Michael Gove

The Government is committed to making sure that everyone has the opportunity to experience and participate in all forms of arts and culture, and has protected funding for the arts in England over the life of this Parliament, which will support poetry, creative writing and community drama.

In addition, Arts Council England's Creative Writing in Schools provides funding for the charity First Story, which has been able to bring professional writers into secondary schools serving low-income communities to help students find their voices and raise their aspirations.

The Poetry Society will receive over £1 million in funding by 2018, which will help it continue to be one of Britain’s most dynamic arts organisations, representing British poetry both nationally and internationally.

Community drama which delivers a number of arts and cultural programmes to the local community, and theatre companies such as Kendal Community Theatre, who provide workshops and training for aspiring actors remain important initiatives that benefit from public funding.

Ultimately poetry, creative writing and community drama are underpinned by excellent English teaching, which since 2010 we have worked tirelessly to support.

Museums play an important role in contributing to tourism across the country. According to the International Passenger Survey 27% of international visits to the UK involve a trip to a museum or gallery.

DCMS is supporting the growth of tourism through a number of activities related to museums including:

• DCMS sponsored national museums and galleries are encouraged to work with regional museums through their funding agreements with DCMS.
  
• The sponsorship of Arts Council England (ACE), the national body which supports museums and galleries in England. This includes ACE’s investment of £3m into a new Cultural Destinations programme, to enable arts and culture organisations working in partnership with destination management organisations to increase their reach, engagement and resilience through working with the tourism sector

All of these actions support the Prime Minister’s Tourism Action Plan published in August 2016, a key aim of which is to grow tourism throughout the country.

The Department has paid the following sums to the Baker Dearing Trust (BDT):

(a) 2014/15 - £213,191

(b) 2015/16 - £157,364

(c) 2016/17 –£138,341 (from 1 April 2016 – 31 January 2017)

BDT provide advice, guidance and pre-approval support to proposer groups developing applications to establish UTCs. The Department funds this work through a competitively tendered grant award.

As of 3 March 2017, eight organisations have been set up by independent schools for the purpose of sponsoring academies. They currently sponsor 11 academies in total.

Three free schools are sponsored by independent schools.

The following table contains the names of the relevant academies, the sponsor organisations to which they are linked, and the relevant independent school(s) that originally established the sponsor organisation.

The following table contains the names of the relevant free schools and the sponsoring independent schools.

My Rt Hon Friend, the Secretary of State has held meetings with vice chancellors and representative bodies, including Universities UK, as part of her engagement with the higher education sector on how it can increase its involvement with schools, including through the establishment of free schools. The Government is currently considering responses to the Schools that work for everyone consultation and will respond in due course.

The Department publishes details of all expenditure exceeding £25,000 and they are available at: https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/dfe-department-and-executive-agency-spend-over-25-000 .

This information is taken directly from our financial systems where reported expenditure includes all payments made to organisations. However, those systems do not distinguish between payments made to charitable and voluntary sector organisations and those made to the private sector. We have attempted to consider alternative sources of information.

The DfE Grants Register (in Excel format) covers grants awarded and the planned allocation of funds including to organisations in the charitable and voluntary sectors. An extract of the information held is attached, though this does not give the total picture as we are updating the data as part of a migration process to a new system.

To provide information on all grants actually paid would incur a disproportionate cost.

The Department for Education’s vision statement, Putting Children First, published in July 2016, set out our commitment to protecting children from all forms of abuse, including female genital mutilation (FGM). The Children and Social Work Bill, currently before Parliament, will help us to deliver the change needed to secure a system that meets children’s needs.

As well as that wide-ranging work on safeguarding, we are currently funding two voluntary sector organisations working to safeguard girls from FGM. The Foundation for Women’s Health Research and Development (FORWARD) and the Midaye Somali Development Network have been allocated a total of over £600,000 for work from December 2016 until March 2018.

