Asked by: George Galloway (Workers Party of Britain - Rochdale)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if she will set up an England-wide task force similar to the London Challenge to ensure that children who cannot read well are brought up to the required standard.
Answered by Nick Gibb
The Government is committed to eliminating illiteracy and wants all children to read easily, fluently and with good understanding. Our new English curriculum places a renewed focus on the requirement for pupils to learn to read through systematic synthetic phonics, as evidence shows this is the most effective approach to early reading. We do not have plans to introduce a national task force for literacy as we believe poor reading outcomes are best addressed through the implementation of the English curriculum and the other steps we have taken to improve literacy levels for all children, alongside measures to raise the attainment of disadvantaged pupils. The Department believes that good headteachers are best placed to support the needs of their pupils.
To boost the quality of phonics teaching, we have provided £23.7 million in match funding to over 14,000 schools, enabling them to buy systematic synthetic phonics products and training. We have also introduced a phonics screening check. The first three years of the check have enabled teachers to identify nearly 568,000 six-year-olds who needed extra support.
For pupils who do not reach the expected level in reading by the end of primary school, we have introduced the Year 7 Catch-up Premium. This funding – £500 per pupil – enables secondary schools to deliver additional support for those pupils that most need it.
The Government has also committed £8.8 billion of pupil premium funding for schools in England for the period between 2011-12 and 2015-16. The pupil premium gives schools the extra resources they need to close the attainment gap between those from poorer and wealthier backgrounds, including in reading outcomes.
The 2014 Key Stage Two results show that our reforms are already having an effect: a record proportion of children (89%) reached the expected standard of reading (up three percentage points from last year). Attainment in reading has increased for disadvantaged pupils from 73% in 2011 to 78% in 2013, an increase of five percentage points.
Unfortunately, pressures on the diary of my Rt hon. Friend, the Secretary of State for Education, mean she cannot promise to visit Bradford.
Asked by: George Galloway (Workers Party of Britain - Rochdale)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment she has made of the reasons for poor literacy among primary school children from (a) low income and (b) other families; what steps she is taking to ensure that all children are able to read well when they leave primary school; and if she will make a statement.
Answered by Nick Gibb
The Government is committed to eliminating illiteracy and wants all children to read easily, fluently and with good understanding. Our new English curriculum places a renewed focus on the requirement for pupils to learn to read through systematic synthetic phonics, as evidence shows this is the most effective approach to early reading. We do not have plans to introduce a national task force for literacy as we believe poor reading outcomes are best addressed through the implementation of the English curriculum and the other steps we have taken to improve literacy levels for all children, alongside measures to raise the attainment of disadvantaged pupils. The Department believes that good headteachers are best placed to support the needs of their pupils.
To boost the quality of phonics teaching, we have provided £23.7 million in match funding to over 14,000 schools, enabling them to buy systematic synthetic phonics products and training. We have also introduced a phonics screening check. The first three years of the check have enabled teachers to identify nearly 568,000 six-year-olds who needed extra support.
For pupils who do not reach the expected level in reading by the end of primary school, we have introduced the Year 7 Catch-up Premium. This funding – £500 per pupil – enables secondary schools to deliver additional support for those pupils that most need it.
The Government has also committed £8.8 billion of pupil premium funding for schools in England for the period between 2011-12 and 2015-16. The pupil premium gives schools the extra resources they need to close the attainment gap between those from poorer and wealthier backgrounds, including in reading outcomes.
The 2014 Key Stage Two results show that our reforms are already having an effect: a record proportion of children (89%) reached the expected standard of reading (up three percentage points from last year). Attainment in reading has increased for disadvantaged pupils from 73% in 2011 to 78% in 2013, an increase of five percentage points.
Unfortunately, pressures on the diary of my Rt hon. Friend, the Secretary of State for Education, mean she cannot promise to visit Bradford.
Asked by: George Galloway (Workers Party of Britain - Rochdale)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if she will visit Bradford West constituency to observe the issue of children who are leaving primary school who are unable to read well; and if she will take steps to eradicate that problem.
Answered by Nick Gibb
The Government is committed to eliminating illiteracy and wants all children to read easily, fluently and with good understanding. Our new English curriculum places a renewed focus on the requirement for pupils to learn to read through systematic synthetic phonics, as evidence shows this is the most effective approach to early reading. We do not have plans to introduce a national task force for literacy as we believe poor reading outcomes are best addressed through the implementation of the English curriculum and the other steps we have taken to improve literacy levels for all children, alongside measures to raise the attainment of disadvantaged pupils. The Department believes that good headteachers are best placed to support the needs of their pupils.
To boost the quality of phonics teaching, we have provided £23.7 million in match funding to over 14,000 schools, enabling them to buy systematic synthetic phonics products and training. We have also introduced a phonics screening check. The first three years of the check have enabled teachers to identify nearly 568,000 six-year-olds who needed extra support.
For pupils who do not reach the expected level in reading by the end of primary school, we have introduced the Year 7 Catch-up Premium. This funding – £500 per pupil – enables secondary schools to deliver additional support for those pupils that most need it.
