The below Parliamentary question was asked by Angus Brendan MacNeil on 2015-10-20.
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, when the area of North Uist was last used for military exercise prior to the North Uist Development Company applying for planning permission in 2013.
Mark Lancaster
The Ministry of Defence holds no records of a training area in North Uist in the past 10 years.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Liz Saville Roberts on 2015-10-20.
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what steps have been taken by Air Command in response to the UK Airprox Board’s recommendation that flying procedures be reviewed in the Machynlleth loop following a near-miss incident involving five aircraft on 27 August 2015.
Penny Mordaunt
I believe the hon. Member is referring to an incident that took place on 27 August 2014, in response to which the UK Airprox Board assessed no risk of collision existed.
Following the UK Airprox Board’s recommendation, a review of entry and exit procedures has been completed. No changes have been made as the RAF considered that changing the procedures would adversely affect flight safety. However, the UK Military Low Flying Handbook was updated to highlight to military aircrews that they should exercise caution when entering and exiting the Machynlleth Loop.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Fabian Hamilton on 2015-10-20.
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, who is responsible for the oversight of US armed forces bases on UK soil.
Penny Mordaunt
The Ministry of Defence retains oversight of those UK military bases on UK territory which are made available for use by the US.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Cunningham on 2015-10-20.
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what assessment his Department has made of the effect of crowded airspace on British military assets operating in Syria; and if he will make a statement.
Penny Mordaunt
The Coalition has implemented safe separation measures for aircraft operating in Syria and keeps the issue under constant review. In addition, we welcome the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding on the prevention of flight safety incidents between the US, acting on behalf of the global coalition, and Russia. UK aircraft operating over Syria as part of the coalition campaign against ISIL are following these safe separation measures and the procedures in the Memorandum of Understanding.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Andrew Rosindell on 2015-10-20.
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what estimate he has made of legal costs to his Department in defending service personnel in relation to actions carried out in the course of duty; what estimate he has made of the proportion of such costs which relate to cases where the accused service personnel are acquitted; and if he will make a statement.
Penny Mordaunt
The total legal costs borne by the Ministry of Defence relating to actions carried out by Service personnel while on duty are over £100 million. The costs of providing the defence for Service personnel facing specifically Courts Martial or a Service Civilian Court, amounted to approximately £750,000 in financial year 2014-15. The costs of providing the defence for current and former Service personnel facing criminal investigations relating to operations in Northern Ireland during the "Troubles" period, has amounted to approximately £142,000 since 7 February 2014. The expenditure on behalf of defendants in Courts Martial or Service Civilian courts related to 394 individuals, of whom 95 were acquitted. The relevant criminal proceedings in Northern Ireland are ongoing.
The vast majority of Defence litigation expenditure relates to civil cases. As an example, £31 million was spent on the Al-Sweady Public Inquiry which concluded that all of the serious allegations that were raised, were wholly without foundation.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Andrew Rosindell on 2015-10-20.
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what steps he plans to take to ensure that (a) UN membership of the European Convention on Human Rights and (b) other human rights measures do not adversely affect the ability of service personnel to discharge their duties in conflict zones.
Penny Mordaunt
The Government is committed to upholding civilised standards in armed conflicts, and our view is that international humanitarian law, as embodied in the Geneva Conventions, set those standards. We are concerned that legal developments have the potential to impose unacceptable constraints on the Armed Forces when they are deployed to defend the UK and its interests. A commitment to address this problem was made in the Government’s Manifesto this year. Accordingly, we are considering the options available to safeguard the ability of our Armed Forces to do their job. We want to ensure that our Service personnel are not pressured to become unduly risk averse because of the fear of litigation or by the prospect of legal harassment, and that commanders are able to take the rapid and often high risk decisions necessary during military operations. We will announce our proposals in due course.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Clive Lewis on 2015-10-20.
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, whether armed forces personnel have received training for deployment to Syria.
Penny Mordaunt
Armed Forces personnel deploying on Operation SHADER – the name of the UK contribution to operations to counter ISIL – receive pre-deployment training appropriate to their role but are not deployed to Syria.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Ann Coffey on 2015-10-20.
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many children in each local authority area were excluded from school on the most recent date for which figures are available.
Edward Timpson
The number of permanent exclusions and the number of pupils with one or more fixed period exclusion by local authority area in England is published in the “Permanent and fixed period exclusions in England: 2013 to 2014”[1] National Statistics release.
The required information is available in Tables 19 and 20 of the “Local authority tables: SFR27/2015”. Please open the “Local authority tables: SFR27/2015”.
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The below Parliamentary question was asked by Louise Haigh on 2015-10-20.
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment she has made of the effect of reducing bursaries for post-graduate primary teacher training on teacher recruitment.
Nick Gibb
We want to attract the best and brightest graduates into the profession. Teaching remains a hugely popular career with more teachers in England’s classrooms than ever before and record levels of top graduates entering the profession.
Bursaries are designed to incentivise applications in subjects where it is difficult to recruit. We review annually the recruitment performance and demand in all subjects to inform bursary levels. In 2015/16 primary initial teacher training recruitment is set to surpass our target.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Clive Lewis on 2015-10-20.
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, on what dates each school within the Inspiration Trust academy chain was first told of the dates of its Ofsted inspection in 2014-15; on what dates the inspections of each such school took place.
Nick Gibb
I am informed by Ofsted that five academies within the Inspiration Trust had inspections in 2014/15. Two of these, Great Yarmouth Primary Academy and Hethersett Academy, had no formal designation inspections which were conducted without notice. Two academies had routine section 5 inspections; the Thetford Academy received notification on 3 December 2014 and was inspected on 4 – 5 December 2014 and East Point Academy received notification on 2 March 2015 and was inspected on 3 – 4 March 2015.
Sir Isaac Newton Sixth Form Free School was inspected in accordance with statutory requirements for 16-19 academies under the framework for inspection of further education and skills provision. The Academy was notified on 27 February 2015 and inspected between 3 and 6 March 2015, in line with normal arrangements for further education and skills providers.