Tag: Parliamentary Question

  • MiDavies – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Culture, Media and Sport

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

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by MiDavies on 2016-05-19.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what assessment he has made of the effectiveness of Sport England’s (a) implementation of the strategy to tackle inactivity and (b) use of funding for that purpose.

    David Evennett

    Government is determined to tackle physical inactivity. Around one in two women and a third of men in England are damaging their health through a lack of physical activity.

    In December 2015, Government published ‘Sporting Future: A New Strategy for an Active Nation", which set out a new vision for a successful and active sporting nation, with a strong focus on reaching inactive people and helping them to get moving in ways that suit them.

    Sport England’s new strategy ‘Towards an Active Nation’, published on 19 May, is consistent with, and takes forward, the Government’s vision and relevant recommendations from Sporting Future, including those on inactivity. It sets out the organisation’s plans for tackling inactivity, including by tripling its current investment to over £250m over 4 years, making it the largest single national investor in tackling inactivity. As part of that it will create a new, dedicated fund of £120 million to tackle inactivity over the next four years, building on the insight gained from pilots of their Get Healthy Get Active fund.

    Government will report annually on progress in implementing ‘Sporting Future’.

  • Jim Cunningham – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    Jim Cunningham – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Cunningham on 2016-07-13.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Education, pursuant to the Answer of 13 July 2016 to Question 41323, what assessment she has made of the reasons for the increase in the number of teachers leaving state-funded schools between 2011 and 2015; and if she will make a statement.

    Nick Gibb

    The proportion of teachers leaving the profession has remained at around 10% a year since 1996. However, there are more qualified teachers than ever before with 440,000 in 2011 compared to 456,900 in 2015.

    We recognise that it is vital for schools to be able to retain good teachers – that is why we have made policy interventions in the areas that teachers tell us matter most such as improving pupil behaviour and reducing unnecessary workload.

    We asked Tom Bennett, a behaviour expert, to chair an expert group to develop core content on behaviour management for the framework of content for initial teacher training, and the group’s recommendations were published last week.

    We set up three independent review groups to address unnecessary workload in the key areas of marking, planning and data management. The groups reported early this year, and set out clear principles about what should happen in schools to reduce unnecessary workload in these areas. The Government has accepted all the relevant recommendations made by the groups, and we will continue to work with the teaching profession to make sure they have the ongoing support they need to continue reducing unnecessary teacher workload.

    We have recently conducted the first biennial Teacher Workload Survey, which will allow us to track teacher workload over the coming years. The results of the first survey will be published later this year.

  • Yasmin Qureshi – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    Yasmin Qureshi – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Yasmin Qureshi on 2016-09-15.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, if he will make it his policy to implement annual uprating to ensure that funding matches demand for supported housing.

    Caroline Nokes

    The Secretary of State confirmed in his written Ministerial Statement to Parliament on 15th September that the Government will shortly be publishing a consultation document on supported housing.

    The Government values the important role that supported accommodation plays in helping vulnerable people to live as independently as possible. This announcement demonstrates the commitment of this Government to safeguarding vulnerable groups, and encouraging further development to meet future demand.

  • Richard Burden – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    Richard Burden – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Richard Burden on 2015-10-29.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what estimate he has made of the efficiency savings his Department has gained from the reorganisation of the Highways Agency to Highways England; and what the budget of that body was in each of the last five years.

    Andrew Jones

    It is too early to estimate the efficiency savings gained from the reorganisation of Highways England which was created on 1 April 2015. The Department for Transport published the Roads Reform Programme Evaluation Framework in March. This includes a clear expectation that the evaluation will be carried out over a number of years, given the number of the changes made. In addition the Office of Rail and Road, will continue to monitor the performance of Highways England including efficiencies. The table below shows the capital expenditure of Highways England, with resource spend and the depreciation of road asset value.

    Resource (excl.depreciation)(£m)

    Resource Depreciation (£m)

    Capital (£m)

    2014/15

    1,000

    866

    1,823

    2013/14

    1,012

    929

    1,425

    2012/13

    1,038

    914

    1,034

    2011/12

    1,145

    870

    1,288

    2010/11

    1,214

    775

    1,654

  • Alison Thewliss – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Cabinet Office

    Alison Thewliss – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Cabinet Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Alison Thewliss on 2015-11-18.

