Tag: Lord Storey

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Storey on 2016-01-14.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what are the requirements for a city which decides to return from a mayoral form of governance to a Leader of the Council model, when the decision to have a mayor was made by the council itself and not through a referendum.

Baroness Williams of Trafford

Where a council has established mayoral governance following a council resolution but without a referendum, it may change that governance model once 5 years has elapsed from the initial resolution.

A referendum on whether to move away from the mayoral governance model may be held at any time after this point, if the council resolves to hold such a referendum or if it is petitioned by 5% or more of the local electorate. The council must meet the cost of the referendum.

If the referendum takes place within the five years following the council resolution, but a second mayoral term of office has begun during those five years, the governance change will take place on the third day after the next ordinary election of a mayor.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Storey on 2016-01-28.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what financial support is available for post-16 students in rural areas who have to travel long distances to attend the nearest further education or sixth form college.

Lord Nash

The statutory responsibility for financial and other support regarding transport to education and training for 16 to 19 year olds rests with local authorities, enabling them to make decisions which best match local needs and circumstances. Local authorities are expected to make reasonable decisions based on the needs of their population, the local transport infrastructure, and the resources they have available.

Most young people, including those in rural areas, have access to discounts or concessions from their local authority or transport providers. Some young people are also supported by the 16-19 Bursary Fund, and some schools or colleges provide free or subsidised transport directly.

The government also supports local bus travel, including in rural areas, through the Bus Service Operators Grant.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Storey on 2016-02-09.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government,  further to the Written Answer by Baroness Evans of Bowes Park on 26 January (HL5024), whether the Quality Assurance Agency requests data from higher education institutions regarding the number of cases of plagiarism and how those cases were handled each year.

Baroness Neville-Rolfe

There is no centrally held set of data on the number of recorded plagiarism cases in higher education. This is an institutional matter and cases are handled by individual institutions.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Storey on 2016-03-08.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what consideration they have given to limiting the proportion of places that schools can allocate using religious admissions criteria, in line with the cap that currently exists for free schools.

Lord Nash

The Government greatly values the contribution that existing church and faith schools play in our education system, including those of free schools, and we have no plans to change their admission arrangements since they are providing places for the communities they serve.

Not all faith schools choose to allocate places by faith. It is for the admission authority of the school to decide whether or not to include faith-based priorities within their oversubscription criteria.

When constructing faith-based oversubscription criteria, including deciding how membership or practice of the faith will be determined, admission authorities must have regard to the guidance of their relevant religious authority and their arrangements must comply with the statutory School Admissions Code.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Storey on 2016-04-26.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what have been the on-costs on teachers’ salaries for the last three years.

Lord Nash

The on-costs on teachers’ salaries consist of employer pension contributions and employer National Insurance (NI) contributions. In 2015/16, the total on-costs for a teacher with an average salary are approximately 25.4% of their gross salary.

Employer contributions to the Teachers’ Pension Scheme are the same rate for all teachers regardless of salary and in 2015/16 they increased from 14.1% of teachers’ gross salary to 16.5%.

The table below sets out the on-costs on teachers’ salaries for the last three years:

Employer contributions	2013/14	2014/15	2015/16
Teachers’ Pension	14.1%	14.1%	16.5%
National Insurance	7.9%	7.9%	8.9%
Total On-Costs	22.0%	22.0%	25.4%

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Storey on 2016-06-06.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether the drivers of rickshaws that carry paying passengers have to have a Disclosure and Barring Service check in line with the requirements for other taxi service providers.

Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon

The legislation covering rickshaws, or pedicabs, is different across England.

In London they are classified as stage coaches, and therefore are exempted from taxi licensing and do not need a Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) check. The Government however is looking to bring forward legislation to regulate pedicabs in London.

Outside London they fall under taxi licensing, and drivers must therefore pass the ‘fit and proper person’ test mandated by whichever local authority they are licensed in.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Storey on 2016-06-28.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government why the net expenditure of the Standards and Testing Agency in the year ending March 2012 was over 25 per cent lower than the average yearly net expenditure for the period April 2010 to March 2015.

Lord Nash

The year ending March 2012 was the period when the Qualifications and Curriculum Development Agency closed and the Standards and Testing Agency opened. The reduction in expenditure can partly be explained by the transfer of functions between the two organisations. In addition, there was no whole cohort external marking of the Key Stage 2 writing test that year.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Storey on 2016-07-06.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what plans they have to improve teenage literacy, in the light of the 2016 OECD report Building skills for all: A review of England, which stated that the UK has the lowest literacy rates among 16 to 19 year-olds out of 23 developed countries.

Lord Nash

We are pleased that the OECD recognises in their review the changes we have made in recent years to ensure that all young people leave full-time education with a high standard of English.

The primary National Curriculum emphasises the teaching of early reading through systematic phonics and the importance of accurate spelling, punctuation and grammar. At secondary school pupils are expected to read a wide range of texts fluently and with good understanding.

We have reformed GCSEs to ensure they are more stretching and provide greater assurance of core literacy than the old GCSE. We are also taking action to improve the rigour and relevance of English Functional Skills qualifications, which are taken by many students and apprentices aged 16 and over.

To ensure all young people have every opportunity to secure proficiency in English, since 2014 we have required every 16-19 year old not holding a good pass in GCSE English and mathematics to continue to study these subjects as part of their 16-19 study programme. We have also embedded English and mathematics into our work-based training programmes such as apprenticeships and traineeships.

Last summer’s GCSE results show that over 4,000 more students aged 17 and over secured GCSE English at grades A*-C than the previous year.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Storey on 2016-10-19.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether they are planning to bring sixth form colleges in line with sixth form college academies in not having to pay VAT.

Lord Young of Cookham

I refer the noble Lord to the answer I gave on 25th October 2016 (Question HL2214).

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Storey on 2015-11-25.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what is the current level of per capita funding for students in (1) school sixth forms in schools, (2) sixth form colleges, and (3) further education colleges.

Lord Nash

Funding for all 16-19 institutions comes from the same national funding formula. The national base rate for 16-19 year olds in full time education is £4,000 per student. Weightings related to disadvantage, programme costs and area costs are added to the base rate funding, to reflect additional costs faced by different institutions.

The overall average units of funding for the 2015/16 academic year are:

Schools and Academy Sixth Forms	£4,567
Sixth Form Colleges	£4,670
General Further Education and Specialist Colleges	£4,973