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1126505

	registered interest
	date	14/05/2019
	answering body	Department for Education
	answering dept id	60
	answering dept short name	Education
	answering dept sort name	Education
	hansard heading	Academies: Autism
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what discussions (a) he (b) Ministers in his Department and (c) officials in his Department have had with AET on the benchmarking exercise for AET secondary schools in London; and whether his Department approved benchmarking process; and if he will place in the Library a copy of the benchmark against which AET secondary schools in London are being assessed.
	tabling member constituency	Manchester Central
	tabling member printed	Lucy Powell
	uin	254192
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 22/05/2019 answer text <p>The department, including ministers and officials, have held no detailed discussions with the Academies Enterprise Trust on a benchmarking exercise for their London Academies. We have not approved a benchmarking process, as this is for the trust to determine, and do not have a copy of any benchmark London Academies are currently being assessed against.</p><p>The department does publish a range of financial benchmarking tools, and signposts trusts to these. They include the Schools Financial Benchmarking tool which can be accessed publicly here: <a href="https://schools-financial-benchmarking.service.gov.uk/" target="_blank">https://schools-financial-benchmarking.service.gov.uk/</a>.</p> answering member constituency Stratford-on-Avon answering member printed Nadhim Zahawi question first answered 22/05/2019 11:24:25 answering member 4113 label Biography information for Nadhim Zahawi previous answer version 119073 answering member constituency Stratford-on-Avon answering member printed Nadhim Zahawi answering member 4113 label Biography information for Nadhim Zahawi
	tabling member	4263 label Biography information for Lucy Powell

1126509

	registered interest
	date	14/05/2019
	answering body	Speaker's Committee on the Electoral Commission
	answering dept id	36
	answering dept short name	Speaker's Committee on the Electoral Commission
	answering dept sort name	Speaker's Committee on the Electoral Commission
	hansard heading	European Parliament: Elections
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the hon. Member for Houghton and Sunderland South, representing the Speaker's Committee on the Electoral Commission, if the Electoral Commission will make and publish an urgent assessment of how many local returning officers failed performance standard one in relation to European Parliament elections because polling cards were delivered without adequate time to allow people to (a) change their registration details and (b) apply for an absent vote; what the (i) earliest, (ii) latest and (iii) average date was that local authorities sent out polling cards for the European Parliament elections; what effect the delay between commencement of the statutory election timetable on 15 April 2019 for all regions and formal Cabinet level confirmation on 7 May 2019 that the European Parliamentary elections would go ahead had on the decisions of local authorities on when to send out polling cards; and if he will make a statement.
	tabling member constituency	Brighton, Pavilion
	tabling member printed	Caroline Lucas
	uin	254175
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 22/05/2019 answer text <p>The Commission has collected information on the estimated despatch dates for the first issue of poll cards to registered electors for the European Parliamentary election. The earliest estimated dates were in the week commencing 15 April 2019 and the latest dates were in the week commencing 6 May 2019; the average dates for despatch were in the week commencing 22 April 2019.</p><p>The timing of despatch of poll cards varies by local authority area and will depend on factors such as the ability of print suppliers to meet RO requirements.</p><p>Returning Officers (ROs) are required to send out poll cards to electors as soon as practicable after the publication of the notice of election. The confirmation received on 7 May 2019 that the election would proceed would therefore have had no impact on the decisions of ROs as to when to send out poll cards.</p><p>The Commission continues to provide guidance, support and challenge to Regional and Local ROs. It will report on the administration of the poll and the performance of ROs against the performance standards after the election.</p> answering member constituency Houghton and Sunderland South answering member printed Bridget Phillipson question first answered 22/05/2019 08:28:46 answering member 4046 label Biography information for Bridget Phillipson
	tabling member	3930 label Biography information for Caroline Lucas

