Tag: Jim Cunningham

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Cunningham on 2016-09-05.

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what representations he has made to his Iranian counterpart on British nationals detained in that country; and if he will make a statement.

Mr Tobias Ellwood

We continue to raise our strong concerns about British prisoners in Iran at the highest levels in both London and Tehran. Both the Prime Minister, my Rt Hon. Friend the Member for Maidenhead (Mrs May) and the Foreign Secretary, my Rt Hon. Friend the Member for Uxbridge and South Ruislip (Mr Johnson) did so in their introductory calls with their Iranian counterparts recently, and the Foreign Secretary followed up in writing to Iranian Foreign Minister Zarif on 29 August.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Cunningham on 2016-09-12.

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what representations he has made to his global counterparts on cruelty in the global dog meat trade; and if he will make a statement.

Alok Sharma

The consumption of dog meat is legal in many countries, and the United Kingdom has no grounds to intervene or take trade measures to prevent this. We continue to make our views known to the governments of those countries where this practice continues; most recently I raised this issue with the South Korean Ambassador ahead of the Westminster Hall Debate on 12 September. Our Ambassador in Seoul has also raised the dog meat trade with the South Korean authorities, most recently on 1 September, highlighting our concerns about the treatment and welfare of animals. As I stated in the Westminster Hall Debate, it is promising that in countries where dog meat is consumed, there are signs that attitudes are changing amongst the young and emerging middle classes. We encourage that change.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Cunningham on 2016-10-10.

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what research her Department has commissioned on the effect of selective education on the educational attainment of children in the last 12 months; and if she will make a statement.

Nick Gibb

The Department has reviewed a wide range of external research and evidence on the impact of academic selection, including research on the impact of selection on the educational attainment of disadvantaged pupils.

The evidence shows that grammar schools provide a good education for those who attend them. Grammar school pupils outperform those of similar ability in comprehensive schools and they also make more progress than other pupils with similar primary school results. Nearly 78 per cent of high ability pupils achieve the English Baccalaureate at grammar school, compared to just over 52 per cent at comprehensive schools, and the attainment gap for disadvantaged students in grammar schools is practically eliminated

This evidence is based on the existing system of grammar schools. We are proposing significant changes to the requirements placed on selective schools to ensure that they raise standards for all pupils as part of a diverse schools system.

Our proposals will help deliver a school system that works for all children and offers parents genuine choice by increasing the number of good and outstanding school places.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Cunningham on 2016-10-11.

To ask the Secretary of State for Exiting the European Union, pursuant to the Answer of 10 October 2016 to Question 46424, if he will estimate the total cost of meetings held by his Department to date; and if he will make a statement.

Mr David Jones

The Department does not track the costs of individual meetings. Details about overseas visits and related expenditure for Ministers and Senior Officials will be published as transparency data on gov.uk.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Cunningham on 2016-10-24.

To ask the Secretary of State for Exiting the European Union, what legislation his Department plans to repeal using the Great Repeal Bill; and if he will make a statement.

Mr David Jones

The Government will bring forward legislation in the next session that, when enacted, will repeal the European Communities Act 1972 on the day we leave the EU. This ‘Great Repeal Bill’ will end the authority of EU law and return power to the UK.

The Bill will transpose current EU law into domestic law, while allowing for amendments to take account of the future negotiated UK-EU relationship. Without pre-judging this future relationship or future decisions Parliament may make, it will give consumers, workers and businesses as much certainty as possible by maintaining law wherever practicable and desirable.

The Government will set out the content of the Bill and its implications in due course.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Cunningham on 2015-10-29.

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what estimate her Department has made of the number of teachers who will be trained in each of the next five years; and if she will make a statement.

Nick Gibb

The Department for Education uses the Teacher Supply Model (TSM) to estimate the demand for qualified teachers in active service within state-funded schools in England each year using a range of assumptions, including projections for the numbers of pupils in schools and the number of teachers expected to leave the sector. The TSM then estimates the number of postgraduate Initial Teacher Training places required in England to meet this demand, given the number of entrants expected via routes other than Newly Qualified Teacher (for example, entering as a re-entrant) and the proportion of trainees that will either fail to complete training or gain employment post-training.

The 2016/17 version of the TSM, which was used to inform the 2016/17 ITT recruitment process, along with a user guide explaining the methodology in detail, is available at the following link: www.gov.uk/government/publications/teacher-supply-model

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The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Cunningham on 2015-11-05.

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether her Department has conducted a review into the adequacy of the service provided by agencies supplying supply teachers to school; and if she will make a statement.

Nick Gibb

Schools, academiesand local authorities are responsible for the recruitment and management of their supply teachers.This allows them to manage their resources and staffing structures in a way that meets local needs and priorities without central prescription from government.

Supply agencies are independent of the Department for Education and decide their own recruitment practices but must comply with legislation set by the Employment Agencies Standards Inspectorate (EASI) – which covers other occupations not just teachers.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Cunningham on 2015-11-16.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what information her Department holds on the number of (a) arrests for and (b) successful prosecutions of individuals charged with counter-terrorism offences in (i) Coventry and (ii) the West Midlands in each of the last five years; and if she will make a statement.

Mr John Hayes

The Home Office releases a quarterly statistics bulletin on the operation of police powers under the Terrorism Act 2000. It contains information on the numbers of arrests, charges and convictions for terrorism-related offences. The latest bulletin was released in September 2015 and can be found here:

https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/operation-of-police-powers-under-the-terrorism-act-2000-financial-year-ending-march-2015

The data is not broken down by geographic location. To do so could give an indication of the deployment of police resources and might prejudice ongoing operations.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Cunningham on 2015-11-23.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what steps his Department is taking to increase the number of trained doctors; and if he will make a statement.

Ben Gummer

The annual workforce census, published by the Health and Social Care Information Centre shows that as at 30 September 2014 there were 4,662 more consultants and 2,389 more doctors in training working in the National Health Service in England than there were in September 2010.

The census also shows that there were 1,219 more qualified general practitioners (GPs) working in England over the same period.

The Government has maintained the number of undergraduate medical training places at a level sufficient to support continued increase in the medical workforce in England.Where there are shortages in specific specialties, the Department will work with Health Education England and NHS England to address them for example, through the ten point plan for the general practice workforce, which will boost recruitment, encourage experienced GPs to remain in the profession and support GPs to return to practice. The Government has also committed to providing an estimated 5,000 more doctors working in general practice by 2020.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Cunningham on 2015-12-01.

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what review he has conducted of the operational capacity of Islamic State in Libya; and if he will make a statement.

Penny Mordaunt

We are extremely concerned about and closely monitoring the growing threat from extremist groups in Libya, including groups affiliated with Daesh. These groups threaten Libya, her regional neighbours and UK interests in the region. We have seen barbaric and appalling acts of terror inside Libya, including the targeting of others because of their faith. Daesh continues to commit appalling atrocities, including, most recently, in Sirte.