Show Search Form

Search Results

registered interest	true false
date	exactly: or between: and
answering body
answering dept id
answering dept short name
answering dept sort name
hansard heading
house id
legislature	pref label
question text
tabling member constituency
tabling member printed
uin
answer	is ministerial correction true false date of answer exactly: or between: and answer text answering member constituency answering member printed grouped question UIN question first answered answering member label
tabling member	label

Search

1105463

	registered interest
	date	27/03/2019
	answering body	Department for Work and Pensions
	answering dept id	29
	answering dept short name	Work and Pensions
	answering dept sort name	Work and Pensions
	hansard heading	Social Security Benefits: Refugees
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what discussions she has had with the Home Secretary on collaboration between the Home Office and her Department to ensure that refugees are able to access the employment support and social security benefits that they are entitled to.
	tabling member constituency	Bristol West
	tabling member printed	Thangam Debbonaire
	uin	237692
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 05/04/2019 answer text <p>The Department for Work and Pensions is working in partnership with the Home Office to improve processes for refugees claiming benefits. In order to achieve this aim we have set up the Post Grant Appointment Scheme (PGAS).</p><p> </p><p>The scheme involves contacting persons at the point when they are granted refugee status to see if they wish to apply for benefits and require assistance to do so. If they say they do, an appointment at a local DWP office is arranged for them.</p> answering member constituency Colchester answering member printed Will Quince question first answered 05/04/2019 10:22:09 answering member 4423 label Biography information for Will Quince
	tabling member	4433 label Biography information for Thangam Debbonaire

1105461

	registered interest
	date	27/03/2019
	answering body	Department for Work and Pensions
	answering dept id	29
	answering dept short name	Work and Pensions
	answering dept sort name	Work and Pensions
	hansard heading	Social Security Benefits
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what support her Department provides to families who have been reunited through refugee family reunion to access the social security system.
	tabling member constituency	Bristol West
	tabling member printed	Thangam Debbonaire
	uin	237691
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 05/04/2019 answer text <p>Those who have joined a family member in the UK through refugee family reunion are entitled to the same support as any other person. As with anyone else, they will be assessed to ascertain whether they have complex needs and whether they require additional support to access DWP services.</p> answering member constituency Colchester answering member printed Will Quince question first answered 05/04/2019 11:10:01 answering member 4423 label Biography information for Will Quince
	tabling member	4433 label Biography information for Thangam Debbonaire

1108887

	registered interest
	date	01/04/2019
	answering body	Department for Work and Pensions
	answering dept id	29
	answering dept short name	Work and Pensions
	answering dept sort name	Work and Pensions
	hansard heading	Employment: Veterans
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps the Government is taking to support armed forces veterans into employment.
	tabling member constituency	Romford
	tabling member printed	Andrew Rosindell
	uin	239329
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 05/04/2019 answer text <p>The Armed Forces Covenant has been in place since May 2011 and sets out the relationship between the nation, the Government and the Armed Forces. The covenant is a written and publicised voluntary pledge from businesses and other organisations who wish to demonstrate their support for the armed forces community.</p><p> </p><p>The covenant can be signed by a business or other organisation of any size, and from any industry whether they are an employer of a member of the armed forces community or simply wish to acknowledge publically their support for the armed forces.</p><p> </p><p>The Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) National Employer and Partnership Team (NEPT) actively promote the Armed Forces Covenant to those employers and partner organisations they work with. This has been adopted into routine business to ensure that those new to DWP’s employer portfolio are aware of the opportunity and benefits of support to the Armed Forces community.</p><p> </p><p>Every Jobcentre Plus District has an Armed Forced Champion (AFC) who is key to delivering our commitments under the covenant. The AFC will ensure that any concerns and issues raised which affect Service Personnel and their families are integrated within the wider work of Jobcentre Plus. AFCs ensure Work Coaches and other DWP staff can effectively support serving personnel, service leavers, veterans and their families.</p><p> </p><p>In addition to the local activity in Jobcentres to support veterans our National Employer and Partnership Team (NEPT) also work closely with the Ministry of Defence to align engagement activity in support of the veteran’s strategy. In particular NEPT work closely with the MOD Careers Transition Partnership (CTP) and the Defence Relationship Management (DRM) team to encourage large employers, trade body associations and partner organisations to provide practical support to the Armed Forces Covenant, particularly the employment of veterans.</p> answering member constituency Colchester answering member printed Will Quince question first answered 05/04/2019 12:15:41 answering member 4423 label Biography information for Will Quince
	tabling member	1447 label Biography information for Andrew Rosindell

