Tag: Robert Buckland

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Robert Buckland on 2014-06-16.

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, when his Department plans to publish the terms of reference for its review of the resolution of disagreements for people with education, health and care needs under the Children and Families Act 2014.

Mr Edward Timpson

The Department for Education, in consultation with the Ministry of Justice and others, is in the process of developing proposals for the review of redress and complaint arrangements for children and young people with special educational needs and disabilities. The review will consider:

1. Whether the amended mediation arrangements set out in the Act provide parents and young people with a way of having their complaints considered in a holistic way and whether they reduce the number of appeals to tribunals.
2. How successful the new assessment and EHC planning process itself is at resolving disagreements.
3. If health and social care complaint arrangements are working for parents and young people.
4. What role the Tribunal might play in hearing appeals and complaints across education, health and social care.

Running parallel to the review will be pilots to test an expansion of the powers of the first tier tribunal to make recommendations about the health and social care elements of EHC Plans. We estimate that the pilots will begin in the spring of 2015 as the first appeals about the new Education, Health and Care Plans begin to be heard and that the pilots will last for two years as they build up the evidence on which to base any recommendations.

The Secretary of State for Education and the Lord Chancellor must lay a report on the outcome of the review before Parliament within three years of any of the provisions of Part 3 of the Children and Families Act 2014 coming into force in September 2014. Interim findings from the pilots could be published before the final report on the review.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Robert Buckland on 2014-06-16.

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, when his Department’s review of arrangements for complaints and redress for people with education, health and care needs under the Children and Families Act 2014 will commence.

Mr Edward Timpson

The Department for Education, in consultation with the Ministry of Justice and others, is in the process of developing proposals for the review of redress and complaint arrangements for children and young people with special educational needs and disabilities. The review will consider:

1. Whether the amended mediation arrangements set out in the Act provide parents and young people with a way of having their complaints considered in a holistic way and whether they reduce the number of appeals to tribunals.
2. How successful the new assessment and EHC planning process itself is at resolving disagreements.
3. If health and social care complaint arrangements are working for parents and young people.
4. What role the Tribunal might play in hearing appeals and complaints across education, health and social care.

Running parallel to the review will be pilots to test an expansion of the powers of the first tier tribunal to make recommendations about the health and social care elements of EHC Plans. We estimate that the pilots will begin in the spring of 2015 as the first appeals about the new Education, Health and Care Plans begin to be heard and that the pilots will last for two years as they build up the evidence on which to base any recommendations.

The Secretary of State for Education and the Lord Chancellor must lay a report on the outcome of the review before Parliament within three years of any of the provisions of Part 3 of the Children and Families Act 2014 coming into force in September 2014. Interim findings from the pilots could be published before the final report on the review.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Robert Buckland on 2014-06-04.

To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what assessment he has made of levels of public confidence in complaints systems across public services.

Mr Francis Maude

The Government is considering recent reports of the Public Administration Select Committee (PASC) into how complaints about public services are handled. As part of this, the Cabinet Office is working to investigate further how public services can make best use of complaints and also to take a wider look at the role and powers of the Public Sector Ombudsmen. The Government will respond to the PASC in due course. I am happy to discuss this matter further with my Hon. Friend.

The annual reports and accounts of the public service ombudsmen in the UK provide details of their performance over the past 12 months including information about complaints received.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Robert Buckland on 2014-06-16.

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, when his Department plans to publish further details of its review of resolution of disagreements for people with education, health and care needs under the Children and Families Act 2014.

Mr Edward Timpson

The Department for Education, in consultation with the Ministry of Justice and others, is in the process of developing proposals for the review of redress and complaint arrangements for children and young people with special educational needs and disabilities. The review will consider:

1. Whether the amended mediation arrangements set out in the Act provide parents and young people with a way of having their complaints considered in a holistic way and whether they reduce the number of appeals to tribunals.
2. How successful the new assessment and EHC planning process itself is at resolving disagreements.
3. If health and social care complaint arrangements are working for parents and young people.
4. What role the Tribunal might play in hearing appeals and complaints across education, health and social care.

