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Tag: Parliamentary Question

  • Lord Aberdare – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    Lord Aberdare – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Aberdare on 2016-03-10.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what funding will be available to firms which are too small to pay the Apprenticeship Levy when it is introduced in 2017 to enable them to continue to offer, or begin to offer, apprenticeships, and how much those firms will have to contribute themselves.

    Baroness Neville-Rolfe

    Employers with a pay bill of less than £3 million will not have to pay the levy. This is more than 98% of all employers. These employers will continue to have access to government funding to support apprenticeships. We will provide further details on the support available later this year.

  • Stephen Timms – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Stephen Timms – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Stephen Timms on 2016-04-12.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what steps his Department is taking to encourage homeless people to be screened for tuberculosis.

    Jane Ellison

    The Collaborative Tuberculosis (TB) Strategy for England 2015-2020 was launched in January 2015[1]. It lays out 10 key ‘areas for actions’ which include improving TB awareness raising, TB case finding (screening) and treatment for under-served populations such as the homeless; which are being delivered across England by seven TB Control Boards supported by a national TB team.

    These actions are underpinned by collaborative working between third sector organisations, local authorities, Public Health England and the National Health Service. The work focuses on targeted awareness-raising of symptoms and curability of TB; the range of local health and care services; and eligibility for free treatment. Specific and targeted outreach interventions for under-served populations (informed by proven models such as ‘Find and Treat’ in London) include specific services for active case finding for pulmonary TB among homeless people, use of mobile X-ray units (MXUs) with incentives for people to have chest X-rays, enhanced case management and return to service interventions to prevent loss to follow up.

    [1]Public Health England. Collaborative Tuberculosis Strategy for England 2015 to 2020 [Internet]. 2015. Available from:

    https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/collaborative-tuberculosis-strategy-for-england

    “

  • MiDavies – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    MiDavies – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by MiDavies on 2016-05-19.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, whether his Department plans to take steps to increase diagnosis rates of familial hypercholesterolemia.

    Jane Ellison

    NHS England and Public Health England (PHE) are working to raise the profile of familial hypercholesterolaemia (FH) and break down the barriers to genetic testing.

    NHS England’s national clinical director (NCD) for heart disease chairs an FH steering group which comprises representatives from relevant stakeholder organisations. This group, with funding from the British Heart Foundation (BHF), has established FH specialist nurses in many areas of England, aimed at increasing FH cascade testing so that more affected families can be identified. The NCD has worked closely with BHF in their appointment of the FH Nurses, and with the other major charity in this field – HEART-UK. Software to support cascade testing and provide a database for FH is available and will be increasingly used in England as FH services are established.

    NHS England has also identified FH as a possible condition that it could focus on as part of the work looking into personalised medicine and how the National Health Service might make better use of increased genetic testing.

    Furthermore, the Healthcare Public Health Team at PHE is working in collaboration with national and local partners and experts in the field through an FH Steering Group chaired by the National Clinical Director for Cardiology, and led by the BHF, to develop a systems approach to the detection and management of FH.

  • Gary Streeter – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    Gary Streeter – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Gary Streeter on 2016-07-13.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, whether the conclusions of his Department’s consultation on proposed changes to National Planning Policy will be published before the summer recess.

    Gavin Barwell

    We are carefully considering the 1,100 responses to the consultation, and expect to publish the response to the consultation and to the Communities and Local Government Select Committee report in the Autumn.

  • Stephen Timms – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    Stephen Timms – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Stephen Timms on 2016-09-14.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what proportion of secondary modern schools is rated by Ofsted as (a) outstanding, (b) good, (c) satisfactory and (d) inadequate.

    Nick Gibb

    These are matters for Her Majesty’s Chief Inspector, Sir Michael Wilshaw. I have asked him to write to the Hon. Member and a copy of his reply will be placed in the House libraries.

  • Jim Cunningham – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    Jim Cunningham – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Cunningham on 2015-11-17.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Education, pursuant to the Answer of 16 November 2015 to Question 15281, what assessment she has made of the adequacy of the number of teachers trained in the last 10 years; and if she will make a statement.

