Tag: Parliamentary Question

  • Nic Dakin – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    Nic Dakin – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Nic Dakin on 2016-04-13.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Education, with reference to paragraph 3.28 of Educational excellence everywhere, Cm 9230, when she plans to amend the model articles of government of academies to require each school in a multi-academy trust to have a school level governing body; and whether she plans that those model articles will set out the role of school level governing bodies to focus on understanding and championing the needs of pupils, parents and the wider local community.

    Edward Timpson

    The model articles of association give multi-academy trust (MAT) boards the freedom to appoint a local governing body. The board is also free to decide on what, if any, governance functions they delegate to subsidiary governance structures at the level of either individual schools or clusters of schools. Whatever arrangements MATs use, they must set out and publish on their website their chosen arrangements in a clear scheme of delegation.

    The White Paper Educational Excellence Everywhere outlines our intention to place a new expectation on all academies to put in place specific arrangements to engage with all parents in a meaningful way to listen to their views and feedback. To enable a move to fully skills-based governance, the White Paper also announces an end to our requirement on new and existing trusts to reserve places on the board for elected parents.

  • Tania Mathias – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    Tania Mathias – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Tania Mathias on 2016-05-23.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether the Government is taking steps to reduce the number of flights between non-UK airports entering UK airspace.

    Mr Robert Goodwill

    The Government is not seeking to reduce the number of overflights in UK airspace. The ability to overfly UK airspace is a freedom of the air which we have granted to other signatories of the International Air Services Transit Agreement as well as non-signatory States on a bilateral basis.

  • Andrew Percy – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    Andrew Percy – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Andrew Percy on 2016-07-06.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what steps he has taken to ensure garden cities offer affordable homes and a place to live for all age groups.

    Brandon Lewis

    It is our ambition that garden communities will provide a range of homes that meet the needs of all age groups and all types of tenures. We intend that they will provide a range of affordable homes, including Starter Homes aimed at first-time buyers aged between 23 and 40.

  • Lord Hylton – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Lord Hylton – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Hylton on 2016-09-15.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what representations they have made to the governments of Syria and Jordan concerning the Syrian refugees trapped at the Syria–Jordan border; what responses they have had; and what plans they have for securing food and essential services for them.

    Baroness Anelay of St Johns

    We are deeply concerned by the humanitarian situation for the people camped in the no man’s land between Syria and Jordan. We are working closely with the Jordanian authorities and humanitarian agencies to resume relief supplies as soon as possible. Our Ambassador visited the area in March and we have regularly raised the issue with Jordan at the highest levels, including during the Secretary of State for International Development, My Rt Hon. Friend the Member for Witham (Priti Patel)’s visit to Jordan in August. Understandably, the Jordanian Government’s priority is their national security. We welcome their decision to supply water and allow a delivery of food and other essential aid in August, and continue to press for a long term solution that addresses both the humanitarian situation and Jordan’s security needs.

  • Tom Blenkinsop – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Tom Blenkinsop – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Tom Blenkinsop on 2015-11-18.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what steps he plans to take to (a) reduce waiting times for children to receive an assessment for a mental health condition and (b) address the disparity between those waiting times across different NHS mental health trusts.

    Alistair Burt

    Waiting times are not currently collected centrally, however the Government accepts there is variation in waiting times and is committed to improving access and is introducing the first ever waiting time standards for mental health services.

    These include an access and waiting time standard for Children and Young People with an Eating Disorder. This states that National Institute of Health and Care Excellence concordant treatment should commence within a maximum of four weeks from first contact with a designated healthcare professional for routine cases and within one week for urgent cases. Data collected in 2016 will help inform incremental percentage increases in compliance with the standard, with the aim of 95% of patients being treated within the standard’s timescale by 2020.

    We have also introduced an access and waiting times standard on Early Intervention in Psychosis announced in Mental health services: achieving better access by 2020 which came into force in April 2015. Whilst focused on all ages, most individuals experiencing a first episode of psychosis are in the 16-25 age group.

    The setting of a blanket access and waiting time standard for children and young people’s mental health services is not feasible due to the wide range of conditions, services and care pathways this covers. However, NHS England will be working with partner organisations to lead work on the development of further access and waiting time standards for children’s mental health as part of the transformation programme on children and young people’s mental health.

