Tag: Lord Maginnis of Drumglass

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Maginnis of Drumglass on 2016-10-17.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of the World Chess Federation’s decision to enforce a requirement on all competitors in the Women’s World Chess Championship 2017 in Iran to wear the hijab, and what discussions they have had with, and what advice they have given to, UK Chess Associations about the safety of UK citizens competing in the event.

Lord Ashton of Hyde

We have had no discussions with the World Chess Federation on this matter. Visitors to any country should refer to FCO advice when travelling abroad, including abiding by local laws and customs.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Maginnis of Drumglass on 2016-02-10.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what stage they have reached in their consideration of amending legislation in order to ensure that convicted murderers who persist in refusing to reveal the location of bodies of victims are prevented from being released on parole; and when they expect to introduce legislation to that effect.

Lord Faulks

I can sympathise with the anguish caused to the families of victims where the whereabouts of their loved one is unknown and the offender wilfully fails to co-operate. Such behaviour is already taken into account by the court when sentencing the offender, and by the independent Parole Board when assessing an offender’s eligibility for possible release. The Prisons Minister has written to the Parole Board asking it to consider reviewing its guidelines on this issue.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Maginnis of Drumglass on 2016-04-25.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether the actions of Brighton and Hove City Council regarding its inquiries into children’s gender identity, rather than their physical sex, have been referred to the police in the light of any risk that such questioning might sexualise vulnerable young people.

Baroness Williams of Trafford

The Department for Education provides guidance on the Equality Act 2010 to schools which contains advice on the Public Sector Equality Duty and on the protected characteristic of gender reassignment.

The Department has not inquired into the gender identity of children in January 2016 and has no correspondence on the matter.

The addition of gender identity information on the pupil registration form was solely a decision of the Brighton and Hove City Council. They have the independence to make this decision.

The Department does not hold details of any additional information collected by local authorities outside of those required by the Department for our centrally specified, mandatory data collections.

The Department is not aware of any referral on this issue to the Police.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Maginnis of Drumglass on 2016-10-21.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of the need for, and benefit to be derived from, the questionnaire issued by Brighton and Hove Council requesting information about children’s self-perception of their sexual orientation.

Lord Nash

These questions refer to an answer given by Viscount Younger of Leckie on 12 October 2016, and also link to previous questions asked by Lord Macginnis, and answered by Baroness Williams of Trafford in April 2016.

As Baroness Williams set out in her previous reply, the Department for Education provides guidance on the Equality Act 2010 to schools which contains advice on the Public Sector Equality Duty and on the protected characteristic of gender reassignment.

The Department is not responsible for the decision by Brighton and Hove Council to include gender identity information on the pupil registration form it issued in April 2016. The Council has the independence to make this decision. The Department has had no involvement and has not made any assessment of the questionnaire.

The Department does not hold details of any additional information collected by local authorities outside of those required by the Department for our centrally specified, mandatory data collections. Brighton and Hove Council is responsible for securing answers and restricting access to information generated by any questionnaire it issues.

The Department has not inquired into the gender identity of children in Brighton and Hove and has no correspondence on the matter.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Maginnis of Drumglass on 2016-02-29.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether they maintain statistics relating to (1) autism referrals, (2) initial assessments of autism, and (3) diagnosis of autism; and if so, how many of each there were during each of the past five years.

Lord Prior of Brampton

No formal statistics are collected of autism referrals, initial assessments or diagnoses. The Department does however commission Public Health England each year to carry out a self-assessment exercise with local authority areas on progress they are making in implementing the Autism Strategy for Adults in England. Local authorities work with their local partners including clinical commissioning groups (CCGs) to informally answer a range of questions.

In the exercise based on 2013 data, all 152 local authority areas replied but some did not answer all the questions. Areas were asked how many adults have completed the diagnostic pathway in the preceding year and 111 reported a total of 4,677. They were also asked the length of the average wait for referral to diagnostic services and 117 answered this question. The average of these figures, weighted for the population in the responding areas, was 27.9 weeks.

The exercise based on 2014 data saw 149 areas respond. They were asked how many adults had received a diagnosis of an autistic spectrum condition in the preceding year and 128 reported a total of 5,109. Areas were also asked the length of the average wait between referral and assessment for all adults and 135 answered this question. The average of these figures, similarly weighted, was 19.6 weeks. Information on the waiting time between autism referrals and initial assessments, and between initial assessments and diagnosis, was not collected during these exercises. The next exercise will be launched later in the spring.

The number of children and young people diagnosed with autism by the National Health Service is not collected centrally. Latest figures from the School Census (2015) state that there were 90,775 pupils with an autistic spectrum condition at state funded schools and non-maintained special schools in England. This has increased from a total of 56,250 in 2010 who were recorded as having a primary need of autism, but it is not directly comparable to the 2015 figures because of a change in collection methodology.

New statutory guidance was issued in England in March 2015 to support implementation of the Adult Autism Strategy. This set out what people seeking an autism diagnosis can expect from local authorities and NHS bodies. The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence has published three clinical guidelines on autism and a quality standard to assist health managers and practitioners in developing services. This includes a recommendation that an assessment is started within three months of the referral. NHS England has commenced a programme to visit CCGs to identify and share good practice in accessing autism diagnosis, and look at possible barriers. NHS England will complete a report on this by the end of April 2016.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Maginnis of Drumglass on 2016-05-23.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of the decision by the Special Immigration Appeals Commission to refuse the Home Office the right to deport six individuals, allegedly linked to al-Qaeda, to Algeria; and what is their current assessment of the total cost implications of complying with that ruling without further appeal.

Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon

The Government is disappointed by the 18 April 2016 decision of the Special Immigration Appeals Commission which relates to cases dating back over ten years.

There are no separately identifiable costs for complying with that ruling.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Maginnis of Drumglass on 2016-10-21.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what guidance they have given to local authorities, in particular Brighton and Hove Council, concerning requests for information about children’s self-perception of their sexual orientation.

Lord Nash

The Department for Education do not require schools or local authorities to collect any information on the sexual orientation of children. Any information collected locally by schools and / or local authorities on sexual orientation for their own purposes is a matter for them to manage locally.

The Department for Education has provided schools with guidance on complying with the Equality Act.

The Public Sector Equality Duty, at section 149 of the Equality Act 2010, is a duty on public bodies (and others carrying out public functions) to consider, in their day to day work, the needs of people who share particular protected characteristics. This includes schools and children’s services.

Under the Duty, public bodies must have due regard to the need to:

• eliminate discrimination, harassment, victimisation and any other conducted that is prohibited under the Equality Act 2010
• advance equality of opportunity, and;
• foster good relations between people who share a relevant protected characteristic and those who do not.

The Equality Duty covers the protected characteristics listed in the Equality Act, which includes age, disability, gender reassignment, pregnancy and maternity, race, religion or belief, sex and sexual orientation.

Guidance on complying with the Act and the Equality Duty can be found on GOV.UK (under Equality Act 2010 guidance). Earlier guidance formed under the Coalition Government has been archived on the National Archives website (under the ‘Equality Bill’ guidance). The Equality and Human Rights Commission has also issued guidance on the Public Sector Equality Duty.

Local authorities will also have to comply with the requirements of the Data Protection Act 1998 on the data they collect. The Information Commissioner’s Office state that data should only be collected if organisations have legitimate grounds for collecting and using the personal data; that they do not use the data in ways that have unjustified adverse effects on the individuals concerned; that they be transparent about how they intend to use the data, and give individuals appropriate privacy notices when collecting their personal data.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Maginnis of Drumglass on 2015-10-13.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government, further to the Written Answer by Lord Nash on 17 July (HL558), what assessment they have made of the impact of the declining number of professionally trained teachers in primary schools on the reading, writing and numerical attainment of children at 11 years of age; and whether they intend to take steps to reverse the decline in teachers who are professionally trained.

Lord Nash

Between 2010 and 2014, the full-time equivalent (FTE) number of teachers in primary schools in England has increased by 19,100 (from 196,400 FTEs to 215,500 FTEs). This represents an increase of 9.7% compared with 2010.

The full-time equivalent number of qualified teachers in primary schools in England has increased over the same period by 17,100 FTEs – from 192,500 FTEs in 2010 to 209,600 FTEs in 2014.

The proportion of children in England achieving level 4 or above in reading, writing and mathematics has continued to rise over recent years; from 75% in 2013 to 80% in 2015.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Maginnis of Drumglass on 2015-10-13.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government, further to the Written Answer by Lord Nash on 17 July (HL558), what assessment they have made of the impact of the declining number of professionally trained teachers in primary schools on classroom discipline and pupil behaviour at secondary level; and whether they intend to undertake any research on that issue.

Lord Nash

Between 2010 and 2014 the full-time equivalent (FTE) number of teachers in primary schools in England has increased by 19,100 (from 196,400 FTEs to 215,500 FTEs). This represents an increase of 9.7% since 2010.

The full-time equivalent number of qualified teachers in primary schools in England has increased over the same period by 17,100 FTEs – from 192,500 FTEs in 2010 to 209,600 FTEs in 2014.

We are determined that every child is able to work and study hard without disruption. We have given head teachers more powers to tackle poor behaviour, including strengthening their powers to search pupils and the removal of the requirement to give parents 24 hours’ written notice of after-school detention. We have revised and simplified advice to schools on promoting good behaviour and maintaining discipline, ensuring they have the confidence to exclude pupils when it is necessary.

Now we are going further by appointing behaviour expert Tom Bennett to lead a review to ensure new teachers are fully trained in dealing with disruptive children and also consider all of the challenges of managing behaviour in schools.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Maginnis of Drumglass on 2015-10-05.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what guidance, if any, they give to hospitals about whether patients may wear military uniforms in waiting and emergency rooms; what assessment they have made of the recent removal of a uniformed Royal Air Force sergeant from the waiting room of Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother Hospital in Margate reportedly so as not to upset other patients from different cultures; and whether they plan to issue further guidance to hospitals about whether, in the light of that incident, patients who are members of the armed forces have the right to wear military uniforms in waiting and emergency rooms.

Lord Prior of Brampton

NHS England has reviewed the action taken at East Kent University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust. Due to an altercation between a member of the public and a member of the armed forces in uniform that had taken place the previous day, the employee concerned was acting in good faith, but handled the situation wrongly.

The Trust is absolutely clear that members of Her Majesty’s armed forces, whether in uniform or not, should not be treated differently to others. They have reinforced this policy to all members of staff and offered an apology to the patient involved for any embarrassment caused.

Additionally, NHS England is currently reviewing the East Kent University Hospitals Trust’s Equality and Diversity and Access Policies and will agree amendments if necessary. There are no plans to issue further guidance.