Tag: Naz Shah

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Naz Shah on 2016-05-04.

To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what assessment his Department has made of the effect on people accessing services of a contract being terminated early by the Skills Funding Agency due to the provider being at risk of failure.

Nick Boles

The Skills Funding Agency (SFA) does not terminate contracts on the grounds of a provider being ‘at risk of failure’. When the Skills Funding Agency terminates a provider’s contract early, whatever the reason for the termination, it ensures that an alternative provider is in place to enable employers and learners to continue their programme if they wish to do so.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Naz Shah on 2016-05-04.

To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what steps his Department takes to limit the effect on service users of contracts with sub-contractors being terminated early due to the provider being at risk of failure.

Nick Boles

Where a subcontractor is impacted by the Skills Funding Agency’s (SFA) decision to terminate a provider contract, the SFA ensures that the learners can remain in their programme of learning either through the subcontractor or through a transfer to another provider depending on the circumstances of the termination. However, the Skills Funding Agency (SFA) does not terminate contracts on the grounds of a provider being ‘at risk of failure’.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Naz Shah on 2016-05-04.

To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, how many contracts have been terminated early by the Skills Funding Agency due to the provider being at risk of failure in (a) 2013, (b) 2014 and (c) 2015.

Nick Boles

The Skills Funding Agency (SFA) does not terminate contracts on the grounds of a provider being ‘at risk of failure’.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Naz Shah on 2016-05-04.

To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what estimate his Department has made of how many apprenticeships were lost as a result of the early termination of contracts by the Skills Funding Agency because the provider was at risk of failure in (a) 2013, (b) 2014 and (c) 2015.

Nick Boles

The Skills Funding Agency has not estimated the number of apprenticeships that have been lost as a result of early termination of contracts in 2013, 2014 and 2015 because the Skills Funding Agency ensures that an alternative provider is in place to enable apprentices to continue their programme should they choose to do so.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Naz Shah on 2016-05-03.

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many forced marriage protection orders were issued in (a) 2014 and (b) 2015.

Caroline Dinenage

Statistics on Forced Marriage Protection Orders are published by the Ministry of Justice and are available as part of the Family Courts Statistics Quarterly series at

https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/family-court-statistics-quarterly.

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The below Parliamentary question was asked by Naz Shah on 2016-05-03.

To ask the Attorney General, how many people were prosecuted in England for forced marriage in (a) 2014 and (b) 2015.

Jeremy Wright

The Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) collects information to show the number of defendants prosecuted for offences relating to forced marriages identified by way of a monitoring flag applied to the case record. The flag is applied where any offence of threatening behaviour, violence or abuse has been carried out in the context of a forced marriage. During the financial year 2014-15 the CPS prosecuted 45 defendants in England and 46 defendants nationally (England and Wales) for offences associated with forced marriages. CPS figures in relation to the financial year 2015-16 will be placed in the House of Commons Library later this year.

A specific offence of forced marriage was created by section 121 of the Anti-Social Behaviour, Crime and Policing Act 2014 and came into force in June 2014. This offence applies to a person who intentionally forces a person to enter into marriage, believing the person does not consent, or a person who deceives someone into going abroad for the specific purpose of forcing them to marry. During 2014-15, the CPS commenced one prosecution in relation to forced marriage and two in relation to breaches of forced marriage protection orders.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Naz Shah on 2016-02-08.

To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, whether his Department has been consulted on the transfer of the Royal Photographic Society’s collection from the National Media Museum to the Victoria and Albert Museum.

Mr Edward Vaizey

DCMS museums operate at arm’s length from government and the transfer of objects between national museums is a matter for the boards of the museums. The Trustees of the Science Museum approved the transfer of the Royal Photographic Society’s collection to the V&A, and the Royal Photographic Society also approve of the transfer. The Department was informed in December 2015.

The V&A intend to store, digitise and make the photographic collection available as part of its planned International Photography Resource Centre, which will provide the public with a world-class facility to access the consolidated collection.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Naz Shah on 2016-05-03.

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, how many people made contact with the Forced Marriage Unit in (a) 2013, (b) 2014 and (c) 2015.

James Duddridge

The Forced Marriage Unit is a joint Foreign and Commonwealth Office and Home Office Unit which was set up in January 2005 to lead on the Government’s forced marriage policy, outreach and casework. Statistics on the number of enquiries and cases dealt with by the Forced Marriage Unit via its public helpline and email inbox in 2013, 2014 and 2015 are published online here:

https://www.gov.uk/guidance/forced-marriage#statistics-on-forced-marriage-collected-by-fmu

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Naz Shah on 2016-02-08.

To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what his policy is on a National Photography Museum.

Mr Edward Vaizey

The National Media Museum in Bradford holds the National Photographic Collection, which has over 3 million photographic objects. DCMS museums operate at arm’s length from government and the transfer of objects between national museums is a matter for the boards of the museums.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Naz Shah on 2016-05-03.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many cases of forced marriage the police investigated in England as that offence in (a) 2014 and (b) 2015.

Karen Bradley

We made forced marriage a criminal offence in 2014 to better protect victims and send a clear message that this abhorrent practice will not be tolerated in the UK.

The Forced Marriage Unit (FMU) (a joint FCO and Home Office Unit) leads the Government’s forced marriage policy, outreach and casework. It carries out a range of awareness raising work, including a comprehensive programme of outreach, new e-learning for professionals, and the launch of short film aimed at deterring potential perpetrators. For the financial years 2014-16, the Home Office has allocated £200,000 to the FMU.

Statistics on the number of cases of forced marriage investigated by the police are not collected centrally. The Crown Prosecution Service’s (CPS) most recent violence against women and girls report shows that the volume of referrals from the police to the CPS with a forced marriage element is going up: from 67 in 2013-14, to 82 in 2014-15. In addition, to date over 1,000 Forced Marriage Protection Orders have been issued to prevent marriages from taking place and to assist in repatriating victims.

We are encouraged by the first conviction secured in June last year, but there is still work to be done. We want to see more victims having the confidence to come forward and being identified by the police. As part of the wider work to improve the police response to so-called ‘honour’ based violence, we will continue to work with the partners to review the implementation of the new legislation and lead efforts to tackle this barbaric crime.