Tag: Jim Cunningham

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Cunningham on 2016-01-13.

To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what support his Department is providing universities to increase collaboration with Chinese research institutions; and if he will make a statement.

Joseph Johnson

We are working with UK universities in a number of important ways to increase our collaboration with Chinese researchers.

We have regular discussions with the Chinese government on education and research collaboration These discussions are both at the working level, where BIS science and higher education teams have a close relationship with their opposite numbers, and also through regular Ministerial exchanges such as the annual People to People Dialogue, the UK-China Education Summit, the biennial UK-China Science and Innovation Joint Committee meetings and the annual Prime Ministerial summit meetings.

In addition, our flagship international science and innovation fund, the Newton Fund, has achieved a transformation in UK-China research collaboration since it was launched in April 2014 and continues to strengthen our collaborative work. The fund, includes significant university participation in programmes on urbanisation, climate change, environment, food security and health. Universities also play a major role in building research capacity in China through means of Newton grants for partnerships, PhD placements, training and joint workshops.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Cunningham on 2016-01-18.

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, pursuant to the Answer of 12 January 2016 to Question 22118, what steps her Department is taking to tackle shortfalls of mathematics teachers in state-funded primary schools; and if she will make a statement.

Nick Gibb

The number of primary teachers in state funded primary schools in England is the highest on record, and we exceeded our target for primary postgraduate trainee teachers for 2015/16.

Excellent mathematics teaching in primary schools is a high priority for this government, and we have taken a number of steps to promote this.

We have established a national network of 35 Maths Hubs, backed by £11million of funding to raise standards in mathematics. These centres of excellence are helping schools to improve the quality of their mathematics teaching. Through the Maths Hub network we are making improvements via exchanges with Shanghai, as Hubs develop a deep understanding of the ‘mastery’ approach to mathematics teaching and trial its implementation within schools. We also fund good quality mathematics professional development opportunities for primary teachers through The National Centre for Excellence in the Teaching of Mathematics.

In addition, we have encouraged the development of primary mathematics specialist and specialism initial teacher training (ITT) courses, to allow trainee primary teachers to specialise in the subject. Since 2013/14 we have provided an ITT bursary uplift for trainees on these courses. This means that trainees with a B grade at mathematics A level, or equivalent knowledge, receive a higher bursary than those who train on primary general courses. For courses starting in 2016/17 primary mathematics specialists with a 1^st class, 2:1 or 2:2 degree will receive a £6,000 bursary, compared to the maximum £3,000 bursary for primary general trainees.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Cunningham on 2016-01-25.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how much the National Institute for Health Research has invested in research into (a) lung cancer, (b) adult asthma, (c) pneumonia, (d) chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, (e) idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis, (f) mesothelioma and (g) childhood wheezing and childhood respiratory infection in each of the last five years.

George Freeman

The information requested is not available. Spend on research funded directly by the Department’s National Institute for Health Research is categorised by Health Research Classification System (HRCS) health categories including ‘cancer’ and ‘respiratory’. There are no HRCS health sub-categories, such as for specific cancer sites or respiratory diseases.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Cunningham on 2016-01-28.

To ask the Attorney General, if he will estimate the costs attributed to the Department for Education in cases relating to the Freedom of Information Act 2000 by the Government Legal Department since 2010.

Robert Buckland

The Treasury Solicitor’s Department was renamed the Government Legal Department (GLD) on 1 April 2015. It is primarily funded through the fees it charges for its legal services. It provides Litigation, Employment, Commercial and Advisory legal services to the Department for Education (DfE). The fees charged to DfE for this work, including the cost of disbursements, are as follows:

Financial year	Fees (excluding VAT) £
2010-11	4,208,845
2011-12	4,499,546
2012-13	4,805,840
2013-14	4,409,976
2014-15	4,098,629

Providing information on the costs attributed to cases relating to the Freedom of Information Act 2000 would incur disproportionate cost as it would involve a manual exercise to identify those historical cases that relate to FOI.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Cunningham on 2016-02-03.

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what representations he has received from charities on the adequacy of employment and support allowance payments; and if he will make a statement.

Priti Patel

The information requested is not readily available and to provide it would incur disproportionate cost.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Cunningham on 2016-02-10.

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, how many freedom of information requests were (a) granted and (b) refused by his Department in each of the last five years.

Mr David Lidington

The Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) submits statistics on freedom of information performance to the Cabinet Office on a quarterly basis. These statistics, along with those of other departments of state, are published in a quarterly statistics bulletin (https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/government-foi-statistics). The quarter four bulletin includes annual figures.

The FCO annual figures for 2010-2014 are shown in the attached table.

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The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Cunningham on 2016-02-23.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how much his Department has spent on meningitis vaccine stocks in each of the last 10 years; and if he will make a statement.

Jane Ellison

Vaccine prices are commercially confidential, and so we are unable to provide this information.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Cunningham on 2016-03-01.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what estimate her Department has made of the number of people aged under 18 who have been (a) involved in gang violence and (b) a member of a gang in each year since 2010.

Karen Bradley

There are no centrally held estimates of the numbers of under 18s involved in gang violence or numbers of gang members and we cannot provide a breakdown for each year since 2010. However some police forces collect data locally. The Metropolitan Police Service, for example, state that there were 201 active gangs in London involving 3,628 gang members as of 1 January 2016.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Cunningham on 2016-03-07.

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what representations he has received from (a) consumer groups and (b) railway franchise holders on the level of staffing at small railway stations; and if he will make a statement.

Claire Perry

Whilst we regulate Ticket Office opening times through the Ticketing and Settlement Agreement, station staffing levels are primarily a matter for operators as we believe that they themselves are best placed to determine how to meet the needs of their passengers.

Since February 2015, 3 ticket offices have reduced their opening hours after train companies followed the procedure as set out in the Ticketing and Settlement Agreement, which includes making representation to the Department.

Passenger Focus (as was) and London TravelWatch provided responses to the East Anglia franchise public consultation with regard to staffing.

More recently, both Transport Focus and London TravelWatch have made representations to the Department with regard to the South Western franchise consultation and staffing.

Representatives from Govia Thameslink Railway have also briefed officials at the Department on their plans to carry out a consultation on proposals to change ticket office opening hours at some stations.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Cunningham on 2016-03-07.

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what estimate his Department has made of the number of freedom of information requests (a) granted and (b) refused by his Department in each of the last five years; and what the total cost of processing these applications was in each such year.

Mr David Lidington

I refer the hon. Member to my answer of 25 February 2016 (PQ 26939).

https://wqa.parliament.uk/Questions/Details/34348

The processing of Freedom of Information requests is part of staff responsibilities across the Department. The number of hours spent on this activity, and therefore the total cost of processing applications, is not recorded.