argyrotsipi/train-dataset huggingface dataset:
Leaving the EU: Student Exchanges — House of Commons, 2017-11-30
Topic: Education
Victoria Mary Boswell Prentis (Conservative, Centre-right): I thank the hon. Gentleman for his intervention. It is about a depth of friendship that encourages not only language skills but the ability to have a network of friends and contacts. My early experiences of foreign exchanges gave me the confidence to travel abroad in the political sphere. I was able to spend some time working for the Christian Democratic Union of Germany and at the White House in the States, but I doubt that I would ever have thought of such opportunities had I not had my early experiences of travel and of the value of building networks across continents, which early foreign exchange travel offers to students. I cannot tell him how valuable I think such experiences are Exchanges can give our young people the internationalist outlook that we need. We should capitalise on the teenage ability to make friends easily and encourage teenagers to open their eyes to new and different opportunities. Even though learning a language inevitably involves hard work on grammar and vocab tests, the speed with which one picks up a language when immersed in family life is second to none. Learning with a friend is so much better, and the technology available to students makes learning easily accessible. My children have Mandarin and Russian keyboards on their phones to enable them to text their exchanges—that does make policing their phones rather difficult when their mother does not speak either language. Nevertheless, I commend their enthusiasm, and it seems to be the way that the children of today find easiest to communicate. I am impressed that one of my daughters does her texting in Russian and the Russian exchange does hers in English, which is really commendable—and not just done to frustrate mothers Finally, language learning has lifelong health benefits. Studies of people with Alzheimer’s disease have shown that, on average, symptoms started four and half years later for people who could speak at least two languages. It is perhaps appropriate to mention my grandmother here. She is well into her 90s, but continues to work on her languages through audiobooks now that her eyesight is not as good as it once was. She successfully taught generations of children of all abilities to communicate in a selection of languages—albeit all with a strong Welsh accent. I ask the Minister to join me in thanking her and today’s generation of language teachers, including the inspirational women who teach my daughters. I ask him to encourage them to promote the student exchanges that we need to take global Britain forward.
Leaving the EU: Student Exchanges — House of Commons, 2017-11-30
Topic: Education
Nicolas John Gibb (Conservative, Centre-right): I congratulate my hon. Friend the Member for Banbury (Victoria Prentis) on securing this debate. I join her in thanking the language teachers up and down the country who teach our young people to speak, write and read in a foreign language. As I will mention later, I was at school this morning with a commendable group of language teachers, who do wonderful work in that school This debate gives me the opportunity to emphasise again the Government’s commitment to remaining open to the world after we leave the EU and to becoming even more global and internationalist in our outlook. Improving the take-up and teaching of modern foreign languages in our schools and ensuring that there continues to be international opportunities for students, young people and teachers to participate in exchanges is an important part of achieving that goal. I also agree with my hon. Friend that there are business, cultural and educational benefits to learning a language The level of take-up and proficiency in foreign languages in England is not yet what it should be—my hon. Friend was right to point that out—and we have taken steps to address that. In 2010, we introduced the English baccalaureate. To meet this measure of performance for state-funded secondary schools, pupils have to be entered for GCSEs in English, maths, science, history or geography and an ancient or modern foreign language. In July, we announced our ambition for 75% of year 10 pupils to be taking the EBacc by 2022 and for that to reach 90% by 2025. It was 37% this year. That represents a significant step-change for schools, particularly in relation to the uptake of languages GCSEs, which is often the area that has prevented schools from achieving higher EBacc entry rates. Our expectation is that the uptake of these GCSEs will increase over the coming years, widening the potential pool of students with the ability to continue studying languages to a higher level In September 2014, schools began to teach the new national curriculum that we introduced. It requires local authority-maintained primary schools to teach a modern or ancient foreign language to pupils at key stage 2. Schools can choose which language to teach, and must ensure that pupils make substantial progress in one language by the end of primary school. It is also mandatory for maintained secondary schools to teach a foreign language to pupils at key stage 3. Although there is no requirement for every pupil in such schools to then take a language at GCSE, there is a statutory entitlement for every pupil to take a course leading to a recognised qualification, if they wish to do so The fact that pupils often have the choice of whether to continue to study a language to GCSE makes it especially important for their earlier experiences of being taught the subject to be positive.
Leaving the EU: Student Exchanges — House of Commons, 2017-11-30
Topic: Education
Nicolas John Gibb (Conservative, Centre-right): I will have to write to the hon. Gentleman about that. We want to have a spread of Mandarin excellence programmes across the country, but the initial schools were chosen because they already had a track record of teaching Mandarin very well. The project is led and driven by the excellent Katharine Carruthers of the UCL Institute of Education. The pupils I met this morning were hugely impressive, very ambitious and had high expectations. They want not only to take a GCSE and an A-level in Mandarin, but to go on to HSK 4 and HSK 5, which is essentially fluency in the language. Interestingly, I asked them all what they wanted to do when they left school and none of them wanted to go on to study Mandarin at university. They wanted to be lawyers, doctors and business people, but they also wanted to be fluent in Mandarin.
