Tag: Lord Hunt of Chesterton

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Hunt of Chesterton on 2016-03-21.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of the trend in the level of continuing professional development undertaken by teachers of STEM subjects in primary schools; what estimate they have made about the effect it will have on the standards attained by pupils; and whether they will provide funds to increase continuing professional development in the future.

Lord Nash

It is for schools to determine the professional development their teachers need. The Government funds a number of programmes which make high quality, professional development available to primary teachers. This supports our commitment to making Britain the best place in the world to study science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) subjects.

The network of 35 Maths Hubs is working with many primary teachers to adopt effective south-east Asian ‘mastery’ teaching approaches to make sure that more children leave primary schools having met the expected standards in mathematics. The network of 44 Science Learning Partnerships provides support to primary teachers to improve their science subject knowledge and how they teach science including good quality practical work. Support to improve the teaching of the new primary computing curriculum is available through the Network of Teaching Excellence in Computer Science. All of these programmes are subject to ongoing evaluation to assess their impact.

The Government remains committed to making sure primary school teachers continue to have access to high quality STEM professional development in the future.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Hunt of Chesterton on 2016-03-21.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what their current plans are to improve and extend the training of entering civil servants following changes to in-house training over the past 10 years; what plans they have to use universities to help provide training for civil servants; and whether they will encourage specialised agencies and departments to provide their own training or to outsource it where appropriate.

Lord Bridges of Headley

There is a comprehensive induction programme for all new civil servants which was introduced in 2015, as well as department and role specific development provided by each department. Senior external recruits also have opportunities to hear from senior officials, network with their peers and get access to a mentor or buddy as part of their induction. As with every learning and development programme, the content and approach to induction is continually reviewed to ensure that it meets current and future needs.

Civil Service Learning (CSL) provides a core suite of learning for all civil servants, for example on leadership and management. The learning and development providers working with CSL are based around consortia containing universities and their business schools. MIT and Cranfield University are helping to develop the curriculum for the Senior Civil Service, and the Open University is a key partner in delivering learning for all other grades. They have also worked with the London School of Economics on a Policy Masters.

Whilst CSL provides learning that meets the needs of all civil servants, specialised agencies and departments do provide their own training. Examples include the Diplomatic Academy run by the Foreign and Commonwealth Office, and HMRC’s Tax Academy. Professions also provide their own training – for example through the Commercial College and the Government Finance Academy. This provision represents a mix of internal delivery and outsourcing. CSL provides support and guidance on good practice to departments and professions.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Hunt of Chesterton on 2016-03-21.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what has been the average time in post of Trade Ministers of Her Majesty’s Government in (1) the last five years, and (2) the five years before that.

Baroness Anelay of St Johns

The average tenure of Ministers for Trade & Investment from 2011 until the departure of my noble Friend Lord Maude in March 2016 is 628 days or approximately 1 year, 8 months.

The average tenure of Ministers for Trade & Investment between 2006 and 2011 was 342 days or approximately 11 months.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Hunt of Chesterton on 2016-03-21.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what their policy is for the provision of textbooks and exercise books in primary and secondary schools in England; and what assessment they have made of differences in provision between the UK and other European countries.

Lord Nash

Good teaching and high academic standards are strongly associated with adequate provision and widespread use of high-quality textbooks.

Cambridge Assessment’s report, ‘Why textbooks count’, analysed the use of high-quality textbooks around the world. The report found that use of textbooks is common in high performing education jurisdictions. In Finland, 95% of maths teachers use a textbook as a basis for instruction. In Singapore, 70% of maths teachers use a textbook. In England, only 10% of maths teachers use a textbook for their core teaching.

A well-designed textbook provides a coherent, structured programme which supports a teacher’s own expertise and knowledge as well as a pupil’s.

On 26 March 2016, the Department for Education published a report from a review group looking at teacher workload in relation to planning and resources. The group concluded there is a case for schools to place greater emphasis on quality- assured resources, including textbooks, to reduce the time teachers spend on searching for resources.

Good textbooks also have workbooks which support homework in a positive way by providing well-structured practice exercises linked to clear explanations, which parents can understand and use to help their children.

