Tag: Lord Taylor of Warwick

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Taylor of Warwick on 2016-10-03.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what steps they are taking to help the Local Government Association prevent children being taught in illegal schools.

Lord Nash

We are determined to keep children safe in and out of school and have made it very clear that it is an offence to operate an unregistered independent school. In January 2016, we announced funding for Ofsted to establish a dedicated team of specialist inspectors to investigate such settings and since that time, there has been a significant escalation of Ofsted investigations.

The Department for Education and Ofsted are working closely with local authorities to identify and tackle illegal schools, and close collaboration has resulted in the closure of many such settings.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Taylor of Warwick on 2015-10-19.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what steps they are taking to support the steel industry in the light of the director of UK Steel’s statement that the steel industry is in crisis.

Baroness Neville-Rolfe

There is no straightforward solution to the complex global challenges facing the steel industry; however, the Government has been extremely active in advocating for, and supporting the sector. On 16th October, we held a Steel Summit, which was an important opportunity to bring the key players together and since then we have been taking urgent action to address the ‘5 Asks’ of the steel industry, operating through three Ministerial led working groups. We are also supporting the metals sector more widely through the industry-led Metals Strategy, which will provide a platform for Government to work with the industry on some of the most pressing issues holding back the future growth of the sector.

Firstly, we are tackling unfair trade practices where clear evidence exists. We supported and voted for the renewal of EU anti-dumping measures on wire rod, and lobbied successfully for an investigation into cheap imports of Reinforcing Steel Bar. The Business Secretary had meetings with European Commissioners and spoke with key counterparts in other Member States on 28 October, calling for firmer, faster action against unfair trade practices. As a direct result, an extraordinary meeting to the European Competitiveness Council is taking place on steel.

In addition, the Prime Minister discussed steel with President Xi during his recent visit. The Chinese President recognised the UK’s concerns and will be taking action to address Chinese overcapacity

Secondly, the Government has confirmed to the steel industry that it will be able to take advantage of special flexibilities to comply with new EU rules on emissions. These are now awaiting final approval by the Commission.

Thirdly, the steel industry has been invited to present detailed evidence on issues affecting the business environment at the next meeting of the steel working group on competitiveness and productivity chaired by the Treasury Commercial Secretary.

Fourthly, with regard to energy costs, following the meeting between the Business Secretary and the Competition Commissioner on 23 October, we are now expecting to have state aid approval to provide relief to our Energy Intensive Industries for the cost of renewables policy by the end of this year. Further to that, the Prime Minister announced on 28th October that we will make an additional £45m available to commence compensation for the costs of the Renewables Obligation from the date of state aid approval, alongside providing relief to these sectors from the costs of the small Feed in Tariffs. An exemption for the costs of the Contracts for Difference will also commence early next year. This is on top of over £50 million of support already given to the steel industry to mitigate increasing electricity costs.

Finally, we are taking action to drive up the number of public contracts won by UK steel manufacturers and their partners through fair and open competition. The National Infrastructure Plan contains a significant number of projects which will use British steel, e.g. Crossrail – with four UK based companies providing over 50,000 tonnes of steel; and HS2 – where Government has already given notice of the thousands of tonnes of steel that will be needed. Following the first meeting of the steel procurement working group chaired by the Minister for the Cabinet Office, the Government published on 30 October new guidelines for departments to apply on major projects when sourcing and buying steel. The new instructions will help steel suppliers compete on a level playing field with international suppliers for major government projects.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Taylor of Warwick on 2015-10-19.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what steps they are taking to protect small companies in the light of reports that Google’s recent update to its search algorithm reduced visitor numbers to websites owned by small United Kingdom firms.

Baroness Neville-Rolfe

Through the Government-funded Digital Business Academy, small businesses are provided with a free online learning tool with modules on digital marketing and search optimisation. The Government welcomes the Go On UK scheme, which works in with partnership with large businesses to help small businesses to do more online. This includes guidance on building a website and search optimisation. We encourage all businesses to keep pace with any change in the market, including search optimisation.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Taylor of Warwick on 2015-10-19.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government how they plan to improve the quality of the apprenticeship schemes, in the light of the conclusion in Ofsted’s report that very few apprenticeships are delivering professional level skills.

Baroness Neville-Rolfe

We have been taking steps to improve the quality of apprenticeships, including insisting that all apprenticeships should be paid jobs with substantial stretching training and robust assessment procedures and last for a minimum of 12 months. We are committed to delivering employer-led apprenticeship reforms, which are improving the quality of apprenticeships to provide the skills that employers need.

The availability of apprenticeships at a range of levels is essential to meet the skill needs of employers and improve productivity. We are committed to growing the numbers of Higher and Degree Apprenticeships, which are widening access to the professions, and developing the higher level technical skills needed to improve productivity and support British industry to compete internationally.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Taylor of Warwick on 2015-10-19.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what is their assessment of the International Business Advisory Council’s statement that implementing the World Trade Organisation’s trade facilitation agreement should be a priority for governments.

