The below Parliamentary question was asked by Julie Cooper on 2016-05-10.
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how many students in (a) the UK, (b) the North West and (c) Lancashire are studying for a clinical pharmacy diploma.
Ben Gummer
The Department does not hold this information centrally.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Stephen Timms on 2016-06-14.
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what the maximum duration should be for a degree apprenticeship.
Nick Boles
There is no maximum duration for Degree Apprenticeships. The pattern of delivery of the degree will be a key component in the length of a Degree Apprenticeship, both employers and Higher Education providers will want to ensure the apprenticeship standard is achieved in full.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Natalie McGarry on 2016-09-09.
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, if he will make it his policy that all Government departments undertake a cross-cutting review on the effect of their policies on (a) inequalities in health and (b) deprivation in (i) Glasgow and (ii) Scotland.
Ben Gummer
All UK Government policies and legislation that extend to Scotland in reserved areas, as would be the case with Wales and Northern Ireland, are accompanied by the necessary economic and equality impact assessments, which are published.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Joan Ryan on 2015-11-10.
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if she will provide more funding to special educational needs schools in (a) Greater London and (b) Enfield.
Mr Sam Gyimah
We recognise that the distribution of high needs funding needs reform. There are currently wide variations in the funding provided for children with similar needs in different areas. Our aim is to make that distribution fairer. To help achieve this, we commissioned the Isos Partnership to undertake some research so that we could see where changes to the future funding of special educational needs might be needed.
The research report, which we published in July 2015, contains a large number of proposals which we are considering and is available online at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/funding-for-young-people-with-special-educational-needs
“
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Khalid Mahmood on 2015-12-10.
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many arrests have been made in connection with gun crime in the West Midlands metropolitan area in (a) each of the last 10 years and (b) each quarter of 2015.
Mike Penning
The Government and police work nationally, and with international partners, to reduce the threat to the UK from the criminal use of firearms. In 2013/14, firearms were used in a small and diminishing proportion of total police recorded crime, 0.2%. We also support local areas to take action against gang violence to reduce offending and protect vulnerable people. Under the Ending Gang and Youth Violence programme, Birmingham was subject to a peer review in 2012 and has implemented and integrated the recommendations from the review into their local strategic plans. The Home Office does not hold data centrally on the number of arrests made in connection with gun crime. The UK has some of the toughest gun laws in the world and the government and the police continue to work together to reduce the threat from the criminal use of firearms. We will be reviewing options to strengthen the current legislation to ensure it safeguards against abuse by criminals following representations made by the police (and other stakeholders) during the Law Commission’s scoping consultation on firearms legislation. The number of offences involving firearms (excluding air weapons) in the West Midlands has fallen by 40% since 2010, from 903 offences in 2009/10 to 540 in 2013/14.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Rehman Chishti on 2016-01-14.
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, with reference to the Answer of 9 February 2015 to Question 222936, when he plans to announce which of the 5,000 ships under consideration will be designated under the Protection of Military Remains Act 1986.
Mark Lancaster
The consultation process as to which ships under consideration will be designated under the Protection of Military Remains Act 1986 is at its later stages, and an announcement will be made in due course.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Baroness Lister of Burtersett on 2016-02-09.
To ask Her Majesty’s Government what steps they propose to take, if any, to reduce the complexity of the admission arrangements employed by religiously selective schools, as highlighted in the report An Unholy Mess published by the Fair Admissions Campaign and the British Humanist Association last year, and the 2014–15 annual report of the Chief Schools Adjudicator, so that all parents are better able to understand what is required to gain admission to their local school.
Lord Nash
The Government will shortly consult on a package of changes to the School Admissions Code which will both respond to concerns from parents and to the findings in the Chief Adjudicator’s Annual Report. That package will include measures to improve fairness and transparency.
Admission authorities for all state-funded schools, including schools with a religious designation, are required to comply with the mandatory provisions of the School Admissions Code and other admissions law.
When constructing faith-based oversubscription criteria, including deciding how membership or practice of the faith will be determined, admission authorities must have regard to the guidance of their relevant religious authority, and their arrangements must comply with the statutory School Admissions Code. They must consult with their religious authority when proposing any changes to their admission arrangements.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Steve McCabe on 2016-03-04.
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, pursuant to the Answer of 17 February 2016 to Question 26564, what steps his Department has taken to ensure that schools in conflict zones are protected from being attacked or occupied for military purposes.
James Duddridge
The UK is committed to the proper implementation of International Humanitarian Law. We comply fully with our obligations under it, including rules prohibiting civilian objects from being attacked. The UK also works closely with other states and the Red Cross Movement to promote compliance with International Humanitarian Law. We urge all states and non-state actors engaged in armed conflict to respect International Humanitarian Law and to act in accordance with their obligations under it.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Alison Thewliss on 2016-04-08.
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, whether her Department has a strategy to ensure that the growth of district heating is accompanied by the development of non-fossil fuel heat sources that are compatible with long term carbon emissions targets.
Andrea Leadsom
Yes. The development of heat networks and non-fossil fuel heat sources needs to go hand in hand. One of the key benefits of heat networks is that they can be used to transport heat from a wide range of low carbon heat sources.
The Government’s support for both renewable heating and district heating (heat networks) was confirmed in the Autumn Statement. My Rt Hon friend the Chancellor of the Exchequer made clear that the Renewable Heat Incentive will see an increase in funding to £1.15 billion by 2020-21 and separately that over £300 million of funding would be made available for up to 200 heat networks to generate enough heat to support the equivalent of 400,000 homes.
We are currently designing the Heat Network Investment Fund to allocate this funding, which is due to launch later in 2016 and run until 2021. We are keen to ensure that the projects supported by the fund are low carbon, economically viable and strategically designed to ensure future growth and development. We expect a range of projects with a mix of different heat sources to come forward for support, as we have seen with those Local Authority projects already supported at the development stage by the Government’s Heat Network Delivery Unit. As well as fossil fuelled Combined Heat and Power, such sources include non-fossil fuel heat from waste, deep geothermal heat, water-sourced heat pumps and heat from underground minewater. In addition, DECC’s innovation budget was doubled; some of this will be used to support the development of low carbon technology in heat delivery.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Chris Heaton-Harris on 2016-05-10.
To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what steps her Department plans to take to ensure that the Education cannot wait: the fund for education in emergencies focuses on (a) girls, (b) children with disabilities and (c) other marginalised children.
Mr Nick Hurd
The UK has played a leading role in the development of Education Cannot Wait – a fund for education in emergencies. A key focus for Education Cannot Wait will be on ensuring that marginalised children and young people are able to access a quality education. This includes refugees and internally displaced children, as well as children facing barriers to their education because of their gender, disability or other factors. This focus is reflected in the Fund’s indicative headline results, which commits to providing “Inclusive education [that] reaches the most marginalised children and young people in crises” with a target of “100% of supported education opportunities demonstrate increase in education for girls, disabled and those in remote locations”. The UK will continue to engage closely during Education Cannot Wait’s inception phase, to ensure that this commitment is fully reflected in its final design and results frameworks.