Tag: Parliamentary Question

  • Emily Thornberry – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    Emily Thornberry – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Emily Thornberry on 2015-11-09.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, with reference to paragraph 7.4 of the Explanatory Memorandum for the Rent Officers (Housing Benefit and Universal Credit Functions) (Local Housing Allowance Amendments) Order 2015 (S.I., 2015, No. 1753), how the Government plans to define higher rent increases for the purposes of determining eligibility for additional funding under the Targeted Affordability Fund.

    Justin Tomlinson

    Since 2014/15 the Government has made available £140 million in Targeted Affordability Funding (TAF). Over the next five years TAF will be drawn from recycling a percentage of the savings from the freeze of Local Housing Allowance (LHA) rates. As a result of the level of savings produced by the freeze next year there will be no TAF available in 2016/17; however, there will be funding from 2017/18 to 2020/21.

    From 2017/18 around 30 per cent of the potential savings per year from the freeze to LHA will be used to support areas where higher rent increases are causing a shortage of affordable accommodation.

    The level of TAF in 2016/17 would have been the same if, as planned, LHA rates had been uprated by CPI inflation. This is because the CPI forecast in September was zero (0.01 per cent) and therefore LHA rates would not increase in 2016/17 but would remain at the 2015/16 levels.

    The amounts of TAF which will be available each year from 2017/18 and the plans to distribute it will be announced in due course.

  • Lord Stoddart of Swindon – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    Lord Stoddart of Swindon – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Stoddart of Swindon on 2015-12-07.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government, further to the Written Answer by Lord Nash on 4 December (HL3456), what urgent action they are taking to remedy the shortage of male teachers and teaching assistants.

    Lord Nash

    We value diversity in the workforce but want the best people in the classroom, regardless of their gender; evidence shows that the quality of teaching is the single most important factor in determining how well pupils achieve. We are pleased that the quality of entrants to initial teacher training, as measured by degree class, remains high, with 18 per cent of postgraduate entrants, a new record, holding a first-class degree. Recent figures show that 26 per cent of teachers in publicly funded schools in England are male. The proportion of men starting initial teacher training programmes in 2015/16 is 31 per cent. The proportion of entrants to the School Direct (salaried) scheme in 2015/16 who are male is 34 per cent.

    Given this performance, the government does not feel that top-down targets for the recruitment of men into initial teacher training would be appropriate. Similarly, it is schools that employ teaching assistants and they are best placed to decide who are the most appropriate for that role regardless of gender.

  • Mark Pritchard – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    Mark Pritchard – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Mark Pritchard on 2016-01-18.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what research his Department has commissioned on the (a) age profile of rural counties and (b) ability of older residents to generate business rates.

    Mr Marcus Jones

    The Office for National Statistics publish population estimates and population projections at the local authority level, broken down by age. We are not aware of any evidence to suggest a correlation between levels of business rates income and the age profile of residents.

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

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

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Drew Hendry on 2016-02-09.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, how much revenue received from previous spectrum sales has been reinvested into digital infrastructure.

    Mr Edward Vaizey

    Budget 2016 announces a new government commitment that 750MHz of valuable public sector spectrum in bands under 10GHz will be made available by 2022, of which 500MHz will be made available by 2020. All revenue from spectrum auctions is paid into the Consolidated Fund operated by HM Treasury.

  • Cat Smith – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Cat Smith – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Cat Smith on 2016-03-01.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how many cases of Myalgic Encephalomyelitis have been recorded in (a) the UK, (b) Scotland, (c) Lancaster and (d) East Anglia in each of the last five years.

    Jane Ellison

    This information is not collected in England.

    The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence clinical guidance, Chronic fatigue syndrome/myalgic encephalomyelitis (or encephalopathy): Diagnosis and management of CFS/ME in adults and children, published in 2007, estimates that the annual prevalence is approximately 4,000 cases per million of the population.

  • Anne-Marie Trevelyan – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    Anne-Marie Trevelyan – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Anne-Marie Trevelyan on 2016-04-08.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many school-aged pupils there are with at least one parent who is a national in another EEA member state in households with a total income within the threshold for pupil premium eligibility.

