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 2016-03-24.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Education, pursuant to the Answer of 9 March 2016 to Question 29811, on further education, how many meetings have been held for area reviews in (a) Birmingham and Solihull, (b) Greater Manchester, (c) Sheffield City Region, (d) Tees Valley, (e) Sussex, (f) Solent and (g) West Yorkshire in each of the last nine months.

    Nick Boles

    A wide range of meetings are held within each area review, which is a locally owned process designed to meet the needs of each local area. Bilateral meetings will often take place, for instance, between individual colleges which might be exploring restructuring options. Local stakeholders will often meet in smaller groupings to discuss particular issues or themes, for example local enterprise partnerships and local authorities may have set up separate meetings. Additionally, some local stakeholders will seek meetings to ensure their involvement at particular points, for example local MPs once recommendations emerge.

    The number and type of meetings are likely to vary with each review, depending on local provision, circumstances and issues as well as local interest in engaging with the review work. The following focuses on the formal meetings which are a core part of the area review process and would therefore be consistent across the country.

    A number of formal area review steering group meetings have taken place in each area since September 2015. No steering group meetings were held prior to September 2015. Meetings held between September 2015 and March 2016 are as follows:

    • In Birmingham and Solihull, one meeting was held in each of the following months: September, October, November, December, January and March.
    • In Greater Manchester, one meeting was held in each of the following months: September, November and December.
    • In Sheffield City Region, one meeting was held in each of the following months: September, November, December and March.
    • In Tees Valley, one meeting was held in each of the following months: October, November, December, February and March.
    • In Sussex, one meeting was held in each of the following months: October, December, January, February and March.
    • In the Solent, one meeting was held in each of the following months: November, December, January and March.
    • In West Yorkshire, one meeting was held in each of the following months: November, December, January and March.
  • Chloe Smith – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for International Development

    Chloe Smith – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for International Development

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Chloe Smith on 2016-05-03.

    To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, how her Department measures the effectiveness of spending in the Palestinian territories by UN agencies to which her Department contributes funds.

    Mr Desmond Swayne

    In the Occupied Palestinian Territories (OPTs) the UK provides funding to a number of UN agencies including the UN Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA), the UN Office for Project Services (UNOPS), UN Women, the UN Human Settlements Programme (UN-Habitat), the UN Development Programme (UNDP) and the Food and Agriculture Organisation of the UN (FAO). We monitor programmes throughout the year and annually assess their delivery against targets. DFID also monitors its results framework for the OPTs quarterly to ensure results being delivered are in line with those planned.

  • Andrew Smith – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Andrew Smith – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

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

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what accountability mechanics are in place related to decisions in Sustainability and Transformation Plan footprints.

    George Freeman

    Each Sustainability and Transformation Plan (STP) footprint is convened by a senior leader who has agreed to chair and lead the meetings on behalf of their peers. Each footprint has agreed its own governance and representation, depending on local circumstances and to ensure that all relevant National Health Service bodies and partners are included. An STP footprint supports organisations to come together to agree how best to improve and sustain services and health for their local populations.

    The local, statutory architecture for health and care remains. The arm’s length bodies Regional Directors will retain accountability for delivery in their regions. Existing accountabilities for Chief Executives of provider organisations and Accountable Officers of Clinical Commissioning Groups are unchanged.

  • Jeremy Lefroy – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    Jeremy Lefroy – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jeremy Lefroy on 2016-09-02.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether her Department issues guidance on the proportion of a school’s annual budget it considers prudent for a school to hold as a cash balance.

    Nick Gibb

    For maintained schools, local authorities have devolved responsibility for their funding and determine locally their balance control mechanisms. For academies, the Trustees determine the appropriate level of reserves that the Trust should hold in accordance with their responsibilities under Charity Law. The Department monitors the overall level of balances across the sector and keeps this under review.

  • Andrew Gwynne – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    Andrew Gwynne – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Andrew Gwynne on 2016-10-19.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what funding her Department has allocated to the Troubled Families programme for (a) 2016-17, (b) 2017-18 and (c) 2018-19.

    Dr Phillip Lee

    There is no MoJ funding allocated to the Troubled Families programme for (a) 2016-17, (b) 2017-18 and (c) 2018-19.

    MOJ works with DCLG to encourage Troubled Families teams to co-operate with offender management services to identify families for the programme. MoJ is also supporting the evaluation of the programme through data matching with administrative data sets such as the Police National Computer.

  • Lord Stoddart of Swindon – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    Lord Stoddart of Swindon – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Stoddart of Swindon on 2015-11-03.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government, further to the Written Answer by Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon on 29 October (HL2815) concerning Severn Crossings tolls, why the cost of collecting tolls is not made available by the concessionaire, and whether they will now require them to make that information available.

    Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon

    There is no contractual requirement for the Severn Crossings concessionaire to provide this cost. The Government has no plans to require that information to be made available.

  • Chi Onwurah – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Culture, Media and Sport

    Chi Onwurah – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Culture, Media and Sport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Chi Onwurah on 2015-11-30.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, for what reasons statistics on National Lottery good causes expenditure has not been updated on the gov.uk website since December 2014; and when he plans to publish those updated statistics.

    Tracey Crouch

    We have encountered significant technical difficulties in updating the National Lottery Grants Database which have proved much more complex to resolve than anticipated. The delay in updating is very unfortunate however we have been working hard to resolve the issue and expect an update to be accessible in the New Year. Meanwhile, information about grants can be found on the websites of many distributors.

  • Lord Maginnis of Drumglass – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    Lord Maginnis of Drumglass – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Maginnis of Drumglass on 2016-01-11.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government, further to the written answers by Lord Nash on 26 and 27 October 2015 (HL2579 and 2580), and the oral response by Baroness Evans of Bowes Park on 4 November (HL Deb, col 1635), what is the percentage turnover of (1) teachers who achieved Qualified Teacher Status through an undergraduate qualification, and (2) teachers who trained via the Postgraduate Certificate in Education, within (a) two years, (b) five years, and (c) 10 years, of beginning to teach.

    Lord Nash

    The latest statistics show that 81 percent of qualified teachers remain in service after 2 years, 72 percent of qualified teachers remain in service after 5 years, and 62 percent of qualified teachers remain in service after 10 years. This information is available in Table C2 of the statistical first release ‘School Workforce in England, November 2014’ published in July 2015.

    The requested breakdown by under/postgraduate route is not available.

  • Oliver Dowden – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    Oliver Dowden – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Oliver Dowden on 2016-02-03.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, pursuant to the Answer of 25 January 2016 to Question 23018, what steps he is taking to limit the availability of laser pens.

    Anna Soubry

    I refer to my answer of 25 January.

    I have asked my officials as a first step to request an urgent update from Trading Standards on their recent market surveillance activities. I am aware that Leicester Trading Standards recently seized 1,500 unsafe laser pens at point of entry and the importer agreed to destroy them.

    In addition RAPEX (the European electronic notification platform for the notifying and removal of dangerous consumer products) statistics show 98 different types of laser pointers were removed from the EU market and of these 9 different products were notified by UK market surveillance authorities.

  • Dan Jarvis – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    Dan Jarvis – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Dan Jarvis on 2016-02-24.

    To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, when he next plans to attend a meeting of the National Infrastructure Commission.

    Greg Hands

    The agenda for meetings of the National Infrastructure Commission is set by its interim Chair, Lord Adonis.