Tag: Tom Pursglove

  • Tom Pursglove – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    Tom Pursglove – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

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

    To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, 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.

    Andrew Selous

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

  • Tom Pursglove – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Tom Pursglove – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Tom Pursglove on 2015-10-30.

    To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many historic crimes will feature in this year’s crime figures.

    Mike Penning

    The Office for National Statistics (ONS) are responsible for crime statistics. Any historical crime that is brought to the attention of and recorded by the police will be included in the quarterly statistics for the period it was recorded in.

    The Home Office (via the Home Office Data Hub) collects limited information on the date of offence for some crime types and some forces. For example, for sexual offences, the Home Office was able to supply data for the ONS to use in their quarterly Crime in England and Wales publications to highlight the impact of Operation Yewtree and the large number of historical offences that were reported to the police.

    The Home Office is also unable to provide prior information of statistics in upcoming publications.

  • Tom Pursglove – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Culture, Media and Sport

    Tom Pursglove – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Culture, Media and Sport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Tom Pursglove on 2016-03-21.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, when he plans to publish further details of his Department’s draft plans to change the way sports funding is allocated, with reference to pages 16 and 17 of Sporting Future: A New Strategy for an Active Nation.

    David Evennett

    Sport England’s new strategy, which is due to be published in Spring, will set out how the actions in Sporting Future will be delivered at grassroots level. This will set out the way in which funding will be allocated, in accordance with the principles set out in the government’s strategy for sport.

  • Tom Pursglove – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Northern Ireland Office

    Tom Pursglove – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Northern Ireland Office

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

    To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, 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 her Department; and what the postage cost to the Government has been of such returns.

    Mr Ben Wallace

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

  • Tom Pursglove – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Culture, Media and Sport

    Tom Pursglove – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Culture, Media and Sport

    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."

    “

  • Tom Pursglove – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    Tom Pursglove – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    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.

  • Tom Pursglove – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Attorney General

    Tom Pursglove – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Attorney General

    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.

  • Tom Pursglove – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Scotland Office

    Tom Pursglove – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Scotland Office

    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.

  • Tom Pursglove – 2022 Statement on the UN Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities

    Tom Pursglove – 2022 Statement on the UN Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities

    The statement made by Tom Pursglove, the Minister for Disabled People, in the House of Commons on 15 December 2022.

    Today, I will place in the Library of the House a copy of the UK’s 2022 follow-up report to the UN Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, following the 2016 inquiry.

    This Government are committed to eliminating barriers faced by disabled people, in order to realise their full participation and inclusion in society. The follow-up report demonstrates how we are implementing the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities and showcases positive action taking place across the UK to support disabled people.

    The UK Government have implemented numerous policies and programmes to tackle the barriers faced by disabled people relevant to the articles examined by the inquiry, as highlighted in our latest report to the UN Committee for the Rights of Persons with Disabilities.

    We have seen 1.3 million more disabled people in work than in 2017—delivering a Government commitment five years early. We are investing £1.3 billion over three years in employment support for disabled people and people with health conditions.

    The Government are providing households with cost of living support totalling over £37 billion this year. This includes a £650 cost of living payment for people on means-tested benefits. In addition to this, six million eligible disabled people have received a one-off, disability cost of living payment of £150 to help with additional costs.

    We are reforming social care support to improve disabled people’s access to care services and ensure integrated health and care support. Increased funding for adult social care will also ensure a fairer cost of care for both carers and patients. Improvements in the accessibility of homes and transport are helping disabled people to live independently and have a better standard of living.

    We supported the passage of the British Sign Language (BSL) Act (2022) which recognises BSL as a language of England, Wales and Scotland in its own right. A BSL advisory board is being established to guide implementation of the Act from the perspective of people who use BSL.

    Recognising the need for wider societal change across all industries, our 19 disability and access ambassadors are using their expertise and influence in business to help drive and support changes in access for disabled consumers and employees.

    Alongside this, we recognise the importance of co-ordinated action across Government, reflecting the full range of services and opportunities that deliver full participation. Our ministerial disability champions have been supporting and driving forward work on disability in their respective departments.

    We continue to engage with disabled people and stake-holders through disabled people’s organisations, networks and relevant organisations. This is to ensure that lived experience underpins regular and co-ordinated action across Government. We remain committed to improving the lives of disabled people and making our society a more inclusive and accessible place for all disabled people.

  • Tom Pursglove – 2022 Statement on Personal Independence Payments

    Tom Pursglove – 2022 Statement on Personal Independence Payments

    The statement made by Tom Pursglove, the Minister for Disabled People, in the House of Commons on 15 December 2022.

    Today the Department will publish the latest update on progress on making backdated payments to personal independence payment claimants who are affected by the MH and RJ decisions of the Upper Tribunal (UT). The release will be published at: https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/pip-administrative-exercise-progress-on-cases-cleared.

    The MH decision changed how overwhelming psychological distress is considered when assessing someone’s ability to plan and follow a journey. The RJ decision changed how we decide whether someone can carry out an activity safely and if they need supervision.

    As at the end of November 2022, we have reviewed around 990,000 cases against the MH decision. This includes cases where claimants have previously been assessed as having “overwhelming psychological distress” or who have a “psychiatric disorder” as one of their health conditions. We have also reviewed around 1,100,000 cases against the RJ decision. This includes cases where claimants have a “neurological disease” as one of their health conditions. All reviews will have been carried out by a case manager within the Department.

    Around 8,400 arrears payments, totalling around £44 million, have been made. No one should have seen their PIP reduced because of this exercise.

    In addition, we will continue to review any case for any claimant who asks us to.

    This has been a complex and substantial exercise, involving over 2,090,000 reviews against two UT decisions. Our approach demonstrates that we have prioritised claimants who are most likely to benefit, to make backdated payments as quickly as possible.

    We have set out further background to this release in an updated “Frequently Asked Questions”. I will deposit a copy of this document and the statistical release in the Library of the House.