Tag: Tristram Hunt

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Tristram Hunt on 2016-01-07.

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, how many jobs in (a) his Department and (b) each of its non-departmental public bodies, executive agencies, non-ministerial departments, advisory bodies and other accountable statutory bodies (i) have been abolished or relocated from Stoke-on-Trent since 2010 and (ii) will be abolished in or relocated from Stoke-on-Trent by 2020.

Mr Tobias Ellwood

(a) None. The Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) does not have any staff in Stoke-on-Trent, and has not abolished or relocated any jobs from Stoke-on-Trent since 2010.

(b) None. The FCO’s non-departmental public departments and executive agencies do not have any staff in Stoke-on-Trent, and have not abolished or relocated any jobs from Stoke-on-Trent since 2010.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Tristram Hunt on 2016-02-24.

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what discussions (a) Ministers, (b) special advisers and (c) senior officials of her Department have had with representatives from the National Baccalaureate Trust since May 2015.

Nick Gibb

I am not aware of any discussions that have taken place with representatives from the National Baccalaureate Trust.

The Department recently consulted on the English Baccalaureate (EBacc) asking for views on how schools will manage the challenges associated with implementing the commitment that the EBacc becomes the default position for all mainstream secondary pupils. The consultation closed on 29 January and we received 2,755 responses.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Tristram Hunt on 2016-03-03.

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, pursuant to the Prime Minister’s oral contribution of 2 March 2016, Official Report, column 943, what the evidential basis is for the statement that there are 36,500 fewer pupils in overcrowded schools than in 2010.

Edward Timpson

I refer the Honourable member to my response to question 29204 submitted to Parliament on Friday 4 March 2016. The answer shows that the total number of primary and secondary pupils in excess of capacity has reduced by 47,513 between 2010 and 2014.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Tristram Hunt on 2016-04-15.

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how many jobs in (a) his Department and (b) each of his Department’s non-departmental public bodies, executive agencies, non-ministerial departments, advisory bodies and other accountable statutory bodies (i) have been abolished in or relocated from East Cheshire Local Authority since 2010 and (ii) will be abolished in or relocated from East Cheshire Local Authority by 2020.

Mr Robert Goodwill

In the Department for Transport itself, no posts have been based in East Cheshire Local Authority since 2010.

The Department’s Executive Agencies (Maritime and Coastguard Agency, Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency (DVLA), Vehicle Certification Agency and Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency) have had no posts based in East Cheshire Local Authority since 2010, other than DVLA.

DVLA Chester Local Office was closed in November 2013, as part of a programme of closures, rationalising the DVLA estate and centralising work at the main headquarters in Swansea. There were 16 Civil Service posts based out of this office. Staff were offered the opportunity to relocate to the DVLA in Swansea. Two staff chose to transfer out to other government departments within the region; one member of staff came to the end of their contract and 13 staff chose to take redundancy rather than relocate.

There are currently no plans to increase or decrease the number of posts in the East Cheshire Local Authority between now and 2020.

We are not aware of any jobs being based in East Cheshire Local Authority since 2010 in the wider accountable statutory bodies.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Tristram Hunt on 2016-01-07.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how many jobs in (a) his Department and (b) each of its non-departmental public bodies, executive agencies, non-ministerial departments, advisory bodies and other accountable statutory bodies (i) have been abolished or relocated from Stoke-on-Trent since 2010 and (ii) will be abolished in or relocated from Stoke-on-Trent by 2020.

Jane Ellison

Information about the number of jobs that (i) have been abolished or relocated from Stoke-on-Trent since 2010 and (ii) will be abolished in or relocated from Stoke-on-Trent by 2020 is set out in the attached tables. The information about non-Departmental public bodies, executive agencies, and other accountable statutory bodies is not held centrally by the Department and their information, as indicated below, has been provided by those bodies.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Tristram Hunt on 2016-02-24.

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if she will make an assessment of the adequacy of the distribution of teacher training places in the (a) North Staffordshire sub-region and (b) West Midlands region.

Nick Gibb

The Department for Education has changed the approach to initial teacher training (ITT) allocations for the 2016 to 2017 academic year. The National College for Teaching and Leadership are not allocating a specific number of places to individual organisations for postgraduate ITT courses due to start in the 2016 to 2017 academic year. Instead, eligible schools, school-centred initial teacher training providers (SCITTs) and higher education institutions (HEIs) will be able to recruit as many trainees as they feel they need (subject to a limited number of controls), until the overall system has recruited a sufficient number.

School Direct lead schools, SCITTs and universities across all regions have been given greater freedom for the 2016/17 academic year to manage their recruitment according to local need.

We are monitoring regional recruitment across all subjects, including the West Midlands region. However, as School Direct and SCITT partnerships cover large geographical areas, we are not monitoring recruitment at a sub-regional level.

To date, the only challenge in geographical distribution of ITT places has been found in the London region in recruitment to primary, which was recruiting slower than other regions. In this case we have allowed school led routes (i.e. School Direct (tuition fee) and SCITTs) in this region to continue to recruit to primary courses to ensure that enough trainees are recruited. For all other regions, recruitment is broadly the same as in 2015/16 with some areas showing an increase.

