Oral Answers to Questions — Deputy Prime Minister – in the House of Commons at 11:30 am on 31 January 2007.
Anne McIntosh
Shadow Minister (Children, Young People and Families)
11:30,
31 January 2007
What discussions he has had with the Secretary of State for Education and Skills on schools policy, with particular reference to early years provision.
John Prescott
Deputy Prime Minister, Deputy Prime Minister, Deputy Prime Minister and First Secretary of State, Deputy Leader of the Labour Party, Member, Labour Party National Executive Committee
Discussions have taken place on an individual basis with my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State as well as within the Cabinet committee system and, indeed, the Cabinet. With specific reference to early years and schools, I think that our record speaks for itself. We have abolished classes of more than 30 for primary-aged pupils; we are on track to deliver 3,500 Sure Start centres for the under-fives by 2010; we are extending flexible, free part-time nursery care for three and four-year olds up to 15 hours a week, also by 2010; and we have invested £40 million for extra classrooms and extensions to ensure that no child of five, six or seven will be in a class of 30. Thanks to £35 million investment, we have ended the scandal of primary schools having to rely on outside toilets, which characterised their state under the previous Conservative Administration.
Anne McIntosh
Shadow Minister (Children, Young People and Families)
Does the Deputy prime minister accept that the Government's poverty programme depends heavily on rolling out the children's centres in particularly poor areas where the take-up is the lowest? That programme is being hampered by the fact that primary care trusts such as the North Yorkshire and York PCT are running at a record deficit and will not be able to make a contribution. The trust's nursery programme is also under severe threat because of the code of practice. Does not the right hon. Gentleman accept that early-years provision is in absolute tatters?
John Prescott
Deputy Prime Minister, Deputy Prime Minister, Deputy Prime Minister and First Secretary of State, Deputy Leader of the Labour Party, Member, Labour Party National Executive Committee
I certainly do not accept that. Three thousand children's centres are now being established and there were 500 Sure Starts set up under our previous Administration. They provided opportunities not only for young children, but for mothers to start national vocational qualifications and for old and young people to come together in community centres. I have to tell the hon. Lady that although we have not done as much as should be done, we are on target to achieve what we said we would by 2010. What she said would be a little more acceptable if the hon. Lady had not voted against every Budget to provide the money to pay for those programmes.
The office of Deputy Prime Minister is one that has only existed occasionally in the history of the United Kingdom. Unlike analogous offices in other nations, the Deputy Prime Minister does not have any of the powers of the Prime Minister in the latter's absence and there is no presumption that the Deputy Prime Minister will succeed the Prime Minister.
The post has existed intermittently and there have been a number of disputed occasions as to whether or not the title has actually been conferred.
More from wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Deputy_Prime_Minister_of_the_United_Kingdom
Secretary of State was originally the title given to the two officials who conducted the Royal Correspondence under Elizabeth I. Now it is the title held by some of the more important Government Ministers, for example the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs.
Cabinet committees are established by the prime minister to enable the cabinet to deal more efficiently with the large volume of government business.
All cabinet committees are chaired by the prime minister or a senior cabinet minister and will have a number of cabinet ministers as members. Some are permanent committees while others are set up to deal with particular issues as they arise.
Cabinet committees carry out the bulk of cabinet work and the decisions they take have the authority of full cabinet. If a committee cannot agree on an issue it will be sent to the full cabinet for a final decision.
Some cabinet committees have sub-committees that do not usually taking final decisions on policy, but can enable important discussion of those issues which range across government departments.
The cabinet is the group of twenty or so (and no more than 22) senior government ministers who are responsible for running the departments of state and deciding government policy.
It is chaired by the prime minister.
The cabinet is bound by collective responsibility, which means that all its members must abide by and defend the decisions it takes, despite any private doubts that they might have.
Cabinet ministers are appointed by the prime minister and chosen from MPs or peers of the governing party.
However, during periods of national emergency, or when no single party gains a large enough majority to govern alone, coalition governments have been formed with cabinets containing members from more than one political party.
War cabinets have sometimes been formed with a much smaller membership than the full cabinet.
From time to time the prime minister will reorganise the cabinet in order to bring in new members, or to move existing members around. This reorganisation is known as a cabinet re-shuffle.
The cabinet normally meets once a week in the cabinet room at Downing Street.
Primary care is a term used to describe community-based health services which are usually the first (and often the only) point of contact that patients make within the NHS. It covers services provided by family doctors (GPs), community and practice nurses, community therapists (physio, occupational, etc.), pharmacists, chiropodists, optometrists, and dentists.
A Primary Care Trust in the NHS is a regional body in the NHS, catering to a specific geographical region, which is responsible for providing primary care to the individuals within that area.
These primary care trusts have budgetary responsibility, and are tasked by the Department of Health with improving the health of the community, securing the provision of high quality services, and integrating health and social care locally.