Leaving the EU: Student Exchanges — House of Commons, 2017-11-30
Topic: Education
Nicolas John Gibb (Conservative, Centre-right): No, I am afraid that I do not. This is a devolved matter. I have spoken to John Swinney a number of times about education matters, and the Scottish Government are implementing a new curriculum for excellence The programme also supports the training of new Mandarin teachers to ensure that there is capacity within the system to teach Mandarin. The quality and supply of teachers of modern foreign languages are essential to pupil proficiency and progression. It is very important that pupils are taught by high-quality and inspiring teachers—like the ones I met this morning—in all the subjects, including languages. We remain committed to attracting the brightest and best graduates into the teaching profession. To support that commitment, we continue to offer generous tax-free bursaries, worth up to £26,000, and tax-free scholarships of up to £28,000 for trainees in modern foreign languages Figures released today show that we recruited 1,405 modern foreign language trainees to start initial teacher training courses this year, achieving 93% of our target, which was similar to our performance last year, where we achieved 94% of our target.
Public Sector Cyber-security — House of Commons, 2017-11-22
Topic: Technology
Damian Howard Green (Conservative, Centre-right): Our national cyber-security strategy, supported by £1.9 billion of transformational investment, sets out measures to defend our people, businesses and assets, deter our adversaries and develop cyber-skills. These include the creation of the National Cyber Security Centre and direct investment in central and local government, the health sector and the defence sector.
Public Sector Cyber-security — House of Commons, 2017-11-22
Topic: Technology
Damian Howard Green (Conservative, Centre-right): Yes, indeed. That is the whole point not just of the National Cyber Security Centre, but of the very significant investment I have just mentioned—£1.9 billion—which is set to transform defences against cyber-attack across the public sector, for central and local government, particularly the health and defence sectors, as well as advising the private sector, because our defences obviously need to be mutually dependent across the public and private sectors.
Public Sector Cyber-security — House of Commons, 2017-11-22
Topic: Technology
James Whiteside Gray (Conservative, Centre-right): Does my right hon. Friend not accept that none the less there is a slight lack of clarity on who within the Government has ultimate responsibility for cyber-security, both offensive and defensive? Is not it time we had a cyber-department that would be responsible for defending this nation against cyber-attacks and thinking about ways it could possibly be used abroad?
Public Sector Cyber-security — House of Commons, 2017-11-22
Topic: Technology
Damian Howard Green (Conservative, Centre-right): My hon. Friend makes a good point. The National Cyber Security Centre, along with GCHQ, has established a programme of assessment and certification. Some 20 degrees have been certified, most of which are one-year postgraduate master’s degrees in cyber-security, and 14 universities are now academic centres of excellence in cyber-security research, precisely so that we can maintain a pipeline of skilled people to help our cyber-defences.
Public Sector Cyber-security — House of Commons, 2017-11-22
Topic: Law and Crime
Damian Howard Green (Conservative, Centre-right): We are absolutely getting on with spending the money to protect our citizens in the ways I have just set out. The hon. Gentleman will realise that that £1.9 billion is to be spent over five years, so the fact that we have spent £230 million-odd in the first year is about what we would expect. It is a continuous programme of continuous improvement.
The Queen’s Private Estate: Ethical Investment — House of Commons, 2017-11-22
Topic: Macroeconomics
Patrick McLoughlin (Conservative, Centre-right): Bearing in mind what the shadow Chancellor, the right hon. Member for Hayes and Harlington (John McDonnell), said when a statement was made on the Paradise papers, perhaps he should have checked that out, because I can confirm to my hon. Friend that the last investment of this sort was made in 2005.
Leaving the EU: Civil Servants — House of Commons, 2017-11-22
Topic: International Affairs
Questions: How many full-time equivalent civil servants have been assigned work relating to the UK’s exit from the EU in the last twelve months; and what estimate he has made of the cost of that work.
Caroline Fiona Ellen Nokes (Conservative, Centre-right): The whole Government are preparing for the UK to make an orderly and successful exit from the European Union. We are equipping ourselves with the right people and the right skills across the Government to make that happen. Although workforce planning is primarily the responsibility of each Department to determine, the civil service constantly reviews its capabilities in this respect.
Leaving the EU: Civil Servants — House of Commons, 2017-11-22
Topic: Government Operations
Questions: How many full-time equivalent civil servants have been assigned work relating to the UK’s exit from the EU in the last twelve months; and what estimate he has made of the cost of that work.