Running parallel to the review will be pilots to test an expansion of the powers of the first tier tribunal to make recommendations about the health and social care elements of EHC Plans. We estimate that the pilots will begin in the spring of 2015 as the first appeals about the new Education, Health and Care Plans begin to be heard and that the pilots will last for two years as they build up the evidence on which to base any recommendations.

The Secretary of State for Education and the Lord Chancellor must lay a report on the outcome of the review before Parliament within three years of any of the provisions of Part 3 of the Children and Families Act 2014 coming into force in September 2014. Interim findings from the pilots could be published before the final report on the review.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Robert Buckland on 2014-06-04.

To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, if he will assess the potential merits of introducing an automatic trigger for inspections of individual public services when a certain number of people using that service have made complaints about it.

Mr Francis Maude

The Government is considering recent reports of the Public Administration Select Committee (PASC) into how complaints about public services are handled. As part of this, the Cabinet Office is working to investigate further how public services can make best use of complaints and also to take a wider look at the role and powers of the Public Sector Ombudsmen. The Government will respond to the PASC in due course. I am happy to discuss this matter further with my Hon. Friend.

The annual reports and accounts of the public service ombudsmen in the UK provide details of their performance over the past 12 months including information about complaints received.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Robert Buckland on 2014-06-16.

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, when his Department will publish further information on pilots testing the role of the Special Educational Needs and Disability Tribunal in making recommendations on the health and social care aspects of Education, Health and Care Plans.

Mr Edward Timpson

The Department for Education, in consultation with the Ministry of Justice and others, is in the process of developing proposals for the review of redress and complaint arrangements for children and young people with special educational needs and disabilities. The review will consider:

1. Whether the amended mediation arrangements set out in the Act provide parents and young people with a way of having their complaints considered in a holistic way and whether they reduce the number of appeals to tribunals.
2. How successful the new assessment and EHC planning process itself is at resolving disagreements.
3. If health and social care complaint arrangements are working for parents and young people.
4. What role the Tribunal might play in hearing appeals and complaints across education, health and social care.

Running parallel to the review will be pilots to test an expansion of the powers of the first tier tribunal to make recommendations about the health and social care elements of EHC Plans. We estimate that the pilots will begin in the spring of 2015 as the first appeals about the new Education, Health and Care Plans begin to be heard and that the pilots will last for two years as they build up the evidence on which to base any recommendations.

The Secretary of State for Education and the Lord Chancellor must lay a report on the outcome of the review before Parliament within three years of any of the provisions of Part 3 of the Children and Families Act 2014 coming into force in September 2014. Interim findings from the pilots could be published before the final report on the review.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Robert Buckland on 2014-06-04.

To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, if he will assess the potential merits of allowing designated bodies to be given the power to make super-complaints against public service providers such as those that exist in private markets.

Mr Francis Maude

The Government is considering recent reports of the Public Administration Select Committee (PASC) into how complaints about public services are handled. As part of this, the Cabinet Office is working to investigate further how public services can make best use of complaints and also to take a wider look at the role and powers of the Public Sector Ombudsmen. The Government will respond to the PASC in due course. I am happy to discuss this matter further with my Hon. Friend.

The annual reports and accounts of the public service ombudsmen in the UK provide details of their performance over the past 12 months including information about complaints received.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Robert Buckland on 2014-06-16.

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what assessment he has made of the progress made by the President of Iran towards granting greater civil rights to religious minorities; and if he will make a statement.

Hugh Robertson

The UK welcomed President Rouhani’s comments in 2013 that all Iranians, including religious minorities, should “feel justice.” Unfortunately, there has been little noticeable change in the approach taken by Iran’s security and judicial authorities.

The UK has repeatedly called on the Iranian government to end all persecution of individuals on the basis of their faith, and to guarantee the human rights of all Iranians.