The below Parliamentary question was asked by Nicholas Soames on 2015-10-12.
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, when he next plans to review the NHS Standard Contract for acute services.
Ben Gummer
The NHS Standard Contract is reviewed annually by NHS England. NHS England intends to publish an updated version of the Contract for consultation during the coming winter, with the final 2016/17 Contract being published in the New Year for use from 1 April 2016.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Nicholas Soames on 2015-10-12.
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how many district nurses are (a) in training and (b) in service; and how many district nurses were (i) in training and (ii) in service in each of the last five years.
Ben Gummer
Clinical commissioning groups (CCGs) are responsible for local decisions on services for patients, informed by a wide range of local clinicians. The shape of community nursing services is organised locally, following advice from clinicians. This commissioning process also takes into account the local authority’s views through the Joint Strategic Needs Assessment and the local Health and Wellbeing Strategy.
NHS England is working with local CCGs to ensure that services are based on the need of the local population, within the resources available and on evidenced-based best practice.
The latest available data from June 2015 shows that there are 5,033 district nurses in service. The following table contains the number of district nurses that were in service in each of the last five years.
|
Year |
2010 |
2011 |
2012 |
2013 |
2014 |
|
District Nurses in service |
7,813 |
7,132 |
6,611 |
5,877 |
5,590 |
Source: Health and Social Care Information Centre, Provisional NHS Hospital and Community Health Service (HCHS) monthly workforce statistics
The following table contains the number of district nurses in training in each of the last five completed financial years, with the exception of the 2013/14 data which was not collected centrally by Health Education England. Data is not yet available for the 2015/16 financial year.
|
Year |
2010/11 |
2011/12 |
2012/13 |
2013/14 |
2014/15 |
|
District Nurses in training |
236 |
177 |
186 |
n/a |
381 |
Source: multi professional education and training budget monitoring returns
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Nicholas Soames on 2015-10-14.
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what recent progress has been made on the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership; and if he will make a statement.
Anna Soubry
There continues to be good progress on the free trade agreement currently being negotiated between the EU and US, also known as the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP), in particular on the technical work which would underpin the final deal.The next negotiating round is taking place 19-23 October in the US.
A trade and investment agreement between the EU and US offers an enormous economic benefit in jobs, investment and lower prices, worth potentially £10 billion a year to the UK Our ambition remains to reach political agreement during the Obama administration and this goal has been given renewed impetus by the completion of the Trans Pacific Partnership.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Nicholas Soames on 2015-10-14.
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what representations he has made to the Israeli government on the planned demolition of the village of Umm al-Hiran.
Mr Tobias Ellwood
The Government is deeply concerned about the proposals to demolish Bedouin villages in Israel. I visited the Khan al Ahmer Bedouin during my visit in October 2014 and saw the devastating impact resettlement plans had on the communities. Officials at our Embassy in Tel Aviv are monitoring the situation of Umm al-Hiran closely. Embassy officials have also been in contact with the Adalah Legal Centre who continue to provide updates on the legal situation. They have also been in contact with organisations that work within the Bedouin community, such as Itach-Maaki and The Arab-Jewish Center for Equality, Empowerment and Cooperation-Negev Institute for Strategies of Peace and Development, to help inform the UK’s lobbying of the Israeli authorities on this issue. On 10 September, the Prime Minister, my right hon. Friend the Member for Witney (Mr Cameron), and the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, my right hon. Friend the Member for Runnymede and Weybridge (Mr Hammond), raised their concerns about the Bedouin with Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Nicholas Soames on 2015-10-14.
To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what recent assessment she has made of the humanitarian situation in Occupied Palestinian Territory.
