Graham Allen

We intend to issue the consultation shortly at which point it will run for 12 weeks.

[Caste is an extremely sensitive and emotive subject. This is the first ever public consultation on the matter and it is vital that we get the details and content of the consultation right].

In July 2016 the Rt Revd Paul Butler, Bishop of Durham and then lead bishop for safeguarding, apologised unreservedly to all former residents who continue to be affected by their experiences at Kendall House. The statement can be seen at https://www.churchofengland.org/media-centre/news/2016/07/statement-on-kendall-house-review.aspx

The Church of England accepted the review and welcomed its recommendations. The Church’s National Safeguarding Team will include those recommendations in their autumn review and plan to publish an annual review in 2017, which will report on progress made against them. Every diocese within the Church of England has received the report and in line with the review’s findings are considering the implications of this for their own diocesan safeguarding arrangements, past and present.

It is customary for the Ministerial Code to be updated and reissued after a General Election. A revised Ministerial Code will be published shortly and copies will be placed in the libraries of both Houses.

The principles around collective responsibility are established processes which have been set out in successive versions of the Ministerial Code.

The passage of new legislation, the evolution of conventions and changes to internal government procedure will mean that the Cabinet Manual needs updating. The Government will announce its intentions in due course.

It is customary for the Ministerial Code to be updated and reissued after a General Election. A revised Ministerial Code will be published shortly and copies will be placed in the libraries of both Houses.

The principles around collective responsibility are established processes which have been set out in successive versions of the Ministerial Code.

In our response to Securing the Ballot, the Government agreed with Sir Eric that voter identification measures should be explored further, as a means of addressing some existing vulnerabilities in the electoral system.

The Government’s view is that, before any decisions can be taken about the suitability of voter identification to elections in Britain, such measures should first be subject to thorough and rigorous testing in a number of pilot schemes. This will enable us to accurately determine the impact of asking voters to present identification on all aspects of the electoral process, including on such important factors as an elector’s likelihood of turning out.

Turnout at elections can be affected by a range of factors and it is difficult to apply impacts to any particular factor. We do not make assessments specifically focused on the effect of the weather on electoral turnout.

We have no current plans to introduce online voting.

The Government’s response to Sir Eric Pickles’ review of electoral fraud, Securing the ballot, outlined the Government’s intention to run a number of pilot schemes at local government elections in May 2018. Over the coming weeks and months, the Government will be working with our key electoral partners (including the Electoral Commission and the Association of Electoral Administrators) to set out the timing and methodology of the pilot schemes. My letter of 20 February to my Right Honourable friend, the Member for Loughborough, outlined that the purpose of the pilot schemes is to test the impact of voter identification measures on the electoral process as a whole, including on factors such as turnout.

Turnout at elections can be affected by a range of factors and it is difficult to apply impacts to any particular factor. We do not make assessments specifically focused on the effect of the weather on electoral turnout.

We have no current plans to introduce online voting.

I refer the hon. Member to my response to the hon. Member for Harwich and North Essex of 14 April 2016.

There are no plans to amend section 10 of the Charities Act 2011 to apply charity law to ecclesiastical corporations. Ecclesiastical corporations are regulated under Canon law of the Church of England.

Reaching a high level of fluency in reading and writing by the end of primary school is fundamental to achievement in education and critical for everyday life. We want all children, regardless of their background, to leave primary school able to read and write to a high standard.

The Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS) sets the standards for the provision of development and care from birth to age five. This includes a focus on literacy, communication and language. The EYFS Profile results have shown an increase in the percentage of children achieving a good level of development – from 51.7% in 2013 to 69% in 2016.

The results from the 2016 EYFS Profile show that 72.1% of children achieved at least the expected level in all early learning goals in literacy in 2016 compared with 60.7% in 2013. For communication and language 81.6% of children achieved at least the expected level in all learning goals in communication and language compared to 72.2% in 2013.

The English curriculum introduced in 2014 places a renewed focus on phonics, as evidence shows that systematic synthetic phonics is the most effective approach to teaching young children to read.

To boost the quality of phonics teaching, we provided £23.7 million in match funding to over 14,000 primary schools, enabling them to buy systematic synthetic phonics products and training. The results from this year’s phonics screening check show that, since the introduction of the phonics check in 2012, over 147,000 more six year olds are now on track to become excellent readers. Almost 9 in 10 pupils (89%) who met the expected standard of phonic decoding in year 1 went on to reach the expected standard in reading at the end of Key Stage 1.

The Year 7 Catch-up Premium provides additional funding for secondary schools to support pupils who did not reach the expected level in reading and/or mathematics by the end of primary school.

The Early Years Foundation Stage Statutory Framework (EYFS) sets out the key areas of learning which every provider must follow. This includes a focus on literacy and communication and language. We are seeing year on year improvements in the communications and language area of learning. In 2013, 59.9% of children eligible for FSM achieved at least the expected level in the communication and language area of Learning, compared to 75.0% of all other children. In 2016, 71.2% of children eligible for FSM achieved at least the expected level in the communication and language area of learning, compared to 83.3% of all other children.

For Nottingham North, in 2015, 75.1% of children eligible for FSM achieved at least the expected level in the communication and language area of learning, compared to 79.8% of all other children. In 2016, 74.9% of children eligible for FSM achieved at least the expected level in the communication and language area of learning, compared to 81.2% of all other children

Social mobility is at the heart of the Government’s agenda, and that is why we are increasing spending on childcare to over £6 billion per year by 2019-20 – more than any other government.

