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524067

	registered interest
	date	08/06/2016
	answering body	Department for Education
	answering dept id	60
	answering dept short name	Education
	answering dept sort name	Education
	hansard heading	Vocational Education: Tees Valley
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Education, with reference to Lord Heseltine's report, Tees Valley: Opportunity unlimited, published on 7 June 2016, what assessment her Department has made of the feasibility of a University Technical College or Institute of Technology in the Tees Valley area.
	tabling member constituency	Middlesbrough South and East Cleveland
	tabling member printed	Tom Blenkinsop
	uin	40065
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 15/06/2016 answer text <p>Lord Heseltine’s report recommends that, following the Tees Valley Post-16 Area Review, universities and local employers should consider whether technical based education provision in the form of either a University Technical College (UTC) or Institute of Technology (IoT) may help to address skill gaps and contribute to meeting the future needs of business.</p><p> </p><p>The Government is committed to establishing a UTC or technical academy within reach of every city. As with other new academies, proposals to establish new UTCs and technical academies are submitted to the Department twice a year. The Department for Education would consider any proposals from the Tees Valley area as it would from elsewhere. The strongest applications that demonstrate a clear need and demand for their chosen specialisms in their local area are approved to develop their plans further.</p><p> </p><p>The Baker Dearing Educational Trust is funded by the Department to support applicant groups and can be contacted to discuss future UTC proposals. The process for establishing IoTs has not started yet, so no assessment has been made regarding the feasibility of an Institute in the Tees Valley area.</p> answering member constituency Grantham and Stamford answering member printed Nick Boles question first answered 15/06/2016 09:02:02 answering member 3995 label Biography information for Nick Boles previous answer version 3060 answering member constituency Grantham and Stamford answering member printed Nick Boles answering member 3995 label Biography information for Nick Boles
	tabling member	4037 label Biography information for Tom Blenkinsop

528948

	registered interest
	date	27/06/2016
	answering body	Department for Transport
	answering dept id	27
	answering dept short name	Transport
	answering dept sort name	Transport
	hansard heading	Transport: Infrastructure
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment he has made of the potential contribution of the British steel industry to future transport infrastructure projects in the UK.
	tabling member constituency	Middlesbrough South and East Cleveland
	tabling member printed	Tom Blenkinsop
	uin	41298
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 30/06/2016 answer text <p>The Department has been working closely with BIS, Cabinet Office and industry to consider how Government can help the UK steel industry meet the challenges it has been facing.</p><p> </p><p>The bulk of infrastructure projects within the Department are being delivered by the Department’s Arm’s Length Bodies (ALB), in particular, Network Rail, Highways England and HS2. Cabinet Office guidance on the approach to steel procurement has been circulated to the Accounting Officers of each ALB and procurement and commercial teams within these organisations are aware of the need to:</p><p> </p><ul><li>Signal the future pipeline of requirements on steel sourcing and best practice in pre-procurement market engagement;</li></ul><p> </p><ul><li>Ensure there is clear visibility of opportunities at sub-contractor level where the source of steel has not been defined by a Tier 1 contractor;</li></ul><p> </p><ul><li>Assess the health and sustainability of potential suppliers in the supply chain at selection stage, including compliance with relevant health and safety and employment legislation;</li></ul><p> </p><ul><li>Ensure that the price or cost calculations are based on an assessment of the whole-life cost and not lowest purchase price;</li></ul><p> </p><ul><li>Take account of appropriate social and environmental impacts at the award stage where they are linked to the subject of the contract.</li></ul><p> </p><p>As with the rest of the materials for construction, steel is procured by the supply chain for the majority of our infrastructure projects. The Department and its ALBs are complying with the Cabinet Office guidance and ensuring that, for instance, where appropriate, assessment of social and environmental impacts are considered as part of the evaluation criteria. The Department and its ALBs also positively encourage bids from British companies and are holding discussions with UK suppliers to make sure they are in the best possible position to win contracts.</p><p> </p><p>Activity currently underway is as follows:</p><p><br><strong>Network Rail</strong></p><ul><li>Network Rail buys approximately 120,000 tonnes of steel for rails per annum directly from British Steel in Scunthorpe, which is around 96% of Network Rail’s total aggregated demand by value.</li></ul><p> </p><p><strong> </strong></p><p><strong>Highways England</strong></p><ul><li>Highways England does not procure steel materials directly, however over the last five years Highways England has used a category management framework as the main method of procuring steel gantries for the Strategic Road Network.</li></ul><p> </p><ul><li>To date circa 95% of this steel has been drawn from British Steel in the UK, which equates to approximately 11,000 tonnes of steel. The approximate framework spend is £30 million, of which about 35% will be steel procurement i.e. raw materials, and will equate to around £10.5 million.</li></ul><p> </p><p><strong>Crossrail</strong></p><ul><li>The 57km of steel required for the rails of Crossrail’s brand new central tunnel section is being sourced entirely from British Steel in Scunthorpe. This equates to 7,000 tonnes of steel.</li></ul><p> </p><ul><li>Crossrail Ltd does not directly procure steel as this is undertaken by their tier 1 contractors and their supply chains. However, Crossrail keeps an oversight of its critical contracts and estimates that 85% of its supply chain providing steel to the project is UK based.</li></ul><p><strong>HS2 </strong></p><ul><li>It is estimated that HS2 will need approximately 2 million tonnes of steel over the next 10 years. The procurement for the main civil engineering works between Euston and Birmingham is now underway with procurements for the stations and rail systems expected to commence later this year and for rolling stock in early 2017. Subject to Royal Assent, the project will start construction in 2017.</li></ul><p> </p><ul><li>As with the rest of the materials for construction, steel is procured by the supply chain. HS2 positively encourages bids from British companies and is already holding discussions with UK suppliers to make sure they are in the best possible position to complete for contracts for the steel that will be needed for track, concrete reinforcements, overhead wires and other structures.</li></ul> answering member constituency Scarborough and Whitby answering member printed Mr Robert Goodwill question first answered 30/06/2016 14:22:12 answering member 1562 label Biography information for Sir Robert Goodwill
	tabling member	4037 label Biography information for Tom Blenkinsop

