Tag: Royston Smith

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Royston Smith on 2016-03-23.

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment her Department has made of the effect of pupil premium on ensuring children who are classed as behind reach their expected grades at Key Stages 1 to 4.

Mr Sam Gyimah

The Government is determined to deliver educational excellence everywhere so that every child, regardless of background, reaches their full potential.

Information on the proportion of low achieving disadvantaged pupils reaching the expected standard at key stage 4 is available from the KS2-4 transition matrices for disadvantaged pupils[1] on RAISEonline. These show progression from sub-levels at key stage 2 to grades at key stage 4 for a range of subjects, for both disadvantaged and other pupils. Similar information is not published regularly for progression between other key stages.

In 2015 the National Audit Office and the Public Accounts Committee reviewed the pupil premium and concluded that while it is too early to assess the full impact of the funding, there is evidence that the attainment gap between disadvantaged pupils and their peers has started to narrow.

The Department for Education’s gap index provides a more accurate measure over time in light of changes to assessments. It shows that attainment has risen and the attainment gap between disadvantaged pupils and their peers has narrowed – by 7.1 per cent at key stage 2 and 6.6 per cent at key stage 4 since 2011, the year the pupil premium was introduced.

This means better prospects and a more prosperous life as an adult for this group of pupils. But we refuse to accept second best for any young person, which is why we are continuing the pupil premium at current rates for the duration of this parliament, providing funding to support schools to continue improving outcomes for disadvantaged pupils.

[1] https://www.raiseonline.org/OpenDocument.aspx?document=381%20

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The below Parliamentary question was asked by Royston Smith on 2016-04-14.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what steps his Department is taking to tackle loneliness among people with autism.

Alistair Burt

Loneliness is a complex problem and affects people in many different ways. There is no single solution that can tackle loneliness and many of the solutions to combatting it lie within local communities. Examples of emerging practice are provided on the Social Care Institute for Excellence Prevention Library.

The Prime Minister’s Challenge on Dementia 2020 set out a vision for a society where the public thinks and feels differently about dementia. It raises the importance of social action solutions such as peer support and befriending services which can also provide practical and emotional support to people with dementia and carers to reduce isolation and prevent crisis.

The Prime Minister’s 2020 Challenge, promotes dementia friendly communities, which are helping to support people with dementia to live more independent and fulfilling lives in their own communities, for longer. Currently, there are around 140 communities across England. Towns, cities and villages have signed up to Alzheimer’s Society’s foundation-stage recognition process for dementia friendly communities and there are over 1.5 million Dementia Friends.

The Cross Government Autism Strategy originally published as Fulfilling and Rewarding Lives in 2010 and updated as Think Autism in 2014 has done much to encourage innovation to break down social isolation by helping autistic people, their families and carers access health, social care, other public services, and peer support. Recently the Department has been working with the Autism Alliance UK, the largest network of autism charities, on the Connect to Autism project. It encourages local organisations, services and companies to become Autism Champions through training staff in autism awareness with a view to helping people who have autism overcome the anxiety and loneliness they can suffer in many everyday environments.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Royston Smith on 2016-05-23.

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what proportion of teachers who have participated in The Future Leaders Trust programmes in the last three years are now in senior leadership posts.

Nick Gibb

The Department currently funds two training programmes delivered by the Future Leaders Trust (FLT): the High Potential Senior Leaders programme and the Talented Leaders Programme.

94% of teachers who have participated in the High Potential Senior Leaders programme in the last three years are now in headship or senior leadership posts. This figure includes participants in their first, second or final year of the programme.

In August 2014, FLT was awarded the contract to deliver the Talented Leaders Programme. The first cohort in 2015 was made up of 16 participants. As of May 2016, 100% of these are still in post as head teachers.

FLT also delivered a pilot programme of the Multi-Academy Trusts (MAT) CEO course for 23 participants. Recent analysis shows that all participants were still in leadership posts in MATs or similar educational organisations.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Royston Smith on 2016-06-08.

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps her Department is taking to enable environmental health officers to assess excessive noise in a neighbourhood on a daily basis.

Rory Stewart

Local authorities have a range of powers available to them to assess excessive noise from residential and commercial properties. These are set out in various pieces of legislation, including the Environmental Protection Act 1990 and Noise Act 1996.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Royston Smith on 2016-06-24.

To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what framework determines what will be included in the 2021 census.

Matthew Hancock

The information requested falls within the responsibility of the UK Statistics Authority. I have asked the Authority to reply.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Royston Smith on 2016-10-14.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how the proposed changes to university admissions for foreign students will be tailored to different (a) courses offered and (b) educational institutions.

Mr Robert Goodwill

The Government will shortly launch a consultation on the proposals announced by the Home Secretary. The consultation will include looking at whether our student immigration rules should be tailored to the quality of the institution.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Royston Smith on 2016-03-02.

To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what steps he plans to take in the forthcoming Charter Review to include the BBC within the remit of Freedom of Information legislation.

Mr Edward Vaizey

The BBC is currently subject to the Freedom of Information Act, with some exceptions. This issue is one of many we are looking at as part of Charter Review.

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

To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what steps his Department is taking to increase participation in the arts by people from low income backgrounds.

Mr Edward Vaizey

The Government is committed to ensuring that everyone has the opportunity to experience and participate in culture and the arts whatever their background and the Prime Minister acknowledged the importance of this in a speech in January 2016 on life chances. Government is maintaining the same level of funding for Arts Council England throughout the next spending period which will include support for arts programmes in areas where participation is low.

Arts Council England funds a number of community arts organisations that look to engage disadvantaged people, such as Cinderford Artspace and Helix Arts which focus on encouraging unemployed adults and employed people on low incomes to participate in the arts. Arts Council England also places responsibility on every funded organisation to make their programme of work more reflective of the communities they serve.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Royston Smith on 2016-03-11.

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps she is taking to encourage consumers to buy local produce.

George Eustice

The Great British Food Campaign celebrates the best of the UK’s food and drink, focusing particularly on our unique Protected Food Name products such as Traditionally Farmed Gloucestershire Old Spots Pork and Fenland Celery. Through Great British Food we aim to encourage consumers to think more carefully about the provenance of the food that they eat and to consider choosing innovative British produce as part of a balanced healthy diet.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Royston Smith on 2016-03-23.

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether his Department has made an assessment of the potential for driverless cars to increase energy efficiency.

Andrew Jones

Connected and autonomous vehicles could potentially have significant impacts on factors that affect the overall energy consumption and energy efficiency of road transport. The Department for Transport is currently conducting research to explore the energy impacts of connected and autonomous vehicles. This work is ongoing, and forms part of a much wider programme of research and development that the Government is supporting to examine the issues associated with these technologies. The Centre for Connected and Autonomous Vehicles also plans to do further research in this area.