The below Parliamentary question was asked by Madeleine Moon on 2016-01-20.
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, pursuant to the Answers of 10 November 2015, 4 December 2015 and 12 December 2015 to Questions 17693, 18405 and 18552, when he plans to place in the Library the documents referred to in those Answers.
Mark Lancaster
The documents were placed in the Library of the House on Tuesday 19 January.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Stephen Phillips on 2016-01-20.
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, whether any vessels of the Royal Navy or the Royal Fleet Auxiliary have exercised or sought to exercise freedom of navigation or passage rights in disputed areas of the South China Sea claimed by the government of the People’s Republic of China since 2010.
Penny Mordaunt
No Royal Navy or Royal Fleet Auxiliary vessels have exercised Freedom of Navigation in disputed areas of the South China Sea since 2010.
The UK strongly asserts its right, and supports the right of all States, to exercise Freedom of Navigation in accordance with the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Stephen Phillips on 2016-01-20.
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, whether any aircraft of the Royal Air Force have exercised or sought to exercise freedom of navigation or passage rights over disputed areas of the South China Sea claimed by the government of the People’s Republic of China since 2010.
Penny Mordaunt
The RAF regularly flies in the vicinity of the South China Sea on transit to countries such as Brunei and Australia. Information on the exact route of every such flight area since 2010 is not held centrally and could be provided only at disproportionate cost. The UK strongly asserts its right, and supports that of all States, to exercise Freedom of Navigation in accordance with the International Rules Based System.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Graham Allen on 2016-01-20.
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, with reference to the comments made by a spokesperson of his Department in an article published in The Herald newspaper on 10 January 2016, and pursuant to his oral contribution of 18 January 2016, Official Report, column 1118, if he will issue guidance to independent monitoring groups on how to contact his Department on, and how to submit evidence relating to, possible civilian casualties from air strikes in Syria and Iraq; and if he will make a statement.
Penny Mordaunt
Independent monitoring groups are free to contact the Ministry of Defence through the normal means of correspondence and any credible reports of civilian casualties will be investigated.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by David Anderson on 2016-01-20.
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what working definition of imminence his Department uses in the application of article 51 of the UN Charter.
Penny Mordaunt
It has long been the position of successive UK Governments that "the inherent right of self-defence", as recognised in Article 51 of the UN Charter, does not require a State to wait until an armed attack is actually under way before it can lawfully use force to alleviate the threat. A State may use force in anticipation of an armed attack where such an attack is imminent, provided that such force is both necessary and proportionate to averting the threat. The assessments would depend on the facts of each case, with consideration likely to include issues such as the nature and immediacy of the threat, the probability of an attack, its scale and effects and whether it can be prevented without force.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Liam Byrne on 2016-01-20.
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what proportion of (a) secondary and (b) primary schools are academies.
Edward Timpson
As of January 2016, 18% of primary schools and 65% of secondary schools are academies, including free schools, studio schools or Universal Technical Colleges.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Liam Byrne on 2016-01-20.
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps she is taking to promote character education in schools; and if she will make a statement.
Edward Timpson
All schools should develop character traits like self-confidence, motivation and resilience in their students. These traits support academic attainment, are valued by employers, and encourage young people to make a positive contribution to British society.
At the Character Symposium in January 2016, the Secretary of State for Education outlined her vision for character education. She announced that the Department intends to promote character education through the building and strengthening of our evidence base. We will facilitate this via an online digital platform which will share evidence, innovation, and examples of best practice in character education. We will also promote character education to schools and organisations through a new round of character awards.
To support schools in this, we are already investing £5 million in character education. This figure includes £3.5m of grants for 14 projects and £1m to the Education Endowment Foundation to build research the most effective ways that character can be developed.
Of course, many schools and organisations are already supporting children to develop their character, through programmes such as National Citizen Service. We will be investing over a billion pounds over the next four years to make NCS a rite of passage and toensure that 60% of 16 year olds can take part by 2021.
In addition, school sport can help children and young people develop positive character traits such as fair play, leadership and resilience. It can teach them how to bounce back from defeat, how to respect others and how to work together in teams to achieve a goal. PE remains a compulsory subject at all four key stages in the new national curriculum which came into force in September 2014.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Sharon Hodgson on 2016-01-20.
