Tag: Kate Green

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Kate Green on 2016-06-03.

To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, how many part-time apprenticeships have been taken up in each of the last three years; and what steps he is taking to (a) widen access to apprenticeships and (b) promote the option of part-time apprenticeships.

Nick Boles

Statistical data on apprenticeships broken down by part-time/full-time hours is not available.

Apprenticeships are full-time jobs; therefore an apprentice should work at least 30 hours per week. In exceptional circumstances, such as where the apprentice has caring responsibilities, a minimum of 16 hours per week may be agreed between the apprentice and the employer. In circumstances where the apprentice works fewer than 30 hours per week, the duration of the apprenticeship must be extended in proportion so that the minimum requirements on duration are still met.

Apprenticeships are safeguarded by the same equality duties under the Equality Act (2010) as any other employment. We want quality apprenticeships to be accessible to a diverse range of people and encourage the use of the range of reasonable adjustments available so apprentices with disabilities (who can apply for Access to Work funding) can demonstrate what they know and can do. We are also supporting care leavers’ transition into work, including considering how apprenticeships and study programmes including traineeships can support them. From 2016/17 employers taking on care leavers aged 19+ as apprentices will be entitled to the full funding rate paid for 16-18 year old apprentices.

In May we launched a communications campaign promoting the benefits of apprenticeships to young people, their influencers and employers. Schools are required to provide pupils with independent careers guidance, including on apprenticeships. They will be required to collaborate with colleges, university technical colleges and other training providers, in putting careers options in place.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Kate Green on 2015-11-06.

To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, what steps her Department is taking to implement the family test.

Andrea Leadsom

The Family Test was announced by my rt. hon. Friend the Prime Minister in August 2014, and introduced in October 2014. DWP published guidance for Departments and officials on how the test should be applied when formulating policy and the Department follows that guidance:

https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/368894/family-test-guidance.pdf.

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.

The objective of the Test is to introduce a family perspective to the policy making process, specifically to make the potential impacts on family functioning and relationships explicit.

DECC has not applied the Test to date but is considering where it is appropriate to do so. In addition where relevant, DECC already publishes in Impact Assessments analysis of the impact of policies on energy bills across different types of households.

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

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

Priti Patel

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 2016-02-19.

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, (a) how many and (b) what proportion of judges have received (i) diversity training since 1 January 2012 and (ii) no such training; and what proportion of such training included transgender issues.

Mr Shailesh Vara

Judicial training is a matter for the judiciary. The Judicial College organises training on behalf of the Lord Chief Justice and Senior President of Tribunals.

All judges and magistrates receive diversity training during their induction training with social context issues, including diversity also forming part of their continuation training. Equality and diversity issues are also woven into all course materials. The Judicial College has also issued an Equal Treatment Bench Book which provides guidance on the range of equal treatment issues likely to arise in courts and tribunals, and includes transgender issues. This is publicly available at https://www.judiciary.gov.uk/publications/equal-treatment-bench-book/

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The below Parliamentary question was asked by Kate Green on 2016-06-08.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what assessment he has made of the level of access to stroke rehabilitation services in areas that are socio-economically deprived.

Jane Ellison

Although the Department has made no assessment of access to stroke rehabilitation in socio-economically deprived areas, the Sentinel Stroke National Audit Programme (SSNAP) undertook an audit in 2015 of the provision and organisation of post-acute stroke care, including rehabilitation services. The audit shows there are variations around the country in the availability of these services to stroke survivors. The Strategic Clinical Networks and the National Clinical Director for Stroke are working with clinical commissioning groups to help address this.

The SSNAP data can be found at:

https://www.strokeaudit.org/results/PostAcute/National.aspx

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The below Parliamentary question was asked by Kate Green on 2015-11-06.

To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, 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 that have been carried out; and if she will make a statement.

Andrea Leadsom

The Family Test was announced by my rt. hon. Friend the Prime Minister in August 2014, and introduced in October 2014. DWP published guidance for Departments and officials on how the test should be applied when formulating policy and the Department follows that guidance:

https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/368894/family-test-guidance.pdf.

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.

The objective of the Test is to introduce a family perspective to the policy making process, specifically to make the potential impacts on family functioning and relationships explicit.

DECC has not applied the Test to date but is considering where it is appropriate to do so. In addition where relevant, DECC already publishes in Impact Assessments analysis of the impact of policies on energy bills across different types of households.

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

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what discussions he has had with his ministerial colleagues on the implementation of the family test throughout the Government.

Priti Patel

Officials from different Government Departments have had discussions with a view to aid the implementation of The Family Test across Government. Activity resulting from these discussions has included holding a series of seminars with key stakeholders and officials to raise awareness of the issues to consider when applying the Test and developing and disseminating relevant evidence, learning materials and best practice.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Kate Green on 2016-02-26.

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how much child maintenance debt his Department has written off for (a) 1993 and (b) 2003 scheme cases since April 2015.

Priti Patel

£17.3m of Child Maintenance debt was written off between 1 April 2015 and 31 January 2016 following confirmation from the Parent With Care that they did not want the arrears to be collected.

£2.7m was written off where either the Non-Resident Parent or the Parent with Care had died.

A further £0.6m was written off for a variety of reasons including: amount being less than £65 due to the Secretary of State or situations where legislation does not permit recovery.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Kate Green on 2016-06-20.

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, with reference to page 5 of Employment and Support Allowance Work Capability Assessments: Mandatory reconsideration registrations, decisions and outcomes statistics, published in June 2016, how many of the mandatory reconsideration decisions not received by his Department’s decision-maker were appealed at the First Tier tribunal; and how many of those appeals were successful.

Justin Tomlinson

The information is not available at this time.

The data is being collated and will be published in due course.

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

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

James Brokenshire

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

The guidance can be found at: https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/368894/family-test-guidance.pdf

The Family Test is also being integrated within the Department’s impact assessment process to ensure it is consistently addressed. Recognising that all Government policies will impact on families in some way, the Government’s guidance on the Family Test is clear that policies should pass a threshold of proportionality before the Family Test is applied in full. New Home Office policies in the current Parliament have not met the threshold for applying the Family Test. The Family Test, when applied, will be published as part of the relevant impact assessment.