Tag: James Berry

The below Parliamentary question was asked by James Berry on 2015-12-01.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many Sri Lankans have been granted refugee status after having previously been removed to Sri Lanka following a refused application for asylum in the UK in each quarter since January 2012.

James Brokenshire

Since January 2012, there have been a total of eight Sri Lankan nationals who have been granted refugee status in the UK after having previously been removed to Sri Lanka following a refused application for asylum.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by James Berry on 2015-12-17.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, if he will commission a review of portion sizes to inform the food industry and consumers about what constitutes a healthy portion.

Jane Ellison

Public Health England’s recent report, Sugar Reduction: The evidence for action, highlights that portion sizes have been increasing over time and that this results in more calories being consumed. We have a number of tools to help inform what constitutes a healthy portion size, for example the Front of Pack nutrition labelling scheme, the eatwell plate and the Change4Life programme.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by James Berry on 2016-01-13.

To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what steps he is taking to widen access to financial advice.

Harriett Baldwin

Last year the Government and the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) jointly launched the Financial Advice Market Review. The Review is exploring how the UK’s financial advice market is operating for consumers, and what more can be done to ensure they have the access they need to high-quality, affordable advice so they can make informed decisions with their hard earned money. The Review will report ahead of Budget 2016.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by James Berry on 2016-01-15.

To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what arrangements his Department has in place to ensure that organisations are not able to provide both training for and assessment of the standards for the same apprenticeship; and if he will make a statement.

Nick Boles

The Department is fully committed to the principle that end point assessment should either be delivered by an independent third party, or in such a way that no party involved in the management or training of an apprentice can make the sole decision on competence and passing the end-point assessment.

We are working to ensure the Register of Assessment Organisations and Register of Training Providers, which govern who can conduct training and assessment, support this principle.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by James Berry on 2016-03-01.

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps her Department is taking to reform special educational needs and disability provision.

Edward Timpson

The special educational needs and disability (SEND) reforms which came into effect in September 2014 represent the biggest change to the SEND system in a generation. They are transforming the support available to children and young people with SEND by joining up services across education, health and social care and by focusing on positive outcomes for education, employment, housing, health and community participation.

Since September 2014, our reforms have seen the introduction of:

o published ‘local offers’ for each local area, setting out the SEND services that are available;

o new Education, Health and Care (EHC) plans for those with more complex needs – replacing statements of SEN and post-16 Learning Difficulty Assessments (LDAs);

o a new legal requirement on local authorities to take the views of families fully into account when deciding what provision to offer;

o new statutory protections for 16-25 year olds in further education – including the right to request the educational institution of their choice;

o new duties for health to deliver the agreed health elements of EHC plans;

o the option of a personal budget for families and young people with an EHC plan;

o a review of disagreement resolution arrangements; and

o new arrangements for supporting young offenders with SEND.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by James Berry on 2016-03-21.

To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what proportion of the local government finance settlement announced in the 2015 Spending Review his Department plans to spend on homelessness prevention in each year up to 2019-20; and if he will make a statement.

Mr Marcus Jones

The Government has always been clear that we are committed to supporting the most vulnerable people in our society. One person without a home is one too many. That is why we have protected the homelessness prevention funding local authorities receive, totalling £315 million by 2019-20.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by James Berry on 2016-05-25.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps Border Force has taken to identify and assist potential victims of trafficking and modern slavery at ports across the UK.

James Brokenshire

Combating modern slavery, which includes human trafficking, slavery, servitude and forced or compulsory labour, is a leading priority for Border Force. All frontline Border Force Officers have access to comprehensive guidance on modern slavery and must complete mandatory training on identifying victims of modern slavery.

Additionally, Border Force has specialist teams at ports across the country which receive additional, in depth, training to increase their levels of expertise. This allows Border Force to maintain a high degree of vigilance to identify and protect those who may be a victim of modern slavery and to identify those seeking to exploit them. Border Force officers follow established processes and referring all identified child and consenting adult potential victims to the National Referral Mechanism (NRM), which acts as the UK’s identification and support process for victims.

Border Force staff also receive mandatory training also takes places on how to refer potential victims to NRM. Working in close partnership with police forces, social services and the UK Human Trafficking Centre, Border Force also carries out intelligence led exercises to tackle the threat of trafficking at the border.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by James Berry on 2016-07-21.

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, when the Government expects to receive the EU Commission’s assessment of the UK Air Quality Plan.

Dr Thérèse Coffey

The Government submitted a revised air quality plan to the European Commission on 17 December last year. There is no formal timetable under the Air Quality Directive for the Commission to assess the plan. The Government is working with the Commission to ensure compliance with the nitrogen dioxide limits in the Directive in the shortest possible time.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by James Berry on 2016-07-21.

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what plans his Department has to use the National Noise Attitudes Survey 2014 to update the Government’s policy on aviation noise and health costs.

Mr John Hayes

The Government is taking account of all relevant evidence in its current review of policy on aviation noise.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by James Berry on 2016-07-21.

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment his Department has made of the potential effect on the level of fees charged by Heathrow Airport to airlines in the event of a third runway being built at that airport.

Mr John Hayes

The Airports Commission shortlisted three airport expansion schemes, two at Heathrow and one at Gatwick. The Government accepted the Commission’s shortlist in December 2015 and is considering all of the evidence very carefully before reaching a view on its preferred scheme. The Government is not providing a running commentary on this work and nor would it be appropriate to outline specific pieces of evidence before an announcement on its preference. Any work to inform an announcement will be set out in subsequent publications and associated consultation.