Tag: Parliamentary Question

  • Baroness Uddin – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    Baroness Uddin – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Baroness Uddin on 2016-01-18.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of the impact of language classes for Muslim women in respect of radicalisation.

    Baroness Williams of Trafford

    Our new English language offer, worth £20 million over this Parliament, will help women in our most isolated communities get the training they need. This new programme will be informed by six projects we have funded as part of our current community-based English language programme. By the end of March this year the projects will have provided training to 33,500 adults – the majority women, with over half from Pakistani, Bangladeshi, and Somalian ethnic groups.

    Community-based English language programmes can help build women’s confidence in using English in daily activities such as engaging with their children’s teachers, interacting with public services and playing a full part in the local community.

  • Julie Cooper – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Julie Cooper – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Julie Cooper on 2016-02-04.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what steps his Department is taking to implement the conclusions of his Department’s report, entitled Future in Mind, published in March 2015, on vulnerable young people’s transitioning from the child and adolescent mental health service to the adult mental health service.

    Alistair Burt

    Future in mind, the report of the Children and Young People’s Mental Health and Wellbeing Taskforce, recognised that transition at 18 years of age is not always appropriate and that there should be flexibility around age boundaries, in which transition is based on individual circumstances, rather than absolute age, with joint working and shared practice between services to promote continuity of care.

    The Government has acknowledged that the transition for young people into adult mental health services can undoubtedly be challenging, particularly if a young person has been receiving support from children’s mental health services for some time. In January 2015, NHS England published new service specifications for commissioners, giving guidance and best practice on transition from children and adolescent mental health services to adult services (or elsewhere). These specifications intentionally do not stipulate an age threshold for transition (for example, 18) but state that transition should be built around the needs of the individual.

  • Lord Wasserman – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Lord Wasserman – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Wasserman on 2016-03-01.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government how many staff, including part-time workers and workers under a contract for services, are presently employed in each of the 41 offices of the Police and Crime Commissioner in England and Wales, and how many full-time equivalent posts each office has.

    Lord Bates

    The Home Office does not hold this information.

    The Police and Crime Commissioners (PCCs) are statutorily required to recruit a Chief of Staff (Chief Executive) and a Chief Financial Officer. However, it is then for the PCC to determine what further staff they require to support them in their duties.

    Under paragraph 2 of Schedule 1 of the Elected Local Policing Bodies (Specified Information) Order 2011, PCCs are obliged to publish certain staffing information, including an organisational chart showing the structure of their office.

    This level of transparency enables the public to effectively hold them to account in a way that was not possible under the police authority governance model.

    The Home Office does not hold further information centrally.

  • Ruth Smeeth – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Ruth Smeeth – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Ruth Smeeth on 2016-04-25.

    To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many Tier 2 visas have been issued for pharmacists in each of the last three years.

    James Brokenshire

    The figures below show the number of Certificates of Sponsorship (CoS) assigned in support of visa applications for Pharmacists in each of the last three years. A Certificate of Sponsorship (CoS) is required to support all visa applications and a sponsor is required to enter a Standard Occupational Classification (SOC) code on their CoS. There is a SoC code for Pharmacists.

    Assigning a CoS does not guarantee a visa will be issued.

    2013 380

    2014 380

    2015 400

  • Clive Lewis – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    Clive Lewis – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Clive Lewis on 2016-05-25.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many people who have been reassessed to remain in the support group of employment support allowance have medical conditions that are not expected to improve.

    Priti Patel

    Between October 2008 and September 2015 a total of 38,100 people in the Support Group have been reassessed and found to still be eligible for Employment and Support Allowance, and to remain in the Support Group, and were also found to either be terminally ill or had a prognosis of “in the longer term”, suggesting that their conditions are not expected to improve in the short term.

    Source: Data is derived from administrative data held by the DWP and assessment data provided by Atos and the Centre for Health and Disability Assessments.

    Notes:

    1. Please note that the figure supplied is derived from unpublished information and has not been quality assured to National Statistics or Official Statistics publication standard. They should therefore be treated with caution.
    2. Figures are rounded to the nearest 100.
  • Justin Tomlinson – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    Justin Tomlinson – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Justin Tomlinson on 2016-07-20.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps her Department is taking to reduce costs incurred by schools which were built under the Private Finance Initiative.