Caroline Fiona Ellen Nokes (Conservative, Centre-right): As the hon. Gentleman will know, the Cabinet Office works closely with HMRC on workforce planning and, indeed, on Government hubs, with which we are seeking to make sure that we make the best possible use of our resources to provide an effective civil service that provides the best service for his constituents.
Leaving the EU: Civil Servants — House of Commons, 2017-11-22
Topic: Government Operations
Questions: How many full-time equivalent civil servants have been assigned work relating to the UK’s exit from the EU in the last twelve months; and what estimate he has made of the cost of that work.
Cheryl Elise Kendall Gillan (Conservative, Centre-right): Given the additional burdens on civil servants from Brexit, does the Minister agree that the civil service people survey is important to Ministers for judging the working conditions, training and skills of our civil servants? Does she share my surprise that yesterday, in his evidence to the Public Administration and Constitutional Affairs Committee, the Public and Commercial Services Union representative said that he actively encouraged members not to reply to that survey? Will she reaffirm how increasingly important the survey is, so that we can get feedback and ensure we have the right capacity and capabilities in the civil service?
Leaving the EU: Civil Servants — House of Commons, 2017-11-22
Topic: Labor
Questions: How many full-time equivalent civil servants have been assigned work relating to the UK’s exit from the EU in the last twelve months; and what estimate he has made of the cost of that work.
Caroline Fiona Ellen Nokes (Conservative, Centre-right): My right hon. Friend is absolutely correct to say that the survey is crucial to Ministers, and I greet it with relish when it arrives on my desk. It provides invaluable information about our workforce, their attitudes and how they feel about working for us. I am very surprised at the PCS comments, but I reassure all unions that I continue to leave my door open to them and that I am as interested in their views as I am in everybody else’s.
Leaving the EU: Civil Servants — House of Commons, 2017-11-22
Topic: International Affairs
Questions: How many full-time equivalent civil servants have been assigned work relating to the UK’s exit from the EU in the last twelve months; and what estimate he has made of the cost of that work.
Caroline Fiona Ellen Nokes (Conservative, Centre-right): I am sure that it will come as no surprise to the hon. Gentleman that the Cabinet Office works closely with those Departments most affected by exit from the EU, including the Department for International Trade as well as the Department for Exiting the European Union and, of course, the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs and the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy. I have seen those comments, but I reassure the hon. Gentleman that we are making sure that we have the right people in place to deliver the successful transition we need.
Leaving the EU: Civil Servants — House of Commons, 2017-11-22
Topic: Government Operations
Questions: How many full-time equivalent civil servants have been assigned work relating to the UK’s exit from the EU in the last twelve months; and what estimate he has made of the cost of that work.
Caroline Fiona Ellen Nokes (Conservative, Centre-right): We have already created 3,000 new roles, 2,000 of which have been filled. As I have said, further roles will be created and, specifically, the Cabinet Office is working most closely with those Departments most affected.
Voter Registration — House of Commons, 2017-11-22
Topic: Law and Crime
Christopher James Skidmore (Conservative, Centre-right): Any form of electoral fraud will be taken extremely seriously by this Government. We have already stated that we intend to implement a number of recommendations made by Sir Eric Pickles’s report, "Securing the ballot". Double voting is obviously a crime and we encourage anyone who has evidence of it to report it to the police. I recently met the Electoral Commission and the National Police Chiefs Council, and we will meet every six months to look at a strategy for tackling double voting. By introducing future reforms to postal voting, we hope that we will be able combat the issue.
Voter Registration — House of Commons, 2017-11-22
Topic: Government Operations
Robert John Blackman (Conservative, Centre-right): The Electoral Commission estimates that some 40% of those who applied late to vote through the online system were actually duplicate registrations. Will my hon. Friend make sure that there is no unnecessary duplication of applications? That would also minimise bureaucracy.
Topical Questions — House of Commons, 2017-11-22
Topic: Government Operations
Damian Howard Green (Conservative, Centre-right): I am delighted to. We are developing a system called Contracts Finder—a free, online source for current and future public sector contracts above £10,000 in central Government and above £25,000 in the wider public sector. We are improving the visibility of supply chain opportunities available to SMEs via that site.
Topical Questions — House of Commons, 2017-11-22
Topic: Macroeconomics
Questions: As we leave the European Union, public appointments will become more important than ever. What are the Government doing to make sure that we get a greater diversity of people appointed to public posts, especially from outside the south-east?; The Minister is in charge of cyber-security. He knows that the Prime Minister is worried about Russian interference in our political system, so could he assure the House that the Russians have not already seen the Budget secrets?
Damian Howard Green (Conservative, Centre-right): I am as confident as I can be that that is the case. If the hon. Gentleman can contain himself, we will all share in the secrets of the Chancellor’s Budget in about 35 minutes’ time. [Interruption.]
