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100308

	registered interest
	date	22/10/2014
	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	Media
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, how many responses his Department's press office has made to enquiries from student journalists in the last year.
	tabling member constituency	Great Grimsby
	tabling member printed	Austin Mitchell
	uin	211446
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 04/11/2014 answer text <p>This information is not held centrally.</p><p> </p> answering member constituency Tunbridge Wells answering member printed Greg Clark question first answered 04/11/2014 16:40:12 answering member 1578 label Biography information for Greg Clark
	tabling member	372 label Biography information for Austin Mitchell

100301

	registered interest
	date	22/10/2014
	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	Oil: Western Sahara
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what representations he has received on consultations held with the Saharawi regarding proposed drilling for oil by Cairn Energy in the waters of Western Sahara.
	tabling member constituency	Islington North
	tabling member printed	Jeremy Corbyn
	uin	211504
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 30/10/2014 answer text <p>I can confirm that neither I nor my Rt Hon Friend the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills have received any such representations.</p><p> </p> answering member constituency West Suffolk answering member printed Matthew Hancock question first answered 30/10/2014 16:28:30 answering member 4070 label Biography information for Matt Hancock previous answer version 24558 answering member constituency West Suffolk answering member printed Matthew Hancock answering member 4070 label Biography information for Matt Hancock
	tabling member	185 label Biography information for Jeremy Corbyn

100298

	registered interest
	date	22/10/2014
	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	Disabled Students' Allowances
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what representations he has received calling for a public consultation on proposed changes to disabled students' allowance.
	tabling member constituency	Poplar and Limehouse
	tabling member printed	Jim Fitzpatrick
	uin	211565
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 04/11/2014 answer text <p>Over the summer Ministers and officials undertook extensive discussions with a wide range of stakeholders regarding changes to DSA.</p><p> </p> answering member constituency Tunbridge Wells answering member printed Greg Clark question first answered 04/11/2014 15:37:59 answering member 1578 label Biography information for Greg Clark
	tabling member	197 label Biography information for Jim Fitzpatrick

100304

	registered interest
	date	22/10/2014
	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, if he will take steps to ensure that disabled pupils have information in advance of an application to a higher education institution on what reasonable adjustments that institution will make to meet their needs.
	tabling member constituency	Poplar and Limehouse
	tabling member printed	Jim Fitzpatrick
	uin	211563
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 04/11/2014 answer text <p>A variety of information is already available to students, both through the Unistats website - <a href="http://unistats.direct.gov.uk/" target="_blank">http://unistats.direct.gov.uk/</a> - and from individual Institutions. Institutions are considering what additional information may be necessary in light of the announcement on changes to the Disabled Students’ Allowance.</p><p> </p> answering member constituency Tunbridge Wells answering member printed Greg Clark question first answered 04/11/2014 17:00:55 answering member 1578 label Biography information for Greg Clark
	tabling member	197 label Biography information for Jim Fitzpatrick

100296

	registered interest
	date	22/10/2014
	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	Tata Steel
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, with reference to the Urgent Question on 16 October 2014, Official Report, column 445, on Tata Steel, what meetings (a) he and (b) Ministers in his Department have held with (a) Tata Steel and (b) trades unions to discuss the selling of the Long Products Division.
	tabling member constituency	Hartlepool
	tabling member printed	Mr Iain Wright
	uin	211586
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 05/11/2014 answer text <p>My Rt hon Friend the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills and officials maintain a regular dialogue with the senior management of Tata Steel.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p>Most recently the Secretary of State had a telephone conversation with Karl Kohler, CEO Tata Steel Europe on 29 September 2014; and met Cyrus Mistry, Chairman Tata Group in India on 14 October 2014. Official level contact is regular and ongoing.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p>We stand ready to engage with the trades unions to discuss and listen to their views on the proposed sale.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p> answering member constituency West Suffolk answering member printed Matthew Hancock question first answered 05/11/2014 15:56:55 answering member 4070 label Biography information for Matt Hancock previous answer version 24552 answering member constituency West Suffolk answering member printed Matthew Hancock answering member 4070 label Biography information for Matt Hancock
	tabling member	1478 label Biography information for Mr Iain Wright