    Edward Timpson

    Local authorities are responsible for their own Private Finance Initiative contracts and are encouraged to seek savings in the context of those contracts.

    The Department is working closely with Her Majesty’s Treasury to develop guidance to demonstrate how local authorities may make savings.

    The Department continues to work closely with local authorities to assist in identifying and securing savings.

  • Gareth Thomas – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    Gareth Thomas – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Gareth Thomas on 2016-10-11.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Education, which local authorities’ children’s social work services have been rated inadequate; and if she will make a statement.

    Edward Timpson

    The following local authorities are currently rated as ‘inadequate’ under Ofsted’s Single Inspection Framework:

    Birmingham, Bromley, Buckinghamshire, Coventry, Cumbria, Darlington, Doncaster, Dudley, Knowsley, Lambeth, Lancashire, Leicester City, Manchester, Norfolk, Reading, Rotherham, Sandwell, Slough, Somerset, Sunderland, Surrey, Torbay, Wandsworth, West Berkshire and Wirral.

    The Government does not use set criteria to require local authorities to contract out their statutory children’s social care services.

    The Department for Education has statutory powers to intervene in local authority children’s services under section 497A of the Education Act 1996. This legislation allows the Department to remove day-to-day operational control of children’s services from the local authority, for a period of time, if the Secretary of State believes that the local authority is failing to secure its relevant statutory functions by delivering children’s services to the required standard.

    As a matter of policy, the Government has decided that any authority rated by Ofsted as ‘inadequate’ across all the key judgements in any one Ofsted inspection is deemed to be failing ‘systemically’, and any authority that is rated inadequate twice overall in any five year period is deemed to be failing persistently.

    In these circumstances the Secretary of State appoints a children’s services commissioner to review services and then provide advice to the Secretary of State on whether they should remain in local authority control.

    Once the Secretary of State has received the commissioner’s advice, she will decide whether to direct the authority to enter into a contract with a third party – for instance a Children’s Services Trust – to deliver those services on its behalf.

  • Caroline Ansell – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    Caroline Ansell – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Caroline Ansell on 2015-11-09.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what assessment he has made of the effect of the family test on his Department’s policies; and if he will make a statement.

    Caroline Dinenage

    The Family Test was introduced in October 2014 and can be located at the following link Family Test Guidance

    The Family Test is part of the policy making process and is applied in a proportionate way in the development of new policy in line with the guidance. Potential impacts of policy on family functioning and relationships are identified and brought to the attention of Ministers where appropriate.

    There is no requirement to publish the Family Test assessments. The Ministry of Justice does not collect information on the number of full Family Test assessments completed.

    “

  • Lord Alton of Liverpool – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for International Development

    Lord Alton of Liverpool – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for International Development

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Alton of Liverpool on 2015-12-07.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of the recent finding of the UNOCHA that more than 21.2 million people, including 9.9 million children, were in need of humanitarian aid in Yemen.

    Baroness Verma

    The UK is deeply concerned about the humanitarian situation in Yemen. According to UNOCHA, there are more people in need of humanitarian assistance in Yemen than in any other country. However, because of the conflict, it has been difficult for the UN to access all parts of Yemen to carry out humanitarian assessments. The UN data on the overall number of people and children in need are therefore estimates and should be treated accordingly.

    Over the last year, the UK has doubled its humanitarian commitment to Yemen to £75 million in 2015/16. This is providing vital medical supplies, water, food, malnutrition and emergency shelter, including specifically to children through our programmes with UNICEF, Save the Children, and CARE.

  • Lord Judd – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Lord Judd – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Judd on 2016-01-18.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what representations they have made at the Council of Ministers of the Council of Europe about the treatment of the Crimean Tartar leader, Akhtem Chiygoz, and other Crimean Tartars about their detention and about the general harassment of Crimean Tartars and its incompatibility with the membership of the council of Europe; and what has been the outcome.

    Baroness Anelay of St Johns

    The UK has raised the treatment of Crimean Tatars and the deteriorating human rights situation in Crimea on a number of occasions in the Committee of Ministers during debates on Ukraine. We will continue to do so. This issue was also raised on 15 October during the meeting between Council of Europe Secretary General Jagland and the Minister of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, my right hon. Friend the Member for Aylesbury (Mr Lidington).