    To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what estimate he has made of the number of people in (a) Scotland and (b) the UK aged 18 to 20 earning £5.30 per hour.

    Mr Rob Wilson

    The information requested falls within the responsibility of the UK Statistics Authority. I have asked the Authority to reply.

  • Emily Thornberry – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    Emily Thornberry – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Emily Thornberry on 2015-12-17.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what estimate he has made of the forecast number of people who will (a) move into work, (b) move out of poverty, (c) have increased income and (d) have increased of income of more than £25 a week following transition to universal credit.

    Priti Patel

    Universal Credit (UC)is fundamentally different from the current legacy benefit system and supports more people into work and encourages them to earn more. We expect up to 300,000 more people to be in work as a result of UC.

    The Government has committed to transitional arrangements as we reform the benefits and Tax Credit system. Those transferred by DWP from tax credits to UC will receive Transitional Protection. In addition, estimates of entitlements under UC of the sort requested are not available as they will vary depending on assumptions on the level of earnings.

  • Angela Smith – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    Angela Smith – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Angela Smith on 2016-01-27.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, with reference to the rural productivity plan published by her Department in August 2015, when she will publish the calls for evidence on reviewing the planning and regulatory constraints facing rural businesses and the measures that can be taken to address them.

    Rory Stewart

    The Rural Planning Review Call for Evidence will be published jointly by Defra and the Department for Communities and Local Government shortly.

  • Stephen Doughty – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Stephen Doughty – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Stephen Doughty on 2016-02-24.

    To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many social media accounts promoting extremist content were recommended for closure by her Department in each of the last 12 months; and what proportion of such content related to Daesh.

    Mr John Hayes

    We have seen an increase in the scale and pace of terrorist communications by groups like ISIL, encouraging vulnerable young people to travel to conflict zones like Syria and Iraq. This Government takes seriously the threat from online terrorist and extremist propaganda, which can directly influence people who are vulnerable to radicalisation.

    Since 2010 over 140,000 pieces of terrorist-related material have been removed by industry from various online platforms at the request of the dedicated police Counter-Terrorism Internet Referral Unit (CTIRU). Approximately 55,000 removals were made in 2015 alone. Removal requests are now at over 1,000 a week and approximately 70% of CTIRU’s caseload is Daesh related.

    We are pressing industry to take a lead in tackling the abuse of their services by terrorist and extremist groups.

  • Douglas Chapman – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Energy and Climate Change

    Douglas Chapman – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Energy and Climate Change

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Douglas Chapman on 2016-03-15.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, what assessment she has made of the viability of hydro pump storage energy solutions; and what support her Department makes available to that industry.

    Andrea Leadsom

    Energy storage is one way to provide flexibility to the energy system, alongside demand side response, interconnection and smarter networks. We continue to assess the potential for all forms of energy storage, including pumped hydro, to benefit the UK energy system.

    More than £80m public sector controlled support has been committed to energy storage research, development and demonstration activities since 2012. This innovation funding has included DECC grant support for a UK pumped hydro storage developer to assess the potential location of new pumped hydro sites around Great Britain. The developer concluded that up to 15GW of novel pumped storage could be possible, using various criteria such as the presence of existing or potential reservoirs, grid connection distance and whether the site is in an environmentally sensitive area. Other pumped storage developers have independently identified over 1 GW of additional potential pumped storage.

    We are also investigating the potential barriers to deployment of energy storage and possible mitigating actions. We are focussing in the first instance on removing policy and regulatory barriers. DECC plans to issue a call for evidence on a smart systems route map in due course.

  • Jonathan Reynolds – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    Jonathan Reynolds – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jonathan Reynolds on 2016-04-12.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what her Department’s policy is on where a school’s deficit would be transferred at the point of its conversion to an academy.

    Edward Timpson

    Deficits for schools which convert to become sponsored academies remain with the local authority. These deficits remain with their local authority as these schools were the responsibility of the authority when they were found to be failing or underperforming and it is the authority’s responsibility for ensuring the school managed its expenditure satisfactorily. Deficits for voluntary converter academies will normally transfer with the school.

    Further information can be found in the Department’s guidance: “Treatment of surplus and deficit balances when maintained schools become academies” which can be found on GOV.UK at: https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/416430/School_balances_on_conversion_submission.pdf

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