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, whether the funding of Band 4 specialist study skills tutors will be a permissible use of the disabled student allowance under the Government’s proposed changes to that allowance.

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 2016-06-08.

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many women have (a) been charged with and (b) served a prison sentence for non-violent crimes in the last five years.

Dominic Raab

Charging decisions are a matter for the Crown Prosecution Service, and sentencing is a matter for our independent courts. The court may only impose a custodial sentence where it finds that the offence is so serious that neither a community sentence nor a fine alone can be justified.

There is no clear definition of a non-violent crime, as both physical and psychological harm can be caused by many crimes and this will not necessarily be apparent from the description of the offence. However, the number of defendants proceeded against at magistrates’ courts and found guilty and sentenced, including to custody, by offence category and specific offence, by gender, in England and Wales, from 2011 to 2015 can be found in the Criminal Justice Statistics outcomes by offence data tool in the most recent annual publication: https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/criminal-justice-system-statistics-quarterly-december-2015.

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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.