Tag: Parliamentary Question

  • 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 2016-02-23.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what estimate her Department has made of the total number of students enrolled in the English Baccalaureate in each year since its inception; and if she will make a statement.

    Nick Gibb

    Information on the percentage of pupils entered for the components of the English Baccalaureate between 2009/10 and 2014/15 is published in the Statistical First Release “Revised GCSE and equivalent results in England: 2014 to 2015”. [1]

    [1] 2014/15 revised table can be found at: https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/494052/SFR01_2016_National_Tables.xlsx. (Table 1b)

  • Lord Hunt of Chesterton – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    Lord Hunt of Chesterton – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Hunt of Chesterton on 2016-03-21.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of the trend in the level of continuing professional development undertaken by teachers of STEM subjects in primary schools; what estimate they have made about the effect it will have on the standards attained by pupils; and whether they will provide funds to increase continuing professional development in the future.

    Lord Nash

    It is for schools to determine the professional development their teachers need. The Government funds a number of programmes which make high quality, professional development available to primary teachers. This supports our commitment to making Britain the best place in the world to study science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) subjects.

    The network of 35 Maths Hubs is working with many primary teachers to adopt effective south-east Asian ‘mastery’ teaching approaches to make sure that more children leave primary schools having met the expected standards in mathematics. The network of 44 Science Learning Partnerships provides support to primary teachers to improve their science subject knowledge and how they teach science including good quality practical work. Support to improve the teaching of the new primary computing curriculum is available through the Network of Teaching Excellence in Computer Science. All of these programmes are subject to ongoing evaluation to assess their impact.

    The Government remains committed to making sure primary school teachers continue to have access to high quality STEM professional development in the future.

  • Jo Stevens – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    Jo Stevens – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jo Stevens on 2016-04-19.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, which community rehabilitation companies have been the subject of an authority audit by his Department since February 2015; and if he will publish such reports.

    Andrew Selous

    Major transitions are always challenging, but figures show the performance of Community Rehabilitation Companies (CRCs) and National Probation Service, is continually improving. Thanks to these reforms, offenders in prison for less than 12 months are now receiving support from probation providers for the very first time.

    Operational assurance audits were completed by the Ministry of Justice on all Community Rehabilitation Companies (CRCs) during the first year of operation. The reports of these audits are commercially sensitive and, as such, will not be released. It is normal Government practice not to release commercially sensitive information.

    We hold providers rigorously to account for their performance and take action wherever they are falling short. We are continuing to monitor the performance of CRCs closely.

    Following an audit by the Ministry of Justice last year, South Yorkshire CRC developed an action plan.

  • Baroness Kinnock of Holyhead – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Baroness Kinnock of Holyhead – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Baroness Kinnock of Holyhead on 2016-05-25.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government, for each local authority in England and Wales, what is the total number of Eritrean residents who have been listed on successful asylum applications by individuals seeking reunification with close family members in the UK.

    Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon

    There are several different routes for families to be reunited safely in the UK. Applications for family reunion can be received both in country and out of country and are processed by a number of casework units within the Home Office depending on the particular route applied through including International Operations, Settlement, Complex Casework and Asylum Operations.

    The way these applications are processed and the method used to store the data on the main immigration database means that not all of the data regarding sponsors is recorded on centrally collated statistical databases and could only be obtained at disproportionate cost by examination of thousands of case records.

    Within the visa tables of the Home Office’s quarterly Immigration Statistics, family reunion applications from dependants of those with refugee status or humanitarian protection in the UK (made under Part 11 of the Immigration Rules) are included in the ‘Family: other’ category. Whilst this ‘Family: other’ category includes a small number of other applications, the vast majority relate to family reunion and hence the published figures provide a good indication of trends for family reunion cases. There were 616 entry clearance visas granted to Eritreans in the ‘Family: other’ category in the year ending March 2016.

