Tag: Lord Kennedy of Southwark

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Kennedy of Southwark on 2016-04-11.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government, in the light of their plans to make all schools convert to academy status, what will be the status of the National Curriculum after those conversions.

Lord Nash

In 2014, we introduced a new, more ambitious national curriculum which was developed to reflect the views of subject experts and teachers and the findings of international best practice comparisons.

An academised system means that the national curriculum will become a benchmark. It will serve an important role in setting out the level of knowledge-based, ambitious, academically rigorous education which every child should experience.

If autonomous academies or multi-academy trusts (MATs) wish to deliver the national curriculum in their schools, they can do so confidently. We want academies to use their freedom to innovate and build more stretching curricula to meet the needs of their pupils or their local area or the particular ethos of the school.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Kennedy of Southwark on 2016-05-19.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government how far they have progressed in preparing the regulations required following the passing of the Housing and Planning Act 2016.

Baroness Williams of Trafford

The Housing and Planning Act 2016 received Royal Assent on 12 May 2016. Work is ongoing to develop regulations and they will be published in due course.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Kennedy of Southwark on 2016-09-08.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what is their estimate of the number of people in the UK who do not have access to superfast broadband.

Baroness Mobarik

We want everyone to have access to high speed broadband as part of our commitment to building a stronger, more connected economy that works for all.

Through the Government’s investment of over £780 million, superfast broadband is now available to 90% of homes and businesses in the UK, compared to less than half in 2010. By the end of 2017 it will be available to 95% of homes and businesses.

But we are determined to go further, and extra funding from clawback and efficiency savings in the local broadband contracts with BT will allow this coverage to be extended.

We are also committed to introducing a Universal Service Obligation for broadband through the Digital Economy Bill. Our ambition is to set the minimum speed at 10Mbps – enough to meet the needs of a typical family and many small businesses so no-one is left behind.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Kennedy of Southwark on 2016-10-10.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what steps they are taking to ensure that they meet their target of halving the disability employment gap.

Lord Freud

In the last three years, the number of disabled people in work has increased by almost half a million. But we recognise that the gap between the employment rates of disabled people and non-disabled people remains too large. That is why we are committed to halving it.

Last year the Work and Health Unit was established to lead the drive for improving work and health outcomes for people with health conditions and disabilities, as well as improving support for people absent from work through ill health and those at risk of leaving workforce.

The Unit has begun work to build the evidence base of what works to support disabled people and people with health conditions to obtain and remain in work. We are increasing the reach of Access to Work which provide support to an additional 25,000 people per year by 2021, and we have recently launched the Access to Work Digital Service which as so far received an average of 500 claims per week. We are more than doubling Disability Employment Advisors in job centres to help disabled people into employment and embedding employment advisers in IAPT, so that individuals with mental health conditions can receive timely and tailored employment advice.

We will soon publish a Green Paper that will explore a range of options for long-term reform across different sectors enabling everyone to realise their aspirations, regardless of their health condition or disability. We will engage with disabled people, their representative organisations and a wide range of other stakeholders, who all have an important part to play in making the transformative changes required for long-term reform on supporting disabled people into work.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Kennedy of Southwark on 2016-10-21.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what is their latest assessment of the human rights situation in Kenya.

Baroness Anelay of St Johns

​The UK recognises Kenya’s commitment to human rights as set out in Kenya’s 2010 Constitution and Bill of Rights, and demonstrated through its implementation of recommendations from its United Nations Universal Periodic Review in 2015.

We welcome recent reforms such as the announcement by President Kenyatta on 24 October that all death sentences have been commuted to life terms. We encourage the government to take steps formally to end the death penalty in Kenya.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Kennedy of Southwark on 2015-11-10.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what action they are taking to prevent excessive letting fees being charged to private-sector tenants.

Baroness Williams of Trafford

The Government has acted to protect tenants against unfair and excessive letting agency fees by requiring agents to publish a full breakdown of all charges prominently in their offices and on their website. A fine of up to £5,000 can be levied against agents who fail to comply.

Transparency is the key to keeping fees low, giving tenants the necessary information to make informed decisions and compare prices and, therefore, creating effective competition that should force agents to keep fees fair.

The Government has also made it a legal requirement, since 1 October 2014, for letting and managing agents in England to belong to one of the three Government approved redress schemes, offering a clear route for landlords and tenants to pursue complaints and, therefore, driving up standards.

We will continue to monitor the impact of these new requirements.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Kennedy of Southwark on 2015-11-25.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what representations they have made to the government of Iran concerning the case of Kamal Foroughi.

Baroness Anelay of St Johns

We are very concerned for Mr Foroughi’s health and have frequently raised this with the Iranian authorities, urging them to provide regular medical assistance and access to a lawyer. Iran does not recognise dual nationality, and so will not allow us consular access.

The Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, my right hon. Friend the Member for Runnymede and Weybridge (Mr Hammond), personally raised this case with President Rouhani in Tehran, and also with Foreign Minister Zarif. The Prime Minister, my right hon. Friend the Member for Witney (Mr Cameron), has written to President Rouhani about this case. On 1 December the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, my hon. Friend the Member for Bournemouth East (Mr Ellwood), met Mr Foroughi’s family to discuss the case. We will continue to raise this with the Iranian government at every opportunity.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Kennedy of Southwark on 2015-12-02.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of the recent election in Argentina and its implications for British-Argentinian relations.

Baroness Anelay of St Johns

We made no secret of our desire for a more constructive bilateral relationship with whomever succeeded former President Kirchner. The Prime Minister, my right hon. Friend the Member for Witney (Mr Cameron), has spoken to President Macri to congratulate him on his election win and both leaders – whilst acknowledging our differences – agreed that this was an opportunity to build on the historic ties and shared interests of our people and develop existing trade and investment links.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Kennedy of Southwark on 2015-12-22.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what is the difference between the public finance forecasts for 2015–16 and the actual financial figures available to date, and what assessment have they made of the reasons for the difference.

Lord O’Neill of Gatley

The Office for National Statistics (ONS) jointly with HM Treasury publish the public sector finances statistical bulletin on a monthly basis, which provides the latest available estimates for key aspects of Public Sector Finances.

The latest release was published on 22 December covering the November 2015 public sector finances.[1]

Borrowing for the 8 months to November is £6.6 bn less than the same period last year against an Autumn Statement forecast of a £15.7bn full year fall. It’s clear that there is no shortcut to fixing the public finances. That’s why the Chancellor used the Autumn Statement and Spending Review to set out our plan to finish the job and build a resilient economy.

The independent Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR) are responsible for producing the forecasts of the public finances. They have published a detailed commentary on 22 December, which assesses the latest estimates included in the bulletin against their latest forecast^[2].

[1] https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/public-sector-finances-bulletin

[2] http://budgetresponsibility.org.uk/wordpress/docs/Dec-2015-Commentary-on-the-Public-Sector-Finances-release.pdf

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The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Kennedy of Southwark on 2016-01-29.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government how many companies have made special arrangements with HMRC to pay tax owed, and how the arrangements are assessed as reasonable and fair to the taxpayer in general as well as to the company concerned.

Lord O’Neill of Gatley

HMRC does not enter into special arrangements with companies.