Tag: Frank Field

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Frank Field on 2015-10-30.

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many and what proportion of teacher training degrees incorporate modules on working with children aged 0 to 5 years.

Mr Sam Gyimah

Early Years Initial Teacher Training was introduced in 2013. Early Years Teachers are specialists in early childhood development, trained to work with babies and young children from birth to five. Early Years Initial Teacher Training trainees who successfully meet the Teachers’ Standards (Early Years) are awarded Early Years Teacher Status. All modules of Early Years Initial Teacher Training courses include working with children aged 0 to 5 years. All initial teacher training courses that lead to the award of Qualified Teacher Status also cover the 3 to 18 age range.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Frank Field on 2015-11-20.

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many of the streams of data collected by his Department are (a) used by the Department, (b) read by how many people and (c) unused or unread.

Justin Tomlinson

I have interpreted the question to be asking for the number of datasets compiled by the department. This information is not currently available and could only be provided at disproportionate cost.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Frank Field on 2015-12-17.

To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, what discussions she has had with energy suppliers on the effect of pre-payment meter tariffs on low-income households’ energy costs.

Amber Rudd

My Right Hon member, DECC Ministers and officials meet with energy companies on a regular basis to discuss a range of issues.

The Government shares the CMA’s concerns that there is a lack of competitive tariffs for pre-payment customers, despite the recent increase in competition from independent suppliers.

The Government is committed to ensuring that the market works effectively for all consumers, including through implementing the final recommendations of the CMA following their investigation.

In the meantime, we will continue our focus on keeping bills down through promoting competition, making switching quicker and easier and providing direct help to the most vulnerable.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Frank Field on 2016-01-13.

To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what discussions her Department has had with the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation on eradication of polio.

Mr Nick Hurd

The UK and the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation are both committed to global polio eradication. The Secretary of State and officials from her Department have had a number of meetings with the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation to discuss polio. Officials also have regular policy discussions through both organisations’ participation on the Global Polio Oversight Board and its Finance and Accountability Committee.

The UK is a top three donor to polio eradication, with a £300 million commitment from 2013 to 2018. UK support has been critical in bringing us one step closer to the finish line of a world free from polio, something people across the country can be immensely proud of.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Frank Field on 2016-01-25.

To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, by when he expects to publish the outcome of HM Treasury’s consultation on the recommendation made in the review by Christine Farnish of the Money Advice Service, published in March 2015, for a breathing space mechanism to protect vulnerable customers making debt repayments.

Harriett Baldwin

The Government is committed to exploring whether some form of “breathing space” would be a useful and viable addition to the range of formal and informal debt solutions available to consumers and creditors. Officials in HM Treasury and the Insolvency Service have been asked to discuss this issue with stakeholders with a view to identifying possible options and have begun work on this review.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Frank Field on 2016-02-19.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps she is taking to protect the public from fraudulent organisations presenting themselves as Disclosure and Barring Service umbrella body companies seeking personal data.

Karen Bradley

Registered/Umbrella Bodies are governed by a Code of Practice, set out in Part V of the Police Act 1997, which includes the handling of personal data. Failure to comply with the Code of Practice may result in the suspension or cancellation of the umbrella body’s registration. In addition the Disclosure and Barring Service undertakes robust checks to ensure that its authorised Registered/Umbrella Bodies have appropriate safeguards in place to protect the personal data of people they are representing.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Frank Field on 2016-02-23.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment she has made of the effect on children whose refugee shelters in Calais are due to be demolished by the French government.

James Brokenshire

The UK is working closely with the French Government on all aspects of the migrant situation in Calais; however the management of the migrant camps in France is the responsibility of the French Government. They have recently increased capacity in heated container accommodation for vulnerable groups in the Calais camp, where women, children and the sick and injured are given priority.

Both the UK and France are clear that the right course of action is to move migrants away from Calais and for genuine refugees to be offered protection within the French asylum system. That is why as part of the UK-France Joint Declaration of 20 August 2015, the UK has provided £3.6million (or €5 million) per year for two years to help provide support and facilities for migrants at centres elsewhere in France.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Frank Field on 2016-03-18.

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what assessment he has made of the effect on levels of poverty of the proposed reforms to personal independence payment in the Budget 2016.

Justin Tomlinson

As confirmed by my right honourable friend the Secretary of State in his statement to the House on 21 March, the proposed changes to PIP will not be going ahead.

We spend around £50bn every year on benefits alone to support people with disabilities or health conditions, with spending on Personal Independence Payment (PIP) and Disability Living Allowance (DLA) having increased by more than £3 billion since 2010. The government is committed to talking to disabled people, their representatives, healthcare professionals and employers to ensure the welfare system works better with the health and social care systems and provides help and support to those who need it most.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Frank Field on 2016-04-13.

To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, how much the Government recorded in his Department’s spending analysis tool that it spent on acquisitions from external suppliers in the last year for which figures are available; and how much and what proportion of central government spending the Government spent with each of the 20 suppliers which received the largest proportion of that spending in that period.

Matthew Hancock

In 2014-15 central government (excluding Network Rail) spent a total of £43.8 billion with external suppliers.

Recorded expenditure with each of the top 20 suppliers is set out in the following table:

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Frank Field on 2016-05-26.

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many benefit claimants have been given a yellow card warning since the introduction of such a warning; and of those claimants how many were not subsequently sanctioned.

Priti Patel

A Jobseekers’ Allowance Sanctions “Early Warning” Trial was launched in March 2016 in Scotland. The trial is testing whether giving claimants a warning of an intention to sanction, and an extra 14 days to seek advice and support to provide additional or new evidence to provide good reason will be helpful to them and potentially reduce the volume of sanctions and reconsiderations.

Data is currently being collected about claimants who have been subject to the new process so it is not possible at this stage to provide the information requested. An interim evaluation of the trial will be published in Autumn 2016 and a final evaluation in Spring 2017.