Tag: Nicholas Brown

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.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Nicholas Brown on 2015-10-20.

To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what new mechanism he proposes to stimulate rural growth in the North East.

Greg Hands

On 23 October the Government signed a historic devolution deal with the North East Combined Authority. As part of the deal, and subject to the passage of the Cities and Local Government Devolution Bill through parliament, a new directly-elected Mayor for the North East will be created. The Mayor will chair the existing North East Combined Authority. Powers and responsibilities will be devolved from central government to the Mayor and Combined Authority.

Full details of the deal are available at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/north-east-devolution-deal

A detailed implementation plan will be agreed over the coming months between central government and the North East Combined Authority.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Nicholas Brown on 2015-10-20.

To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what responsibilities are proposed for the (a) elected mayor, (b) North East Combined Authority and (c) North East local enterprise partnership in overseeing the adult skills budget for the North East.

Greg Hands

On 23 October the Government signed a historic devolution deal with the North East Combined Authority. As part of the deal, and subject to the passage of the Cities and Local Government Devolution Bill through parliament, a new directly-elected Mayor for the North East will be created. The Mayor will chair the existing North East Combined Authority. Powers and responsibilities will be devolved from central government to the Mayor and Combined Authority.

Full details of the deal are available at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/north-east-devolution-deal

A detailed implementation plan will be agreed over the coming months between central government and the North East Combined Authority.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Nicholas Brown on 2015-10-20.

To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what governance and accountability arrangements are proposed for the North East Investment Fund.

Greg Hands

On 23 October the Government signed a historic devolution deal with the North East Combined Authority. As part of the deal, and subject to the passage of the Cities and Local Government Devolution Bill through parliament, a new directly-elected Mayor for the North East will be created. The Mayor will chair the existing North East Combined Authority. Powers and responsibilities will be devolved from central government to the Mayor and Combined Authority.

Full details of the deal are available at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/north-east-devolution-deal

A detailed implementation plan will be agreed over the coming months between central government and the North East Combined Authority.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Nicholas Brown on 2015-10-20.

To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what the proposed membership is of the skills board for the North East overseeing a comprehensive review of post-16 education, skills and employment.

Greg Hands

On 23 October the Government signed a historic devolution deal with the North East Combined Authority. As part of the deal, and subject to the passage of the Cities and Local Government Devolution Bill through parliament, a new directly-elected Mayor for the North East will be created. The Mayor will chair the existing North East Combined Authority. Powers and responsibilities will be devolved from central government to the Mayor and Combined Authority.

Full details of the deal are available at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/north-east-devolution-deal

A detailed implementation plan will be agreed over the coming months between central government and the North East Combined Authority.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Nicholas Brown on 2015-10-20.

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what the functions are of the North East Rural Growth Network; and how much financial support it received from her Department in the last financial year.

George Eustice

Pilot Rural Growth Networks were set up in 2012 to test out approaches to tackling the barriers to economic growth experienced in rural areas.

Defra provided funding of £3,201,290 in the financial year 2012/13 to support the pilot Rural Growth Network in the North East for three years.

The North East Local Enterprise Partnership has provided £1.75 million of Growth Deal funding in 2015/16 to enable the North East Rural Growth Network to continue to provide grants to rural businesses and support economic infrastructure projects.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Nicholas Brown on 2015-10-20.

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what commercial freedoms she proposes to offer to Northumberland National Park.

Rory Stewart

National Park Authorities are engaging with devolution proposals and we believe that with their current powers, National Park Authorities are already well equipped to be a vital part of devolution deals across the country. The North East Combined Authority has set out proposals for a devolution deal designed to drive economic growth and bring jobs and investment to the North East. As part of considering this, we will be discussing with the National Park Authority what we could do for them that might help them in terms of commercial freedoms.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Nicholas Brown on 2015-10-20.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what progress he has made in establishing a smaller number of specialist children’s heart units, as recommended by the Safe and sustainable review of children’s congenital heart services, published by the NHS in February 2011.

Jane Ellison

On 12 June 2013 my Rt. hon. Friend the Secretary of State announced in Parliament that the Safe and Sustainable review’s proposals for children’s congenital heart services could not go ahead in their current form. In July 2013, after discussions with key stakeholders, NHS England established a new congenital heart disease review, encompassing services for adults as well as children.

The new review has now been completed and the board of NHS England has agreed its proposals. NHS England is now working on implementation of the proposals and commissioning services against the new requirements. This is being done in collaboration with provider trusts.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Nicholas Brown on 2015-10-20.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what his Department has spent on (a) mental and (b) physical health (i) in total and (ii) as a proportion of the total departmental budget in each financial year since 2010.

Alistair Burt

The table below shows figures for secondary healthcare spend on mental illness which have been taken from the published NHS (England) Summarised Account (2009-10 to 2010-11) and the Department of Health Annual Report and Accounts (2011-12 and 2012-13). Mental illness healthcare is also commissioned in primary care environments. However, it is not possible to separately identify the amount of primary care expenditure on mental illness from the statutory accounting data collected by the Department.

Total revenue expenditure has been used as a proxy for ‘budget’ in order to calculate the proportion of spend on mental health.

Year	Purchase of Secondary Healthcare: Mental Illness £ billion	NHS Revenue Expenditure under Clear Line of Sight Rules £ billion	Spend on mental health as % of NHS revenue expenditure
2009-10				8.08	94.42	8.56%
2010-11	8.37	97.47	8.59%
2011-12	8.61	100.27	8.59%
2012-13	8.80	102.57	8.58%

The Department did not collect data on Mental Illness spend by Clinical Commissioning Groups for the 2013-14 and 2014-15 financial years.

The Department does not collect separate identifiable information on spend on physical health.

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