Tag: Parliamentary Question

Mike Kane – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for International Development

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Mike Kane on 2015-12-07.

To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, if her Department will take steps to improve access to water in the Occupied Palestinian Territories.

Mr Desmond Swayne

UK officials regularly discuss the issue of water with Israeli counterparts. We continue to call for the full implementation of the relaxation of access restrictions for Gaza and, with robust monitoring, for the entry of essential items on the dual-use list to allow for rehabilitation of the water network. We also continue to press both parties to reconvene the Joint Water Committee to facilitate further approval of key projects that will improve Palestinian access to water.

Through the UN FAO, DFID has invested up to £1.24m to help vulnerable rural farmers in Area C support their families through increased incomes from agricultural production. Improved irrigation efficiency has been achieved by rehabilitation of existing water cisterns and approximately 30km of water conveyance systems.

01/01/2023
James Berry – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

The below Parliamentary question was asked by James Berry on 2016-01-15.

To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what arrangements his Department has in place to ensure that organisations are not able to provide both training for and assessment of the standards for the same apprenticeship; and if he will make a statement.

Nick Boles

The Department is fully committed to the principle that end point assessment should either be delivered by an independent third party, or in such a way that no party involved in the management or training of an apprentice can make the sole decision on competence and passing the end-point assessment.

We are working to ensure the Register of Assessment Organisations and Register of Training Providers, which govern who can conduct training and assessment, support this principle.

01/01/2023
Nick Clegg – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Nick Clegg on 2016-02-09.

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what proportion of (a) primary and (b) secondary school budgets have been spent on tackling mental health problems in each of the last five years; and if the Government will take steps to protect such spending in future.

Mr Sam Gyimah

The most recent prevalence survey estimated that 1 in 10 children have a diagnosable mental health disorder, and more have lower level problems. This is why the Government has made good mental health, character and resilience a high priority. The Department of Health is commissioning a new prevalence survey to update this estimate for a wider range of ages, from 2-19. It is due to report in 2018. We do not routinely collect data that allows us to measure the amount schools spend specifically on addressing mental health issues.

We are committed to better understanding what schools are doing on this matter, which is why my department is commissioning an extensive survey. This survey will provide a robust national picture of mental health support provided by schools and colleges.

It is for head teachers to determine how they spend their individual school budgets to best meet the needs of all their pupils. In the Spending Review we announced that the core schools budget will be protected in real terms through this Parliament. We are also protecting the Pupil Premium, which many schools use to fund mental health provision, at current pupil rates. Within these protections, we announced in December 2015 that an additional £92.5 million will specifically be provided in the high needs element of the Dedicated School Grant (DSG) next year.

We have also made £1.4 billion available over the next five years to transform local children and young people’s mental health services to deliver more integrated and accessible services. Clinical Commissioning Groups have been required to work with others services locally, including schools, to produce plans that set out how they will transform children and young people’s mental health services locally to make them more accessible and increase the focus on prevention.

We are also contributing to a £3 million joint pilot with NHS England for training single points of contact in schools and specialist mental health services, to ensure that children and young people have timely access to specialist support where needed. There are 22 pilot areas covering more than 200 schools across 27 CCGs.

01/01/2023
Cat Smith – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Cat Smith on 2016-03-07.

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what representations his Department has received on the incidence of refusals by taxi drivers to carry assistance dogs; and if he will introduce compulsory disability awareness training for drivers of taxis and private hire vehicles.

Andrew Jones

I am aware of the ongoing problems passengers accompanied by assistance dogs encounter when using taxis and private hire vehicles.

The Department has issued comprehensive guidance to both licensing authorities and the licensed industry in respect of the relevant duties in the Equality Act 2010. Any allegations of breaches of the Act must be reported to the local licensing authority to enable them to take appropriate action.

Although there is no legal requirement for taxi and private hire vehicle drivers to undertake disability awareness training, the Department’s Best Practice Guidance on taxi and private hire vehicle licensing recommends that local licensing authorities to work with the industry in their area to improve drivers’ awareness of the needs of disabled people. This includes encouraging their drivers to undertake disability awareness training.

01/01/2023
Debbie Abrahams – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Energy and Climate Change

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Debbie Abrahams on 2016-04-08.

