The below Parliamentary question was asked by Maria Caulfield on 2015-11-17.
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what the total population of student midwives in England was in the latest year for which figures are available.
Ben Gummer
The latest available information provided by Health Education England shows that there were 6,624 student midwives in training in England at 31 March 2015.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Maria Caulfield on 2016-02-09.
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what progress NHS England has made on improving cancer survival rates.
Jane Ellison
Cancer survival rates are at a record high and continue to improve. However, we know that we have to strive to be better. The Independent Cancer Taskforce’s report, Achieving World-Class Cancer Outcomes (July 2015), recommends improvements across the cancer pathway, and set a clear ambition for further improvement of survival rates.
NHS England is currently working with partners across the health system to determine how best to take forward the Taskforce’s recommendations and has appointed Cally Palmer CBE as National Cancer Director to lead on implementation, as well as new cancer vanguards to redesign care and patient experience. A new cross-system Cancer Transformation Board has been established to oversee the implementation of the strategy, and this met for the first time on Monday 25 January. There will also be a Cancer Advisory Group, chaired by Sir Harpal Kumar, to oversee and scrutinise the work of the Transformation Board.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Maria Caulfield on 2016-06-09.
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what steps he is taking to support apprenticeship providers to take on people who have special educational needs and disabilities.
Nick Boles
We are committed to ensuring that apprenticeships are accessible diverse range of people including young people with learning difficulties or disabilities.
We have supported the production of an employer toolkit and a Special Educational Needs (SEN) section of the Education and Training Foundation Excellence Gateway.
To encourage employers to hire apprentices, the Government funds apprenticeship training for all 16-18 year olds. This level of funding is extended for apprentices who have an Education, Health and Care Plan (EHC Plan) aged 19-24. In addition, providers can access Learning Support funding to help apprentices who have a learning difficulty and/or disability.
A Taskforce, led by my hon. Friend the Member for Blackpool North and Cleveleys (Paul Maynard), has been looking at issues around apprenticeships for people with learning difficulties or disabilities. The Taskforce is currently considering its recommendations.
Apprenticeships are safeguarded by the same equality duties under the Equality Act (2010) as any other employment. We encourage the use of the range of reasonable adjustments available so apprentices with special educational needs and disabilities (who can apply for Access to Work funding) can demonstrate what they know and can do.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Maria Caulfield on 2015-11-17.
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what the total cost was to his Department of training student midwives in each of the last 10 years.
Ben Gummer
Information prior to 2013/14 is not held centrally by the Department.
Detailed below is an estimate of planned expenditure costs to Health Education England of providing training to student midwives since 2013/14.
|
Year |
New Students Commissioned |
Planned Students in training |
Estimate Cost (million) |
|
2013/14 |
2,563 |
6,874 |
£102.2m |
|
2014/15 |
2,603 |
6,624 |
£120.8m |
|
2015/16 |
2,617 |
7,058 |
£130.6m |
Source: multi professional education and training budget monitoring returns
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Maria Caulfield on 2016-02-23.
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what discussions his Department has had with the government of Israel on the extension of the Separation Barrier in the Cremisan Valley.
Mr Tobias Ellwood
Officials from our Embassy in Tel Aviv have raised the issue of the separation barrier through Cremisan Valley with the Israeli authorities repeatedly, most recently on 1 September 2015. Our Deputy Consul General to Jerusalem visited the Al Walajah and Khirbet Najjar areas of Beit Jala on 9 February 2016, where he was given an update on the impact of the barrier on residents.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Maria Caulfield on 2016-06-20.
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what progress is being made on developing the Pubs Code; and when he plans that that code will be made available.
Anna Soubry
The Pubs Code etc Regulations 2016 and the Pubs Code (Fees, Costs and Financial Penalties) Regulations 2016 were laid in draft before Parliament on 13 June 2016. The Regulations are available from the legislation.gov.uk website.
The Regulations are now subject to Parliamentary scrutiny before they come in effect. This scrutiny begins with consideration by the Joint Committee on Statutory Instruments and the Secondary Legislation Scrutiny Committee followed by a debate in each House.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Maria Caulfield on 2015-12-01.
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what evidence her Department holds that pupil premium funding improves the life chances of pupils at schools which receive that funding.
Mr Sam Gyimah
Raising the educational achievement of pupils from disadvantaged backgrounds is key to improving their life chances. The government is determined to deliver educational excellence everywhere so that every child, regardless of background, reaches their potential.
Over the last Parliament, £6.25 billion was invested in the pupil premium to give schools additional resource for raising the attainment of disadvantaged pupils. The Public Accounts Committee’s recent report on funding for disadvantaged pupils recognises the government’s success in narrowing the attainment gap between disadvantaged pupils and their peers since the introduction of the pupil premium.
Key stage 2 reading, writing and maths results for disadvantaged pupils rose by almost 6 percentage points from 2012 to 2014, narrowing the gap with other pupils by over 2 percentage points. This information is available at https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/national-curriculum-assessments-at-key-stage-2-2014-revised.
The Department’s key stage 4 gap index measure also shows year-on-year improvement between 2012 and 2014 (from 3.89 to 3.74). This measure was introduced to allow for more reliable comparisons during a period of exam reform.This information is available at: https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/measuring-disadvantaged-pupils-attainment-gaps-over-time.
Recent data also show that an increasing number of disadvantaged pupils go on to a sustained education destination after secondary school (rising from 80% to 83% between 2013 and 2014). This information is available at: https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/provisional-destinations-key-stage-4-and-5-pupils-2013-to-2014.
“
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Maria Caulfield on 2016-02-23.
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what discussions his Department has had with the government of Israel on the international delegation of Bishops which was recently refused access to the Cremisan Valley by Israeli security forces during a visit to the construction site of the Separation Barrier.
Mr Tobias Ellwood
We have not raised this specific issue with the Israeli authorities. Officials from our Embassy in Tel Aviv have raised the issue of the separation barrier through the Cremisan Valley with the Israeli authorities repeatedly, most recently on 1 September 2015.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Maria Caulfield on 2016-07-13.
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, whether (a) a referral or (b) an appointment for an autism diagnostic assessment is captured in published mental health data (i) locally and (ii) nationally.
David Mowat
To support local areas in addressing long waits, NHS England, supported by the Department and the Association of Directors of Adult Social Services, initiated a series of visits to clinical commissioning groups and local authorities. These visits aimed to develop a better idea of the challenges in securing timely autism diagnosis across all ages, looking at the variability in diagnosis times and sharing good practice to help areas to improve their service. NHS England submitted a report on the visits to the 16 June meeting of the Cross Government Autism Programme Board, which includes representatives of autism third sector organisations and people who have autism. NHS England will have further discussions with relevant organisations over the summer about actions in their report, including on the Clinical Commissioning Group Improvement and Assessment Framework, before reporting back to the Autism Programme Board.
In parallel, as recommended by the independent Mental Health Taskforce, the Department is undertaking a five year plan for the development of mental health data to be published by the end of the year. The plan will set out future requirements and timings for developing data to inform pathways of care, which will include requirements for autism in the Health and Social Care Information Centre Mental Health Services Data Set. Data on referrals or appointments for an autism diagnostic assessment are not currently captured in published mental health data.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Maria Caulfield on 2015-12-01.
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, which schools in Lewes constituency receive pupil premium funding.
Mr Sam Gyimah
Details of the schools in Lewes constituency which are receiving pupil premium funding in 2015-16 are published at https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/439865/Pupil_premium_final_allocations_2015_to_2016_by_school_in_England.ods.
“