Asked by: Vince Cable (Liberal Democrat - Twickenham)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what guidance is given to schools in the maintained sector to ensure that they teach a broad and balanced curriculum.
Answered by Nick Gibb
All state schools (including academies and free schools) must offer a school curriculum which is balanced and broadly based and which promotes the spiritual, moral, cultural, mental and physical development of pupils and prepares them for the opportunities, responsibilities and experiences of later life.
Maintained schools in England must follow the statutory National Curriculum and are also free to teach any other subject or topic they deem relevant for their pupils, as part of the school’s curriculum. Guidance on all requirements is set out in the National Curriculum framework for Key Stages 1 to 4:
The National Curriculum was introduced in September 2014 and the guidance specifies that all state schools (including academies) should also make provision for personal, social, health and economic education (PSHE).
Ofsted have consulted on their inspection arrangements. Subject to the outcome of the consultation, the new framework will be published in May and introduced in September. The proposals retain a strong emphasis on schools providing a broad and balanced curriculum for all their pupils.
Asked by: Vince Cable (Liberal Democrat - Twickenham)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, how many instances the Office for Product Safety and Standards found of Whirlpool’s tumble dryer modification being applied incorrectly (a) in the machines it has tested and (b) in the tumble dryers of Whirlpool customers it assessed as part of its inquiry into that company’s modification programme.
Answered by Kelly Tolhurst
The Office for Product Safety and Standards (OPSS) published the findings of its review of Whirlpool’s tumble dryer modification programme on 4 April.
The review explored whether Whirlpool’s technical modification, designed to further reduce the risk of lint fires arising from its tumble dryers, was effective in both design and installation. The review concluded that there is a low risk of harm or injury from lint fires in modified machines and that the modification reduced the level of risk.
As part of the review OPSS considered the quality assurance used by Whirlpool when undertaking the modifications in consumers’ homes and OPSS purchased 20 used tumble dryers from online sales sites that appeared to have been modified at some point. Examination of these machines revealed variations from Whirlpool’s specifications for the modifications. It was not possible to establish the history of individual machines including whether, when and how the machine had been modified. It was not therefore possible to draw firm conclusions regarding the cause of these variations. OPSS has therefore written to Whirlpool requiring them to set up a more rigorous system of quality assurance, including a programme of examinations of dryers that have been used by consumers, to ensure modifications are correctly installed. OPSS will scrutinise Whirlpool’s actions against these requirements.
Asked by: Vince Cable (Liberal Democrat - Twickenham)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, how many of the modified Whirlpool tumble dryers tested by the Office for Product Safety and Standards as part of its review of Whirlpool’s modification programme displayed, as stated under the terms of that review, discrepancies between Whirlpool’s specifications for the modifications and the condition of the machines as found.
Answered by Kelly Tolhurst
The Office for Product Safety and Standards (OPSS) published the findings of its review of Whirlpool’s tumble dryer modification programme on 4 April.
The review explored whether Whirlpool’s technical modification, designed to further reduce the risk of lint fires arising from its tumble dryers, was effective in both design and installation. The review concluded that there is a low risk of harm or injury from lint fires in modified machines and that the modification reduced the level of risk.
As part of the review OPSS considered the quality assurance used by Whirlpool when undertaking the modifications in consumers’ homes and OPSS purchased 20 used tumble dryers from online sales sites that appeared to have been modified at some point. Examination of these machines revealed variations from Whirlpool’s specifications for the modifications. It was not possible to establish the history of individual machines including whether, when and how the machine had been modified. It was not therefore possible to draw firm conclusions regarding the cause of these variations. OPSS has therefore written to Whirlpool requiring them to set up a more rigorous system of quality assurance, including a programme of examinations of dryers that have been used by consumers, to ensure modifications are correctly installed. OPSS will scrutinise Whirlpool’s actions against these requirements.
Asked by: Vince Cable (Liberal Democrat - Twickenham)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, when he last met with Historic Royal Palaces to discuss the effect of the Maritime and Coastguard Agency’s proposals for older UK passenger boats on tourism and visitors at Hampton Court Palace.
Answered by Michael Ellis
Ministers and officials have regular discussions with their counterparts at Historic Royal Palaces concerning a wide range of issues. There have been no conversations specifically regarding the Maritime and Coastguard Agency’s proposals.
Asked by: Vince Cable (Liberal Democrat - Twickenham)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps he plans to take to ensure that the increase in funding for special needs provision meets the needs of the visually impaired.
Answered by Nadhim Zahawi
The Children and Families Act (2014) requires local authorities to work with parents, young people, and providers to keep the provision for children and young people with special educational needs and disabilities under review, including its sufficiency.
