Tag: Julie Cooper

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Julie Cooper on 2016-04-25.

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what estimate she has made of the number of new nursery staff in (a) Burnley and (b) Lancashire who will be affected by the new requirements for staff taking a Level 3 in childcare.

Mr Sam Gyimah

The requirements have been in effect since 2014 for individuals taking the level 3 Early Years Educator qualifications.

The requirement for level 3 Early Years Educator staff to hold a GCSE Maths and English at grade C or above was introduced to make sure that new entrants to the workforce have the numeracy and literacy skills they need to operate in a level 3 role. Staff working in level 3 roles can have a range of responsibilities, all of which require them to be highly skilled and well-qualified. Level 3 staff are likely to work directly with children, and many will have additional responsibility as room leaders and some will lead and manage an entire childcare setting.

The department holds national data on level 3 staff in the early years sector. We know excellent progress has been made over the past few years in which qualification levels have continued to rise. Between 2008 and 2013, the proportion of the 233,200 full day care staff with at least a level 3 qualification grew from 75% to 87%[1]. We are continuing to collect data on level 3 staff through the Childcare and Early Years Providers Survey this year, and will collect data from 2016 in the Early Years Census.

We have been talking to childcare employers and training organisations about early years qualifications. We want to continue to work with the sector to understand the challenges faced, and find ways to tackle these whilst ensuring a quality workforce remains.

[1] Childcare and Early Years Providers Survey 2013

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Julie Cooper on 2016-05-10.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how many students in (a) the UK, (b) the North West and (c) Lancashire are studying for a clinical pharmacy diploma.

Ben Gummer

The Department does not hold this information centrally.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Julie Cooper on 2016-07-18.

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what representations he has made to the Indian government on suppression of the press in Kashmir and Jammu.

Alok Sharma

The UK Government has not made any representation to the Government of India on freedom of press in Jammu and Kashmir. We recognise that there are broader human rights concerns in Kashmir. In November 2015, Indian Prime Minister Modi assured the former Prime Minister, my Rt hon. Friend the Member for Witney (Mr Cameron) of his commitment to and respect for India’s core values of tolerance and freedom.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Julie Cooper on 2015-11-26.

To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, how many first-time house buyers there were in (a) Burnley, (b) Lancashire and (c) the North West in each of the last six years.

Brandon Lewis

Statistics on the numbers of first-time house buyers are published by the Council of Mortgage Lenders and can be found at:

https://www.cml.org.uk/home/

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Julie Cooper on 2016-01-13.

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many lone parent households that are in receipt of housing benefit will be affected by changes to universal credit work allowances in (a) Burnley, (b) Lancashire and (c) the North West.

Priti Patel

The information requested is not available.

The number of people on benefits is driven by a range of factors. Because of this, the programme measures progress by the successful achievement of its delivery plan rather than numbers of claimants.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Julie Cooper on 2016-01-18.

To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what steps his Department is taking to protect UK businesses, the economy and the City from turbulence in Chinese stock markets.

Harriett Baldwin

The Treasury continuously monitors global economic developments, including those in China, and their impact on the UK as part of the normal process of policy development.

The Chancellor has warned that “last year was the worst for global growth since the crash and this year opens with a dangerous cocktail of new threats from around the world.” As one of the most open trading economies in the world with a large financial sector, we have to recognise that the UK is not immune to the continued problems being experienced in the world economy.

We should not let this put us off engaging with China. As the Chancellor said while leading the UK’s Economic and Financial Dialogue with China in September 2015, both countries: “have a shared commitment to laying the foundations for stronger, more productive economies that can weather periods of uncertainty. At the same time, we need to continue to pursue the longer-term reform challenges that both our governments are pursuing.”

The Bank of England’s 2015 stress tests modelled a severe slowdown in commodities and emerging markets. No banks were required to submit revised capital plans following the stress tests. This provides further reassurance that the UK’s banking system is capable of weathering future financial storms both at home and abroad.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Julie Cooper on 2016-01-21.

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many British servicemen are serving in (a) Iraq and (b) Afghanistan.

Penny Mordaunt

As of 22 January 2016, there were 287 British Service personnel serving in Iraq as part of Operation SHADER. This includes UK training teams providing training to the Iraq Security Forces and Kurdish Security Forces and UK support to various Coalition headquarters. Routine movements and minor changes in requirements mean that this number will vary over time.

For Afghanistan, I refer the hon. Member to the reply given by my noble Friend, the Minister of State in the House of Lords, the Rt Hon Earl Howe PC to the noble Lord, Lord Moonie, in the House of Lords to Question HL5150.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Julie Cooper on 2016-02-08.

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what steps his Department is taking to reduce the time taken for appeals for benefit sanctions.

Mr Shailesh Vara

The First-tier Tribunal (Social Security and Child Support), administered by HM Courts & Tribunals Service (HMCTS), hears appeals against Department for Work and Pensions’ (DWP) decisions on a range of benefits.

HMCTS does not record data specifically relating to appeals against sanctions imposed by DWP.

In order to increase the capacity of the Tribunal, and therefore speed up the appeals process, HMCTS has recruited extra judges and medical members, increased venue capacity and introduced more efficient processes. This action, coupled with a reduction in appeal receipts, has enabled HMCTS to reduce the overall average length of time to administer appeals from 28 weeks in the period July to September 2014, to 19 weeks for the same period in 2015 (the latest period for which statistics have been published). The median length of time to administer appeals (which will be the experience of the majority of appellants) has reduced from 18 weeks to 14 weeks in the same period.

Information on the length of time taken to administer appeals generally is published by the Ministry of Justice in Tribunal Statistics Quarterly. The most recent report, for the period July to September 2015, published on 10 December 2015, can be viewed at:

https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/tribunals-and-gender-recognition-certificate-statistics-quarterly-july-to-september-2015

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The below Parliamentary question was asked by Julie Cooper on 2016-02-24.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how many people were admitted to hospital as a result of NHS 111 calls made in 2015 in (a) Lancashire and (b) Burnley.

Jane Ellison

The data is not held centrally.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Julie Cooper on 2016-03-03.

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what recent discussions he has had with other Commonwealth leaders about the need to encourage further democratic reform in the Maldives.

Mr Hugo Swire

On 24 February, the Commonwealth Ministerial Action Group (CMAG) met in London to discuss the situation in the Maldives. Following that, I hosted a meeting for CMAG Ministers and senior officials. I welcomed CMAG’s conclusion that their consideration of the situation in Maldives should continue. I also supported their recommendations, in particular the need for the release of political leaders and a swift implementation of reforms to strengthen separation of powers and independence of the judiciary in Maldives. I encourage the Maldives Government to implement all of CMAG’s recommendations. I also discussed the situation in the Maldives with Foreign Minister McCully during my visit to New Zealand on 21 February and with Foreign Minister Samaraweera when I visited Sri Lanka in January.