Tag: Steve McCabe

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Steve McCabe on 2016-01-04.

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what plans she has to provide additional funding for local authorities to provide school crossing patrols.

Nick Gibb

The Government has no plans to make additional funding available specifically for school crossing patrols. The Education and Inspection Act 2006 (section 508A) puts a duty on local authorities to promote and establish a strategy for developing a sustainable transport infrastructure that meets the needs of children and young people in their area. This strategy should address such issues as enhanced child safety and security. School Crossing Patrols are one option that can contribute to the fulfilment of this duty. It is for local authorities and schools to determine if and how school crossing patrols are funded from the resources made available by central government.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Steve McCabe on 2016-02-09.

To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what safeguards his Department plans to put in place to ensure that people who leave their council homes as a result of the proposed pay to stay scheme are able to afford private rented property in the same area.

Brandon Lewis

It is only fair that social tenants who can pay more should pay more. There are more than 40,000 tenants in social housing who benefit from subsidised rents but where the annual household income is over £50,000. We have however consulted on a proposal for a taper to ensure that work incentives are protected. If adopted, this would mean that households towards the lower end of the proposed income thresholds would see a low rise in their rent below market rental values in areas where market rent is higher than social rent. Of course, if tenants on incomes well above the proposed threshold wish to take up a rental opportunity in the private sector then this should be encouraged to free up social housing for those most in need.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Steve McCabe on 2016-02-19.

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if she will establish a regulatory body to enforce the School Admissions Code.

Nick Gibb

It is the role of the Schools Adjudicator to determine whether school admission arrangements comply with the School Admissions Code. Where they do not, the school’s admission authority is required to revise the arrangements.

Currently, anyone who believes a school’s admission arrangements may not comply with the Code may refer them to the Adjudicator. We propose that, in future, only local parents and local authorities should be able to do so. We want to ensure that the Adjudicator is able to focus on the concerns that parents may have about their local school’s admission arrangements. We will be conducting a full public consultation in due course.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Steve McCabe on 2016-03-04.

To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, pursuant to the Answer of 17 February 2016 to Question 26467, what recent estimate he has made of the average cost of private rented property in the West Midlands.

Brandon Lewis

Statistics on average rents by region and local authority are published by the Valuation Office Agency at

https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/private-rental-market-summary-statistics-england-2014-15

These show the estimated mean monthly rent between 1 October 2014 and 30 September 2015 by type of property.

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The below Parliamentary question was asked by Steve McCabe on 2016-03-15.

To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, pursuant to the Answer of 9 March 2016 to Question 29830, what guidance his Department provides to local authorities on improving coordination between support teams when some or all of those services are outsourced.

Mr Marcus Jones

The Department does not provide any formal guidance.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Steve McCabe on 2016-03-21.

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many people diagnosed with inflammatory bowel disease in (a) England and (b) Wales applied for disability living allowance in each of the last five years.

Justin Tomlinson

The Department does not hold such information about the disabling condition of people who have applied for Disability Living Allowance. Information on DLA claimants’ disabling condition is only held for those who have entitlement to the benefit.

The information we have for the number of people claiming (i.e. entitled to) Disability Living Allowance, by main disabling condition and geography is published and available at: https://www.nomisweb.co.uk/default.asp

Guidance for users can be found at: https://www.nomisweb.co.uk/home/newuser.asp

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The below Parliamentary question was asked by Steve McCabe on 2016-04-08.

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, pursuant to the Answer of 29 March 2016 to Question 31791, on employment and support allowance: inflammatory bowel disease, how many of those claimants started receiving employment and support allowance before 2010.

Priti Patel

The number of Employment and Support Allowance (ESA) claimants in August 2015 with Inflammatory Bowel Disease recorded as their main disabling condition, with a claim start date prior to 2010, in England is 340 and in Wales is 30.

Source: DWP 100% data.

Notes:

1. Figures are rounded to the nearest 10.
2. The data is at August 2015, which is the latest available information.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Steve McCabe on 2016-04-08.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, pursuant to the Answer of 22 February 2016 to Question 27141, by which criteria his Department plans to determine NHS support funding for community pharmacies under the Pharmacy Access Scheme.

Alistair Burt

We have been in discussions with the Pharmaceutical Services Negotiating Committee (PSNC) since December 2015 regarding the Government’s proposals for community pharmacy in 2016/17 and beyond. In parallel, we have sought views on our proposals from other pharmacy organisations and from patient groups. The details of the Pharmacy Access Scheme, including any criteria and a timetable for implementation, form part of this consultation.

We announced on 16 March 2016 that the consultation period was to be extended to allow more time to develop the proposed changes with the PSNC and others. It will now close on 24 May 2016.

Once we have carefully considered the outcomes from the consultation, we are looking to communicate final decisions as soon as possible, so that pharmacy contractors are fully informed some months before the funding reduction starts from October 2016.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Steve McCabe on 2016-04-14.

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, pursuant to the Answer of 21 March 2016 to Question 31440, on primary education, how many (a) head teachers, (b) teachers and (c) union representatives her Department worked closely with during the introduction of those reforms.

Nick Gibb

The Department works with teachers, head teachers and unions in developing education policy; our assessment reforms are no exception.

The assessment reforms which take effect this summer follow two public consultations in 2013 and 2014. Our primary school assessment and accountability consultation, running from July to October 2013, received 1,187 written responses, including 320 teachers, 324 head teachers and 21 union or professional organisations. We also held discussions at a series of events and conferences alongside this. In 2014, our consultation on performance descriptors for statutory teacher assessment, running from October to December 2014, received 880 responses.

All assessment materials produced by the Standards and Testing Agency are developed in close collaboration with teachers. Teachers were involved in the initial creation of the new test model and are involved at three key points during the development of every new test. Teachers will also be involved in setting the expected standards.

We have listened to the concerns of teachers, head teachers and unions as the reforms have been introduced. In response we have given teachers more time to submit teacher assessments and published a ‘clarification’ document to guide schools through the new arrangements.

We also set up two expert groups involving serving and former teachers to advise the Department on aspects of assessment, including the Commission on Assessment Without Levels and the Rochford Review of Assessment for pupils working below the standard of national curriculum tests.

We will continue to listen to the concerns of teachers and their union representatives as the details of the new assessment arrangements are finalised.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Steve McCabe on 2016-04-27.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what guidance he plans to give to clinical commissioning groups on encouraging their move towards full implementation of NICE guidelines on fertility treatment.

Jane Ellison

The level of provision of infertility treatment, as for all health services they commission, is decided by local clinical commissioning groups (CCGs) and will take into account the needs of the population overall. The CCG’s decisions are underpinned by clinical insight and knowledge of local healthcare needs. As such, provision of services will vary in response to local needs.

CCGs have a legal duty to have regard to the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) guidelines. As such, NHS England expects that all those involved in commissioning infertility treatment services to be fully aware of the importance of having regard to the NICE fertility guidelines.

Following a meeting with Fertility Fairness in December 2015, officials from the Department and NHS England are considering options for addressing variation in the prices that CCGs are currently paying for in vitro fertilisation treatment.

Information about the costs of individual treatments is not collected centrally.