Asked by: Meg Munn (Labour (Co-op) - Sheffield, Heeley)
Question
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what forecast his Department has made of the spending on the 2014-15 Employee Ownership Fund.
Answered by Nick Boles
Our latest estimate of spending on the Employer Ownership Fund during 2014-15 is £0.72m.
Asked by: Meg Munn (Labour (Co-op) - Sheffield, Heeley)
Question
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, which organisations have been awarded funding from the Employer Ownership Fund to train female engineers; and how much each such organisation has been allocated.
Answered by Nick Boles
The offer for support for women in engineering under the Employer Ownership Fund was closed for applications on 5 December 2014. The applications are being assessed and I hope to be able to announce any successful applications shortly.
Asked by: Meg Munn (Labour (Co-op) - Sheffield, Heeley)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what progress his Department has made on implementation of the recommendations of the third Pitcairn Child Safety Review.
Answered by James Duddridge
The third independent Pitcairn Child Safety Review (CSR) provided a further assessment of child safety and safeguarding measures with 21 recommendations put forward. A summary of the recommendations was placed in the House of Commons Library last year. The majority of the recommendations have been implemented with a small number on going. A further CSR is under discussion.
Her Majesty's Government (HMG) has upgraded its presence on the island with a newly arrived Administrator. Officials visited the island in 2013 and had detailed discussions on child safeguarding with the Council. Child Matters Trust, a New Zealand based Non Governmental Organisation, visited the island in 2014 to deliver training. The new Governor based in New Zealand has re-iterated the importance of child safeguarding during his first visit in November.
There is a stronger partnership between HMG and the Pitcairn Island Council on child safeguarding. We work closely with the Council to implement all the recommendations. Our commitment to strengthen the protection of children, young people and their families on Pitcairn remains a top priority. Established policies and procedures are in place for handling child protection concerns. This includes the retention of a restrictive applications process for visits to Pitcairn by minors. There is a community of professionals on Pitcairn, including a police officer, a trained social worker, a teacher and a doctor, who all play an important role in child safety. Until such time as a future report shows no risk to children on the island, the very robust safeguarding measures will remain in place.
Asked by: Meg Munn (Labour (Co-op) - Sheffield, Heeley)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, when he plans to publish the implementation plan for the UK National Action Plan on Women, Peace and Security.
Answered by James Duddridge
Although we have committed to develop and publish the UK’s first Implementation Plan by the end of 2014, we in fact hope to publish the document before then.
The Implementation Plan will include indicators and baseline data and will build on the National Action Plan (NAP) on Women, Peace and Security. It will be used to assess the impact of UK efforts on Women, Peace and Security throughout the life of this NAP. The Implementation Plan will focus on Afghanistan, Burma, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Libya, Somalia and Syria; all countries facing very different situations but where more can be done to protect women; to involve them in building long-term security; and where the UK can make a real difference.
Asked by: Meg Munn (Labour (Co-op) - Sheffield, Heeley)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what plans she has to increase the number of science graduates teaching in primary schools.
Answered by David Laws
The Department for Education wants to see more science graduates in teaching, both at primary and secondary level. There are currently around 26,100 primary teachers in state schools with science-related degrees (11.5%). We promote primary teaching to science graduates through our “Get into Teaching” campaign as well as supporting 500 primary places to Teach First which recruits top graduates into teaching.
In addition to initial teacher training, we are supporting a number of initiatives to improve the science knowledge of existing primary teachers. There are 266 Specialist Leaders of Education in science who are boosting other teachers’ knowledge across the country. We are also collaborating with the Wellcome Trust who are developing a programme for primary science teachers to strengthen further their expertise. In this way, they will be able to train non-specialist teachers to excel in science, providing further capacity in this important area.
Asked by: Meg Munn (Labour (Co-op) - Sheffield, Heeley)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps she is taking to ensure that children who have been looked after because of abuse or neglect receive appropriate support and monitoring to prevent further abuse when they return home.
Answered by Edward Timpson
A robust assessment of the needs of a child and their family and how these needs will be met through on-going support from the local authority is crucial if children are to return home safely and successfully from care. The Care Planning, Placement and Case Review (England) Regulations 2010 are clear that the child’s care plan must provide details of the advice, assistance and support that the responsible authority intends to provide after the child has returned home. Page 19 of Working Together to Safeguard Children 2013 sets out the principles and parameters of a good assessment. The guidance is published online at:
www.gov.uk/government/publications/working-together-to-safeguard-children
Improving practice when children return home from care is a priority for the Government. In 2013 we consulted on a range of proposals to improve permanence for looked-after children. Department for Education officials have convened a meeting of the relevant Expert Group on 9 September to discuss these issues and the Government’s formal response will be published later this year.
Asked by: Meg Munn (Labour (Co-op) - Sheffield, Heeley)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, how many dwellings with approved planning applications remain to be developed.
Answered by Kris Hopkins
[Holding Reply: Tuesday 15 July 2014]
I refer the hon. Member to the answer given on 14 July 2014, Official Report, Column 530-531W.
Asked by: Meg Munn (Labour (Co-op) - Sheffield, Heeley)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what steps he has taken to ensure the exercise of local discretion in the use of the Better Care Fund.
Answered by Norman Lamb
The Better Care Fund has been set up to ensure considerable local discretion. Each plan is developed by local authorities and clinical commissioning groups before being approved by the local health and wellbeing board, to ensure that it is line with local priorities as articulated in joint health and wellbeing strategies. Local areas also have the discretion to put more money than the minimum allocation into the joint fund if this is in the best interest of the community they serve.
This is the biggest ever investment in integrated care and it is important that investing in new community-based services does not destabilise existing health and care provision in the short term. The Government has put in place some national conditions – for example protection of social care services, seven day services to support discharge, an accountable lead professional to coordinate care for those at high risk of hospital admissions - as well as a payment for performance element that links payments to achieving good outcomes for local people while sharing financial risk across health and social care commissioners.
Local commissioners, with their partners, are best placed to make decisions about how best to make integrated care a reality in their area. These national conditions are proportionate and allow local discretion whilst ensuring best use of public money to support integrated care for improved outcomes.
Asked by: Meg Munn (Labour (Co-op) - Sheffield, Heeley)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what representations he has received in support of his proposals to allow further delegation of children's social care functions in order to improve outcomes for children in receipt of child protection services.
Answered by Edward Timpson
Responses to the consultation on further delegation of children's social care functions are currently being considered.
Asked by: Meg Munn (Labour (Co-op) - Sheffield, Heeley)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether he plans to develop pilot projects of his proposals to allow further delegation of children's social care functions.
Answered by Edward Timpson
Responses to the consultation on further delegation of children's social care functions are currently being considered. Local authorities will be able to apply to the Children's Social Care Innovation Programme for support to make use of any new freedoms introduced, and the impact of activities funded through the programme will be robustly evaluated.