524237

	registered interest
	date	09/06/2016
	answering body	Department for Education
	answering dept id	60
	answering dept short name	Education
	answering dept sort name	Education
	hansard heading	Teachers: Training
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if she will (a) establish an additional National Teaching Service (NTS) pilot in Teesside and (b) give priority to the Tees Valley in the NTS national roll-out in response to the recommendation in Lord Heseltine's report, Tees Valley: opportunity unlimited to prioritise the Tees Valley for national roll-out of the NTS.
	tabling member constituency	Middlesbrough South and East Cleveland
	tabling member printed	Tom Blenkinsop
	uin	40132
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 14/06/2016 answer text <p>In November 2015 we announced that by 2020 the National Teaching Service (NTS) will have placed 1,500 high-performing teachers and middle leaders into challenging schools in areas of the country that struggle to attract, recruit and retain high quality teachers.</p><p>The NTS was launched with plans for a pilot scheme in the North West of England from September 2016 with the aim of attracting 100 NTS teachers and middle leaders into schools in the region. The national programme will include a clear focus on delivering cohorts of NTS teachers and middle leaders into eligible schools in Achieving Excellence Areas (AEAs) as set out in the Educational Excellence Everywhere White Paper. We will confirm our plans for rolling out the NTS in due course.</p> answering member constituency Bognor Regis and Littlehampton answering member printed Nick Gibb question first answered 14/06/2016 16:52:50 answering member 111 label Biography information for Nick Gibb
	tabling member	4037 label Biography information for Tom Blenkinsop

525523

	registered interest
	date	15/06/2016
	answering body	Department for Business, Innovation and Skills
	answering dept id	26
	answering dept short name	Business, Innovation and Skills
	answering dept sort name	Business, Innovation and Skills
	hansard heading	Students: Disability
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what steps his Department is taking to ensure that universities offer disabled students levels of support which take account of recent changes to the disabled students' allowance.
	tabling member constituency	Middlesbrough South and East Cleveland
	tabling member printed	Tom Blenkinsop
	uin	40680
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 27/06/2016 answer text <p>The Government is committed to ensuring that everyone with the potential has the opportunity to benefit from higher education, irrespective of their background or mode of learning. In the last academic year we saw record entry rates to higher education, including among those from disadvantaged backgrounds</p><p> </p><p>Higher Education Institutions have responsibilities under the Equality Act 2010 to support their students, including those with disabilities. They have a clear legal duty to make reasonable adjustments for disabled people to ensure they are not placed at a substantial disadvantage compared to non-disabled students.</p><p> </p><p>To support Higher Education (HE) providers to prepare for the changes to Disabled Students’ Allowances that come into effect from academic year 2016/17, the Department has supported the establishment of a sector-led group ofstakeholders. The group’s focus is to communicate with senior leaders of HE providers, to help provide information about institutions’ responsibilities under the Equality Act 2010 to make reasonable adjustments for disabled students, and to encourage HE providers to develop inclusive learning environments.</p><p>In addition, universities expect to spend more than £745 million through access agreements agreed with the Director of Fair Access on measures to improve access and success for students from disadvantaged groups, including disabled students - up significantly from £404 million in 2009.</p><p> </p><p> </p> answering member constituency Orpington answering member printed Joseph Johnson grouped question UIN 40681 question first answered 27/06/2016 08:48:25 answering member 4039 label Biography information for Lord Johnson of Marylebone
	tabling member	4037 label Biography information for Tom Blenkinsop