Mr Desmond Swayne
The UN assesses that the situation in the Occupied Palestinian Territories (OPTs) is a protracted crisis with humanitarian consequences, driven by insufficient respect for international law by all sides. According to the UN, Palestinians in the OPTs face a range of serious threats including threats to life, liberty and security, destruction or damage to homes and other property, forced displacement, restrictions on freedom of movement and access to livelihoods, and lack of accountability and effective remedy. We are particularly concerned by the recent violent clashes across the OPTs and Israel, which underline the need for a just and lasting political settlement that ends the occupation and delivers peace for both Israelis and Palestinians.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Nicholas Soames on 2015-10-14.
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, how many of the recommendations of the 2011 report on Palestinian children in military custody, funded by his Department, have been carried out.
Mr Tobias Ellwood
Since the publication of the Foreign and Commonwealth Office funded independent report on Children in Military Custody in June 2012, there has been some progress on the issue of children held in military detention.
Officials from our Embassy in Tel Aviv held roundtable meetings with Israeli officials, most recently on 19 May. These meetings confirmed that progress is being made including a pilot to use summons instead of night-time arrests, changes to standard operating procedures on methods of restraint, and steps to reduce the amount of time a child can be detained before seeing a judge. Officials from our Embassy in Tel Aviv continue to push for further progress with Israeli officials.
On 2 June, the Minister of State, my noble Friend the right hon. Baroness Anelay of St Johns met the Israeli Military Advocate General and the Israeli Ambassador to London where the issue of child detention was discussed. She made clear that while we welcome improvements, we continue to push for the full implementation of changes and to encourage further changes in practice.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Nicholas Soames on 2015-10-14.
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what support he is giving to EU proposals to provide sea access to Gaza.
Mr Tobias Ellwood
The EU, with UK encouragement, has examined a number of options to encourage an easing of movement and access into and out of Gaza. This includes the possibility of EU assistance in establishing a sea-link from Gaza to another international port, currently envisaged in Cyprus. The UK and EU have consistently called on the Government of Israel to ease movement, including at sea, and will continue to do so. We have also been pushing for an increase in the size of the fishing zone off the coast of Gaza, in line with the limit of twenty nautical miles stipulated in the Oslo accords. On 10 September, during Israeli Prime Minister Mr Netanyahu’s visit to the UK, the Prime Minister, my right hon. Friend the Member for Witney (Mr David Cameron), and the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, my hon. Friend the Member for Runnymead and Weybridge (Mr Hammond), emphasised the importance of improving access to Gaza.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Nicholas Soames on 2015-10-14.
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if she will merge the Hampshire, Surrey and Sussex police forces.
Mike Penning
Any request from police forces to merge would be considered where it is supported by a robust business case and has local consent. It is the role of directly elected local Police and Crime Commissioners to propose changes to local policing, not central government. It is not necessary for police forces to merge in order to become more efficient. Existing legislation places a strong duty on Chief Constables and Police and Crime Commissioners to collaborate in the interests of efficiency and effectiveness. Many are demonstrating that they can collaborate without sacrificing local accountability and identity. For example, Sussex and Surrey are already working together on collaborations that include a joint IT solution, procurement, major crime, forensics, firearms and fleet.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Nicholas Soames on 2015-10-13.
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how much (a) revenue and (b) capital funding was provided to per pupil in state (i) primary and (ii) secondary schools in Devon (A) in cash terms and (B) at 2015 prices in each financial year since 2005-06.
Mr Sam Gyimah
Average per pupil revenue funding figures for Devon are given below. With the introduction of the dedicated schools grant (DSG) in 2006-07, the changes to the funding mechanism meant figures were no longer available to be shown split by phase of education.
Figures for financial years 2005 to 2013 are shown below. These are in cash terms:
|
Average revenue per pupilfunding (cash) |
2005-06 (baseline) |
2006-07 |
2007-08 |
2008-09 |
2009-10 |
2010-11 |
2011-12 |
2012-13 |
|
Devon LA (£) |
3,560 |
3,800 |
4,050 |
4,220 |
4,430 |
4,680 |
4,600 |
4,600 |
These are in real terms using September 2015 GDP deflators in 2014-15 prices:
|
Average revenue per pupil funding (real) |
2005-06 (baseline) |
2006-07 |
2007-08 |
2008-09 |
2009-10 |
2010-11 |
2011-12 |
2012-13 |
|
Devon LA (£) |
4,370 |
4,530 |
4,700 |
4,770 |
4,880 |
5,010 |
4,850 |
4,770 |
Per pupil figures use DSG allocations plus other schools related grants, e.g. school standards grant, school standards grant (personalisation), standards fund, and pupils aged 3-15 rounded to the nearest £10. Most of the additional grants were mainstreamed into DSG in 2011-12.
