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Tag: Steve McCabe

  • Steve McCabe – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    Steve McCabe – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Steve McCabe on 2014-03-26.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what guidance his Department provides on how much funding from the Local Government Finance Settlement local authorities should allocate to virtual headteachers.

    Brandon Lewis

    Both Revenue Support Grant and retained business rates, the two local authority funding streams directly included within the Local Government Finance Settlement, are unringfenced, therefore, authorities can use them to fund any service, provided they meet their statutory duties. It is up to authorities to decide how to set their budgets, taking into account local priorities.

  • Steve McCabe – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Energy and Climate Change

    Steve McCabe – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Energy and Climate Change

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Steve McCabe on 2014-04-02.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, what steps he is taking to ensure that the new Fuel Poverty Target will address the specific needs of people affected by conditions such as muscular dystrophy and neuromuscular conditions.

    Gregory Barker

    I refer the hon. Member to the answer given to my hon. Friend the Member for Harborough on 26 February 2014, Official Report, Column 416W.

  • Steve McCabe – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    Steve McCabe – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Steve McCabe on 2014-04-30.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what representations he has received on extending the powers provided to the National College for Teaching and Leadership for the investigation of historical incidents of abuse; and if he will make a statement.

    Mr Edward Timpson

    The Secretary of State for Education has received no representations on extending the powers provided to the National College for Teaching and Leadership (NCTL) for investigation of historical incidents of abuse.

    The NCTL’s remit sits within a broad safeguarding framework. The investigation of incidents of abuse by the NCTL historically or current will depend on the nature of the abuse. Where incidents of abuse relate to issues of child protection these would not ordinarily be matters that the NCTL would be directly involved in.

    All employers of people working with children have a statutory duty to refer to the Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) all individuals who have been:

    1. convicted or cautioned for a relevant offence;
    2. engaged in conduct that has harmed a child or put them at risk of harm; or
    3. deemed to have satisfied the ‘harm test’ in relation to children, i.e. there has been no relevant conduct but a risk of harm to a child still exists.

    The DBS will then consider whether to bar that person from working with children. Alongside this duty, where a teacher has been dismissed or resigned in the face of dismissal for a serious conduct matter, employers have a statutory duty to consider referring that teacher to the NCTL. In circumstances where the DBS decides to bar an individual any ongoing NCTL case would be discontinued. The NCTL primarily takes to a conclusion cases which have not met the DBS threshold for barring.

  • Steve McCabe – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    Steve McCabe – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Steve McCabe on 2014-06-04.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, if he will amend the access to work scheme to enable deaf people to employ a full-time salaried support worker.

    Mike Penning

    The Access to Work programme currently allows for support to be organised in this way if it offers the most cost effective and practical solution and there is clear customer need for that level of support. We are taking a close look at the Access to Work programme over the next three months, focussing on how we can assist the largest number of disabled paople in work. We will incude in that process a consideration of how best to address the needs of customers requiring support for a large number of hours each week on an on-going basis.

  • Steve McCabe – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Steve McCabe – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Steve McCabe on 2014-06-12.

    To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what compensation the Passport Office provides to British passport holders who have faced increases on the cost of their flights because they have had to wait an extended period for a completed passport application.

    James Brokenshire

    HM Passport Office’s policy on compensation can be downloaded from the website
    at:
    https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/compensation-and-complaints-handling

  • Steve McCabe – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    Steve McCabe – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Steve McCabe on 2014-03-26.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Education, pursuant to the Answer of 12 March 2014, Official Report, columns 250-1W, on special educational needs, when he expects to make an announcement on the effect of reforms on funding for special educational needs.

    Mr David Laws

    On 13 March, I announced proposals to allocate £350 million to our least fairly funded local areas in 2015-16. This is the biggest step towards fairer schools funding in a decade, and it puts us in a much better position to implement a national funding formula when the time is right.

    To allocate this £350 million as fairly as possible, we selected the characteristics we think contribute most to the attainment of pupils and viability of schools, and set indicative minimum funding levels for each of these. These characteristics include deprivation and low prior attainment, both of which show some correlation with low-cost, high incidence special educational needs (SEN). We looked at the average value attached by local authorities to these characteristics and used these as a basis for our proposed minimum funding levels. Applying these minimum funding levels could mean that some of the least fairly funded local authorities with high numbers of these pupils see a benefit.

    This additional £350 million applies to the schools block of the dedicated schools grant that local authorities receive. However, this is one of three notional blocks of funding, and local authorities are free to move money between their schools block, high needs block and early years block as they see fit. It is therefore possible that local authorities could choose to move the additional money to their high needs block to support children with high-cost special educational needs.

    Our proposals are still at the consultation stage. For more information, please see the consultation at the following address:

    https://www.gov.uk/government/consultations/fairer-schools-funding-2015-to-2016

    “

  • Steve McCabe – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Steve McCabe – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Steve McCabe on 2014-04-02.

    To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what support her Department offers to local authorities who are caring for asylum seekers who entered care as a child to ensure adequate support is in place when they become care leavers.

    James Brokenshire

    The Home Office does not have a direct role in this policy area. The Department of Education provides statutory guidance to local authorities about how to support care leavers, including care leavers who are asylum seekers. The guidance makes clear that asylum seekers should receive the same level of support as any other care leaver. The Home Office does, however, provide funding to local authorities to help cover the costs of supporting the young people.

  • Steve McCabe – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    Steve McCabe – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Steve McCabe on 2014-04-30.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if he will take steps to implement the recommendations on support for the reading skills of oral deaf children in the Reading, Dyslexia and Oral Deaf Children report published by City University and the Nuffield Foundation.

    Mr Edward Timpson

    The report by City University and Nuffield Foundation[1] considers ways and strategies to help teachers identify reading problems and dyslexia for deaf children. There are no specific recommendations for Government in the report, it is for schools and professionals working with deaf children to consider the significance of the findings and how it informs their practice in identifying and supporting children with hearing loss.

    Through the Children and Families Act 2014, the Government aims to improve support for children with special educational needs and disability (SEND) including deaf children. It also includes support for teachers and other school staff to gain the knowledge and skills to support pupils with SEN and disabilities.

    The new SEND Code of Practice due to come into force in September, will set out clear guidance for schools on the process for appropriate identification, assessment, monitoring and securing further support for all children and young people with SEN and disabilities including those with sensory impairments.

    In addition, the Department for Education is funding the National Deaf Children’s Society to provide information, curriculum support and impartial advice to enable deaf children and young people to achieve expected levels of achievement in learning at all key stages.

    [1] http://www.nuffieldfoundation.org/reading-and-dyslexia-deaf-children

    “

  • Steve McCabe – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    Steve McCabe – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Steve McCabe on 2014-06-04.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what the evidential basis was for the decision to change the Access to Work scheme in regards to deaf people having to employ a full-time salaried support worker.

    Mike Penning

    The Access to Work programme has not been changed in this way. No customers are required to employ a full-time support worker, their employers and support providers and we are not prescriptive on this.

  • Steve McCabe – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    Steve McCabe – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Steve McCabe on 2014-06-18.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether special educational needs coordinators are able to request funds from his Department for extra assistance with SEN students in maintained schools.

    Mr Edward Timpson

    The Department for Education does not give funds directly to local authority maintained schools. Funds for extra assistance with students with special educational needs (SEN) come from schools’ budgets and, if the extra cost is more than £6,000 per year for an individual student, from local authorities in the form of top-up funding for the school. Local authorities can also give extra funding to schools with a disproportionate number of pupils with SEN. Special educational needs coordinators should therefore seek any additional funds required from the relevant local authority.