Tag: Roberta Blackman-Woods

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Roberta Blackman-Woods on 2016-02-11.

To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, whether it is his policy that his Department’s changes to security of tenure for council tenants will apply to (a) the tenancies of existing tenants and (b) existing tenants when they transfer to a new local authority property; and when he plans that those changes will come into effect.

Brandon Lewis

The changes will not apply to existing lifetime tenants who remain in their own home.

If tenants are required to move home by their landlord, for example to allow demolition and regeneration work to take place, they will be granted a tenancy with no less security in their new home.

Where existing lifetime tenants seek to transfer, local authorities will retain a discretion to offer the tenant a further lifetime tenancy in their new home. We will set out the circumstances in which local authorities may exercise this discretion in regulations. We expect these will include where tenants downsize into a smaller home or move for work.

We expect that the provisions will come into force early next year, subject to passage of the Bill and implementation of the regulations.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Roberta Blackman-Woods on 2016-09-02.

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps her Department is taking to ensure that the recent reduction in the number of school nurses does not affect the standard of sex and relationship education in schools.

Edward Timpson

The government believes that all children should have the opportunity to receive a high quality and appropriate sex and relationship education (SRE). SRE is compulsory in all maintained secondary schools, and many primary schools also teach it in an age-appropriate way. Academies do not have to teach SRE but many choose to do so as part of their statutory duty to provide a broad and balanced curriculum.

Schools and teachers should decide what to teach based on their pupils’ needs, and taking account of pupil and parent views. Teachers are encouraged to develop their practice with the support of specialist organisations and expert professionals, as they deem appropriate, and schools work with a number of partners to deliver SRE in schools.

Since April 2013, Local Authorities have been responsible for public health locally, including school nursing, and decisions should be based around local needs. According to NHS Digital there are 1,100 qualified school nurses (Specialist Community Public Health Nurses) in England and the workforce numbers have remained relatively stable over the last few years. More information can be found at: http://digital.nhs.uk/searchcatalogue?productid=21584&topics=0%2fWorkforce&sort=Relevance&size=10&page=1#top

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The below Parliamentary question was asked by Roberta Blackman-Woods on 2016-03-10.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, pursuant to the Answers of 23 February 2016 to Questions 27190, 27129, 27130 and 27131, what the nature and scope of the review of the Collective Passport Service is; which stakeholders and officials have been engaged on that review; when she plans to inform hon. Members about that review; when that review will be completed; and when the outcome of that review will be known.

James Brokenshire

As stated in my reply on 23 February 2016 an announcement will be made shortly.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Roberta Blackman-Woods on 2016-09-02.

To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what discussions his Department has had with the Department for Work and Pensions on proposed changes to housing benefit and the exemption of supported housing.

Gavin Barwell

DCLG is working closely with the Department of Work and Pensions, and with the supported housing sector and other partners to develop a sustainable and workable future for supported housing.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Roberta Blackman-Woods on 2016-03-24.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what plans her Department has for future provision of the collective passport service.

James Brokenshire

As indicated in my replies of 23 February 2016 [27190] and 15 March 2016 [30705], a review on the future use of the Collective passport is underway. The outcome of that review will be announced on completion of stakeholder engagement.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Roberta Blackman-Woods on 2016-10-17.

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether her Department has made an assessment of the number of skilled construction apprenticeships required to ensure that there is sufficient capacity to build new homes.

Robert Halfon

It is for individual businesses to determine how they meet the skills challenges arising from the Government’s ambitious home building programme.

Our reforms to apprenticeships will be a key tool to enable employers to meet their skills needs and the construction sector is currently developing a range of apprenticeship standards as part of the reform process.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Roberta Blackman-Woods on 2016-03-24.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what plans her Department has for future provision of the collective passport service.

James Brokenshire

As indicated in my replies of 23 February 2016 [27190] and 15 March 2016 [30705], a review on the future use of the Collective passport is underway. The outcome of that review will be announced on completion of stakeholder engagement.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Roberta Blackman-Woods on 2016-10-17.

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if she will take steps to introduce monitoring mechanisms to ensure that increased numbers of construction industry apprenticeships do not have an effect on the quality of apprenticeship training.

Robert Halfon

The training that is delivered for apprentices is monitored by Ofsted and the Skills Funding Agency, which set minimum standards for achievement rates. Both organisations have intervention regimes in place if training falls short of minimum requirements.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Roberta Blackman-Woods on 2016-04-08.

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, whether prisons record whether inmates are registered as organ donors; and what protocols are in place for donation of organs after a death in custody.

Andrew Selous

The decision to be an organ donor is for prisoners to discuss with their next of kin and to decide whether they wish to add their name to the National Organ Donor Register. Organ donation by prisoners who are transferred to hospital prior to death may be considered in certain clinical circumstances and providing that it does not affect any coroner investigation.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Roberta Blackman-Woods on 2016-10-14.

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if she will make it her policy to put in place high-quality three year apprenticeships in (a) bricklaying, (b) plastering and (c) other essential construction trades.

Robert Halfon

The current apprenticeships programme has a clear emphasis on improving quality.

There are apprenticeship standards in development for both plastering and bricklaying, and both are intended to be three years in duration. We have a further 25 construction apprenticeship standards in development. We are working with the construction sector to ensure that these apprenticeships are relevant, robust, high-quality and are of sufficient duration for the apprentice to be competent in their chosen occupation.