The below Parliamentary question was asked by Royston Smith on 2016-10-19.
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many grammar schools have sought to end selective admissions under sections 104 to 109 of the School Standards and Framework Act 1998.
Nick Gibb
The Department does not routinely collect data on significant changes to schools but we are not aware of any grammar schools that have sought to remove selection under the provisions mentioned.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Royston Smith on 2015-11-23.
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, if he will take steps to maintain the in-year budget for public health provision allocated by Southampton City Council.
Jane Ellison
On 4 June as part of wider Government action on deficit reduction announced by the Chancellor, the Department was asked to deliver in year savings of £200 million in 2015/16 through reductions to the Public Health Grant to local authorities.
The Department launched a consultation exercise on 31 July to engage with local authorities on how best to deliver these savings in a way that minimises any impact on services. As a result of the consultation, 6.19% savings was applied to all local authorities in year public health budgets.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Royston Smith on 2016-03-04.
To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, with reference to the Prime Minister’s announcement of 10 January 2016, Prime Minister pledges to transform sink estates, what progress has been made since that announcement on the estates regeneration programme.
Brandon Lewis
Work has progressed well since the announcement. The Advisory Panel, which the noble Lord, the rt. hon. Lord Heseltine and I jointly chair, has been set up and is already engaging with the key issues and will be undertaking a planned programme of site visits across the country. The Government has issued a Statement inviting expressions of interest from prospective estates; proposals are being received and considered by the Government’s advisory team.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Royston Smith on 2016-03-08.
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, if he will estimate the proportion of people in Southampton, Itchen constituency who consume more than the recommended daily alcohol intake.
Jane Ellison
The information requested is not held centrally.
Public Health England, Local Alcohol Profiles for England (LAPE) provides local data alongside national comparisons to support local health improvements. The latest LAPE data can be found at:
http://fingertips.phe.org.uk/profile/local-alcohol-profiles
“
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Royston Smith on 2016-03-21.
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps his Department is taking to ensure that rules relating to under-occupancy do not affect households in which couples have to sleep in separate rooms due to medical appliances.
Justin Tomlinson
The High Court and Court of Appeal have accepted that disability, including situations where medical equipment is being used, does not necessarily prevent couples from being able to share a bedroom. Because of this administering a blanket exemption would be extremely difficult.
In addition, an enhanced package of Discretionary Housing Payment funding (£870 million over 5 years) will enable Local Authorities to provide support to the most vulnerable claimants.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Royston Smith on 2016-03-21.
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps her Department is taking to ensure that supply teachers are trained to an appropriate standard in the subjects they teach.
Nick Gibb
The qualifications of supply teachers are currently governed by the same regulations as teachers employed by schools.
In maintained schools, teachers must hold Qualified Teacher Status (QTS) except those who satisfy the requirements for non-qualified teachers to carry out specified work set out in the Education (Specified Work) (England) Regulations 2012, for example, instructors with special qualifications or experience. Academies and Free Schools can employ teaching staff without the automatic requirement for them to hold QTS. This applies equally to supply teachers and teachers employed by schools.
To be awarded QTS, a teacher must demonstrate that they meet all of the Teachers’ Standards at the appropriate level. This includes a requirement to “demonstrate good subject and curriculum knowledge” and to have “a secure knowledge of the relevant subject(s) and curriculum areas” relevant to their teaching.
Our recent White Paper, Educational Excellence Everywhere, set out our proposals to reform the way in which teachers qualify, by replacing the existing arrangements for QTS with a new, more challenging accreditation. This will be based on a teacher’s demonstration of proficiency in the classroom over a sustained period, rather than being awarded at the end of initial teacher training. It will require teachers to demonstrate advanced subject knowledge and an awareness of how evidence and research should inform effective teaching practice. The award of the new qualification will be confirmed by heads of some of our best schools, ensuring the consistency and quality of teacher accreditation. We will be publishing further information about how we intend to implement this reform in due course.
Head teachers are, and will remain, responsible for the employment of teaching staff in their schools; this includes satisfying themselves that the teacher is suitably qualified, and providing appropriate training opportunities.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Royston Smith on 2016-03-24.
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, pursuant to the Answer of 16 March 2016 to Question 30139, what steps she plans to take to expand grant funding projects to other local authorities to support young carers under the age of 16, similar to that provided by Suffolk family carers.
Edward Timpson
My Department will make decisions about grant funding for further work to support young carers on the basis of:
the quantitative research report on young carers in England;
the evaluation reports of the programmes of work carried out by Suffolk Family Carers and Carers Trust; and
evidence submitted to the Government’s carers strategy call for evidence https://consultations.dh.gov.uk/carers/how-can-we-improve-support-for-carers
The research and evaluation reports are due this year.
“
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Royston Smith on 2016-04-13.
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what proportion of adults in Southampton have been diagnosed with dementia in each of the last 10 years.
Jane Ellison
Information is not available in the format requested.
The number of people recorded on the practice dementia disease register is available in the Quality and Outcomes Framework, published by the Health and Social Care Information Centre, from 2006/07, when dementia indicators were introduced into the framework. The proportion of patients diagnosed is not available but the numbers of people on the dementia register are available. This is a measure of prevalence rather than incidence.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Royston Smith on 2016-04-25.
To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what steps he plans to take to provide information to enable future planning by supported housing providers during the next 12 months.
Brandon Lewis
The supported housing sector provides valuable support to some of our country’s most vulnerable people and we recognise the important role that it plays.
We are currently undertaking an evidence review of the supported housing sector, which is due to report shortly. We will work with the sector as part of developing a long-term sustainable funding regime.
In the meantime, we have put in place a one-year exception for all supported accommodation from the social rent reduction policy and from the Local Housing Allowance cap.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Royston Smith on 2016-06-06.
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what the Government’s policy is on the use of child advocates to support social workers working with unaccompanied migrant children.
Karen Bradley
Unaccompanied migrant children are looked after by local authorities, which provide social work support and access to legal representation. Such children are also referred to the Refugee Council’s Children’s Panel for specialist support.
In addition, the Government ran a trial of independent child trafficking advocates from 8 September 2014 for a period of 12 months across 23 local authorities in England. The trial provided a valuable contribution to our understanding of this area of work and we are currently working with a broad range of interested parties as well as Parliamentarians to further develop our thinking so that we ensure we support trafficked children appropriately. We will update Parliament in due course.