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Written Question
Greece: Prisoners' Release
Tuesday 5th November 2019

Asked by: Nic Dakin (Labour - Scunthorpe)

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many persons released from Greek prisons under the Paraskevopoulos Law have subsequently entered the UK.

Answered by Seema Kennedy

We do not hold information on individuals released from Greek prisons under the Paraskevopoulos Law.


Written Question
Extradition: USA
Tuesday 5th November 2019

Asked by: Nic Dakin (Labour - Scunthorpe)

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, pursuant to Answer on 22 October 2019 to Question 151 on Extradition: USA, how many (a) US citizens have been extradited to the UK and (b) UK citizens have been extradited to the US since the implementation of the Extradition Act 2003.

Answered by Brandon Lewis

Since 2007, the UK has surrendered 49 UK nationals to the US. During the same time period the US has surrendered 11 US nationals to the UK.

All figures are taken from local management information, and have not been quality assured to the level of published National Statistics. As such they should be treated as provisional and therefore subject to change. The figures do not include Scotland, which deals with its own extradition cases.


Written Question
Convictions: Biometrics
Tuesday 5th November 2019

Asked by: Nic Dakin (Labour - Scunthorpe)

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, pursuant to the Answer on 16 October 2019 to Question 999 on Convictions: biometrics, if she will undertake an assessment of the accuracy of different facial composite methods and the subsequent effect on conviction rates.

Answered by Kit Malthouse

The procurement of software to produce composite facial images is an operational matter for the police


Written Question
Home Office: Energy Supply
Tuesday 5th November 2019

Asked by: Nic Dakin (Labour - Scunthorpe)

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, which provider supplies energy to her Department; how much CO2 was emitted through her Department’s energy consumption in the latest period for which figures are available; whether the criteria her Department uses to selecting an energy supplier include how environmentally friendly the supplier is; and what recent steps his Department has taken to reduce CO2 emissions from its energy use.

Answered by Victoria Atkins - Secretary of State for Health and Social Care

The department is mandated to use the Crown Commercial Services (CCS) Energy frameworks for the supply of gas, electricity and liquid fuels. The CCS competes the frameworks on the open market and selects the energy providers according to a set of award criteria, normally based on price and quality. The current suppliers of each of these services are as follow:

  • EDF (Half-Hourly electricity);
  • British Gas (Non Half-Hourly electricity);
  • Corona (gas); and
  • various suppliers (liquid fuels).

In addition to the Home Office’s main estate, the department is also responsible for running the immigration detention estate, where energy is sourced by the centre operators from various energy providers as part of their outsourced obligations.

In 2018/19, the department emitted 30,336 t/CO2e from energy use, which represents a 58% reduction since 2009/10. This has been achieved by smarter working, building consolidations, and energy efficiency measures such as installation of LED lighting. The department is now focusing on developing a pathway to reducing its remaining emissions to net zero by 2050 or sooner.


Written Question
Apprentices: Taxation
Monday 4th November 2019

Asked by: Nic Dakin (Labour - Scunthorpe)

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, with reference to the Government’s apprenticeship and levy statistics, published in October 2019, how many of the 780 recorded accounts of apprenticeship levy voucher transfers resulting on starts on standards were transferred from levy-paying companies to non-levy paying small to medium-sized employers; and what proportion of those apprenticeships were in the construction sector.

Answered by Michelle Donelan - Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology

Levy-paying employers in England do not use digital vouchers. Employers that pay the apprenticeship levy use funds in their apprenticeship service accounts to pay for training and assessment and to transfer to other employers


In October 2019, the apprenticeships and levy statistics publication reported that there were 780 transferred commitments that have materialised into apprenticeship starts as recorded on the Individualised Learner Record (ILR) as at 31 August 2019. Of these, 20 (2.7%) were starts in the Construction, Planning and Built Environment sector subject area.

Please note:
1) The figures above are rounded to the nearest 10 and percentage to 1 decimal place.

2) The percentage is derived from unrounded figures.

3) The figures above show only those transfers where a start is taking place on a standard in the Construction, Planning and Built Environment sector subject area. The construction industry sector could include starts on standards in other sector subject areas (i.e. Business, Administration and Law).

We are unable to identify whether a transfer between apprenticeship service accounts was from a levy-paying company to a non-levy paying company as we do not centrally hold data on the size of employer and their industry sector. This means we cannot identify if these transfers of levy funds were to the apprenticeship service accounts of small to medium-sized employers. The Department for Education does, however, periodically perform an analysis linking ILR data to the Inter-Departmental Business Register data (held by the Office for National Statistics) to identify the size and industry sector of employers, with the most recent analysis covering the 2016/17 academic year. Thes statistics are available at the following link:
https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/apprenticeships-in-england-by-industry-characteristics.


Written Question
Apprentices: Construction
Monday 4th November 2019

Asked by: Nic Dakin (Labour - Scunthorpe)

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many Level 2 apprenticeship starts there were in construction in (a) 2018-19, (b) 2017-18, (c) 2016-17 and (d) 2015-16.

Answered by Michelle Donelan - Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology

The below table shows level 2 apprenticeship starts in the construction industry sector for the 2015/16 and 2016/17 academic years. This is the latest available data, and it is taken from the ‘Apprenticeships in England by Industry Characteristics’ statistics publication: https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/apprenticeships-in-england-by-industry-characteristics.

Table 1: Level 2 apprenticeship starts in the construction industry sector: 2015/16 to 2016/17

Academic year

Number of level 2 apprenticeship starts

2015/16

19,470

2016/17

18,390

Notes:

1) All numbers are rounded to the nearest 10.

