Tag: Jim Fitzpatrick

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Fitzpatrick on 2016-09-06.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether the Government’s chief fire and rescue advisor was consulted on changes to policy on fire safety policy for new school buildings.

Brandon Lewis

The Department for Education’s consultation on Fire Safety Design for Schools – Building Bulletin (BB) 100 Revised closed on 15 August and the Department for Education is considering responses.

The Home Office, including the Chief Fire and Rescue Adviser, will engage with the Department for Education on its proposals on the way forward, ahead of its publication.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Fitzpatrick on 2016-10-20.

To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what assessment he has made of the viability of amending the Valuation for Rating (Plant and Machinery) (England) Regulations 2000 in relation to the 2017 business rates revaluation that is being conducted by the Valuation Office Agency; and how that revaluation will affect rooftop solar.

Mr Marcus Jones

Business rates are based on valuations from the Valuation Office Agency and we do not intervene in their independent assessments. Well established principles, as set out in the Valuation for Rating (Plant and Machinery) Regulations 2000, determine when plant and machinery, such as rooftop solar, should be rateable and included in assessments. We have no plans to change these principles. However, we have proposed a £3.4 billion transitional relief scheme to ensure that no ratepayer is unfairly penalised by the 2017 revaluation.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Fitzpatrick on 2015-11-09.

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how many times noise quotas at each London airport have been breached in each of the last 10 years.

Mr Robert Goodwill

There have been no breaches of the night noise quotas in the last 10 years. For the night period (23.30 to 06.00), there is a limit on the number of movements (an aircraft landing or taking off) and noise quotas (each aircraft is given a noise quota according to the noise produced) at Heathrow, Gatwick and Stansted for the summer and winter seasons.

There are, and have been, no penalties for breaching the movement and noise quota limits. Details on these limits are set out in the London Heathrow, London Gatwick and London Stansted Airports Noise Restrictions Notices.

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

To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, how many cases heard by the Office of the Independent Adjudicator were closed within three months in (a) 2014 and (b) 2015.

Joseph Johnson

Data is not collected in the way the Hon Member has requested. The Office of the Independent Adjudicator has a key performance indicator which tracks cases closed within six months from the receipt of the complaint form. In its most recently published annual report, the Office of the Independent Adjudicator reported that 39 per cent of cases were closed within this period.

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

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many deaf children attended mainstream schools in England in each of the last 10 years; and how many such children were taught British Sign Language in each of those years.

Edward Timpson

The number of children with special educational needs (SEN) who have ‘hearing impairment’ listed as their primary need can be found in the annual statistical first release ‘Special Educational Needs in England’ on GOV.UK. Table 1, below, provides collated figures for the last ten years, for pupils attending state-funded primary and secondary schools. These figures include children in resourced provision or SEN units but not children in special schools. There will be children whose primary need is not ‘hearing impairment’ but who, nevertheless, have a hearing impairment. These children are not covered by this information.

From September 2014 the ’SEN support’ category replaced the ’school action’ and ‘school action plus’ categories. Those recoded, in 2015, as having ‘SEN support’ but who were formerly included in the ‘school action’ category will not previously have had a primary type of need recorded. This is likely to have contributed to the large increase – between 2014 and 2015 – in the numbers of children recorded as having a hearing impairment.

The Department does not collect statistics on the number of deaf children in mainstream schools who are being taught British Sign Language.

Table 1:

Year	2006	2007	2008	2009	2010	2011	2012	2013	2014	2015
State funded primary schools	6,390	6,570	6,650	6,860	7,230	7,370	7,510	7,610	7,915	9,275
State funded secondary schools	5,510	5,670	5,980	6,350	6,730	7,080	7,125	7,225	7,125	8,705
Total	11,900	12,240	12,630	13,210	13,960	14,450	14,635	14,835	15,040	17,980

The links to published data can be found here:

