Asked by: Tracy Brabin (Labour (Co-op) - Batley and Spen)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, whether he has made an assessment of the recent representations made to his Department on establishing a UK Creators Council as a mechanism to improve communication between the Government and representatives from the creative workforce.
Answered by Caroline Dinenage
The Government engages regularly with a wide range of leading industry experts in the creative industries, including through the Creative Industries Council (CIC), a forum for Government and industry to convene and share information, and discuss concerns and opportunities. The CIC is formed of a broad range of representative bodies across the sub-sectors of the creative industries.
In January, we received a joint letter from a range of representative bodies including the Design and Artists Copyright Society, the Association of Authors’ Agents and the Writer’s Guild of Great Britain among others. The letter called for the creation of a UK Creators’ Council and highlighted their concern that the issues faced by the UK’s creative industries workforce were not being heard, in particular during this Covid crisis.
We would like to reaffirm that the Government and DCMS are keenly aware of the significant challenges faced by the UK creative workforce. These issues have been repeatedly discussed in both CIC meetings and in ongoing conversations with sector bodies across the creative industries. And it is partly as a result of these conversations that the Government announced the expansion of the Self-Employment Income Support Scheme scheme to cover over 600,000 newly eligible self-employed individuals, and extended the Culture Recovery Fund with £300m additional funding for 21/22, to continue to support key cultural organisations.
Considering this, we believe that the interests of the creative workforce are well-represented across Government and the benefits of creating a new entity would need to be carefully weighed up against the risks of duplicating the work of existing organisations such as the CIC. However, I would be happy to discuss further ideas to ensure the creative workforce are strongly represented in Government.
Asked by: Tracy Brabin (Labour (Co-op) - Batley and Spen)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what steps his Department is taking in response to allegations of racism in cricket.
Answered by Nigel Huddleston - Financial Secretary (HM Treasury)
The government is clear that racism has no place in cricket, sport, or society at large. The sport and physical activity strategy ‘Sporting Future: A New Strategy for an Active Nation’ has diversity and inclusion at its heart. However, it is ultimately for individual sports to decide on the appropriate initiatives for their circumstances.
The Government welcomes the steps taken by the English Cricket Board (ECB) in recent years to increase diversity in cricket, including the most recent establishment of the Independent Commission for Equity in Cricket, chaired by Cindy Butts. This body looks to examine all issues relating to race and equity in cricket. It will play an important role in ensuring inclusivity, and that cricket is a game for everyone, at all levels.
There is still more to do, however, and we will continue to liaise with the ECB to ensure this issue is tackled effectively.
Asked by: Tracy Brabin (Labour (Co-op) - Batley and Spen)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment has he made of the adequacy of the availability of options at GCSE level for children with autism in (a) Batley and Spen constituency, (b) Kirklees, (c) West Yorkshire and (d) England.
Answered by Nick Gibb
During the GCSE reform process from 2011, the Department consulted extensively with schools, colleges and universities, and employers on both the principles for reform and the detail of the content of individual subjects. As part of this, we also carefully considered the effect of the reforms on pupils with special educational needs and disabilities and published Equalities Impact Assessments for all subjects.
In addition to this, examination boards have a duty, under the Equality Act 2010, to make reasonable adjustments for pupils with disabilities who, because of their disability, would otherwise be at a substantial disadvantage when demonstrating their skills, knowledge and understanding. These adjustments are made to remove or reduce disadvantages that such students face compared with students who are not disabled.
Whilst decisions on what GCSEs to offer at a local level are for individual schools to take, all state funded schools have a statutory duty to provide a broad and balanced curriculum, and this is replicated in academy funding agreements.
Asked by: Tracy Brabin (Labour (Co-op) - Batley and Spen)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment he has made of the adequacy of the availability of mainstream school places for children with autism in (a) Batley and Spen constituency, (b) Kirklees, (c) West Yorkshire and (d) England.
Answered by Vicky Ford
The majority of children with autism are educated in mainstream settings. Of those children identified with a primary need of autistic spectrum disorder as either requiring special educational needs support (67,867 children) or who have an education, health and care plan (82,847 children), 108,481 are currently educated in mainstream settings in England. This trend is replicated in the Kirklees local authority area, where 328 of 474 children with a primary need of autism are in mainstream settings, and in the Batley and Spen constituency, where the numbers are 75 out of 79 children. [1]
The statutory duty to provide sufficient school places, including for those with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND), sits with local authorities. We provide funding for all of the places that are needed, based on local authorities’ own data. This is why we have announced nearly £500 million to provide places needed for 2023. This funding is on top of over £8.1 billion to provide places needed from 2015 to 2022 and our investment in the free schools programme.
