Tag: Tom Pursglove

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Tom Pursglove on 2015-10-28.

To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, how many civil servants in his Department are members of trades unions; how much working hours facility time is claimed by each such civil servant; and what the cost of that facility time is to his Department.

Mr Edward Vaizey

The Department does not actively collect information around trade union memberships.

The Cabinet Office publishes data relating to Civil Service facility time on a quarterly basis. The latest data is Quarter 4, 2014 at and is available athttps://www.gov.uk/government/publications/trade-union-facility-time."

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The below Parliamentary question was asked by Tom Pursglove on 2015-11-24.

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps she is taking to improve schools in rural areas.

Nick Gibb

The Government is committed to achieving educational excellence everywhere so that children in all areas of the country benefit from a high-quality education. We made substantial progress in the last Parliament, and a million more pupils are in good or outstanding schools compared to 2010. But there are still too many areas where educational standards are not high enough.

Pupils in rural areas are more likely to achieve 5 or more GCSEs including English and mathematics at grades A*-C. Considering local area deprivation, however, pupils living in rural areas are less likely to achieve the same standards as pupils living in similarly deprived urban areas of the country.

We have already designated over 690 teaching schools and 1,050 national leaders of education (NLEs) in our drive to ensure that educational excellence is a reality in all areas of the country, particularly those that need most support. The new National Teaching Service (NTS) will place 1,500 outstanding teachers and middle leaders in underperforming schools by 2020, particularly in rural and other areas of the country that find it hardest to attract, retain and recruit good teachers.

Regional Schools Commissioners are ensuring the availability of strong academy sponsors for schools in all areas of the country including rural areas. The Department recently announced that five sponsors will receive funding from the Northern Fund to set up seven new hubs across three RSC regions.

We will introduce National Funding Formulas (NFF) for schools, high needs and early years so that funding is transparently and fairly matched to need rather than purely historic calculations.

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

To ask the Attorney General, pursuant to the Answer of 23 March 2016 to Question 31332, if he will estimate the cost of collecting information on the nationality of offenders referred to the court.

Robert Buckland

The nationality of offenders referred to the court is not collated centrally.

The Ministry of Justice hold data on foreign nationals held in prisons in England and Wales and publish statistics quarterly. The data does not include those offenders who receive non-custodial sentences.

To obtain even the limited data which is held would require the consideration of the files in all cases over the past three years where the Court of Appeal increased a sentence of imprisonment previously imposed to ascertain if they contained sufficient information for the data to be requested from the Ministry of Justice.

The process that would have to be undertaken would incur costs above the current disproportionate cost threshold and would in any event only provide the nationality for a limited number of offenders referred to the court.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Tom Pursglove on 2016-05-26.

To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland, pursuant to the Answer of 25 May 2016 to Question 37198, how many of the leaflets entitled Why the Government believes that voting to remain in the European Union is the best decision for the UK have been returned to his Department; and what the postage cost to the Government has been of such returns.

David Mundell

I refer the hon Gentleman to the Prime Minister’s response of 25 May 2016. This information is not collated centrally by the Department.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Tom Pursglove on 2015-10-28.

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many civil servants in his Department are members of trades unions; how much working hours facility time is claimed by each such civil servant; and what the cost of that facility time is to his Department.

Mark Lancaster

The Ministry of Defence (MOD) no longer holds data on employees who are members of Trades Unions (TUs), following the removal of automatic TU subscription-fee deductions from employees’ salary in January 2015.

The MOD makes certain facilities available to civilian employees who are accredited representatives, but not paid officials of, TUs recognised by the Department. The amount of time off and the purposes for which it is allowed is in accordance with the ACAS Code of Practice Time off for Trade Union duties and activities. This is recorded as facility time (FT).

In FY 2014-15 some 9,865 staff days were spent on FT at a cost of £1.13 million, which is significantly lower than comparable figures for FY 2011-12 when an estimated 27,060 staff days were spent on FT at a cost of £3.65 million. The number of Departmental staff who were recorded as being 100% FT has also fallen from 53 in 2013 to zero in 2015.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Tom Pursglove on 2015-11-30.

To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what assessment he has made of the contribution of recreational spaces to local sporting and community life.

Tracey Crouch

The government is committed to supporting recreational spaces across the country. Our new sport and physical activity strategy recognises that these spaces can be crucial in getting people active and are an important part of the nation’s sporting infrastructure.

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

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, how much funding has been allocated to (a) Corby and (b) East Northamptonshire to tackle flooding in the last five years.

Rory Stewart

The Government has spent £2.6 million on flood risk management capital and maintenance works in Corby and East Northamptonshire between 2011/12 to 2015/16. This figure is combined, as the funding is allocated to, and work undertaken in, ‘Flood Risk Management Systems’. These systems relate to the watercourses in these areas and the consequences of flooding, rather than to political boundaries. For example, the river Harpers Brook flows in and out of both Corby and East Northamptonshire several times and so the funding for these areas is combined.

Maintenance works include routine maintenance, such as blockage removal, and incident management response during a flood. Capital works include capital project work, including studies, refurbishment and improvement works.

In accordance with data retention rules, the Environment Agency does not hold financial records for more than five years.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Tom Pursglove on 2016-05-26.

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, pursuant to the Answer of 25 May 2016 to Question 37198, how many of the leaflets entitled Why the Government believes that voting to remain in the European Union is the best decision for the UK have been returned to his Department; and what the postage cost to the Government has been of such returns.

Mr Robert Goodwill

I refer the Hon Member to the Prime Minister’s response of 25th May 2016. This information is not collated centrally by the Department.