525524

	registered interest
	date	15/06/2016
	answering body	Department for Business, Innovation and Skills
	answering dept id	26
	answering dept short name	Business, Innovation and Skills
	answering dept sort name	Business, Innovation and Skills
	hansard heading	Students: Disability
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what steps he is taking to increase accessibility to university buildings for disabled students.
	tabling member constituency	Middlesbrough South and East Cleveland
	tabling member printed	Tom Blenkinsop
	uin	40681
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 27/06/2016 answer text <p>The Government is committed to ensuring that everyone with the potential has the opportunity to benefit from higher education, irrespective of their background or mode of learning. In the last academic year we saw record entry rates to higher education, including among those from disadvantaged backgrounds</p><p> </p><p>Higher Education Institutions have responsibilities under the Equality Act 2010 to support their students, including those with disabilities. They have a clear legal duty to make reasonable adjustments for disabled people to ensure they are not placed at a substantial disadvantage compared to non-disabled students.</p><p> </p><p>To support Higher Education (HE) providers to prepare for the changes to Disabled Students’ Allowances that come into effect from academic year 2016/17, the Department has supported the establishment of a sector-led group ofstakeholders. The group’s focus is to communicate with senior leaders of HE providers, to help provide information about institutions’ responsibilities under the Equality Act 2010 to make reasonable adjustments for disabled students, and to encourage HE providers to develop inclusive learning environments.</p><p>In addition, universities expect to spend more than £745 million through access agreements agreed with the Director of Fair Access on measures to improve access and success for students from disadvantaged groups, including disabled students - up significantly from £404 million in 2009.</p><p> </p><p> </p> answering member constituency Orpington answering member printed Joseph Johnson grouped question UIN 40680 question first answered 27/06/2016 08:48:25 answering member 4039 label Biography information for Lord Johnson of Marylebone
	tabling member	4037 label Biography information for Tom Blenkinsop

524419

	registered interest
	date	10/06/2016
	answering body	Department for Business, Innovation and Skills
	answering dept id	26
	answering dept short name	Business, Innovation and Skills
	answering dept sort name	Business, Innovation and Skills
	hansard heading	Skilled Workers: North East
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, if his Department will make an assessment of the effect of the withdrawal of funding from the UK Commission for Employment and Skills on the Government's analysis of skills shortages in the North East.
	tabling member constituency	Middlesbrough South and East Cleveland
	tabling member printed	Tom Blenkinsop
	uin	40241
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 15/06/2016 answer text <p>In the context of needing to make savings in non-participation budgets to allow the core adult skills participation budgets to be protected in cash terms, the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills (BIS) has consulted the Devolved Administrations and other users of labour market information on future research priorities.</p><p> </p><p>Following these discussions, we have identified the significance of the Employer Skills Survey, the Employer Perspectives Survey and the LMI (Labour Market Information) for All Portal and decided that these products will be maintained. We are currently working with the Commission to transfer the management of these to BIS, and we will work users on how information from these surveys will be disseminated in the future including the provision of regional and local information.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p> answering member constituency Grantham and Stamford answering member printed Nick Boles question first answered 15/06/2016 08:57:55 answering member 3995 label Biography information for Nick Boles
	tabling member	4037 label Biography information for Tom Blenkinsop

524212

	registered interest
	date	09/06/2016
	answering body	HM Treasury
	answering dept id	14
	answering dept short name	Treasury
	answering dept sort name	CaTreasury
	hansard heading	Sahaviriya Steel Industries UK: Redcar
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether his Department plans to provide any funding for a further assessment of the Redcar SSI site as recommended in the independent report, Tees Valley: opportunity unlimited, published on 7 June 2016.
	tabling member constituency	Middlesbrough South and East Cleveland
	tabling member printed	Tom Blenkinsop
	uin	40128
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 14/06/2016 answer text <p>I welcome Lord Heseltine’s independent report on the Tees Valley following the closure of the SSI steelworks. As noted in the report, the Government is providing funding for an intermediate body to manage the site prior to the creation of the Mayoral Development Corporation, and is funding site assessments in 2016-17 in order to understand the scale and complexity of the SSI site. The case for any further Government funding will be considered in light of those assessments.</p> answering member constituency Chelsea and Fulham answering member printed Greg Hands question first answered 14/06/2016 16:12:25 answering member 1526 label Biography information for Greg Hands
	tabling member	4037 label Biography information for Tom Blenkinsop

