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Tag: Parliamentary Question

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

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

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by David Morris on 2016-03-03.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, how much funding his Department has allowed to arts groups in the Morecambe and Lunesdale constituency in each of the last three years.

    Mr Edward Vaizey

    Morecambe and Lunesdale has enjoyed record levels of funding over the past three years – £105,182 in 2013/14; £164,390 in 2014/15; and £321,295 in 2015/16 (year to date to 7th March).

    This investment from Arts Council England has supported a number of exciting projects, including Lancaster Arts Partnership First Fridays, the Mirrored Minds Research and Development project.

  • Julie Elliott – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    Julie Elliott – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Julie Elliott on 2016-04-19.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what discussions she has had with teachers on her proposal that all schools be required to convert to academies.

    Edward Timpson

    The Secretary of State regularly meets teachers at a range of events while visiting schools and in meetings at the Department as well as headteacher reference groups and expert panels. In these meetings, the Secretary of State discusses the Government’s commitment to achieving educational excellence everywhere.

  • Andy McDonald – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    Andy McDonald – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Andy McDonald on 2016-05-26.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what the most recent Public Performance Measure figures are which have been reported by Govia Thameslink Railway.

    Claire Perry

    The latest figures are published by the operator at:

    http://www.southernrailway.com/your-journey/performance-results/

    “

  • David Burrowes – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    David Burrowes – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by David Burrowes on 2016-07-18.

    To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, with reference to the Written Statement of 14 January 2016, HCWS470, when she plans to publish the Immigration Enforcement’s Business Plan for 2016-17.

    Mr Robert Goodwill

    Immigration Enforcement planning for 2016-17 and beyond will be reviewed by the new Secretary of State and published in due course.

  • Steve McCabe – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    Steve McCabe – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Steve McCabe on 2016-10-07.

    To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, pursuant to the Answer of 12 September 2016 to Question 44306, what assessment he has made of the effect of his Department’s policies on trends in shifts from bonuses to salaries in the financial sector; and what plans he has to tackle income inequality in the UK.

    Simon Kirby

    The UK is at the forefront of global efforts to tackle unacceptable pay practices in the banking sector and has the toughest regime on pay of any major financial centre.

    Firms are now required to have policies in place to defer, reduce, cancel or clawback bonuses in the event that poor performance or misconduct comes to light and the Government expects firms to be proactive in their application of these policies. Used in this way bonuses can be an effective incentive for staff to act in the long term interests of a business.

    The Government’s efforts have resulted in a restructuring of pay including a significant reduction in cash bonuses, and a better alignment of risk and reward in the financial sector.

    Income inequality is lower than it was in 2010, and close to its lowest level since the mid-1980s. Furthermore, distributional analysis published by the Treasury alongside Budget 2016 shows that the richest fifth of households are projected to pay a greater proportion of taxes in 2019-20 than in 2010-11 as a result of government policy – and more than all other households put together.

    The government is committed to making Britain a country that works for everyone through tacking injustices and ensuring that everyone, whatever their background, is able to go as far as their talents can take them.

  • Nic Dakin – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Nic Dakin – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Nic Dakin on 2015-11-10.

    To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment her Department has made of the effect of the reduction in the number of English language testing centres on the number of international students entering the UK; and if she will make a statement.

    James Brokenshire

    English language ability is a key strand of the immigration requirements for many of those coming as partners and to work, study and settle in the UK. Significant abuse within the English language testing sector was uncovered in 2013/2014, following which the Home Office commissioned an independent review. A key outcome was the need to develop new and robust business and commercial requirements for Secure English Language Testing (SELT). The Home Office has rightly responded to that abuse robustly, particularly considering that thousands of people sought to use evidence that was obtained fraudulently to enter and remain in the UK. The new, strengthened arrangements for SELT came into effect on 6th April 2015.

    One of the security changes introduced was the reduction of the test centre network to mitigate the risks of oversupply and enable the Home Office to achieve greater control and ability to audit centres.

    Whilst the Home Office has reduced the number of test centres, it has increased the number of countries where students could sit tests. Before the 6th April students could sit tests in 79 countries (excluding the UK), they can now sit tests in 129 countries.

    The Home Office has planned the reduced test centre network to meet anticipated demand and test centres in each country are currently meeting demand.

    We continue to have a highly competitive offer for international students who would like to study at our world-class institutions and this is borne out by the figures: visa applications from international students to study at British universities are up by 17 per cent since 2010, whilst visa applications to our world-leading Russell Group institutions are up by 33 per cent since 2010.