    Nick Gibb

    There are now more, better-qualified teachers in England’s classrooms than ever before. In November 2014 there were 454,900 full time equivalent (FTE) teachers, up 5,200 from the previous year and up 13,100 from 2010. A record 96.6 per cent of all teachers now hold a degree or higher qualification.

    Teacher vacancy rates have remained stable at around 1 per cent of all posts for over a decade, and retention rates have also remained stable over the same period. Approximately 90 per cent of teachers are in service in the year after they qualify, and 72 per cent of those who qualified in 2009 were still teaching 5 years later. Over the longer term, over 60 per cent of teachers remain in service 10 years after qualifying.

    Nevertheless, we recognise that teacher recruitment is a challenge as the economy continues to strengthen and competition for new graduates intensifies; this is particularly true in certain areas of the country. We are taking steps to attract more top graduates and career changers into the profession, particularly in those core academic subjects that help children reach their potential. This includes offering generous financial incentives, such as tax-free bursaries of up to £30,000 for top graduates in priority subjects such as physics.

  • Rebecca Long Bailey – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    Rebecca Long Bailey – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Rebecca Long Bailey on 2015-12-15.

    To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, pursuant to Answer of 9 December 2015 to Question 18558, how many families in receipt of tax credits in 2013-14 who benefited from the income rise disregard saw their income rise by over £2,500 but no more than £5,000 during the course of the year.

    Damian Hinds

    As announced in the combined Autumn Statement and Spending Review, the amount by which a tax credit claimant’s income can increase within the year before their tax credit award is adjusted (the income rise disregard), will be reduced from £5,000 to £2,500. This makes the tax credit system fairer so claimants on similar incomes will receive similar awards. Currently two families on precisely the same earnings at the end of the year can receive significantly different awards.

    The change returns the disregard back to the level it was between 2003 and 2006 – something the tax credit system is now operationally better able to cope with now that it has more up to date information on people’s earnings through Real Time Information. HMRC are also making it easier to report changes quickly online, so that people will less often receive overpayments. Claimants can contact HMRC if they are suffering financial hardship and are having difficulty paying back an overpayment.

    The change will bring forward some of the benefits of Universal Credit so that the tax credit award reflects a claimant’s recent earnings and the system responds more quickly to changes in earnings.

  • Caroline Lucas – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    Caroline Lucas – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Caroline Lucas on 2016-01-26.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many (a) permanent staff, (b) temporary staff and (c) contractors are employed at the Atomic Weapons Establishment; and how many such staff he expects to be employed at that Establishment in each of the next three years.

    Michael Fallon

    There are 4,920 permanent staff and 890 contractors employed at the Atomic Weapons Establishment (AWE). These figures represent full time equivalent staff, rounded to the nearest ten.

    Contractors working at AWE but employed by sub-contractor companies are not included as this information is not held centrally.

    Over the next three years, staffing levels will depend on programme demand.

  • Gordon Marsden – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    Gordon Marsden – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Gordon Marsden on 2016-02-11.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, for what reasons he has decided to withdraw funding from the UK Commission for Employment and Skills; and if he will make a statement.

    Nick Boles

    The UK Commission for Employment and Skills’ (UKCES) work over the last parliament has helped in setting the skills agenda for the future; and their activities have created the conditions to move to the next phase of more devolution, greater employer ownership and the apprenticeship levy. We have, however, concluded that we need new structures to move onto that next phase and have announced the establishment in England of a new Institute for Apprenticeships.

    In light of this, a decision was taken as part of the spending review by Whitehall Departments to withdraw funding from UKCES during 2016-17 in the context of the need to make savings in non-participation budgets to allow the core adult skills participation budgets to be protected in cash terms.

  • Lord Hunt of Kings Heath – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Lord Hunt of Kings Heath – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Hunt of Kings Heath on 2016-03-10.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether the Healthcare Safety Investigation Branch will be responsible for overseeing the National Reporting and Learning System.

    Lord Prior of Brampton

    The Healthcare Safety Investigation Branch will not be responsible for overseeing the National Reporting and Learning System (NRLS). The national safety functions, including the responsibility for overseeing the NRLS, will be transferring to NHS Improvement from 1 April 2016. The Government announced this decision in July 2015.