Tag: Holly Lynch

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Holly Lynch on 2016-02-19.

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if she will undertake a national review of the operation of admissions procedures and the School Admissions Code.

Nick Gibb

The Department for Education is intending to make changes to the School Admissions Code to improve the admissions system for parents and schools. This will be subject to a full public consultation to allow anyone with an interest to provide their views. It will also be subject to parliamentary scrutiny. Details of the consultation will be announced in due course.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Holly Lynch on 2016-03-16.

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, with reference to page 75 of the Budget, how much of the £130 million announced for repairs of roads and bridges he plans will be spent in Calderdale; and when he expects Calderdale council to be in receipt of such funds.

Andrew Jones

From the total funding of £180 million the Department for Transport has made available to assist local highway authorities affected by this winter storms, including £130 million as announced in the Budget 2016, we have agreed to allocate a total of £25 million to Calderdale Council to help repair damage to the local highway infrastructure for which they are responsible. This includes the £5.5 million announced in January 2016 to help replace Elland Bridge.

This funding is in addition to the funding of £‎20.5 million we are providing to the council for local highways maintenance funding to 2020/21.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Holly Lynch on 2016-09-13.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps she is taking to (a) encourage police officers and police community support officers (PCSO) to report assaults sustained in the line of duty, (b) standardise the procedure for reporting assaults across the 48 police forces and (c) standardise the procedures for investigating and responding to an alleged assault on an officer or PCSO.

Brandon Lewis

I want to be clear that an assault of any kind on a police officer or police community support officers is wholly unacceptable. Chief Constables, working with directly elected police and crime commissioners, have a duty to manage and support the police workforce effectively, ensuring the welfare of all officers and staff.

The College of Policing develops standards and guidance for policing and works with forces to manage and prevent assaults.

Last year we published figures on assaults on police officers for the first time since 2009/10 and developed this further in 2016. We continue to work with forces to improve the data.

Sentencing guidelines already provide for assault on a police officer to be treated more severely in appropriate cases. The courts need to be able to take into account all the circumstances of each case.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Holly Lynch on 2015-11-25.

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment he has made of the (a) implications for his policies and (b) reasons for the finding of the Civil Service People Survey 2015 that Driver and Vehicle Standard Agency staff rated leadership and management the lowest in the civil service.

Andrew Jones

The Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency (DVSA) acknowledges that its 2015 Civil Service People Survey results are disappointing, and it is determined to improve its leadership and management of change. This is no easy task for an organisation of 4,500 people working across more than 500 sites. It has begun implementing actions to improve staff engagement, including creating forums for specific groups of staff to contribute to change, and Directorate and team meetings focussing specifically on staff engagement. It is also sending out its corporate senior leaders to talk to, and more importantly, to listen to its public-facing operational staff.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Holly Lynch on 2016-02-19.

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what procedures are in place to ensure that headteachers follow the School Admissions Code.

Nick Gibb

An individual school’s admission authority is responsible for setting and applying its admission arrangements. The local authority is the admission authority for community and voluntary controlled schools; the school’s governing body is the admission authority for voluntary aided and foundation schools; and for academies, the admission authority is the academy trust.

Anyone who believes a school’s admission arrangements are unfair or unlawful can object to the Schools Adjudicator. If the Adjudicator finds the admission arrangements do not comply with the Code, the admission authority must amend their arrangements accordingly.

Any parent who believes the admission authority has not properly applied the school’s admission arrangements in the case of their child’s application and the child has, as a result, been refused a place at the school, has the right of appeal to an independent appeal panel. If the appeal panel upholds the appeal, the school must admit the child.

The School Admissions Code can be found on GOV.UK at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/school-admissions-code–2

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The below Parliamentary question was asked by Holly Lynch on 2016-03-16.

To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, with reference to page 64 of the Budget 2016, how much of the £150 million announced for flood defence schemes he plans will be spent in (a) Leeds, (b) Cumbria, (c) Calderdale and (d) York; and when he expects that funding to be delivered.

Greg Hands

The Budget announced that over £150m will be invested in flood defence schemes in Leeds, York, Calder Valley, Carlisle and wider Cumbria. Funding will be allocated accordingly: Leeds (£35m), Cumbria (excluding Carlisle) (£33m), Carlisle (up to £25m), Calder Valley (£35m), and York (£45m). This funding will be delivered over the period 2016-17 to 2020-21.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Holly Lynch on 2016-09-13.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment she has made of the effect of the severity of sentencing on deterring assaults of police officers; and if she will take steps to ensure that people who assault police officers receive the toughest possible sentences.

Brandon Lewis

I want to be clear that an assault of any kind on a police officer or police community support officers is wholly unacceptable. Chief Constables, working with directly elected police and crime commissioners, have a duty to manage and support the police workforce effectively, ensuring the welfare of all officers and staff.

The College of Policing develops standards and guidance for policing and works with forces to manage and prevent assaults.

Last year we published figures on assaults on police officers for the first time since 2009/10 and developed this further in 2016. We continue to work with forces to improve the data.

Sentencing guidelines already provide for assault on a police officer to be treated more severely in appropriate cases. The courts need to be able to take into account all the circumstances of each case.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Holly Lynch on 2015-11-25.

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether the Calder Valley Line will be used as a diversion during the electrification of the Manchester to Leeds via Stalybridge line; and what assessment he has made of the merits of those diverted trains calling at Sowerby Bridge.

Andrew Jones

As announced on 30 September, Network Rail are working with the Department and Rail North to develop a new plan for electrification of the TransPennine line to focus on delivering key passenger benefits as quickly as possible. In his letter to the Secretary of State, Sir Peter Hendy, the chairman of Network Rail, stated that the planning of this work will be concluded by the end of 2017. The intention is to use the Calder Valley Line as a diversion during the works on the North Transpennine Line via Stalybridge. The details of the calling patterns of the diverted trainsare not yet determined, as the works need to be planned first. The Department and Rail North will work with the new train operators over the next few years to plan the calling patterns. The new train operators will take over from April 2016.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Holly Lynch on 2016-02-19.

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what criteria are used to define challenging behaviour as used in the 2012 School Admissions Code.

Nick Gibb

It is for admission authorities to agree with their local authorities what they regard as challenging behaviour, based on the circumstances of each case.

Each local authority is required to have a Fair Access Protocol in place, to ensure that – outside the normal admissions round – unplaced children are offered a place at a suitable school as quickly as possible and that no school is asked to take a disproportionate number of children with challenging behaviour or children excluded from other schools.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Holly Lynch on 2016-03-16.

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what criteria are used to determine when a non-molestation order is the appropriate course of action.

Mike Penning

Determining when a molestation order is an appropriate course of action is a judicial decision. The court will consider the evidence before it and all the circumstances of each case in determining whether to make a non-molestation order and what duration and conditions to set out. The court also has the power to make a non-molestation order on its own initiative in any family proceedings if it considers it would be of benefit to any party or relevant child.