Tag: Ian Austin

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Ian Austin on 2015-11-19.

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment she has made of how effectively pupil premium funding is used by schools to support disadvantaged highly-able pupils.

Mr Sam Gyimah

The department recently published ‘Supporting the Attainment of Disadvantaged Pupils: Articulating Success and Good Practice’[1]. This is independent research on the effective use of the pupil premium, carried out by National Foundation for Educational Research.

On the basis of this report, the department published ‘Supporting the attainment of disadvantaged pupils: briefing for school leaders’[2], which reinforces the importance of supporting more able disadvantaged pupils to meet their potential.

[1] https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/473974/DFE-RR411_Supporting_the_attainment_of_disadvantaged_pupils.pdf.

[2] https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/473976/DFE-RS411_Supporting_the_attainment_of_disadvantaged_pupils_-_briefing_for_school_leaders.pdf

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The below Parliamentary question was asked by Ian Austin on 2016-01-07.

To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, how many illegal money lenders Illegal Money Lending Units prevented from operating in 2015.

Nick Boles

According to the National Trading Standards Annual report 2014/15, the England and Wales illegal money lending teams commenced 365 operations into 756 suspected money lenders in 2014/15.

In the same period 42 individuals were charged or had proceedings instituted against them for illegal money lending in England and Wales. Trading Standards Scotland referred a further 9 individuals to the Procurator Fiscal for illegal money lending in 2014/15.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Ian Austin on 2016-02-01.

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what the recruitment target for the Future Teaching Scholars programme is for 2015-16.

Nick Gibb

The Future Teaching Scholars programme is currently recruiting high achieving A level students, with the aim of securing up to 110 scholars to start the programme in the academic year 2016-17.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Ian Austin on 2016-02-19.

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what recent assessment he has made of the (a) effectiveness and (b) level of use by single parents of the Jobcentre Plus Flexible Support Fund.

Priti Patel

The Department has not conducted any specific evaluation work on the use of Flexible Support Fund for single parents.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Ian Austin on 2016-03-01.

To ask the Attorney General, if he will take steps to ensure that at the point of sentencing all available information on previous offences committed by the person to be sentenced is made available to the court.

Robert Buckland

It is vital that all relevant available information on previous convictions and sentences (antecedents) is made available to the court that passes sentence. This allows the court to pass a sentence commensurate with the seriousness of the offence taking account the offender’s previous convictions. There are already procedures in place to ensure this

The Crown Prosecution Service, or other prosecuting authority in the case, obtains relevant antecedents and previous convictions from the police so that it is available for service on the court, with further copies being served on the defence and Probation Services. It is the responsibility of the prosecution advocate to ensure that the information required is made available to the court at any sentencing hearing.

The Criminal Practice Directions [2013] EWCA Crim 1631 prescribe minimum standards for the provision of antecedent information in the magistrates’ and Crown Court. There is an additional requirement in the Crown Court for brief details of convictions likely to be of interest to the court to be made available prior to sentence being imposed.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Ian Austin on 2016-04-26.

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many alternative provision free schools have been graded (a) outstanding, (b) good, (c) requires improvement and (d) inadequate in each year since 2012.

Nick Gibb

These are matters for Her Majesty’s Chief Inspector, Sir Michael Wilshaw. I have asked him to write to you and a copy of his reply will be placed in the libraries of the House.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Ian Austin on 2016-05-24.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, if he will make it his policy to continue supplying Orkambi to cystic fibrosis patients currently receiving that drug as part of a clinical trial in the event of that drug not being approved for NHS use by the NICE.

George Freeman

The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence is currently appraising Orkambi (lumacaftor-ivacaftor) for the treatment of cystic fibrosis homozygous for the F508del mutation.

NHS England has advised that it has published policies that cover the different circumstances where a patient is on a clinical trial and where the drug is not subsequently approved for National Health Service use. In the circumstances of a commercially funded trial it is normally the responsibility of the manufacturer or the hospital to consider whether they wish to continue making it available to individual patients.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Ian Austin on 2016-09-08.

To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, if she will make it her policy to include in the BBC Charter a commitment to broadcast a minimum of 10 hours of in-house Gaelic language programming on BBC ALBA each week.

Matt Hancock

During the BBC Charter Review public consultation we have listened to views across a range of issues in relation to the BBC, including Gaelic language broadcasting.

There is a successful partnership between the BBC and MG Alba for the delivery of Gaelic language broadcasting. The White Paper, published in May 2016, sets out the Government’s intention to require maintain a commitment to minority language broadcasting through the new Charter.

The level of funding dedicated to BBC ALBA and the number of hours of in-house Gaelic language programming broadcast are matters for the BBC Board to consider when fulfilling this requirement under the new Charter.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Ian Austin on 2016-10-07.

To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, pursuant to the Answer of 19 September 2016 to Question 45930, on the Palestinian Authority, if she will place a copy of her Department’s formal assessment of the Palestinian Authority’s commitment to the Partnership Principles in the Library.

Rory Stewart

DFID does not routinely publish Partnership Principles assessments. These assessments are used to inform the annual dialogue between DFID and the Palestinian Authority (PA). Our assessment is that the PA continues to deliver on the Partnership Principles.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Ian Austin on 2016-10-20.

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, when the Government plans to publish the outcome of its consultation on capping the fees charged to consumers by claims management companies.

Sir Oliver Heald

Information on the number of people who have lost more than 25 per cent of their financial claims compensation to the claims management company (CMC) handling their claim is not held centrally.

Our priority is to protect consumers who choose to use CMCs. We have consulted on proposals to cap the level of fees that CMCs providing financial claims services can charge consumers. These proposals aim to help consumers get more of the compensation due to them. We are carefully considering the consultation responses and the Government will publish its response in due course.