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Tag: Parliamentary Question

  • Lord Storey – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    Lord Storey – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Storey on 2015-01-14.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what future plans they have to increase the provisions for free training linked to the Employer Skills Fund to eligible small and medium-sized businesses.

    Baroness Neville-Rolfe

    The Employer Skills Fund is a project run in the Liverpool City Region under a consortium led by Wirral Metropolitan College co-funded by the Skills Funding Agency and the European Social Fund. Support will come to an end on 31 July 2015 when the current European Structural and Innovation Funds programme expires.

    The new European Structural and Innovation Funds programme which will run to 2020 is currently being finalised. The Skills Funding Agency is working with Liverpool City Region Local Enterprise Partnership to determine whether any programmes similar to the Employer Skills Fund will be established depending on local priorities.

    More generally, we are reforming the skills system so that it is increasingly responsive to local communities and businesses. Local Enterprise Partnerships (LEPs), through initiatives such as City Deals and Local Growth Deals, have increasing influence over the delivery of skills that support the priorities described in their Strategic Economic Plans. This includes LEPs taking the lead role in determining the use of European Social Fund allocations in the next round (2014-2020).

  • Baroness Whitaker – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    Baroness Whitaker – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Baroness Whitaker on 2015-01-14.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government, in the light of the report by the National Federation of Gypsy Liaison Groups, Civil Society Monitoring on the Implementation of the National Roma Integration Strategy in the United Kingdom in 2012 and 2013, and the report Overcoming barriers by Ofsted, what plans they have to encourage local authorities to appoint leaders to drive forward strategies to improve outcomes for Roma school students.

    Lord Nash

    Local authorities have an important role to play in promoting better outcomes for Roma pupils. They are best placed to determine how to organise their local arrangements to support these pupils and should consider issues highlighted in the reports referred to by the noble Lady.

    To support local authorities, the Department for Education funded two local authorities to trial a ‘virtual headteacher’ for Gypsy, Roma and Traveller pupils, with responsibility for supporting schools to promote better outcomes for this group. The effective practice identified has been circulated to every local authority.

    The Department will work with its Gypsy, Roma and Traveller Education Stakeholder Group, chaired by the noble Lady, to discuss ways for all the parties to encourage local action to improve provision and pupils’ outcomes.

  • Emma Reynolds – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    Emma Reynolds – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Emma Reynolds on 2015-01-14.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what the average (a) output in number of units per annum and (b) annual turnover is of the firms that have been allocated funds through the Builders Finance Fund.

    Brandon Lewis

    The fund will make investments over two years from 2015/16 to 2016/17. The funds must be drawn down by 31 March 2017.

    The shortlisted bids to the Builders Finance Fund are currently undergoing due diligence and have the ability to deliver over 10,000 new homes. We have recently expanded the scope of the fund to enable smaller builders with schemes between 5 and 15 units to access this funding and the Homes and Communities Agency are currently engaging with the market to seek further bids for such schemes. The first contracts are due to be completed in the Spring with the first homes expected to be started in the first half of 2015.

  • Seema Malhotra – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    Seema Malhotra – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Seema Malhotra on 2015-01-14.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what funding his Department has provided for refuges for women fleeing domestic violence in each year since 2010.

    Kris Hopkins

    Decisions on the provision of accommodation for victims of domestic abuse are for local authorities. We expect local authorities to commission services based on the needs of their communities, taking account of locally available data sources.

    Government does not directly fund domestic abuse refuges, however, this Government has invested £6.5 billion to help vulnerable people through housing related support. A proportion of this money will be used by local authorities to commission refuge services. In addition we have made over £500 million available since 2010 to local authorities and the voluntary sector to prevent and tackle homelessness and rough sleeping including support for victims of domestic abuse.

    In November 2014 we made available £10 million (2014-16) for local authorities, working with specialist domestic abuse service providers, to stop the closure of refuges and improve and grow existing provision. We also issued new statutory guidance that makes clear the practice of providing refuge to support only to local victims is unacceptable and it also set out clear standards that refuge services should meet.