To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, when she plans to respond to the correspondence from the hon. Member for Oldham East and Saddleworth on 4 August 2015, and followed up on 11 December 2015, on behalf of a constituent, with regard to Government support for small-scale hydro power.

Amber Rudd

Unfortunately officials in the Department of Energy and Climate Change were unable to locate the original correspondence from the hon. Member for Oldham East and Saddleworth’s constituent. I can confirm that following an electronic copy being sent from your office on 12 April 2016, I have now responded on 13 April 2016.

01/01/2023
Rebecca Long Bailey – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for International Development

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Rebecca Long Bailey on 2016-05-10.

To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what plans she has to develop a bilateral programme of aid for Burundi similar to programmes for Rwanda and the Democratic Republic of Congo.

Mr Nick Hurd

There are no plans for DFID to re-open its bilateral aid programme in Burundi, which closed in 2012 following the 2010 Bilateral Aid Review. However, DFID had continued to provide support to Burundi through Trade Mark East Africa (TMEA), an independent agency promoting trade and regional economic integration, given that this is central to Burundi’s growth and prosperity. DFID has provided £10 million for TMEA work in Burundi since 2012. DFID has also supported Centrally Managed Programmes working in Burundi, covering areas such as food security and livelihoods.

The UK is responding to the ongoing political crisis, and was the second largest bilateral donor to the regional refugee appeal in 2015, after the US. £21.15 million was committed by DFID for refugee response in the region, including £14.25 million to support refugees in Tanzania and £6.9 million in Rwanda. Allocations for 2016 are currently being finalised, including for support within Burundi.

Additionally, DFID has provided technical support, in the form of secondment of experts, to support and strengthen the capacity of UN agencies working in Burundi. DFID has deployed a humanitarian adviser to the region in support of the response and to monitor funding provided so far. We continue to work closely with the FCO and international partners to monitor the situation.

01/01/2023
Louise Haigh – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Louise Haigh on 2016-06-14.

To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, pursuant to the Answer of 13 June 2016 to Question 39850, what the (a) location and (b) number at each location is of the 60 officials based in six local teams across the country.

Mr Mark Francois

The current numbers and location of Cities and Local Growth Unit officials based in the six local teams are set out in the attached table.

01/01/2023
Richard Burden – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Richard Burden on 2016-09-09.

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps her Department is taking to ensure that nurseries have sufficient funding to afford access to early years teachers.

Caroline Dinenage

The Government is investing over £1 billion more per year by 2019-20 to fund our commitments on the early years entitlements – this includes £300 million per year from 2017-18 for a significant increase to the hourly rate paid for the two, three and four year old entitlements. We are currently consulting on proposals for an early years national funding formula to ensure this funding is fairly allocated, and I would encourage the Honourable Member and his constituents to submit their views.

The Early Years Foundation Stage sets staffing and qualification requirements for early years providers and allows settings to operate without an Early Years Teacher. However, the Government wants to see more trained graduates in the workforce, and we are supporting this by providing funding for course fees and bursaries to eligible trainees, and also funding for employers to support trainees.

01/01/2023
Jim Shannon – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Shannon on 2015-11-10.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what restrictions are in place to monitor mobile pubs on bicycles.

Mike Penning

Licensing authorities make decisions about the sale of alcohol which is governed by the Licensing Act 2003.

Under the Licensing Act 2003, there is a prohibition on the sale of alcohol from a moving vehicle. A person would only be able to buy alcohol if the vehicle were stationary and the operator would need a premises licence at every place the vehicle stopped to sell alcohol. There is nothing to prevent the consumption of alcohol by passengers on such vehicles.

01/01/2023

Jim Cunningham – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Cunningham on 2015-12-07.

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how many staff were employed by the Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency in each of the last five years; and if he will make a statement.

Andrew Jones

The figures below provide details of how many staff were employed by the Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency in each of the last five years.

Year:	Headcount:	Full time equivalent:
2010-11	4912 (2607+2305)	4669.11 (2434.16+2234.95)
2011-12	4832 (2584+2248)	4544.03 (2407.61+2136.42)
2012-13	4715 (2450+2265)	4451.75 (2273.07+2178.68)
2013-14	4545 (2277+2268)	4304.19 (2123.53+2180.66)
2014-15	4526	4266.28

The figures in brackets are to show the break-down of staff members before the merger of the Vehicle and Operators Service Agency and the Driving Standards Agency.

01/01/2023