Tag: Jim Cunningham

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Cunningham on 2016-03-08.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, pursuant to the Answer of 7 March 2016 to Question 29559, what average number of patients were registered at each GP surgery in each of the last 15 years; and if he will make a statement.

Alistair Burt

The publication General and Personal Medical Services contains the aggregated number of registered patients at 30 September each year, but the average over the course of the year is not held centrally. Tables for each of the last 15 years have been placed in the Library. They provide snap-shot data as at 30 September for that year.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Cunningham on 2016-03-15.

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what estimate his Department has made of the number of staff it has hired to support the Air Cadet Organisation in each of the last five years; and if he will make a statement.

Mr Julian Brazier

The Air Cadet Organisation (ACO) is manned primarily by Cadet Force Adult Volunteer staff. The small permanently staffed Headquarters Air Cadets (HQ AC), alongside Headquarters 2 Flying Training School (HQ 2FTS) and the regional and wing formations, together have a staff of approximately 250 personnel.

Glider maintenance and recovery is undertaken by contractors and it is their responsibility for the manning of the contracted work.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Cunningham on 2016-04-13.

To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, pursuant to the Answer of 23 March 2016 to Question 31494, what information his Department holds on the potential percentage change in GDP which would result from estimated levels of immigration in the next 10 years.

Mr David Gauke

The Treasury has not made any formal assessment of the effect of immigration on GDP in the next 10 years.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Cunningham on 2016-04-19.

To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what estimate he has made of the total operating budget for the BBC in each of the next five years; and if he will make a statement.

Mr Edward Vaizey

It is important that the BBC has a sustainable budget, allowing it to continue to provide world-class content and services. The Government will set out plans for the future of the BBC, including its funding, in a White Paper in May.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Cunningham on 2016-04-25.

To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, how much EU (a) 7th Framework Programme and (b) Horizon 2020 funding has been provided to (i) universities, (ii) other research institutions and (iii) small businesses in the UK in each of the last five years.

Joseph Johnson

The figures requested are set out below. These reflect the full value of grant agreements signed in each calendar year, not the money received in that year.

Higher and Secondary Education Organisations (HES) agreed funding (€):

	2011	2012	2013	2014	2015
FP7	832,679,583	923,451,655	1,017,766,046	390,441,742	22,102,754
Horizon 2020				178,789,606	910,814,167

Non-profit Research organisations (REC) agreed funding (€):

	2011	2012	2013	2014	2015
FP7	109,612,016	78,523,761	107,290,576	38,249,216	1,469,761
Horizon 2020				48,957,471	140,977,361

All Small and Medium sized Enterprises (SME) agreed funding (€):

	2011	2012	2013	2014	2015
FP7	127,491,096	180,348,365	229,312,029	39,929,247	241,625
Horizon 2020				49,215,444	219,693,279

Please note that the SME figures may include some HES or REC organisations.

The variation in the figures across the years in part reflects the fact that calls are competitively bid for and vary considerably in the amount of funding available; and in part the fact that the FP7 budget was back-loaded, with increasing amounts of money available to award as grants in the final two years of the programme (2012-2013). In contrast, relatively few grants were awarded in the first year of Horizon 2020 (2014), which thereafter is due to run with annual budgets larger than those available to FP7.

Overall, the UK was the second biggest recipient of EU research funding under FP7, and remains so under Horizon 2020.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Cunningham on 2016-04-27.

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what recent assessment her Department has made of the effects on wider biodiversity of commonly used pesticides; and if she will make a statement.

George Eustice

Strict regulation is in place to reduce the risk of environmental damage by pesticides. A pesticide may only be placed on the market if and when the product has been authorised by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE). Following a thorough risk assessment, HSE imposes conditions on the way pesticides are used, to ensure there is no harm to human health and no unacceptable effect on the environment. Pesticides that pose unacceptable risks are not authorised.

