Tag: Michael Tomlinson

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Michael Tomlinson on 2015-12-08.

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps the Government is taking to tackle bullying initiated by religious intolerance in schools.

Edward Timpson

All bullying is unacceptable and every school is required to have a behaviour policy including measures to tackle all forms of bullying. They are held to account by Ofsted and inspectors will look at records and analysis of bullying, discriminatory and prejudicial behaviour, including racist, disability, use of derogatory language and racist incidents.

The Longitudinal Study of Young People in England published in November 2015 found that 30,000 fewer young people said they had been bullied in the last twelve months – a drop from 41 per cent in 2004 to 36 per cent in 2014.

All schools are required to promote the fundamental British values of democracy, the rule of law, individual liberty and mutual respect and tolerance of those with different faith and beliefs. Our guidance published in November 2014 says that British values include accepting that others of different faiths or beliefs to oneself (or having none) should be accepted and tolerated, and should not be the cause of prejudicial or discriminatory behaviour.

All publicly funded schools are required also to promote community cohesion and teach a broad and balanced curriculum. The curriculum provides many opportunities to foster tolerance and understanding. For example, as part of the history curriculum, pupils could learn about different cultures, and about how different groups have contributed to the development of Britain. The citizenship programme of study sets out a requirement for pupils to be taught about ‘the diverse national, regional, religious, and ethnic identities in the United Kingdom and the need for mutual respect and understanding’. PSHE can teach young people about the rights and responsibilities of living in a diverse community and how to respect others.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Michael Tomlinson on 2015-12-10.

To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what proportion of green belt land in the Poole Unitary Authority area has been redesignated as community land trust in the last five years.

Brandon Lewis

The Department does not hold information centrally on the amount or type of land held by community land trusts.

The Department’s annual Green Belt statistics monitor the amount of land designated as Green Belt in England and any changes to the designated area since the previous year. The statistics record the change by local planning authority.

Of the local planning authorities for which information was requested, the following have made changes to the Green Belt in the last five years:

East Dorset reduced the area of designated Green Belt in 2014-15 by 160 hectares to 16,720 hectares, a reduction of 1 per cent; and

Purbeck increased the area of designated Green Belt in 2012-13 by 460 hectares to 8,200 hectares, an increase of 6 per cent.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Michael Tomlinson on 2016-02-11.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if she will make an assessment of the potential merits of making Disclosure and Barring Service certificates portable and valid from organisation to organisation by the person concerned.

Karen Bradley

The Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) offers an Update Service which can deliver savings in both time and costs. With the certificate holder’s permission, a potential employer or another person with a legitimate interest can check via a DBS online portal whether any new information has been recorded since the certificate was issued. Only if there has been a change is there any need for the individual to obtain a new certificate. This enables portability of certificates between organisations. It is only applicable where the certificate holder is moving within the same workforce – such as work with children or work with vulnerable adults. Where the person is moving between workforces a new certificate will be required, as there may be different factors affecting decisions about whether information is appropriate for disclosure.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Michael Tomlinson on 2016-10-07.

To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, if she will provide additional support for broadband provision to difficult to reach properties in (a) rural and (b) urban areas which have not been provided with access under the universal service obligation to date and where Openreach fibre roll-out has been delayed for more than a year.

Matt Hancock

Reliable, fast broadband is now seen as an essential service, not a nice-to-have. We are introducing a new broadband Universal Service Obligation in this Parliament to ensure that everyone can benefit from improved broadband connectivity. Premises in hard to reach areas, not served by commercial or existing publicly funded broadband roll outs, will have the legal right to request a broadband connection with speeds of at least 10 Megabits, no matter where they live or work.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Michael Tomlinson on 2015-12-08.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what the average waiting time is for the return of disclosure and barring service documentation for applications made by people in East Dorset.

Karen Bradley

The Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) is undertaking a transformation programme to reform the way it delivers its services. Release 1 (R1) will improve efficiency with modernised IT solutions and business processes, making it more convenient and quicker for customers. This does not include using volunteers to operate the disclosure process, given the highly sensitive nature of the information involved.

For applications received from individuals with a Dorset postcode between December 2014 and November 2015, the average processing time was 23.4 days. It is not possible to calculate the average figure for those from East Dorset specifically as this information is not collected.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Michael Tomlinson on 2015-12-10.

To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, how many young people are classified as long-term unemployed in Mid Dorset and North Poole constituency.

Mr Rob Wilson

The information requested falls within the responsibility of the UK Statistics Authority. I have asked the Authority to reply.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Michael Tomlinson on 2016-04-22.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what discussions Public Health England has had with NHS England on the commissioning of school nurses offering level one paediatric continence services since the transfer of school nurse commissioning responsibilities to local authorities.

Jane Ellison

Public Health England is a member of NHS England’s Complex Health Needs Board, which discusses matters such as continence support through school nurses.

As continence services fall outside of the public health grant, clinical commissioning groups (CCGs) have responsibility for commissioning continence services and will have discussions with local partners regarding commissioning within the school nursing service. Public Health England’s communication with NHS England has been to stress the importance of promoting this partnership approach by CCGs to ensure that local school nursing services are able to incorporate appropriate levels of continence support.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Michael Tomlinson on 2015-12-08.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps the Government is taking to streamline Disclosure and Barring Service checks; and what consideration she has given to the use of volunteers in this service.

Karen Bradley

The Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) is undertaking a transformation programme to reform the way it delivers its services. Release 1 (R1) will improve efficiency with modernised IT solutions and business processes, making it more convenient and quicker for customers. This does not include using volunteers to operate the disclosure process, given the highly sensitive nature of the information involved.

For applications received from individuals with a Dorset postcode between December 2014 and November 2015, the average processing time was 23.4 days. It is not possible to calculate the average figure for those from East Dorset specifically as this information is not collected.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Michael Tomlinson on 2015-12-10.

To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, how many young people are classified as long-term unemployed in Poole Unitary Authority area.

Mr Rob Wilson

The information requested falls within the responsibility of the UK Statistics Authority. I have asked the Authority to reply.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Michael Tomlinson on 2016-04-22.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what assessment his Department has made of the capacity of school nurses to offer basic support for children with continence problems since the transfer of school nurse commissioning to local authorities.

Jane Ellison

Responsibility for commissioning of continence services lies with clinical commissioning groups, who should lead local negotiations with local authority partners and school nurse providers to determine the level of service. Public Health England has developed commissioning guidance to support local delivery. As local delivery and capacity will vary according to local needs and resources, no national assessment has been undertaken.