Tag: Nicholas Brown

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Nicholas Brown on 2015-11-20.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps the Government plans to take to (a) tackle sexual abuse and sexual crime involving 16 and 17 year olds and (b) better educate young people about sexual abuse.

Karen Bradley

Tackling child sexual abuse and exploitation is a top priority for this Government. In March 2015 we launched the “Tackling CSE” report and prioritised child sexual abuse as a national threat in the Strategic Policing Requirement, setting a clear expectation on police forces to collaborate across force boundaries, to safeguard children, to share intelligence and to share best practice.

Our “This is Abuse” campaign has sent clear messages to prevent young people becoming victims or perpetrators of sexual violence by helping teenagers to recognise and understand sexual abuse. It also signposts them to appropriate support including specialist services, counselling, Independent Sexual Violence Advisers, and helplines.

The College of Policing and the National Policing lead have set the requirement on all forces to train all new and existing police staff including police officers, detectives and specialist investigators to respond to child sexual abuse. In addition, all police forces and the NCA are now connected to the Child Abuse Image Database (CAID). CAID is a national UK policing system that supports law enforcement in the pursuit of offenders involved in the sexual exploitation of children and in safeguarding the victims of this crime.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Nicholas Brown on 2016-02-08.

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps the Government is taking to meet the UN target of reducing food wastage by 50 per cent by 2030.

Rory Stewart

Food waste is an issue requiring urgent action throughout the world and the UN target of halving per capita global food waste at the retail and consumer levels is an important objective. Working through WRAP, we are taking concerted action and are leading the way in the EU and Internationally.

We have made significant progress to reduce food waste through the Courtauld Commitment, a voluntary agreement with retailers and food manufacturers, and WRAP’s Love Food Hate Waste campaign which gives consumers advice and tips on reducing food waste at home. Courtauld Commitment signatories reported a reduction of 7.4% in supply chain waste between 2009 and 2012 under Courtauld 2. Interim results for Courtauld 3 show signatories reported a further 3.2% reduction by 2014.

We also made progress through a voluntary agreement with the hospitality and food service sector. Hospitality Agreement signatories achieved a reduction in CO2e emissions of 3.6% by preventing food waste and the food and packaging recycling rate rose from 45% to 57% between 2012 and 2014.

We want to go further. WRAP is currently brokering a new agreement, Courtauld 2025, which will build on this progress. Courtauld 2025 is expected to be launched in March 2016.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Nicholas Brown on 2016-03-07.

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what assessment the Government has made of the threat posed to minority religious groups with refugee camps Syria within refugee camps; and what steps the Government has taken to protect such groups from persecution.

Mr Tobias Ellwood

Assad’s actions have fuelled sectarian violence and his regime is ultimately responsible for the deaths of hundreds of thousands of civilians. The UK, as part of the International Syria Support Group, has agreed that protecting the rights of all Syrians, regardless of ethnicity or religious denomination, is fundamental. This means that Syrian minorities will be included and safeguarded as the political process progresses.

We are supporting non-governmental efforts to promote dialogue between different ethnic and sectarian groups in Syria, as we seek further progress on a political settlement. The UK is working with the United Nations High Commissioner For Refugees (UNHCR) to intensify their outreach and identification activities in the region; and to encourage and invite all unregistered populations to avail themselves of UNHCR’s assistance and protection services. This includes resettlement where eligible, either by directly approaching UNHCR to register with them or by referral via a third organisation.

Through the Syrian Vulnerable Persons Relocation scheme, the UK is helping some of the most vulnerable refugees based on need. The scheme is open to all eligible persons regardless of ethnicity or religious denomination, and prioritises the most vulnerable.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Nicholas Brown on 2016-05-23.

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what plans the Government has to amend adoption rules to facilitate the adoption of children resettled under the Immigration Act 2016.

Edward Timpson

The Government has no plans to amend adoption legislation to facilitate the adoption of children resettled under the Immigration Act 2016. The United Nations and other humanitarian charities advise that no new adoption applications should be considered in the period after a disaster or from a war zone before the authorities in that State are in a position to apply the necessary safeguards. This is because it is not uncommon in an emergency or unsettled situation for children to be temporarily separated from their parents or other family members who may be looking for them. So whilst some lone refugee children may come to the UK for temporary care, we would wish to support them to be reunited with their parents or other relatives where this is possible.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Nicholas Brown on 2016-06-10.

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many agency staff were contracted to cover classes in primary and secondary schools in England and Wales in the latest period for which figures are available.