1056914

	registered interest
	date	07/02/2019
	answering body	Department for Education
	answering dept id	60
	answering dept short name	Education
	answering dept sort name	Education
	hansard heading	Veterinary Medicine: Training
	house id	2
	legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
	question text	To ask Her Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to build capacity in the Higher Education system to address the shortage of veterinary surgeons in England.
	tabling member printed	Lord Trees
	uin	HL13568
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 15/02/2019 answer text <p>The government recognises the importance of ensuring there are sufficient skilled graduates to meet industry demand. We are working with different veterinary sector stakeholders, to look at ways of increasing veterinary school capacity and the number of graduates in all UK vet schools going forward.</p><p>The government also subsidises the costs of teaching high-cost subjects such as veterinary medicine, where tuition fee income does not meet the costs of teaching. This is supported through the teaching grant allocated annually to providers via the Office for Students.</p><p>In 2018/19, the recurrent teaching grant provided by the government totals £1,290 million, of which £681 million is specifically targeted at supporting high-cost subjects, including veterinary science. This is currently around £10,000 per veterinary science student.</p><p> </p><p>English higher education providers are autonomous institutions. Their institutional autonomy, which includes decisions as to what they teach, is protected by the Higher Education and Research Act 2017.</p><p>However, the lifting of student number controls in 2015/16 means that there is no longer an artificial cap on the numbers of students that higher education providers are able to recruit, including for veterinary science courses.</p><p> </p><p>There has been progress in the sector in increasing places for veterinary students. The first cohort of students to graduate with the University of Surrey's new veterinary degree is scheduled for July 2019, thereby bringing more domestically trained vets in to the profession. Alongside this, the new Harper and Keele Veterinary School will be commencing its new 5 year degree course in 2020.</p><p> </p> answering member printed Viscount Younger of Leckie question first answered 15/02/2019 12:55:10 answering member 4169 label Biography information for Viscount Younger of Leckie
	tabling member	4260 label Biography information for Lord Trees

1091620

	registered interest
	date	19/03/2019
	answering body	Department for Education
	answering dept id	60
	answering dept short name	Education
	answering dept sort name	Education
	hansard heading	Universities: USA
	house id	2
	legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
	question text	To ask Her Majesty's Government whether they have made any assessment of the impact of cash-for-student-places granted by the University of Southern California and other major US colleagues on the mutual recognition of qualifications and standards with equivalent UK institutions.
	tabling member printed	Lord Patten
	uin	HL14665
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 29/03/2019 answer text <p>The UK has a robust system for the recognition of international qualifications. The UK National Recognition Information Centre (UK NARIC) provides expert advice on behalf of the government on the comparability of international qualifications with those of the UK. Our universities and colleges are supported by the UK NARIC service in making decisions on the eligibility of applicants for places in their courses.</p> answering member printed Viscount Younger of Leckie question first answered 29/03/2019 12:06:19 answering member 4169 label Biography information for Viscount Younger of Leckie
	tabling member	1137 label Biography information for Lord Patten

1052513

	registered interest
	date	01/02/2019
	answering body	Department for Education
	answering dept id	60
	answering dept short name	Education
	answering dept sort name	Education
	hansard heading	Universities: Ethnic Groups
	house id	2
	legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
	question text	To ask Her Majesty's Government what role the Office for Students will play in monitoring the performance of universities in reducing ethnic inequalities in university academic staffing; and what plans they have to require universities to address such inequalities.
	tabling member printed	Lord Boateng
	uin	HL13346
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 11/02/2019 answer text <p>The government and the Office for Students (OfS) are focused on addressing inequalities in higher education. Government consulted on the publication of data on senior staff remuneration, including in relation to gender and ethnicity. The OfS retains the power to require the disclosure of such information through its accounts direction.</p><p>Higher education institutions are independent and responsible for decisions about who they employ. Universities, like every employer, must ensure they meet their obligations under the Equality Act 2010. On February 1, the government announced measures to tackle ethnic disparities in higher education including encouraging higher education providers to make use of tools such as the Race at Work Charter and the Race Equality Charter to drive forward a step-change in the recruitment and progression of ethnic minority employees.</p><p>The government has also consulted on ethnicity pay reporting in order to inform future government policy.</p> answering member printed Viscount Younger of Leckie question first answered 11/02/2019 17:09:11 answering member 4169 label Biography information for Viscount Younger of Leckie
	tabling member	147 label Biography information for Lord Boateng

