Tag: Nic Dakin

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Nic Dakin on 2016-05-06.

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what proportion of enlisted soldiers attain (a) Level 1 and (b) Level 2 literacy and numeracy skills by the end of their third year of service.

Penny Mordaunt

The Army has traditionally linked the recording and attainment of english and maths qualifications to the point at which an individual is ready for promotion to Corporal or Senior Non Commissioned Officer ranks, rather than as a factor of time. The growth in numbers of personnel joining the Army and pursuing an apprenticeship has changed this approach and simplified the measurement of attainment by time.

Between 1 August 2012 and 31 July 2015 1,028 soldiers gained both Level 1 functional skills (FS) english and maths qualifications; and a further 722 soldiers gained the comparable qualifications at Level 2. This represents 11.8% of those enlisting (14,816) during the same period. This does not include those who gained just a functional skill in english or a functional skill in maths qualification, nor those who already held english and maths qualification on enlistment.

In total 23,699 FS (english and maths) qualifications at Level 1 and 2 were gained by Regular soldiers through apprenticeship and AEC provision in 2014-15. Of these 41% were at Level 1 and 59% at Level 2.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Nic Dakin on 2016-05-26.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what assessment he has made of the effect on the range of free services offered by community pharmacies of the planned changes in funding for such pharmacies.

Alistair Burt

We have made no assessment. Information on the range of services individual community pharmacies choose to provide free to their customers beyond those commissioned by the National Health Service is not collected.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Nic Dakin on 2016-10-07.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what plans NHS England has to undertake a formal evaluation of the new Cancer Drugs Fund.

Nicola Blackwood

NHS England’s standard operating procedures for the appraisal and funding of cancer drugs from July 2016 (including the new Cancer Drugs Fund) state that NHS England will keep the operational mechanisms of the new arrangements under continuous review. In addition, NHS England will look to undertake a more formal evaluation of the overall operation of the scheme, no later than autumn 2017.

The standard operating procedures are available at:

www.england.nhs.uk/wp-content/uploads/2013/04/cdf-sop.pdf

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The below Parliamentary question was asked by Nic Dakin on 2015-11-09.

To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what steps his Department has taken to embed the family test into its policy making.

Brandon Lewis

Officials in my Department have liaised with the Department for Work and Pensions as the lead Department for the Family Test to embed it into the policy process. This has included training officials on applying the Test and disseminating relevant evidence, learning materials and best practice.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Nic Dakin on 2015-11-17.

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what steps his Department is taking to embed the Family Test into its policy making.

Mr Tobias Ellwood

I refer the hon. Member to my answer of 16 November 2015 (PQ 15345).

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Nic Dakin on 2016-01-19.

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what estimate her Department has made of the number of teaching vacancies at the start of September 2016.

Nick Gibb

The department collects the number of teacher vacancies in November each year. The November 2015 collection is still underway as schools, Local Authorities and Academy Trusts have until the end of January 2016 to provide their workforce data.

The latest available data on the number of vacancies in schools is from the November 2014 School Workforce Census which was published in July 2015 and is available from table 14 at the following web link: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/school-workforce-in-england-november-2014

The published data shows that 0.3% of teaching posts in state funded schools in England were vacant in November 2014.

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The below Parliamentary question was asked by Nic Dakin on 2016-02-10.

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many (a) trustees and (b) directors of academies and academy chains are paid salaries in excess of £142,500.

Edward Timpson

The information is available about each academy trust in the notes to their financial statements which are published online by the Department for Education and at Companies House.

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The below Parliamentary question was asked by Nic Dakin on 2016-02-24.

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how much her Department has spent on marketing for the Future Teaching Scholars programme to date.

Nick Gibb

The management of the Future Teaching Scholars programme is contracted to the delivery organisation, Education Development Trust. Any money spent on marketing is determined by the Education Development Trust.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Nic Dakin on 2016-03-24.

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, pursuant to the Answer of 9 March 2016 to Question 29811, on further education, how many meetings have been held for area reviews in (a) Birmingham and Solihull, (b) Greater Manchester, (c) Sheffield City Region, (d) Tees Valley, (e) Sussex, (f) Solent and (g) West Yorkshire in each of the last nine months.

Nick Boles

A wide range of meetings are held within each area review, which is a locally owned process designed to meet the needs of each local area. Bilateral meetings will often take place, for instance, between individual colleges which might be exploring restructuring options. Local stakeholders will often meet in smaller groupings to discuss particular issues or themes, for example local enterprise partnerships and local authorities may have set up separate meetings. Additionally, some local stakeholders will seek meetings to ensure their involvement at particular points, for example local MPs once recommendations emerge.

The number and type of meetings are likely to vary with each review, depending on local provision, circumstances and issues as well as local interest in engaging with the review work. The following focuses on the formal meetings which are a core part of the area review process and would therefore be consistent across the country.

A number of formal area review steering group meetings have taken place in each area since September 2015. No steering group meetings were held prior to September 2015. Meetings held between September 2015 and March 2016 are as follows:

• In Birmingham and Solihull, one meeting was held in each of the following months: September, October, November, December, January and March.

• In Greater Manchester, one meeting was held in each of the following months: September, November and December.

• In Sheffield City Region, one meeting was held in each of the following months: September, November, December and March.

• In Tees Valley, one meeting was held in each of the following months: October, November, December, February and March.

• In Sussex, one meeting was held in each of the following months: October, December, January, February and March.

• In the Solent, one meeting was held in each of the following months: November, December, January and March.

• In West Yorkshire, one meeting was held in each of the following months: November, December, January and March.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Nic Dakin on 2016-04-26.

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps her Department plans to take to ensure that the number of qualified teachers does not decrease proportionately or in real terms by 2022.

Nick Gibb

As announced in our White Paper, Educational Excellence Everywhere, our proposals to replace Qualified Teacher Status (QTS) with a new, stronger accreditation will raise the bar for new teachers. While we expect the vast majority of new teachers to continue to complete initial teacher training (ITT), these proposals will also mean that schools can put teachers who have not completed a period of ITT onto a pathway to formal accreditation.

We will set out further details of how and when we intend to implement the new accreditation process shortly. Until then, the Department has no plans to change the regulations which permit academies and maintained schools to employ teachers who do not hold QTS.