Tag: Roger Godsiff

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Roger Godsiff on 2016-02-19.

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if her Department will hold a consultation on changing the School Admissions Code to require religiously selective schools to prioritise all looked-after children and previously looked-after children in their admission arrangements in addition to such children of the same denomination of such schools.

Nick Gibb

Admission authorities for all state-funded schools, including schools with a religious character, are required to comply with the School Admissions Code. This includes a requirement that ‘parents should be able to look at a set of arrangements and understand easily how places for that school will be allocated’.

We support the right of schools with a religious designation to prioritise children of their faith. The code requires such schools, as a minimum, to prioritise looked after and previously looked after children of their faith ahead of other children. We have no plans to change this requirement.

The code can only be applied to bodies within the education sector. It cannot place requirements upon religious bodies. It does, however, require that when schools with a religious designation adopt admission criteria which prioritise children based on their faith, the schools must take account of religious activities as laid out by their religious authority.

Compliance with the code is enforced by the Schools Adjudicator. Where an objection is made and the adjudicator finds that the arrangements are unclear, unfair, or that they otherwise fail to comply with the code, the admission authority is required by law to change the policy.

The Government will shortly consult on a package of changes to the code which will both respond to the findings within the Chief Adjudicator’s Annual Reports and concerns raised by parents. That package will include measures to improve fairness and transparency.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Roger Godsiff on 2016-02-29.

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps her Department is taking to ensure that children from the poorest families have not fallen behind their peers when they start school.

Mr Sam Gyimah

We want every child, regardless of birth or background, to fulfil their full potential. Good quality early education can positively affect a child’s later attainment, which is why local authorities in England have a legal duty to ensure all three- and four-year-olds and the most disadvantaged two-year-olds are able to take up a funded early education place free of charge.

Each eligible child is entitled to 570 hours of free early learning a year, equivalent to 15 hours a week of early education for 38 weeks per year. Government figures show 99% of four-year-olds and 96% of three-year-olds are accessing free childcare. Survey findings also indicate 70% of disadvantaged two year-olds are taking up the offer.

The early years pupil premium, which was introduced in April last year, provides nurseries and schools delivering the early education entitlement for three- and four-year-olds with an extra 53p an hour for each eligible child to help them improve the outcomes of disadvantaged children and close the gap in school readiness between disadvantaged children and their peers.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Roger Godsiff on 2016-03-11.

To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, if he will make an assessment of the implications for his policies on making country-by-country tax reports public of the survey results published by Christian Aid in September 2015 on the attitudes of FTSE100 companies to that issue.

Mr David Gauke

The UK supports efforts to improve tax transparency. We initiated the international work on country-by-country (CbC) reporting to tax authorities during our G8 Presidency in 2013, calling on the OECD to develop a template for this as part of the BEPS project.

The UK was also the first to commit to implementing the OECD model with legislation in Finance Act 2015. We signed the OECD agreement to share the CbC reports with other tax authorities in January 2016 and issued our final CbC reporting regulations on 26 February 2016.

The Government believes that there is scope for greater transparency by pressing the case for public CbC reporting on a multilateral basis. As the Chancellor has said, this is something that the UK will seek to promote internationally.

The European Commission is preparing an impact assessment of public CbC reporting. We look forward to seeing the outcome of this analysis, which we expect to be published early next month, and will consider any proposal put forward by the Commission in due course.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Roger Godsiff on 2016-03-24.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, if his Department will meet with NICE, NHS England and Vertex to discuss the provision on the NHS of the drug Orkambi to treat cystic fibrosis.

George Freeman

The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) is currently consulting on its draft technology appraisal guidance on the use of Orkambi (lumacaftor in combination with ivacaftor) for the treatment of cystic fibrosis in people who are homozygous for the F508del mutation. Stakeholders, including the Department, NHS England and the manufacturer, Vertex Pharmaceuticals, now have an opportunity to comment on this draft guidance.

Departmental officials remain ready to discuss any proposals from the company that could enable National Health Service patients to access the drug at a cost-effective price.

NICE expects to publish its final guidance in July 2016.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Roger Godsiff on 2016-04-15.

To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, when the Government plans to bring forward legislative proposals for the transition to a zero-carbon economy.