100564

	registered interest
	date	22/10/2014
	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	Council Tax Benefits
	house id	2
	legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
	question text	To ask Her Majesty’s Government when they will publish the detailed terms of reference for the review of the impact of abolishing Council Tax Benefit.
	tabling member printed	Baroness King of Bow
	uin	HL2301
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 06/11/2014 answer text <p>The Department is currently working with the Council Tax Partnership Forum and local authorities to identify appropriate and proportionate data for the independent three-year review of the local council tax support policy.</p><p> </p><p>The timetable, coverage, process for data collection and detailed terms of reference for the review will be agreed and published in due course.</p><p> </p><p>Spending on council tax benefit doubled under the last Government, costing taxpayers £4 billion a year—equivalent to almost £180 a year per household. Welfare reform is vital to tackle the budget deficit by the last Administration.</p><p> </p><p>Our reforms to localise council tax support now give councils stronger incentives to support local firms, cut fraud, promote local enterprise and get people to into work. We are ending the last Administration's 'something for nothing' culture and making work pay.</p> answering member printed Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon question first answered 06/11/2014 17:48:45 answering member 4210 label Biography information for Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon
	tabling member	143 label Biography information for Baroness King of Bow

100565

	registered interest
	date	22/10/2014
	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	Housing Revenue Accounts: Tower Hamlets
	house id	2
	legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
	question text	To ask Her Majesty’s Government, further to the Written Answer by Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon on 14 October (HL1902), whether they will place in the Library of the House copies of the correspondence encouraging the London Borough of Tower Hamlets to revise its bid for funding from the Local Growth Fund Housing Revenue Account Borrowing Programme 2015–17.
	tabling member printed	Baroness King of Bow
	uin	HL2302
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 19/11/2014 answer text <p>I have today placed copies of the relevant letters - a letter from the Minister for Housing to all stock holding local authorities dated 7 July 2014; a letter from officials to the London Borough of Tower Hamlets also dated 7 July 2014; and a second letter to the authority dated 5 August 2014 - in the Library of the House.</p><p> </p><p>The Greater London Authority, which has an operational involvement in the programme in London, also had discussions with the Council, but such correspondence/information is not held by my Department.</p><p> </p> answering member printed Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon attachment 1 file name PQ428929 HL2302 - Letter1_Redacted.pdf title Minister of Housing 7 July 2014 2 file name PQ428929 HL2302 - Letter2_Redacted.pdf title London Borough of Tower Hamlets 7 July 2014 3 file name PQ428929 HL2302 - Letter3_Redacted.pdf title London Borough of Tower Hamlets 5 August 2014 question first answered 19/11/2014 14:48:36 answering member 4210 label Biography information for Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon
	tabling member	143 label Biography information for Baroness King of Bow

100566

	registered interest
	date	22/10/2014
	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	Welfare Assistance Schemes
	house id	2
	legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
	question text	To ask Her Majesty’s Government, further to the Written Answer by Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon on 15 October (HL1906), whether they will place in the Library of the House the findings of their review into the impact of the abolition of the Discretionary Social Fund.
	tabling member printed	Baroness King of Bow
	uin	HL2303
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 05/11/2014 answer text <p>The Department for Work and Pensions are undertaking a review into how local welfare provision has been used in 2013/14 and its anticipated use in 2014/15. The Department are making plans to publish the review shortly. A copy will be placed in the Library of House.</p> answering member printed Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon question first answered 05/11/2014 14:01:03 answering member 4210 label Biography information for Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon
	tabling member	143 label Biography information for Baroness King of Bow

100320

	registered interest
	date	22/10/2014
	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	Social Rented Housing
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what was spent on the Decent Homes Programme in each year since 2005.
	tabling member constituency	Bethnal Green and Bow
	tabling member printed	Rushanara Ali
	uin	211623
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 23/02/2015 answer text <p>The last Administration failed to meet its Decent Homes target. It pledged in 2000 that: “We... are committed to ensuring that all social housing is of a decent standard within 10 years” (DETR, <em>Quality and Choice: A Decent Home for All: The Housing Green Paper</em>, April 2000, p.11). But 16 per cent of local authority homes were not decent by 2010.</p><p>That last Government also cut the Decent Homes programme by £150 million in July 2009, cannibalising the housing programme to pay for other policies. I also observe the last Prime Minister planned to cut back housing investment, remarking before the general election: “Housing is essentially a private sector activity. Let's be honest about this... I don't see a need for us to continue with such a big renovation programme” (<em>BBC Newsnight</em>, 30 April 2010).</p><p>However, the Coalition Government is investing £2.3 billion from 2011 to 2016 to improve the quality of existing social housing through the Decent Homes programme and large-scale voluntary transfer gap funding The funding is for clearing the backlog, and therefore is less than under the last Administration – as by intention, there should be an increasingly smaller number of homes to pay to refurbish.</p><p>The table below shows spending since 2005.</p><p> </p><p> </p><table><tbody><tr><td> </td><td><p>£ million</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>2004-05</p></td><td><p>£578</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>2005-06</p></td><td><p>£864</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>2006-07</p></td><td><p>£814</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>2007-08</p></td><td><p>£1,005</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>2008-09</p></td><td><p>£1,017</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>2009-10</p></td><td><p>£1,079</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>2010-11</p></td><td><p>£756</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>2011-12</p></td><td><p>£494</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>2012-13</p></td><td><p>£563</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>2013-14</p></td><td><p>£631</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>2014-15</p></td><td><p>est. £532</p></td></tr></tbody></table><p>NB. The figure for 14-15 contains £15 million funding for South Tyneside which was brought forward from the 2015-16 allocation.</p><p>The number of non-decent local authority dwellings across England has fallen from 292,000 in 1 April 2010 to 146,000 in April 2014, with a forecast of a further fall to 113,000 by April 2015. This shows clear progress in refurbishing these homes.</p><p> </p><p> </p> answering member constituency Great Yarmouth answering member printed Brandon Lewis question first answered 23/02/2015 16:51:14 answering member 4009 label Biography information for Sir Brandon Lewis previous answer version 24440 answering member constituency Great Yarmouth answering member printed Brandon Lewis answering member 4009 label Biography information for Sir Brandon Lewis
	tabling member	4138 label Biography information for Rushanara Ali