    The dynamics of domestic abuse mean that accommodation can play an important role in the resolution of interpersonal abuse and conflict. This is why the homelessness legislation in England provides one of the strongest safety nets in the world for families with children and for vulnerable people who become homeless through no fault of their own.

    We also fund UKRefugesOnline a UK wide database of domestic violence services which supports the national 24 hour free phone domestic violence helpline. This service enables those working with victims of domestic violence to identify appropriate services and potential refuge vacancies around the country so that victims can get the help they need as quickly as possible.

    In addition, this Government has ring-fenced nearly £40 million of funding for specialist local domestic and sexual violence support services until 2015. This funding is used to part-fund 54 multi-agency risk assessment conference co-ordinators and 144 independent domestic violence advisers. We have piloted and rolled out Clare’s Law and domestic violence protection orders; extended the definition of domestic abuse to cover controlling behaviour and teenage relationships; run two successful campaigns to challenge perceptions of abuse; and placed Domestic Homicide Reviews on a statutory footing to make sure lessons are learned from individual tragedies. More recently the Home Secretary announced our intention to table an amendment to the Serious Crime Bill at Commons Committee stage to create a new offence of domestic abuse. The amendment was tabled on 8 January and closes the gap in the current legal framework to capture repeated or continuous coercive and controlling behaviour, specifically where that behaviour takes place in an ongoing intimate partner or inter-familial relationship.

  • Stephen Barclay – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Stephen Barclay – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Stephen Barclay on 2015-01-14.

    To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, with reference to paragraph 4.2 of the report of the Prime Minister’s Task Force on Tackling Radicalisation and Extremism, published in December 2013, in how many areas of the country delivery of Prevent has been made a legal requirement.

    James Brokenshire

    The report from the Prime Minister’s Task Force on Tackling Radicalisation and Extremism committed the Government to ‘make delivery of Prevent a legal requirement in those areas of the country where extremism is of particular concern’. Chapter 1 of Part 5 of the Counter-Terrorism and Security Bill places a duty on specified authorities to have due regard to the need to prevent people from being drawn into terrorism. These proposals will make the delivery of Prevent a legal requirement across England, Scotland, and Wales.

  • Tony Cunningham – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Tony Cunningham – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Tony Cunningham on 2015-01-14.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how the Government’s approach to negotiating a cost-effective price for the meningococcal B vaccine Bexsero takes account of fluctuations in disease levels characteristic of that virus and the recent emergence of another strain of meningitis which may be treated using Bexsero.

    Jane Ellison

    The independent cost-effectiveness analysis of the use of the meningococcal B vaccine, Bexsero took account of the incidence and case fatality rates of all meningococcal disease, including meningococcal W in England during the period 2005-06 to 2011-12. The Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI) considered that these data gave a reasonable range. JCVI are the independent experts responsible for advising the Government on immunisations following due consideration of the evidence on the burden of disease, vaccine safety and efficacy and cost effectiveness.

    Further information is available in Christensen H, Trotter CL, Hickman M, Edmunds WJ. Re‑evaluating cost effectiveness of universal meningitis vaccination (Bexsero) in England: modelling study. BMJ 2014; 349: g5725.

  • Pamela Nash – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    Pamela Nash – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Pamela Nash on 2015-01-14.

    To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, how many IR35 status enquiries HM Revenue and Customs has made in (a) the UK, (b) Scotland, (c) England, (d) Wales and (e) Northern Ireland in each of the last five years for which figures are available.

    Mr David Gauke

    Her Majesty’s Revenue and Customs (HMRC) carries out IR35 status enquiries by way of compliance interventions. The table below shows the number of interventions up to 2013/14. Regional data is not produced by HMRC.

    Year

    Compliance interventions

    2009/10

    12

    2010/11

    23

    2011/12

    59

    2012/13

    256

    2013/14

    192

  • Chris Skidmore – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    Chris Skidmore – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Chris Skidmore on 2015-01-14.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what the per pupil funding for (a) primary and (b) secondary school pupils in Kingswood constituency was in (i) 2010 and (ii) 2015.

