Tag: Royston Smith

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Royston Smith on 2016-03-04.

To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what steps he is taking to improve (a) productivity across the Civil Service and (b) efficient use of office space.

Matthew Hancock

Improving the efficiency and productivity of the public sector is central to the work of the Cabinet Office. By 2014/15 the Government had saved £18.6 billion through efficiency and reform, and tackling fraud, error and uncollected debt (against a 2009/10 baseline).

The Government Hubs programme will reduce the government office estate from around 800 buildings to around 200 by 2023 and generate savings of over £2bn over ten years.

This is being supported by a smart working revolution to transform how and where civil servants work. In line with what many private sector organisations have achieved, we expect this to increase productivity, reduce costs, improve wellbeing, and contribute to wider objectives such as localism, sustainability, and reducing pressure on the transport system.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Royston Smith on 2016-03-08.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, if he will ensure that (a) training and (b) emotional support is given to carers who work in residential homes.

Alistair Burt

Improving the capability of the care workforce through continued skills development is a vital investment in the future. This applies to the workforce as a whole but is particularly important for those working in residential homes.

Ultimately, it is the responsibility of employers to ensure their staff are suitably trained and appropriately supported to undertake the roles for which they are employed.

The Department is working closely with our delivery partners to support employers in improving the level of skills of the workforce and is spending significant levels of funding to support this work.

The introduction of the Care Certificate is delivering specific standards for the training of new care workers.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Royston Smith on 2016-03-21.

To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, what steps her Department is taking to ensure that the UK meets its renewed target of zero carbon emissions by 2050.

Andrea Leadsom

The Government believes we will need to take the step of enshrining the global goal of net zero greenhouse gas emissions in the second half of the century, agreed in Paris, into UK law. The question is not whether but how we do it.

The Government also remains committed to its existing Climate Change Act target of an at least 80% reduction in greenhouse gas emissions by 2050 on 1990 levels. Our working assumption is that we will publish our Emissions Reduction Plan by the end of 2016, which will set out our proposals for meeting our Climate Change Act targets.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Royston Smith on 2016-03-21.

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment she has made of the role of the local authority in terms of (a) child protection, (b) safeguarding and (c) other duties for schools which become academies; and who will finance those roles.

Edward Timpson

Local authorities’ responsibilities in relation to child protection and safeguarding are unaffected by schools becoming academies, as they are not dependent on the type of school which a child attends. Details of the role we expect local authorities to play are set out in the statutory guidance “Working together to safeguard children 2015”[1]. Ofsted also inspects local authorities’ children’s social care services against the rigorous ‘Single Inspection Framework’, which includes a review of the effectiveness of the Local Safeguarding Children Board.

The White Paper, Educational Excellence Everywhere,[2] sets out the education functions which we expect local authorities to provide when schools have become academies. These are focussed on supporting the interests of pupils and parents rather than services related to maintaining schools.

Local authority funding for children’s social care is administered by the Department for Communities and Local Government. As part of our ongoing National Funding Formula consultation[3], we are proposing to create a new central schools block, which will fund a range of education services that local authorities carry out for all pupils and parents, regardless of whether they are in a maintained school or an academy.

[1]https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/419595/Working_Together_to_Safeguard_Children.pdf

[2]https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/508447/Educational_Excellence_Everywhere.pdf

[3] https://consult.education.gov.uk/funding-policy-unit/schools-national-funding-formula

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The below Parliamentary question was asked by Royston Smith on 2016-03-24.

To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, pursuant to the Answer of 21 March 2016 to Question 30272, what account he has made of the effect on economic growth of the recent reduction in fuel duty.

Damian Hinds

The Government took into account a wide number of factors when considering the impact of freezing fuel duty at Budget 2016, including the impact on growth. HMRC/HM Treasury analysis published in 2014 can be found here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/analysis-of-the-dynamic-effects-of-fuel-duty-reductions

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The below Parliamentary question was asked by Royston Smith on 2016-04-13.

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what her policy is on whether academies will be able to employ unqualified teachers when all schools become academies.

