The below Parliamentary question was asked by Stephen Gethins on 2016-10-07.
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what plans she has to ensure that UK students will retain the ability and funding to study at universities elsewhere in the EU after the UK leaves the EU.
Joseph Johnson
Future arrangements for migration, student funding and UK students studying abroad will need to be considered as part of wider discussions about the UK’s relationship with the EU.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by The Marquess of Lothian on 2015-11-18.
To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of recent comments by European Council President Donald Tusk that Russian military action in Syria is increasing the number of refugees to Europe; and what assessment they have made of the impact of the US-led coalition’s military action on the number of Syrian refugees.
Baroness Verma
We continue to closely monitor the humanitarian impact of Russian airstrikes in Syria. We are particularly concerned at UN reports that Russian-backed regime offensives have caused the displacement of at least 140,000 people in Aleppo, Hama, and Idlib governorates since 5 October. We are currently not aware that the flow of refugees has increased as a result of Russian military action. However with displacement on such a scale we cannot rule out that it will have an impact on refugee flows.
Unlike the Assad regime and its allies, who are bombing indiscriminately, Coalition military efforts in both Iraq and Syria are specifically designed to minimise civilian casualties in line with International Humanitarian Law.
We continue to call upon all parties to the conflict to uphold International Humanitarian Law and protect civilians.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jonathan Reynolds on 2015-12-16.
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what contingency plans his Department has for the funding of the new Northern and TransPennine franchises in the event that projected passenger number increases are not achieved.
Andrew Jones
Revenue risk for these two franchises lies with the franchisee, not the Department. This means the Department is not responsible for covering any shortfall in farebox revenue compared to the successful bidders’ expectations.
The successful bids are backed by significant parent company support which can be called upon in life to ensure the liquidity ratios are met. Also both franchises were subjected to a financial robustness test as part of the bid evaluation process and considered low risk for the Department.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Douglas Chapman on 2016-01-20.
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how the movement of nuclear materials on roads in Scotland by his Department is supervised and regulated.
Penny Mordaunt
The transport of Defence Nuclear Material is regulated by the Defence Nuclear Safety Regulator according to the provisions of Joint Service Publication 538, Regulation of the Nuclear Weapon Programme, available at: www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/341332/20140801_JSP_538_V3_1_Pt_1.pdf
A wide range of safety and contingency measures are in place to ensure the safety of nuclear convoy operations. These are summarised in the Local Authority and Emergency Service Information document available at: www.gov.uk/government/publications/local-authority-emergency-services-information.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Richard Burden on 2016-02-19.
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, pursuant to the Answer of 11 January 2016 to Question 21012 on roads: floods, what recent assessment his Department has made of (a) the extent of damage caused by the winter floods, (b) the estimated cost of such damage, (c) the timetable for repairs and (d) relevant projects which have been identified as national priorities.
Andrew Jones
I refer the Hon. Member to the answer I gave on 22 January 2016, UIN 23151 (http://www.parliament.uk/business/publications/written-questions-answers-statements/written-questions-answers/?page=1&max=20&questiontype=AllQuestions&house=commons%2clords&uin=23151).
The Government is determined to help hard working families and local businesses in flood affected areas as quickly as possible. The Department for Transport continues to work closely with all affected highway authorities as they finalise their assessments to local highway infrastructure prior to final assessment and consideration of what further support and assistance may be provided.
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The below Parliamentary question was asked by Baroness Tonge on 2016-03-14.
To ask Her Majesty’s Government what representations they have made to the government of Bahrain concerning the imprisonment of Ibrahim Sharif for making speeches about democracy.
Baroness Anelay of St Johns
We have raised Ibrahim Sharif’s case with the Government of Bahrain, including at the highest levels, and we understand that he has the right of appeal. The UK encourages Bahrain to respect the rights of all peaceful opposition figures. We call on the Bahraini government to act proportionately in all such cases to protect the universal rights of freedom of expression and assembly. The Parliamentary Under-Secretary for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, my Hon. Friend the Member for Bournemouth East (Mr Ellwood), most recently raised human rights with the Bahraini Ambassador to the UK, His Excellency Sheikh Fawaz bin Mohammed Al Khalifa , on 8 March.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Baroness Kinnock of Holyhead on 2016-04-13.
To ask Her Majesty’s Government what representations they have made to the UN and AU rapporteurs on human rights defenders about doing more to ensure that women activists in Sudan are protected, and addressing repression and abuse of such activists.
Baroness Anelay of St Johns
We have consistently raised the need to protect human rights defenders at the UN Human Rights Council, most recently in March 2016. In addition, we are also providing project support in Sudan. This includes efforts to help journalists draw attention to social justice issues, including gender-based violence, and events to help inspire young women to become women’s rights activists.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Calum Kerr on 2016-05-18.
To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what steps her Department plans to take to help ensure that the Education Cannot Wait fund for education in emergencies focuses on (a) girls, (b) children with disabilities and (c) other marginalised children.
Mr Nick Hurd
The UK has played a leading role in the development of Education Cannot Wait – a fund for education in emergencies. A key focus for Education Cannot Wait will be on ensuring that marginalised children and young people are able to access a quality education. This includes refugees and internally displaced children, as well as children facing barriers to their education because of their gender, disability or other factors. This focus is reflected in the Fund’s indicative headline results, which commits to providing “Inclusive education [that] reaches the most marginalised children and young people in crises” with a target of “100% of supported education opportunities demonstrate an increase in education for girls, disabled and those in remote locations”. The UK will continue to engage closely during Education Cannot Wait’s inception phase, to ensure that this commitment is fully reflected in its final design and results frameworks.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Stephen Timms on 2016-07-07.
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what support her Department provides to multi-academy trusts to ensure governance and leadership structures are able to support effective expansion.
Edward Timpson
Regional Schools Commissioners (RSCs) have an important role to play in encouraging and supporting high performing schools to extend their influence by growing Multi-Academy Trusts (MATs) and recruiting new sponsors to their region. The RSCs support schools and other organisations to become sponsors and grow effectively by offering practical one-to-one advice and facilitating supportive networks between MATs. They are also able to commission additional support for trusts where that is required, for example, from local Teaching School Alliances.
As set out in our White Paper Educational Excellence Everywhere, in the future MAT support will be system-led, and there will be a role for larger and more experienced trusts in supporting growing trusts as they develop. The Department is taking a number of steps to support MATs with leadership and governance, including:
a MAT CEO development programme;
redesigning a National Professional Qualification in leadership; and
funding the academy ambassadors programme that has resulted in over 240 experienced business leaders providing support to MATs by joining trust boards as non-executives.
We are committing funding for 5 years to provide long term stability to help many more volunteers find a school or MAT that is looking for someone with their skills.
The Government has allocated £300 million that will be available to support schools to convert and, in particular, support sponsors to turn around failing schools. A further £300 million will be available to support strong and effective multi-academy trusts to grow and improve.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Beecham on 2016-10-03.
To ask Her Majesty’s Government what progress they have made in developing a new formula for school funding; and when the new formula will be applied.
Lord Nash
In July, the Secretary of State committed to introduce national funding formulae for schools and high needs from financial year 2018-19. We are considering the options carefully, taking into account the need to give schools and local authorities stability, and the importance of getting these historic reforms right. We will set out detailed proposals later in the autumn, and make decisions early next year, for the new system to be in place from April 2018.