    At a local level, clinical commissioning groups (CCGs) have worked with local partners to produce Local Transformation Plans for children and young people’s mental health and wellbeing that will set out how they will improve support for children and young people in line with the vision in Future in mind. In addition, CCGs have legal duty to consider the need to reduce inequalities in access to, and outcomes from healthcare services, and we would expect commissioners to have due regard to waiting times as part of this.

    The new Mental Health Services Dataset will begin from January 2016, to provide data for both adults and children on outcomes, length of treatment, the source of referral, location of appointment and demographic information.

  • Lord Kilclooney – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    Lord Kilclooney – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Kilclooney on 2015-12-10.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what was the total payment made by the UK to the EU in 2014, and what was the total payment by the EU to the UK agricultural industry in that year.

    Lord O’Neill of Gatley

    The UK’s net contribution to the EU Budget in 2014 was £5.71 billion. This is the UK’s total contribution to the EU, reduced by the cash rebate and the money the UK receives from EU funded programmes.

    The total receipts to the UK agricultural industry from the EU were £3.16 billion in 2014. Under this, £2.60 billion was for European Agricultural Guarantee Fund (EAGF) (CAP pillar 1) and £0.60 billion for European Agricultural Fund for Rural Development (EAFRD) (CAP pillar 2).

    These figures are available publicly in HM Treasury’s EU Finances 2015.

  • Stephen McPartland – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for International Development

    Stephen McPartland – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for International Development

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Stephen McPartland on 2016-01-21.

    To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, pursuant to the Answer of 24 November 2015 to Question 17479, what recent steps her Department has taken to work with the government of Sierra Leone to deliver high-quality programmes that will increase access to clean water.

    Mr Nick Hurd

    The President of Sierra Leone has identified water as one of his top six priorities for the post-Ebola recovery period. In the first phase, the “early recovery” period, DFID is providing assistance to establish or improve water and sanitation facilities in over 250 health facilities and over 300 schools.

    In July 2015 the Secretary of State announced a new £240m commitment to Sierra Leone for to help the country recover from the Ebola crisis, including the better delivery of public services. DFID has been supporting the Presidential Delivery Team to prioritise needs for the next phase, which include Water, Health and Education. The UK’s support on water and sanitation will be determined when those prioritised plans have been agreed. It may involve further upgrading of health facilities and schools. Significant support is also envisaged for improving infrastructure, including the existing water distribution system in Freetown; improved waste management, through support to the Government’s National Waste Management Policy and Strategy; and further investment in a programme of Community Led Total Sanitation (CLTS) – building on our successful £58m WASH programme from 2010 to 2015 which resulted in over 1 million people gaining access to water and to sanitation in Sierra Leone.

  • Keith Vaz – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Keith Vaz – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Keith Vaz on 2016-02-19.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what steps the Government is taking to reduce the intensity of conflict in urban areas in Yemen.

    Mr Tobias Ellwood

    A political solution is the best way to bring long-term stability to Yemen and end the conflict. We welcomed and fully supported the UN facilitated talks held in Switzerland in December 2015 and the commitment to engage in a new round of talks in the near future. We are working closely with the UN to encourage parties to engage in good faith, without preconditions in future talks. We are encouraging all parties to reinstate a ceasefire at the next round of talks and are working closely with the UN to achieve this.

  • Keith Vaz – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Keith Vaz – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Keith Vaz on 2016-03-07.

    To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, for what reasons only four of the 10 ePassport gates at Luton Airport were in operation between 7pm and 8pm on 26 February 2016.

    James Brokenshire

    The numbers of ePassport gates in use is an operational decision for Border Force and are flexed according to need. On the evening in question, there was a high proportion of arriving passengers using ID cards who were ineligible to use the gates. Officers were therefore redeployed to the manual immigration desks to assist with the majority of passengers requiring manual checks.

    Waiting times between 19.00 and 20.00 were within agreed service level agreements, with queue measurements for passengers at the ePassport gates being no more than 8 minutes and those at the manual control being no more than 21 minutes.

  • 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 2016-04-13.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what criteria Natural England uses to assess applications for badger cull licences; and when such decisions on such applications will be announced.

    George Eustice

    Natural England assesses badger control licence applications using guidance issued under section 15(2) of the Natural Environment and Rural Communities Act 2006 (NERC). The guidance can be found at:

    https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/guidance-to-natural-england-preventing-spread-of-bovine-tb.

    Decisions on this year’s licence applications will be announced before the start of badger control operations.

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