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Tag: Parliamentary Question

  • Margaret Ferrier – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    Margaret Ferrier – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Margaret Ferrier on 2015-12-10.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps her Department is taking to promote coding as part of the curriculum or otherwise amongst young people.

    Nick Gibb

    The new computing curriculum, introduced in September 2014 and compulsory for ages 5-16, has been designed to ensure the study of topics such as computational logic, algorithms and coding.

    The government has spent more than £4.5 million over the past three years to support schools in delivering high quality computing teaching. This includes £3 million for Computing At School to build a national network of over 350 ‘Master Teachers’ in computer science whom schools can commission to provide training for their teachers.

    In primary school, pupils will be looking at designing, writing and debugging programs. With these skills, pupils can create games or useful tools like a number generator for maths.

  • Baroness Randerson – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Baroness Randerson – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Baroness Randerson on 2016-01-14.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what advice and guidance has been provided by Public Health England in relation to the commissioning and performance management of prison healthcare service for prisoners diagnosed with Hepatitis C or identified as being at risk of developing Hepatitis C.

    Lord Prior of Brampton

    Public Health England (PHE), NHS England and the National Offender Manager Service (NOMS) have worked together to improve the diagnosis of blood-borne viruses (BBVs) (including Hepatitis C) among people in prison and to provide access to treatment and care for those infected through collaborative implementation of the BBV opt-out testing programme, published in the National Partnership Agreement in 2015. A copy of the Agreement is attached.

    PHE has published detailed expert advice to commissioners and prison healthcare services on all aspects of implementation of BBV opt-out testing, including testing and treatment algorithms. Further, PHE has supported dissemination of guidance through a programme of training and engagement events in partnership with the voluntary sector. PHE has co-developed with NHS England and NOMS a set of performance metrics called the Health & Justice Indicators of Performance (HJIPs) to provide data on the number of people tested, the number requiring treatment and those referred for treatment which supports commissioners in performance management of prison healthcare services.

  • Jim McMahon – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Cabinet Office

    Jim McMahon – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Cabinet Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim McMahon on 2016-02-09.

    To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what land and property in Oldham his Department has identified for disposal as part of the One Public Estate programme over the next five years.

    Matthew Hancock

    I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave to him on 5 February 2016 to UIN: 25342.

  • Scott Mann – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    Scott Mann – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Scott Mann on 2016-03-07.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment he has made of the effects on rural communities of disbursements from the community transport minibus fund.

    Mr Patrick McLoughlin

    The Community Transport Minibus Fund will provide over 300 organisations with a new minibus so that they can continue to provide vital services to help elderly residents, people with learning and physical disabilities and those who do not have access to a commercial bus service.

    Approximately one third of the organisations obtaining vehicles through the Fund are based in rural areas.

  • Michael Dugher – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    Michael Dugher – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Michael Dugher on 2016-04-13.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what the high street vacancy rate was in (a) England and (b) each region of England in each of the last six years.

    Mr Marcus Jones

    My Department does not collect or publish data relating to high street vacancy rates. There are several commercial sources of shop vacancy rates data available, including the Local Data Company and Springboard, (http://info.localdatacompany.com/vacancy-rate-report-h1-2015-summary-download) who publish overall trends in the public domain.

  • Toby Perkins – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    Toby Perkins – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Toby Perkins on 2016-05-18.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, with reference to the petition entitled Introduce Helen’s Law, published on the change.org website, what steps his Department is taking to encourage prisoners to reveal information about the crimes they have committed.

    Andrew Selous

    Staff in the National Offender Management Service (NOMS) work with individual prisoners on a daily basis to address their risks and needs. A vital part of that activity is encouraging prisoners to acknowledge their responsibility for all their previous crimes.

    NOMS staff will also take appropriate action where prisoners disclose information either of additional offences or of aspects of their offences that were previously unknown.

    The Parole Board already takes into account offenders’ co-operation in identifying the location of a victim’s remains when determining whether they should be released; however, Ministers have asked the Parole Board to consider whether its guidelines in this area should be strengthened.

  • Nigel Dodds – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Nigel Dodds – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Nigel Dodds on 2016-07-07.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what recent discussions the Government has had with the Gibraltar authorities on the potential implications of the outcome of the EU referendum.

    Sir Alan Duncan

    The Foreign Secretary, my Rt Hon Friend the Member for Uxbridge and South Ruislip (Mr Johnson) met the Chief Minister of Gibraltar in London on 16 July. The then Minister for Europe, my Rt Hon Friend the member for Aylesbury (Mr Lidington) spoke to the Chief Minister twice by telephone on 24 June about the outcome of the referendum. He also met the Chief Minister on 28 June in London to discuss the potential implications, and again on 11 July alongside the then Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster, my Rt Hon. Friend the Member for West Dorset (Mr Letwin). In addition, officials continue to be in frequent contact with their Gibraltarian counterparts.

    In all of these discussions, the former Minister of State made clear the outcome of the referendum does not affect the United Kingdom’s steadfast and longstanding commitment to Gibraltar, and its guarantee to stand by the double-lock on sovereignty.

    The Government has also confirmed that, as it prepares for the process to leave the EU, we will fully involve Gibraltar to ensure that all of its interests are taken properly into account. In the meantime, the Government will continue to take whatever action is necessary to safeguard Gibraltar, its people and its economy, including maintaining a well-functioning Gibraltar-Spain border.

  • Baroness Goudie – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Baroness Goudie – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Baroness Goudie on 2016-10-03.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether they have ever considered using drones to monitor Northern Ireland’s post-Brexit border with the Republic of Ireland and the European Union; whether they have any plans to do so; and if not, whether they intend explicitly to rule it out.

    Baroness Williams of Trafford

    The Common Travel Area (CTA) arrangement pre-dates the EU and leaders in Ireland and the United Kingdom, including the Northern Ireland Executive have been unequivocal – all want to protect this arrangement.

    To date the use of drones has not been considered as a method of monitoring the border between Northern Ireland and Ireland post-Brexit. Indeed regulation in the UK does not permit the use of drones beyond line of sight . Discussions between the Taoiseach and the Prime Minister have underlined their desire to work together to find a creative and innovative solution and to maintain the closest possible relationship following the UK’s exit from the EU.

    We will continue the high level of collaboration with Ireland on the future of the CTA once the UK has left the EU, avoiding the imposition of fixed immigration controls and being clear that there will be no immediate changes to our practices surrounding the CTA.

  • Barry Sheerman – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    Barry Sheerman – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Barry Sheerman on 2015-11-10.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what assessment he has made of the effectiveness of codes of conduct protecting officers of local authorities from bullying and intimidation.

    Mr Marcus Jones

    Bullying and intimidation are serious matters and all employers, including local authorities, should have in place arrangements to ensure employees can safely report this behaviour, including by those in a senior position.

    My Department does not collect information about incidents of bullying or intimidation of local authority staff, nor have we made any assessment of council codes of conduct to protect officers from such behaviour.

  • Caroline Lucas – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    Caroline Lucas – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Caroline Lucas on 2015-12-10.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what measures in the Spending Review and Autumn Statement 2015 will affect the level of funding for flood defences up to 2019-20.

    Rory Stewart

    In the Spending Review and Autumn Statement 2015 we reiterated our commitment to invest £2.3 billion in more than 1,500 projects by 2021. This funding will help better protect 300,000 homes. We also announced our commitment to protect flood maintenance spending in real terms over this Parliament.