Assessments by Defra and others identify three types of impacts on biodiversity:

• General impacts of past agricultural intensification. The 2011 UK National Ecosystem Assessment identified significant biodiversity loss over the last 50 years, with pollution and land use change on farmland as major drivers. Land use change includes the loss of flower-rich habitat, changes to cropping types and timings, drainage, hedge management, and pesticide use. It is not simple to disentangle these impacts;

• Direct impacts on non-target organisms, including insects and aquatic species. For example, Defra-commissioned research on the status of UK pollinators identified some correlative evidence of reduced species richness at the landscape-scale associated with more intensive use of pesticides, but concluded that further research on direct empirical evidence of field-scale impacts was required. Further research is ongoing; and,

• There is evidence on indirect impacts of pesticides on species such as birds or bats that feed on invertebrates or plants. This is an area of active research in the UK, Europe and North America, with population impacts recorded for some species such as grey partridge.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Cunningham on 2016-05-18.

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps her Department is taking to increase recruitment of teachers of priority subjects in secondary schools.

Nick Gibb

Teaching is a hugely popular career with more teachers in schools than ever before and record levels of top graduates entering the profession. To support recruitment in 2016/17 we have increased postgraduate bursaries, which put a premium on degree class, to attract top graduates in priority subjects such as physics, mathematics and modern foreign languages. Prestigious scholarships, worth £30,000 for physics and £25,000 for mathematics, chemistry or computing, are also available to talented graduates with a first or 2:1 degree who are passionate about their subject and have the potential to be inspirational teachers. We are also continuing to fund Teach First and their mission to get the best graduates into challenging schools.

In addition, we are spending £67 million on a programme of measures to improve the knowledge of the existing mathematics and physics teaching workforce, and increase the number of new mathematics and physics specialists who enter the profession through initial teacher training every year. This package aims to recruit up to 2,500 new teachers and train up to 15,000 existing teachers over the next five years. It also includes programmes to encourage the brightest A level students and undergraduates into teaching; salaried part-time and abridged courses for career changers; a salaried route for post-doctoral mathematics and physics researchers; and support for qualified teachers wishing to return to the profession.

Our marketing campaign, Your Future | Their Future, includes targeted subject specific advertising through a range of media. Those who wish to teach secondary priority subjects are eligible for our enhanced Premier Plus service, which provides support from a dedicated adviser to guide them through the application process. Those applicants who would benefit can also access funded courses to boost or refresh their subject knowledge to a level that will allow them to teach the subject. Officials from the Department also attend more than 35 graduate recruitment events each year.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Cunningham on 2016-05-19.

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what estimate she has made of the amount of financial support provided to young carers in each of the last five years; and if she will make a statement.

Edward Timpson

According to the Office for National Statistics, there were 166,000 young carers in 2011.

The Government has changed the law so that all young carers have been entitled to an assessment of their needs for support since April 2015, regardless of who they care for, what type of care they provide, or how much time they spend caring. Around 60%, of young carers are thought to be eligible for free school meals, and those who have been registered for free school meals at any point in the last six years will attract pupil premium funding to the schools that they attend.

We do not specifically estimate the amount of financial support provided to young carers.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Cunningham on 2016-06-06.

To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what estimate his Department has made of how many full-time equivalent civil servants will support the West Midlands Combined Authority in each of the next five years; and if he will make a statement.

Mr Mark Francois

A range of officials from across Government will work to support the West Midlands Combined Authority in the delivery of their policy outcomes. Civil Servants from my Department, including those based in Birmingham, and from the Homes and Communities Agency, will support the authorities of the West Midlands on a number of key local delivery priorities, including on planning, housing, and programmes to drive local economic growth, such as Enterprise Zones and European funding.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Cunningham on 2016-06-07.

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, how many representations he has made to his (a) Yemeni and (b) Saudi Arabian counterpart in each of the last twelve months on the conflict in Yemen; and if he will make a statement.

Mr Tobias Ellwood

The Foreign Secretary, my Rt Hon. Friend the Member for Runnymede and Weybridge (Mr Hammond) is in regular contact with Saudi Arabian Foreign Minister Al Jubeir regarding the situation in Yemen. During his recent tour of the Gulf, the Foreign Secretary held constructive discussions with all six GCC countries, underlining the UK’s commitment to finding a peaceful resolution and working in partnership with key regional actors to achieve this. I also regularly engage with the UN Special Envoy for Yemen and President Hadi to encourage commitment to the political process and the UK Special Envoy to Yemen, Sir Alan Duncan, visited the region in April and May to deliver messages to key Yemeni and regional interlocutors. Yemen remains a top priority for the UK Government and we are committed to working towards a durable peace.