Tag: Stephen Timms

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Stephen Timms on 2016-02-01.

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what steps his Department plans to take in response to the finding in the annual report to Parliament of the Lord Chief Justice, dated 16 January 2016, that the UK’s system of justice has become unaffordable to most; and if he will make a statement.

Mike Penning

As the Justice Secretary said in June, we have a two nation justice system at present. Those who have benefitted financially need to do more to protect access to justice for all and we are discussing with the profession how this can be taken forward.

As the Lord Chief Justice made clear in his annual report, the investment the Government is making to modernise our courts and tribunals is a significant step, and one which will enable us to tackle many of the issues he identified.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Stephen Timms on 2016-02-08.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what steps he is taking to support young people who have been receiving palliative care and are transitioning from children’s to adults’ services.

Ben Gummer

The Department has provided grant funding to Together for Short Lives which is the membership organisation for children’s hospices to support the Transition Taskforce to provide guidance and training that supports good transitions locally between children’s and adult services for those with life-limiting conditions or needing palliative care.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Stephen Timms on 2016-02-10.

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what extra support is provided to foster carers receiving children who have experienced multiple placement breakdowns.

Edward Timpson

The statutory framework is clear that fostering services must provide carers with the necessary training, information and support, in the interests of children placed with them.

Through the Children’s Services Innovation Programme, the Government continues to support the roll out of interventions such as KEEP (Keeping Foster and Kinship Carers Safe and Supported) and the Mockingbird Project. The Children’s Services Innovation Programme has £100m worth of funding and supports 53 programmes in the development, testing and spreading of more effective ways of supporting children and families who need help from children’s social care services. KEEP is a training programme for foster carers and part of the National Implementation Service, which has £4.1m worth of funding. The Mockingbird Project supports groups of ten foster carers around a ‘hub’ which provides support. This is part of the Fostering Network, which has £1.6m worth of funding. Both projects aim to increase the positive parenting skills of foster and kinship carers in responding to children’s difficulties. They seek to build resilience, improve placement stability and enable young people to thrive as children and adults.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Stephen Timms on 2016-02-29.

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many graduates began the Frontline programme in each year since its establishment; and how many have been enrolled to start in 2016.

Edward Timpson

104 graduates began the programme in the first cohort (2014), followed by 124 graduates in the second cohort (2015). Enrolment for the third cohort is not yet complete, however Frontline aim to recruit up to 180 participants to start in 2016.

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

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, pursuant to the Answer of 3 March 2016 to Question 28795, on the troops to teachers scheme, what plans she has to expand the cohort beginning that scheme in September 2016.

Nick Gibb

Recruitment is currently underway for the September 2016 cohort of Troops to Teachers. The University of Brighton, who are contracted to run the programme, are actively promoting the Troops to Teachers scheme to ensure that the number of service personnel recruited to the cohort beginning in September 2016 is maximised. Their marketing and recruitment plans include specific service leaver employment fairs and a range of other marketing activities.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Stephen Timms on 2016-03-16.

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many appeal hearings at the (a) First-tier Tribunal (Social Security and Child Support) and (b) Upper Tribunal (Administrative Chamber) his Department did not send a representative to in (i) 2012-13, (ii) 2013-14 and (iii) 2014-15.

Justin Tomlinson

The department’s policy has been to focus its resources on sending Presenting Officers to the more complex benefit cases and when directed by the tribunal therefore the department sent a representative to all Upper Tribunal appeal hearings notified to them in the three years 2012-13; 2013-14 and 2014-15.

For the First-Tier Tribunal, POs did not attend as follows:

2012/13 238,210 (of 252,992 hearings)

2013/14 293,713 (of 308,502 hearings)

2014/15 78,301 (of 89,689 hearings)

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Stephen Timms on 2016-03-23.

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many appeal hearings at the First-tier Tribunal (Social Security and Child Support) were (a) withdrawn and (b) adjourned as a result of the Department for Work and Pensions not sending a representative in each of the last three years.

Mr Shailesh Vara

The information requested is not held centrally.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Stephen Timms on 2016-04-11.

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment she has made of the performance of the Child Protection Taskforce.

Edward Timpson

The Child Protection Taskforce is one of several Implementation Taskforces set up by the Prime Minister to monitor the delivery of key policies. The Taskforce oversees the Government’s reform agenda for child protection: tracking progress; spotting potential blockages and agreeing plans for resolving them; ensuring accountability; and making sure actions are followed through. Since the Taskforce was formed in June 2015, it has been successful in bringing key Ministers and officials together in a forum to drive our ambitious reform agenda on children’s social care.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Stephen Timms on 2016-04-20.

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many enlisted soldiers gained A-levels while serving in the armed forces in each of the last five years; and in which subjects those A-levels were obtained.

Mark Lancaster

I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave on 18 April to Question 33691. Like GCSEs, individual soldiers are free to pursue A-levels as part of their elective personal development with the support of learning credits schemes, but the details of such A-level qualifications are not held centrally.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Stephen Timms on 2016-05-03.

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how often parents claiming universal credit will be required to report their childcare costs to his Department; and if he will make a statement.

Priti Patel

In the Universal Credit full service, claimants need to report childcare costs in the monthly assessment period in which they paid them, to ensure timely and accurate adjustments to the Universal Credit assessment.