Tag: Jess Phillips

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jess Phillips on 2015-11-09.

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many academy brokers there are; and how much her Department spent on academy brokers in each financial year since 2010.

Edward Timpson

The Department no longer has dedicated academy brokers. We have procured a pool of educational experts, through open competition. Notionally, each Regional Schools Commissioner (RSC) will have a pool of experts to support them in their work, to call upon as required.

The Department has spent the following on Education Advisers, doing brokerage work, in each financial year since 2010:

2010/11 £1,497,856 [1]

2011/12 £2,829,582.59[2]

2012/13 £4,438,358.13 [3]

2013/14 £3,031,794.39 [4]

2014/15 £2,192,228

[1] https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/request-for-numbers-costs-contracts-and-pay-of-academy-brokers/request-for-numbers-costs-contracts-and-pay-of-academy-brokers

[2] http://www.publications.parliament.uk/pa/ld201213/ldhansrd/text/130225w0003.htm

[3] http://www.publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm201314/cmhansrd/cm130610/text/130610w0004.htm

[4] http://www.publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm201415/cmhansrd/cm140721/text/140721w0003.htm

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jess Phillips on 2016-01-29.

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what estimate her Department has made of the effect on the number of teachers of the Government’s policy to consider for deportation after five years non-EU migrants earning less than £35,000 per annum.

Nick Gibb

The Department does not collect data on the nationality or immigration status of the school workforce.

This is a local matter for schools and all schools must employ members of the school workforce in accordance with employment law.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jess Phillips on 2016-02-19.

To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what grants and schemes his Department offers to small and medium-sized businesses to encourage innovation.

Joseph Johnson

My Department and its partner organisations are working to make the UK the best place in Europe to innovate, patent new ideas, start and grow a business. Innovate UK delivers a range of programmes to support business-led innovation, including tools specifically designed for early-stage small and medium sized businesses.

The Spending Review protects, in cash terms, total spending on innovation through Innovate UK. We are also expanding the network of Catapult Centres, which provide valuable innovation support to businesses, and helps turn their ideas into world-beating commercial applications. There are currently nine Catapults with a further two due to open later this year.

The UK Intellectual Property Office provides a wide range of support to businesses of all sizes through its on-line tools and direct engagement, including an IP audit scheme targeted at high growth SMEs.

Support is also provided by the Government through R&D tax credits, which now support between 70% and 80% of all business investment in R&D. In 2013/14 there were 18,000 companies using the R&D tax credit schemes, claiming a total of £1.75 billion. In addition, in the area of capital allowances, the permanent level of the Annual Investment Allowance has increased from £25,000 to £200,000 for all qualifying investment in plant and machinery made by business on or after 1 January 2016. 100% relief for capital expenditure incurred in the course of R&D activities is available under the Research & Development Allowance.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jess Phillips on 2016-04-13.

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many and what proportion of children were subject to child protection procedures in each year since 2010.

Edward Timpson

The requested information can be found within table A2 of the ‘Characteristics of children in need: 2014 to 2015’ statistical first release: https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/characteristics-of-children-in-need-2014-to-2015

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The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jess Phillips on 2016-04-26.

To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what he expects the take-up rate of tax-free childcare to be.

Damian Hinds

Tax-Free Childcare is being designed to be as straightforward as possible for parents. It will be quick and easy to apply online for the vast majority who are able to do so. However, Her Majesty’s Revenue and Customs will ensure that assistance is provided to families who cannot access the internet so that they do not miss out on the support available via Tax-Free Childcare.

Once the scheme is fully open, we estimate that up to 1 million families may take up the scheme in ‘steady state’.

The Tax-Free Childcare system will be extensively tested before the scheme is launched.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jess Phillips on 2016-05-09.

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what his policy is on the establishment of an independent international investigation into reported violations of international humanitarian law in the conflict in Yemen.

Mr Tobias Ellwood

We want to see the Saudi Government investigate allegations of breaches of international humanitarian law (IHL) which are attributed to them; and for their investigations to be timely, thorough and conclusive. Saudi Arabia has publicly stated that it is investigating reports of alleged violations of IHL, and that any lessons learned will be acted upon. We are also concerned by reports of alleged IHL violations by Houthi/Saleh pro-government forces. We have raised our concerns with the Houthis on the importance of compliance with IHL and the need for thorough and conclusive investigations.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jess Phillips on 2016-06-06.

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, with reference to paragraph 1.37e of the Educational Excellence Everywhere White Paper, when she plans to announce the recipients of the Excellence in Leadership Fund.

Nick Gibb

The Department’s White Paper Educational Excellence Everywhere stated that we would launch an Excellence in Leadership Fund to encourage the best Multi-Academy Trusts and other providers to develop innovative ways of boosting leadership, particularly in areas of most need. The Fund will help to better support schools to develop a strong and diverse set of school and system leaders, through specific activity aimed at groups that are still under-represented in leadership positions. Further information about the timing and budget for the Excellence in Leadership Fund will be made available in due course.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jess Phillips on 2016-06-24.

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many of the academy trusts approved to receive the Northern Fund for academy sponsors in the second competition which concluded in February 2016 operated schools which had not been inspected by Ofsted since becoming an academy.

Edward Timpson

Nine academy trusts were approved to receive the Northern Fund from the two competitions. All nine trusts (five in the first competition, and four in the second) were operating one or more schools that had not been inspected by Ofsted since becoming an academy at the time decisions were taken to award funding. Equally, all nine trusts had one of more schools that had been inspected at the time decisions were taken to award funding.

Academy trusts will, at any point in time, be likely to have a mixture of academies, some of which will have been inspected as academies and some not. That is the nature of the inspection arrangements, and is why we considered a broad set of factors, including the overall performance of the trusts, to assess whether the Northern Fund would enhance their capacity and capability to improve underperforming schools.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jess Phillips on 2016-09-05.

To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what innovation start-up grants are available for charities that undertake water sanitation projects.

James Wharton

The Department for International Development offers a wide range of funding opportunities and grants for charities and not-for-profit organisations interested in delivering poverty reduction-related activities, including water and sanitation projects.

These include UK Aid Direct, which is an adaptive, demand-led, fund designed to support small and medium sized national and international Civil Society Organisations (CSOs) to reduce poverty through service delivery, livelihoods and security and justice; and the Global Innovation Fund which has been established to support innovators to develop, test and scale-up innovations with the potential to have transformational social impact on the millions of people living on less than $5 a day. A complete list of funding opportunities can be found on DFID’s website at: https://www.gov.uk/international-development-funding.

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The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jess Phillips on 2016-10-11.

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps she is taking to increase diversity in apprenticeships.

Robert Halfon

We want to increase the quality and quantity of all apprenticeships, including for those from a black, Asian, and minority ethnic (BAME) background.

We have publically committed to increasing the number of BAME apprentices by 20% to 11.9% overall by 2020, from just under 10% in the last parliament. Targeted campaigns and a network of 18 employer diversity champions are driving progress. In 2014/15, 10.6% of those starting an apprenticeship were from a BAME background.

We have taken action through our marketing campaign ‘Get in Go Far’ to ensure that there is clear representation from BAME apprentices. Research undertaken prior to the campaign ensured that it could reach a diverse audience. The employer diversity champions are committed to sharing good practice and raising awareness of apprenticeships amongst employers.

Research has been commissioned to explore potential barriers that BAME applicants for apprenticeships face so that we can provide support to improve the success rates of this group. We have started detailed analysis of apprenticeship data to identify areas of under-representation and areas of potential for growth. We are currently developing options to take forward.