Tag: Ian Austin

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Ian Austin on 2016-03-08.

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, pursuant to the Answer of 11 February 2016 to Question 26338, on EU grants and loans, which organisations have received grants from the £71 million European Social Fund monies.

Mr Sam Gyimah

The European Social Fund provides support for young people aged 14-19 who were not in education, employment or training, or who were at risk of being so, for the period December 2013 to July 2015 (2007-2013 European Social Fund programme extended to 2015). This funding was awarded under contract following an open and competitive tendering process. The procurement process was administered by the Skills Funding Agency on behalf of the Education Funding Agency.

The list of organisations contracted to deliver this provision can be found here:

https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/294667/SFA_ESF_Programme_Summary_-_14-19_NEET.pdf

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The below Parliamentary question was asked by Ian Austin on 2016-04-27.

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, whether the Government plans to impose financial sanctions on Russian individuals complicit in human rights abuses.

Mr David Lidington

EU sanctions have been imposed on Russia for its illegal annexation of Crimea and ongoing aggression and destabilisation of eastern Ukraine. The UK Government supports human rights defenders and holds the Russian Government to account, publicly and privately, when it fails to fulfil its international commitments to promote and protect human rights. For these reasons Russia also featured as a Priority Country in the annual FCO Human Rights Report released in April 2016. I also raised human rights issues with Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Titov on my last visit to Moscow in December 2015.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Ian Austin on 2016-09-02.

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what discussions she has had with the Skills Funding Agency on the potential effect of its proposal to introduce a register of apprenticeship providers on the ability of lead providers to sub-contract to smaller providers.

Robert Halfon

We have engaged with the Skills Funding Agency on the proposals to create a Register of Apprenticeship Training Providers in England. The intention of the proposals is to support a significant increase in the quality of apprenticeships and to create an employer-led apprenticeship system.

The Skills Funding Agency published their proposal on the Register on 12 August https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/register-of-apprenticeship-training-providers. Training providers and interested organisations were given the opportunity to comment on the proposals in a survey which closed on Monday 5 September. The Skills Funding Agency is now considering feedback on the consultation.

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

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, if he will publish a list of the areas in which heroin has been given to heroin addicts in line with his Department’s policy set out on page 31 of the Modern Crime Prevention Strategy, published by his predecessor in March 2016.

Nicola Blackwood

As outlined in the Government’s Modern Crime Prevention Strategy, the use of injectable diamorphine as part of treatment for a small cohort of entrenched, long-term opiate users can be effective.

On behalf of the Department, Public Health England managed a pilot programme of supervised injectable diamorphine prescribing at a cost of £2 million per annum. The pilot ran from 2012 to 2015 at: South London and Maudsley NHS Foundation Trust in Southwark, London; Sussex Partnership NHS Foundation Trust in Brighton; and Tees, Esk and Wear Valleys NHS Foundation Trust in Easington, County Durham.

Information about expenditure on diamorphine prescribing for the treatment of dependence, sites where it is available outside this pilot, and how much diamorphine has been prescribed to heroin addicts is not collected centrally. The decision to commission and fund the local provision of diamorphine prescribing is for local authorities.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Ian Austin on 2016-10-18.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what steps he is taking to ensure that local authorities are properly funded to pay carers the national living wage.

David Mowat

Social care continues to be a key priority for the Government. This is why, against the context of tough public sector finances; the Government has taken steps to protect social care services. The Government is giving local authorities access to up to £3.5 billion of new support for social care by 2019/20. This should mean local government has access to the funding to increase social care spending in real terms by the end of the Parliament. This will support councils to continue to focus on core services and to pay fees which reflect provider costs including the National Living Wage.

The spending took into account a range of financial and economic factors, including projections and data on the National Living Wage from the Office of Budget Responsibility and Skills for Care.

The National Living Wage is an important step in rewarding the valuable contribution made by care workers, who often fall into the lowest earning occupations. Out of an estimated 1.16 million workers in adult social care in England, up to 900,000 people are expected to benefit.

Under the Care Act 2014, local authorities must have regard to fostering an effective workforce with the appropriate capabilities when shaping their local markets. The Act and its statutory guidance make clear that prices and fee rates agreed with providers must reflect these new duties, including the National Living Wage. The Department continues to monitor the whole of the market of care providers and engage with the sector to better understand the challenges they face and support local authorities who purchase services.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Ian Austin on 2015-10-29.

To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what estimate he has made of the number of airfields on land designated as brownfield sites.

Brandon Lewis

National planning policy already requires local planning authorities to take account of airfields’ growth and role in serving business, leisure, training and emergency needs. In March we issued guidance emphasising the need for local planning authorities to have regard to the extent to which an aerodrome contributes to connectivity outside the authority’s own boundaries.

Currently, all airfields, as land that has been previously developed, are regarded as brownfield land.

We will work with the aviation sector to ensure the current policy relating to development on airfields is better understood.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Ian Austin on 2015-12-11.

To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, how many complaints were rejected by the Financial Ombudsman Service on grounds of jurisdiction in (a) 2013, (b) 2014 and (c) 2015 to date.

Harriett Baldwin

The issues raised are a matter for the Financial Ombudsman Service (FOS) who are operationally independent from Government.

The questions have been passed on to the FOS. The FOS will reply directly to the Honorable Member by letter. A copy of the letter will be placed in the Library of the House.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Ian Austin on 2016-01-21.

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment she has made of the adequacy of sports facilities at the High Arcal Academy in Dudley.

Edward Timpson

The Department does not hold a record of the adequacy of sports facilities at the High Arcal academy in Dudley.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Ian Austin on 2016-02-10.

To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, whether he plans that his Department’s further education area reviews will incorporate equality impact assessments.

Nick Boles

Government will produce an evaluation of the area review programme and its potential to impact on groups protected by the Equality Act 2010. The reviews do not however, mandate action, and colleges are independent corporations, so it will be for each college’s governing body to assess the potential impact on groups protected by the Act, as part of its decision to accept or reject any recommendation requiring a change to their provision.

Each area review steering group will consider relevant data relating to current courses delivered within their area, assess the relevance of these courses to local learner and employer needs and determine how current and future demand can be best met through the recommendations of the area review.

Individual area reviews are expected to take about four months, the timescale being dependent on the number of colleges and complexity of the local issues involved in each area. The overall review process has been divided into five waves of area reviews and is scheduled to be completed by March 2017

We expect the costs of completing an area review to be met within existing budgets, with minimal additional costs to the colleges, local authorities or LEPs involved. The Departments and their agencies will undertake this work with no additional staffing. Additional costs will be minimal.

The costs arising from the recommendations of each review will be explored as part of the process. We expect the colleges, alongside local authorities and LEPs with devolved skills budgets, to consider how these costs can be met locally. Where there are costs that cannot be met, but which are essential to the successful implementation of the review, we have announced a facility for transitional funding to support this. We will provide more detail in due course.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Ian Austin on 2016-03-02.

To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, whether his Department has identified a venue for the installation of the London 2012 Olympics athletics warm-up track.

David Evennett

Several parts of the London 2012 warm-up track have been used in athletics venues around the country including Gateshead International Stadium, Birmingham Alexander Stadium, Lee Valley Stadium, Allianz Stadium and Swansea Stadium. A number of other options are being explored for future use of the remaining track.