Tag: Stephen Timms

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Stephen Timms on 2016-01-21.

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many calls to his Department’s helpline in 2015 related to universal credit; and what proportion such calls were of the total number of calls.

Priti Patel

There is no single Departmental helpline. The latest available figures showed that 47 million calls were answered across all DWP telephony service lines during 2015. In the same period, 400k calls were answered by Universal Credit Agents, equating to 0.9% of total calls.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Stephen Timms on 2016-01-28.

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether unsuccessful universal credit applicants have access to a telephone helpline to allow them to query the decision not to allow them that benefit.

Priti Patel

The Universal Credit helpline (link enclosed) is available for all enquiries about Universal Credit, including advice for those whose claims have been unsuccessful.

https://www.gov.uk/contact-jobcentre-plus

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The below Parliamentary question was asked by Stephen Timms on 2016-02-09.

To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what discussions he has had with the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills and the Department for Work and Pensions on ensuring equitable tax arrangements for flexible and contract workers.

Mr David Gauke

The taxation of temporary and contract workers’ income will depend on their employment status for tax, as is the case for direct employees and the self-employed.

Decisions about tax policy are made by Treasury ministers. However, as recommended by the Office of Tax Simplification, officials from HM Treasury, HM Revenue and Customs, the Department for Work and Pensions, and the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills will form a Cross Government Working Group for Employment Status early this year.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Stephen Timms on 2016-02-22.

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether Ofsted plans to inspect academy chains as well as individual academies; and if she will make an assessment.

Edward Timpson

Ofsted already inspects multi-academy trusts (MAT) through focused inspections of batches of academies within MATs. The published inspection outcome letters describe Ofsted’s assessment of the overall performance of the MAT, as well as a summary of the outcome of the individual academy inspections. The EFA provides assurance over the use of public funds and the MATs’ compliance with the accountability framework.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Stephen Timms on 2016-03-01.

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, when the consultation on a national school funding formula will begin.

Mr Sam Gyimah

The spending review announced our commitment to making school funding fairer by introducing a National Funding Formula for schools. Implementing such a large scale reform of the distribution of over £40 billion of education funding is a detailed and complex issue, and one we must get right. It is paramount that we consult with the public and sector, and we will set out, and consult on, our detailed plans for a National Funding Formula in due course.

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

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what the average non-management teacher salary was in (a) North East England, (b) North West England, (c) Yorkshire and the Humber, (d) the East Midlands, (e) the West Midlands, (f) the East of England, (g) Greater London, (h) South East England, (i) South West England, (j) Wales, (k) Scotland and (l) Northern Ireland in 2015.

Nick Gibb

The following table provides the average salary of classroom teachers in service in state funded schools in each region in England, November 2014, the latest figures available. Classroom teachers exclude head teachers, deputy and assistant head teachers and advisory teachers. November 2015 figures will be published at the end of June.

North East	£34,500
North West	£34,100
Yorkshire and The Humber	£33,400
East Midlands	£33,800
West Midlands	£33,900
East of England	£33,700
London	£37,300
South East	£33,300
South West	£34,000
England	£34,300

Source: School Workforce Census.

Salaries are rounded to the nearest £100.

Information for Scotland and Northern Ireland is a matter for the devolved administrations. The average pay of teachers in Wales in not collected centrally.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Stephen Timms on 2016-03-21.

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many schools participated in the Schools Direct programme in each year since 2010.

Nick Gibb

The School Direct programme began in 2012. School Direct lead school information was not published prior to 2013/14 and partner school information was not collected prior to 2015/16. The summary data below reflects this:

	2013/14	2014/15	2015/16	2016/17
Number of School Direct lead schools	788	887	773	818
Number of partner schools	No data available	No data available	8,184	8,956

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

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, pursuant to the Answer of 22 March 2016 to Question 31496, how many appeals were (a) withdrawn and (b) adjourned at the First-Tier Tribunal (Social Security and Child Support) due to his Department not sending a representative in (i) 2012-13, (ii) 2013-14 and (iii) 2014-15.

Justin Tomlinson

I refer the Rt. Hon. Member to the Answer given by the Minister for Justice, my Rt.Hon. Friend, Shailesh Vara, Question UIN 32293

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The below Parliamentary question was asked by Stephen Timms on 2016-04-12.

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what financial provision he has made for supporting armed forces recruits to obtain A* to C passes in GCSE English and mathematics if required.

Mark Lancaster

The Ministry of Defence does not make financial provision to improve the Functional Skills (FS) of recruits before they are selected to join the UK Armed Forces.

For those who join the UK Armed Forces, there are clearly identified routes to ensure acceptable levels of FS. Over 95% of all recruits, no matter what their age or prior qualifications, enrol in an Apprenticeship Programme each year. Apprenticeships ensure that Service personnel (SP) will gain level 2 in literacy and numeracy – which is the equivalent to GCSE level. The Armed Forces also offer courses in a wide range of skills, such as engineering, information and communications technology (ICT), construction, driving, and animal care.

All recruits aged under 18 receive key skills education in literacy and numeracy, should they need it, and all are enrolled onto apprenticeships. The Armed Forces remain the UK’s largest apprenticeship provider, equipping young people with valuable and transferable skills for life. Ofsted regularly inspects our care of newly joined young recruits, and we are very proud of the standards we achieve.

Since September 2012, Defence has adopted FS qualifications (FS (English) and FS (Mathematics)) as the accredited measures of literacy and numeracy skills for all SP accessing in-Service literacy and numeracy provision. Defence FS provision will be (in most cases) a blend of in-house and external provision. FS provision and qualifications have been available and publicly funded in England since September 2010, with the single Services funding the following elements:

Specialist manpower. Sufficient in-house specialist practitioners to meet the FS requirements that are not met from external or Skills Funding Agency and Education Funding Agency funded providers and, co-ordinate the delivery of that provision across their Service.

FS staff training. Training for in-house specialist practitioners and support staff to meet the required professional standards, where this is not externally funded.

Trainee costs. All direct and indirect costs incurred by Initial Training Establishments, where training has to be extended to cover FS provision to meet the minimum FS Entry Level 3 standard, by the start of Phase 2 training.

FS resources. FS support materials, essential ICT, audio-visual equipment and associated consumables, and any other essential resource costs.

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

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many people were removed from the UK by surface transport on grounds that they were not entitled to leave to remain but who were unable to fly on medical grounds in each of the last five years; and how many such people were removed to India.

James Brokenshire

The mode of transport for persons for persons subject to enforced removal from the UK is not published within official national migration statistics. To establish this figure over a 5 year period would require a manual examination of records within the Home Office Case Information Database (CID) which could only be done at disproportionate cost.