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The below Parliamentary question was asked by David Anderson on 2016-03-01.

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what discussions he has had with his Jordanian counterpart on the launch, recovery or other control of Reaper drones from that country or any other element of Reaper control.

Penny Mordaunt

We routinely discuss counter-Daesh air operations with Coalition partners but it would not be appropriate to give details about these discussions as to do so could affect the capability, effectiveness or security of the Armed Forces.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by David Anderson on 2016-03-01.

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, pursuant to the Answer of 25 February 2016 to Question 27212, on what data work commenced on Joint Services Policy (JSP) 900 UK Targeting Policy – Edition 2.

Penny Mordaunt

Work to create JSP 900 UK Targeting Policy Edition 2 began in January 2014 and the document was in the process of being finalised in September 2014. However, further work was required to ensure the Ministry of Defence’s Full Spectrum Targeting (FSpecT) policy was coherent with the evolving National Full Spectrum Effects (FSE) approach.

In September 2015 Defence Instructions and Notices (DIN) 2015DIN03-024 "Full Spectrum Effects For Defence Operations" was released. The DIN set the framework for FSpecT policy within FSE; JSP 900 Edition 2 was released shortly afterwards. A review of JSP 900 Edition 2 is under way and it is expected that a new edition will be required to incorporate lessons identified from operations in Iraq and Syria.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by David Anderson on 2016-03-01.

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, pursuant to the Answer of 16 February 2016 to Question 26409, what squadrons or elements other than Reaper Squadrons 39 and 13 make up the Reaper force as a whole.

Penny Mordaunt

No other squadrons or elements make up the Reaper Force. However, individuals in Reaper Force posts who are to be embedded with other countries’ armed forces are usually allocated to 54(Reserve) Squadron, for administrative reasons.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by David Anderson on 2016-03-01.

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, pursuant to the Answer of 16 February 2016 to Question 26409, what the role and location is of each of the six Reaper Force personnel embedded with the US Armed Forces; and with which units they are embedded.

Penny Mordaunt

The six embedded personnel are undertaking various training, test and evaluation duties at Holloman Air Force Base and Creech Air Force Base.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by David Anderson on 2016-03-01.

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, pursuant to the Answer of 29 February 2016 to Question 27211, whether the remit of permission granted to use the Sigonella air station extends to UK (a) Reaper launch and recovery operations and (b) combat missions.

Penny Mordaunt

We have had a long-standing presence at Naval Air Station Sigonella, and have made frequent use of it. However, it is not normal practice to comment on the details of arrangements with host nations.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by David Anderson on 2016-03-01.

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether her Department has conducted a workload impact assessment in respect of the introduction of the new Key Stage 1 and Key Stage 2 assessments.

Nick Gibb

The removal of unnecessary workload is a priority and is considered carefully when introducing any significant change for schools. Our primary assessment reforms have been designed to put arrangements for the majority of classroom assessment back into the hands of the school and to reduce the tracking burdens that national curriculum levels encouraged. We believe schools are best placed to decide how to assess pupils in line with their curriculum and that over time this should lead to a reduction in workload for teachers so that their efforts can focus on teaching.

Following the introduction of the new national curriculum and the removal of levels, we have developed new forms of statutory assessment at the end of Key Stages 1 and 2. The duty to report assessment at these points remains unchanged from previous years. We do recognise, however, that in this first year the new forms of assessment are used pupils and teachers will be adapting their approach. Significant reforms take time to embed and the best way to prepare pupils remains to focus on teaching the new national curriculum, which schools have been doing since September 2014.

Throughout the introduction of our important reforms to primary assessment, we have worked closely with teachers and head teachers and continue to listen to the concerns of the profession as the details of the new arrangements are finalised. We are working constructively with the teaching profession and their representatives to find solutions to some of the remaining issues.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by David Anderson on 2016-03-01.

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what evidence her Department holds that increasing the national expectations in writing from 4b to 5c will improve the outcomes in writing for children at the end of Key Stage 2.

Nick Gibb

The Government has set a more a challenging expected standard for assessment at the end of Key Stage 2 (KS2) to reflect the high expectations set by the new national curriculum. The curriculum standards align with the highest performing jurisdictions internationally and have been raised because too many children who met the old expected standard at the end of primary school did not go on to achieve at least five good GCSEs.

The new expected standard is not, however, equivalent to the old level 5c for KS2 English writing or any other subject. While there will be no need to make comparison to the old national curriculum levels once the new system is established, we have been clear that the new expected standard is broadly equivalent to 4b.

The Standards and Testing Agency published exemplification materials for KS2 writing in early February to support teachers in making their teacher assessment judgements. These were developed in consultation with a number of teacher panels and are real examples of work by pupils currently in year 6. The materials show two examples of pupils assessed as working at the expected standard: one shows work that has met the expected standard and is broadly equivalent to the old 4b, while another shows work at the higher end of the expected standard. We have published these two different examples to show the breadth of competence covered by ‘meeting the expected standard’. I have asked the Standards and Testing Agency to issue further guidance to schools shortly to clarify the assessment arrangements and eliminate any misunderstandings.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by David Anderson on 2016-03-01.

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether she has consulted teachers’ unions on implementation of the new assessments at Key Stage 1 and Key Stage 2.

Nick Gibb

Throughout the introduction of our important reforms to primary assessment, we have worked closely with teachers, head teachers and their union representatives.

In addition to regular discussion between teacher unions and officials, we launched two public consultations ahead of the changes: one on primary assessment and accountability from July to October 2013 and another on teacher assessment arrangements from October to December 2014. We received a large volume of diverse feedback, including from teachers unions, and this was given proper consideration in developing the new arrangements.

We continue to listen to the concerns of the profession as the details of the new arrangements are finalised. On 9 February, I met Russell Hobby, General Secretary of the National Association of Head Teachers, to discuss teacher assessment arrangements. I subsequently wrote to Mr Hobby to summarise our discussion and address some of his concerns; that letter was published on 19 February and can be found at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/teacher-assessments-letter-from-nick-gibb-to-the-naht. I am also due to meet representatives from the Association of Teachers and Lecturers and the National Union of Teachers in the coming weeks.

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The below Parliamentary question was asked by David Anderson on 2016-03-01.

To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, what information her Department holds on the number of coal-fired powered stations which have been built in Germany since 2010; and if she will make a statement.

Andrea Leadsom

The Department commissioned an independent study[1] published in April 2013 looking at new coal-fired power stations in Germany. This study found 10 coal plants (a total of 8GW) were under construction at the time and would be ready to be commissioned by 2015.

[1] https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/194335/Poyry_Report_-_Coal_fired_power_generation_in_Germany.pdf

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