Tag: Thangam Debbonaire

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Thangam Debbonaire on 2016-06-13.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment she has made of the potential effect on the number of police call-outs of reductions in staffing in (a) mental health units, (b) hospitals and (c) social care services.

Mike Penning

Decisions on the deployment of a police force’s workforce in relation to local requirements are operational matters for individual chief constables, working with their Police and Crime Commissioners. However, a range of initiatives at both local and national level including the Crisis Care Concordat partnership arrangements and street triage scheme have already helped to reduce inappropriate mental health demands on the police.

The use of police cells in England as places of safety under the Mental Health Act, for example, reduced from 8,667 instances in 2011/12 to 3,996 in 2014/15. Legislative changes being introduced in the Policing and Crime Bill currently before Parliament, to prohibit the use of cells as places of safety for children and further limit their use for adults, as well as reductions in detention periods, will ensure progress in maintained.

In addition, the Government has committed to invest an additional £1 billion in mental health services by 2020 to ensure improved mental health support in the community and for people in Accident and Emergency, as well as crisis response provision and treatment options for both adults and children. In the last Autumn Statement, the Government also gave local authorities access to up to £3.5 billion of ne support for social care per year by 2019/20.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Thangam Debbonaire on 2016-07-12.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what the modal age is of girls experiencing female genital mutilation; whether and how this modal age has changed over the last 15 years; and if she will make a statement.

Karen Bradley

Female Genital Mutilation (FGM) is a crime and it is child abuse. We will not tolerate a practice that can cause extreme and lifelong physical and psychological suffering to women and girls.

As set out in the new statutory multi-agency FGM guidance, FGM is usually carried out between infancy and the age of 15, however the age at which it is carried out varies enormously according to the community.

We will not stop FGM until we have changed attitudes within communities. We are working closely with community organisations, faith groups and survivors through the FGM Unit which is carrying out an ongoing programme of outreach with local community groups and professionals across England and Wales.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Thangam Debbonaire on 2016-09-14.

To ask the Secretary of State for International Trade, what steps he is taking to determine how many trade negotiators his Department will require in the next six months.

Greg Hands

The Department for International Trade already has a strong and capable trade policy team which has more than doubled in size since 23 June. Over the coming months we will be developing that team to build the world class negotiating strengths needed to deliver the best outcomes for the UK. They will have the depth and breadth of expertise to handle the full range of sectoral and cross-cutting issues that arise in trade agreements, supported by analysts and lawyers.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Thangam Debbonaire on 2015-10-29.

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps the Government is taking to prevent illegal timber entering Europe.

Rory Stewart

Defra is committed to tackling the trade in illegal timber. We implemented the EU Timber Regulation (EUTR), which makes it an offence to place illegally logged timber on the EU market for the first time, and the EU Forest Law Enforcement, Governance and Trade (FLEGT) Regulation, which aims to combat illegal logging and improve the supply of legal timber to the EU. The EU FLEGT Regulation establishes Voluntary Partnership Agreements (VPAs) between the EU and timber producing countries. Once VPAs have been agreed, timber producing countries will issue exports with a ‘FLEGT licence’ which verifies the timber’s legality.

The Government’s Timber Procurement Policy also requires Government Departments, Executive Agencies and Non-Departmental Public Bodies to procure timber and timber products that are both legal and sustainable.

Domestic forests provide about 20% of the UK’s timber needs. They are managed in accordance with the UK Forestry Standard, the reference standard for sustainable forest management in the UK. Moreover, about 85% of UK timber production is independently certified, providing additional assurances of sustainability. We are strongly supportive of initiatives such as Grown in Britain, which create new sustainably managed woodland to increase the supply of British timber destined for use by local people and businesses. Timber and wood products labelled with the Grown in Britain logo are from trees and forests assured as compliant with the UK Forestry Standard.

I welcome the fact that UK companies and other bodies are making similar commitments to trade in both legal and sustainable timber by signing up to WWF’s Forest Campaign.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Thangam Debbonaire on 2016-01-11.

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what recent assessment she has made of (a) morale in the teaching profession, (b) long-term prospects for teacher recruitment and retention and (c) the potential effect of increases in pupil numbers on (i) morale and (ii) recruitment and retention in that profession.

Nick Gibb

Teaching continues to be a popular career choice. The Government is working with the profession to raise the status of teaching and is attracting the brightest and best to a career in the classroom, with the result that record numbers of highly-qualified graduates and experienced career changes are now teaching in schools.

On retention, latest statistics (School Workforce Census, November 2014) show that teacher retention one year after qualifying has remained stable, at around 90 per cent, for the past two decades. In addition, 72 per cent of those who qualified in 2009 were still in teaching five years later and the long-term retention rate is also stable, with over 60 per cent of teachers remaining in the classroom 10 years after qualifying.

The Department for Education is continually working to grow a strong pipeline of teachers and has developed a package of measures to support both the recruitment of new trainees (who account for around a half of all new entrants to the state-funded sector each year) and the retention of existing teachers.

