The below Parliamentary question was asked by Peter Kyle on 2016-03-21.
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, whether learners studying on degree apprenticeship programmes are exempt from council tax.
Nick Boles
An apprenticeship is a paid job. An apprentice will earn a wage from the start of their degree apprenticeship. The benefits system, which includes council tax exemptions, treats an apprenticeship in the same way as any other job.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Peter Kyle on 2016-04-26.
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what the average distance is travelled by residents of Hove for face-to-face personal independence payment assessments.
Justin Tomlinson
Atos Healthcare does not hold or retain information about customer journey times to attend assessments. Should a customer foresee a problem with travelling to their assessment they are asked to contact Atos to discuss their circumstances.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Peter Kyle on 2016-09-06.
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, with reference to the press release by Natural England of 29 July 2016 to issue a licence permitting the control of up to 10 buzzards, if her Department will take steps to ensure that the granting of such licences does not endanger the buzzard population.
Dr Thérèse Coffey
Buzzards are now widespread in England, with over 60,000 pairs in the UK (British Trust for Ornithology). The removal of a small number of birds will have no impact on the national population. Moreover, Natural England would not license any activity that would adversely affect the conservation status of a species.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Peter Kyle on 2016-10-19.
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, whether it remains Government policy to introduce a two per cent social care precept on council tax and additional funding for the Better Care Fund in 2017-18.
David Mowat
Yes. Local authorities who are responsible for social care will still have the flexibility in 2017-18 to raise council tax in their area by up to 2% above the existing threshold. This new funding for adult social care will be pooled with additional funding from the Better Care Fund.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Peter Kyle on 2015-10-22.
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, how many officials in his Department are working on the review of post-16 education and training institutions.
Nick Boles
The Department for Education (DfE) and the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills (BIS), along with respective funding agencies, have re-prioritised staffing resources to support the review of post-16 education and training.
There are seven reviews in the first wave of area reviews which have either launched since September or will launch in the next few weeks. Each review will take 3-4 months to complete and will be supported by resource from the DfE, BIS, Education Funding Agency and Skills Funding Agency.
The area reviews of post 16 education and training are being undertaken in waves and can be triggered by either the local area requesting a review or the FE Commissioner or Sixth Form College Commissioner identifying the need for a review because one or more colleges in an area are at risk of failing. The first wave is underway now and details of the following reviews have been announced and can be found on the gov.uk website :
Birmingham and Solihull
Greater Manchester
Sheffield City Region
Tees Valley
Sussex Coast
Solent
West Yorkshire
The second wave will start in January 2016 and we aim to announce details in November 2015. We are currently looking at the geographies and phasing for other areas and will aim to issue further information on this before the end of the year but in doing this we recognise that the position should remain fluid to take account of the views of local partners and also cases of failure.
We expect all reviews to be completed by March 2017.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Peter Kyle on 2015-10-22.
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, if he will publish the timetable setting out when each area will have its post-16 education and training reviewed.
Nick Boles
The Department for Education (DfE) and the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills (BIS), along with respective funding agencies, have re-prioritised staffing resources to support the review of post-16 education and training.
There are seven reviews in the first wave of area reviews which have either launched since September or will launch in the next few weeks. Each review will take 3-4 months to complete and will be supported by resource from the DfE, BIS, Education Funding Agency and Skills Funding Agency.
The area reviews of post 16 education and training are being undertaken in waves and can be triggered by either the local area requesting a review or the FE Commissioner or Sixth Form College Commissioner identifying the need for a review because one or more colleges in an area are at risk of failing. The first wave is underway now and details of the following reviews have been announced and can be found on the gov.uk website :
Birmingham and Solihull
Greater Manchester
Sheffield City Region
Tees Valley
Sussex Coast
Solent
West Yorkshire
The second wave will start in January 2016 and we aim to announce details in November 2015. We are currently looking at the geographies and phasing for other areas and will aim to issue further information on this before the end of the year but in doing this we recognise that the position should remain fluid to take account of the views of local partners and also cases of failure.
We expect all reviews to be completed by March 2017.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Peter Kyle on 2015-10-22.
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many officials in her Department are working on its review of post-16 education and training institutions.
Nick Boles
The Department for Education (DfE) and the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills (BIS), along with respective funding agencies, have re-prioritised staffing resources to support the review of post-16 education and training.
There are seven reviews in the first wave of area reviews which have either launched since September or will launch in the next few weeks. Each review will take 3-4 months to complete and will be supported by resource from the DfE, BIS, EFA and SFA.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Peter Kyle on 2015-10-22.
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, what assessment she has made of the impact of the reduction in the feed-in tariff rates proposed in the Government’s consultation published on 27 August 2015 on the rooftop solar industry and solar installation companies in the South East region.
Andrea Leadsom
The impact assessment published alongside the feed in tariff review consultation set out DECC’s assessment of the impact of proposed changes across different technologies and tariff bands. This did not include a breakdown by region.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Peter Kyle on 2015-10-22.
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, when her Department plans to publish its response to its consultation on feed-in tariffs.
Andrea Leadsom
DECC is aiming to publish its response to this consultation later this year.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Peter Kyle on 2015-10-26.
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, how many 19 to 24 year olds who already had a Level 3 qualification on the regulated qualifications framework started a Level 2 apprenticeship framework in 2013-14.
Nick Boles
Information on 19 to 24 years olds who completed a Level 3 qualification on the Regulated Qualifications Framework prior to starting a Level 2 Apprenticeship in 2013/14 is not available.