  • Alan Brown – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    Alan Brown – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Alan Brown on 2015-12-09.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, pursuant to the Answer of 30 November 2015 to Question 17622, if he will identify separately the marginal costs associated with maintaining the Vanguard submarines in service for five years longer then envisaged.

    Mr Philip Dunne

    As announced in Strategic Defence and Security Review (SDSR) 2010 we can extend the life of the existing Vanguard class submarines into the early 2030s. Cost estimates for supporting the ballistic missile submarines during the transition from Vanguard to Successor are not materially affected by minor changes to scheduled dates.

  • Lord Browne of Belmont – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    Lord Browne of Belmont – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Browne of Belmont on 2016-01-20.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what steps they are currently taking to improve support to children with disabilities in their early years.

    Lord Nash

    This Government is committed to ensuring that all families have access to high quality, flexible and affordable childcare. Children with disabilities should have the same opportunities as other children to access high-quality childcare.

    Local authorities are required by legislation to secure early education places offering 570 hours a year over no fewer than 38 weeks of the year for all three- and four-year olds, including those with disabilities. The Childcare Bill is delivering extended entitlement to free childcare for working parents of three- and four-year-olds. This will provide eligible parents with a total of 30 hours of free childcare per week, over 38 weeks or the equivalent number of hours across more weeks per year.

    Early Implementers of the extended childcare entitlement will focus on key delivery issues, including access for children with SEND, in order to provide critical learning to inform national rollout.

    All early years providers are required to have arrangements in place to identify and support children with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND), and to promote equality of opportunity for children in their care. These requirements are set out in the Early Years Foundation Stage Framework 2014. The SEND Code of Practice, introduced as part of the wide-ranging reforms set out in the Children and Families Act, gives guidance on how children between the ages of 0 and 25 with SEN or disabilities are to be supported and providers are statutorily required to have regard for this Code of Practice.

    The Government has invested £5.3 million to voluntary and community sector organisations this year. A number of these programmes are delivering specific SEND training to the early years workforce. In particular, the National Day Nurseries Association’s current SEND Champions grant has proven very popular amongst the workforce.

    The Department funds local authorities’ high needs provision in both the early years and schools through the Dedicated Schools Grant; local authorities have reported that they are planning to spend over £90 million from their high needs budgets on children in their early years. The Spending Review provided a generous uplift in the funding early years providers will receive from April 2017 and protection for the majority of high needs funding. We recognise the critical importance of childcare to parents of children with special educational needs and disabilities; we will consider SEN funding for early years as part of wider consultations in 2016 on how we introduce a fairer funding system.

    This Government is committed to helping parents with disabled children. For example, from early 2017 working parents with children under the age of 17 who have a disability will be able to access support under Tax-Free Childcare (TFC) worth up to £4,000 per child, per year. This is double that offered for children without disabilities for whom support is offered until the age of 12.

  • Emily Thornberry – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    Emily Thornberry – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Emily Thornberry on 2016-02-08.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, pursuant to the Answer of 4 February 2016 to Question 25006, for what reason the repair and maintenance costs of HMS Diamond were greater than those of the other Type 45 Destroyers.

    Mr Philip Dunne

    The primary cause of the greater repair and maintenance costs for HMS DIAMOND was a longer Docking Period than the other two routine docking cycles. HMS DARING and HMS DAUNTLESS are the only other Type 45 Destroyers to have completed a routine docking cycle. The additional length of the Docking Period was a reflection of the number of capability upgrades and modifications, fitted to HMS DIAMOND. This was entirely normal for a class of warship of this age and all future Docking Periods for the Class are now programmed for a similar duration.

  • Stephen Timms – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    Stephen Timms – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Stephen Timms on 2016-03-03.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Education, in which universities the Frontline programme was promoted in (a) 2015 and (b) 2016.

    Edward Timpson

    Frontline was promoted at the following universities in both 2015 and 2016: Aston, Bath, Birmingham, Belfast, Bristol, Brunel, Cambridge, Cardiff, Durham, Edinburgh, Exeter, Glasgow, Greenwich, Kings College London, Kingston, Imperial College London, Lancaster, Leeds, Leeds Beckett, Liverpool, London Metropolitan, Loughborough, LSE, Manchester, Middlesex, Newcastle, Nottingham, Oxford, Queen Mary, Reading, Sheffield, SOAS, Southampton, Strathclyde, Surrey, St Andrews (not in 2016), UCL, UEA, University of East London, Warwick, Westminster, and York. In 2016, Frontline also visited Belfast, Leeds Beckett, Surrey, and UEA to promote the programme.