Tag: Maria Eagle

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Maria Eagle on 2016-01-26.

To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what steps his Department is taking to help members of the public to attend First World War centenary events held in 2016 in (a) Orkney, (b) Manchester and (c) Thiepval.

David Evennett

The commemorative events in Orkney, Manchester and Thiepval are focal points for the nation to remember those who fought and died at the Battles of Jutland and the Somme. Ensuring that the public can be part of each one is at the heart of our plans, whether that’s the thousands of people who will be able to attend or the very many more who will follow events through live broadcasts or media coverage.

A public ballot for Thiepval tickets was launched on 1 July 2015, with people able to register their interest. This attracted significant media attention at a national and regional level. We have also reached out to Jutland descendants to be part of events in Orkney and had a great response. In due course we will let the public know how to take part in UK events marking the Somme, including those to be held in Manchester.

We have been clear that transport and accommodation is the responsibility of attendees – however, we are working closely with tour operators and other travel companies to ensure there are a wide range of options. For example, Eurostar has agreed to provide a dedicated train to a non-Eurostar stop for on-the-day travel to the Thiepval event. In addition, there are regular rail and coach services between the UK and France and a variety of accommodation options to suit all budgets. Those with tickets can get up to date information and ask questions via our dedicated somme2016.org website.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Maria Eagle on 2016-03-16.

To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, with reference to pages 86 and 122 of the Budget 2016, why the fiscal impact of establishing the £20 million Cathedrals Repairs Fund is £10 million.

Greg Hands

Budget 2016 announced that the government will provide £20 million across 2016-17 and 2017-18 to extend the First World War Centenary cathedral repairs fund. £10 million of this is financed through new exchequer funding and listed in Table 2.1 on page 86 of the Budget. The remaining £10 million is financed from within the existing DCMS resource budget.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Maria Eagle on 2016-03-16.

To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what steps his Department is taking to provide assistance to public libraries to address digital exclusion.

Mr Edward Vaizey

DCMS is engaging with national Digital Engagement partners to help users of public libraries get online and to tackle digital exclusion. Thanks to Government funding, over 99% of public libraries in England will provide free access to Wi-Fi from March 2016. BT and Barclays have worked together to provide free Wi-Fi in 100 libraries and community centres in deprived areas across England; and Lloyds Banking Group and Halifax Community Bank have piloted a scheme to match local branch staff with libraries to deliver basic digital skills training to adults in the UK. Tackling digital exclusion is also one of the priorities of the Leadership for Libraries Taskforce, established in 2015 by DCMS and the Local Government Association. The Taskforce has been working in partnership with the Tinder Foundation on new approaches through libraries to build digital skills in socially excluded, hard to reach groups and address digital exclusion.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Maria Eagle on 2016-03-21.

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what her policy is on whether each local authority area should have at least one school with sixth form provision.

Nick Boles

There are a range of institutions which provide high quality 16-19 provision, including Sixth Form Colleges and Further Education Colleges as well as school sixth forms.

The Department for Education does not prescribe the exact balance of providers across a local area. Instead, it is crucial that we ensure that together the local provider base meets the needs of all young people in a local area with reasonable travel to learn distances. We are currently taking forward a series of area reviews which provide the opportunity to review post-16 provision with the aim of ensuring the provider base is strong and resilient.

The decision about which schools should have sixth forms rests with schools themselves in partnership with key local stakeholders, including Regional Schools Commissioners and local authorities. A maintained school can apply to its local authority if it wishes to extend the age range of its school to add a sixth-form. We would expect this decision to take account of a range of factors including breadth of provision and local demand.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Maria Eagle on 2016-05-23.

To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what estimate he has made of how much people in rural areas will have to contribute to receive a basic 10 Mbit/s broadband connection as a result of his Department’s decision not to automatically roll-out broadband to all households and businesses.

Mr Edward Vaizey

This information is not yet available. Ofcom’s call for evidence on the the design of the broadband Universal Service Obligation (USO) invites views on how a reasonable cost threshold for a broadband connection might be determined. The new broadband USO will give all households and businesses the legal right to request a fast broadband connection. This would work similarly to the telephone USO, where there is a reasonable cost threshold above which the hardest to reach properties are expected to contribute to the cost of the installation.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Maria Eagle on 2016-07-20.

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many academies each regional schools commissioner has issued with formal intervention measures in the last 12 months.

Edward Timpson

In the last 12 months Regional Schools Commissioners (RSC) took formal intervention measures in 116 academies and free schools; 66 academies and free schools were moved to a different trust or sponsor and 50 academies were issued with a formal notice.

The table below shows the number of interventions in each RSC region in the last 12 months.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Maria Eagle on 2015-11-09.

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, pursuant to the Answer of 29 October 2015 to Question 13126, how many of the refugees who have arrived at RAF Akrotiri have (a) claimed asylum, (b) had such asylum claims accepted and (c) had such asylum claims rejected to date; and if he will make a statement.

Penny Mordaunt

Following the arrival of 115 migrants at RAF Akrotiri on 21 October 2015, as at 12 November 2015, 60 migrants have claimed asylum. Six asylum seekers have been transferred so far into the Republic of Cyprus. The other asylum seekers are completing pre-requisite security and medical screening and we expect that they will transfer to the Republic of Cyprus asylum system shortly.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Maria Eagle on 2015-11-26.

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, with reference to page 31 of the Strategic Defence and Security Review 2015, what estimate he has made of the number of jobs likely to be sustained by the Apache helicopter upgrade.

Mr Philip Dunne

The Apache Capability Sustainment Programme is currently in the Assessment Phase and the investment decision is anticipated in summer 2016 to enable orderly upgrade of our existing fleet as they reach their out-of-service date.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Maria Eagle on 2015-11-26.

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, with reference to page 31 of the Strategic Defence and Security Review 2015, what his Department’s planning assumptions are for the number of vessels of the new class of general purpose frigates which his Department plans to procure.

Mr Philip Dunne

The number of general purpose frigates to be procured through the programme has yet to be determined. Work on the programme will be scoped initially during the concept study outlined in the White Paper National Security Strategy and Strategic Defence and Security Review 2015 (Cmd 9161).

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Maria Eagle on 2015-11-26.

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, with reference to page 49 of the Strategic Defence and Security Review 2015, in which countries he plans to locate British defence staffs in 2016.

Mr Julian Brazier

The decision as to where locations of where British Defence Staffs (BDS) will be based has yet to be finalised. The intention of establishing BDS is to build on our existing overseas networks (including Defence Attaches, Liaison and Exchange Officers and Training Teams) in order to provide a cross-regional focus, and improved coordination and coherence, to Defence Engagement activity. We review our overseas footprint regularly to match the requirement and this work is in conjunction with the development of a Defence Engagement Career Field within the UK Armed Forces, improved training, preparation and development for our overseas cohort and greater alignment with other Government Departments with deployed networks.

Once decisions have been made on the future of BDS I will write to the hon. Member to update her.