524029

	registered interest
	date	08/06/2016
	answering body	Department for Transport
	answering dept id	27
	answering dept short name	Transport
	answering dept sort name	Transport
	hansard heading	Railways: Electrification
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment his Department has made of the potential merits of the inclusion of the Northallerton to Teesport line in the rail electrification scheme.
	tabling member constituency	Middlesbrough South and East Cleveland
	tabling member printed	Tom Blenkinsop
	uin	39946
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 13/06/2016 answer text <p>The Transpennine Route Upgrade is an ambitious and challenging programme which is due to be delivered by December 2022. There are currently no plans within this scope to electrify the line between Northallerton and Teesport. However, this does not preclude the thinking of future electrification as a further phase following the delivery of the current scope in 2022.</p><p> </p><p>I can confirm that the current assumption for services between Manchester and Middlesbrough is that these will operated by new bi-mode trains i.e. capable of diesel and electric operation. The new bi-mode will offer significant journey time savings for passengers on this route.</p> answering member constituency Harrogate and Knaresborough answering member printed Andrew Jones question first answered 13/06/2016 15:30:40 answering member 3996 label Biography information for Andrew Jones
	tabling member	4037 label Biography information for Tom Blenkinsop

524216

	registered interest
	date	09/06/2016
	answering body	Department for Communities and Local Government
	answering dept id	7
	answering dept short name	Communities and Local Government
	answering dept sort name	Communities and Local Government
	hansard heading	Local Growth Deals: Tees Valley
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, if he will provide additional resources to the Tees Valley Combined Authority and Local Enterprise Partnership to assist them in the key role envisioned for them in the independent report, Tees Valley: opportunity unlimited, published on 7 June 2016.
	tabling member constituency	Middlesbrough South and East Cleveland
	tabling member printed	Tom Blenkinsop
	uin	40129
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 16/06/2016 answer text <p>Officials in the Cities and Local Growth Unit will continue to work with the Tees Valley to implement their current devolution deal – including additional resources of £15 million per year, and over £100 million in already agreed growth deals. Tees Valley Combined Authority is already putting in place plans for implementing Lord Heseltine’s report. Government is committed to work coherently with local leaders to support the economic growth opportunities that have been identified.</p><p> </p><p> </p> answering member constituency Stockton South answering member printed James Wharton question first answered 16/06/2016 17:32:15 answering member 4123 label Biography information for Lord Wharton of Yarm previous answer version 3853 answering member constituency Stockton South answering member printed James Wharton answering member 4123 label Biography information for Lord Wharton of Yarm
	tabling member	4037 label Biography information for Tom Blenkinsop

524073

	registered interest
	date	08/06/2016
	answering body	Department for Energy and Climate Change
	answering dept id	63
	answering dept short name	Energy and Climate Change
	answering dept sort name	Energy and Climate Change
	hansard heading	Carbon Capture and Storage: Tees Valley
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, what steps her Department has taken to support the Teesside Carbon Capture Storage Collective since the announcement of the reduction in government funds in that sector.
	tabling member constituency	Middlesbrough South and East Cleveland
	tabling member printed	Tom Blenkinsop
	uin	40079
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 16/06/2016 answer text <p>The Department of Energy and Climate Change continues to work closely with Teesside, including through providing funding to the Collective for further work on how Carbon Capture and Storage (CCS), carbon usage, hydrogen production and other technologies could reduce carbon emissions from industrial processes.</p><p> </p><p>This support follows £1m previously awarded to Teesside as part of the 2013 Tees Valley City Deal, to undertake engineering and commercial studies into the scope for industrial CCS for the Tees Valley industrial cluster, and the October 2015 Tees Valley Devolution Deal, which committed DECC to work with Tees Valley to explore how it can continue to develop its industrial CCS proposals.</p><p> </p><p>Lord Heseltine’s recent report “Tees Valley: Opportunity Unlimited” welcomed the support that the Government is continuing to provide on industrial CCS in the Tees Valley area.</p> answering member constituency South Northamptonshire answering member printed Andrea Leadsom question first answered 16/06/2016 15:22:59 answering member 4117 label Biography information for Andrea Leadsom previous answer version 3396 answering member constituency South Northamptonshire answering member printed Andrea Leadsom answering member 4117 label Biography information for Andrea Leadsom
	tabling member	4037 label Biography information for Tom Blenkinsop