The below Parliamentary question was asked by Sharon Hodgson on 2016-05-18.
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, how many enforcement cases have been taken by which local weights and measures authorities since Chapter 15 of the Consumer Rights Act 2015 came into force.
Nick Boles
This information is not held centrally.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Sharon Hodgson on 2015-11-13.
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what plans his Department has to assist and promote the UK video games industry in areas outside London.
Mr Edward Vaizey
The video games tax relief, launched in April 2014, is available to support video games productions based anywhere in the UK. Additionally, in October 2015 we launched our new £4m UK Games Fund to accelerate video games sector growth in all UK regions offering grants, mentoring and skills support for micro-businesses and SMEs. Of the first 24 successful grant applicants announced in February 2016, 18 were based outside London. Grant winning companies located in the North East of England for example included Coatsink Software in Sunderland, Nosebleed Interactive in Newcastle and Cardboard Sword and Double Eleven, both in Middlesbrough. The second call for applications is currently underway and closes on 18th April.
The UK Games Fund’s talent programme, Tranzfuser, is currently in development and will be working with a UK-wide network of regional hubs including Vector 76 in the North East of England, The Digital Creativity Hub in the North West and Sheffield Hallam University in South Yorkshire.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Sharon Hodgson on 2015-12-14.
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what steps he plans to take to increase the number of (a) clinical nurse specialist, (b) clinical oncology, (c) medical oncology, (d) medical physics and (e) therapy radiography training positions.
Jane Ellison
NHS England is currently working with partners across the health system to determine how best to take forward the recommendations in the independent Cancer Taskforce’s report, Achieving world-class cancer outcomes: a strategy for England 2015 to 2020, and has appointed Cally Palmer CBE as NHS National Cancer Director to lead on managing implementation. She is currently setting up a new Cancer Transformation Board to lead the roll-out of the recommendations of the new strategy, including on workforce, and a Cancer Advisory Group, chaired by Dr Harpal Kumar, Chief Executive of Cancer Research UK, will oversee and scrutinise their work.
We announced in September that Health Education England (HEE) is developing a new national training programme for an additional 200 staff to get the skills and expertise to carry out endoscopies by 2018. The content of the next mandate from the Government to HEE is currently being determined.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Sharon Hodgson on 2016-01-20.
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what data her Department publishes on the education achievements of children and young people with special educational needs, for each type of special educational need.
Edward Timpson
Information regarding the attainment of students with special educational needs (SEN) in England is broken down by type of SEN and published in the “Phonics screening check and key stage 1 assessment: England 2015”[1], “National curriculum assessments at key stage 2: 2015”[2] and “GCSE and equivalent results in England: 2015”[3] statistical first releases.
A wider summary of available SEN information is provided in “Special educational needs – an analysis and summary of data sources”[4]
Information on the average points score of students with a hearing impairment or the number that achieve three A* to A grades or better at A level is not held by the Department. The Department also does not hold information on the number of students with a hearing impairment who have not achieved a level 2 qualification in English by the age of 19.
Currently, there are no plans for the Department to publish A-level data split by type of special educational need or to collect additional data on the outcomes achieved by students who have a disability but not an identified special educational need, although this is reviewed every year as part of the collection process.
[1] Phonics and KS1 assessments for 2014/15: https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/phonics-screening-check-and-key-stage-1-assessments-england-2015
[2] KS2 for 2014/15: https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/national-curriculum-assessments-at-key-stage-2-2015-revised
[3] KS4 for 2014/15: https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/revised-gcse-and-equivalent-results-in-england-2014-to-2015
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The below Parliamentary question was asked by Sharon Hodgson on 2016-02-29.
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, pursuant to the Answer of 11 February 2016 to Question 25802, for what reasons her Department does not provide SEN or disability breakdowns in the revised A-level and other level 3 results in England statistical first release.
Edward Timpson
At present, this statistical first release only publishes data for A level and other Level 3 qualifications. Overall, the number of pupils with SEN and disabilities taking qualifications at this level is limited. Therefore, we have not deemed it appropriate to publish separate breakdowns for these groups given the small numbers involved. We will review this decision for future publications.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Sharon Hodgson on 2016-05-19.
