Tag: Dan Jarvis

  • Dan Jarvis – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    Dan Jarvis – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Dan Jarvis on 2016-01-29.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what progress his Department has made on bringing forward legislative proposals to introduce a new power of guardianship for family members in the financial affairs of missing persons.

    Dominic Raab

    I refer the hon. Member to the reply given to my hon. Friend the hon. Member for York Outer on 15 June 2015, which can be found at http://www.parliament.uk/business/publications/written-questions-answers-statements/written-question/Commons/2015-06-08/1400/.

  • Dan Jarvis – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Dan Jarvis – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Dan Jarvis on 2016-02-10.

    To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many unaccompanied child refugees in Europe the Government expects to relocate in 2016.

    James Brokenshire

    My Written Ministerial Statement of 28 January set out the government’s plans to reinforce its response to refugee unaccompanied children from Syria, other conflict regions and within Europe. That included a commitment to work with partners, including the European Asylum Support Office, to help identify and support unaccompanied children on arrival in the EU. The government has also created a new fund of up to £10 million to support the needs of vulnerable migrant children in Europe.

    If an unaccompanied child claims asylum in a European country participating in the Dublin Regulation we will consider requests to take responsibility where there are close family members legally present in the UK. Unaccompanied minors already in Europe may also apply for family reunion under the Immigration Rules.

    We have asked the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) to advise us on what more we can do to assist unaccompanied refugee children fleeing conflict and persecution in the Syrian region and more broadly across the globe. The number the UK will resettle will be dependent on the UNHCR’s assessment and whether it is in the child’s best interests and our capacity to absorb them.

  • Dan Jarvis – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    Dan Jarvis – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Dan Jarvis on 2016-02-29.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what proportion of senior civil servants in his Department are women.

    Mike Penning

    The percentage of senior civil servants broken down by gender is reported on an annual basis within the Department’s Diversity report. The published report for 2014/2015 can be found at the following link:

    https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/diversity-report-2014-to-2015

  • Dan Jarvis – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    Dan Jarvis – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

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

    To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, how much funding his 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.

    James Wharton

    None.

  • Dan Jarvis – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Dan Jarvis – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Dan Jarvis on 2016-03-23.

    To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment she has made of the contribution of the UK’s membership of the EU to the UK’s work in identifying and detaining criminals.

    James Brokenshire

    Terrorism and serious organised crime are global threats that cross national borders. Our unique relationship with the EU gives UK law enforcement access to EU tools and instruments that help keep people safe and tackle serious and organised crime, but also mean we are not obliged to participate in new measures when we do not judge them to be in the national interest.

    The tools and instruments that the UK participates in include Europol, an EU agency which supports cross-border police operations and intelligence sharing, and can assist in the identification of terrorist threats; the European Arrest Warrant, which allows swift extradition between EU countries of individuals accused or convicted of a criminal offence; and the second generation Schengen Information System (SIS II), which enables law enforcement agencies around the EU to share live alerts, for example, for missing people and stolen vehicles. The UK is also in the process of implementing Prum, which will give us access to fingerprint and DNA data from other member states.

    Since 2004, using the European Arrest Warrant, over 1,000 individuals accused or convicted of a criminal offence have faced justice in UK courts and over 7,000 have been extradited from the UK.

  • Dan Jarvis – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Dan Jarvis – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

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

    To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, which EU intelligence-sharing agreements the UK is part of; and which intelligence-sharing agreements the UK has with other EU countries.

    Mrs Theresa May

    I cannot disclose specifics of agreements relating to National Security. However, the UK works closely with European counterparts in the common goal of preventing and disrupting terrorist activity. We work with Member States’ intelligence services on a bilateral basis and through the Counter Terrorism Group. We also collaborate with European partners through bilateral policy and law enforcement exchanges on counter-terrorism and exchange threat assessments and information on our respective approaches to counter terrorism. I regularly raise at Justice and Home Affairs Councils the need for better intelligence cooperation and information sharing among Member States to support our CT investigations.

