Tag: Nicholas Soames

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:

• Capital allocations includes capital grant and supported borrowing allocations.
• Figures are rounded to the nearest £100,000.
• Funding in 2015-16 is still subject to project progress and is therefore subject to change. The funding figures provided for 2015/16 only include formulaic programmes and payments to date. Further funding is yet to be released for capital programmes dependent upon project progress and this has not been reflected in the figures.

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.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Nicholas Soames on 2015-10-13.

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, if he will place in the Library a copy of his Department’s chart of account.

Mr David Lidington

From 1 April 2016 the Foreign and Commonwealth Office will use the Government-wide Common Charter of Accounts, which is already in the public domain and can be found on www.gov.uk.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Nicholas Soames on 2015-10-13.

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, how much his Department spent on each international subscription in each financial year from 2000-01 to 2014-15.

Mr David Lidington

This information is already publically available. Our spend on international subscriptions has been listed under ‘Programme’ in our Annual Report and Accounts each financial year from 2000-01 to 2014-15. Our Accounts since 2004-05 are available on www.gov.uk; Accounts for earlier years are available in hard copy in the Parliamentary Library and can also be accessed on the FCO pages at webarchives.nationalarchives.gov.uk.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Nicholas Soames on 2015-10-13.

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, if he will place in the Library a copy of his Department’s global asset management plan.

Mr David Lidington

The Global Asset Management Plan is a commercially sensitive document which, if publicly available, would put the FCO and the UK taxpayer at a severe disadvantage in negotiating sales, purchases and leases. For that reason I will not place a copy of the plan in the Library.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Nicholas Soames on 2015-10-13.

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, how many (a) locally engaged and (b) UK-based staff worked in each overseas post in financial years (i) 2000-01, (ii) 2005-06, (iii) 2010-11 and (iv) 2014-15.

Mr Tobias Ellwood

It is not possible to provide a breakdown of UK based and Locally Engaged Staff prior to 2012/13.

The Foreign and Commonwealth Office provided details of UK based staffing at posts in the Annual Accounts and Reports for 2014/2015. The latter can be found at https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/foreign-and-commonwealth-office-annual-report-and-accounts-2014-to-2015.

The number of locally engaged staff by post for 2014-15 is shown below [attached file].

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Nicholas Soames on 2015-10-13.

To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, with reference to his Department’s consultation, Enabling closer working between the Emergency Services, whether firefighters employed by police and crime commissioners will retain the right to take part in industrial action; and if he will make a statement.

Greg Clark

The Department for Communities and Local Government, the Home Office and the Department of Health led joint consultation ‘Enabling closer working between the Emergency Services’ has made clear that should Police and Crime Commissioners assume responsibility for fire and rescue services, the important distinction between operational policing and firefighting will be maintained. The consultation did not propose to change the current rules around industrial action.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Nicholas Soames on 2015-10-12.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what assessment he has made of the effectiveness of the operation of the NHS Standard Contract for acute services.

Ben Gummer

The NHS Standard Contract provides a mechanism through which providers of NHS-funded services, including acute services, can be held to account. The Contract includes detailed requirements in relation to the provision of safe, high-quality services and compliance with national policies and NHS Constitution standards. It includes mechanisms which commissioners can use to ensure that services to patients are of a high standard and that providers take prompt action to remedy any failings.

The Contract provides a national framework, but there is scope for commissioners to include local detail appropriate to the services being commissioned (service specifications, specific quality standards). Management of agreed contracts is undertaken not at a national level but by the local commissioner.

Commissioners, providers and representative bodies from all service sectors, as well as national stakeholder bodies including the Department of Health, have been invited to contribute to NHS England’s review of the NHS Standard Contract for 2016/17.

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.