The Government has also committed £8.8 billion of pupil premium funding for schools in England for the period between 2011-12 and 2015-16. The pupil premium gives schools the extra resources they need to close the attainment gap between those from poorer and wealthier backgrounds, including in reading outcomes.
The 2014 Key Stage Two results show that our reforms are already having an effect: a record proportion of children (89%) reached the expected standard of reading (up three percentage points from last year). Attainment in reading has increased for disadvantaged pupils from 73% in 2011 to 78% in 2013, an increase of five percentage points.
Unfortunately, pressures on the diary of my Rt hon. Friend, the Secretary of State for Education, mean she cannot promise to visit Bradford.
Asked by: George Galloway (Workers Party of Britain - Rochdale)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what charities, community projects and businesses benefit from community work placements.
Answered by Esther McVey - Minister without Portfolio (Cabinet Office)
Community Work Placements are part of Help to Work. They help long-term unemployed people gain work experience which increases their confidence, helps them to gain vital skills and crucially, improves their chances of getting a job.
DWP contracts with prime providers. The prime providers source the community work placements. All placements must be of benefit to the community and must not be used to replace existing roles or fill vacancies for paid employment.
Asked by: George Galloway (Workers Party of Britain - Rochdale)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, which charities, communities projects or businesses have withdrawn from the Community Work Placement scheme.
Answered by Esther McVey - Minister without Portfolio (Cabinet Office)
Community Work Placements are part of Help to Work. They help long-term unemployed people gain work experience which increases their confidence, helps them to gain vital skills and crucially, improves their chances of getting a job.
DWP contracts with prime providers. The prime providers source the community work placements. All placements must be of benefit to the community and must not be used to replace existing roles or fill vacancies for paid employment.
Asked by: George Galloway (Workers Party of Britain - Rochdale)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many people are on community work placements.
Answered by Esther McVey - Minister without Portfolio (Cabinet Office)
The information is not readily available. The Department works to guidelines set by the UK Statistics Authority to ensure we publish statistics that meet high quality standards at the earliest opportunity.
Asked by: George Galloway (Workers Party of Britain - Rochdale)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many people in Bradford West constituency are on community work placements.
Answered by Esther McVey - Minister without Portfolio (Cabinet Office)
The information is not readily available. The Department works to guidelines set by the UK Statistics Authority to ensure we publish statistics that meet high quality standards at the earliest opportunity.
Asked by: George Galloway (Workers Party of Britain - Rochdale)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, if he will make representations to the Israeli government condemning its (a) closure of the al-Aqsa mosque and other parts of the al-Sharif site in Jerusalem and (b) plan to build 1,000 housing units in illegal settlements in occupied East Jerusalem.
Answered by Tobias Ellwood
Our Ambassador to Tel Aviv delivered a clear message to the Israeli Cabinet Secretary on 30 October, advocating reopening of the mosque. The mosque re-opened on 31 October for men over 50 and for women. I issued a statement on 29 October condemning the announcement of plans for 1,060 new housing units in East Jerusalem. Officials from our Embassy in Tel Aviv have raised this issue with the Israeli National Security Adviser, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs Political-Military Adviser, senior contacts at the National Security Council and the Cabinet Office.Asked by: George Galloway (Workers Party of Britain - Rochdale)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many people have refused to take community work placements and have had benefits withdrawn as a result to date.
Answered by Esther McVey - Minister without Portfolio (Cabinet Office)
The information is not readily available. The Department works to guidelines set by the UK Statistics Authority to ensure we publish statistics that meet high quality standards at the earliest opportunity.
Asked by: George Galloway (Workers Party of Britain - Rochdale)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what proportion of the NHS budget in England and Wales was spent on management and administration in (a) 1984, (b) 1994, (c) 2004 and (d) 2013.
Answered by Dan Poulter
This Government has taken tough decisions to increase the National Health Service budget by £12.7 billion between 2010-11 and 2014-15. During this period, the Government’s NHS reforms will enable total administration costs to reduce by one-third in real terms, to release funding to NHS front-line services. Already, savings arising from the reforms released £1.5 billion last year and £1 billion in 2012-13 to front-line services.
Administration costs as a proportion of total NHS expenditure in the financial year 2013-14 was 2.9%. In 2010-11 the equivalent proportion was 4.3%.
From 2010 to July 2014, the number of infrastructure support staff in the NHS has reduced by from 205,695 to 183,685 a decrease of 21,010 (10.3%) including a decrease of 7,488 (17.7%) in managers and senior managers combined.
Before introducing administration costs in the Spending Review 2010, the Department collected data on NHS “management costs”, part of which now forms a sub-set of the current administration cost definition.
Management costs in primary care trusts/strategic health authorities and NHS trusts as a share of total NHS expenditure in 2003-04 was 3.7%.
Data for years 1984 and 1994 is not available.
This Government remains committed to reducing both management costs within the NHS and administration costs across the system in order to reduce bureaucracy and increase frontline care staff.