We do not prescribe in detail how local authorities should allocate their high needs funding. In consultation with schools and other services, local authorities should consider carefully how best to meet the needs of children and young people in their area, including those with vision impairment.
To support local authorities, in December 2018 we announced an additional £250 million high needs funding up to 2020, on top of the funding increases we had already committed. This brings the total allocated for high needs in 2019-2020 to £6.3 billion and will help local authorities to manage the significant pressures on their high needs budgets.
Asked by: Vince Cable (Liberal Democrat - Twickenham)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps he is taking to ensure that all older passenger boat operators in the UK who will be directly affected by the Maritime and Coastguard Agency’s (MCA) proposals for older UK passenger boats will be informed about the forthcoming MCA consultation on that matter.
Answered by Nusrat Ghani - Minister of State (Minister for Europe)
The forthcoming consultation on older UK domestic passenger vessels will be published by the Maritime and Coastguard Agency (MCA) on GOV.UK. Anyone who subscribes to notifications of MCA consultations via the “Policy Papers and Consultations” page of GOV.UK will be notified of this and other consultations issued by the MCA, by email alert or RSS feed depending on their selection.
Additionally, the Maritime and Coastguard Agency (MCA) will promulgate the consultation through the main industry safety groups, and other interested parties whose details are held on a notification list for domestic passenger vessels subject matter. This is not exhaustive, but any person or organisation may request that their details be added to the list to receive notifications.
Asked by: Vince Cable (Liberal Democrat - Twickenham)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, when he last met with representatives of the UK’s older passenger boat sector; and if he will make a statement.
Answered by Nusrat Ghani - Minister of State (Minister for Europe)
Policy officials from the Maritime and Coastguard Agency (MCA) meet regularly with representatives and operators from the domestic passenger vessels sector. This includes operators of older and newer vessels.
The last occasion was on 4 April 2019 at a London Operators meeting. The MCA also held a Workshop on 26 March 2019 to discuss proposed changes to safety legislation affecting this sector which included representative bodies and individual operators in the sector.
Asked by: Vince Cable (Liberal Democrat - Twickenham)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what discussions he has had with the Competition and Markets Authority on the effect of the Maritime and Coastguard Agency’s proposals for older UK passenger boats on (a) choice for passengers and (b) competition among operators on the River Thames; and if he will make a statement.
Answered by Nusrat Ghani - Minister of State (Minister for Europe)
The assessment of impact for these proposals is ongoing, and as a result of feedback received, policy officials in the Maritime and Coastguard Agency (MCA) will be consulting with the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) to explore whether the proposals are of interest to them.
Asked by: Vince Cable (Liberal Democrat - Twickenham)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, when he last met with the (a) Mayor of London and (b) Minister for London to discuss the (i) Maritime and Coastguard Agency’s proposals for older Thames passenger boats and (ii) effect of those proposals on (A) London tourism, (B) people employed in skilled jobs related to those older passenger boats, (C) London's night economy and (D) people employed in wider River Thames tourism related jobs including in boatyards.
Answered by Nusrat Ghani - Minister of State (Minister for Europe)
Ministers have regular meetings with the Mayor of London and the Minister for London to discuss a range of matters.
In respect of domestic passenger vessels, the Maritime and Coastguard Agency (MCA) has consulted widely, with industry and relevant authorities, including those in London, on the latest proposals for bringing safety standards on older vessels as far as possible into line with those on newer vessels. A second public consultation on this will be launched later this year.
Policy officials in the MCA are happy to discuss the proposals with any interested parties and take onboard relevant evidence for the assessment. Transport for London was notified of the first consultation on this matter and will be notified when the second consultation is issued.
Asked by: Vince Cable (Liberal Democrat - Twickenham)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment his Department has made of the effect of the English Baccalaureate on the take-up of creative arts disciplines.
Answered by Nick Gibb
The Government is clear that the EBaccalaureate (EBacc) should be studied as part of a broad and balanced curriculum. It has been designed to be limited in size in order to allow pupils to continue to study additional subjects that reflect their individual interests and strengths, including arts subjects.
The attached table shows that the proportion of young people taking at least one arts GCSE since 2010 has fluctuated across years, but has remained broadly stable. According to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media, and Sport’s Taking Part Survey, in 2017/18, 96% of children aged 5-15 had engaged with the arts in the past 12 months[1].
[1] Arts covers music activities, theatre, drama, reading, writing, arts crafts and design, film/video/media/radio activities, dance activities, street arts/circus/carnival/festival activities.