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, when he plans to publish the responses received by the review on secondary ticketing as required by section 94 of the Consumer Rights Act 2015.
David Evennett
The plan is to publish responses to the Call for Evidence in due course.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Sharon Hodgson on 2015-11-13.
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, if his Department will fund the NextGen Skills Academy higher apprenticeships in order better to support games employers.
Nick Boles
We are introducing a UK-wide levy for all larger employers to help fund the increase in quantity and quality of apprenticeship training in England. The levy will put employers in charge of how and where apprenticeship budgets are spent by creating a fund which they can use to pay for external training for their apprentices.
As part of the apprenticeship reforms, employer-led Trailblazers are designing new apprenticeships to meet their skills needs. Over 1300 employers – including in the Digital Industries and Visual Effects sectors, such as Framestore – are currently involved in designing new apprenticeship standards. These include apprenticeships in occupations at a range of levels such as Digital & Technology Solutions Professional (L6); Software Developer (L4); Junior 2D Artist (Visual Effects) (L4); Games Quality Assurance Technician (L4) and Assistant Technical Director (Visual Effects) (L4).
The NextGen Skills Academy links to Amersham and Wycombe College and was awarded £2.7m of Employer Ownership Pilot funding for a 3 year project focusing on the VFX, animation and games industry in September 2014. The project is now led by Framestore and managed by the UK Commission for Employment and Skills.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Sharon Hodgson on 2015-12-14.
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what assessment he has made of the level of (a) current imaging capacity within the NHS and (b) imaging capacity required to meet the Independent Cancer Taskforce’s recommendation that all GPs have direct access to investigative tests by the end of 2015; and if he will make a statement.
George Freeman
The extension of direct access to diagnostic tests for primary care is an issue for clinical commissioning groups and local commissioners. Although the Independent Cancer Taskforce report did estimate that some additional diagnostic capacity was needed, it did not consider possible increases in capacity required specifically as a result of increasing general practitioner (GP) direct access to testing.
The Taskforce’s five-year strategy recommends improvements across the cancer pathway, with the aim of improving survival rates, and we will work with the NHS, charities and patient groups to deliver it. We have already announced funding of up to £300 million a year by 2020 to increase diagnostic capacity to meet the new target that patients will be given a definitive cancer diagnosis, or the all clear, within 28 days of being referred by a GP.
In addition, the recently updated National Institute for Health and Care Excellence referral guidelines for suspected cancer also recommend GPs refer direct-to-test in a number of different circumstances. The guidance is available at:
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The below Parliamentary question was asked by Sharon Hodgson on 2016-01-20.
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many deaf students achieved three A* to A grades or better in their A-levels in 2015.
Edward Timpson
Information regarding the attainment of students with special educational needs (SEN) in England is broken down by type of SEN and published in the “Phonics screening check and key stage 1 assessment: England 2015”[1], “National curriculum assessments at key stage 2: 2015”[2] and “GCSE and equivalent results in England: 2015”[3] statistical first releases.
A wider summary of available SEN information is provided in “Special educational needs – an analysis and summary of data sources”[4]
Information on the average points score of students with a hearing impairment or the number that achieve three A* to A grades or better at A level is not held by the Department. The Department also does not hold information on the number of students with a hearing impairment who have not achieved a level 2 qualification in English by the age of 19.
Currently, there are no plans for the Department to publish A-level data split by type of special educational need or to collect additional data on the outcomes achieved by students who have a disability but not an identified special educational need, although this is reviewed every year as part of the collection process.
[1] Phonics and KS1 assessments for 2014/15: https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/phonics-screening-check-and-key-stage-1-assessments-england-2015
[2] KS2 for 2014/15: https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/national-curriculum-assessments-at-key-stage-2-2015-revised
[3] KS4 for 2014/15: https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/revised-gcse-and-equivalent-results-in-england-2014-to-2015
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The below Parliamentary question was asked by Sharon Hodgson on 2016-03-17.
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, when her Department plans to announce national minimum fostering allowances for 2016-17.
Edward Timpson
The recommended national minimum allowance rates for fostering for 2016-17 will be published before the end of the financial year on GOV.UK.