We are working hard to ensure parents and children - wherever they live in England - have access to high quality early years education places through the funded 15 hour entitlement for disadvantaged two-year-olds and for all three- and four-year-olds. The Early Years Pupil Premium also provides over £300 per eligible child to improve outcomes for disadvantaged three- and four-year-olds.

We know that the quality of the workforce has the biggest impact on the children’s outcomes, and over recent years, we have taken steps to improve the quality of the workforce. We are currently developing a workforce strategy to remove the barriers to attracting, retaining and developing staff in the early years workforce.

The Department for Education will be publishing an early years workforce strategy in due course, which will seek to remove the barriers to attracting, retaining and developing staff. The strategy will include a focus on what government can do to help grow the graduate workforce.

We make early years initial teacher training places available to meet the demand from the market. Funding is available for training course fees, with additional funding for nursery employers to help them support graduates in their setting to become early years teachers. To encourage the best graduates into the early years workforce we provide bursaries to eligible trainees.

The Government does not consider the School Standards and Framework Act 1998 to be in contravention of the EU Employment Equality Directive Article 4(2). The ‘Guidance on Managing Staff Employment in Schools’ (2009) clarifies the position with regard to the employment of reserved teachers in voluntary aided schools.

There are no plans to repeal paragraph 4 of Schedule 22 of the Equality Act.

As set out in my response to question 56128, we consider that the provisions in sections 60(4) and 60(5) of the School Standards and Framework Act comply with the EU Employment Equality Directive Article 4(2) and as such see no requirement to make any changes to the Equality Act in this respect.

Information by Westminster Constituency or English region on the number of children aged over five receiving subsidised milk under the scheme is not readily available and could only be provided at disproportionate cost.

Supporting our food and farming industries and protecting the environment will form an important part of our exit from the EU. The Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs will be engaging with industry to inform their initial thinking as part of the wider stakeholder engagement to help shape future agriculture and land use policy, as well as our 25 year Food and Farming Plan.

In addition, tourism and hospitality are a vital part of our economy. In 2015 foreign visitors contributed £22bn to our economy and the industry as a whole supports some 1.6 million jobs. Since the referendum result, Government has met a range of representatives from the hospitality industry. We are confident our exit presents opportunities for growth in hospitality and we will work closely with the industry to realise these.

As we conduct our negotiations, it must be a priority to regain more control of the numbers of people who come here from Europe. We are considering very carefully the options that are open to us for our future immigration system. As part of that it is important that we understand the impacts on the different sectors of the economy and the labour market from any changes that we make.

If there is a face of poverty, it is often a young face, and young people are at the heart of DFID’s agenda. We combat poverty, and religious fundamentalism, by investing in young people and their future, which is why our focus on education is so important.

The current waiting time for a vocational, LGV or PCV test at Watnall test centre is 11 weeks.

The Driver and Vehicle and Standards Agency (DVSA) is working hard to reduce waiting times. It is recruiting for driving examiners across the UK and has specifically targeted high-wait areas. Watnall was targeted in a recent recruitment campaign DVSA launched. Once new examiners are in place in Watnall, DVSA is confident waiting times will reduce. In the meantime, DVSA is continuing to monitor waiting times closely, deploying examiners from low-wait centres and offering weekend testing wherever possible.

We are committed to ensuring benefits are processed as quickly as possible.

Over the last three years we have seen a marked improvement. The improvement in the experience of our customers was shared in the recently published Annual Report and Accounts, 2014-15 here:

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/dwp-annual-report-and-accounts-2014-to-2015

We are unable to provide data specifically for Nottingham North constituency.

The information requested is not available.

These figures are not collected centrally.

In terms of the infringement proceedings referred to, the United Kingdom Government has corresponded with the Commission and we are satisfied that we are compliant with European Union law in that respect.

The Cardiovascular Disease (CVD) Collaborative was established in 2013, when NHS England took up its statutory roles. Initially its purpose was to monitor progress following the Department’s publication of the CVD Outcomes Strategy (2013).

Subsequently, NHS England's priorities, and those of other arm’s length bodies such as Public Health England, were focused around the Five Year Forward View, and so in 2016 they discussed with stakeholders how the Collaborative could be reconfigured to reflect this shift in focus. The Five Year Forward View has many objectives which are relevant to CVD and the CVD Collaborative is intended to support these.

No assessment has been made of the achievements of the Cardiovascular Disease (CVD) Outcomes Strategy or the CVD collaborative group.

The CVD collaborative group is still in the early days of establishment. Its principle purpose is to bring together relevant stakeholders in the field of CVD and to provide a forum where relevant work being undertaken in this area and potential new initiatives can be discussed and responsibilities for action determined. The group’s overarching objective is to improve health outcomes for people with or at risk of CVD, including stroke.

Membership of the group comprises of representatives from NHS England including the relevant National Clinical Directors; Public Health England; Diabetes UK; British Heart Foundation; Heart-UK; British Kidney Health Association; Stroke Association and the Local Government Association.

The group aims to meet three times per year.

No assessment has been made of the achievements of the Cardiovascular Disease (CVD) Outcomes Strategy or the CVD collaborative group.

The CVD collaborative group is still in the early days of establishment. Its principle purpose is to bring together relevant stakeholders in the field of CVD and to provide a forum where relevant work being undertaken in this area and potential new initiatives can be discussed and responsibilities for action determined. The group’s overarching objective is to improve health outcomes for people with or at risk of CVD, including stroke.

Membership of the group comprises of representatives from NHS England including the relevant National Clinical Directors; Public Health England; Diabetes UK; British Heart Foundation; Heart-UK; British Kidney Health Association; Stroke Association and the Local Government Association.

The group aims to meet three times per year.