Tag: Kate Green

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Kate Green on 2016-04-19.

To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, how many people have taken shared parental leave to date; how many people have made a claim for shared parental pay since April 2015; and what proportion of such claimants were fathers and partners.

Nick Boles

The Government does not yet have any reliable information on the take up of Statutory Shared Parental Pay. We expect information for the 2015-16 tax year to be available from May 2016, although it will also include Additional Statutory Paternity Pay information up to December 2015. This will give an estimate for the total number of claims for Statutory Shared Parental Pay.

The Government does not collect information on the number of employees who have taken Shared Parental Leave. We will evaluate the policy by 2018 and this will enable us to better estimate the actual take up for leave.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Kate Green on 2016-10-11.

To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what discussions he has had with energy suppliers on tariffs for customers who do not elect to pay for services online.

Jesse Norman

Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy Ministers will be meeting energy supply companies in due course to discuss a range of issues.

Under the terms of the supply licence, suppliers are required to offer customers a wide choice of payment methods, and this must include payment by cash and payment in advance through a prepayment meter.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Kate Green on 2015-11-10.

To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, what steps her Department is taking to implement the family test.

Mr Ben Wallace

The Family Test was announced by the Prime Minister in August 2014 and introduced in October 2014. The Department of Works and Pensions published guidance for Departments and officials on how the test should be applied when formulating policy and my Department follows that guidance.

The Family Test is an integral part of the policy making process and is applied in a proportionate way in the development of all new policy in line with the Family Test guidance. While the guidance states that departments should consider publishing assessments carried out under the Test, there is no requirement to do so.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Kate Green on 2015-11-13.

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what training has been given to Jobcentre Plus staff on the application of benefit sanctions in circumstances where a parent is unable to comply with conditions for benefit because of lack of suitable childcare.

Priti Patel

The Government sees sanctions as playing an important part in the labour market system, encouraging people to comply with conditions which will help them move into work. We want the sanctions system to be clear, fair and effective in promoting positive behaviours and we will continue to keep it under review so that it meets those aims.

Benefit sanction decisions within Jobcentre Plus are made by Decision Makers and Work Coaches. It is made clear that claimants’ caring responsibilities must always be taken into consideration, as well as emphasising the importance of a personalised and individual approach in every case.

This Government spent £5bn on childcare in 2014-2015– more than any previous administration and an increase of £1bn since 2010. We are now going further still, with a new package of support designed to improve the affordability and accessibility of childcare for working families. We are extending the free entitlement for 3 and 4 years from 15 hours to 30 hours per week for working parents, from September 2017, worth £5,000 per child per year. We are also introducing Tax-Free Childcare for working parents from early 2017, with a Government contribution of up to £2,000 per child.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Kate Green on 2016-04-19.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what steps he is taking to improve provision of IVF as a result of the meeting held by the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State with Monitor and NHS England on 14 December 2015.

Jane Ellison

Following a meeting with Fertility Fairness in December 2015, officials from the Department and NHS England are considering options for addressing variation in the prices that clinical commissioning groups are currently paying for in vitro fertilisation treatment.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Kate Green on 2016-10-13.

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment she has made of the compatibility of the policy in Schools that work for everyone, published on 12 September 2016, with the (a) UK’s general obligations under the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities: Article 24 to promote disabled pupils’ right to mainstream education, (b) Government’s Interpretative Declaration commitment to build the capacity of mainstream schools to be inclusive of disabled pupils and (c) General Comment No.4 on Article 24, published on 2 September 2016.

Nick Gibb

As part of its commitments under articles 7 and 24 of the United Nations Convention of the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, the UK Government is committed to inclusive education of disabled children and young people and the progressive removal of barriers to education and participation in mainstream education. The Children and Families Act 2014 secures the general presumption in law of mainstream education in relation to decisions about where children and young people with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) should be educated and the Equality Act 2010 provides protection from discrimination for disabled people.

The Department is having, and will continue to have, due regard to equalities impact, both in the study of responses to the consultation document and throughout any development of policy areas, following the consultation.

In our new proposals, we have been clear that we expect selective schools to support non-selective schools, looking to them to be engines of academic and social achievement for all pupils.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Kate Green on 2015-11-10.

To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, how many of her Department’s policies have been assessed against the family test; what steps she has taken to publish the outcome of such assessments; and if she will make a statement.

Mr Ben Wallace

The Family Test was announced by the Prime Minister in August 2014 and introduced in October 2014. The Department of Works and Pensions published guidance for Departments and officials on how the test should be applied when formulating policy and my Department follows that guidance.

The Family Test is an integral part of the policy making process and is applied in a proportionate way in the development of all new policy in line with the Family Test guidance. While the guidance states that departments should consider publishing assessments carried out under the Test, there is no requirement to do so.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Kate Green on 2016-01-07.

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether she will re-establish the Gypsy, Roma and Traveller Education Stakeholder Group; and if she will make a statement.

Nick Gibb

We are currently considering the Department’s role in the Gypsy, Roma and Traveller Education Stakeholder Group. Officials will be writing to members of the group in the spring.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Kate Green on 2016-04-28.

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many requests from his Department for evidence to inform a work capability assessment were (a) made and (b) responded to by GPs and other professionals, in each of the last three years; and what the professional discipline was that each of those requests were made to.

Priti Patel

Information requests made by Healthcare Professionals to inform a Work Capability Assessment:

Year	Requests made:	Responses received:
Apr. 2013 to Mar. 2014	599,261	396,847
Apr. 2014 to Mar. 2015	536,101	314,170
Apr. 2015 to Mar. 2016	534,677	280,736

Source: Centre for Health Disability Assessments (CHDA)

Information on the professional discipline of the individual from whom information is requested is not held

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Kate Green on 2016-10-18.

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what resources and support her Department will make available to schools to promote gypsy, roma and traveller history month in June 2017.

Nick Gibb

Schools have a crucial role to play in celebrating the history and culture of all their pupils, fostering inclusion and reaching out to the communities they serve. The Government is keen to support and encourage all schools to fulfil this important role.

The Department is currently considering the drivers for raising the educational attainment of Gypsy, Roma and Traveller (GRT) pupils, drawing on expertise from these communities, and will consider GRT History Month in that context.