Tag: Jess Phillips

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 first competition which concluded in July 2015 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 2016-07-21.

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, with reference to the Answer of 15 October 2015 to Question 10706, and to the letter sent by Network Rail to the hon. Member for Birmingham, Yardley on 14 July 2016, what the expected timescale is for accessibility alterations for Stechford railway station.

Paul Maynard

Network Rail have completed the option selection process for the Access for All scheme at Stechford and are working on a detailed design for the project. The Network Rail sponsor for the project would be happy to meet the hon Member to discuss plans for improving access at the station.

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

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what support is on offer to apprentices who need help covering childcare costs and if she will take steps to extend such support to match that available to other workers.

Robert Halfon

Apprentices are employed from day one. They acquire skills much valued in the labour market without having to contribute to the costs of their learning. The benefits system treats an apprentice in the same way as any other employee.

As an employee aged 18 or over, an apprentice may be entitled to the usual in-work benefits, such as Child Tax Credit and Working Tax Credits.

If an apprentice has children, or is aged 16 or over and does paid work of at least 16 hours a week, they could qualify for tax credits, unless they are already earning £25,000 or more per year. Further information can be found on the tax credit section of the HMRC website. Universal Credit will make it easier and less worrying for claimants to try out a job or work more hours because their benefits will not automatically stop if they do so.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jess Phillips on 2015-11-13.

To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what guidance his Department gives to local authorities on the statutory minimum level for a local authority trading standards service.

Nick Boles

There is no statutory minimum level for a local authority trading standards service. It is a locally based service, accountable to local communities and therefore the decision making process lies at a local level.

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 school support staff 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 2016-02-24.

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, pursuant to the Answer of 24 February 2016 to Question 27540, under whose jurisdiction objections citing provisions relating to the Armed Forces Covenant excluding those relating to service premium admission would fall.

Nick Gibb

The School Admissions Code contains a range of statutory provisions relating to school admission arrangements and to the wider admissions process. The code includes provisions to ensure that children of UK service personnel are not disadvantaged when applying for a school place. The role of the Schools Adjudicator is to consider objections about admission arrangements only. Some of the provisions in the code, therefore, do not fall within the adjudicator’s jurisdiction. There is no body which has jurisdiction to consider objections relating to these other provisions, but admission authorities must comply with all the statutory provisions in the code and, where they fail to do so, the Secretary of State has powers under section 496 and 497 of the Education Act 1996 to require them to comply.

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

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many appeals against school exclusion were heard at the First Tier Tribunal (SEN and Disabilities) in each year since 2010.

Caroline Dinenage

Information about the number of appeals (a) heard against school exclusion and (b) how many were found in favour of the appellant is published by the Ministry of Justice in the Tribunals and Gender Recognition Statistics Quarterly. The most recent statistics for the First-tier Tribunal SEND are for the period 1 September 2014 to 31 August 2015, published on 10 December 2015, which can be viewed at:

https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/tribunals-and-gender-recognition-certificate-statistics-quarterly-july-to-september-2015.

These statistics cover the years 2011/12 to 2014/15.

The statistics for earlier years can be viewed at:

https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/385777/sen-tables-2014.xls.

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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.