Tag: Jim Cunningham

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

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what estimate her Department has made of the cost to the public purse of private agency supply teacher services in each of the last five years; and if she will make a statement.

Nick Gibb

Schools, academiesand local authorities are responsible for recruiting and managing their supply teachers and whether or not they use private supply agencies.Supply agency costs are a private commercial arrangement between schools, or local authorities, and individual supply agencies.

Agency supply teacher spend data at national and local authority level is available in the following publications:

For maintained schools – ‘Expenditure by Local Authorities and Schools on Education, Children and Young People’s Services: 2013-14’ (Table 3), at: https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/schools-education-and-childrens-services-spending-2013-to-2014.

For academy schools – ‘Income and expenditure in academies in England: 2013 to 2014’ (Raw data SATS table) at:

https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/income-and-expenditure-in-academies-in-england-2013-to-2014.

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

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many (a) complaints and (b) investigations into complaints made by civil servants against special advisers in her Department there have been in each of the last five years; and how many such (i) complaints and (ii) investigations are outstanding.

Karen Bradley

We have no records of any complaints against or investigations into Home Office Special Advisers in the last five years.

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

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many counter-terrorism personnel were employed in the West Midlands in each of the last five years; and if she will make a statement.

Mr John Hayes

For security reasons we do not publish a breakdown of counter-terrorism budget or staffing by region.

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

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what representations he has received from the Libyan Council of Deputies in each of the last 12 months; and if he will make a statement.

Mr Tobias Ellwood

We receive regular representations from members of the House of Representatives (also known as Council of Deputies) and other parties in Libya. The UK welcomes the statement of support for a Government of National Accord in Libya signed by the majority of House of Representatives members on November 24, and notes that a majority of General National Congress members in Tripoli also stand firmly in support of a Government of National Accord. Only such a Government can begin the difficult work of establishing effective, legitimate governance, restoring stability, and preserving the unity of the country, as expected by all Libyans. We fully support the UN process led by Special Representative of the Secretary General Martin Kobler as he works to facilitate Libya’s political transition.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Cunningham on 2015-12-07.

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment her Department has made of its ability to (a) forecast and (b) mitigate the impact of extreme weather events on the UK; and if she will make a statement.

Rory Stewart

The Flood Forecasting Centre – jointly operated by the Environment Agency and Met Office – combines world class science, knowledge and experience on meteorology and hydrology to forecast flood risk. The daily assessment of risk enables extra time for emergency responders to prepare.

The Government has recently announced funding for a £97m supercomputer that will cement the UK’s position as a world leader in weather and climate prediction. In addition to this, the Environment Agency operates a flood forecasting and warning service for over 3000 local communities at risk from both rivers and the sea. Advice is provided by phone and text to over 1.1m home and business owners when their property is at risk.

Further investment to improve timely and accurate information to the public is underway. A £6m programme of improvements to weather radar will be completed this year and live data on river levels from across England was made available on the Government’s website earlier this year.

Climate change is factored into all the modelling work that the Environment Agency does, but in light of this extreme weather we must look at that modelling and ensure it is fit for purpose for future decisions.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Cunningham on 2015-12-10.

To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, how many staff made up the BIS Automotive sector team in each of the last five years; and if he will make a statement.

Anna Soubry

Information on the number of staff in the BIS Automotive sector team over each of the last five years is illustrated in the table below.

Year (Calendar)	Number of Staff (Full-Time Equivalent)
2011	15
2012	15
2013	17
2014	20
2015	20

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Cunningham on 2016-01-05.

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what the annual maintenance spend by the (a) Royal Navy, (b) British Army and (c) Royal Air Force has been in each of the last five years; and if he will make a statement.

Mr Philip Dunne

Annual maintenance spend, on equipment support and property management, is not recorded by individual arm of Service. This is because our Armed Services operate as integrated joint organisations in which the Royal Navy, Army and Royal Air Force work together and share land, buildings, facilities and equipment.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Cunningham on 2016-01-12.

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what financial support her Department provides to livestock farmers to mitigate the development of antibiotic resistance; and if she will make a statement.

George Eustice

No specific financial support is offered to livestock farmers to mitigate the development of antibiotic resistance.

We will continue to promote the importance of the vet-farmer relationship, and the need to be proactive in looking at any measures in husbandry practices that will reduce disease, and therefore the need for antibiotics, in livestock production

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Cunningham on 2016-01-12.

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what estimate his Department has made of the (a) total research and development spend by his Department in each of the last five years and (b) forecast research and development spend by his Department in the next five years.

Mr Philip Dunne

Ministry of Defence (MOD) research and development expenditure is published in "Departmental Resources Statistical bulletin" (Excel Table 5), which is available at the following website:

https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/defence-departmental-resources-2015

There is no fixed forward budget for research and development because development expenditure is mostly part of the equipment programme applied as needed against the development requirements of individual projects. The government will dedicate 1.2% of its growing Defence budget to the Defence Science and Technology Programme, the centralised research budget, under the Department’s Chief Scientific Adviser.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Cunningham on 2016-01-26.

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps he has taken to ensure that rail commuters have greater access to the cheapest available tickets (a) on the day they travel and (b) when booking in advance; and if he will make a statement.

Claire Perry

We recognise the pressure on hardworking families and have put a stop to increases in regulated fares until 2020, extending the cap on rail fares which we regulate introduced in 2014. This will save the average season ticket holder £425 in this Parliament and means average earnings are outstripping rail fare increases for the first time in a decade. We are also taking a number of steps that will make it easier for people to obtain the best value ticket for their journey. We have committed to introducing more flexible tickets for people who work or commute part-time, which could enable customers to buy discounted advance carnet-style tickets. Arriva Trains Wales and Great Northern already offer flexible products and both GTR and c2c have commitments to introduce more flexible tickets on their smartcards.

The evidence also shows that advance fares, which can offer good value for people who are able to book in advance, are a key rail success of recent years where we have seen huge growth. Unregulated advance tickets have increased from 8% of revenue in 2007/08 to 15% of revenue in 2014/15.

In December 2014, I challenged the rail industry to improve the information they provide through ticket vending machines. The industry has responded positively with a code of practice on retail information published in March 2015. Most train operators now have actions underway and complete, including providing new messages on screens and improved availability of off-peak tickets through vending machines. The Department continues to monitor progress closely in this area.