Tag: Paul Blomfield

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Paul Blomfield on 2016-06-06.

To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what discussions he has had with Cabinet colleagues on his Department’s plans to diversify the civil service.

Matthew Hancock

The Civil Service is committed to becoming representative of the modern Britain it serves and our aim is to be the most inclusive employer in the UK. This ambition is set out in our Talent Action Plan, refreshed in March 2016. This plan commits the Civil Service to actions that aim to remove barriers to success faced by underrepresented groups. All government departments are committed to the delivery of this plan. Permanent Secretaries have clear accountability for the diversity agenda and progress within their departments is measured through their personal diversity objectives. The plan is being delivered as part of the wider Civil Service Workforce Strategy.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Paul Blomfield on 2016-06-14.

To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, pursuant to the Answer of 13 June 2016 to Question 39321, what progress his Department has made on plans to diversify the civil service.

Joseph Johnson

The Department for Business, Innovation and Skills (BIS) is in line with the Civil Service Talent Action Plan, refreshed in March 2016. The Plan commits departments to actions that aim to remove barriers to success faced by underrepresented groups. The Department is committed to promoting a culture of inclusivity which celebrates, respects and encourages diversity in its workforce and recognises the benefits a diverse workforce provides and the improved business practices this can create.

BIS’ commitment to building a diverse workforce is demonstrated by activities such as supporting staff on Civil Service diversity talent schemes and establishing an internal diversity mentoring programme. The Department has undertaken an extensive internal communications campaign to build awareness and promote inclusivity. The Department has appointed a Board level Diversity Champion and director-level champions. The champions are responsible for promoting diversity issues, acting as a senior role model and providing strategic support to colleagues and internal staff networks.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Paul Blomfield on 2016-07-06.

To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, pursuant to the Answer of 15 June 2016 to Question 39715, on his Department’s vacancies, what plans he has for his Department’s graduate recruitment to take place outside London.

Joseph Johnson

The Department for Business, Innovation and Skills (BIS) is developing a Resourcing Strategy that will include targeted recruitment over the next few years that includes graduate recruitment. We have recently recruited 3 graduates on 1 year internships who will be based in Cardiff and Sheffield, working in Vocational Education, Higher Education and Infrastructure and Materials. We will be developing our graduate resourcing plans in line with business requirements, which will include consideration of roles both inside and outside of London. The Department also participates in a cross-Government graduate scheme. Within this scheme, graduates are centrally recruited from all over the UK and short-term placements are offered by departments, including BIS, across various departmental locations.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Paul Blomfield on 2016-09-02.

To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, whether his Department consulted workers’ representatives and groups representing victims of labour exploitation during the appointment process for the Director of Labour Market Enforcement.

Margot James

The appointment of the Director of Labour Market Enforcement is being made through a formal recruitment process. A campaign was jointly launched by the Department for Business, Energy and Industry Strategy (BEIS) and the Home Office in June after the Immigration Act received Royal Assent in May 2016. Shortlisting took place during the summer and interviews are scheduled for early October.

My Rt hon Friends the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy and the Home Department plan to meet appointable candidates following interviews, and will have discussions before making a joint decision. The successful candidate will be announced as soon as practicably possible.

BEIS and the Home Office are working together to implement a Labour market Enforcement programme. This followed a formal consultation, Tackling Exploitation in the Labour Market, to which groups representing workers and victims of labour market exploitation responded.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Paul Blomfield on 2016-10-07.

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many applications for medicine courses were (a) received and (b) accepted at higher education institutions in England in each of the last five years.

Joseph Johnson

The Universities and Colleges Admissions Service (UCAS) publishes data on applications and acceptances to full-time undergraduate courses. The table below shows the number of main scheme applications (applications submitted by 30 June each year) and the number of acceptances for ‘pre-clinical medicine’ for applicants domiciled in England.

Table: applications and acceptances to pre-clinical medicine¹

	2011	2012	2013	2014	2015
Number of acceptances	5,525	5,705	5,510	5,630	5,515
Number of main scheme applications	55,280	53,740	54,710	55,065	48,525

Notes:

1. Pre-clinical medicine is based on Joint Academic Coding System (JACS) code A1

The figures were extracted from the UCAS 2015 end of cycle data resources (tables DR3_017_01 and DR3_017_03) available via the following weblink:

https://www.ucas.com/corporate/data-and-analysis/ucas-undergraduate-releases/ucas-undergraduate-end-cycle-data-resource-5

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The below Parliamentary question was asked by Paul Blomfield on 2015-11-17.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what proportion of immigration detainees who are (a) foreign national offenders convicted of immigration offences, (b) foreign national offenders convicted of non-immigration offences and (c) other detainees were held in immigration detention for (i) 28 days or fewer, (ii) over 28 days but fewer than four months and (iii) over four months in the last year.