    Source: Home Office, Immigration Statistics January to March 2016 Family topic https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/immigration-statistics-january-to-march-2016/family#visas

  • David Lammy – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    David Lammy – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by David Lammy on 2016-07-21.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, how the Forced Marriage Unit defines historic victims.

    Mr Tobias Ellwood

    There is no formal definition of historic victim for the Forced Marriage Unit (FMU), which considers every case individually and advises accordingly. The support that the FMU offers includes providing advice and support to victims of forced marriage, as well as to professionals dealing with cases, via a public helpline and email address. This advice will include safety planning to prevent forced marriages (both in the UK and abroad), supporting victims attempting to escape forced marriages or to return from overseas, and in extreme circumstances organising the rescue of victims held against their will overseas. Where the FMU is not the appropriate service to provide advice, for example on matters of immigration status, divorce, child custody or other legal issues, victims and professionals will be signposted to partner organisations.

  • John Pugh – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    John Pugh – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by John Pugh on 2016-10-07.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, approximately how many (a) British and (b) non-British nationals are employed cleaning the Westminster estate of his Department.

    Mark Lancaster

    This information is not held by the Ministry of Defence. Cleaning staff are provided through a Private Finance Initiative Contract with Modus

  • Lord Scriven – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    Lord Scriven – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Scriven on 2015-10-28.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what rules they have put in place to ensure that transgender persons are placed in prisons that are appropriate for them based on their gender identity.

    Lord Faulks

    Prison Service Instruction 07/2011 sets out NOMS policy on the care and management of prisoners who live or propose to live in a gender other than the one assigned at birth. Prisoners are normally placed according to their legally recognised gender. However, the guidelines allow room for discretion and senior prison staff will review the circumstances of every case in consultation with medical and other experts in order to protect the physical and emotional wellbeing of the person concerned along with the safety and wellbeing of other prisoners.

    A review of the current policy on transgender and transsexual prisoners began earlier this year and revised policy guidance will be issued to reflect NOMS’ responsibilties to transgender offenders in the community as well as in custody. The intention is to implement the guidance early in the New Year.

  • Andrew Gwynne – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Andrew Gwynne – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Andrew Gwynne on 2015-11-24.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what estimate he has made of the (a) forecast reduction in cases of and deaths from infection by Group C meningococcal disease as a result of the introduction of the meningitis C vaccine to the UK schedule in 1999, (b) number of meningitis C vaccinations administered in each year since that programme began and (c) cost of delivering that programme in each year since 1999.

    Jane Ellison

    Deaths have fallen from 110 in 1998/99 to an annual average of 3 deaths over the last 10 years. Annual MenC cases and deaths have therefore been respectively 97% and 96% lower in the last 10 years than in the year before vaccination was available.

    Routine immunisation programmes with MenC containing vaccines have changed since 1999 and this has affected the ability to collect estimate annual numbers of doses administered for each vaccine offered but currently around 96% of infants receive MenC vaccine and 93% of one year olds receive their MenC-Hib booster in England by their second birthday. Coverage data are not routinely collected on the third dose in adolescence (currently MenACWY vaccine) which began in the 2013-2014 school year.

    The administrative costs for the MenC programme are included in the global sum payment to general practitioners (managed by NHS England) which covers the costs of providing essential and additional primary care services.

  • Andrew Rosindell – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    Andrew Rosindell – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Andrew Rosindell on 2016-01-05.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, if he will estimate how many new EU regulations and directives have been implemented in the UK in 2015 which affect British manufacturing industries.

    Anna Soubry

    All regulations implementing EU legislation that were introduced in 2015 and their associated impacts can be found on legislation.gov.uk.

  • Barry Sheerman – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Barry Sheerman – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Barry Sheerman on 2016-01-26.

    To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many people have been extradited from India to the UK in each of the last five years.

    James Brokenshire

    Between 1 January 2010 and 31 December 2015, the UK has extradited one person from India. This extradition took place in 2013.