On 1 March the Secretary of State made a statement to this House announcing her intention to put Relationships and Sex Education on a statutory footing. There will be a comprehensive programme of engagement, followed by full public consultation, and I know that those campaigning on issues such as FGM will want to contribute to that discussion.

Ministers and officials at the Department for Transport hold regular meetings with representatives of Transport for London at which a range of issues are discussed, including roadworks. The Secretary of State has not recently held discussions with the Mayor of London on this particular matter.

There is a contractual agreement between Highways England and its contractor to achieve best value for money in meeting the timescales specified in Highways England’s Delivery Plan. This outlines the legislation, standards, guidance and criteria to adhere to, including shift patterns and ensuring minimal disruption to the travelling public and to the local neighbourhood.

Highways England also dictates the periods when additional lane or full closure can only take place, which are usually overnight and depend on low traffic flows. The M3 J2-4a scheme is on target to open for traffic by 30 June 2017.

Local highway authorities are able to choose one of two regimes for managing street works on all roads. The New Roads and Street Works Act 1991 (as amended) sets out arrangements for noticing. This only applies to works carried out by utility companies, who simply need to submit a notice to the authority of the works they plan to carry out. The Traffic Management Act 2004 brought in more proactive permitting schemes. Permitting applies to works carried out by both utilities and local authorities. Utilities have to pay a small administration fee with their application. Around 60% of local authorities have now adopted permit schemes and these are seeing reductions in the duration of works as a result.

The Government is working closely with the sector to take forward a programme to improve the management and coordination of works. We would like to see those 40% of local authorities still using noticing adopt permit schemes, especially as these apply to all works on all roads. We have just commissioned an independent evaluation of existing permit schemes to quantify the impact they have had on the duration of works, and to identify the costs and benefits of setting these up. We have begun work on the Street Manager project that is going to look at how we might improve the way that data is collected and shared, and how we can use this data to co-ordinate activities on the highway more effectively. We will also continue to look at ways to simplify a complex legal framework, so that we can reduce overall works duration and minimise the impact on road users and local communities.

We plan to consult in summer 2017 on the future of lane rental schemes which are aimed at helping local authorities manage works on the busiest roads at the busiest times. The consultation will consider the full range of options.

On 2 February the Government published a White Paper setting out its objectives and plans for the new partnership we want to build with the EU. The Department currently has no plans for further publications. Any future publications would be deposited in the library of the House in the usual way.

There are two Cancer Alliances across the Frimley Sustainability and Transformation Plan footprint. Representatives of the Sustainability and Transformation Plan are included in the membership of each newly formed Cancer Alliance Board, which give strategic direction on behalf of the Sustainability and Transformation Plan and receive assurance and advice on priority setting and delivery of cancer services.

​The UK position on Jerusalem has not changed; the British Embassy is based in Tel Aviv and we have no plans to move it.

The Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action was implemented on 16 January 2016: Iran placed two-thirds of its centrifuges in storage and dispensed with 98% of its stockpile of low-enriched uranium. For 10 years it will take Iran at least 12 months to produce enough fissile material for a weapon.

Iran's recent ballistic missile test (29 January) was not a breach of the JCPoA, but is inconsistent with UNSCR 2231.

The Government remains concerned about Iran's ballistic missile programme and we continue to urge Iran to abide by UN Security Council Resolution 2231; we are committed to ensuring that UN and EU sanctions which impose restrictions upon this programme continue to be robustly enforced.

The Government remains concerned about Iran's destabilising activity in the region; we continue to encourage Iran to work constructively with its neighbours to resolve conflicts and promote stability.

The Foreign and Commonwealth Office, along with other Government Departments, but especially the Department for Exiting the European Union, is working on a wide range of issues to prepare for the UK’s exit from the EU.

Firm plans have not yet been made for how we will mark the Balfour Declaration's centenary in November 2017.