Lord Maude of Horsham

The Government strongly supports the World |trade Organisation (WTO) Agreement on Trade Facilitation and encourages other WTO Members to ratify so that the agreement can enter into force as soon as possible.

Implementation of the Agreement will reduce the costs of cross-border trade, benefitting consumers and business alike. Once implemented, studies suggest the Agreement will add over £70 billion to the global economy. Of this, we expect a benefit to the UK of up to £1bn.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Taylor of Warwick on 2015-02-12.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what steps they are taking to enhance the quality of careers guidance available in schools in England.

Lord Nash

It is essential that all young people leave school prepared for life in modern Britain. This includes finding new ways to broaden young peoples’ exposure to the world of work and ensuring they have key skills like character and grit. A new, independent careers and enterprise company, announced by my Rt hon. Friend, the Secretary of State, on 10 December 2014, will support schools by increasing the level of employer input into careers guidance, inspiration and enterprise. This is a vital part of our plans to strengthen links between schools and the world of work to ensure young people get the support they need. The company will have the specific remit of spreading existing good practice to every part of England. The company will receive start-up funding drawn from the £20 million for careers announced in the autumn statement.

The new company is a key part of a wider package of measures to improve careers guidance in schools. We have revised our statutory guidance to clarify our expectations of schools in relation to their duty to secure independent careers guidance, and will review it again in time for the next academic year. We have established a clear accountability system. Ofsted is giving a higher priority to careers guidance in school inspections and we publish destination measures which help schools and colleges to be held to account locally and inform choices by parents and students. We have also enhanced the role of the National Careers Service to help bring schools and employers closer together.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Taylor of Warwick on 2015-02-12.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what steps they are taking to improve child safety, in the light of the levels of sexual coercion reported by teenage girls in England compared to other European countries.

Lord Nash

The findings on the levels of sexual coercion reported by teenage girls in England published by the University of Central Lancashire are part of a collaborative research project involving five European countries – Norway, Italy, Bulgaria, Cyprus and England. Protection from abuse is a fundamental right for all children and the Government continues to work to improve child safety.

Our recent key actions include:

• Commissioning the PSHE Association to produce guidance for teachers on teaching about consent, which will be published shortly. The statutory sex and relationships education (SRE) guidance also makes clear that young people should be taught about how the law applies to sexual relationships and be taught positive values and a moral framework to guide their decisions, judgements and behaviour.

• Revising statutory safeguarding guidance, Working Together to Safeguard Children, 2013 and Keeping Children Safe in Education (April 2014), to provide clear frameworks for professionals and for schools to take action to protect children from abuse. These updated versions will be published shortly.

• To help children stay safe online, we have also put online safety on the curriculum, published advice for parents on keeping young people safe from cyberbullying, and announced £500,000 extra funding in December 2014 to the UK Safer Internet Centre to provide guidance and training for schools. The Child Exploitation and Online Protection (CEOP) Command of the National Crime Agency has developed a specific educational resource to tackle ‘sexting’, which is designed for use by teachers.

• We are committed to improving the child protection system and are working with local leaders and professionals on a radical programme of reform, including improving social worker training and children’s services. The overall aim of this work is to bring about long-term change to help vulnerable children.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Taylor of Warwick on 2015-02-12.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what measures they are taking to overhaul child abuse investigations.

Lord Bates

The Government is clear that if anyone has been a victim of child sexual abuse, or knows of someone who has been a victim, then they should report it to the police so that it can be thoroughly investigated. The day to day investigation of child sexual abuse is an operational matter for the relevant Chief Officer.

In July last year, the Home Secretary established an Independent Panel Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse. This Inquiry will consider whether, and the extent to which, public bodies and other non-state institutions have taken seriously their duty of care to protect children from sexual abuse. The Inquiry will have statutory powers under the Inquiries Act 2005, to enable it to compel witnesses to give evidence. This is of huge national significance and is a once in a generation opportunity to get to the truth.

At a national level, Operation Hydrant is the national policing response which oversees and coordinates all child abuse investigations concerning persons of public prominence or those offences which took place historically in institutional settings. It is overseen by the National Policing Lead for Child Protection and Abuse Investigations. More generally, Operation Hydrant is responsible for the production of best practice for Senior Investigating Officers (SIOs) investigating relevant allegations.

To support forces in conducting operations into child sexual abuse, the College of Policing has published Authorised Professional Practice (APP) on managing complex child abuse investigations.

Her Majesty’s Inspectorate of Constabulary is currently conducting a rolling programme of unannounced child protection inspections. Reports on Norfolk, South Yorkshire, West Midlands, Greater Manchester, West Yorkshire and Nottinghamshire have been published so far. This inspection programme, once completed, will give a national picture, and focus on the role of police in child protection and specifically how effectively forces safeguard young people.