Latest figures show there are a record number of teachers, with a record number coming back to the profession. The Initial Teacher Training census, published in November 2015, shows that three per cent more people started postgraduate teacher training than in the previous year. We recognise, however, that as the economy improves and the labour market strengthens, teacher recruitment is becoming increasingly challenging for some schools – particularly in some areas of the country and in some shortage subjects. That is why we are offering a range of bursaries and scholarships worth up to £30,000 tax-free to trainees in 2016/17. In addition, we are launching the National Teacher Service, as well as expanding the Teach First and School Direct programmes which will mean more great teachers in every corner of the country.

In terms of the long term recruitment of teachers, we use the Teacher Supply Model (TSM) to estimate Initial Teacher Training place requirements in England each year to meet the state-funded sector demand for qualified teachers. Forecasts are related to a range of factors including year-on-year pupil population growth rates, teacher leaving rates, and curriculum changes.

The 2016/17 version of the TSM, which was used to inform the 2016/17 ITT recruitment process, along with a user guide explaining the methodology in detail, is available at the following link: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/teacher-supply-model

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The below Parliamentary question was asked by Thangam Debbonaire on 2016-03-07.

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what assessment he has made of the effect of the residence test for disability living allowance and personal independence payment on people who have been granted refugee status or humanitarian protection.

Justin Tomlinson

People arriving in Great Britain – whether for the first time or if they are returning former GB residents – must meet the test of being habitually resident in order to receive Disability Living Allowance or Personal Independence Payment. They must also have been present in Great Britain for 104 weeks out of the previous 156 weeks. These benefits are non–contributory, non means–tested and paid out of general taxation and, in the absence of a means test or National Insurance contributions condition, DWP uses the past presence test to demonstrate a sufficient connection to the UK social security system. There are no special arrangements for people granted refugee status or humanitarian protection, however those people who are granted refugee status are likely to be considered habitually resident for the purposes of making a claim and they would also then meet the past presence test once they have been resident in the UK for the requisite period of time. In addition, these claimants may be entitled to other, means tested benefits.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Thangam Debbonaire on 2016-04-19.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what provision is made for people on the high end of the autistic spectrum with speech and language difficulties; or who are non-verbal, in the system for application for UK citizenship; and if she will make a statement.

James Brokenshire

The Secretary of State may waive the Knowledge of Language and Life in the UK requirement for British citizenship on the basis of a person’s age, physical or mental condition.

A person will normally be exempted from this requirement if they provide evidence from an appropriate medical practitioner that their condition is so severe that it prevents them from being able to learn English or prepare for or sit an English test or the Life in the UK test. Each application is considered on its own merits.

Information cannot be obtained from UKVI data systems to show how many exemption requests were made and granted. This information could only be obtained from looking at individual records at disproportionate cost.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Thangam Debbonaire on 2016-05-19.

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether she plans to review the system of provision of schooling for children being treated for childhood cancer, leukaemia and other serious life-threatening and long-term illnesses.

Nick Gibb

Each local authority has a legal responsibility to arrange education for any child of compulsory school age for whom they are responsible, and whose illness prevents them from attending school.

If a child is able to attend school, the school must ensure that arrangements are in place to support them. Statutory guidance applies to maintained schools and academies in supporting pupils at school with medical conditions, this is available at: https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/484418/supporting-pupils-at-school-with-medical-conditions.pdf

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The below Parliamentary question was asked by Thangam Debbonaire on 2016-06-13.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what recent assessment she has made of the adequacy of provision of frontline police officers to ensure public safety; what steps she is taking to monitor that provision; and if she will make a statement.

Mike Penning

Decisions on the size, composition and deployment of a police force’s workforce are operational matters for individual chief constables, taking account of local needs and circumstances.

Overall, the Government delivered a good settlement for policing through last year’s Spending Review, protecting overall police spending in real terms over the course of the Spending Review period, when local income is taken into account – an increase of up to £900 million in cash terms by 2019/20.

The public should therefore be in no doubt that the police will have the resources they need to keep the public safe and to respond to new threats rapidly and effectively.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Thangam Debbonaire on 2016-07-12.

To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what progress has been made on implementing pledges on child education made in the Supporting Syria Conference held in the UK in February 2016; and if she will make a statement.

Rory Stewart

The UK has been working closely with the UN, other donors and refugee hosting countries to deliver increased enrolment in formal and informal education. The UK is on track to deliver on its Conference commitments to support education, including spending £40million a year on education in Lebanon and £20million a year in Jordan. We will continue to work closely with these partners to track progress, including on enrolment in the upcoming school year.

The UK is supporting the provision of informal and formal education opportunities to 1.1m children in Syria and the region. In addition, the UK has financed the provision of 350,000 children in Lebanon with textbooks, including over 100,000 Syrian refugee children in Lebanese public schools.