We also publish apprenticeship starts by sector subject area. The number of level 2 apprenticeship starts for the sector subject area ‘Construction, Planning and the Built Environment’ for the academic years 2015/16 to 2017/18 is shown in the table below, along with starts in the first 3 quarters of the 2018/19 academic year. Data for 2015/16 to 2017/18 are published here: https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/804343/Monthly-apprenticeship-starts-fwk-tool_May-2019.xlsx.

Data for the first 3 quarters of 2018/19 are published here: https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/814997/Apprenticeship-starts-ach-framework-standard-tool_201718_Q3-201819_July2019.xlsx.

Table 2: Level 2 apprenticeship starts in Construction, Planning and the Built Environment sector subject area: 2015/16 to Q3 2018/19

Academic year

Number of level 2 apprenticeship starts

2015/16

16,670

2016/17

15,840

2017/18

14,770

2018/19 (August to April 19) provisional

11,630

Notes:

1) The data source is the Individualised Learner Record (ILR).

2) In this table, numbers are a count of the number of starts at any point during the period. Learners starting more than one apprenticeship will appear more than once.

3) Apprenticeship starts include all funded and unfunded learners reported on the ILR.

4) For the 2018/19 academic year (reported to date), numbers are counted only for months August 18 to April 19 (quarter 3).

5) All numbers are rounded to the nearest 10.


Written Question
Apprentices: Construction
Monday 4th November 2019

Asked by: Nic Dakin (Labour - Scunthorpe)

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how a student completing an On-Site Construction T Level will transition onto a Level 2 apprenticeship in bricklaying should that student need more training in hand skills on that specialist pathway.

Answered by Michelle Donelan - Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology

The T level in On-Site Construction incorporates a number of occupational standards, including level 2 Bricklayer. A T level student who chooses the bricklaying occupational specialism will therefore develop many of the skills included in the level 2 Bricklayer apprenticeship. Once the T level qualification has been approved, we will be able to assess more accurately any differences between the competence conveyed by the level 2 Bricklayer apprenticeship and the T level in On-Site Construction.

Under current apprenticeship rules, a T level student would be able to progress to a level 2 apprenticeship if it allows them to acquire substantive new skills and the content of the training is materially different from their T level. The apprenticeship would need to be a minimum of 12 months in duration and involve at least 20% off-the-job training.

Our analysis of the overlap between the approved T level qualification and the level 2 apprenticeship will therefore be important in determining progression options, including eligibility for an apprenticeship at the same or a lower level.


Written Question
Vocational Guidance: Construction
Monday 4th November 2019

Asked by: Nic Dakin (Labour - Scunthorpe)

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what progress he has made on promoting the vocational pathways available for students wishing to pursue a career in construction to (a) teachers, (b) students, (c) careers advisors and (d) parents and guardians.

Answered by Michelle Donelan - Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology

Careers guidance is improving steadily across the country following the publication of the government’s careers strategy in December 2017. Schools and colleges are making good progress against the Gatsby benchmarks and showing improvements on every dimension of careers support. That means that young people are getting better information about the labour market, different education and training pathways and access to personal guidance to formulate ideas into a careers plan. Teachers are helping students to link their curriculum learning to future careers.

Through the Baker Clause, the department is improving the visibility and quality of advice on vocational routes by requiring schools to invite other providers to talk to students about the technical qualifications and apprenticeships that they offer.

The Careers & Enterprise Company is making sure that every young person has access to encounters with employers from a variety of sectors, which may include the construction industry. Information on a variety of careers, including construction, can also be found on the National Careers Service website.

The department promotes technical pathways, including for students interested in construction. We recently launched our T level communications campaign, aimed at young people, parents, teachers and employers. A new website (www.tlevels.gov.uk.) includes the function to search for providers delivering T levels from September 2020, including those in Construction (‘Design, Surveying and Planning’).

Apprenticeships available in the sector include Construction Site Engineering Technician, Installation Electrician and Civil Engineering Site Management. Our apprenticeships campaign, Fire It Up, demonstrates that apprenticeships are an aspirational choice for anyone with passion and energy. We have also developed Amazing Apprenticeships, a website and resource portal for schools and teachers.

In addition, we offer a free service to schools through the Apprenticeship Support and Knowledge (ASK) project to ensure that teachers have the knowledge and support to enable them to promote apprenticeships to their students. During the 2018-19 academic year, the ASK programme reached over 300,000 students across 2,368 establishments and from September 2019, it has been extended to include years 7 to 9.


Written Question
Greece: Prisoners' Release
Friday 1st November 2019

Asked by: Nic Dakin (Labour - Scunthorpe)

Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what assessment the Government has made of the implications for its policies of the Paraskevopoulos Law in Greece.

Answered by Christopher Pincher

​We are concerned about the implications of the Paraskevopoulos Law, which allows early release of potentially dangerous convicted criminals in Greece. The European Parliament raised concerns in February this year about the Law's effect on security within the Schengen area.


Written Question
Greece: Prisoners' Release
Friday 1st November 2019

Asked by: Nic Dakin (Labour - Scunthorpe)

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether she (a) has taken or (b) plans to take steps to prevent the entry of convicted criminals and terrorists who have been released early from prison in Greece under that country's Paraskevopoulos Law.

Answered by Brandon Lewis

The Secretary of State has the power to exclude a non-EEA national on the grounds that it is conducive to the public good. An EEA citizen or their non-EEA family member can be excluded or refused admission on the grounds of public policy or public security. Exclusion is normally used in circumstances involving national security, criminality, international crimes (war crimes, crimes against humanity or genocide), corruption and unacceptable behaviour, such as glorification of terrorist violence.

The Immigration Rules also provide for the refusal of entry on the grounds of previous criminal convictions or the individual’s character, conduct or associations, on general grounds, regardless of the category in which the application is made.