Tag: Tim Farron

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 allowance on the ability of disabled student to access non-medical help and to develop coping strategies and learning styles during their time at university.

Joseph Johnson

We do not hold information on the expenditure on individual types of non-medical help support that are available to disabled students through Disabled Students’ Allowances.

The Government’s response to the consultation on reforms to Disabled Students’ Allowances (DSAs), published in December 2015, confirmed that from 2016/17 support roles from band 4 will continue to be primarily funded through DSAs, unless reasonable adjustments are in place that remove the need for such support.

A full equality impact assessment on the proposed changes to Disabled Students’ Allowances was published in December 2015.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Tim Farron on 2016-06-20.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what the age is of the (a) youngest and (b) oldest person with a profile on the National DNA Database.

Mike Penning

a) The recorded age of the youngest person on the National DNA Database (NDNAD) as at 31 March 2016 was 10.

b) The recorded age of the eldest person on the NDNAD as at 31 March 2016 was 115.

The age recorded for the eldest person is based on what their age would be as at 31 March 2016 from their date of birth recorded at the time of sampling.

It is not their age when they were added to the NDNAD. There is no weeding from the NDNAD due to age or death.

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

To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, how many people are currently registered as self-employed in Westmorland and Lonsdale constituency; and what the average salary is earned by those people.

Chris Skidmore

The information requested falls within the responsibility of the UK Statistics Authority. I have asked the Authority to reply.

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

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what steps his Department is taking to ensure that people who suffer from aphasia are given the support needed to communicate effectively.

David Mowat

Rehabilitation services, specifically speech and language therapy, provide much of the National Health Service support for people with aphasia. As clinical commissioning groups are responsible for commissioning these services, they should be taking steps to ensure that support for people with aphasia is available and improve these services where appropriate.

Stroke is the most common cause of aphasia developing in adults. The vast majority of patients are admitted to hospital after a stroke and over 90% are managed on a stroke unit. All stroke units in England have access to speech and language therapy. After discharge from hospital about three quarters of areas in England have access to stroke specific early supported discharge teams of which 91% have a speech and language therapist.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Tim Farron on 2016-10-18.

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, how many farmers had still not received the money they are due from the Rural Payments Agency under the 2015 Basic Payment Scheme by the end of 14 October 2016 in (a) England, (b) Cumbria and (c) Westmorland and Lonsdale constituency.

George Eustice

As at close of business 14 October, in addition to claims which the Rural Payments Agency (RPA) cannot pay due to legal reasons such as probate, there are 2 BPS claims to complete for England. For Cumbria and the Westmorland and Lonsdale constituency all claims have been completed and payments issued.

RPA has investigated all 13,600 claim queries identified since June through its planned payments reconciliation process and made top-up payments where necessary. The Agency continues to review new queries.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Tim Farron on 2015-11-23.

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many school days have been lost to snow closures in each of the last three years.

Nick Gibb

The Department does not collect information on the number of school days lost due to snow closures.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Tim Farron on 2016-02-08.

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many (a) reconnaissance, (b) combat and (c) other missions were flown by RAF aircraft over Iraq in the last 12 months.

Penny Mordaunt

The number of reconnaissance, combat and other missions between 1 February 2015 and 1 February 2016 are detailed in the table below. The majority of aircraft flying missions in Syrian airspace will have flown over Iraqi airspace as well. Reaper, Tornado and Typhoon are multi-role aircraft and as such can be deployed in both a combat mission and a reconnaissance mission. Other missions have been defined as those involved in the transportation of people or equipment.

*This figure does not include C17, which is estimated to have flown two missions a month in the period in question. The records for C17 are not held centrally and could only be provided at disproportionate cost.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Tim Farron on 2016-04-19.

To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what progress his Department has made on reaching its target of £1 trillion a year in exports by 2020.

Anna Soubry

The Government has a clear strategy for increasing both the value of UK exports, as well as the number of British exporters. This is set out in the Government’s evidence to the BIS Select Committee inquiry into Exports in January 2016. Progress in delivering against the target is reported by the ONS.

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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, if he will allow the Quality Assurance Agency to include an assessment of how well universities are meeting the needs of disabled students in their remit.

Joseph Johnson

The Government is committed to ensuring that everyone with the potential has the opportunity to benefit from higher education, irrespective of their background or mode of learning. In the last year we saw record numbers of applicants and entrants to higher education, and record application rates among students from disadvantaged backgrounds.

Universities expect to spend more than £745 million through access agreements agreed with the Director of Fair Access on measures to improve access and success for students from disadvantaged groups, including disabled students – up significantly from £404 million in 2009.

Under the Equality Act 2010, higher education institutions have a role and responsibility for promoting equality, including for students with disabilities.

The UK Quality Code promotes an inclusive approach by embedding consideration of equality and diversity throughout higher education institutions. Promoting equality for disabled students can include eliminating arbitrary and unnecessary barriers to learning and offering learning opportunities that are equally accessible to them. The Quality Assurance Agency (QAA) looks for evidence that universities promote equality when making assessments of higher education institutions in line with the UK Quality Code.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Tim Farron on 2016-06-15.

To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what steps her Department has taken to promote LGBT rights in developing countries in this Parliament.

Sir Desmond Swayne

Through development programmes, DFID aims to support civil society, governments and others to build open economies and open societies in which citizens have freedom, dignity, choice and control over their lives, and institutions are accountable, inclusive and responsive.

DFID’s approach to lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender rights’ was published in February 2016 online.