Blog

  • Sarah Wollaston – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    Sarah Wollaston – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Sarah Wollaston on 2015-10-20.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what plans she has for consistent monitoring of the emotional, social and physical development of children in their early years, after the Early Years Foundation Profile becomes non-compulsory in September 2016; and if she will make a statement.

    Mr Sam Gyimah

    It is important for parents and teachers to know how well a child is progressing. As such, communication and language, physical development and personal, social and emotional development are set out in the Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS) statutory framework as prime learning areas for children from birth to age five.

    As part of the wider reforms to the accountability system for primary schools and the national curriculum we have introduced the reception baseline assessment for the 2015/16 academic year.

    The reception baseline forms one part of a teacher’s wider assessments in reception and we will expect early years practitioners to continue to carry out the appropriate ongoing, formative assessment of children of reception age.

    The EYFS statutory framework will also still require early years practitioners to carry out a progress check against the three prime areas of learning at age two, and we are improving this check for parents by bringing it together with health visitor checks in the form of new Integrated Reviews.

  • Louise Haigh – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    Louise Haigh – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Louise Haigh on 2015-10-20.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Education, when it was decided to reduce the bursary for post-graduate primary teacher training; and what steps she has taken to communicate that decision to potential applicants for such training.

    Nick Gibb

    Bursary incentives are reviewed every year in response to recruitment performance and the need for new teachers in the coming years.

    This year the new bursary rates were announced on 1st October 2015, and publicised subsequently through the “Get into Teaching” website and advertised on social media.

  • Clive Lewis – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    Clive Lewis – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    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.

  • Louise Haigh – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    Louise Haigh – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    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.

  • Ann Coffey – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    Ann Coffey – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    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”.

    [1] https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/permanent-and-fixed-period-exclusions-in-england-2013-to-2014

    “

  • Clive Lewis – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    Clive Lewis – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    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.

  • Andrew Rosindell – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    Andrew Rosindell – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    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.

  • Andrew Rosindell – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    Andrew Rosindell – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    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.

  • Jim Cunningham – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    Jim Cunningham – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    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.

  • Fabian Hamilton – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    Fabian Hamilton – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    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.