1126530

	registered interest
	date	14/05/2019
	answering body	Treasury
	answering dept id	14
	answering dept short name	Treasury
	answering dept sort name	Treasury
	hansard heading	Small Businesses: Tax Yields
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what the amount of tax revenue accrued was from UK small businesses in 2017-18.
	tabling member constituency	Haltemprice and Howden
	tabling member printed	Mr David Davis
	uin	254129
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 22/05/2019 answer text <p>Total tax revenue accrued from micro and small sized businesses combined was estimated to be approximately £120 billion in 2016/17. An estimate for 2017/18 will not become available until Autumn 2019.</p><p> </p><p>The estimate given includes Self-Assessment Income Tax and Class 4 National Insurance Contributions (NICs), Corporation Tax, VAT, and Pay As You Earn Income Tax and Class 1 NICs. The definition of micro and small sized businesses used is consistent with the EU definition where possible. HMRC works to collect tax due under UK law from all businesses, regardless of size, in the most cost effective way.</p><p> </p><p>The government has also taken a number of steps which benefit small businesses through the tax system. Since Budget 2016 the government has announced reductions to business rates worth more than £13bn over the next five years. NICs bills are also reduced by up to £3,000 for over one million employers, and the UK is also highly competitive, with the lowest overall corporation tax rate in the G20 at 19%. The rate is legislated to fall further to 17% in 2020.</p><p> </p><p> </p> answering member constituency Central Devon answering member printed Mel Stride question first answered 22/05/2019 10:54:08 answering member 3935 label Biography information for Mel Stride
	tabling member	373 label Biography information for Sir David Davis

1126532

	registered interest
	date	14/05/2019
	answering body	Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport
	answering dept id	10
	answering dept short name	Digital, Culture, Media and Sport
	answering dept sort name	Digital, Culture, Media and Sport
	hansard heading	Social Media: Freedom of Expression
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what steps his Department has taken to ensure that social media companies respect freedom of speech when regulating content.
	tabling member constituency	Haltemprice and Howden
	tabling member printed	Mr David Davis
	uin	254131
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 22/05/2019 answer text <p>The Government is committed to upholding free speech, and legislation is already in place to protect these fundamental rights. However, this freedom cannot be an excuse to cause harm or spread hatred.</p><p> </p><p>The Online Harms White Paper sets out the Government's proposals for making the UK the safest place to be online. The proposed independent regulator will have an obligation to protect users' rights online, particularly rights to privacy and freedom of expression. It will ensure that the new regulatory requirements do not lead to a disproportionately risk averse response from companies that unduly limits freedom of expression, including by limiting participation in public debate.</p> answering member constituency Stourbridge answering member printed Margot James question first answered 22/05/2019 11:05:07 answering member 4115 label Biography information for Margot James
	tabling member	373 label Biography information for Sir David Davis

1126556

	registered interest
	date	14/05/2019
	answering body	Department for Exiting the European Union
	answering dept id	203
	answering dept short name	Exiting the European Union
	answering dept sort name	Exiting the European Union
	hansard heading	Department for Exiting the European Union: Sick Leave
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Exiting the European Union, how many and what proportion of officials in his Department took sick leave for reasons relating to stress in the last 12 months; what proportion that leave was of total sick leave taken in his Department; and what the cost was to his Department of officials taking sick leave over that period.
	tabling member constituency	Carshalton and Wallington
	tabling member printed	Tom Brake
	uin	254065
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 22/05/2019 answer text <p>Health and Wellbeing forms part of the Department for Exiting the European Union’s commitment to making the Department a great place to work. The Department has an attendance management policy, and Employee Assistance Programme and a dedicated mental health and wellbeing network who have been leading on a number of wellbeing activities across the Department to improve the physical and mental wellbeing of staff employed in the Department.</p><p>We are not in a position to release this data as individuals may be identifiable due to fewer than 10 individuals being absent in the last 12 months due to stress. The total cost to the Department of all recorded sickness absence in the last financial year was approximately £72k based on the estimated cost of working days lost.</p> answering member constituency Spelthorne answering member printed Kwasi Kwarteng question first answered 22/05/2019 10:06:04 answering member 4134 label Biography information for Kwasi Kwarteng
	tabling member	151 label Biography information for Tom Brake

