Tag: Parliamentary Question

  • Catherine West – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    Catherine West – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Catherine West on 2015-12-10.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, whether apprentices are required to achieve a Level 2 Qualification including mathematics and English in order to be entered for an Advanced Level apprenticeship and for those entries to be in accordance with Trailblazer apprenticeships standards.

    Nick Boles

    In order to maximise accessibility, there are no centrally set entry requirements to start an apprenticeship. However, as apprenticeships are jobs with training, individual employers may set their own entry requirements for a specific apprenticeship.

    The government does set requirements relating to training and achievement in English and maths during apprenticeships. This is because English and maths are fundamental to career progression and access to further learning.

    All apprenticeship frameworks must comply with the Specification of Apprenticeship Standards for England (SASE). Under SASE, English and maths qualifications are a mandatory component of all Intermediate and Advanced apprenticeships. However, all adult apprentices are assessed for prior learning, and people who start an apprenticeship with current English and maths qualifications at the right level need not repeat these.

    We are reforming apprenticeships to ensure that they are based on standards designed by employers.The government sets minimum requirements for apprenticeship standards, though employers are able to go further in the standards they design. They are able to specify a higher level of English and/or maths achievement or to specify a particular qualification or qualifications where this is needed for a particular occupation or sector. . The minimum requirements are – passing level 1 English and maths and taking the test for level 2 before taking the end-point assessment for an intermediate apprenticeship; and passing level 2 English and maths before taking the end-point assessment for an advanced or higher apprenticeship.

  • Gary Streeter – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Gary Streeter – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Gary Streeter on 2016-01-21.

    To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps his Department is taking to help tackle extremism in British young people.

    Karen Bradley

    Extremism poses a serious threat to this country including our young people. The Government’s Counter-Extremism Strategy aims to tackle extremism in all its forms and takes action in four areas:

    • Countering extremist ideology;

    • Building a partnership with all those opposed to extremism;

    • Disrupting extremists; and

    • Building more cohesive communities

    We have a responsibility to protect our young people from extremist views and build a safe environment priotising the safeguarding of children. That is why our local networks work with schools to help children know how to identify extremist narratives online [P.15 Strategy Q&A pack].

    We also have a responsibility to protect our young people from extremist views in school. That is why since 1 July 2015 all schools have been required to have due regard to the need to prevent people from being drawn into terrorism. To widen the protection of school children further we are consulting on a new system for registering and inspecting supplementary schools, to protect children and young people from harm, including exposure to extremist views. We have also launched ‘Educate Against Hate’, a new resource to provide parents and teachers with practical advice on protecting children from extremism and radicalisation.

  • Julie Cooper – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Julie Cooper – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Julie Cooper on 2016-02-19.

    To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many people were victims of online fraud in (a) Burnley, (b) Lancashire and (c) the North West in each year since 2010.

    Mr John Hayes

    The Home Office does not hold data centrally on the number of victims of online frauds committed annually.

    The Office for National Statistics recently published a provisional estimate of 5.1 million fraud offences a year in England and Wales, based on trial data from the Crime Survey for England and Wales. This did not include details of how many fraud offences were online or on the number of victims of online fraud.

    The ONS also published the number of frauds referred to the National Fraud Intelligence Bureau (NFIB) in the year to September 2015 – 604,601. It is not possible to establish how many of these were online.

  • Greg Mulholland – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Greg Mulholland – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Greg Mulholland on 2016-03-14.

    To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what recent representations she has received from local authorities on tackling stone theft.

    Karen Bradley

    Stone theft has a detrimental effect on towns and communities across England and Wales. The impact of these crimes includes both the economic cost to the victim, but there are also wider costs to the community, for example where schools, churches or heritage items are targeted by criminals.

    We have received no recent representations from local authorities on this issue, nor have we had recent discussions with the police on stone theft specifically. However, the police are working with Historic England, the Crown Prosecution Service and others to share intelligence and shape good practice in tackling and preventing heritage crime, such as stone theft.

    We would encourage all victims of stone theft, whether individuals or organisations, to report instances of these crimes to their local police, so that the crimes can be properly recorded and investigated. The local response is a matter for individual chief officers of police and Police and Crime Commissioners, taking into account the specific local issues and demands that they face.

    We are satisfied that the existing legislation provides the police and courts with sufficient powers to respond to stone theft.

  • David Morris – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    David Morris – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by David Morris on 2016-04-25.

    To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment she has made of the crime rate in Morecambe and Lunesdale in (a) 2015-16 and (b) 2014-15; and if she will make a statement.

    Mike Penning

    The Crime Survey statistics published by the Office for National Statistics (ONS) show that crime in England and Wales fell by 7% in the year to the end of December 2015 (the latest period for which data is available), and by 7% in the year to the end of December 2014. Over the same period, the number of crimes recorded by the police rose (including in the Lancaster Community Safety Partnership area, which covers Morecombe and Lunesdale). ONS have been clear that rises in police recorded crime are largely the result of more victims coming forward to report certain offences and improvements in police crime recording practices.

  • Stewart Malcolm McDonald – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    Stewart Malcolm McDonald – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Stewart Malcolm McDonald on 2016-05-25.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps his Department is taking to help ensure that the independent testing of Vauxhall Zafiras meets the aims set out for that independent testing.

