Tag: Steve McCabe

  • 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 2014-04-25.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Education, pursuant to the Answer of 3 February 2014, Official Report, column 57W, on special educational needs, which organisations and charities have been consulted on the Special Educational Needs Code of Practice.

    Mr Edward Timpson

    The consultation on a draft Special Educational Needs Code of Practice was an open consultation and any organisations or individuals could respond. The Department for Education received over 700 responses from a wide range of organisations and individuals including parents; young people; early years; schools; further education professionals; local authorities; health sector professionals and voluntary and community sector organisations, including many from the special educational needs and disability fields.

    A short, focused consultation is now being carried out on a revised draft, which takes account of responses to the public consultation and amendments to the Children and Families Bill during its passage through Parliament. A full response to the consultations on the Code of Practice will be published in the next few weeks and this will give details of organisations and charities who responded.

  • 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 2014-05-07.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what information-sharing systems his Department recommends agencies to use in respect of sharing information regarding vulnerable children and children at risk.

    Mr Edward Timpson

    The Government believes it is for local areas to determine the most appropriate way to record and share information to meet local needs.

  • Steve McCabe – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for International Development

    Steve McCabe – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for International Development

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

    To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, with reference to the Answer of 5 September 2013, Official Report, column 461W, on Afghanistan, what works at the Bost Agri Park and Bost Airfield were left by USAID upon her Department taking control of the project in 2009.

    Justine Greening

    The Bost industrial business park proposal was originally approved by officials in 2009 at a time when Ministers did not approve spend under £40m. In 2012 it became clear that the project could no longer be completed within the original timeframe and in good order. To avoid wasting taxpayers’ money I decided that UK funding for the project should be cancelled. The completed park designs have been handed over to the Afghan authorities to enable them to pursue the project over a revised time frame. DFID’s work on Bost Airfield was completed in November 2013.

    The information required to answer the honourable member’s question is not available in the form requested.

  • Steve McCabe – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    Steve McCabe – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Steve McCabe on 2014-03-27.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, pursuant to the Answer of 3 December 2013, Official Report, columns 652-3W, on special educational needs, whether his Department has any plans in future to commence publishing figures on the proportion of hearings where (a) local authorities and (b) parents were legally represented.

    Mr Shailesh Vara

    The Ministry of Justice and HM Courts & Tribunals Service (HMCTS) publish data on the First-tier Tribunal Special Educational Needs & Disability (FtT SEND) regularly in a quarterly internet publication which includes data on a number of other Tribunals. Data for the academic year September 2012 to August 2013 were published in December 2013 and can be found at:

    https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/tribunal-statistics-quarterly-july-to-september-2013

    The published data do not provide information on representation at hearings because. The current IT system does not have the facility to record details of legal representation at the actual hearing. To change this position would incur cost which could not be justified by any benefit to HMCTS. Therefore, there are no plans to collect this information.

  • 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 2014-04-25.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what discussions Ministers in his Department have had with representatives of sixth form colleges on the effect of recent changes to sixth form funding for students who have severe or complex disabilities.

    Matthew Hancock

    Last year’s funding changes for students with severe and complex needs were introduced following extensive consultation with local authorities and all types of institutions, including sixth-form colleges.

  • 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 2014-05-06.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps he has taken to ensure that unemployed people who volunteer for the Help to Work Scheme do not do the same work as offenders on community service orders.

    Esther McVey

    These are two entirely different schemes and we would expect the requirements of placements for offenders to be very different. The welfare to work companies we have contracted to provide Community Work Placements are experienced at delivering different programmes across different areas of Government.

  • 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 2014-06-04.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what records his Department maintains of instances where a teacher has had a sexual relationship with a student under the age of 16 years in (a) maintained schools and (b) independent schools.

    Mr Edward Timpson

    Since April 2012, where a teacher has been dismissed, or resigned in the face of dismissal, as a result of serious misconduct all schools have had a statutory duty to consider referring the matter to the National College for Teaching and Leadership (NCTL). The NCTL acts as the regulator of the teaching profession on behalf of the Secretary of State. It is responsible for determining whether the referred individual should be prohibited from teaching on the grounds of unacceptable professional conduct, conduct that might bring the profession into disrepute and/or conviction of a relevant offence. Information about cases considered by NCTL is not held in the format requested and to obtain the information requested would incur disproportionate cost.

    In addition to the NCTL process for regulating teachers, the Department’s Independent Education and Boarding Team (IEBT) administer the wider regulatory system for independent schools. This team can receive information about allegations of abuse from a variety of sources, including Ofsted, local authorities, parents and the police. The Department’s records show that there have been 5 referrals since April 2012 and 2 from January 2009 to March 2012 where sexual abuse of a pupil by an adult working at the school was a factor. When such referrals are received, the Department’s role is not to investigate the allegations, which are a matter for the local authority and the police, but to determine whether the school is meeting the independent school standards, and take action to ensure it does so.

  • 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 2014-03-27.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what systems his Department has in place to monitor the implementation of the Government’s commitment to give due consideration to the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child when making new policy and legislation; and if he will make a statement.

    Mr Edward Timpson

    The Department for Education co-ordinates the UK’s submission to the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC), on behalf of other Government Departments and the devolved administrations, for the Committee’s five-year review of implementation of the UNCRC in the UK. This report will be submitted shortly and will include examples of action taken to ensure that new policies and legislation which impact on children are compliant with the UNCRC.

    The Department has undertaken child’s rights impact assessments for the key policy and legislative changes in recent years, notably in respect of the Education Act 2011 and the Children and Families Act 2014. We also ensure that children’s rights issues are considered as part of the Home Affairs Committee clearance process.

  • 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 2014-04-25.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Education, pursuant to the Answer of 4 March 2014, Official Report, columns 787-88W, on pupil exclusions: autism, whether his Department plans to employ further exclusion advisors.

    Mr Edward Timpson

    The Department for Education does not employ any exclusion advisors.

    The exclusion adviser referred to in the answer of 4 March 2014, Official Report, columns 787-88W, on pupil exclusions: autism is employed by the National Autistic Society using a grant provided by the Department under the National Prospectus Grants Programme 2013-15.

  • 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 2014-06-04.

    To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what guidance his Department has given to local authorities about churches and same sex marriage.

    Karen Bradley

    Guidance on how to certify a building for religious worship and register for
    the solemnization of marriages was issued on 18 February 2014 by the General
    Register Office and is available at:
    https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/281332
    /D0550_F78L.pdf

    The guidance sets out the different options that are available for places of
    worship and registration for the solemnisation of marriage. Registration of
    individual places of worship takes place through local registration services
    attached to local authorities and they are expected to adhere to the guidance.