Tag: Karl McCartney

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Karl McCartney on 2016-10-24.

To ask the Minister for Women and Equalities, what steps the Government is taking to increase the number of male teachers.

Caroline Dinenage

We value diversity but want the best people in the classroom, as evidence shows that quality of teaching is the single most important factor in determining how well pupils achieve.

Recent figures show that from 2011/12 to 2015/16, the number of full-time equivalent male teachers increased from 115,000 to nearly 120,000. Last year, 26 per cent of teachers in state schools were male.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Karl McCartney on 2016-01-21.

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, if she will take steps to ensure that pet rescue centres scan the microchip of dogs in their care and contact their owners.

George Eustice

Following a debate in the Westminster Hall on 2 March 2015, the then Minister of State, for the Department of Transport undertook to instruct the Highways Agency to make it their policy to ensure that it collects and identifies every animal that is killed on the strategic road network and to contact the owners by whatever practicable means. The Minister also wrote to all local highway authorities and Transport for London to draw attention to the Government’s policy and reflect on their own policy. It is established good practice for all authorities, including local authorities and dog rescue centres that come into contact with a stray, injured or deceased dog to scan it for a microchip so that the dog’s keeper can be traced. To assist this process, the Kennel Club has donated microchip scanners to every local authority in England and Wales. The compulsory microchipping of all dogs in Great Britain comes into force on 6 April 2016.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Karl McCartney on 2016-02-29.

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, pursuant to the Answer of 4 February 2016 to Question 24423, what recent reports he has received on the disappearance of Mr Lee Po in Hong Kong; and whether he has had further discussions with (a) the Chinese authorities and (b) the booksellers or their families since that Answer.

Mr Hugo Swire

The Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, my right Hon. Friend the Member for Runnymede and Weybridge (Mr Hammond), made clear in his six monthly report to the House published on 11 February (https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/six-monthly-report-on-hong-kong-july-to-december-2015) that ‘our current information indicates that Mr Lee was involuntarily removed to the mainland without any due process under Hong Kong SAR law. This constitutes a serious breach of the Sino-British Joint Declaration on Hong Kong.’ The Foreign Secretary raised the case with Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi in London on 4 February. The Chancellor of the Exchequer and First Secretary of State, my right Hon. Friend the Member for Tatton (Mr Osborne) also raised the case with the Chinese Chairman of the Politics and Law Commission, Meng Jianzhu, on 25 February. The Government continues to call on the Chinese Government for Mr Lee’s immediate return to Hong Kong. Despite formal requests which we continue to make, we have not been granted consular access to Mr Lee. We also stand ready to provide consular assistance to Lee Po’s family.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Karl McCartney on 2016-04-26.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what financial impact analysis his Department has conducted on the proposed new model of community pharmacy.

Alistair Burt

Community pharmacy is a vital part of the National Health Service and can play an even greater role. In the Spending Review, the Government re-affirmed the need for the NHS to deliver £22 billion in efficiency savings by 2020/21 as set out in the NHS’s own plan, the Five Year Forward View. Community pharmacy is a core part of NHS primary care and has an important contribution to make as the NHS rises to these challenges. The Government believes efficiencies can be made without compromising the quality of services or public access to them. Our aim is to ensure that those community pharmacies upon which people depend continue to thrive and so we are consulting on the introduction of a Pharmacy Access Scheme, which will provide more NHS funds to certain pharmacies compared to others, considering factors such as location and the health needs of the local population.

The Government’s vision is for a more efficient, modern system that will free up pharmacists to spend more time delivering clinical and public health services to the benefit of patients and the public.

We are consulting the Pharmaceutical Services Negotiating Committee (PSNC) and others, including patient and public representatives, on our proposals for community pharmacy in 2016/17 and beyond. We announced on 16 March 2016 that the consultation period was to be extended to allow more time to develop the proposed changes with the PSNC and others. It will now close on 24 May 2016.

The proposals were considered against the Public Sector Equality Duty and other duties. The consultation responses will inform the final impact assessment, which will be published in due course.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Karl McCartney on 2016-04-28.

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment her Department has made of the effect of immigration from (a) EEA member states and (b) states from outside the EEA on the level of demand for children’s services in each year from 2016 to 2030.

Edward Timpson

The Department uses population projections published by the Office for National Statistics, which include migration, to plan for future demand on children’s services.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Karl McCartney on 2016-06-06.

To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what assessment he has made of recent trends in (a) the level of and (b) regional variations in the level of domestic tourism.

David Evennett

The number of overnight trips in England in 2015 was up 11% on 2014, with associated spend reaching a new record of £19.6bn. In 2015, five English regions (East Midlands, West Midlands, South West, Yorkshire and the Humber and London) saw double digit growth in domestic overnight trips on the previous year.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Karl McCartney on 2016-06-07.

To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland, if he will estimate the level of structural funding that the EU Commission’s formula will allocate to Scotland in the post-2020 Multi Annual Financial Framework.

David Mundell

The post-2020 Multi Annual Financial Framework has not been proposed. I refer the hon Member to a letter signed by the former Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, the Rt hon Vince Cable of 17th April 2014, on ‘European Regional Development Fund and European Social Fund: UK Allocations 2014 to 2020’. This is available at:

https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/307492/bis-14-772-uk-allocations-eu-structural-funds-2014-2020-letter.pdf.

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The below Parliamentary question was asked by Karl McCartney on 2016-09-02.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many people arrested on suspicion of illegally entering the UK between January 2013 and April 2016 have been (a) convicted of that offence and (b) subsequently removed from the UK.

Mr Robert Goodwill

It would be a disproportionate cost to disaggregate this information.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Karl McCartney on 2015-10-19.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether the Wilson Doctrine has been consistently applied to the communications of the hon. Member for Lincoln since his election; and whether that hon. Member has been subject to surveillance.

Mr John Hayes

The Government’s position on the Wilson Doctrine was set out by the Prime Minister in a written ministerial statement made on 4 November 2015.

As the Prime Minister made clear, the Wilson Doctrine has never been an absolute bar to the targeted interception of the communications of Members of Parliament or an exemption from the legal regime governing interception. The Doctrine recognised that there could be instances where interception might be necessary.

The Prime Minister announced that as matter of policy the PM will be consulted should there ever be a proposal to target any UK Parliamentarian’s communications under a warrant issued by a Secretary of State. This applies to Members of Parliament, members of the House of Lords, the Scottish Parliament, the Northern Ireland Assembly, the Welsh Assembly and UK members of the European Parliament. It applies to all activity authorised by a warrant issued by a Secretary of State: any instance of targeted interception and, electronic surveillance and equipment interference, when undertaken by the Security and Intelligence Agencies. This is in addition to the rigorous safeguards already in the Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act 2000 (RIPA) and the Code of Practice issued under it which set out a series of robust safeguards for any instance of interception.

It is long standing policy of successive Governments neither to confirm nor deny any specific activity by the Security and Intelligence Agencies. Under the Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act 2000 it is an offence for anyone to identify an individual interception warrant or an individual interception that takes place.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Karl McCartney on 2015-01-13.

To ask the Deputy Prime Minister, what representations his Department has received on allegations of disproportionate investment towards Local Enterprise Partnership board members by (a) the Greater Lincolnshire Local Enterprise Partnership and (b) other Local Enterprise Partnerships; and if he will make a statement.

Greg Clark

The Government has received letters from the Hon. Member and from one of his constituents on this subject. I am assured in all cases that the Greater Lincolnshire LEP has taken appropriate steps to ensure propriety, value for money and avoid conflicts of interest.