We have been working with textbook publishers with the aim of improving the quality of textbooks available to schools, to better support excellent teaching and teacher professional development. Last year, the publishers produced a set of common guidelines for the production of textbooks.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Hunt of Chesterton on 2015-11-10.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what their policy is for ensuring that the UK continues to participate strongly in the design, research, manufacture and financing of Airbus products.

Baroness Neville-Rolfe

We work closely with the aerospace industry, through the Aerospace Growth Partnership (AGP), to help raise the productivity and competitiveness of UK supply chain companies at all levels, includingAirbus at Filton and Broughton and their UK suppliers. This work includes supporting industry’s research, design, development, manufacturing and financing of products. A key aim is to help ensure that UK remains Europe’s leading aerospace nation by securing future work with the world’s large aircraft manufacturers including Airbus.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Hunt of Chesterton on 2016-04-12.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether UK government agencies were providing remote sensing data to detect, forecast and provide warning of the recent earthquakes in Afghanistan to the affected communities and government agencies.

Baroness Verma

The science is clear on this matter – earthquakes cannot be forecast with any degree of reliability. Remote sensing does exist, but can only operate in extremely technically sophisticated environments, and even then can only provide limited warning of a few seconds or minutes in which to respond. As such the UK Government does not provide remote sensing data to detect, forecast, and provide warning of earthquakes in Afghanistan.

When it comes to other forms of natural disaster, DFID funds a resilience and disaster risk reduction programme in Afghanistan which provides £9.6m over four years (2015-18) to an NGO consortium called Afghanistan Resilience Consortium (ARC). Implementation is focused in the eight northern provinces of Afghanistan which are the most disaster prone.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Hunt of Chesterton on 2015-11-10.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether, following the French Foreign Minister’s visit to Iran, they plan to use the UK’s political and official diplomacy to promote Airbus products and make clear that they are not solely French products, but contain significant components from the UK.

Lord Maude of Horsham

We will continue to promote the UK interests in Airbus in support of their global sales campaigns. We work closely with the Company and the governments of France, Germany and Spain on these campaigns given the shared economic benefits that arise from sales of Airbus aircraft. Because of the significant level of UK products on Airbus aircraft, the company is frequently represented on UK trade missions; it also enjoys the financial support of UK Export Finance and the commercial support of UK Trade & Investment’s overseas network.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Hunt of Chesterton on 2016-04-21.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what is the average training period for graduates newly appointed to the UK civil service, and whether that training includes learning about UK government and history.

Lord Bridges of Headley

The Civil Service graduate programme is known as the Fast Stream and its average training period is up to four years. The Fast Stream core curriculum includes learning about UK Government and history and the central induction for Fast Streamers also has activities relating to this topic. Graduates can also enter the civil service via direct appointment without being part of a formal training scheme. Those who do so have access to a wide range of training options, including how the UK government operates.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Hunt of Chesterton on 2015-12-07.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether they plan to introduce planning and building regulations to ensure that within public and private buildings the concentrations of atmospheric pollutants do not exceed safety standards.

Baroness Williams of Trafford

There are already strong protections in place to safeguard people from unacceptable risks from air pollution. National planning policy in England is clear that new development should be appropriate for its location, taking proper account of the effects of pollution on people’s health, and building regulations require adequate means of ventilation for people in buildings. This requirement applies when new buildings are constructed or work is carried out on existing buildings.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Hunt of Chesterton on 2016-04-21.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether they have plans to introduce standards to minimise the risk of the malfunctioning of electronic financial transactions and data storage by financial and public organisations; and what information is available to the general public to enable them (1) to choose which organisations and services to use, and (2) to know whether or not to use electronic systems depending on those services.

Lord O’Neill of Gatley

On 18^th March, the Minister for the Cabinet Office and Paymaster General, Matthew Hancock, announced that the new National Cyber Security Centre will work with the Bank of England to produce advice for the finance sector for managing cyber security effectively. This will build on tools such as the Cyber Essentials scheme, which sets out the technical controls organisations should have in place to demonstrate that they are following a basic level of ‘good practice’ in terms of their cyber security.

It is the responsibility of firms to ensure the resilience of their Information Technology (IT) systems. Through the Dear Chairman Exercise I and II, the Financial Authorities have assessed large UK deposit-takers’ technology resilience, and are working with firms to ensure that further improvements are made and customers are protected.