100554

	registered interest
	date	22/10/2014
	answering body	Department for Education
	answering dept id	60
	answering dept short name	Education
	answering dept sort name	Education
	hansard heading	Pre-school Education: Basic Skills
	house id	2
	legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
	question text	To ask Her Majesty’s Government what steps they will take to reduce attainment gaps in literacy and numeracy between boys and girls in pre-school education in the short and long term.
	tabling member printed	Lord Storey
	uin	HL2291
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 03/11/2014 answer text <p>The Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS) is the statutory framework for all early years providers [1]. The EYFS seeks to provide quality and consistency in all early years settings, so that every child makes good progress, attainment gaps are reduced and no child gets left behind. The EYFS specifies areas in which early years providers must support children to develop, including literacy and numeracy. It is the responsibility of early years providers to identify and meet the learning and development needs of the children attending their setting. The EYFS requires providers to carry out ongoing assessment of children’s development and needs and should address any learning and development needs in partnership with parents and/or carers, and any relevant professionals.</p><p> </p><p>The Department for Education is increasing the level of required English and maths qualifications for members of the early years workforce. This will ensure that all those working with young children have the right skills to support all children to achieve appropriate levels of literacy and numeracy.</p><p> </p><p>1. We have published guidance on Teacher’s Standards (Early Years) which includes a requirement for Early Years Teachers to demonstrate a clear understanding of synthetic phonics and strategies for teaching early mathematics. The standards also require Early Years Teachers to plan and adapt education to cater for the needs of individual children, to make accurate assessments to inform children’s learning and development and to promote equality of opportunity and anti-discriminatory practice.</p><p> </p><p>2. Early Years Teachers must pass the same professional skills tests as trainee school teachers and must have GCSE English and maths at grade C or above on entry to training courses.</p><p> </p><p>3. NCTL published new, more robust, criteria for level 3 qualifications in July 2013 – the “Early Years Educator” criteria. They set out the minimum requirements for the knowledge, understanding and skills which learners must demonstrate during assessment for their qualification to be considered qualified at level 3. The criteria include a requirement for qualifications to include a focus on recognising and meeting the individual learning and development needs of children.</p><p> </p><p>4. From 1 August 2014, Government funding of Level 3 Early Years Educator training courses through the Skills Funding Agency will require trainees to have GCSEs in English and maths, at grade C or above, on entry. The EYFS has been amended to require staff holding a new Early Years Educator qualification to have achieved GCSEs in English/English Language and maths, at grade C or above, in order to count in the staff ratios at level 3. From September 2014, GCSE English and maths, at grade C or above, will be required on exit from a level 3 early years apprenticeship. This is an interim measure to support the sector in reaching the higher standards required. From August 2015, the GCSEs in English and maths, at grade C or above, will be required on entry to an early years apprenticeship.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p>The Department is also working with experts in the voluntary sector and charitable organisations to support work in these key areas. We have funded English and Maths Champions programmes through the National Day Nurseries Association to spread good practice in teaching literacy and numeracy in the early years.</p><p> </p><p>We are investing £1.4m in the Early Language Development Programme – which has so far helped well over 100,000 parents and family members to spot problems and get support with their children’s speech and language. This work is being led by I CAN, the children’s communications charity. We are also investing almost £1m in the work of the Literacy Trust to develop a model to improve targeting and engagement of the most vulnerable families by staff in Children’s Centres and support volunteers to improve children's early literacy and language skills.</p><p> </p><p>[1] <a href="http://www.gov.uk/government/publications/early-years-foundation-stage-framework--2" target="_blank">www.gov.uk/government/publications/early-years-foundation-stage-framework--2</a></p> answering member printed Lord Nash question first answered 03/11/2014 17:12:51 answering member 4270 label Biography information for Lord Nash
	tabling member	4238 label Biography information for Lord Storey