No estimate has been made of the cost of abolishing employer National Insurance contributions for care leavers. An estimate could only be produced at disproportionate cost.

The Treasury is in regular contact with representatives from across the brewing industry and is aware of the concerns that some brewers have about Small Brewers’ Relief. The Treasury welcomes ideas from all stakeholders on possible reforms to Small Brewers’ Relief.

The Government takes its international commitments very seriously and will only commit to formal ratification when it is satisfied that it is in a position to do so

Officials are finalising assessments of what needs to be done under domestic legislation and practical arrangements, before the whole of the UK can be assessed to be in a position to ratify the Convention.

The latest assessment of the cost to Defence of funding the four Ministry of Defence (MOD) sponsored Cadet Forces was for Financial Year (FY) 2013-14 when the total was £179.15 million. This figure includes a cost of £30.144 million for delivering the Combined Cadet Force in schools; however, the MOD does not hold information in a format which would allow a ready breakdown of this figure between fee-paying and state schools. The figures provided include the costs of wider training infrastructure, capital expense, regional support and Headquarters costs.

The requested information could be provided only at disproportionate cost.

The funding support which the Ministry of Defence provides for Combined Cadet Forces (CCF) units is based on the number of active cadets and the number of single Service sections within the unit, irrespective of whether the unit is in an independent or state school. State schools will receive the same funding support for their CCFs as fee-paying schools with the same number of cadets and single Service sections.

The requested information could be provided only at disproportionate cost.

The funding support which the Ministry of Defence provides for Combined Cadet Forces (CCF) units is based on the number of active cadets and the number of single Service sections within the unit, irrespective of whether the unit is in an independent or state school. State schools will receive the same funding support for their CCFs as fee-paying schools with the same number of cadets and single Service sections.

The Ministry of Defence (MOD) supports cadet units in independent and state schools in a number of ways, including the provision of uniforms, weapons and equipment and ration packs. Specific examples are detailed below:

• Schools usually employ a School Staff Instructor (SSI) to help manage and administer the cadet unit. SSIs can claim 51 days of Volunteer Allowance per year from the MOD, with the school paying for any additional days they need.
• The MOD also provides a ‘Consolidated Grant’ to each Combined Cadet Force (CCF) contingent. The amount varies, but for 2016-17 the allocation was £513 per CCF, plus £20 per cadet.

Please note that while such items and support are provided by the MOD the funding is not provided directly from the MOD to schools. In the examples highlighted above the funding is paid directly to the individual or the CCF.

The only funding which goes direct to schools is through the Cadet Bursary Fund (CBF). The CBF is available to state schools which have opened cadet units under the joint MOD/Department for Education (DfE) Cadet Expansion Programme (CEP). The CBF was set up by the DfE and is managed by a registered charity, the Combined Cadet Force Association. However, the funding for the CBF is not provided from the budget of either Department.

The Ministry of Defence (MOD) supports cadet units in independent and state schools in a number of ways, including the provision of uniforms, weapons and equipment and ration packs. Specific examples are detailed below:

• Schools usually employ a School Staff Instructor (SSI) to help manage and administer the cadet unit. SSIs can claim 51 days of Volunteer Allowance per year from the MOD, with the school paying for any additional days they need.
• The MOD also provides a ‘Consolidated Grant’ to each Combined Cadet Force (CCF) contingent. The amount varies, but for 2016-17 the allocation was £513 per CCF, plus £20 per cadet.

Please note that while such items and support are provided by the MOD the funding is not provided directly from the MOD to schools. In the examples highlighted above the funding is paid directly to the individual or the CCF.

The only funding which goes direct to schools is through the Cadet Bursary Fund (CBF). The CBF is available to state schools which have opened cadet units under the joint MOD/Department for Education (DfE) Cadet Expansion Programme (CEP). The CBF was set up by the DfE and is managed by a registered charity, the Combined Cadet Force Association. However, the funding for the CBF is not provided from the budget of either Department.