Asked by: David Mackintosh (Conservative - Northampton South)
Question to the Department for International Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for International Trade, how many jobs were created in the UK by Israeli companies in 2015; and what steps his Department is taking to encourage more Israeli companies to trade in the UK.
Answered by Mark Garnier
UK Trade and Investment, now known as the Department for International Trade, was actively involved in assisting 29 Israeli companies to set up or expand their operations in the UK and create 560 new UK jobs in 2015.
The UK is the number one destination for Israeli FDI in Europe and there are now more than 300 Israeli companies established in the UK.
Israel is an important trading partner for the UK and we are committed to further strengthening our trade and investment relationship.
Asked by: David Mackintosh (Conservative - Northampton South)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what steps his Department is taking to ensure the adequate provision of housing for older people across all housing types and tenures.
Answered by Lord Barwell
The Government believes that building more affordable homes for everyone, whatever their age, will lead to a housing market that works for all. That’s why we have doubled the housing budget. We now have the largest affordable housing programme for 40 years, with £8 billion set aside to help build 400,000 affordable homes over the next five years.
Under the National Planning Policy Framework, local authorities must plan for everyone in their community. That means that Local Plans should address the needs of older people as well as those of families and other households. In recognition of demographic changes related to our ageing society, we also recommend that Local Plans be drawn up over an appropriate time scale, preferably a 15-year time horizon, to take account of longer-term requirements.
We recognise that every local authority faces different challenges and our guidance reflects that. Where there is evidence of specific, good-quality interventions, which would ensure better provision of housing specifically for older people, these should be explored.
Asked by: David Mackintosh (Conservative - Northampton South)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what steps his Department is taking to ensure that NHS priority treatment for armed forces veterans is delivered by private health care providers when HNS services are contracted out to such providers.
Answered by David Mowat
The standard contract between NHS England and any independent providers requires due regard to the health commitments of the Armed Forces Covenant which includes ensuring veterans receive priority treatment for any condition which is related to their time in service, subject to the clinical needs of others.
Asked by: David Mackintosh (Conservative - Northampton South)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how health care professionals assess whether a veteran's illness or condition is related to service in the armed forces and therefore eligible for priority NHS treatment; and if he will make a statement.
Answered by David Mowat
It is for clinicians to determine whether it is likely that a condition is related to service via clinical assessment and patient disclosure. Veterans accessing the nine National Health Service disablement centres and the veteran’s prosthetic panel will be asked to provide supporting information that the injury is service related.
Asked by: David Mackintosh (Conservative - Northampton South)
Question to the Department for International Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for International Trade, what steps he plans to take to ensure that local businesses in (a) the UK and (b) Northampton have appropriate information to enable them better to access global markets.
Answered by Mark Garnier
The Department for International Trade (DIT) runs the Exporting is GREAT campaign, designed to significantly increase exports by inspiring and supporting UK companies to take advantage of the global appetite for UK products, skills and expertise in markets around the world. The Department’s export hub roadshow travels throughout the UK providing face to face export advice and guidance to businesses; indeed it visited Northamptonshire in April and 17 companies attended.
This Department also provides digital services for all businesses including access to live Export Opportunities around the globe and webinars on exporting, both accessible through the Exporting is GREAT website, exportingisgreat.gov.uk/. Businesses also have access to DIT’s sector and market focussed campaigns and tailored advice and support through the Department’s network of international trade advisors. They will have the opportunity to promote their products on the new Export Directory which DIT is launching in November, alongside other new digital services.
Northamptonshire companies have also benefitted from recent events being held on how to access global markets such as China, India and Iran. Seminars in Northamptonshire have informed companies on issues such as managing agents and distributors, e-commerce and international web optimisation, amongst others.
This information is not only accessible in England but also in the rest of the UK through DIT working closely with the devolved administrations’ own export promotion organisations.
Asked by: David Mackintosh (Conservative - Northampton South)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what steps his Department plans to take to help ensure that start-up companies who receive funding from EU institutions continue to have access to similar levels of funding after the UK leaves the EU.
Answered by Margot James
The UK Government is committed to ensuring the UK continues to be a world leader in international research and innovation. My right hon. Friend Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer has committed that HM Treasury will underwrite all competitively bid for EU research funding that is applied for before departure. Future access to EU collaborative research will be subject to the negotiation.
The UK already has a wide number of measures in place to help start-ups. Start-up loans provide both finance and business advice with over £250 million loans drawn down to date. Advice on starting and growing businesses is available from the 39 growth hubs around the country and the national Business Support Helpline.
Asked by: David Mackintosh (Conservative - Northampton South)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment she has made of the implications for her policies of the findings on the gender pay gap for early language attainment at age five in Save the Children's report, entitled The Lost Boys: How boys are falling behind in early years, published in July 2016.
