Tag: Parliamentary Question

Margaret Ferrier – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Margaret Ferrier on 2016-02-03.

To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, which (a) Ministers and (b) officials of his Department attended the Welsh Tata Steel Task Force meeting on (i) 20 January and (ii) 1 February 2016.

Anna Soubry

No Ministers from the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills (BIS) attended the meetings of the Welsh Tata Steel Task Force on 20 January and 1 February 2016. However, my noble Friend, the Parliamentary Under Secretary of State for the Department of Energy and Climate Change and the Wales Office (Lord Bourne of Aberystwyth) was present at the meeting on 1^st February. A Senior Civil Service official from BIS attended both meetings.

01/01/2023
Tulip Siddiq – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Tulip Siddiq on 2016-03-01.

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many convictions there have been for breach of forced marriage protection orders in each month since section 120 of the Anti-Social Behaviour, Crime and Policing Act 2014 came into force.

Caroline Dinenage

This information is available at: https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/428937/outcomes-by-offence-tables.xlsx.

The next available annual statistics will be published in May 2016.

01/01/2023

Nick Herbert – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Nick Herbert on 2016-04-08.

To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what estimate his Department has made of the amount of (a) European Regional Development and (b) European Structural funding which will be received by the (i) East Midlands, (ii) East of England, (iii) London, (iv) North East, (v) North West, (vi) South East, (vii) South West, (viii) West Midlands and (ix) Yorkshire and Humber in each year between 2014 and 2020.

Anna Soubry

Within England, notional allocations for the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) and European Social Fund (ESF) for the 2014-2020 programming period were made on the basis of Local Enterprise Partnership areas. Transposing these allocations to regional boundaries, the total estimated amount of ERDF and ESF for the 2014-2020 programming period for each region in England is as follows:

East Midlands	€598m
East of England	€387m
London	€762m
North East	€739m
North West	€1132
South East	€286m
South West	€1495m
West Midlands	€909m
Yorkshire and Humber	€794m
Total for England	€6937m

It should be noted that some Local Enterprise Partnership areas cross the boundaries of regions and therefore the actual spend pattern may not wholly reflect the above notional allocations. Furthermore, Local Enterprise Partnerships and other local partners were asked to suggest the appropriate split between ESF and ERDF in strategies for their area and it is not possible to transpose this accurately to each region.

The allocations for each year at England level are fixed in the respective programmes for ESF and ERDF.

01/01/2023

Lady Hermon – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Culture, Media and Sport

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lady Hermon on 2016-05-03.

To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, for what reasons the triennial review of (a) stake and (b) prize limits in fixed-odds betting terminals has not yet been published; and if he will make a statement.

David Evennett

In April 2015 the previous Government introduced regulations which require authorisation of stakes over £50 on Fixed Odds Betting Terminals through a “verified account” or staff interaction. The Government published its evaluation of the £50 regulations on 21 January. The evaluation paper can be found here:

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/evaluation-of-gaming-machine-circumstances-of-useamendment-regulations-2015.

We will now consider the findings of the evaluation before deciding if there is a need for further action.

01/01/2023
Judith Cummins – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Judith Cummins on 2016-06-15.

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what estimate she has made of the number of children in (a) Bradford South constituency and (b) Yorkshire and the Humber who do not meet the expected levels of speech and communication skills in the Early Years Foundation Stage assessment.

Mr Sam Gyimah

The Government wants all children, regardless of their background, to have access to high quality early education and childcare, as we know this is what makes the difference to outcomes. To help close the gap between disadvantaged children and their better off peers, we introduced the two-year-old entitlement of 15 hours of free early education in September 2013. Already 70% of two-year-olds are benefitting from the free early education entitlement. We have also invested over £50 million in the Early Years Pupil Premium, to further help disadvantaged children in the early years.

While the Department does not carry out analysis at constituency level on the Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS) Profile results, information at Bradford local authority level shows a significant increase in the proportion of children reaching the expected level in communication and language. The most recent EYFS Profile results show that the gap has narrowed:
- For Bradford local authority: 78.3% in 2015, compared to 71.2% in 2014 and 66.6% in 2013; and
- For the Yorkshire and Humberside region: 79.5% in 2015, compared to 75.7% in 2014 and 69.9% in 2013.
The national picture shows a similar trend with the gap narrowing to 80.3% in 2015 from 77.1% in 2014 and 72.2% in 2013.
01/01/2023
Philip Davies – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Philip Davies on 2016-09-12.