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether her Department plans to publish A-Level data for each type of special educational need.
Edward Timpson
Information regarding the attainment of students with special educational needs (SEN) in England is broken down by type of SEN and published in the “Phonics screening check and key stage 1 assessment: England 2015”[1], “National curriculum assessments at key stage 2: 2015”[2] and “GCSE and equivalent results in England: 2015”[3] statistical first releases.
A wider summary of available SEN information is provided in “Special educational needs – an analysis and summary of data sources”[4]
Information on the average points score of students with a hearing impairment or the number that achieve three A* to A grades or better at A level is not held by the Department. The Department also does not hold information on the number of students with a hearing impairment who have not achieved a level 2 qualification in English by the age of 19.
Currently, there are no plans for the Department to publish A-level data split by type of special educational need or to collect additional data on the outcomes achieved by students who have a disability but not an identified special educational need, although this is reviewed every year as part of the collection process.
[1] Phonics and KS1 assessments for 2014/15: https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/phonics-screening-check-and-key-stage-1-assessments-england-2015
[2] KS2 for 2014/15: https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/national-curriculum-assessments-at-key-stage-2-2015-revised
[3] KS4 for 2014/15: https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/revised-gcse-and-equivalent-results-in-england-2014-to-2015
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The below Parliamentary question was asked by Sharon Hodgson on 2016-01-20.
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what the average point score for deaf A-level students was in 2015 was.
Edward Timpson
Information regarding the attainment of students with special educational needs (SEN) in England is broken down by type of SEN and published in the “Phonics screening check and key stage 1 assessment: England 2015”[1], “National curriculum assessments at key stage 2: 2015”[2] and “GCSE and equivalent results in England: 2015”[3] statistical first releases.
A wider summary of available SEN information is provided in “Special educational needs – an analysis and summary of data sources”[4]
Information on the average points score of students with a hearing impairment or the number that achieve three A* to A grades or better at A level is not held by the Department. The Department also does not hold information on the number of students with a hearing impairment who have not achieved a level 2 qualification in English by the age of 19.
Currently, there are no plans for the Department to publish A-level data split by type of special educational need or to collect additional data on the outcomes achieved by students who have a disability but not an identified special educational need, although this is reviewed every year as part of the collection process.
[1] Phonics and KS1 assessments for 2014/15: https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/phonics-screening-check-and-key-stage-1-assessments-england-2015
[2] KS2 for 2014/15: https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/national-curriculum-assessments-at-key-stage-2-2015-revised
[3] KS4 for 2014/15: https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/revised-gcse-and-equivalent-results-in-england-2014-to-2015
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The below Parliamentary question was asked by Sharon Hodgson on 2016-01-20.
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many deaf students had not achieved a level 2 qualification in English by the age of 19 in 2015.
Edward Timpson
Information regarding the attainment of students with special educational needs (SEN) in England is broken down by type of SEN and published in the “Phonics screening check and key stage 1 assessment: England 2015”[1], “National curriculum assessments at key stage 2: 2015”[2] and “GCSE and equivalent results in England: 2015”[3] statistical first releases.
A wider summary of available SEN information is provided in “Special educational needs – an analysis and summary of data sources”[4]
Information on the average points score of students with a hearing impairment or the number that achieve three A* to A grades or better at A level is not held by the Department. The Department also does not hold information on the number of students with a hearing impairment who have not achieved a level 2 qualification in English by the age of 19.
Currently, there are no plans for the Department to publish A-level data split by type of special educational need or to collect additional data on the outcomes achieved by students who have a disability but not an identified special educational need, although this is reviewed every year as part of the collection process.
[1] Phonics and KS1 assessments for 2014/15: https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/phonics-screening-check-and-key-stage-1-assessments-england-2015
[2] KS2 for 2014/15: https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/national-curriculum-assessments-at-key-stage-2-2015-revised
[3] KS4 for 2014/15: https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/revised-gcse-and-equivalent-results-in-england-2014-to-2015
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