Answered by Caroline Dinenage
The Save the Children report, The Lost Boys: How boys are falling behind in the early years, addresses the gender gap of boys falling behind in language and literacy in the early years. I would like to clarify to the Hon. Member that the report does not refer to pay. The answer to this parliamentary question therefore sets out what Government are doing to support disadvantaged children regardless of background or gender.
The Government recognises a key part of raising the standard of education for all children is to ensure they receive a good level of development in literacy and numeracy before they start school at age five. This is why in 2010 we extended the free entitlement to 15 hours for all three and four year olds, and in 2013 introduced the entitlement for two-year-olds which has increased early education take-up for children from the most disadvantaged families. We have also introduced an early years pupil premium to help providers support the learning and development of children from disadvantaged backgrounds.
The Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS) framework sets the prime areas of learning which early years providers must follow. This includes a focus on communication and language. The Early Years Foundation stage is published on gov.uk, available at: https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/335504/EYFS_framework_from_1_September_2014__with_clarification_note.pdf
The 2014-15 EYFS Profile results tell us that the proportion of children achieving a good level of development continues to increase – 66 % in 2015, compared to 60% in 2014 and 52% in 2013. The EYFS Profile results also show that more than 80% of children are reaching the expected communication and language skills by age five. A higher proportion of children eligible for free school meals are achieving a good level of development – 51% in 2015 compared to 45% in 2014. Although the gap between disadvantaged children and their peers is narrowing, we recognise there is still some way to go.
The quality of early education is improving, the numbers of qualified staff have risen, the numbers of graduates in the workforce continues to rise, and a record number of providers are rated good or outstanding, with 86% of providers currently on the Early Years Register judged good or outstanding for overall effectiveness at 31 March 2016.
Asked by: David Mackintosh (Conservative - Northampton South)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how she plans to ensure that the forthcoming review of fair funding for early years education will include measures to help close the attainment gap at age five.
Answered by Caroline Dinenage
This Government is committed to narrowing the gap in attainment between the most disadvantaged children and their peers, including in the early years. We will be investing over £1 billion more per year by 2019-20 to fund our commitments on the early years entitlements – this includes £300 million per year from 2017-18 for a significant increase to the hourly rate paid for the two, three and four year old entitlements.
The 2014-15 Early Years Foundation Stage Profile results tell us that the proportion of children achieving a good level of development continues to increase – 66% in 2015, compared to 60% in 2014 and 52% in 2013. Furthermore, a higher proportion of children eligible for free school meals are achieving a good level of development – 51% in 2015 compared to 45% in 2014.
We need to continue this improvement. This is why we propose an additional needs factor in our new early years national funding formula, in order to channel funding towards local authorities with a higher relative proportion of children with additional needs. Our consultation on early years funding reform is currently open, and I would encourage my Honourable Friend and his constituents to submit their views.
The Government already provides additional funding for the most disadvantaged three- and four-year olds through the Early Years Pupil Premium. This will continue as a separate funding stream, additional to the early years national funding formula.
Asked by: David Mackintosh (Conservative - Northampton South)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what steps her Department is taking to ensure that re-offending rates are reduced.
Answered by Sam Gyimah
We want to ensure that prisons are places of safety and rehabilitation. The key to this is achieving better outcomes for prisoners in employment, education and health, in order to reduce reoffending and protect the public. We will do this by giving governors increased responsibility on the front line and by putting sharper accountability in place, and will announce proposals for reform in autumn.
We have already reformed the way adult offenders are managed in the community.
Almost all adult offenders now receive targeted support on release, getting the help they need to turn away from crime and keep communities safer. For young offenders, Charlie Taylor has conducted a review of the youth justice system. This has been submitted to ministers and will be published in the autumn.
Asked by: David Mackintosh (Conservative - Northampton South)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps her Department is taking to ensure that Border Force has adequate staffing levels at major ports and airports to ensure (a) high levels of security and (b) efficient processing of visitors into the UK.
Answered by Robert Goodwill
The United Kingdom’s border controls are among the most stringent in the world. Border Force employs a rigorous and effective control regime at the UK’s borders, predicated on a policy of carrying out full checks of all arriving passengers and an intelligence-led approach to searching for contraband goods that ensures resources are used as effectively as possible. We have pursued an ambitious programme of reform at the border to keep this country safe, with Border Force transforming its working practices, command and control and leadership. Many regions have flexible mobile teams who stand ready to respond and support local ports in the event of such pressures. Currently, Border Force’s performance for clearing passengers exceeds the national service level agreement for wait times for both EEA and non-EEA passengers.
We have also invested in new technology UK to enhance security and improve the service delivered to legitimate passengers and deliver efficiencies. 176 ePassport Gates are operational at 18 UK airport terminals with the opening of the ePassport Gates in Heathrow T3 on 21 July. A total of 27.2 million passengers used the ePassport gates in the past year (to end of July 2016), which represents 50% of eligible passengers. This is up from 18.7 million for the same period ending July 2015.