2015	https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/special-educational-needs-in-england-january-2015
2014	https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/special-educational-needs-in-england-january-2014
2013	https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/special-educational-needs-in-england-january-2013
2012	https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/special-educational-needs-in-england-january-2012
2011	https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/special-educational-needs-in-england-january-2011
2010	https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/special-educational-needs-in-england-january-2010
2009	http://webarchive.nationalarchives.gov.uk/20130401151655/http://www.education.gov.uk/researchandstatistics/statistics/allstatistics/a00196058/special-educational-needs
2008	http://webarchive.nationalarchives.gov.uk/20130401151655/http://www.education.gov.uk/researchandstatistics/statistics/allstatistics/a00195802/pupils-with-special-educational-needs
2007	http://webarchive.nationalarchives.gov.uk/20130401151655/http://www.education.gov.uk/researchandstatistics/statistics/allstatistics/a00195520/special-educational-needs-in-england-january-2007
2006	http://webarchive.nationalarchives.gov.uk/20130401151655/http://www.education.gov.uk/researchandstatistics/statistics/allstatistics/a00195201/special-educational-needs-in-england-january-2006

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The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Fitzpatrick on 2016-05-23.

To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what recent assessment the Government has made of the auditing sector’s contribution to economic productivity.

Anna Soubry

No such assessment has been made.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Fitzpatrick on 2016-09-06.

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what response he plans to make to the serious concerns raised by the recent UN Committee on the Rights of the Child in its concluding observations to its Fifth Period Report.

Damian Hinds

In section V. paragraph B92 of the UN concluding observations, the UN Committee has invited the UK to submit its combined sixth and seventh periodic reports (including a response to the observations from this year’s examination) by 14 January 2022; it would therefore not be appropriate for me to pre-empt this report by anticipating what we might say in 2022. In any event, the Government regularly assesses the impacts of its policies and will continue to do so.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Fitzpatrick on 2015-11-09.

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how often have the noise quotas for London airports been reviewed or updated since their designation in the Civil Aviation Act 1982.

Mr Robert Goodwill

Night flight restrictions of some form have been in place at Heathrow since 1962, Gatwick since 1971 and Stansted since 1978. Since 1993, the night noise regime has limited the number of flights and amount of noise energy that can be emitted at each airport. These limits are reviewed approximately every 5 years and there has been three consultations since 1993. The current regime ends in October 2017 and the Government will be consulting next year on a regime to replace it.

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

To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what discussions his Department has had with the European Commission since the publication of the EU Aviation Strategy in December 2015; what assessment he has made of the effect of taxes and levies applied by member states on connectivity and competitiveness; what his Department’s response to that strategy’s conclusion on the effects of such taxes and levies conclusion is; and if he will make a statement.

Mr David Gauke

HM Treasury takes note of the European Commission’s 2015 Aviation Strategy.

The UK has the third largest aviation network in the world and a strongly performing aviation sector – passenger numbers grew 4% in 2014 compared to 2013 and are expected to show similar growth for 2015.

In the absence of any taxation of international aviation fuel and no VAT on international or domestic flights, the Government levies air passenger duty (APD) on the carriage of passengers from UK airports. APD ensures that the aviation sector contributes its fair share in taxation towards reducing the deficit.

However, like all taxes, APD is kept under review with any changes announced at fiscal events.

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

To ask the hon. Member for South West Devon, representing the Speaker’s Committee on the Electoral Commission, whether the Electoral Commission has given any early indication to Ministers of the likely outcomes of its investigations into electoral fraud in Tower Hamlets; and when the Commission expects that investigation to be complete.

Mr Gary Streeter

The Electoral Commission is not currently carrying out any investigations into electoral fraud in Tower Hamlets. Any allegations of electoral fraud offences under the Representation of the People Act 1983 can only be investigated by the police, on behalf of the Director of Public Prosecutions. The Metropolitan Police Service is responsible for investigating any allegations relating to elections in Tower Hamlets, and the Commission will monitor the outcome of any investigations relating to electoral fraud offences.

In advance of the elections this May, the Commission is working closely with the police and electoral administrators in each of the 18 areas it has identified as being at higher risk of allegations of electoral fraud, including Tower Hamlets, to ensure that robust plans are in place to detect and prevent fraud.