Asked by: Jesse Norman (Conservative - Hereford and South Herefordshire)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what guidance his Department has issued to local authorities and community groups on tackling rough sleeping.
Answered by Kris Hopkins
The Government has increased spending to prevent and tackle rough sleeping and homelessness making over £500 million available, giving councils the funding and tools needed to take action against rough sleeping locally.
There are a range of initiatives and projects in place to help rough sleepers, prevent single homelessness and to help those who have been homeless find and sustain accommodation.
Thousands of vulnerable people who have slept rough or were at risk of doing so have received the help they need through No Second Night Out schemes and Streetlink – the digital and national telephone service to enable the public to connect rough sleepers quickly to the local services available so they get the help they need to get them off the streets.
We have supported the roll-out of No Second Night Out nationally through the £20 million Homelessness Transition Fund for the voluntary sector ensuring rough sleepers do not spend more than one night on the street. In 20 key rough sleeping areas outside London homelessness charities reported that 67% of rough sleepers were helped off the streets after a single night.
We have launched an £8 million Help for Single Homeless Fund for local authorities which will improve council services for single people facing the prospect of homelessness by encouraging better partnership working between councils and other local partners.
We are also helping single homeless people to find and sustain accommodation in the private rented sector through our £13 million funding to Crisis. By 2016 we expect the Crisis scheme to have helped 10,000 single homeless people.
Asked by: Jesse Norman (Conservative - Hereford and South Herefordshire)
Question
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, how many apprentices in (a) England, (b) Wales and (c) Northern Ireland were paid the apprentice rate of the national minimum wage in the last year for which figures are available.
Answered by Nick Boles
Information on apprenticeship pay in England, Wales and Northern Ireland is published in research findings from the Apprenticeship Pay Survey. The most recent survey covers apprentices working in 2012:
https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/apprenticeship-pay-survey-2012
In England, 71 per cent of apprentices received on or above the minimum amount they should get based on their year and/or age. In Wales the figure was 82 per cent
The 2014 Apprenticeship Pay Survey will be published in December 2014.
The report does not show how many apprentices under 19 earned less than £90 per week, as it does not link hours worked to pay rates. However, the mean average hourly rate for apprentices under 19 was £3.77 in England and Wales and £3.34 in Northern Ireland.
Asked by: Jesse Norman (Conservative - Hereford and South Herefordshire)
Question
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, when he expects to publish the 2014 Apprenticeship Pay Survey.
Answered by Nick Boles
Information on apprenticeship pay in England, Wales and Northern Ireland is published in research findings from the Apprenticeship Pay Survey. The most recent survey covers apprentices working in 2012:
https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/apprenticeship-pay-survey-2012
In England, 71 per cent of apprentices received on or above the minimum amount they should get based on their year and/or age. In Wales the figure was 82 per cent
The 2014 Apprenticeship Pay Survey will be published in December 2014.
The report does not show how many apprentices under 19 earned less than £90 per week, as it does not link hours worked to pay rates. However, the mean average hourly rate for apprentices under 19 was £3.77 in England and Wales and £3.34 in Northern Ireland.
Asked by: Jesse Norman (Conservative - Hereford and South Herefordshire)
Question
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, how many apprentices under 19 were paid less than £90 per week in the last year for which data are available.
Answered by Nick Boles
Information on apprenticeship pay in England, Wales and Northern Ireland is published in research findings from the Apprenticeship Pay Survey. The most recent survey covers apprentices working in 2012:
https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/apprenticeship-pay-survey-2012
In England, 71 per cent of apprentices received on or above the minimum amount they should get based on their year and/or age. In Wales the figure was 82 per cent
The 2014 Apprenticeship Pay Survey will be published in December 2014.
The report does not show how many apprentices under 19 earned less than £90 per week, as it does not link hours worked to pay rates. However, the mean average hourly rate for apprentices under 19 was £3.77 in England and Wales and £3.34 in Northern Ireland.
Asked by: Jesse Norman (Conservative - Hereford and South Herefordshire)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what discussions his Department had with the Football Association on the changes to the Owners and Directors Test introduced on 1 August 2014; and if he will make a statement.
Answered by Helen Grant
I meet regularly with the Football Association to discuss a range of issues, including the efficacy of the Owners’ and Directors’ Test. I expect that robust ownership rules should be consistently applied across the professional game with strong FA oversight.
Asked by: Jesse Norman (Conservative - Hereford and South Herefordshire)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, pursuant to the oral contribution from the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport of 4 September 2014, Official Report, columns 520-2, on non-league football, what discussions he has had with the Football Association on strengthening the owners and directors test.
Answered by Helen Grant
I meet regularly with the Football Association to discuss a range of issues, including football governance, and the efficacy of the Owners’ and Directors’ Test.
Asked by: Jesse Norman (Conservative - Hereford and South Herefordshire)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, pursuant to the oral contribution from the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport of 4 September 2014, Official Report, columns 520-2, on non-league football, what discussions his Department has had with the Football Association (FA) on the possible contravention of FA rules and regulations by Hereford United Football Club and the Southern League; and if he will make a statement.
Answered by Helen Grant
I meet regularly with the Football Association to discuss a range of issues, including football governance.
Asked by: Jesse Norman (Conservative - Hereford and South Herefordshire)
Question to the Attorney General:
To ask the Attorney General, what assessment he has made of the effectiveness of the Crown Prosecution Service complaints procedure; and if he will make a statement.
Answered by Robert Buckland
The Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) complaints handling procedures were inspected by Her Majesty’s Crown Prosecution Service Inspectorate in January 2013. Recommendations from that inspection have been implemented, which included incorporating independent oversight. An Independent Assessor of Complaints (IAC) was appointed in May 2013. The IAC’s role includes acting as the guardian of the CPS Feedback and Complaints policy, and assessing the quality of complaints handling. The IAC reports his findings annually to the CPS Board.
Asked by: Jesse Norman (Conservative - Hereford and South Herefordshire)
Question
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what steps he is taking to widen access to higher education.
Answered by Greg Clark
In April this Government published a new national strategy for access and student success. It will help to ensure that all those with the potential to benefit from higher education have equal opportunity to participate and succeed. Data from UCAS shows the number of applicants who had been accepted for entry to higher education this year was up by 4%, the highest ever at that point. The application and entry rate for disadvantaged students are at record levels.
Asked by: Jesse Norman (Conservative - Hereford and South Herefordshire)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, when the proposed funding model for residential training colleges will be announced.
Answered by Mike Penning
Decisions around the future of DWP commissioned residential training college provision is still subject to internal departmental governance. We expect to be in a position to clarify this shortly.