Nick Gibb

The Department collects details of all teachers working in state funded schools through the annual School Workforce Census. However, this census does not separately identify agency teachers.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Nicholas Brown on 2015-11-20.

To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what aid her Department is providing to Indonesia to assist with tackling forest fires.

Mr Desmond Swayne

The UK is providing technical support through a number of channels. For example, the UK Climate Change Unit in Indonesia has funded the World Resource Institute’s Global Forest and Fire Watch which provides free real-time information on fire spots, linking these data to land licensing and land type. In addition, the UK’s Forest Land-Use and Governance (FLAG) programme in Indonesia is funding longer-term fire prevention work through civil society, private sector and government, focusing on transparency, accountability and spatial planning to resolve the land governance issues that lead to fires.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Nicholas Brown on 2016-02-08.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what guidance NHS England provides for prescribing therapeutic support for children in care; and what funding is available within the Government’s mental health budget for the provision of such support.

Alistair Burt

NHS England is not responsible for providing guidance on prescribing and treatment of therapeutic support for children in care, this is the role of the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence.

The Government is committed to making the full £1.4 billion investment available over the course of this Parliament to improve mental health services for children and young people.

In line with NHS England’s guidance to support the development of Local Transformation Plans (LTPs) for children and young people’s mental health and wellbeing all clinical commissioning groups have produced plans that have now been assured and funding allocated for implementation. These LTPs required all key partners to agree locally how best to meet the mental health needs of children and young people in their local populations and should cover the whole spectrum of need, which includes improving access to mental health services for vulnerable groups such as children in care, so that they can receive high quality mental health care when they need it.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Nicholas Brown on 2016-03-07.

To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what representations he has made to the negotiating bodies on ensuring the Government retains its ability to make public policy decisions in the public interest under investor state dispute settlement mechanisms.

Anna Soubry

The Government believes that investment protection treaties should not undermine the ability of states to make public policy decisions in the public interest. The European Union (EU) has competence to negotiate investment treaties on behalf of the EU and its Member States. The European Commission’s policy is that investment protection provisions should ensure a high level of protection for investors while fully preserving the right of governments to regulate and pursue legitimate public policy objectives, such as the protection of health, safety, or the environment, and has sought negotiating mandates from the Council of Ministers on this basis. The UK fully supports this approach, which has been adopted in recently negotiated Free Trade Agreements, such as the EU-Canada Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Nicholas Brown on 2016-05-23.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what plans the Government has to publish the outcome of its consultation with local authorities on the resettling of child refugees under the Immigration Act 2016.

James Brokenshire

The UK Government takes it’s responsibility in all cases involving children seriously and we will continue to ensure that all unaccompanied children are provided with appropriate care, regardless of their route to the UK.

It is important that we work with local authorities to understand their capacity to support all unaccompanied children and ensure their needs can be met. That is why my officials are working closely with the Department for Communities and Local Government and the Department for Education to ensure consultation with local authorities is consistent and coordinated across all resettlement and relocation programmes. Consultation with local government partners will take place over the coming weeks and Parliament will be updated in due course.

We are keen to ensure that there is a more equitable distribution of unaccompanied children across the UK and that no local authority is required to take more children than they can support.

The Home Office provides funding to local authorities for the care of unaccompanied asylum seeking children and recently announced new enhanced rates to support the transfer scheme. We will continue to measure the impacts on local authorities, but are clear that funding for unaccompanied asylum seeking children and refugees must be aligned, regardless of the route of entry for the child.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Nicholas Brown on 2016-06-10.

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what plans the Government has to increase the number of teachers in training.

Nick Gibb

The Government is investing heavily in the future of our teaching profession. Between now and 2020, we have committed to spending more than £1.3bn on initiatives aimed at attracting more people into the profession.

Teaching remains a profession that is attracting the brightest and best new graduates as well as career changers. We achieved 94% of our postgraduate ITT target for 2015/16, of which 7% was additional recruitment beyond the target in primary, English, history and PE. Although we recognise that teacher recruitment remains challenging, particularly in some priority subjects and in certain areas of the country, we are nevertheless confident that overall recruitment to ITT remains strong.

We have already put in place a number of measures aimed at attracting more top graduates into teaching, particularly in the core academic subjects that help children reach their full potential. We are continuing to offer generous financial incentives, including prestigious scholarships, worth up to £30,000 tax-free for trainees with top degrees in priority subjects.

In March 2015, the Prime Minister announced a package of up to £67m to recruit an additional 2,500 maths and physics teachers and to train 15,000 existing non-specialist teachers in those subjects over the term of this Parliament.