Tag: Paul Blomfield

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Paul Blomfield on 2016-05-18.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what plans she has to use data from border exit checks to estimate emigration from the UK.

James Brokenshire

Exit checks were introduced in April 2015. They will, over a period of time, provide us with a range of insights into the behaviours of migrants and how they comply with restrictions placed upon their length of stay in the UK.

Data collected from exit checks is a record of cross border movement. It may in the future help inform but will not in itself answer questions on emigration.

The Home Office has announced that it is considering the use of exit checks data for statistical reporting and intends to publish an initial evaluation of the use of exit checks for this purpose. The evaluation will be a technical assessment of the analysis carried out thus far and of the further analysis necessary to better understand short, medium, and long term opportunities.

The initial evaluation of the use of exit checks will be published on 25 August to coincide with the next quarterly immigration statistics release.

Publication of the initial evaluation on the use of exit checks will be on the GOV.UK website

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

To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, pursuant to the Written Statement of 26 May 2016 on BIS consultation, HCWS30, whether his Department considered alternative solutions to closure of his Department’s Sheffield office at St Paul’s Place to address the strain on organisational effectiveness caused by split-site working.

Joseph Johnson

During the consultation period the Executive Board listened to views from staff, unions, as well as local stakeholders about the Combined Policy Headquarters model. It considered various alternatives, including options which maintained split site working in different ways, before coming to its final conclusion.

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

To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, if he will publish his Department’s consultation response on the proposal for a combined headquarters and policy centre in London.

Joseph Johnson

The Department for Business, Innovation and Skills (BIS) recognises the interest in its decision to establish a combined headquarters and policy centre in London, which is why a summary of the decision and its rationale was issued on BIS’ website, and why a Written Ministerial Statement was laid informing all MPs on the day of the decision.

The document was written specifically with staff in mind as a piece of internal communications and as a response to the staff consultation BIS conducted. The Department’s top priority is ensuring staff have the most up to date and accurate information about the support available to them. We have no plans to publish the document because it contains information on issues which are the subject of on-going internal discussions with staff.

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 30 June 2016 to Question 40488, on civil service recruitment, who has been appointed the board level diversity champion in his Department.

Joseph Johnson

Gareth Davies, Director General for Business and Science, is the Department’s board-level diversity champion.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Paul Blomfield on 2016-07-20.

To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, how many of his Department’s staff are based in the Sheffield office at St Paul’s Place; and what plans he has for the future of those jobs.

Joseph Johnson

As of 1 November 2016, there are 21 members of staff based in the Sheffield office at St Paul’s Place. Following the recent Machinery of Government changes, BEIS is considering how to best align the reform agendas of its predecessor departments.

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, pursuant to the response of the then Minister of State in the Department for Energy and Climate Change to the Oral Question of 14 July 2016, Official Report, column 411, what assessment he has made of the effect of the publication of the National Grid’s four plausible and credible pathways for the UK’s energy sector between now and 2020 on the likelihood of the UK meeting the EU-mandated target to increase renewables to 15 per cent of energy consumption by 2020.

Mr Nick Hurd

We have considered the National Grid’s report but this is one assessment from one organisation. In 2015 25% of electricity generated came from wind farms, solar panels and other renewable power sources.

On the UK’s progress towards meeting the 2020 target we are currently progressing in line with the trajectory set out in the Renewable Energy Directive, having met the Directive’s interim targets.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Paul Blomfield on 2015-10-15.

To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what the reasons are for his proposal to exclude taught masters students who are over the age of 30 from the new postgraduate loans scheme proposed for England.

Joseph Johnson

A consultation on the proposed postgraduate Master’s loan scheme was held earlier in the year. The consultation covered proposed terms and conditions, including an age eligibility criterion and the eligibility of distance learning. Consultation responses are currently being analysed and the Department will respond in the autumn.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Paul Blomfield on 2015-10-15.

To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what the reasons are for the proposed exclusion from the new postgraduate loans scheme proposed for England of taught masters students who are studying via distance learning at a minimum of 50 per cent intensity.

Joseph Johnson

A consultation on the proposed postgraduate Master’s loan scheme was held earlier in the year. The consultation covered proposed terms and conditions, including an age eligibility criterion and the eligibility of distance learning. Consultation responses are currently being analysed and the Department will respond in the autumn.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Paul Blomfield on 2015-10-15.

To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what the reasons are for the proposal to include in the new postgraduate loans scheme proposed for England part-time taught masters students studying at a minimum of 50 per cent intensity not via distance learning.

Joseph Johnson

A consultation on the proposed postgraduate Master’s loan scheme was held earlier in the year. The consultation covered proposed terms and conditions, including an age eligibility criterion and the eligibility of distance learning. Consultation responses are currently being analysed and the Department will respond in the autumn.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Paul Blomfield on 2015-10-15.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what assessment he made of the effect of NHS England taking over responsibility for commissioning health services within the immigration detention estate in England on the adequacy of health provision within that estate.

Ben Gummer

In 2014 Health and Wellbeing Needs Assessments were carried out at all Immigration Removal Centres to ascertain the needs of the detainees, which in turn informed the quality and standard of services commissioned by NHS England, from 1 September 2014, to meet those needs.

National standards have been developed, against which health care providers are measured as part of contract management. A suite of indicators of performance are now in place to support this and to provide national data to demonstrate improvements in service delivery and outcomes.