Tag: Paul Flynn

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Paul Flynn on 2016-05-19.

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if she will set out the reasons for the requirement for year five children in schools in England to learn the meaning of fronted adverbials.

Nick Gibb

Accurate spelling, punctuation and grammar are the cornerstones of effective written communication.

The new national curriculum, introduced in 2014, sets higher expectations supporting pupils to realise their potential in an increasingly competitive global market.

The new programmes of study for English aim to ensure that all pupils acquire a wide vocabulary, a good understanding of grammar, and proper knowledge of linguistic conventions for reading, writing and written language. Explicit teaching of grammar is fundamental to this.

For children from homes where parents read and share books with the family, it may be possible over time to assimilate grammatical forms such as modal verbs and fronted adverbials. For a great number of children, however, the easiest way for a teacher to explain to their pupils the rules that govern our language is to establish a shared vocabulary of grammatical terms.

We have increased the range of grammar and punctuation that should be taught and the terminology that pupils should learn – the meta-language. The aim and the emphasis, however, is not on naming grammatical terms but on being able to use the grammar to be able to speak and write for a full range of purposes.

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

To ask the Secretary of State for Wales, what steps his Department has taken to ensure that GMB is able to negotiate on behalf of 200 workers at the Lidl warehouse in Bridgend.

Alun Cairns

The Government has put in place a robust legal framework to ensure workers can be represented by unions if that is their clear, democratic choice. The Government cannot get involved in individual cases such as this one. However, the law states that for a trade union to have the right to negotiate collectively and for its workplace representatives to be eligible for time off to carry out union duties, the union must be recognised by the employer.

Statutory recognition (achieved through the Central Arbitration Committee – CAC) requires that a majority of the workforce support union recognition for collective bargaining with the employer.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Paul Flynn on 2016-10-13.

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what information her Department holds on the number of people who have undertaken (a) training and (b) refresher training approved by her Department on humane shooting of badgers in each of the last three years.

George Eustice

1. Natural England does not hold figures for the number of operators who have been trained to undertake licensed action but does know how many are trained and are licensed. Industry organisations are responsible for running the training courses and Natural England only holds the number of trained operators who were put forward by the control companies, and subsequently become authorised to undertake licensed action. For 2016, over the 10 licensed areas, 1446 operators are authorised to carry out badger culling (latest figures: 17/10/16).

2. Natural England does not hold figures for the number of operators who attended refresher training. All operators who have been licensed in a previous year to undertake controlled shooting of badgers and who wish to be licensed again for the current year must attend refresher training. Industry organisations are responsible for undertaking refresher training. Natural England holds confirmation that each of these operators has attended refresher training.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Paul Flynn on 2015-11-02.

To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what recent estimate he has made of the number of graduates who are (a) unemployed and (b) not in high-skilled jobs.

Joseph Johnson

The Department publishes labour market statistics for English domiciled graduates and postgraduates relative to non-graduates as part of the Graduate Labour Market Statistics series. The latest figures refer to the quarter from April to June 2015 and are available at the link:

https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/graduate-labour-market-statistics-april-to-june-2015

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The below Parliamentary question was asked by Paul Flynn on 2015-11-02.

To ask the Prime Minister, what recent discussions he has had with President Xi of China on joint multilateral initiatives the UK and China can take towards nuclear disarmament.

Mr David Cameron

During last month’s State Visit, President Xi Jinping and I discussed the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea’s nuclear programme, and the importance of working together to halt its progress. The UK also engages with China on multilateral disarmament, and a range of nuclear disarmament issues, through the mechanism of the P5 Dialogue.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Paul Flynn on 2015-11-10.

To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, if he will make it his policy to end civil service performance quotas.

Mr Oliver Letwin

This Government is fully committed to delivering its manifesto. This is why we have introduced the Single Departmental Plans as a new framework for performance tracking. Single departmental plans will replace departmental Business Plans and are currently being finalised by departments. Single Departmental Plans will set out each department’s priority objectives, and the key programmes and policies that will deliver these. They will be published on gov.uk, allowing the public to track progress against a number of performance indicators. Single Departmental Plans are owned by departments and have been designed by Cabinet Office and HM Treasury working in partnership. Officials have been actively engaging with departments to ensure that the plans provide a complete picture of the measures this Government is taking to deliver its commitments.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Paul Flynn on 2015-11-24.

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, with reference to paragraph 4.66 of the National Security Strategy and the Strategic Defence and Security Review 2015, what criteria he has for determining the minimum amount of destructive power needed to deter any aggressor.

Michael Fallon

The Government continually conducts assessments to ensure that the UK maintains a minimum, credible nuclear deterrent capability.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Paul Flynn on 2015-11-26.

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, when he expects to publish the Defence Nuclear Safety Regulator’s Annual Report for 2014-15.

Mr Philip Dunne

The Defence Safety Authority Annual Assurance Report (AAR) 2014-15 was published on 1 December 2015. This was informed, in part, by the Defence Nuclear Safety Regulator’s AAR for 2014-15 which is expected to be published in early 2016.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Paul Flynn on 2015-12-02.

To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, if she will make an assessment of the implications for her policies on climate change of the recently published report by the Carbon Pricing Leadership Coalition, entitled Executive Guide to Carbon Pricing Leadership.

Andrea Leadsom

The Government welcomes the report produced by the World Bank’s Carbon Pricing Leadership Coalition and its aim to encourage businesses to take up carbon pricing initiatives. The UK is strongly committed to carbon pricing as a policy tool to allow carbon emissions to be reduced at least cost. The Government has encouraged businesses to recognise the cost of carbon in decision-making by pressing for reforms to strengthen the EU Emissions Trading System as well as pursuing other market-based policy approaches. We also support other countries to develop pricing models through our international outreach and projects.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Paul Flynn on 2015-12-15.

To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what special measures he has taken to provide assistance to rough sleepers in areas affected by floods in Lancashire and Cumbria.

Mr Marcus Jones

My rt. hon. Friend, the Chancellor of the Exchequer (George Osborne) announced on 9 December that the Government has made £51 million available through the Communities and Business Recovery Scheme to help local authorities impacted by Storm Desmond to recover. The Scheme is designed to provide ready support to those local authorities to, in turn, help individuals, businesses and communities return to normality. Where local authorities judge that rough sleepers are in need of assistance, they can use the funding for that purpose. The funding can also be used to provide temporary accommodation for any family made homeless.

The Government remains committed to protecting the most vulnerable in society. That is why since 2010 we’ve invested more than £500 million to prevent and tackle homelessness in England. But even one person without a home is one too many, which is why we have committed in the Spending Review to increase central investment over the next four years to £139 million for innovative programmes to prevent and reduce homelessness and rough sleeping. We are also maintaining and protecting homelessness prevention funding for local authorities, through the provisional local government finance settlement totalling £315 million by 2019/20.