Asked by: Sheryll Murray (Conservative - South East Cornwall)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what steps her Department has taken to improve access to swimming pools.
Answered by Nigel Huddleston - Financial Secretary (HM Treasury)
The Government recognises the importance of improving access to pools however the responsibility primarily lies at Local Authorities level. Swimming is a crucial life skill, as well as a great way to stay fit, and I encourage Local Authorities to invest in swimming facilities.
In response to the pandemic, the government supported the reopening of local authority swimming pools through the £100 million National Leisure Recovery Fund.
Sport England has also awarded over £24 million to swimming and diving projects since April 2017.
Asked by: Sheryll Murray (Conservative - South East Cornwall)
Question to the Department for Education:
What steps his Department is taking to support more young people into technical and further education.
Answered by Gavin Williamson
The Skills for Jobs White Paper sets our plans to transform technical education and is focused on giving people the skills they need, in a way that suits them, so they can get great jobs in sectors the economy needs and boost productivity.
Our reforms will put employers at the heart of the skills system and by 2030, almost all technical courses will be on employer-led standards, ensuring that the education and training people receive are directly linked to the skills needed for jobs.
We have been raising the quality and prestige of technical education by introducing T Levels, which are a high-quality technical alternative to A levels with an industry placement, and are reforming higher technical education (Level 4/5) to make it a more popular and prestigious choice that provides the skills employers need.
The Plan for Jobs introduced last year provides a package of support to ensure young people have the skills and training to go on to high quality, secure and fulfilling employment. This includes incentives for employers to take on new apprentices, supporting the largest-ever expansion of Traineeships, giving school and college leavers the opportunity to study high value Level 2 and 3 courses, and funding more vocational training placements to support the delivery of sector-based work academy programme (SWAP) placements.
Asked by: Sheryll Murray (Conservative - South East Cornwall)
Question
To ask the Minister for Women and Equalities, what assessment she has made of the effect of the covid-19 outbreak on female employment.
Answered by Kemi Badenoch - President of the Board of Trade
The latest ONS official statistics show the female employment rate at 71.8% up to the end of January 2021. This Government recognises that times are hard for many women, and men, which is why we have extended the furlough scheme until September, alongside new measures in our Plan for Jobs, such as our £2bn Kickstart Scheme and the Restart programme, which launches in the summer.
Asked by: Sheryll Murray (Conservative - South East Cornwall)
Question to the Northern Ireland Office:
What steps his Department plans to take to help tackle vexatious claims made against (a) armed forces and (b) police personnel in Northern Ireland.
Answered by Robin Walker
The Government has been clear that it will introduce legislation to address the legacy of the Troubles that focuses on reconciliation, delivers for victims, and ends the cycle of re-investigations that has failed victims, veterans and police personnel alike.
We remain committed to engaging with partners from all communities and making progress on this important issue as quickly as possible.
Asked by: Sheryll Murray (Conservative - South East Cornwall)
Question to the Department for International Development:
What steps her Department has taken through the fourth Brussels Conference on Supporting the Future of Syria and the Region held in June 2020 to provide support to people suffering as a result of the conflict in that country.
Answered by James Cleverly - Home Secretary
At the Brussels conference, the International Development Secretary committed at least £300 million in aid for 2020, bringing total UK spend to over £3 billion for Syria and the Region. This is funding life-saving aid, supporting refugees and their host communities, and helping vulnerable Syrians to be self-reliant through education and training.
Asked by: Sheryll Murray (Conservative - South East Cornwall)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, whether a proportion of the additional £2.2 billion announced in the Spending Round 2019 for the armed forces can be allocated towards increasing the headcount of procurement-related civil servants and support services.
Answered by Anne-Marie Trevelyan - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
This additional funding will enable our world-class Armed Forces to begin to modernise and meet the intensifying threats and risks we now face, including prioritising investment in key capabilities such as shipbuilding, offensive cyber and the nuclear deterrent. We will decide on the allocation of this funding as part of our normal financial planning and budgeting process.
Asked by: Sheryll Murray (Conservative - South East Cornwall)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what estimate his Department has made of the number of hours of Tutor Air Experience Flights undertaken by Air Cadets in 2018.
Answered by Tobias Ellwood
In 2018 the total number of Tutor flying hours undertaken by the Air Experience Flights units within 6 Flying Training School was 9,060 hours.
Asked by: Sheryll Murray (Conservative - South East Cornwall)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what progress has been made by the RAF in bringing Volunteer Gliding Squadrons back to fully operational condition.
Answered by Tobias Ellwood
There are ten Volunteer Gliding Squadrons (VGS) and six Aerospace Ground Schools (AGS).
The following six VGS have returned to flight and are training cadets both in the air and with Ground School elements:
621VGS ,622VGS, 632VGS, 637VGS, 644VGS, 661VGS
In addition 645VGS had returned to flight, but is currently undertaking Instructor Conversion Training to the Viking glider, having previously undertaken cadet training with the Vigilant motor glider.
The remaining three Squadrons, 614VGS, 615VGS and 626VGS are awaiting return to flight. However, along with the six AGS they are continuing to train cadets as they operate ground school elements and Part Task Trainers.
Asked by: Sheryll Murray (Conservative - South East Cornwall)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many hours were flown by the Air Cadets gliding fleet in 2018.
Answered by Tobias Ellwood
The Viking Glider fleet records the number of launches achieved. The Vigilant motorglider fleet was retired in May 2018 and records the number of hours flown.
The Viking fleet flew 14,235 launches during 2018. The Vigilant fleet flew 138 hours in 2018 prior to the fleet retirement from service in May.
Asked by: Sheryll Murray (Conservative - South East Cornwall)
Question to the Northern Ireland Office:
What progress has been made on the consultation on addressing the legacy of Northern Ireland's past.
Answered by Karen Bradley
The public consultation was launched on 11 May and ran for 21 weeks. The Government engaged with a wide range of stakeholders, victims’ and survivors’ groups, political parties, community groups and others, and attended over 30 events to promote it. We are carefully considering all the views received from over 17,000 responses and will provide an update in due course.