The changes to DSG funding in financial year 2013 to 2014 with funding allocated through three blocks (namely schools, early years and high needs) means there is no longer a comparable overall figure with previous years. The table below shows the DSG schools block unit funding figures in cash and real terms for Devon LA.
|
DSG schoolsblock per pupil funding (£) |
2013-2014 |
2014-2015 |
2015-2016 |
|
Devon LA (cash) |
4,156 |
4,156 |
4,342 |
|
Devon LA (real) [1] |
4,215 |
4,156 |
4,299 |
[1] Real terms figures shown in 2014-15 prices using GDP deflators at 30.09.15.
Since 2011-12 schools have received the Pupil Premium which targets funding at pupils from the most deprived backgrounds to help them achieve their full potential. In 2011-12, the Premium was allocated for each pupil known to be eligible for universal infant free school meals (UIFSM), looked after children and children of parents in the armed services. In 2012-13 coverage was expanded to include pupils known to have been eligible for Free School Meals at any point in the last six years. The amounts per pupil for each type of pupil are shown in following table in cash terms:
|
Pupil Premium per pupil (£) |
2011-2012 |
2012-2013 |
2013-2014 |
2014-2015 |
2015-2016 |
|
Free School Meal Pupil Primary |
£488 |
£623 |
£953 |
£1323 |
£1320 |
|
Free School Meal Pupil Secondary |
£488 |
£623 |
£900 |
£935 |
£935 |
|
Service Children |
£200 |
£250 |
£300 |
£300 |
£300 |
|
LookedAfter Children |
£488 |
£623 |
£900 |
£1900[2] |
£1900[2] |
[2] Also includes children adopted from care.
Total Pupil Premium allocations for Devon local authority for each year are shown in the following table in cash terms:
|
Pupil Premium Allocations (£ millions) |
2011-2012 |
2012-2013 |
2013-2014 |
2014-2015 |
2015-16 (prov.) |
|
Devon |
5.486 |
11.161 |
17.221 |
22.942 |
23.220 |
These figures in real terms:
|
Pupil Premium Allocations (£ millions) |
2011-2012 |
2012-2013 |
2013-2014 |
2014-2015 |
2015-16 (prov.) |
|
Devon |
5.786 |
11.559 |
17.467 |
22.942 |
22.990 |
Price Base: Real terms at 2014-15 prices, based on GDP deflators as at 30.09.2015.
The table below shows capital funding for the financial years that are available. The data is in cash terms as allocations are phased across more than one year making real terms calculations meaningless. Complete information on the split of capital between phases of education is not held centrally.
|
Devon £m |
Capital allocations |
|
2005-06 |
30.5 |
|
2006-07 |
53.0 |
|
2007-08 |
68.1 |
|
2008-09 |
56.8 |
|
2009-10 |
71.6 |
|
2010-11 |
31.8 |
|
2011-12 |
31.1 |
|
2012-13 |
37.5 |
|
2013-14 |
48.4 |
|
2014-15 |
42.3 |
|
2015-16 (prov.) |
10.2 |
Notes:
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Nicholas Soames on 2015-10-13.
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, if she will place in the Library a copy of the framework agreement between her Department and the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew.
Rory Stewart
The Framework document between Defra and Kew is currently in draft. Defra and Kew are working in line with the draft Framework document, which sets out how the bodies work together but is not legally binding. Defra is looking at how it works with its arm’s length bodies and this may inform the finalisation of the document.