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment she has made of the effect on the self-esteem of female pupils of having to wear a uniform.

Caroline Dinenage

The department has published advisory guidance on school uniform policy. The guidance makes clear that it is for the governing body of a school to decide whether there should be a school uniform policy and if so what that should be. It also makes clear that, when deciding on uniform policy, a school will have to consider its obligations not to discriminate unlawfully, including on the basis of gender.

The guidance can be found at: www.gov.uk/government/publications/school-uniform.

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01/01/2023

Rachel Reeves – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Rachel Reeves on 2016-10-19.

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many schools applied to the Education Funding Agency for funding for asbestos removal between 2010 and 2016; and what the (a) name, (b) type and (c) local authority is of each such school.

Nick Gibb

The Education Funding Agency (EFA) does not hold a breakdown of funding information, in the format requested, in relation to the removal of asbestos or renovation of school buildings.

Under the Control of Asbestos Regulations 2012, the primary responsibility for managing asbestos lies with the person or persons responsible for the maintenance or repair of a building. For schools, this will be the local authority, school governors or academy trust.

The table below summarises the capital budgets from 2011-12 to 2016-17 that were provided for school maintenance, refurbishment and rebuilding, including where appropriate the removal and/or safe containment of asbestos-containing materials. As these works are covered by the capital funding programmes listed below, the Department does not allocate a separate budget for this purpose; and there are no plans to do so in future years.

The Department does not hold directly comparable allocation or expenditure data on prior years.

(All values £m)	2011-12 Budget	2012-13 Budget	2013-14 Budget	2014-15 Budget	2015-16 Budget	2016-17 Budget
School Condition Allocations (funding provided to local authorities and voluntary-aided schools)	1,054	861	749	699	690	661
Devolved Formula Capital (funding provided direct to schools)	185	162	149	138	134	130
Funding for academies, multi-academy trusts, state-funded special schools and other specialist providers for state-funded pupils (including DFC).	161	376	504	562	576	617
Priority Schools Building Programme (PSBP) (delivered by central government)	0	0	90	603	999	1,050
Total	1,400	1,399	1,492	2,002	2,399	2,458

01/01/2023

Alan Brown – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Alan Brown on 2015-11-09.

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps he is taking to ensure that job vacancy statistics do not double-count jobs advertised through multiple agencies on the job vacancy portal.

Priti Patel

The official vacancy statistics are national statistics, produced by the Office for National Statistics (ONS), and not DWP. ONS is the UK’s largest independent producer of official statistics and is the recognised national statistical institute for the UK.

The ONS is overseen by the UK Statistics Authority, which is an independent body operating at arm’s length from government as a non-ministerial department, directly accountable to Parliament. The UK Statistics authority provides independent scrutiny (monitoring and assessment) of all official statistics produced in the UK.

01/01/2023
Lord Kilclooney – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Kilclooney on 2015-12-07.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether the EU guidelines for labelling products made in Israeli settlements will apply in the UK, and if so, what are the implications for future meetings between the Ambassador of the UK to Israel and representatives of the government of Israel.

Lord Gardiner of Kimble

The principal feature of the Interpretative Notice issued by the European Commission on 11 November on indication of origin of goods from the territories occupied by Israel since June 1967 is a recommendation that goods imported into the EU which originate from Israeli settlements in the occupied territories should bear an indication which makes that provenance clear. That recommendation was included in technical advice to UK retailers and importers concerning labelling agricultural produce from the West Bank that was issued by Defra in 2009. We are currently in discussion with other Departments to consider whether revisions need to be made to the 2009 advice in the light of the Interpretative Notice. I do not anticipate that the UK’s bilateral relations with Israel will be affected by the EU’s decision to adopt this Notice, given that we have already had guidance in place for several years.

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

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jo Cox on 2016-01-18.

To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, whether his Department plans to allow local authorities to charge for membership of public libraries.

Mr Edward Vaizey

The Public Libraries and Museums Act 1964 restricts local authorities in England and Wales from charging for library facilities made available by the authority unless permitted by the Library Charges (England and Wales) Regulations 1991. These regulations empower local authorities in England and Wales to make certain charges for the provision of library facilities but this does not include charging for ordinary library membership.

The Government has no plans to amend the Public Libraries and Museums Act 1964 to allow local authorities to specifically charge for ordinary membership of public libraries..

01/01/2023