1126557

	registered interest
	date	14/05/2019
	answering body	Department of Health and Social Care
	answering dept id	17
	answering dept short name	Health and Social Care
	answering dept sort name	Health and Social Care
	hansard heading	Department of Health and Social Care: Sick Leave
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many and what proportion of officials in his Department took sick leave for reasons relating to stress in the last 12 months; what proportion that leave was of total sick leave taken in his Department; and what the cost was to his Department of officials taking sick leave over that period.
	tabling member constituency	Carshalton and Wallington
	tabling member printed	Tom Brake
	uin	254066
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 22/05/2019 answer text <p>The number of employees in the Department from 1 April 2018 to 31 March 2019 who were absent due to mental health reasons, including stress was 46, this represented 3% of the total workforce. The proportion of sickness absence related to mental health reasons, including stress, was 22% of the overall sickness absence for the Department for the same time period.</p><p> </p><p>The estimated cost to the Department from 1 April 2018 to 31 March 2019 for employees taking sickness absence, is estimated at £936,927.</p> answering member constituency Gosport answering member printed Caroline Dinenage question first answered 22/05/2019 10:28:23 answering member 4008 label Biography information for Dame Caroline Dinenage
	tabling member	151 label Biography information for Tom Brake

1126564

	registered interest
	date	14/05/2019
	answering body	Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport
	answering dept id	10
	answering dept short name	Digital, Culture, Media and Sport
	answering dept sort name	Digital, Culture, Media and Sport
	hansard heading	Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport: Sick Leave
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, how many and what proportion of officials in his Department took sick leave for reasons relating to stress in the last 12 months; what proportion that leave was of total sick leave taken in his Department; and what the cost was to his Department of officials taking sick leave over that period.
	tabling member constituency	Carshalton and Wallington
	tabling member printed	Tom Brake
	uin	254073
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 22/05/2019 answer text <p>During the period 01/04/2018 - 31/03/2019, a total of 16 employees (1.0% of the total employees employed in the department for the same period) took sickness absence for reasons relating to stress. This sickness absence accounted for 10.1% of total sickness absence taken in the Department, and cost the Department approximately £70,130.</p><p> </p><p>The department has implemented a number of policies to provide support for staff suffering from stress, including:</p><p> </p><ul><li>Early referral to occupational health experts</li><li>Extensive training for managers and employees - including on disability and mental health awareness, well-being, resilience and stress.</li><li>A Stress Assessment and Reduction Plan toolkit which can be used by line managers to identify and manage stress when required</li></ul><p> </p><p>DCMS has sought to promote an environment where individuals feel comfortable to talk openly about stress and mental health.The Department is a signatory to the ‘Time to Change Pledge’ and raises awareness of mental health and coping strategies through national campaigns such as the ‘Time to Talk’ day and the Mental Health Awareness Week. The department also organises ‘Mindfulness’ sessions for employees.</p><p><strong> </strong></p> answering member constituency Stourbridge answering member printed Margot James question first answered 22/05/2019 11:04:07 answering member 4115 label Biography information for Margot James
	tabling member	151 label Biography information for Tom Brake