Published data on school capacity estimates that, as at May 2019, Kirklees still needed to provide a further 300 places by September 2021. Funding is allocated at local authority level and cannot be broken down further. Kirklees has been allocated £53.2 million to provide new school places since 2010.
Under the SEND Code of Practice 2015, all mainstream schools are under a duty to use their best endeavours to support children with special educational needs (whether or not the child has an education, health and care plan). The Children and Families Act 2014 requires local authorities to keep the provision for children and young people with SEND under review (including its sufficiency), working with parents, young people, and providers.
Asked by: Tracy Brabin (Labour (Co-op) - Batley and Spen)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what recent assessment his Department has made of the importance of reading for pleasure in improving children’s literacy levels.
Answered by Nick Gibb
Reading for pleasure brings a range of benefits. As well as the strong links between reading for pleasure and attainment, there are a number of other positive effects including: improved text comprehension and grammar, positive reading attitudes, pleasure in reading in later life, increased general knowledge and character development.
The National Curriculum states that teachers are expected to encourage pupils to develop the habit of reading widely and often, for both pleasure and information. Within the National Curriculum, the programmes of study for English have been developed to make clear the importance of reading for pleasure. The National Curriculum also emphasises the importance of listening to, discussing and – as pupils’ fluency increases – reading for themselves a wide range of stories, poems, plays, and information books.
Asked by: Tracy Brabin (Labour (Co-op) - Batley and Spen)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what discussions he has had with the EU on allowing motorcycles purchased in the UK to be moved and used in the EU, without the need to pay EU VAT, where those motorcycles are temporarily in the EU for a recreational period and will not be sold in the EU.
Answered by Jesse Norman
Discussions about VAT on goods have featured as part of discussions with the EU in the context of the Withdrawal Agreement.
The VAT treatment of goods entering the EU, including on a temporary basis, is a matter for the EU. EU Member States are responsible for the implementation of those rules.
Asked by: Tracy Brabin (Labour (Co-op) - Batley and Spen)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment he has made of the adequacy of the regulation of (a) street names and (b) house numbering to allow (i) delivery drivers and (ii) emergency workers to find properties, and if he will make a statement.
Answered by Rachel Maclean
The Department has made no such assessment. The design and location of street name signs and property numbering are matters for local authorities. The Department has published guidance for local authorities in Circular Roads 3/93 ‘Street Name Plates and the Numbering of Premises’.
Circular 3/93 is available at:
www.gov.uk/government/publications/roads-circulars
Asked by: Tracy Brabin (Labour (Co-op) - Batley and Spen)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment he has made of the effectiveness of the implementation of (a) Sections 64 and 65 of the Towns Improvement Clauses Act 1847 and (b) Sections 17-19 of the Public Health Act 1925.
Answered by Rachel Maclean
The Department has made no such assessment. The design and location of street name signs and property numbering are matters for local authorities. The Department has published guidance for local authorities in Circular Roads 3/93 ‘Street Name Plates and the Numbering of Premises’.
Circular 3/93 is available at:
www.gov.uk/government/publications/roads-circulars
Asked by: Tracy Brabin (Labour (Co-op) - Batley and Spen)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what recent assessment his Department has made of the potential effect of the covid-19 outbreak on the reading habits of (a) adults and (b) children.
Answered by Caroline Dinenage
DCMS has not undertaken an assessment of adults’ or children’s reading habits during the Covid-19 pandemic. We are aware the publishing industry has reported that, while sales of fiction and digital formats rose over the first six months of 2020, total book sales across the industry fell by 11% in that period.
The Government recognises the importance of English skills both in work and everyday life. Whilst we do not track the reading habits of adults, the Government does provide full funding for learners who do not have a level 2 qualification in English who need to improve their literacy skills.
The Government is also committed to continuing to raise literacy standards – ensuring all children, including those from disadvantaged backgrounds, can read fluently and with understanding. Recognising the importance of reading during the disruption to education caused by Covid-19, a Reading Together Day was held on 16 July 2020 to celebrate the benefits of reading.
Understanding the impact of the Covid-19 disruption on students is a priority for the Government, and the Department for Education has commissioned an independent research and assessment agency to provide a baseline assessment of catch up needs for pupils in schools in England and monitor progress over the course of the year. The Department for Education will publish interim findings prior to the final research report being published in October 2021.
Asked by: Tracy Brabin (Labour (Co-op) - Batley and Spen)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many covid-19 tests were carried out in Batley and Spen constituency on each of the last 14 days.
Answered by Helen Whately - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The information is not held in the format requested as data is not collected at constituency level.