Tag: Parliamentary Question

Jim McMahon – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim McMahon on 2016-02-29.

To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, how much the Government plans to provide to each local authority to meet the cost of the introduction of the living wage.

Mr Marcus Jones

All new Government policies which impact on local government are assessed for whether they will represent a new burden on local authorities, against the criteria published in the New Burdens guidance. The New Burdens doctrine does not apply to policies which apply the same rules to local authorities and to private sector bodies, such as the apprenticeships levy, the national living wage and changes to national insurance. The guidance is available at:

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/new-burdens-doctrine-guidance-for-government-departments.

In setting the future funding settlement for local government at the Spending Review in November 2015, the Government took account of a wide range of factors, including some which fell outside the New Burdens doctrine but nonetheless represented new costs for local authorities such as the apprenticeships levy, the national living wage and changes to national insurance.

01/01/2023
Royston Smith – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Royston Smith on 2016-03-23.

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment her Department has made of the effect of pupil premium on ensuring children who are classed as behind reach their expected grades at Key Stages 1 to 4.

Mr Sam Gyimah

The Government is determined to deliver educational excellence everywhere so that every child, regardless of background, reaches their full potential.

Information on the proportion of low achieving disadvantaged pupils reaching the expected standard at key stage 4 is available from the KS2-4 transition matrices for disadvantaged pupils[1] on RAISEonline. These show progression from sub-levels at key stage 2 to grades at key stage 4 for a range of subjects, for both disadvantaged and other pupils. Similar information is not published regularly for progression between other key stages.

In 2015 the National Audit Office and the Public Accounts Committee reviewed the pupil premium and concluded that while it is too early to assess the full impact of the funding, there is evidence that the attainment gap between disadvantaged pupils and their peers has started to narrow.

The Department for Education’s gap index provides a more accurate measure over time in light of changes to assessments. It shows that attainment has risen and the attainment gap between disadvantaged pupils and their peers has narrowed – by 7.1 per cent at key stage 2 and 6.6 per cent at key stage 4 since 2011, the year the pupil premium was introduced.

This means better prospects and a more prosperous life as an adult for this group of pupils. But we refuse to accept second best for any young person, which is why we are continuing the pupil premium at current rates for the duration of this parliament, providing funding to support schools to continue improving outcomes for disadvantaged pupils.

[1] https://www.raiseonline.org/OpenDocument.aspx?document=381%20

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01/01/2023
Richard Burden – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Richard Burden on 2016-04-28.

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what the timetable is for (a) Highways England to make a decision on the location of the new Lower Thames Crossing and (b) construction to begin on the new Lower Thames Crossing; and if he will make a statement.

Andrew Jones

The public consultation closed on 24 March 2016 and the responses are currently being analysed. It is expected that a decision on the location and route will be made later this year following Highways England’s recommendation to the Department for Transport.

Subject to funding and planning approvals, we anticipate construction to start in 2020/2021.

01/01/2023
Justin Madders – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Justin Madders on 2016-06-13.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, pursuant to the Answer of 9 June 2016 to Question 39429, on NHS logos, what the cost to his Department has been of legal advice on the use of the NHS logo by the Vote Leave Campaign; and what plans he has to apply for injunctive proceedings related to the use of that logo.

George Freeman

To date, the Department has incurred costs of approximately £5,000 (exclusive of recoverable VAT) for advice from specialist intellectual property lawyers, regarding misuse of the NHS logo by Vote Leave. The Department’s lawyers have also done some work on the matter. Their costs are covered in a block fee, which is paid by the Department to the Government Legal Department on an annual basis.

Given the Vote Leave campaign has now finished, the Department has no current plans to apply for injunctive proceedings.

01/01/2023
Jim Shannon – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Culture, Media and Sport

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Shannon on 2016-09-06.

To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, whether she was aware of the Homeless World Cup taking place; and what discussions her Department has had with the organisers of that event.

Tracey Crouch

The Homeless World Cup is an excellent example of how sport can transform the lives of homeless people all over the country, and we particularly championed the role of Pride House in creating spaces for lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and intersex people to engage with and celebrate the event.

