Tag: Lord Warner

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Warner on 2016-06-15.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government, further to the Written Answer by Lord Nash on 9 June (HL353), whether Birmingham City Council could continue with an updated Improvement Plan after 2017 if a new Ofsted inspection reveals satisfactory improvements since the last inspection in March 2014.

Lord Nash

If Ofsted find that Birmingham City Council have improved to the point where their children’s social care services are no longer inadequate, they will be removed from Department for Education intervention. At this point, the Department will continue to provide supervision and support to ensure that improvements remain on track.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Warner on 2015-12-15.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what additional income for spending on adult care will be available to each authority with adult social care functions if each of those authorities increases their precept by two per cent in each year from 2016–17 to 2019–20 inclusive, with no change to their baseline forecast spend for 2015–16.

Baroness Williams of Trafford

The Government announced on 17 December 2015, Official Report, Column 2238-2241, that Local Authorities with social care responsibilities will be able to increase their council tax by up to 2% above the core referendum principles of 2% (4% in total) which is expected to raise an extra £2billion by 2019/20. A breakdown of the £2billion, by how much individual local authorities could raise, has been made and can be viewed at the following link or in the attached document.

https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/486708/Core_spending_power_supporting_information.xlsx

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The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Warner on 2016-02-01.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what consideration they have given to comments by Professor Ted Cantle of the iCoCo Foundation regarding their proposals to prevent organisations from objecting to the admissions arrangements of schools.

Lord Nash

The Department’s proposed changes are designed to make sure that the Schools Adjudicator can concentrate on parental complaints. The Department wants to ensure that the Adjudicator is able to prioritise the concerns parents may have about the fairness of the admission arrangements of their local school.

The changes are still subject to a full public consultation and the Department will give careful consideration to all the views expressed in that consultation.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Warner on 2016-02-29.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government, in the light of paragraph 16 of the agreement between the Scottish and UK governments on the Scottish fiscal framework, whether there is any obligation on the Scottish Government (1) to spend all or a certain proportion of the money passed to them for NHS services under the Barnett formula on those services; or (2) to account to the Scottish Parliament for not doing so.

Lord O’Neill of Gatley

The mechanical application of the Barnett Formula ensures that the Scottish Parliament, Welsh Assembly and Northern Ireland Assembly receive a population share of changes in UK government funding on the services for which they have devolved responsibility. In accordance with the principles of devolution and the devolution Acts themselves, it is for the devolved administrations to decide how to allocate their funding (from the block grant or taxes/borrowing) to public services in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland; and it is for the devolved legislatures to hold them to account. The Scottish Government’s new fiscal framework does not alter this.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Warner on 2016-06-15.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government, further to the Written Answer by Lord Nash on 9 June (HL354), how long it took to set up the Trusts in Kingston-upon-Thames and Slough; what were the costs of setting up those Trusts; and who bore those costs.

Lord Nash

Slough Borough Council was issued with a Statutory Direction in October 2014, which required the Council to cooperate in setting up a Trust. The Trust became operational in October 2015. The Department for Education met the costs of setting up the trust, which came to £3.3m.

Achieving for Children is a community interest company owned and established by the councils of Kingston-Upon-Thames and Richmond. The Department does not hold information about the total costs of setting up this company but Achieving for Children received grant funding of £500,000 from the Department of Communities and Local Government and £105,605 of professional advice and support from the Cabinet Office Mutuals Support Programme.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Warner on 2015-12-15.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what amount they plan to make available to local authorities to add to the Better Care Fund in each year from 2016–17 to 2019–20 inclusive, in the light of the commitment to make £1.5 billion available by 2019–20 set out in paragraph 2.124 of the Spending Review and Autumn Statement 2015.

Lord Prior of Brampton

The annual breakdown of the £1.5 billion that will be made available to local authorities by 2019-20 to add to the Better Care Fund, as announced by the Chancellor in the 2015 Spending Review, has not yet been finalised. More detailed figures will be announced in due course.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Warner on 2016-02-01.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government, in the light of their recent proposal to prevent groups and organisations from objecting to the admissions arrangements of schools, what assessment they have made of whether the average parent has the expertise to identify and object to breaches of the School Admissions Code.

Lord Nash

Parents do not need a detailed knowledge of the School Admissions Code to be able to refer objections to the Schools Adjudicator. Many parents refer objections to the Schools Adjudicator.

The Department’s proposed changes are intended to ensure that the Adjudicator is able to focus on the concerns parents may have about the fairness of the admission arrangements of their local school.

The Department will be conducting a full public consultation in due course and will give careful consideration to all the views expressed in that consultation.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Warner on 2016-02-29.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether repeated underspending year on year by the Scottish Government of monies passed to them for NHS services under the Barnett formula could be subject (1) to challenge under the Dispute Resolution procedure as set out in paragraphs 98–104 of the agreement between the Scottish and UK Governments on the Scottish fiscal framework or (2) a 2021 review as set out in paragraphs 111–113 of that agreement.

Lord O’Neill of Gatley

The mechanical application of the Barnett Formula ensures that the Scottish Parliament, Welsh Assembly and Northern Ireland Assembly receive a population share of changes in UK government funding on the services for which they have devolved responsibility. In accordance with the principles of devolution and the devolution Acts themselves, it is for the devolved administrations to decide how to allocate their funding (from the block grant or taxes/borrowing) to public services in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland; and it is for the devolved legislatures to hold them to account. The Scottish Government’s new fiscal framework does not alter this.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Warner on 2016-06-15.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government when the current Commissioner for Birmingham City Council’s children’s social care services started work; how long his appointment is for; what progress reports he has provided to the Secretary of State; and whether those reports are in the public domain.

Lord Nash

Andrew Christie was appointed Commissioner for children’s social care services in Birmingham in December 2015. The statutory Direction that appointed him lasts until September 2016. He reports regularly to the Secretary of State. These reports are not in the public domain.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Warner on 2015-12-15.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government, in the light of their commitment to consult on 100 per cent retention of business rates by local authorities by the end of this Parliament, what additional resources would be available to each local authority with adult social care functions if they had been able to keep all the business rates collected in their area in 2014–15, and what proportion of their total expenditure that business rate retention amounted to.

Baroness Williams of Trafford

The Government intends to move to 100 percent business rates retention in England by the end of this Parliament. We have confirmed that as part of the new system there will continue to be redistribution of local tax revenue between authorities and protections in place for authorities that see their business rates income fall significantly. Over the coming months we will be working with local government on the details of the scheme. Ahead of final decisions, it is too early to assess what the impact will be on individual areas or authorities.