James Brokenshire

The below table provides details of immigration detainees detained at the end of June 2015 and is taken from quarterly published national statistics:

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/immigration-statistics-april-to-june-2015/detention

	Held 28 Days or Fewer	Over 28 Days But Fewer Than Four Months	Four to Six Months	Six to Twelve Months	Over Twelve Months
Foreign National Offenders	30% (263)	41% (365)	10% (84)	14% (123)	5% (49)
Other Detainees	58% (1502)	35% (899)	4% (114)	2% (62)	1% (27)

It is not possible to provide a break-down of foreign national offenders convicted of immigration offences and foreign national offenders convicted of non-immigration offences. Such data is not aggregated in national reporting systems, which would mean these questions could only be answered through a disproportionately expensive manual case search to collate the data.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Paul Blomfield on 2016-01-04.

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what proportion of personal independence payment special rules claimants received disability living allowance from 1 April 2013 to 31 October 2015.

Justin Tomlinson

The number of Disability Living Allowance claimants who were reassessed for Personal Independence Payment under the special rules for people who are terminally ill between April 2013 and October 2015 are published and can be found at

https://stat-xplore.dwp.gov.uk/. Guidance on how to use Stat-Xplore is available here: https://sw.stat-xplore.dwp.gov.uk/webapi/online-help/index.html.

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The below Parliamentary question was asked by Paul Blomfield on 2016-02-01.

To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, if the Government will postpone the replacement of student maintenance grants with maintenance loans until a sharia-compliant finance product is available for such loans.

Joseph Johnson

Maintenance grants will be replaced by increased maintenance loans for eligible students starting full-time courses in the 2016/17 academic year. The Government supports the introduction of a Sharia-compliant ‘Takaful’ alternative finance product. Subject to Parliament, the Government hopes to introduce the system through new legislation.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Paul Blomfield on 2016-02-11.

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether his Department has received a copy of Sheffield City Region’s study into connectivity for a city centre High Speed 2 station at Victoria in which Network Rail was involved.

Mr Robert Goodwill

Analysis of the Sheffield City Region station options was published in the ‘Engineering options report; West Midlands to Leeds’ dated March 2012. This included analysis of several station sites around the city centre.

The current estimated difference in cost between locating a High Speed station at Victoria and Meadowhall is £680m. Previous work on the cost of options at Victoria and other city centre sites are not comparable to the current estimate given above. With regards to the Meadowhall station, following the 2013 public consultation, no significant changes have been made to the original station design therefore there have not been any changes in cost.

When recommending a station location HS2 Ltd. uses a number of criteria, including;

1. engineering and construction feasibility;
2. sustainability;
3. demand considerations, including journey times;
4. cost; and
5. wider impacts

Potential options were sifted by HS2 Ltd. according to these criteria. To support and challenge this approach, external stakeholders and advisors from the Department’s Project Representative Team were involved in reviewing the process and outcomes where appropriate. Further information about the appraisal process can be found in the 2012 ‘Options for phase two of the high speed rail network’ report and 2013 ‘Appraisal of Sustainability’ report. Both of these documents are available on the government website.

Analysis undertaken by HS2 shows that the introduction of the Sheffield Meadowhall HS2 station could support up to 5,400 jobs and up to 300 residential units, while a HS2 station at Victoria could support an estimated 9,000 jobs and 900 housing units.

Finally, I can confirm that Department for Transport officials have received a copy of Sheffield City Region’s study into connectivity for a city centre High Speed 2 station at Victoria which Network Rail was involved in.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Paul Blomfield on 2016-02-11.

To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what assessment he has made of the potential merits of investing in video-conferencing facilities to facilitate split-site working by staff in his Department.

Joseph Johnson

Video conferencing is used across the Department as a tool for keeping in touch with colleagues split across numerous sites, with around 1,500 meetings held by video-conferencing every month.