As outlined in our Sport Strategy, the Government recognises the power of engaging in sport and wants to encourage more people from every background to regularly take part in sport.

01/01/2023
David Crausby – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

The below Parliamentary question was asked by David Crausby on 2016-10-18.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many applications for a spouse visa have been refused by UK Visas and Immigration only to be overturned by appeal to the Immigration and Asylum Tribunal in each of the last five years.

Mr Robert Goodwill

The information on appeals is not readily available and could only be obtained at disproportionate cost.

01/01/2023
Paul Monaghan – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Paul Monaghan on 2015-11-05.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many refugee families she expects to be relocated to Caithness, Sutherland and Easter Ross constituency; where such families will be housed; and what steps the Government is taking to ensure that such families have access to education for their children.

James Brokenshire

With regard to the resettlement of 20,000 Syrians that the Prime Minister announced on 7 September, this is a voluntary scheme whereby local authorities sign up to accept refugees on a voluntary basis and there is no expectation on any particular local authority.

We are working closely with those local authorities that have indicated they wish to be involved as well as with the Local Government Association and with the Convention of Scottish Local Authorities. We do not disclose the details of where refugees are resettled upon their arrival in the UK under the Government resettlement schemes as this may undermine the privacy and recovery of this vulnerable group of people.

The Home Office alongside other departments and the Local Government Association and the Convention of Scottish Authorities will work with individual local authorities who are volunteering to take Syrian refugees to secure appropriate accommodation.

The Government has committed to investing £7 billion on new school places over the next six years, and in the last Parliament funding for school places doubled to £5 billion to create 445,000 additional places. Local Authorities are allocated funding for school places based on their own local data on school capacity and pupil forecasts, in which they take account of factors including rising birth rates, housing development, trends in internal migration and migration to England from elsewhere in the United Kingdom and from overseas. We continue to work with Local Authorities to make sure that every child has a school place.

01/01/2023

Stephen Timms – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Stephen Timms on 2015-12-03.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps her Department is taking to reduce the cost of Disclosure and Barring Service checks.

Karen Bradley

The Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) is funded through fees charged for disclosure certificates and from subscriptions to the DBS disclosure update service. DBS operates on a full cost recovery basis. There has not been a fee increase in four years and volunteers receive free checks.

The table below sets out the average time taken to process all three types of checks.

Timeframe	Standard Disclosures	Enhanced Disclosures	Enhanced Disclosures with List Checks
01st Nov 2010 to 31st Oct 2011	5.21	16.84	16.81
01st Nov 2011 to 31st Oct 2012	5.34	11.24	11.25
01st Nov 2012 to 31st Oct 2013	4.57	10.60	10.63
01st Nov 2013 to 31st Oct 2014	6.37	14.12	14.17
01st Nov 2014 to 31st Oct 2015	5.97	14.92	14.94

The fluctuations in processing times over the years relate to a number of factors, including changes in demand and demand forecasting, changes to IT systems and the performance of police forces for enhanced disclosures.

01/01/2023

Andrew Percy – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Leader of the House

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Andrew Percy on 2016-01-14.

To ask the Leader of the House, how many defibrillators are provided in each building his Office manages.

Chris Grayling

The Office of the Leader of the House of Commons does not directly manage any buildings.

01/01/2023
Lord Warner – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Warner on 2016-02-02.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what consideration they have given to the finding of the report An Unholy Mess, published by the Fair Admissions Campaign last year, that a significant number of religiously selective schools are employing religious selection criteria that was not permitted by their relevant religious authority, contrary to the School Admissions Code.

Lord Nash

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.

Where an objection is made to the Schools Adjudicator, if the arrangements are found to be unfair or fail to comply with the Code, the admission authority must make changes to ensure their arrangements are compliant without undue delay. Where an admission authority fails to implement decisions of the adjudicator, the Secretary of State may direct the admission authority to do so.

We continue to keep the Code under review, and, where we consider any changes are necessary to make the admissions system work more effectively for parents, these will be subject to a full public consultation.

01/01/2023