Asked by: Susan Elan Jones (Labour - Clwyd South)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, how many (a) full-time and (b) part-time staff in his Department have been seconded from (i) businesses and (ii) charities.
Answered by Ben Gummer
In my Department, at 28th February 2017, (a) eleven full-time staff, and (b) no part-time staff were seconded from (i) business, and (a) no full-time staff, and (b) five or fewer part-time staff were seconded from (ii) charities.
Asked by: Susan Elan Jones (Labour - Clwyd South)
Question to the Department for International Development:
To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, how many meetings (a) Ministers and (b) officials of her Department have had with (i) businesses and (ii) registered charities in each of the last five years.
Answered by Lord Wharton of Yarm
DFID Ministers and officials meet regularly with businesses and registered charities in order to achieve security, end extreme poverty, and create shared prosperity. DFID does not hold information centrally on the number of such meetings across the Department.
Asked by: Susan Elan Jones (Labour - Clwyd South)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, how many meetings (a) Ministers and (b) officials of his Department have had with (i) businesses and (ii) registered charities in each of the last five years.
Answered by Margot James
Records of all Ministerial meetings are published quarterly on the Gov.uk website at the following links:
Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications?departments%5B%5D=department-for-business-energy-and-industrial-strategy&publication_type=transparency-data
Department for Business, Innovation and Skills:
https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/bis-quarterly-publications-april-to-june-2012
Department for Energy and Climate Change
https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/ministers-meeting-with-external-organisations
Information about meetings between officials, businesses and charities are not centrally held and could only be obtained at disproportionate cost.
Asked by: Susan Elan Jones (Labour - Clwyd South)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, how many (a) full-time and (b) part-time staff in his Department have been seconded from (i) businesses and (ii) charities.
Answered by Margot James
The Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy currently has 44 staff seconded from (a) businesses and 11 from (b) a charity.
We don’t hold centralised data on how many are (a) full time and (b) part time.
Asked by: Susan Elan Jones (Labour - Clwyd South)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, how many meetings (a) Ministers and (b) officials of his Department have had with (i) businesses and (ii) registered charities in each of the last five years.
Answered by Simon Kirby
Treasury Ministers and officials have meetings with a wide variety of organisations in the public and private sectors as part of the process of policy development and delivery. Details of ministerial and permanent secretary meetings with external organisations on departmental business are published on a quarterly basis and are available at:
Asked by: Susan Elan Jones (Labour - Clwyd South)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, how many meetings (a) Ministers and (b) officials of his Department have had with (i) businesses and (ii) registered charities in each of the last five years.
Answered by Ben Gummer
Details of Ministers' and Permanent Secretary meetings with external organisations, including senior media figures, are published routinely on Gov.uk and can be found here:
https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/ministers-transparency-publications
Information about meetings between officials, businesses and charities are not centrally held and could only be obtained at disproportionate cost.
Asked by: Susan Elan Jones (Labour - Clwyd South)
Question to the Wales Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Wales, what discussions he has had with the Secretary of State for Transport on the development of rail links between Wales and the High Speed 2 network.
Answered by Guto Bebb
HS2 has huge potential to support growth across the UK and into North Wales – it will promote regeneration, boost skills and generate new jobs for people across the region. Passengers travelling from North Wales will also be able to benefit from faster journey times by interchanging with HS2 between Crewe and London.
Asked by: Susan Elan Jones (Labour - Clwyd South)
Question to the Department for International Development:
To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what assessment her Department has made of the effectiveness of (a) the Global School Partnership programme and (b) the Connecting Classrooms programme.
Answered by Rory Stewart
The Global School Partnerships Programme (2003-12) was externally assessed by the National Foundation for Educational Research in 2011 and found to have a positive impact on the awareness, attitude and response of pupils in the UK towards global issues.
The 2012-15 phase of Connecting Classrooms was judged by an independent evaluation to be a success. Over 5,000 schools in more than 40 countries took part in joint projects and exchange visits and 18,000 teachers around the world benefitted from professional development training.
The current phase of Connecting Classrooms is being assessed annually.
Asked by: Susan Elan Jones (Labour - Clwyd South)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether her Department has any plans to introduce the teaching of Welsh as an optional modern language in schools on the England-Wales border.
Answered by Nick Gibb
Primary and secondary schools can choose to teach the Welsh language to pupils if there is sufficient demand. It is possible for a pupil in England to take privately a Welsh language GCSE offered in Wales if an examination centre is willing to enter them. This will include a revised Welsh Second Language GCSE which will be available for first teaching from September 2017.
Asked by: Susan Elan Jones (Labour - Clwyd South)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, whether the Government plans to introduce a volunteering programme for ex-offenders.
Answered by Sam Gyimah
Information and guidance to maximise the use of volunteers, including ex-offenders and serving prisoners, has been commissioned by the Ministry of Justice and was published in July 2016 by Clinks, the umbrella group for voluntary organisations working with offenders and their families. The Department is committed to continuing and increasing the use of volunteers, and encouraging appropriate volunteering opportunities for ex-offenders within rehabilitation services and elsewhere.