    Andrew Jones

    The Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency (DVSA) is working closely with Vauxhall to ensure it discharges its responsibility to conduct investigations into the cause of any vehicle safety defects, as set out in the Code of Practice on Vehicle Safety Defects.

  • Maria Eagle – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    Maria Eagle – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Maria Eagle on 2016-07-20.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many academies each regional schools commissioner has issued with formal intervention measures in the last 12 months.

    Edward Timpson

    In the last 12 months Regional Schools Commissioners (RSC) took formal intervention measures in 116 academies and free schools; 66 academies and free schools were moved to a different trust or sponsor and 50 academies were issued with a formal notice.

    The table below shows the number of interventions in each RSC region in the last 12 months.

    RSC region

    Number of warning notices issued in the last 12 months

    Number of academies moved to different trust or sponsor

    East Midlands & Humber

    13

    18

    Lancashire & West Yorkshire

    2

    5

    North

    2

    3

    North East London & East

    8

    3

    North West London & South Central

    14

    2

    South London & South East

    7

    4

    South West

    2

    21

    West Midlands

    2

    10

    Total

    50

    66
  • Gareth Thomas – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy

    Gareth Thomas – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy

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

    To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, how much funding the UK received from the European Regional Development Agency in (a) total, (b) each action region of the UK and (c) each local authority area in each of the last 10 years; and if he will make a statement.

    Margot James

    The UK was allocated €7.8 billion from the European Regional Development Fund for the period 2007-16. This was broken down between the different parts of the UK for each year as follows:

    €m

    2007

    2008

    2009

    2010

    2011

    2012

    2013

    2014

    2015

    2016

    England

    545.3

    515.9

    485.2

    453.0

    414.6

    427.7

    436.3

    Nil

    985.8

    507.8

    Wales

    177.9

    181.5

    185.1

    188.8

    192.6

    196.5

    200.4

    189.2

    193.0

    196.9

    Scotland

    80.5

    77.6

    74.6

    71.5

    68.1

    64.6

    61.0

    64.1

    65.4

    66.7

    Northern Ireland

    41.3

    42.1

    42.9

    43.8

    44.7

    45.6

    22.5

    41.4

    42.2

    43.1

    Within England, the European Regional Development Fund for 2007-2013 was administered on the basis of NUTS 1 regions (as defined by the European Statistical Office). The breakdown for each year was as follows:

    €m

    2007

    2008

    2009

    2010

    2011

    2012

    2013

    North West

    156.8

    138.5

    119.5

    99.6

    78.9

    80.4

    82.0

    Yorkshire & Humber

    127.1

    110.8

    93.7

    76.0

    57.5

    58.7

    59.8

    North East

    50.5

    51.5

    52.6

    53.6

    54.7

    55.8

    56.9

    East Midlands

    36.1

    36.8

    37.6

    38.3

    36.5

    39.9

    40.7

    West Midlands

    53.8

    54.9

    56.0

    57.1

    58.2

    59.4

    60.6

    East of England

    14.9

    15.2

    15.5

    15.8

    16.2

    16.5

    16.8

    London

    24.5

    25.0

    25.5

    26.0

    26.5

    27.0

    27.6

    South East

    3.2

    3.3

    3.3

    3.4

    1.4

    3.5

    3.6

    South West

    16.8

    17.1

    17.4

    17.8

    18.2

    18.5

    18.9

    Cornwall & Isles of Scilly

    61.6

    62.8

    64.1

    65.4

    66.7

    68.0

    69.4

    For the 2014-2020 period, England’s share of the European Regional Development Fund and the European Social Fund was allocated across Local Enterprise Partnership areas (see list of allocations at https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/307492/bis-14-772-uk-allocations-eu-structural-funds-2014-2020-letter.pdf). Local partners decided how the total in each area should be split between the European Regional Development Fund and the European Social Fund.

    “

  • Christopher Chope – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    Christopher Chope – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Christopher Chope on 2015-11-18.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how much his Department spent on winter fuel payments for UK citizens living in (a) Cyprus, (b) France, (c) Gibraltar, (d) Greece, (e) Malta, (f) Portugal and (g) Spain in 2014-15.

    Justin Tomlinson

    The information requested is not available. However, the annual numbers and amounts of Winter Fuel Payments paid to all recipients in the EEA and Switzerland, by country, are available here: https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/winter-fuel-payments-by-eea-country

    “

  • Mrs Madeleine Moon – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    Mrs Madeleine Moon – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Mrs Madeleine Moon on 2015-12-10.

    To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what steps he is taking to reduce waiting times for the HMRC public service helpline.

    Mr David Gauke

    HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) has recruited 3,000 new staff into customer service roles this year. In particular, this has increased the number of people available on its telephone helplines outside normal office hours, when many customers choose to call.

    HMRC has also undertaken its biggest-ever training programme as it seeks to build its customer support teams. This has included training 1,600 existing staff on a wider range of work to better meet customer demand.

    Average call waiting times have improved significantly. From April to June it was 19 mins; from July to September it was 13 mins; in November it was under 10 minutes.