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Tag: Parliamentary Question

  • Lord Rosser – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    Lord Rosser – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Rosser on 2016-04-21.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what support they are giving to local authorities to ensure that changes to funding for local bus services do not negatively affect (1) young people, (2) the elderly, (3) those suffering from mental ill health, and (4) those suffering from physical ill health.

    Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon

    The majority of public funding for local bus services in England is provided by the Department for Communities and Local Government. However, the Department for Transport also provides around £40m of Grant funding directly to English local authorities for this purpose.

    The Total Transport initiative has also provided around £8m funding for 37 pilot projects exploring how local authorities and other agencies can work together to commission transport services more effectively – including integrating NHS non-emergency patient transport.

    Authorities should remain mindful of their statutory equality duties, including the Equality Act 2010’s Public Sector Equality Duty, and the effect of proposals on all people with protected characteristics, including those who are disabled.

  • William Wragg – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    William Wragg – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by William Wragg on 2016-06-06.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what were the 10 foreign languages most spoken by pupils for whom English is listed as an additional language in the annual school census in (a) 2000 and (b) 2015; and how many pupils were recorded as speaking each of those languages in each of those years.

    Nick Gibb

    The Department does not hold pupil level data on languages for the year 2000. In the January 2015 school census, the most common languages to which pupils of compulsory school age and above are exposed outside school and the number and proportion of pupils exposed to them are given in the table below.

    Language

    Number of Pupils (1)

    Percentage of all pupils

    English

    5,634,349

    82.1

    Urdu

    123,530

    1.8

    Panjabi

    91,406

    1.3

    Polish

    90,506

    1.3

    Other than English (not specified)

    84,139

    1.2

    Bengali

    74,635

    1.1

    Somali

    46,361

    0.7

    Arabic

    41,951

    0.6

    Gujarati

    40,735

    0.6

    Portuguese

    29,759

    0.4

    Tamil

    29,634

    0.4

    Believed to be other than English (not specified)

    29,221

    0.4

    French

    26,290

    0.4

    Source: School Census January 2015
    (1) Includes sole and dual main registered pupils of compulsory school age and above. Includes pupils in all state-funded schools excluding general hospital schools and local authority alternative provision.

    The languages recorded in the school census only indicate a pupil’s exposure to a non-English language outside of school. They are not a measure of English speaking proficiency, an indication of the language spoken in school, or a direct measure of immigration.

  • Peter Dowd – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    Peter Dowd – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Peter Dowd on 2016-09-02.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, whether the recent proposals to allow Probate Registries to collect fees will reflect the actual cost of administration of the Probate Registries; and whether her Department plans that those fees will more accurately reflect the amount of time expended by staff in the Probate Registries.

    Dr Phillip Lee

    We are carefully considering the responses to our earlier consultation on this issue, and will set out further plans in due course.

  • Baroness McIntosh of Pickering – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    Baroness McIntosh of Pickering – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Baroness McIntosh of Pickering on 2016-10-10.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government which department will lead the Brexit negotiations on food and farming, including negotiations about the UK’s future relationship with the EU.

    Lord Gardiner of Kimble

    The Prime Minister will lead our negotiations for leaving the EU and will be supported on a day-to-day basis by the Department for Exiting the European Union, with Defra leading input on food and farming policy.

  • David Davis – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    David Davis – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by David Davis on 2015-10-30.

    To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many (a) search and (b) surveillance warrants issued by a judge have been subject to judicial review in each of the last five years.

    Mr John Hayes

    Figures on the numbers of search warrants and surveillance authorisations subject to judicial review are not held centrally.

  • Maria Eagle – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    Maria Eagle – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Maria Eagle on 2015-11-26.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, by when he plans for his Department to achieve its target strength for the Royal Navy Reserve.

    Mr Julian Brazier

    I refer the hon. Member to the Written Statement made by my right hon. Friend the previous Secretary of State for Defence (Philip Hammond) on 19 December 2013, (Official Report, column 124WS) on Future Reserves 2020, and the accompanying document that was placed in the Library of the House which sets out the planned growth of the trained strength of the Reserve Forces, together with the enlistment targets for the next five years.

    I also refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave on 20 October 2015 to the hon. Member for Strangford (Mr Shannon) to Question 11812 which explained the improvements we have made to ensure we reach our target strength of 35,000 trained volunteer Reservists by 31 March 2019.

  • Phil Boswell – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    Phil Boswell – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Phil Boswell on 2016-01-08.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what assessment he has made of the implications for his polices of the conclusion of the Joseph Rowntree Foundation report, entitled Monitoring Poverty and Social Exclusion 2015, that the number of people living in poverty who depend on housing in the private rented sector has doubled in the last decade.

    Brandon Lewis

    No such assessment has been made. The Government believes that the key to improving affordability is to build more homes. We have several initiatives to improve affordability, including a £10 billion debt guarantee scheme to support the delivery of new homes purpose built for private rent, up to 30,000 additional affordable homes and the delivery of 200,000 Starter Homes at a minimum 20% discount for young first time buyers through the planning system.

    In addition to existing powers already in place, measures being taken forward through the Housing and Planning Bill will give councils stronger powers and incentives to tackle rogue landlords, to prevent those members of society in most need of affordable housing from becoming victims of poor quality and unsafe accommodation.

  • Graham Stuart – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    Graham Stuart – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Graham Stuart on 2016-02-02.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many students were enrolled in (a) school sixth forms, (b) academy sixth forms and (c) 16 to 19 years free schools which have been established since September 2011 in the most recent year for which figures are available.

    Nick Boles

    The 2014 to 2015 academic year is the most recent year for which full-year enrolment figures are available.

    The following enrolment figures are based on institutions that were established on or after 1 August 2011 as this is the start of the school allocation year.

    1. There were 5,825 students enrolled at 54 newly established School Sixth Form institutions

    2. There were 17,118 students enrolled at 159 newly established Academy Sixth Form Institutions (Including Studio School’s and UTC’s)

    3. There were 3,289 students enrolled at 29 newly established 16-19 Years Free School institutions

  • Nicholas Soames – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    Nicholas Soames – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Nicholas Soames on 2016-02-23.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what recent steps she has taken to support and develop the export potential of UK dairy through the Dairy Exports Strategy.

    George Eustice

    There is great global demand for quality British dairy products and we are working to maximise this opportunity by opening up new markets around the world. Eight dairy companies accompanied the Secretary of State on a trade mission to China in November, and next month a Chinese dairy delegation is visiting to discuss opportunities for investment in our domestic industry.

    Further trade missions are planned over the coming months to the US, Japan and China. Together with UKTI we will continue to promote our fantastic British dairy brand.

  • Keith Vaz – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Keith Vaz – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Keith Vaz on 2016-03-22.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what the cost to the public purse is of the contract for providing type 2 diabetes education in Leicester, Leicestershire and Rutland.

    Jane Ellison

    NHS England advises that information about the average cost of the DESMOND and Empower structured diabetes education programmes in Leicester, Leicestershire and Rutland is not collected centrally.

    NHS England also advises that the evaluation panel for the new contract for the type 2 diabetes education programme comprised a range of clinicians and commissioning officers, including a patient representative, an equality lead, a specialist general practitioner and a nurse. The Leicester, Leicestershire and Rutland Clinical Commissioning Groups’ Governing Bodies considered the breadth of experience and skills of the panel was acceptable. A 12-week consultation with patients, which ended on 12 June 2015, informed the development of the contract specification.