The below Parliamentary question was asked by David Anderson on 2016-01-19.
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, whether any personnel from UK Reaper Squadrons have been deployed to (a) Libya, (b) Kenya and (c) Somalia in the last three years.
Penny Mordaunt
UK Reapers are currently operational in Iraq and Syria. No UK Reapers have been deployed to Libya, and no personnel from UK Reaper Squadrons have been deployed to Libya, Kenya or Somalia in the last three years.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Andrew Stephenson on 2016-01-19.
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what estimate her Department has made of the financial savings to schools in (a) Pendle, (b) Lancashire and (c) the North West as a result of its memorandum of understanding with Microsoft announced on 13 January 2016.
Mr Sam Gyimah
Due to this agreement with Microsoft, which runs until June 2018, schools stand to save an estimated £30 million. The agreement also gives them greater flexibility in their use of Microsoft software.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Nic Dakin on 2016-01-19.
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what estimate her Department has made of the number of teaching vacancies at the start of September 2016.
Nick Gibb
The department collects the number of teacher vacancies in November each year. The November 2015 collection is still underway as schools, Local Authorities and Academy Trusts have until the end of January 2016 to provide their workforce data.
The latest available data on the number of vacancies in schools is from the November 2014 School Workforce Census which was published in July 2015 and is available from table 14 at the following web link: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/school-workforce-in-england-november-2014
The published data shows that 0.3% of teaching posts in state funded schools in England were vacant in November 2014.
“
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Nic Dakin on 2016-01-19.
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many higher education institutions have had their funding allocated by the National College of Teaching and Leadership reduced as a consequence of training more teachers than places allocated in each academic year since 2010-11.
Nick Gibb
We have not reduced the funding for any higher education institutions (HEIs) as a consequence of training more teachers than places allocated since 2010-11.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Philip Hollobone on 2016-01-19.
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if she will discuss with the Secretary of State for Defence how the best examples of literacy and numeracy education carried out in initial basic training in HM Armed Forces can be introduced to assist underachieving pupils in attaining GCSE grade C in English and mathematics.
Nick Gibb
The Government is committed to raising standards of literacy and numeracy for all pupils. We have strengthened the teaching of reading through rigorous phonics methods and placed greater emphasis within the primary curriculum and assessment on secure grasp of the essentials such as grammar, punctuation and spelling and fluency in mental and written calculation. We provide funding to secondary schools to help pupils catch up quickly and have announced resits for year 7 pupils in reading and mathematics.
Our reforms to mathematics and English at GCSE offer greater assurance that pupils with these qualifications will have the literacy and numeracy skills they need in employment, and we now require every 16-19 year old without a good pass in GCSE English and maths to study these subjects as part of their 16-19 programme.
In every aspect of this work the Department for Education is active in looking for ways to improve literacy and numeracy. We will look with interest at the work of the Armed Forces in this area.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Catherine West on 2016-01-19.
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps she is taking to increase secondary school places in London.
Nick Gibb
Local authorities are responsible for planning and securing sufficient school places in their area, and supporting them to do so is one of this Government’s top priorities. This is why the Government is investing £23 billion overall in school buildings to create 600,000 new school places, open 500 new free schools and address essential maintenance needs.
Basic need funding is allocated to local authorities to help them to create new school places. This Government has allocated £960 million to local authorities in London for places needed between 2015 and 2018, including at secondary level. This is in addition to the £2 billion London received between 2011 and 2015, almost 40% of the total funding provided to local authorities to help create new places in this period.
This funding has helped to create 155,000 new school places between 2010 and 2014. Of these new places, over 30,000 have been created in 52 open free schools. There are over 60 approved new schools due to open in London in future academic years.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Nic Dakin on 2016-01-19.
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how much has been deducted from funding allocated by the National College of Teaching and Leadership to higher education institutions who have trained more teachers than places allocated in each academic year since 2010-11.
Nick Gibb
The National College for Teaching and Leadership (NCTL) have not reduced the funding for any higher education institutions (HEIs) who have trained more teachers than places allocated since the academic year 2010-11. The NCTL continues to have the right to impose penalties, but have not exercised this previously. The decision to exercise this right in the academic year 2016/17 will be made after institutions submit their trainee registration information.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Nic Dakin on 2016-01-19.
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps her Department is taking to increase the number of qualified teachers.
Nick Gibb
Teaching continues to be a hugely popular career. The number of teachers returning to the classroom continues to rise and in 2015/16 we recruited more trainee primary school teachers than our target. We recognise the challenge school leaders face in some parts of the country, and are working to address this with action.
We are committed to attracting more top graduates into teaching, and have already announced increased bursaries and other financial incentives in those core academic subjects that help children achieve their potential; including tax free bursaries of up to £30,000.
We have significantly expanded the School Direct teacher training route which gives schools more opportunity to recruit and train their own high-quality teachers and future leaders. This year over 10,000 trainees are starting School Direct courses, up from 9,000 last year.
We have funded the expansion of Teach First into every region of England. Teach First will have the scope to reach 90 per cent of eligible schools by 2016, boosting our commitment to recruit more top teachers in rural, coastal and disadvantaged areas.
In addition, the Department recently announced the ‘Supporting Returning Teachers’ pilot, to support secondary schools to improve teacher recruitment in priority subjects by removing the barriers that prevent inactive but qualified teachers from returning to the classroom. As part of this pilot, we are helping schools to provide a tailored package of support for those wishing to return to the profession and offering grant funding of up to £1,900 per teacher recruited.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Daniel Zeichner on 2016-01-19.
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps she is taking to support the academic and socio-emotional needs of children diagnosed with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder.
Edward Timpson
This Government is committed to making sure that every child reaches their full potential. Schools and local authorities should work with specialist Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services (CAMHS) in order to support children diagnosed with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD). This collaborative approach aims to ensure the best possible outcome for children and young people with ADHD. Additionally, the Children and Young People’s project for the Improving Access to Psychological Therapies programme aims to increase the choice and availability of evidence based treatments. This includes support therapies such as parent training or education, which is recommended in the NICE guidelines as a first line treatment for ADHD in early years and school aged children.
In addition, the 0-25 years Special Educational Needs and Disability Code of Practice[1] emphasises the importance of schools identifying the underlying causes of behaviour issues, whether or not these require special educational provision. Early identification of ADHD means that steps can be taken to define the needs of children and young people and put in place appropriate intervention to support them.
The importance of early assessment of need is also emphasised in other statutory guidance, including statutory guidance on exclusion,[2] with headteachers being expected to consider the use of multi-agency assessment for pupils who demonstrate persistent disruptive behaviour.
[1] https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/send-code-of-practice-0-to-25
“
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Helen Jones on 2016-01-19.
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what recent representations she has received on changing the way school performance data is published so that data on children in designation provision is disaggregated from data on children in mainstream schooling; and if she will make a statement.
Edward Timpson
We have received recent representations on this issue. Most recently we received a letter, on 8th January 2016, from Paul King, the headteacher of Green Lane special school, on behalf of designated provision and special schools in Warrington.
We do not disaggregate the results of children in designation provision from the results of children in mainstream schooling when publishing performance data as to do so would be at odds with our principle of inclusivity. Designated provision caters for pupils with a wide range of special educational needs (SEN) and ability; disaggregating their results could suggest that we have a different or lower expectation of them. In many schools, children split their time between mainstream and designated provision. Disaggregating results would create an inconsistent approach between schools with separate provision and those where SEN children are integrated. This could create an incentive to either move SEN children from mainstream to designated provision, or to reduce the amount of integration in schools. However, the performance tables do provide additional contextual information on the number and percentage of pupils on roll with SEN.