Edward Timpson

Since August 2012, the funding agreements for all new academies has given the academy trust the freedom to employ anyone it believes is suitably qualified or is otherwise eligible to plan and prepare lessons and courses for pupils, teach pupils, and assess and report on pupils’ development, progress and attainment. Academies set up prior to this date can apply to the Education Funding Agency to have their funding agreement amended.

As set out in our White Paper, Educational Excellence Everywhere, we will replace Qualified Teacher Status (QTS) with a stronger, more challenging accreditation based on a teacher’s effectiveness in the classroom, as judged by great schools. This new accreditation will raise the quality and status of the teaching profession, better recognising advanced subject knowledge and pedagogy that is rooted in up-to-date evidence, ensuring the highest quality of teaching is paramount to the success of each school. Headteachers know this, which is why we trust them to employ staff that they believe to be best qualified for the job – including whether to make this accreditation a mandatory requirement or not, considering how to weigh it against other qualifications and experience the potential teacher may bring.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Royston Smith on 2016-04-19.

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what his policy is on whether drivers who are waiting for medical tests to confirm whether they are safe to drive should retain their licence in the meantime.

Andrew Jones

Drivers can retain their entitlement to drive while medical investigations are ongoing, providing the licence has not been previously withdrawn on medical grounds and the driver is not a risk to road safety. Drivers are advised to check with their doctor or DVLA if they are unsure whether they should continue driving while their fitness to drive is being assessed.

Information about driving while waiting for an application to be processed is included on the driving licence application form.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Royston Smith on 2016-06-06.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what guidance her Department has issued to local authorities on the Psychoactive Substances Act 2016.

Karen Bradley

The Local Government Association (LGA) has worked in consultation with the Government to develop bespoke guidance for local authorities on the enforcement of the Psychoactive Substances Act 2016 and their new powers. This has been disseminated to local authorities across the country and is available at: http://www.local.gov.uk/web/guest/publications/-/journal_content/56/10180/7838372/PUBLICATION

In February, we held joint operational workshops with the National Police Chief’s Council for enforcement partners across the UK, including trading standards officers, to raise operational awareness of the Act.

We have also produced a forensic strategy for all enforcement partners on the new forensic requirements to support prosecutions under the Act.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Royston Smith on 2016-06-13.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what steps he is able to take to redistribute funding from clinical commissioning groups that are over their target allocation.

Alistair Burt

Responsibility for clinical commissioning group (CCG) allocations rests with NHS England rather than the Department, as set out in The Mandate. These decisions have been taken independently of Government, in order that such an important issue as funding is made objectively and free from perceived political considerations.

The funding allocated to all CCGs is based on the CCG allocations formula. This is based on advice provided by the Advisory Committee on Resource Allocation (ACRA). ACRA is an independent committee and reports jointly to the Secretary of State for Health (in regard to public health allocations) and NHS England in regard to CCG and primary care allocations.

In regards to determining how quickly to move CCGs from their current allocation to the target allocation determined by the allocations formula, NHS England’s objective is to reduce the ‘distance from target’ so that areas furthest below their target allocation receive the biggest increases, and areas above their target consequently receive smaller increases. This difference in the size of increases is a judgement – it is important to ensure service stability for those areas above target, and that increases for under target areas are not so large that resources are not used efficiently. The approach also takes account of the distance from target in each area for primary care and specialised services so that the overall funding position for the area is taken into account.

NHS England recently published a technical guide to allocations which sets out all the individual factors used in determining the allocation levels. The guide is available here:

https://www.england.nhs.uk/2016/04/allocations-tech-guide-16-17/#

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The below Parliamentary question was asked by Royston Smith on 2016-07-07.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what plans he has to renew or update the cardiovascular disease outcomes strategy.

Jane Ellison

NHS England continues to support implementation of the action points listed in the Cardiovascular Disease (CVD) Outcomes Strategy: it has no plans to renew or update it. It is working closely with Public Health England (PHE) on a range of preventative issues which support implementation of the strategy and promote wider improvement in outcomes.

In addition to CVD work undertaken by Right Care and as part of the Urgent and Emergency Care Review, NHS England also hosts a collaborative group which brings together the relevant National Clinical Directors, the main relevant national charities, the National CVD Intelligence Network, PHE and the Department. This collaborative group continues to work together to reduce premature mortality in both primary and secondary care settings in relation to people with, or at risk of having, CVD.