    Mr David Laws

    Funding from the Department for Education is not allocated at a parliamentary constituency level. Figures for South Gloucestershire local authority, within which Kingswood lies, are given below.

    The average per-pupil revenue funding for South Gloucestershire in financial year 2010-11 was £4,490.

    This figure is calculated as the sum of Dedicated Schools Grant (DSG) allocations plus other school related grants for pupils aged 3-15, namely, the school standards grant, the school standards grant (personalisation) and the standards fund (rounded to the nearest £10). Most of the additional grants were mainstreamed into DSG in 2011-12.

    The changes to DSG funding in financial year 2013-14, with funding allocated through three blocks; ‘schools’, ‘early years’ and ‘high needs’, mean that there is no longer a comparable overall figure with previous years. The DSG schools block unit funding figure for South Gloucestershire local authority for financial year 2014-15 was £3,969 per pupil. This has risen to £4,189 for financial year 2015-16 as the authority was one of the beneficiaries of the extra funding provided under minimum funding levels for the least fairly funded local authorities.

    Since 2011-12, schools have received the pupil premium which targets funding at pupils from the most deprived backgrounds to help them achieve their full potential. In 2011-12 the pupil premium was allocated for each pupil known to be: (a) eligible for free school meals (FSM); (b) a looked after child; or (c) a child of parents in the armed services. In 2012-13 coverage was expanded to include pupils known to have been eligible for FSM at any point in the last six years. The per-pupil amounts for each type of pupil are shown in following table in cash terms:

    Pupil premium per pupil (£)

    2011-2012

    2012-2013

    2013-2014

    2014-2015

    2015-2016

    Free School Meal Pupil Primary

    £488

    £623

    £953

    £1300

    £1320

    Free School Meal Pupil Secondary

    £488

    £623

    £900

    £935

    £935

    Service Children

    £200

    £250

    £300

    £300

    £300

    Looked After Children

    £488

    £623

    £900

    £1900*

    £1900*

    *Also includes children adopted from care

    Schools and academies in South Gloucestershire local authority have been allocated £7.652 million through the pupil premium for financial year 2014-15.

    Schools and academies in Kingswood constituency have been allocated £2.782 million through the pupil premium for financial year 2014-15.

    Allocations for financial year 2015-16 are not yet available.

    These include funding through the deprivation, service child and the children adopted from care elements, but exclude the looked after children element for Kingswood as this is not available at a parliamentary constituency level.

  • Barry Sheerman – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for International Development

    Barry Sheerman – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for International Development

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Barry Sheerman on 2015-01-14.

    To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what account she takes of promoting freedom of speech when deciding on allocations of overseas aid.

    Mr Desmond Swayne

    DFID promotes respect for human rights, including freedom of expression, through its partnerships with governments and, where necessary, raises issues of concern in collaboration with the Foreign and Commonwealth Office.

    Before providing aid to a foreign government, DFID assesses the government’s commitment to four partnership principles, one of which concerns human rights. Where we cannot provide aid directly to governments, we will find other ways to help poor people in those countries.

  • George Hollingbery – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    George Hollingbery – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by George Hollingbery on 2015-01-14.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, pursuant to the Answer of 5 January 2015 to Question 219112, if she will ensure that all documents taken into account by the review of domestic management measures for bass will be published.

    George Eustice

    The current review of the domestic management measures for bass should be completed within the next few weeks. Aligned with work at European level to reverse the steep decline in bass stocks, the high-level review will focus principally on the need for any change to our current domestic management measures, such as the catch limits on commercial fishing for bass, minimum landing size for bass and protection of bass nursery areas. Where it is identified that action is required, this work will be further developed and, where national legislation may be required, will follow the usual legislative process. We will seek the views of key stakeholders on the way forward. Any proposed national legislation will be subject to public consultation involving stakeholders, other government departments and interested parties. The relevant documentation to support the new legislation will be made publically available, where not already published.