Tag: Maria Caulfield

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.

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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.

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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 concerning recent anti-Christian vandalism at the Dormition Abbey.

Mr Tobias Ellwood

While we have not had any discussions with the Israeli authorities over this specific incident, we understand that the Israeli police have arrested two Israeli teenagers for the attack. This attack was widely condemned by Palestinian and Israeli leaders. Our Embassy in Tel Aviv is in regular contact with representatives of Churches on a range of issues, including to discuss concern about attacks on places of worship.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Maria Caulfield on 2016-09-02.

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps the Government is taking to reduce the incidence of illegal dog fighting.

George Eustice

Under the Animal Welfare Act 2006 animal fights, including dog fights, are prohibited. Offences include publicising a fight, providing information about an animal fight and betting on an animal fight. The maximum penalty for such offences is six months’ imprisonment, an unlimited fine or both. In addition, under section 1 of the Dangerous Dogs Act 1991 four types of dog have been prohibited that are have been identified either as being bred for fighting or that share the characteristics of dogs bred for fighting. The maximum penalty for possession of an illegal type dog is six months’ imprisonment, an unlimited fine or both. Separately the independent Sentencing Council have recently consulted on changes to their guidelines to magistrates’ courts for a range of offences including animal cruelty offences. The Sentencing Council stated in June that in relation to animal cruelty, the Council wants to ensure that the most serious cases lead to prison sentences, and that these sentences are of an appropriate length.

The Government has also worked with the Pet Advertising Advisory Group (PAAG), a grouping of welfare charities and pet industry interests, who have been lobbying operators of internet sites to adopt minimum standards for the advertising of pet animals.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Maria Caulfield on 2015-12-10.

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what comparative assessment her Department has made of the ethnic diversity among pupils of Catholic schools and non-Catholic schools.

Edward Timpson

All schools are subject to the Equality Act 2010 and must comply with the requirements of the Schools Admission Code. The legislation is already available within the Equality Act 2010 and the Admission Code, which ensures schools meet their statutory requirements ensuring that a diverse ethnic group of pupils attend both Catholic and non-Catholic schools.

The department does not conduct comparative assessments of ethnicity diversity among pupils of Catholic schools and non-Catholic schools.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Maria Caulfield on 2016-02-23.

To ask the Minister for Women and Equalities, if she will take steps to ensure that there is equality of educational achievement between girls and boys in schools.

Nick Gibb

Evidence shows that girls outperform boys on average at the end of primary and secondary school. The attainment of boys has been improving in primary school: in 2015, 77% of boys achieved the expected standard in reading, writing and mathematics at the end of key stage 2, compared to 71% in 2012. Nonetheless, more remains to be done to raise levels of achievement amongst boys at all key stages.

While girls have higher attainment, they are still less likely than boys to pursue further study beyond the end of secondary school in subjects such as mathematics and physics – although the number of girls entered for A levels in these particular subjects has risen by 13 percent and 16 percent respectively since 2010.

In addressing these issues, we have placed high expectations at the heart of our school system through our new curriculum and reformed exams – and our new accountability system will reward those schools that encourage every child, boys and girls alike, to achieve their best. We are committed to delivering educational excellence everywhere so that every child, regardless of gender or background, can reach their potential.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Maria Caulfield on 2016-09-12.

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what long-term investment plans the Government has to improve the Brighton Main Line.

Paul Maynard

Network Rail is currently developing proposals for potential upgrades of the Brighton Main Line, following the conclusions of the Sussex Route Study, and the London South Coast Rail Corridor Study, both of which highlighted significant capacity and performance constraints. Government will fund Network Rail to develop proposals as necessary.