Andrea Leadsom

The Government believes we will need to take the step of enshrining the global goal of net zero greenhouse gas emissions, reached at the UN climate summit at the end of 2015, into UK law. The question is not whether but how we do it. As a first step, our independent advisors, the Committee on Climate Change, is looking at the implications of the commitments in Paris, including the zero carbon emissions goal. It has said that it will report in the autumn. We will consider carefully the recommendations of the Committee.

This Government is committed to the Climate Change Act and the target of at least an 80% reduction in greenhouse gas emissions by 2050. Our priority this year is setting the fifth carbon budget (covering the period 2028-32) by the end of June and developing our plan on how we will meet our existing targets. We are clear that this must be done while keeping our energy supply safe and costs as low as possible for hardworking families and businesses.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Roger Godsiff on 2016-05-18.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what assessment he has made of the effect of the changes to junior doctors’ contracts and NHS working patterns on hospices and other institutions providing end of life care.

Ben Gummer

Most junior doctors working in hospices do so as either a volunteer or as part of their training placement with a National Health Service trust or foundation trust, who under the new contract will appoint a guardian of safe working hours.

It was also agreed in the May negotiations that non-hospital employers with fewer than 10 trainees (this could include palliative care) must contract the guardian of safe working hours at a neighbouring NHS trust to oversee the safe working of trainees.

The trainees affected by these arrangements will be represented in the Junior Doctor Forum and the Guardian must either be familiar with the issues face by the trainees working in the relevant setting or have access to support and advice on such issues.

Hospices will decide locally how to deploy trainee doctors and on-call arrangements.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Roger Godsiff on 2016-06-29.

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what guidance he has issued to officials of his Department on processing disability benefit claims from people who are on the organ transplant waiting list.

Justin Tomlinson

Personal Independence Payment (PIP) assesses how the condition affects the individual, not the condition itself.

The average clearance time for PIP new claims is 13 weeks from the point of registration to a decision being made. PIP claims for terminally ill claimants who are not expected to live for more than six months are fast-tracked and processed within an average of 6 working days.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Roger Godsiff on 2016-09-02.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what proportion of GDP the Government plans to spend on health care in each of the next four years.

Mr Philip Dunne

Spend as a percentage of Gross Domestic Product (GDP) is stated on United Kingdom public expenditure figures and is produced by HM Treasury. The Department of Health is responsible for reporting on health spend in England and is not in a position to provide equivalent spend figures for health by the devolved administrations in future years.

The Spending Review settlement, delivered by the Chancellor in November 2015, set the Department’s overall budget for the remaining years of the parliament and the level of funding that will be available to the National Health Service. It set absolute spending totals, not spending as a percentage of GDP, providing certainty for financial planning over the period, according to the plans set out by the NHS itself, in the 5 Year Forward View.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Roger Godsiff on 2016-09-14.

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, whether the UK will support an independent, international investigation into alleged breaches of international humanitarian law in Yemen at the Human Rights Council.

Mr Tobias Ellwood

We are pleased that we could reach a strong consensus Yemen resolution at the Human Rights Council. It is vital that the international community continues to be active in supporting efforts to improve the human rights situation in Yemen.

The Government is not opposing calls for an international independent investigation, but, first and foremost, we want to see the Saudis investigate allegations of breaches of international humanitarian law (IHL) which are attributed to them; and for their investigations to be thorough and conclusive. Saudi Arabia has publicly stated that it is investigating reports of alleged violations of IHL, and that any lessons learned will be acted upon.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Roger Godsiff on 2016-10-07.

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment she has made of the effect of removing the 50 per cent cap on religious selection in free schools on religious tolerance and integration.

Caroline Dinenage

All schools must promote religious tolerance and integration whatever their character and ethos. The Department is currently consulting on proposals to replace the 50% cap on faith admissions in faith free schools with new measures to better promote inclusivity and community cohesion. The proposed measures, alongside existing requirements to promote fundamental British values, will apply to all new faith free schools with 100% faith admissions and help ensure that pupils are prepared for life in modern Britain. The consultation document is available at: https://consult.education.gov.uk/school-frameworks/schools-that-work-for-everyone

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