The below Parliamentary question was asked by Helen Jones on 2016-02-23.
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, which Fire and Rescue Services have trained staff who can act as first responders; how many such staff have received training.
Mike Penning
The Department does not hold this information centrally. The responsibility for ensuring relevant training is undertaken rests with individual fire and rescue authorities in consultation with local ambulance services.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Helen Jones on 2016-04-20.
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, which hospitals he has visited on Saturdays and Sundays since his appointment; and on what dates such visits were made.
Jane Ellison
My Rt. hon. Friend the Secretary of State has overall responsibility for the National Health Service, and is on call and briefed on relevant events seven days a week, including public holidays. He routinely works on Departmental business at the weekends, which includes attending meetings, visiting frontline services and carrying out official engagements where relevant.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Helen Jones on 2016-05-25.
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many free schools have opened in areas where there are surplus places in the age range covered by the school in each year since 2010.
Edward Timpson
Every free school has been approved for opening in response to either the need to provide extra school places for the future, the need to provide parents with greater choice or the need to provide more high quality places. Of the open mainstream free schools reported in School Capacity data in May 2015, all of which were approved prior to January 2014, seven in ten were approved in areas where there was a basic need for additional school places.
85% of mainstream free schools approved since January 2014 – the majority of which have not yet opened – are in areas where School Capacity data showed there was a basic need for additional school places. The remaining 15% were approved on the basis of more recent local authority intelligence of future need for places; in areas where there was a need for additional high quality places or to create additional choice or diversity.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Helen Jones on 2016-09-14.
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, (a) when and (b) by whom the decision was taken to withdraw funding for the NHS retirement fellowship; and what evidence on the health benefits of fellowship activities was considered prior to that decision being made.
Mr Philip Dunne
Health Education England (HEE) has, for the last two years, provided funding on behalf of the system to the NHS Retirement Fellowship. The funding was provided in support of the work they do for former employees of the National Health Service, however, the funding was always intended to be transitional support and not a guaranteed grant year on year. Like all publicly funded bodies, HEE is having to review its financial commitments and in turn, has prioritised funding for the education and training of the future workforce.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Helen Jones on 2015-11-03.
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if she will take steps to encourage more teachers with qualifications in English and mathematics to take up posts in further education colleges.
Nick Boles
Our Further Education Workforce Strategy[1] published in 2014 sets out the steps government has already taken to encourage more teachers with qualifications in English and Mathematics to take up posts in further education colleges.
Since 2013, bursaries of up to £25,000 have been available to attract new graduates with relevant degrees to teach English and Mathematics, and to specialise in teaching students with SEN within the FE sector. To date, over 950 bursaries have been provided to graduates. The government is committed to supporting the development of the teaching workforce in FE and has invested over £30m since 2013 to fund a range of programmes and incentives to improve the quality of leadership, teaching and support staff in the sector – with a priority on English and Maths.
Furthermore, 3,800 existing FE teachers have benefited from enhancement programmes designed to improve teacher confidence and knowledge of new GCSE English and Maths qualifications.
Further information on Further Education teacher training can be found in the ‘Get into Teaching’ website[2] and FE advice websites[3].
[1] https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/further-education-workforce-strategy
[2]https://getintoteaching.education.gov.uk/
[3] https://www.feadvice.org.uk/
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The below Parliamentary question was asked by Helen Jones on 2016-01-20.
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if she will make it her policy to allocate two unique reference numbers to schools which have designated provision within the school for the purpose of differentiating results for that provision and the whole school.
Edward Timpson
We have no plans to allocate two unique reference numbers to schools which have designated provision within the school. Disaggregating the results of children in designation provision from the results of children in mainstream schooling in performance data would be at odds with the principle of inclusivity.
I refer the Right Honourable MP to my response to PQ 23155, submitted to Parliament on Friday 22 January 2016, in which I explained that disaggregating results in this way would create incentives to place children in designated provision regardless of whether or not that was in their best interest.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Helen Jones on 2016-02-23.
To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, how many pupils in the North West have received funding from the European Regional Development Fund; and what the total investment from that fund in that region has been in each year since 2000.
James Wharton
The European Regional Development Fund does not provide funding to pupils.
The total investment for the Fund 2000-06 programme period in the North West was equivalent to just under £1.5 billion.
The figures for the 2007-13 European Regional Developement Fund programme, where investment commenced in 2009, are as follows:
|
Year |
Annual expenditure (£m) |
Cumulative expenditure (£m) |
|
2009 |
168.2 |
168.2 |
|
2010 |
56.3 |
224.5 |
|
2011 |
63.2 |
287.7 |
|
2012 |
60.8 |
348.5 |
|
2013 |
81.2 |
429.7 |
|
2014 |
123.8 |
553.5 |
|
2015 |
56.9 |
610.4 |
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Helen Jones on 2016-04-19.
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what estimate he has made of the annual costs incurred in clinical negligence legislation due to the failure of the NHS Litigation Authority to (a) properly investigate claims early in the process and (b) offer a realistic settlement at the earliest possible time; and if he will make a statement.
Ben Gummer
The role of the National Health Service Litigation Authority (NHS LA) is to deal efficiently and effectively with clinical negligence cases against the NHS as set out in the framework agreement with the Department.
The NHS LA discharges its functions by:
― paying justified claims promptly and appropriately;
― defending claims without merit;
― undertaking appropriate and proportionate risk management activities with its members with a view to assisting them to minimise their claims and thus improve patient and staff safety; and
― ensuring that the lessons learned from claims and the other activities of the NHS LA are appropriately shared in order to help reduce adverse incidents in the future.
A review of NHS LA by the Department, published in July 2015, concluded that it is a well-led and efficient organisation.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Helen Jones on 2016-05-25.
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what progress has been made on finalising the route for the second stage of High Speed 2; and when he expects to announce the decision on that route.
Mr Robert Goodwill
In November last year the Secretary of State confirmed plans for accelerating construction of Phase Two from the West Midlands to Crewe so that it opens in 2027, six years earlier than planned.
We are developing our plans for the rest of Phase Two and we intend to make a decision on the rest of the route in autumn 2016.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Helen Jones on 2016-10-07.
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what representations he has received on behalf of local independent pharmacies in Warrington on their future funding.
David Mowat
We have received representations from individuals, including the hon. Member and from a number of organisations representing pharmacies, pharmacists and patients in Cheshire, on our proposals for community pharmacy in 2016/17 and beyond.
We have also received representations from the National Pharmacy Association and Pharmacy Voice, of which the Association is a member. These include written communications and official meetings.