Tag: Tim Farron

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Tim Farron on 2016-07-18.

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, how many food inspectors the Food Standards Agency (a) employed in each of the last five years and (b) plans to employ in (i) 2016-17, (ii) 2017-18, (iii) 2018-19 and (iv) 2019-20.

George Eustice

The Food Standards Agency is a non-ministerial government department of the Government of the United Kingdom and does not employ food inspectors. Trading Standards and Environmental Health Officers are employed by local authorities. The Food Standards Agency is responsible for meat inspection duties in approved meat premises in England, Scotland and Wales and currently employs 439 Meat Hygiene Inspectors for the purposes of official control inspection activities. Further detail regarding the number of inspectors employed is a matter for the FSA.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Tim Farron on 2016-09-13.

To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, whether his Department remains committed to a target of delivering one million homes by 2020; and what recent projections his Department has made on whether this target will be met.

Gavin Barwell

The Prime Minister has been absolutely clear that we need to build more homes. We remain committed to delivering one million new homes, having doubled the housing budget to help us to so.

Since the end of 2009, we have delivered 900,000 new homes, and in the year to March 2016 permissions were granted for 265,000 homes, up 8% on the previous year, thanks to the reformed planning system.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Tim Farron on 2016-10-13.

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether her Department plans to hold discussions with parents on the effect on children’s mental health of primary school SATs.

Edward Timpson

Good mental health and resilience are a priority for the Department. We have high aspirations for all children and want them to be able to fulfil their potential, both academically and in terms of their mental wellbeing.

Good schools manage tests appropriately, and there is a lot that teachers can do to help prepare pupils to take tests and exams, and to help parents support their children. Good school leaders know that positive mental wellbeing, as part of a ‘whole-school’ ethos, along with good teaching, supports pupil attainment.

The Government considers the impact of primary testing on all children as a matter of course, and we listen to the views of parents on an ongoing basis. Tests are an established and valuable part of a child’s education. Tests in primary school are not examinations and should not put pressure on pupils. They are about helping teachers to identify where additional support is needed and ensuring that schools are accountable for the education that they provide.

We trust primary school teachers to use their experience and professional expertise to administer assessments in a way that does not put undue pressure on pupils. Schools should encourage all pupils to work hard and achieve well, but we do not recommend that they devote excessive preparation time to assessment, and certainly not at the expense of pupils’ wellbeing.

We know that recent reforms to primary assessment have represented a significant change for schools and these will need time to embed. We are committed to listening to teachers and parents to ensure primary assessment arrangements are proportionate as well as robust.

To support schools to understand signs of stress and mental ill-health and to provide support to their pupils, the Government has funded MindEd to develop a free, on-line resource for all professionals, including teaching staff, working with children and young people to access information about mental health issues. We also funded the PSHE Association to produce guidance and age-appropriate lesson plans on teaching about mental health in PSHE. In addition we have published guidance on behaviour and mental health, which sets out how schools can identify problems and seek support, as well as a blueprint for effective school-based counselling to help schools provide access to support.

However, teachers are not mental health specialists and need to know how to help pupils access specialist support. We contributed to a £3 million joint pilot between schools and children and young people’s mental health services to improve local knowledge and develop effective referrals to allow pupils to access timely specialist support where needed.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Tim Farron on 2015-11-10.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, when he plans to publish the review of national radiotherapy capacity commissioned by NHS England.

Jane Ellison

HS England has not commissioned a national capacity review of radiotherapy. Earlier this year, NHS England provided local commissioning teams with a tool to assist planning of radiotherapy services with their local providers in order to assess a different set of planning assumptions developed by the Radiotherapy Clinical Reference Group in line with rapidly changing clinical practice.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Tim Farron on 2016-02-01.

To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, how much his Department spent on advertising the Right to Buy scheme for council and housing association tenants in each month from October 2015 to January 2016.

Brandon Lewis

I refer the hon. Member to the answer given to him on 2 December 2015, PQ 18460.

At that time, Right to Buy campaign spend figures for October and November were provisional as the campaign was still running. Confirmed monthly expenditure from October to December 2015 is as follows:

October – £155,001
November – £171,066
December – £142,656

Figures for January 2016 are still be finalised so are not yet available.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Tim Farron on 2016-04-08.

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many convictions have been secured under the Gangmasters (Licensing) Act since its introduction in 2004.

Mr Shailesh Vara

The number of offenders found guilty at all courts of offences under the Gangmasters Licensing Act 2004, in England and Wales, from 2004 to 2014 (the latest available) can be viewed at the following link:

http://www.gla.gov.uk/our-impact/conviction-totals/

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The below Parliamentary question was asked by Tim Farron on 2016-05-23.

To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what assessment he has made of the potential effect of proposed changes to the disabled students allowances on the number of disabled students accessing higher education.

Joseph Johnson

The reform of Disabled Students’ Allowances is intended to ensure higher education institutions are consistently meeting their duties to disabled students under the Equality Act, and is not expected to impact on the number of disabled students accessing higher education.

The Government carried out an Equality Analysis as part of the recent consultation on reforms to Disabled Students’ Allowances. This is available online at https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/481527/bis-15-658-disabled-students-allowances-equality-analysis.pdf

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The below Parliamentary question was asked by Tim Farron on 2016-06-13.

To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, when he expects his Department to submit a final estimate of the damage caused by flooding in the South Lakes area to the European Commission as part of the UK’s application to the EU Solidarity Fund.

James Wharton

The Government submitted an initial UK application to the European Union Solidary Fund on Friday 26 February. The application included an estimate of eligible costs of direct damage incurred by the storms in December and early January. Since making this initial application we have continued to refine our cost estimates. I will update Parliament once the European Commission’s final assessment has been made.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Tim Farron on 2016-09-05.

To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, how many days of holiday, on average, were awarded to departmental employees living and working overseas in 2015-16.

Rory Stewart

DFID employees living and working overseas may utilise up to 30 days annual leave, with exception of those at A band (Grade 7 and above) who are eligible for 31.5 days, plus agreed local public holidays.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Tim Farron on 2016-09-13.

To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what steps her Department is taking to ensure that the emergency services can be contacted in areas where mobile phone service is poor or non-existent.

Matt Hancock

Improving mobile connectivity across the UK, including in rural and hard to reach areas, is a priority for the Government and the December 2014 landmark agreement with industry guarantees that each mobile network operator will provide voice and SMS text coverage to 90% of the UK’s landmass by end 2017. Additionally, Telefonica has a licence obligation to deliver indoor 4G coverage to 98% of UK premises, also by end 2017. Taken together these obligations will cut complete not spots by two thirds, resulting in 98% of the UK landmass with mobile coverage.

This coverage would be available to all mobile phone users for emergency 999 calls as the Code of Practice for the Public Emergency Call Service requires that a caller from a mobile phone is able to roam onto another mobile network to make an emergency call if they have no signal from their own provider.

Furthermore, the Government recognises the importance of public call boxes as a means of calling the emergency services. Ofcom requires that there is a period of consultation before a public call box is removed and that one of the factors to be considered by the relevant public body is the potential importance of the call box to contact the emergency services.