Tag: Stephen Timms

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Stephen Timms on 2016-03-08.

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many qualified teachers returned to the teaching profession in each year since 2010.

Nick Gibb

The full-time equivalent number of qualified teachers returning to the state funded sector in each year from 2011 to 2014 is as follows:

	2011	2012	2013	2014
Returners to publicly funded sector[1][2]	11,710	12,940	13,990	14,100

The data can be found in Table C1b of the additional tables in the statistical first release ‘School Workforce in England, November 2014’, available at the following web link:

https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/school-workforce-in-england-november-2014

[1] Entrants with prior experience of teaching in the state funded sector.

[2] Figures are rounded to the nearest 10.

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The below Parliamentary question was asked by Stephen Timms on 2016-03-15.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what his policy is on maintaining the social work bursary; and if he will make a statement.

Alistair Burt

The Government is committed to ensuring a good supply of high quality social workers. This ambition will be achieved through a range of different training initiatives.

There is room for standards of training and the quality of intake to be improved, however, no final decision has been taken on the future of the social work bursary. Any changes would be subject to public consultation.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Stephen Timms on 2016-03-24.

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what estimate he has made of the additional cost to his Department in the last year of appeal hearings at the First Tier Tribunal (Social Security and Child Support) which were adjourned because the Department of Work and Pensions did not send a representative in the last 12 months.

Mike Penning

The information requested is not held centrally.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Stephen Timms on 2016-04-14.

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether a bedroom which is currently unusable pending repairs by a social landlord is included by his Department in its assessment of whether a household under-occupying accommodation.

Justin Tomlinson

This is a matter between the claimant and the landlord and we would always advise claimants in this situation to contact their landlord in the first instance.

Some landlords may choose to reduce the rent whilst the bedroom is uninhabitable others may not. The reduction that applies for under-occupation depends on whether the rent has been reduced to reflect that the property temporarily has one less bedroom.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Stephen Timms on 2016-04-22.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, pursuant to the Answer of 19 April 2016 to Question 33687, what new investment which is in line with the Collaborative TB Strategy for England has been made to deliver (a) TB awareness raising, (b) TB case finding and screening and (c) treatment for (i) homeless people and (ii) other under-served sectors of the population.

Jane Ellison

Public Health England has resourced a National Tuberculosis (TB) Office to support implementation of the Collaborative TB Strategy for England, including working with stakeholders on awareness raising and case finding and treatment. The National TB Office is also overseeing the work of a Task and Finish group, which is looking at how to tackle the needs of those with TB in under-served populations, including homeless people. The group will present their findings to the National TB Programme in the autumn. Currently, however, there is no new investment being specifically targeted at the homeless population.

NHS England has provided new investment, £10 million in 2015/16 and a further £10 million for 2016/17, to support latent TB infection testing and treatment which includes funding for TB awareness raising and TB case finding and treatment. The latter service is of particular relevance to the homeless population.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Stephen Timms on 2016-05-04.

To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what checks his Department makes on PAYE real time information data before it is forwarded to the Department for Work and Pensions to calculate universal credit.

Mr David Gauke

Data validation rules are built in to stop obvious errors at the point of filing. In addition, there are matching rules built within the system to ensure that the information matches to the correct customer. HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) and the Department for Work and Pensions continually monitor the quality of Real Time Information to understand errors. HMRC uses this information to support customer education and if appropriate develop system enhancements to prevent errors occurring.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Stephen Timms on 2016-05-18.

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, how many UK nationals were employed by the European Parliament in each year since 2010; and how many such people were employed at administrator grade.

Mr David Lidington

The European Parliament does not publish statistics on numbers of permanent staff by nationality. According to our own records, the total the numbers of UK nationals employed by the European Parliament in each year since 2010 is:

2010: 290
2011: 306
2012: 306
2013: 291
2014: 271
2015: 251

The latest figure available is for May 2016 and is 263.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Stephen Timms on 2016-05-25.

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what steps he is taking to encourage UK nationals to take up junior and entry-level positions in the European Commission.

Mr David Lidington

UK representation has been falling across EU institutions as UK officials retire and are not replaced by the same number of new UK entrants. The Government is committed to reversing this picture, recognising that this will require a sustained effort. The EU Staffing Unit, established in April 2013, promotes EU careers across the UK and supports candidates through the application process. It has increased secondments in positions of strategic importance to the UK. The European Fast Stream within the Civil Service has also been re-launched.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Stephen Timms on 2016-06-10.

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what plans she has to ensure that multi-academy trusts are accountable to the parents of students in those academies.

Edward Timpson

Our White Paper Educational Excellence Everywhere set out the Government’s intention to introduce a new duty on academies to ensure that they listen to the views and needs of all parents, particularly when key decisions are made about their child’s school. For Multi Academy Trusts (MATs) we will expect all academies to engage meaningfully at a local level.

We are committed to ensuring parents have a more significant voice in their child’s school. Through the new Parent Portal, we will ensure parents have access to clear and simple information about the school system and how to support their child. This will work alongside the new performance tables website which is making it easier for parents to find out how well their child’s school is performing and to compare schools across a range of key measures.

We will provide guidance on handling complaints to ensure a common approach for all schools and MATs so that all parents know where they can go if a problem arises. In addition, we will make it simpler for parents to escalate complaints to the Department, and beyond that to a public service ombudsman.

Finally, we are considering how parents might petition Regional Schools Commissioners for their child’s school to move to a different MAT where there is underperformance or other exceptional circumstances.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Stephen Timms on 2016-07-07.

To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what recent discussions he has had with stakeholders on the implication of the outcome of the EU referendum for future levels of employment in the UK financial services industry.

Mr David Gauke

The Government is committed to the UK hosting the world’s most competitive international financial centre and securing a long-term economic relationship with the rest of Europe that provides for the best possible terms of trade in goods and services, including financial services.

The Chancellor and other Treasury ministers have met, and will continue to meet, a number of financial services stakeholders since the referendum. The impact of the referendum on the financial services industry was discussed at these meetings. Future employment in the UK financial services industry will be commercial decisions for individual firms.