increased engagement with ethnic minority communities, using communications to improve understanding on careers in the Armed Forces and offering support throughout the application process where it is needed.

The Armed Forces recently won two awards in October 2015 at the Race for Opportunity Awards. The Armed Forces Muslim Association won the Public Sector Employee Network Award and the Royal Air Force won the Future Workforce Award for their Employability Skills Programme. The Royal Navy and the Royal Air Force have also been recognised as two of the Top 10 public sector organisations for race diversity and inclusion by Race for Opportunity.

Statistics on the diversity declaration and representation of minority groups of
Service Personnel employed by the Ministry of Defence are published biannually. The most recent data can be found at:

https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/uk-armed-forces-biannual-diversity-statistics-2015

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Dan Jarvis on 2016-05-18.

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what assessment his Department has made of the potential effect on the UK’s influence in the world of the UK leaving the EU.

Mr Philip Hammond

The Government believes that the UK will be stronger, safer and better off remaining in a reformed EU. That way, the UK can play a leading role in one of the world’s largest organisations. Membership of the EU, like our membership of NATO and the UN, amplifies, not diminishes, the UK’s influence in the world.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Dan Jarvis on 2016-07-18.

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what plans her Department has to ensure that environmental standards currently enforced by the EU are written into UK law.

Dr Thérèse Coffey

I refer the hon. Member to the reply previously given on 21 July 2016 to PQ UIN 43235.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Dan Jarvis on 2016-10-18.

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment her Department has made of the effect of early years intervention on the educational effect of child poverty.

Caroline Dinenage

Tackling poverty and disadvantage, and delivering real social reform, is a priority for this Government. This Government is committed to ensuring that all children are able to fulfil their potential.

There is a strong evidence base from the UK and around the world that shows high-quality early education has long lasting benefits for children. Analysis of the evidence from Effective Pre-school, Primary and Secondary Education Project has shown that pre-school is of particular importance to children from disadvantaged backgrounds. We also know that attending high-quality pre-school from age two has a positive impact on cognitive attainment.

The Department has commissioned a major piece of longitudinal research– the Study of Early Education and Development – to understand more about how high-quality early education affects attainment and social and behavioural development up to age seven. Findings are forthcoming and will be published and available at: http://www.seed.natcen.ac.uk/reports.aspx

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The below Parliamentary question was asked by Dan Jarvis on 2015-11-09.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what the average response time to a 999 call for the emergency services was in (a) Barnsley Central constituency, (b) the Yorkshire and the Humber region and (c) the UK in each year from 2010 to 2015.

Mike Penning

The Home Office does not hold these data centrally. Data on 999 response times for the police may be held by individual police forces.

Similarly, the Home Office does not hold data on response times for other 999 emergency services. NHS England publish monthly performance statistics, which include ambulance response times. These can be found here: https://www.england.nhs.uk/statistics/2015/10/08/combined-performance-summary-august-2015/

DCLG publish statistics on fire incident response times, which can be found here: https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/fire-incidents-response-times