Topical Questions — House of Commons, 2017-11-22
Topic: Labor
Questions: As we leave the European Union, public appointments will become more important than ever. What are the Government doing to make sure that we get a greater diversity of people appointed to public posts, especially from outside the south-east?; The Minister is in charge of cyber-security. He knows that the Prime Minister is worried about Russian interference in our political system, so could he assure the House that the Russians have not already seen the Budget secrets?; Cambridge Assessment, which manages the University of Cambridge’s three exam boards, is not-for-profit and world leading, yet it faces unfair competition from private exam boards that are not subject to freedom of information rules. Why will the Government not extend transparency to all providers of public services?
Damian Howard Green (Conservative, Centre-right): I was delighted to be lobbied hard by my hon. Friend on this and other matters when I visited Stirling recently. He will be pleased to hear that the Department for Work and Pensions is committed to maintaining its current estate in Stirling for at least the next five years, and we can obviously discuss future options. I also hope to agree heads of terms for the Stirling and Clackmannanshire city deal early next year.
Engagements — House of Commons, 2017-11-22
Topic: Law and Crime
Theresa Mary May (Conservative, Centre-right): I am pleased to say that the Home Office, under my right hon. Friend the Home Secretary, launched the Government’s drugs strategy only a matter of weeks ago. We recognise the importance of this issue. Drugs significantly affect people’s lives. Sadly, we also see people dying as a result of not only taking drugs, but the criminal activity that takes place around drugs. We take this very seriously; that is why we have launched our strategy.
Engagements — House of Commons, 2017-11-22
Topic: Law and Crime
Questions: Divorce and family breakdown take an emotional toll on all those involved, but the family dynamic that is often overlooked is that between grandparents and their grandchildren. If access to their grandchildren is removed or blocked, some grandparents call it a form of living bereavement. Will the Prime Minister therefore join me, Dame Esther Rantzen and thousands of grandparents across the country in calling for a change to the law to give grandparents access rights to their grandchildren, as is the case in France?
Theresa Mary May (Conservative, Centre-right): My hon. Friend is absolutely right that grandparents do play an important role in the lives of their grandchildren. We can all, I am sure, sympathise with those who experience the anguish of being prevented from seeing their grandchildren if a parental relationship ends. Of course, when making decisions about a child’s future, the first consideration must be their welfare, but the law already allows family courts to order that a child should spend time with their grandparents. I understand that my hon. Friend has recently seen the Minister of State for Justice, and I am sure that the Ministry of Justice and the Department for Education will consider these points carefully.
Engagements — House of Commons, 2017-11-22
Topic: International Affairs
Questions: Divorce and family breakdown take an emotional toll on all those involved, but the family dynamic that is often overlooked is that between grandparents and their grandchildren. If access to their grandchildren is removed or blocked, some grandparents call it a form of living bereavement. Will the Prime Minister therefore join me, Dame Esther Rantzen and thousands of grandparents across the country in calling for a change to the law to give grandparents access rights to their grandchildren, as is the case in France?
Theresa Mary May (Conservative, Centre-right): First, I am glad that the right hon. Gentleman has welcomed the new Lady Usher of the Black Rod. I hope it will not be 650 years until the Labour party has a female leader. He also referred to the attack that has taken place in eastern Nigeria. Of course, I am sure that the thoughts and condolences of the whole House are with those who have been affected The right hon. Gentleman asked me to outline our policy in relation to the border between Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland. I am very happy to do so; I have done so on a number of occasions. We are very clear that in relation to the movement of people, the common travel area will continue to operate, as it has done since 1923. On trade, and the movement of goods and services across the border, we will not see the introduction of a hard border. We have been very clear that we will not put physical infrastructure at the border.
Engagements — House of Commons, 2017-11-22
Topic: International Affairs
Questions: Divorce and family breakdown take an emotional toll on all those involved, but the family dynamic that is often overlooked is that between grandparents and their grandchildren. If access to their grandchildren is removed or blocked, some grandparents call it a form of living bereavement. Will the Prime Minister therefore join me, Dame Esther Rantzen and thousands of grandparents across the country in calling for a change to the law to give grandparents access rights to their grandchildren, as is the case in France?
Theresa Mary May (Conservative, Centre-right): On the first issue that the right hon. Gentleman raises, we have been engaging fully in the negotiations in relation to Northern Ireland and other issues, and indeed significant progress has been made. That is why, for example, I have said that we have got agreement on the operation of the common travel area for the future. He says that we have not put out any ideas about the border, but I have to say to him that we published a paper back in the summer on possible customs arrangements. We are very happy to move to further detailed discussions of the customs and trading relationship that will exist not just between Northern Ireland and the Republic, but between the United Kingdom and the European Union. That does mean moving on to phase 2, so the question for the right hon. Gentleman is: if he thinks that is so important, why did his MEPs vote against it?