1126571

	registered interest
	date	14/05/2019
	answering body	Department for Transport
	answering dept id	27
	answering dept short name	Transport
	answering dept sort name	Transport
	hansard heading	Department for Transport: Sick Leave
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how many and what proportion of officials in his Department took sick leave for reasons relating to stress in the last 12 months; what proportion that leave was of total sick leave taken in his Department; and what the cost was to his Department of officials taking sick leave over that period.
	tabling member constituency	Carshalton and Wallington
	tabling member printed	Tom Brake
	uin	254080
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 22/05/2019 answer text <p>The Department and its Agencies have provided the responses below for the period 1 May 2018 to 30 April 2019.</p><ol><li>The number of staff that took sickness absence due to stress was 553. The Department and its agencies employed a total of 14,956 employees at the end of April 2019.</li><li>Of the total number of staff that took sickness absence, the proportion due to stress was 7.57%. The proportion of working days lost to stress, out of all days lost due to sickness absence, was 14.33%.</li><li>The total cost of working days lost to sickness absence for the period above is estimated at £13,710,056.78.</li></ol><p> </p><p>The Department has a number of sources of support for employees including a free-to-use Employee Assistance Programme, which offers up to six counselling sessions at a convenient location within days of referral, and a Wellbeing Buddy Network run by volunteers. It has also launched a Mental Health First Aid service run by trained volunteers for colleagues in immediate emotional distress.</p><p>The Department recognises the importance of the line manager in mental health, and has a resource available for line managers to provide guidance on managing colleagues with mental health difficulties/issues. It has also launched Wellbeing Action Plans, to guide line managers in conversations about wellbeing, including in relation to mental health.</p><p> </p> answering member constituency Hereford and South Herefordshire answering member printed Jesse Norman question first answered 22/05/2019 09:33:59 answering member 3991 label Biography information for Jesse Norman
	tabling member	151 label Biography information for Tom Brake

1126575

	registered interest
	date	14/05/2019
	answering body	Department of Health and Social Care
	answering dept id	17
	answering dept short name	Health and Social Care
	answering dept sort name	Health and Social Care
	hansard heading	Pathology: Staff
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps his Department is taking to ensure the (a) recruitment and (b) retention of adequate levels of NHS staff in cancer pathology units.
	tabling member constituency	Wolverhampton South West
	tabling member printed	Eleanor Smith
	uin	254258
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 22/05/2019 answer text <p>Health Education England (HEE) published the Cancer Workforce Plan for England in December 2017, which committed to the expansion of capacity and skills of the cancer workforce, including an ambition to attract and retain more cancer specialists, including histopathologists, by 2021. In 2019, 100% of specialist pathology training places, including histopathology, were filled.</p><p>Following the publication of the NHS Long Term Plan in January 2019, HEE is now working with NHS England and NHS Improvement to understand the longer-term workforce implications for the further development of cancer services.</p><p>Locally, responsibility for assessing and managing staffing levels, including specialty staff, rests with individual NHS trusts who are best placed to decide how many staff they need to provide a given service.</p> answering member constituency South Ribble answering member printed Seema Kennedy question first answered 22/05/2019 10:38:44 answering member 4455 label Biography information for Seema Kennedy
	tabling member	4609 label Biography information for Eleanor Smith

1126577

	registered interest
	date	14/05/2019
	answering body	Department for Transport
	answering dept id	27
	answering dept short name	Transport
	answering dept sort name	Transport
	hansard heading	Heathrow Airport: Railways
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, pursuant to the Answer of 30 April 2019 to Question 249315 on Railways, how many proposals for a Southern Rail Link to Heathrow were received following his market-led proposals invitation of 20 March 2018, how many of those proposals remain under active consideration by his Department; on what dates he last (a) met and (b) corresponded with the promoters of schemes under active consideration; and when he plans to announce the process for selecting a preferred developer.
	tabling member constituency	Middlesbrough
	tabling member printed	Andy McDonald
	uin	254200
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 22/05/2019 answer text <p>30 market-led proposals were received in response to the Call for Ideas launched in March 2018. Due to commercial confidentiality we are not able to disclose details of meetings or correspondence with particular proposals. The Department responded to those proposals in December 2018 and continued engagement with 10 proposals which had the potential to be financially credible without government support.</p><p>Separately to the Call for Ideas, a Southern Rail Link to Heathrow Market Sounding was also launched in March 2018. Following the publication of the Market Sounding Report in December 2018 the Department has been working to further develop and clarify the outcomes we want to be delivered from this project and consider appropriate commercial and procurement models. This work will be made available to the market by the summer along with further engagement opportunities.</p> answering member constituency Harrogate and Knaresborough answering member printed Andrew Jones question first answered 22/05/2019 10:03:30 answering member 3996 label Biography information for Andrew Jones
	tabling member	4269 label Biography information for Andy McDonald