Tag: Lord Warner

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Warner on 2016-02-23.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government, further to the Written Answer by Lord Nash on 15 February (HL5803), what assessment they have made of the criticisms of the admissions practices of a significant number of religiously selective schools in the report by the Fair Admissions Campaign and the British Humanist Association; and what action they are taking to stop any such practices.

Lord Nash

Schools which are found by the Schools Adjudicator to have aspects of their admission arrangements which do not comply with the Schools Admissions Code are required to amend their arrangements to ensure they are compliant.

The Department carefully considers the recommendations of the Chief Schools Adjudicator, as well as feedback from parents and other members of the sector. Where we consider changes are necessary to make the admissions system work more effectively for parents, these will be subject to a full public consultation.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Warner on 2016-05-25.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government which local authorities have had their children’s services transferred into arms-length trusts; whether these transfers cover all such services; what Ofsted reports are available on such transferred services; and what changes in performance these reports show.

Lord Nash

Doncaster Children’s Services Trust took over responsibility for delivering all children’s social care functions, apart from services for disabled children and universal early help services, on behalf of the council under Direction from the Secretary of State for Education and the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government in September 2014. Ofsted inspected children’s services in Doncaster in September 2015. The judgement was inadequate overall. However, the inspection found improvement since the previous inspection in 2012, when all sub-judgements were inadequate. In 2015, all sub-judgements were requires improvement, save for children in need of help and protection, which was inadequate; and adoption performance, which was good.

Slough Children’s Services Trust took over responsibility for the provision of children’s early help and social care functions along with specific special educational needs services on behalf of the council under direction from the Secretary of State for Education in September 2015. Ofsted inspected children’s social care services in Slough in November 2015, less than 8 weeks after the Trust went live. The judgement was ‘inadequate’ overall. Despite the short amount of time that the trust had been in operation at the time of the inspection, Ofsted commented positively on the impact of the Trust leadership. Their report described how the pace of improvement accelerated since it was established. Encouragingly the inspectors reported that there were clear signs that the Trust understands what needs to change and there is evidence that it can deliver the required improvements.

Achieving for Children is a social enterprise company that delivers all education support and children’s services, as well as integrated health services for children with disabilities, on behalf of Kingston Upon Thames and Richmond Upon Thames councils. Prior to the creation of this voluntary trust in April 2014, safeguarding and looked after children services in Kingston were judged to be inadequate in May 2012, and child protection services were judged to be inadequate in June 2013. Children’s services in Kingston were judged to be good when they were inspected again in May 2015. Children’s services in Richmond were last inspected in March 2012 when they were rated good.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Warner on 2015-01-14.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government, further to the Written Answer by Lord Bates on 6 January (HL3867), whether they will publish the list of non-exhaustive indicators of unacceptable behaviours that could lead to the exclusion of a foreign national from the United Kingdom.

Lord Bates

The list of unacceptable behaviours is indicative rather than exhaustive. It covers any non-UK national whether in the UK or abroad who uses any means or medium including:

• writing, producing, publishing or distributing material;

• public speaking including preaching

• running a website; or

• using a position of responsibility such as teacher, community or youth leader

To express views which:

• foment, justify or glorify terrorist violence in furtherance of particular beliefs;

• seek to provoke others to terrorist acts;

• foment other serious criminal activity or seek to provoke others to serious criminal acts or;

• foster hatred which might lead to inter-community violence in the UK

The list was finalised in August 2005 following a consultation.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Warner on 2015-01-14.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government, further to the Written Answer by Lord Bates on 6 January (HL3868), whether evidence that an individual persistently undertook, permitted or financed illegal settlements in the Occupied Palestinian Territories triggers consideration as to whether that individual’s conduct is not conducive to the public good.

Lord Bates

All foreign nationals seeking entry to the UK must satisfy either an entry clearance officer overseas, or an immigration officer at the port of arrival, that they fully meet the requirements of the Immigration Rules in the category of entry sought and that, by their own actions, they have not brought themselves within scope of the general grounds for refusal set out in Part 9 of the Immigration Rules.

The Government takes a range of measures to prevent foreign nationals from coming to, or remaining in, the UK where their presence is not conducive to the public good. An individual may be refused entry to the UK under the Immigration Rules and the Home Secretary also has the power to exclude foreign nationals from the UK. The power to exclude is broad but may include circumstances involving national security, unacceptable behaviour, extremism, international relations or foreign policy, and serious organised crime. These decisions are made according to the individual circumstances of each case taking into a consideration a range of factors.