Asked by: Andrew Rosindell (Conservative - Romford)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, whether she has taken steps to support local authorities to (a) maintain and (b) expand community libraries (i) nationally and (ii) in Romford constituency.
Answered by Julia Lopez - Minister of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
The Government is committed to supporting a sustainable long-term future for public libraries in England.
The Public Libraries and Museums Act 1964 requires all local authorities in England to provide a comprehensive and efficient library service. In considering how best to deliver this statutory duty, each local authority is responsible for determining local needs and delivering a modern and efficient library service that meets the requirements of their communities within available resources. Public libraries are funded by local authorities, not central government, and it is for each local authority to determine the model of delivery for its statutory library service.
The Arts Council England dataset for libraries indicates that as of 31 December 2022 the statutory library service in Havering consisted of 10 static libraries, all of which were local authority run.
Asked by: Bridget Phillipson (Labour - Houghton and Sunderland South)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if she will publish the (a) postcode of and (b) number of places provided by each Ofsted registered childcare provider.
Answered by David Johnston - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
This is a matter for His Majesty’s Chief Inspector, Sir Martyn Oliver. I have asked him to write to the hon. Member for Houghton and Sunderland South and a copy of his reply will be placed in the Libraries of both Houses.
Asked by: Neil O'Brien (Conservative - Harborough)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what the median gross hourly pay of workers was by nationality in the most recent period for which data is available.
Answered by John Glen - Paymaster General and Minister for the Cabinet Office
The information requested falls under the remit of the UK Statistics Authority.
A response to the Hon Members Parliamentary Question of 18th December is attached. I will also deposit a copy of the dataset in the House Libraries.
Asked by: Neil O'Brien (Conservative - Harborough)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, pursuant to the Answer of 18 December 2023 to Question 5990, if he will publish the employment rate by nationality in each year since 2010.
Answered by John Glen - Paymaster General and Minister for the Cabinet Office
The information requested falls under the remit of the UK Statistics Authority.
A response to the Hon Members Parliamentary Question of 18th December is attached. I will also deposit a copy of the dataset in the House Libraries.
Asked by: Stephen Doughty (Labour (Co-op) - Cardiff South and Penarth)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what processes his Department has in place for Ministerial oversight of (a) licenses and (b) other exemptions to the sanctions regime.
Answered by Bim Afolami - Economic Secretary (HM Treasury)
There is a delegated framework which sets out how decisions are taken. Copies of this framework have been deposited in the Libraries of the Houses.
Asked by: Lord Wigley (Plaid Cymru - Life peer)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government what are the latest employment activity rates for (1) each region of England, (2) England, (3) Wales, (4) Scotland, and (5) Northern Ireland.
Answered by Baroness Neville-Rolfe - Minister of State (Cabinet Office)
The information requested falls under the remit of the UK Statistics Authority.
Please see the letter attached from the National Statistician and Chief Executive of the UK Statistics Authority.
I will deposit a copy of the dataset for employment activity rates for each region of England, England, Wales, Scotland, and Northern Ireland in the House Libraries.
The Rt Hon. the Lord Wigley
House of Lords
London
SW1A 0PW
21 December 2023
Dear Lord Wigley,
As National Statistician and Chief Executive of the UK Statistics Authority, I am responding to your Parliamentary Question asking for the latest employment activity rates for (1) each region of England (2) England (3) Wales, (4) Scotland, and (5) Northern Ireland (HL1373).
The Office for National Statistics (ONS) collects information on respondents’ labour market status as part of the Labour Force Survey (LFS), which is a survey of people resident in households in the UK.
The economic activity rate is the proportion of the UK population aged 16-64 years who are engaged with the labour market, either through employment or searching for work while unemployed. The employment rate is the proportion of the UK population aged 16 to 64 years who are employed.
The latest LFS estimates available are for the period April to June 2023. Due to increased uncertainty in LFS estimates from May to July 2023, the latest LFS estimates are not being released. To give users a more considered view of the labour market, we have applied growth rates from administrative data (HMRC PAYE RTI (Pay As You Earn Real Time Information) for employment and Claimant Count for unemployment) to April to June 2023 LFS data to produce adjusted employment, unemployment, and economic inactivity estimates.
Table 1 shows estimates of economic activity and employment rates using LFS data from March to May 1992 to April to June 2023, and experimental adjusted estimates from May to July 2023 to August to October 2023.
As the data are quite extensive, a copy of Table 1 has been placed in the House of Lords Library.
Yours sincerely,
Sir Ian Diamond
Asked by: Gareth Thomas (Labour (Co-op) - Harrow West)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many complaints her Department has received about the conduct of Ofsted inspectors during school inspections in each of the last three years.
Answered by Damian Hinds - Minister of State (Education)
Matters concerning the pausing of school inspections and the consideration of complaints about the conduct of inspectors are for Ofsted, which is a separate non-ministerial department and independent inspectorate.
The department does not collect specific data on correspondence received that refers to the conduct of inspectors.
I have asked His Majesty’s Chief Inspector, Amanda Spielman, to write to the hon. Member, the Member for Harrow West, directly on these matters and a copy of her reply will be placed in the Libraries of both Houses.
Asked by: Gareth Thomas (Labour (Co-op) - Harrow West)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many Ofsted inspections have been paused due to headteacher distress in each of the last 3 years.
Answered by Damian Hinds - Minister of State (Education)
Matters concerning the pausing of school inspections and the consideration of complaints about the conduct of inspectors are for Ofsted, which is a separate non-ministerial department and independent inspectorate.
The department does not collect specific data on correspondence received that refers to the conduct of inspectors.
I have asked His Majesty’s Chief Inspector, Amanda Spielman, to write to the hon. Member, the Member for Harrow West, directly on these matters and a copy of her reply will be placed in the Libraries of both Houses.
Asked by: Tom Hunt (Conservative - Ipswich)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what (a) quantitative and (b) qualitative data is used by Ofsted inspectors to assess the adequacy of SEND provision in schools.
Answered by Damian Hinds - Minister of State (Education)
This is a matter for His Majesty’s Chief Inspector. I have asked the Chief Inspector to write to my hon. Friend, the Member for Ipswich directly and a copy of her reply will be placed in the Libraries of both Houses.
Asked by: Rachael Maskell (Labour (Co-op) - York Central)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if she will make a comparative assessment of the number of Ofsted deep dives by core subject; and if she will take steps to increase the number of deep dives on religious education.
Answered by Damian Hinds - Minister of State (Education)
This is a matter for His Majesty’s Chief Inspector. I have asked the Chief Inspector to write to the hon. Member for York Central directly and a copy of that reply will be placed in the Libraries of both Houses.