1052514

	registered interest
	date	01/02/2019
	answering body	Department for Education
	answering dept id	60
	answering dept short name	Education
	answering dept sort name	Education
	hansard heading	Universities: Ethnic Groups
	house id	2
	legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
	question text	To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the impact of the low numbers of university academics and staff from black and minority ethnic backgrounds on the attainment of black and minority ethnic students.
	tabling member printed	Lord Boateng
	uin	HL13347
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 11/02/2019 answer text <p>Higher education institutions are independent and responsible for decisions about who they employ. Universities, like every employer, must ensure they meet their obligations under the Equality Act 2010. Through the Race Disparity Audit, my right hon. Friend, the Prime Minister set out her expectation that more must be done to create a workforce that is representative of British society today. On 1 February, the government launched measures to drive change in tackling inequalities between ethnic groups in higher education.</p><p>Equality and Diversity in higher education is a priority for government and the Office for Students (OfS). The OfS will use Access and Participation Plans to hold higher education providers to account for disparities in access and attainment of black and ethnic minority students.</p><p>This year, for the first time, registered higher education providers will be required to publish data on measures including attainment broken down by ethnicity, gender and socio-economic groups. This will increase transparency on attainment gaps for ethnic minority students, shining a light on those providers that are not performing well.</p><p> </p> answering member printed Viscount Younger of Leckie question first answered 11/02/2019 17:09:47 answering member 4169 label Biography information for Viscount Younger of Leckie
	tabling member	147 label Biography information for Lord Boateng

1063551

	registered interest
	date	18/02/2019
	answering body	Department for Education
	answering dept id	60
	answering dept short name	Education
	answering dept sort name	Education
	hansard heading	Universities: Billing
	house id	2
	legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
	question text	To ask Her Majesty's Government who is responsible for monitoring the payment performance of universities and ensuring that they comply with the Public Service Contracts Regulations 2015.
	tabling member printed	Lord Mendelsohn
	uin	HL13789
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 27/02/2019 answer text <p>Under the definitions of “contracting authorities” and “bodies governed by public law” as specified by regulation 2 of the Public Contracts Regulations 2015, not all universities fall under these regulations because, for some, the majority of their funding does not come from public sources.</p><p>Where the regulations do apply, it is the universities’ responsibility, as independent contracting authorities, to ensure they comply with their legal obligations. Failure to comply can leave them open to legal remedies, as set out in the regulations, following complaints from aggrieved suppliers.</p> answering member printed Viscount Younger of Leckie question first answered 27/02/2019 11:59:24 answering member 4169 label Biography information for Viscount Younger of Leckie
	tabling member	4286 label Biography information for Lord Mendelsohn

1024869

	registered interest
	date	13/12/2018
	answering body	Department for Education
	answering dept id	60
	answering dept short name	Education
	answering dept sort name	Education
	hansard heading	Universities: Admissions
	house id	2
	legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
	question text	To ask Her Majesty's Government what steps the Office for Students is taking to encourage universities to use unconditional and other alternative offers to widen participation by minority groups including those from the most disadvantaged backgrounds.
	tabling member printed	The Lord Bishop of Winchester
	uin	HL12310
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 20/12/2018 answer text <p>​Widening participation is a priority for this government. We want to ensure that everyone with the potential to benefit from a university education has the opportunity to do so, regardless of their background or where they grew up. Significant progress has been made in recent years; in 2018, 18-year olds from disadvantaged backgrounds were 52% more likely to enter full-time higher education than in 2009.</p><p> </p><p>However, we have made clear our expectation that the Office for Students (OfS) will challenge universities to make greater progress in widening access and participation.</p><p> </p><p>For example, we have asked the OfS to explore further the use of contextual information in university admissions, such as whether an applicant comes from a low participation neighbourhood or attends a school that does not send many students to university.</p><p> </p><p>​We expect universities to use unconditional offers responsibly. There are cases where the use of unconditional offers can be justified, however the systematic use of unconditional offers is not in the interest of students.</p> answering member printed Viscount Younger of Leckie question first answered 20/12/2018 17:05:52 answering member 4169 label Biography information for Viscount Younger of Leckie
	tabling member	4256 label Biography information for The Lord Bishop of Winchester

