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Tag: Parliamentary Question

  • Amanda Solloway – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    Amanda Solloway – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Amanda Solloway on 2016-06-27.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, if he will bring forward proposals to enable people who have previously undertaken university education to be eligible for funded apprenticeships.

    Nick Boles

    Currently the apprenticeship funding rules allow a university graduate to take an apprenticeship standard at a higher level than their current qualification. Further detail on the proposed funding rules that will apply from 2017-18 will be published shortly.

  • Paul Blomfield – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy

    Paul Blomfield – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Paul Blomfield on 2016-09-14.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, pursuant to the Answer of 13 September 2016 to Question 43629, what plans he has to review the aspects of the BIS 2020 programme that do not relate to staff posts and office locations in the light of the restructuring of government departments.

    Joseph Johnson

    As part of the recent Machinery of Government changes, over the coming months we will be considering how to bring together the reform agendas of BEIS’s two predecessor Departments.

  • Philip Hollobone – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Philip Hollobone – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Philip Hollobone on 2015-11-10.

    To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many people attempting to enter the UK without valid papers were detained at UK border controls at Calais and returned to the French authorities in the last 12-month period for which figures are available.

    James Brokenshire

    Border Force operates UK immigration controls at the juxtaposed ports in northern France and also operates a multi-layered freight search regime to detect clandestine illegal entry attempts.

    The figures for passenger refusals at the juxtaposed controls in northern France are 3,695 in FY 2014/15.

    Additionally 39,545 attempts at clandestine illegal entry were successfully intercepted by the UK and French authorities at the juxtaposed controls in northern France in FY 2014/15.

  • Caroline Lucas – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    Caroline Lucas – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Caroline Lucas on 2015-12-09.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, with reference to the Answer of 26 September 2014 to Question 209770 asked by the hon. Member for Moray, how much his Department has spent on studies on whether to refurbish or replace the existing Trident warhead design to date.

    Michael Fallon

    As of the end of the last financial year (March 2015), the Ministry of Defence had spent £80 million on technology studies to support refurbishment of the current system and explore options for a potential future warhead, and £5.5 million on studies to support the decision whether to refurbish or replace the existing warhead.

  • Lord Crisp – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    Lord Crisp – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Crisp on 2016-01-20.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government why clinical research in mental health is scheduled to receive a tariff 32 per cent lower than for other clinical medicine subjects, including dentistry and nursing, for the same type of research, in the light of the overall increase in funding following the 2014 Research Excellence Framework conducted by the Higher Education Funding Council for England.

    Baroness Evans of Bowes Park

    The Higher Education Funding Council for England (HEFCE) is allocated funding from the Department for Business Innovation and Skills (BIS) Science and Research budget to distribute to higher education institutions (HEIs) in England. Most of HEFCE’s funding is allocated as an unhypothecated research block grant to institutions, ensuring university leaders have flexibility to support their own research priorities. While this block grant is calculated using research quality and volume information from the 2014 Research Excellence Framework (REF2014) at a subject level, it is a matter for individual HEIs to determine how it is ultimately distributed to particular activities/subjects.

    In developing the REF, the attribution of different disciplines to particular units of assessment was agreed with the relevant professional bodies. Research relevant to clinical mental health was assessed in a unit including psychology, psychiatry and neuroscience. As this unit included a mix of research with higher costs (clinical psychology and psychiatry, and neuroscience) and lower costs (social psychology), the funding was allocated at an intermediate cost rate, reflecting the mix of disciplines.

    REF2014 demonstrated significantly improved research quality in all disciplines, including psychology, psychiatry and neuroscience. As a result, the funding allocated on the basis of performance to this group increased by 16.5 per cent.

    As announced in the Spending Review 2015, the Government is taking forward a review of the REF to ensure that future university research funding is allocated efficiently, offers greater rewards for excellent research and reduces the administrative burden on institutions. This review will be led by Lord Stern, and he is expected to deliver his review to the Government in summer 2016.

  • Ian Austin – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    Ian Austin – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Ian Austin on 2016-02-08.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what proportion of pupils who achieved five A* to C grades at GCSE in 2015 received no higher than a C grade in any subject.

    Nick Gibb

    Of those pupils[1] achieving five A* to C grades at GCSE[2] in 2015:

    • 4.5% received no higher than a C grade in any subject

    • 32.8% received no higher than a B grade in any subject

    [1] Based on pupils at the end of key stage 4 in the 2014/15 academic year

    [2] Based on those pupils entering single award GCSEs only

  • Kerry McCarthy – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    Kerry McCarthy – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Kerry McCarthy on 2016-03-03.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps she plans to take to ensure the UK meets (a) the EU target to 50 per cent of municipal waste by 2020 and (b) the proposed EU target to recycle 65 per cent of such waste by 2030.

    Rory Stewart

    The UK recycling rate has increased from 11% at the turn of the century, to 44.9% now. This progress is thanks in large part to the hard work of Local Authorities and householders.

    The Government is committed to meeting the 2020 EU recycling target of 50% of household waste.

    Local Authorities are best placed to determine the most appropriate waste collection and recycling services in their areas and we work with them and the Waste and Recycling Action Programme (WRAP) to promote best practice.

    I have asked WRAP to look at what further measures can be taken to improve recycling rates and, in particular the benefits and opportunities there are from having greater consistency in the materials collected and collection systems to enable Local Authorities to recycle more, and to make it easier for householders to put the right materials in the right bin.

    The UK is still assessing the implications of the proposed recycling targets for 2030.

  • Steve McCabe – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    Steve McCabe – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Steve McCabe on 2016-04-12.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, when his Department will conclude its review into the effect of the housing benefit cap on tenants who live in sheltered housing.

    Justin Tomlinson

    The Department for Work and Pensions jointly with the Department for Communities and Local Government commissioned an evidence review into the shape, scale and cost of the supported housing sector.

    We conduct a policy review to ensure support is focused on the most vulnerable and the appropriate groups are safeguarded.

  • Lord Grocott – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    Lord Grocott – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Grocott on 2016-05-05.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government, further to the answer by Lord Nash on 3 May (HL Deb, col 1308), what steps they plan to take to provide Parliament with a clear view of academy trusts’ spending.

    Lord Nash

    From 2016-17 onwards, the department will produce a new report and accounts covering the performance of the academy sector during the previous academic year. This will provide Parliament with information on academy trusts’ spending, income and assets that is clearer, more transparent and more timely. This approach has been considered and endorsed by the Education Select Committee and the Liaison Committee of the House of Commons.

  • John Spellar – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    John Spellar – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by John Spellar on 2016-06-27.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, if she will take steps to ensure that her Department’s purchasing policies support British (a) industry and (b) agriculture.

    George Eustice

    The Department’s purchasing policies support the Government’s commitment to do all it can to ensure UK suppliers can compete effectively for public sector contracts, in line with our current international obligations and guidance issued by the Crown Commercial Service. In addition, in 2014 the government introduced the plan for public procurement of food and catering services and Defra has adopted the use of the ‘Balanced Scorecard’ approach to sourcing food which recognises factors like celebration of provenance, local food traditions and consumers’ connection to producers.