Tag: Tom Blenkinsop

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Tom Blenkinsop on 2016-04-08.

To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, if he will amend the remit of the taskforce created to respond to the closure of SSI in Redcar to include the Teesside economy as a whole.

Anna Soubry

Where there are redundancies within the Tees Valley, the Government will work with local partners, including the Tees Valley Combined Authority, the Local Enterprise Partnership and the SSI Task Force to determine how support can be most effectively targeted to affected individuals. The SSI Task Force is already supporting the Tees Valley economy more broadly, for example through the £16m Support for Businesses Schemes, which the Task Force reports has created 186 jobs, safeguarded 326 jobs and committed £4.1m funding, attracting £6m in private sector match.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Tom Blenkinsop on 2016-06-09.

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if she will (a) establish an additional National Teaching Service (NTS) pilot in Teesside and (b) give priority to the Tees Valley in the NTS national roll-out in response to the recommendation in Lord Heseltine’s report, Tees Valley: opportunity unlimited to prioritise the Tees Valley for national roll-out of the NTS.

Nick Gibb

In November 2015 we announced that by 2020 the National Teaching Service (NTS) will have placed 1,500 high-performing teachers and middle leaders into challenging schools in areas of the country that struggle to attract, recruit and retain high quality teachers.

The NTS was launched with plans for a pilot scheme in the North West of England from September 2016 with the aim of attracting 100 NTS teachers and middle leaders into schools in the region. The national programme will include a clear focus on delivering cohorts of NTS teachers and middle leaders into eligible schools in Achieving Excellence Areas (AEAs) as set out in the Educational Excellence Everywhere White Paper. We will confirm our plans for rolling out the NTS in due course.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Tom Blenkinsop on 2016-09-02.

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many accidents have occurred in mines in each of the last five years.

Penny Mordaunt

The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) operational data is derived from reports made under duties contained in the Reporting of Injuries and Dangerous Occurrences Regulations 2013 (RIDDOR) (and earlier versions). It is as follows:

Year	No. of reported injuries in underground mines in Great Britain* **
1 April 2011 – 31 March 2012	204
1 April 2012 – 31 March 2013	146
1 April 2013 – 31 March 2014	114
1 April 2014 – 31 March 2015	75
1 April 2015 – 31 March 2016	52
1 April 2016 – 31 August 2016	21

* A key change to RIDDOR occurred in April 2012, ie the threshold for reporting of those injuries to workers which result in the person being incapacitated for more than three days changed to over seven days.

** It should be noted that the reducing trend is, in part, due to the reduction in the number of large working mines in recent years.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Tom Blenkinsop on 2016-10-07.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what steps he is taking to target the recruitment of new GPs to practices with high levels of clinical need and deprivation.

Mr Philip Dunne

NHS England, Health Education England (HEE), the British Medical Association and the Royal College of General Practitioners (GPs) have been working together to support recruitment in areas to which it has traditionally been hard to recruit to.

NHS England is offering £20,000 bursaries to attract over 100 GP trainees to work in areas of the country where GP training places have been unfilled for a number of years. The offer is open to GP trainees committed to working for three years in one of the locations. The initiative is designed to relieve pressure on some of the GP practices in England currently facing the most severe recruitment challenge.

The GP Forward View complements the 10 point plan that was introduced in January 2015. A £10 million investment was announced by NHS England from the infrastructure fund to kick start a new plan to expand the general practice workforce. The money is being used to recruit new GPs, retain those that are thinking of leaving the profession, encourage doctors to return to general practice and to develop a multi-professional workforce. HEE is responsible for five areas of the 10 Point Plan:

– Promoting General Practice;

– Improve Breadth of Training;

– Training Hubs;

– New Ways of Working (which includes the Primary Care Workforce Commission); and

– Easy Return to Practice.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Tom Blenkinsop on 2016-10-18.

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether his Department has made an assessment of whether the conditions have been met for the Pensions Regulator to issue a contribution notice to Tata Steel in relation to the British Steel Pension Scheme.

Richard Harrington

The assessment of whether it is appropriate to issue contribution notices is the responsibility of the Independent Pensions Regulator.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Tom Blenkinsop on 2015-11-13.

To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, how much funding his Department will make available to support the retraining of workers recently made redundant by Cleveland Potash.

Anna Soubry

This is clearly a worrying time for those affected by ICL’s announcement that it is proposing to make 220 employees and 140 contractors redundant as part of a restructuring at its Boulby mine. Those affected will be able to access Jobcentre Plus’ Rapid Response Service, which is delivered locally with partners, is tailored to an individual’s needs, and can include some or all of the following elements:

• Help with job searches, including CV writing and interview skills.
• Help to identify transferable skills and skills gaps (linked to the local labour market).
• Training to update skills, learn new ones and gain industry recognised certification that will improve employability.
• Help to overcome barriers to attending training or securing a job or self-employment such as child care costs, tools, work clothes, travel costs etc.

We will, of course, consider with local partners whether the area needs extra support to respond to this news – including Jobcentre Plus, the Local Enterprise Partnership and the Local Authority. However it is important to fully understand the impacts of this announcement before any decisions are taken.

Whilst this remains a difficult time, it was encouraging to read that the company intends to invest at least £20m in infrastructure at the mine to support its restructure.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Tom Blenkinsop on 2016-01-29.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what plans NHS England has to integrate standards for specialist neuromuscular care within the paediatric neurology service specification.

Jane Ellison

Children with neuromuscular conditions are included within the current service specification for paediatric neurology:

https://www.england.nhs.uk/wp-content/uploads/2013/06/e09-paedi-neurology.pdf

“

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Tom Blenkinsop on 2016-04-15.

To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what the cost to the public purse was of the promotional film for the Northern Powerhouse project, Gunning for growth.

Mr Mark Francois

The Northern Powerhouse is GREAT investment film, paid for by GREAT, was created to promote investment into all parts of the Northern Powerhouse. It has already been shown in Europe, North America, Latin America, Africa, Asia and Australasia. It was produced by Leeds agency Motiv Productions at a one off cost of just over £20,000.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Tom Blenkinsop on 2016-06-15.

To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what steps his Department is taking to ensure that universities offer disabled students levels of support which take account of recent changes to the disabled students’ allowance.

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 academic year we saw record entry rates to higher education, including among those from disadvantaged backgrounds

Higher Education Institutions have responsibilities under the Equality Act 2010 to support their students, including those with disabilities. They have a clear legal duty to make reasonable adjustments for disabled people to ensure they are not placed at a substantial disadvantage compared to non-disabled students.

To support Higher Education (HE) providers to prepare for the changes to Disabled Students’ Allowances that come into effect from academic year 2016/17, the Department has supported the establishment of a sector-led group ofstakeholders. The group’s focus is to communicate with senior leaders of HE providers, to help provide information about institutions’ responsibilities under the Equality Act 2010 to make reasonable adjustments for disabled students, and to encourage HE providers to develop inclusive learning environments.

In addition, 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.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Tom Blenkinsop on 2016-09-02.

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what representations he has received on the recent fatalities at the Boulby Potash mine; and whether his Department has made an assessment of the need to take any such action in respect of those fatalities.

Penny Mordaunt

The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) has received one representation on recent incidents, from the hon. Member for Middlesbrough South and East Cleveland. HSE has carried out a variety of interventions with the operators of Boulby mine, ranging from the serving of Prohibition Notices to a detailed assessment of their safety and competency management systems. HSE is reviewing the circumstances of a number of recent incidents with a view to taking further enforcement action if appropriate.