  • Dan Jarvis – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    Dan Jarvis – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Dan Jarvis on 2016-04-21.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how much funding she plans to make available for turnaround activity as part of the Northern Powerhouse Schools Strategy; and what formula or method she plans to use to allocate funding.

    Nick Gibb

    Our White Paper, Education Excellence Everywhere, sets out the range of support we will offer to schools across England.

    Where schools are failing, Regional Schools Commissioners will identify a suitable academy sponsor to turn them around. In areas where there are too few sponsors, we will recruit new sponsors, including high-performing schools and more sponsors from business, charity and philanthropy. We will also encourage existing sponsors to expand, increasing incentives and minimising barriers, learning from the investment we have already made through the Northern Sponsor Fund.

    For other struggling schools, we will ensure there is nationwide coverage of system leaders (teaching schools and National Leaders of Education), who will be expected to work with weaker schools to support them to improve. To help achieve this, we will improve how we designate system leaders by introducing a more sophisticated approach based on timely and accurate data rather than relying heavily on Ofsted judgements. We will also partner schools with the potential to become strong system leaders with existing teaching schools and National Leaders of Education.

    Through the Department’s strategy for Achieving Excellence Areas, we will target our existing programmes to secure sufficient high quality teachers, leaders, system leaders, sponsors and members of governing boards on the areas of greatest need. At the Budget, the Government announced that we will invest an additional £20 million a year to build on this strategy to raise education standards across the Northern Powerhouse. The allocation of this funding will depend on the identified need and will be reassessed each year, based on the evidence.

    For the additional funding announced in the budget, decisions on how the funding will be allocated for the 2016-17 financial year will be made by the autumn of this year and will be informed by the emerging findings of the review by Sir Nick Weller. We will be publishing the terms of reference for Sir Nick Weller’s review shortly.

  • Dan Jarvis – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    Dan Jarvis – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Dan Jarvis on 2016-06-06.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps her Department is taking to close attainment gaps within schools in the north of England that are rated good or outstanding.

    Nick Gibb

    The Department’s recent White Paper, Educational excellence everywhere, sets out the action we are taking to support all pupils to reach their full potential and close the gaps in attainment that exist between different groups.

    The gap in attainment between disadvantaged pupils and their peers is closing at both Key Stage 2 and Key Stage 4. Our protection of the pupil premium at current rates for the remainder of the Parliament will help schools to build on this success. In 2015-16 we provided schools in the north of England with £768 million of pupil premium funding. We are supporting schools to make more effective use of the pupil premium, including by appointing a teaching school in each region to champion the use of the pupil premium. These schools will train successful school leaders to review the way schools are using the pupil premium and to act as regional hubs for effective practice.

    Schools will continue to be held to account for the standard of education they provide for all pupils, including disadvantaged pupils, through performance tables and Ofsted inspection. Our new headline measure of school performance, Progress 8, will encourage schools to push every child to achieve their best. The results of disadvantaged pupils will be reported separately in the school performance tables, ensuring a focus on the attainment of this group. In line with our high expectations for all pupils, performance data will emphasise the difference between disadvantaged pupils in the school and other pupils nationally, rather than focussing on gaps within the school. Data on the performance of disadvantaged pupils will feed into the risk assessment process that Ofsted uses to assess whether good and outstanding providers have declined since their last inspection. This will inform Ofsted’s prioritisation of short inspections for good schools and the identification of any concerns about outstanding schools.

  • Dan Jarvis – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Dan Jarvis – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Dan Jarvis on 2016-10-11.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what support his Department makes available for young people diagnosed with Crohn’s disease.