We are prepared to use reserve recruitment controls in other subjects, or for other regions, as required.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Tristram Hunt on 2016-04-15.

To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, how many jobs in (a) his Department and (b) each of his Department’s non-departmental public bodies, executive agencies, non-ministerial departments, advisory bodies and other accountable statutory bodies (i) have been abolished in or relocated from East Cheshire Local Authority since 2010 and (ii) will be abolished in or relocated from East Cheshire Local Authority by 2020.

Joseph Johnson

Historical information that is readily available suggests that the Department and its partner organisations had no jobs based within the East Cheshire Local Authority in 2010 or since.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Tristram Hunt on 2016-04-15.

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many jobs in (a) his Department and (b) each of his Department’s non-departmental public bodies, executive agencies, non-ministerial departments, advisory bodies and other accountable statutory bodies (i) have been abolished in or relocated from East Cheshire Local Authority since 2010 and (ii) will be abolished in or relocated from East Cheshire Local Authority by 2020.

Justin Tomlinson

The number of people employed in DWP offices in East Cheshire Local Authority area at March 2011, which is the earliest information available, was 198. The current number of people employed as at March 2016, which is the latest information available, is 135. The reduction is in line with increased efficiencies and reducing workloads as more people have moved into work.

Health and Safety Executive (HSE) has only had an office presence in East Cheshire Local Authority area, in Crewe, since 25 January 2016. This follows the relocation of 31 staff from Stoke-on-Trent on that date with no staff losses at that time. As of March 2016 HSE has 30 staff based in Crewe.

DWP and HSE have not yet developed detailed workforce plans up to 2020. There are currently no further plans for relocation or specific reductions of posts in East Cheshire.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Tristram Hunt on 2016-01-07.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many jobs in (a) her Department and (b) each of its non-departmental public bodies, executive agencies, non-ministerial departments, advisory bodies and other accountable statutory bodies (i) have been abolished or relocated from Stoke-on-Trent since 2010 and (ii) will be abolished in or relocated from Stoke-on-Trent by 2020.

Karen Bradley

The Department records actual staffing levels, but does not centrally record the number of jobs by location. Actual staffing levels for (a) the Department, between March 2010 and March 2015, have slightly reduced (less than 10 FTE¹) in Stoke-on-Trent. However, this does not necessarily mean that posts have been abolished or relocated as a consequence.

The Department is still planning its workforce requirements for 2020 in line with the Spending Review settlement; this level of detail is not yet known.

(b) For the Department’s executive non-departmental public bodies and statutory bodies, there have been no staff or offices based in Stoke-on-Trent during this period. The Department’s executive non-departmental Public Bodies are:

• the Independent Police Complaints Commission;

• the Gangmasters Licensing Authority;

• the Office of the Immigration Services Commissioner;

• the Security Industry Authority; and

• the Disclosure and Barring Service

None of the Department’s Advisory and Tribunal NDPBs employ staff or have offices in Stoke-on-Trent.

¹Data Source: Data View, the Home Office’s single source of Office for National Statistics compliant monthly snapshot corporate human resources data Period Covered: Figures are as at 31 March each year.

Extraction Date: 1st April each year

Organisational Coverage: March-10 – Figures include core Home Office and the Executive Agencies; United Kingdom Border Agency, Identity and Passport Service and the Criminal Records Bureau March -15 – Figures include core Home Office (including Border Force, UK Visas & Immigration, Immigration En-forcement and Her Majesty’s Passport Office.) Employee Coverage: Data is based on headcount and FTE of all current paid and unpaid civil servants as at 31st March each year

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Tristram Hunt on 2016-02-24.

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many and which local authorities have notified her Department about plans to dispose of grant-funded assets through the (a) sale, (b) transfer and (c) change of use of children’s centres under the requirements of the Sure Start Early Years and Childcare Grant.

Mr Sam Gyimah

Where local authorities dispose of or change the use of buildings or other assets funded wholly or partly through Sure Start capital grants, they must repay the money through the claw-back process.

The Department for Education has a thorough set of monitoring arrangements in place regarding claw-back rules. Local authorities are required to notify the department of each and every proposed change of services and provide details about the level of early years services that are to continue. The department then considers if the local authority has continued to offer a sufficient level of early years services for children and their families from the building in question to meet the original aims of the grant.

If the department is satisfied that the funding for the asset will continue to be used for purposes consistent with the grant, the department may defer claw-back. Deferring claw-back means that we accept the change of usage at that time, however, the department retains its interest in the asset and if in the future the asset has its usage changed, is transferred or otherwise disposed of, and does not continue to meet the purposes of the grant the local authority must inform the department and we will claw-back the funding. The department’s interest in an asset funded by Sure Start capital grants is 25 years from designation of the building. If the grant was used to purchase capital items or re-furbish an existing asset, the length of time and value of any claw-back depends on the depreciation value of the items, according to local authority depreciation rules.