    Mr Sam Gyimah

    Pupil premium eligibility in 2015/16 is based on whether pupils are known to have been looked after by the local authority; have left care through adoption, a special guardianship, child arrangements or residence order; or if a pupil has been registered as eligible for free school meals at any point in the last 6 years. It is not determined through a household income threshold.

  • Nic Dakin – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    Nic Dakin – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Nic Dakin on 2016-05-03.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if she will take steps to ensure that proposed Ofsted local area inspections include a requirement that Local Offers should contain clear information about local play opportunities and entitlements.

    Edward Timpson

    The Children and Families Act 2014 requires local authorities to develop and publish a Local Offer setting out the support they expect to be available for children and young people with special educational needs or disabilities in their local area. The Local Offer must include information about leisure activities which may include information about play opportunities.

    The Ofsted and Care Quality Commission (CQC) inspections will consider how effectively the local area identifies, meets the needs of and improves the outcomes of the wide range of different groups[1] of children and young people who have special educational needs or disabilities as defined in the Act and described in the Code of Practice.

    Ofsted and CQC will draw on a range of sources, including the local offer, to identify key lines of enquiry and to support assessment of the effectiveness of the local area.

    Ofsted and CQC will publish an inspection report that will outline the evidence that inspectors reviewed and provide a summary of key findings including the local area’s strengths and areas requiring further development.

    The inspection framework and handbook are available at:

    https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/local-area-send-inspection-framework

    [1] These groups of children and young people are detailed in Part 2 of the ‘Handbook for the inspection of local areas’ effectiveness in identifying and meeting the needs of children and young people who have special educational needs and/or disabilities’.

    “

  • Tom Brake – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Tom Brake – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Tom Brake on 2016-06-15.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what assessment he has made of the conclusions of the report The lawfulness of the authorisation by the United Kingdom of weapons and related items for export to Saudi Arabia in the context of Saudi Arabia’s military intervention in Yemen by Professor Philippe Sands QC and others, published on 11 December 2015.

    Mr Tobias Ellwood

    The UK Government takes its arms export responsibilities very seriously and operates one of the most robust arms export control regimes in the world. All export licence applications are assessed on a case-by-case basis against the Consolidated EU and National Arms Export Licensing Criteria, taking account of all relevant factors at the time of the application.

    A licence will not be issued, for any country, if to do so would be inconsistent with any provision of the mandatory Criteria, including where we assess there is a clear risk that it might be used in the commission of a serious violation of International Humanitarian Law. The Government is satisfied that extant licences for Saudi Arabia are compliant with the UK’s export licensing criteria.

  • Chuka Umunna – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Chuka Umunna – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Chuka Umunna on 2016-09-12.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, how many citizens of other EU countries work in his Department, its agencies and non-departmental public bodies.

    Sir Alan Duncan

    The Aliens’ Employment Act 1955 makes it an absolute requirement that all staff recruited to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) on UK terms and conditions must be UK nationals. The FCO therefore employs UK-based staff who are UK Nationals, or dual nationals where one of those ​nationalities is the UK. Our executive agency, FCO Services, applies the same recruitment principles. Neither FCO nor FCO Services hold details of any additional nationality held by UK members of staff.

    Other FCO agencies do not record the information centrally. However, our non departmental public bodies have a total of 10 EU nationals.

  • Poulter – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    Poulter – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

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

    To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps her Department is taking to support (a) apprenticeships and (b) vocational training in the haulage industry.

    Robert Halfon

    The Department has supported the Logistics and Supply Chain Trailblazer group in developing new apprenticeship standards for LGV drivers and Supply Chain Operators, both of which were approved for delivery in May. Both standards have been developed by employers to truly meet the needs of their sector. The new LGV Driver standard allows apprentices to gain their Category C LGV licence alongside the training and assessment for the new standard, rather than it being an entry requirement as it was under the old system.

    The Skills Funding Agency (SFA) has an account management function to support employers to invest in apprenticeships and they are working with some of the biggest hauliers including DHL, Kuehne, Nagel and, more recently, Wincanton. The SFA is also supporting the British International Freight Association to develop a new apprenticeship standard for international freight.

    Transport and logistics is also one of the 15 technical education routes set out in the Post 16 Skills Plan.