    David Mowat

    Crohn’s Disease Management in Adults, Children and Young People, published by the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence in October 2012, sets out best practice guidance for clinicians and commissioners in the diagnosis, treatment care and support of patients with Crohn’s disease. The guidance includes a number of specific recommendations concerning young people such as the need to offer age-appropriate multidisciplinary support to deal with any concerns about the disease and its treatment, including concerns about body image, living with a chronic illness, and attending school and higher education.

  • Dan Jarvis – 2022 Speech on Service Family Accommodation

    Dan Jarvis – 2022 Speech on Service Family Accommodation

    The speech made by Dan Jarvis, the Labour MP for Barnsley Central, in the House of Commons on 20 December 2022.

    I thank the Minister for his response. There will be complete agreement, I am sure, on the importance of looking out for those amazing men and women who serve in our armed forces and, critically, their families as well. The Minister will be well aware—he alluded to this in his statement—of the volume of concerns about the state of service family accommodation and single living accommodation. It is particularly concerning given the recent freezing weather and proximity to Christmas, but it is also at a time when our armed forces continue to be busy, not least, potentially, with commitments to Military Aid to the Civil Authorities.

    Some shocking recent accommodation cases include: recurring black mould causing viral infections in children; crumbling roofs leaving houses exposed to the elements; burst pipes flooding homes; and broken boilers in sub-zero temperatures. What is worse is that, currently, there is no reasonable way to report and resolve those problems, as there are waits of two hours on Pinnacle’s helpline, if callers can get through at all. Even when a report is lodged, there is no guarantee that a repair will happen urgently.

    Such are the concerns that have been expressed about the inaction of various contractors, there is evidence of soldiers signing out sleeping bags. No single contractor is responsible for repairs and maintenance, meaning that there is no central responsibility. However, there is central accountability, and, ultimately, that lies with the MOD.

    Those who step forward to serve deserve and expect better. I look to the Minister to act urgently, by which I mean today, to move heaven and earth to ensure that measures are being taken to alleviate this problem. Can I ask him to provide an update on whether the Secretary of State’s meetings with the Defence Infrastructure Organisation, Amey, Pinnacle and VIVO have taken place? If not, why not? Can he outline a plan for MOD intervention to ensure that the backlog of repairs is dealt with as a priority? Can he say more on how the Department will support service personnel and their families affected by these issues over the Christmas holidays?

    The current standards of service accommodation are just not good enough. We are a very long way away from homes fit for heroes. The Government must do better.

    Alex Chalk

    I thank the hon. Gentleman for those remarks, many of which I completely agree with. He asks whether we will act today. I can say that the Secretary of State has met the DIO, Pinnacle, Amey and VIVO and that some of these issues were becoming apparent quite some time ago. In fact, a rectification plan was imposed in the middle of September. There were 480 or so elements of that plan, of which 200 have been complied with. That does not mean that the situation has been sorted—far from it—because when the cold snap came, we saw that it revealed more difficulties.

    The hon. Gentleman asked about the backlog. I can say that the backlog of complaints peaked at a stunning 4,200 or so. That has come down to around 3,100, but I completely accept that that is far too many.

    The real issue, it seems to me, is there must be prevention in the first place. In other words, the quality of accommodation must be good enough at the point that service personnel go into the properties in the first place. There are some indications of improvement in that regard. First, in addition to the standard £176 million for accommodation, the MOD has allocated £350 million over and above that annual sum to get on top of the maintenance issues. In July of this year, when 1,276 service personnel went into properties, 4% turned out on the day to have non-habitable failures; by December that figure had gone down to 0.6%. This is about ensuring that the properties are fit for purpose at the outset.

    On the issue of mould, which the hon. Gentleman is right to raise, it is unconscionable to think that people should be moving into properties with any mould, and I am pleased to have had a clear assurance from DIO that that will not happen again. Now, if there is a report of mould, a fully qualified inspector should come in to do a proper report and alternative accommodation should be provided, if appropriate. I will end where he did: these are people who come to serve our country, and the least we can do is ensure that they have proper accommodation. I will do everything in my power to ensure that we honour that requirement.