1049558

	registered interest
	date	28/01/2019
	answering body	Department for Education
	answering dept id	60
	answering dept short name	Education
	answering dept sort name	Education
	hansard heading	Universities: Admissions
	house id	2
	legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
	question text	To ask Her Majesty's Government how many unconditional offers have been made by universities to school and college leavers in each year since 2010; and in each of those years, what percentage of total offers were unconditional.
	tabling member printed	Lord Bassam of Brighton
	uin	HL13147
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 11/02/2019 answer text <p>Applicants to full-time undergraduate degrees apply through the Universities and Colleges Admissions Service (UCAS). UCAS have published data on the number of unconditional offers and the proportion of offers made that were unconditional since 2010. The data covers offers made to 18 year olds from England, Northern Ireland and Wales.</p><p>The table shows the number of unconditional offers made and the proportion of offers made that were unconditional to 18 year old applicants from England, Northern Ireland, and Wales.</p><p> </p><table><tbody><tr><td><p><strong>Year</strong></p></td><td><p><strong>Number of unconditional offers</strong></p></td><td><p><strong>Proportion of offers made that were unconditional</strong></p></td></tr><tr><td><p>2010</p></td><td><p>5,105</p></td><td><p>0.6%</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>2011</p></td><td><p>3,355</p></td><td><p>0.4%</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>2012</p></td><td><p>2,605</p></td><td><p>0.3%</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>2013</p></td><td><p>2,985</p></td><td><p>0.4%</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>2014</p></td><td><p>12,115</p></td><td><p>1.4%</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>2015</p></td><td><p>23,410</p></td><td><p>2.5%</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>2016</p></td><td><p>36,825</p></td><td><p>3.9%</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>2017</p></td><td><p>51,615</p></td><td><p>5.3%</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>2018</p></td><td><p>67,915</p></td><td><p>7.1%</p></td></tr></tbody></table><p> </p><p> </p><p>Source: UCAS End of Cycle reports 2017 and 2018:</p><p><a href="https://www.ucas.com/file/196151/download?token=jzRAy4kS" target="_blank">https://www.ucas.com/file/196151/download?token=jzRAy4kS</a>.</p><p><a href="https://www.ucas.com/file/140406/download?token=pfzLAKRe" target="_blank">https://www.ucas.com/file/140406/download?token=pfzLAKRe</a>.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p>Notes</p><ol><li>UCAS defines an unconditional offer as a provider decision to grant a place to an applicant that is not subject to the applicant satisfying academic and/or other criteria.A conditional unconditional offer is an offer made by a provider which was originally conditional, but becomes unconditional if the applicant selects that offer as their firm (first) choice. By definition, conditional unconditional offers that are selected as a firm choice by the applicant become unconditional and are also included in the unconditional offers group.Offer with an unconditional component are defined as an offers showing as having an element of unconditional offer-making, that is, unconditional offers plus conditional unconditional offers that have not been selected as firm (and hence remain conditional unconditional).</li><li>Figures provided in the table are based on the offer status at the 30 June application deadline.</li><li>Data on conditional unconditional offers, and offers that had an unconditional component have not been included in the table due to data not being published prior to 2013.</li></ol><p> </p><p> </p><p>Information regarding which universities allocated places to applicants on an unconditional basis and for each of those universities, what percentage of total offers were unconditional in each of those years is not held centrally.</p><p>However, on 31 January UCAS published data on unconditional offers by each provider for the first time as part of their 2018 End of Cycle data releases. For each provider, UCAS have published data on the number and proportion of offers that were unconditional, conditional unconditional, and offers that had an unconditional component since 2013. Further information can be found at: <a href="https://www.ucas.com/data-and-analysis/undergraduate-statistics-and-reports/ucas-undergraduate-end-cycle-reports/2018-ucas-undergraduate-unconditional-offer-making-provider-reports" target="_blank">https://www.ucas.com/data-and-analysis/undergraduate-statistics-and-reports/ucas-undergraduate-end-cycle-reports/2018-ucas-undergraduate-unconditional-offer-making-provider-reports</a> – then select ‘Individual 2018 provider level unconditional offer-making CSVs’.</p><p> </p><p>The government are concerned by the increase in unconditional offers, and have asked the higher education (HE) regulator, the Office for Students (OfS), to monitor and review how they are being used by HE providers. Where institutions cannot justify the rising numbers being offered we have made clear to the OfS that they should use the full range of powers at their disposal to take action.</p> answering member printed Viscount Younger of Leckie grouped question UIN HL13148 question first answered 11/02/2019 14:01:28 answering member 4169 label Biography information for Viscount Younger of Leckie
	tabling member	3504 label Biography information for Lord Bassam of Brighton