Written Statements

Thursday 4th February 2016 Written Statements

Thursday 4 February 2016

General Data Protection Regulation

Thursday 4th February 2016 Written Statements

[The Minister for Culture and the Digital Economy (Mr Edward Vaizey)]

My hon. Friend the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State at the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills (jointly with the Department of Culture, Media and Sport) and Minister for Intellectual Property has made the following written ministerial statement.

This Government have decided not to opt in to the Justice and Home Affairs provision within the EU general data protection regulation (GDPR). Negotiations on the regulation were concluded on 15 December 2015 and a proposed final compromise text was communicated to the European Council on 17 December. The final text for the GDPR is expected to be formally adopted in due course.

The compromise text contained wording in article 43a, which triggers the UK’s opt-in under protocol 21. This article deals with the recognition and enforcement of judgments, and includes content that falls under article 81 (judicial co-operation in civil matters) and article 82 (judicial co-operation in criminal matters) Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union, thereby triggering the UK’s JHA opt-in. The text restricts a member state from enforcing a judgment requiring the transfer or disclosure of personal data where there is no international agreement or treaty.

As a result of concerns relating to the integrity of the UK legal system, the UK will not exercise the opt-in to the parts of article 43a which trigger the protocol 21.

[HCWS511]

Northern Ireland Executive: Gifting of Surplus Accommodation

Thursday 4th February 2016 Written Statements

[The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Defence (Mark Lancaster)]

I have today laid before Parliament a Ministry of Defence Departmental Minute to advise of the intent to gift up to 59 surplus service family accommodation to the Northern Ireland Executive. This gift forms part of coalition Government’s financial settlement with the Executive and the commitments set out in Building a Prosperous and United Community: One Year On, in which the Government and the Executive set out plans to work together to build on political stability.

It is intended that legal transfer of title will be completed by late spring 2016, with the disposal value of the sites estimated at £3.5 million as at April 2014. Her Majesty’s Treasury has approved the proposal in principle. If after 14 sitting days, no objections to the gift have been received, the transfer will proceed.

In addition to the gift, 605 surplus service family accommodation that cannot be gifted for operational (security and training) reasons inside our existing perimeters; 286 at Aldergrove, 199 at Ballykinler and 120 at Holywood, costing a total of £3.6 million, will be demolished. Enabling works have begun and demolitions will start in late 2016, with the land then being retained for training. The Ministry of Defence will continue to look for surplus properties to gift as part of the shared commitment of the Government and the Executive to take forward plans to build a shared future.

[HCWS509]

Reformed GCSE and A-level Content

Thursday 4th February 2016 Written Statements

[The Minister for Schools (Mr Nick Gibb)]

We are reforming GCSEs, AS and A-levels to make sure that they give students the best possible preparation for further and higher education, and for employment. We want new GCSEs to set expectations which match those of the best education systems in the world, with rigorous assessment that provides a reliable measure of students’ achievement. The reforms are extensive and represent a new qualification gold standard.

Schools are now teaching some of the new reformed GCSEs and A-levels, and we have already published reformed subject content for those GCSEs and A-levels to be taught from September 2016. Content for reformed GCSE subjects and for AS and A-level subjects can be found on gov.uk.

The new GCSEs will be more academically demanding and reformed AS and A-levels will better prepare students for undergraduate study.

Today I am publishing revised subject content for some of the GCSEs and AS and A-levels that will be taught in schools from September 2017:

GCSEs in ancient history, classical civilisation, electronics, film studies, media studies and statistics; and

AS and A-levels in accounting, ancient history, archaeology, classical civilisation, electronics, film studies, law and media studies.

Accounting AS and A-level requires students to understand and to apply double entry accounting methods. A greater emphasis is placed on the use of accounting concepts and techniques in the analysis and evaluation of financial information. There is also a better balance between financial and management accounting.

The new ancient history GCSE, and AS and A-levels will require students to study events, individuals, societies, developments and issues drawn from the period 3000 BC to 500 AD. At GCSE students must study the history of at least two societies, at least one of which must be Roman or Greek. At A-level students must study the history of both ancient Rome and ancient Greece. At GCSE students will have to undertake one period study covering at least 50 years, one longer period study covering at least 150 years, and two depth studies focusing on shorter time spans. At A-level students will undertake two period studies of at least 75 years and two depth studies.

The new archaeology AS and A-levels will require students to study two archaeological contexts in depth (one at AS) and what the archaeological evidence can tell us about that society’s social structure, belief system, art and technology. Through two breadth studies (one at AS) students will also study at least three different societies in relation to specific issues such as religion and ritual, or economics and material culture.

The new classical civilisation GCSE, AS and A-levels will require students to study both Roman and Greek civilisation (and their surrounding worlds). All students will now study literature (at least 30% of the GCSE and A-level) and visual/material culture (at least 20% of the GCSE and 15% of the A-level), and at A-level students will also study classical thought. Students will develop their understanding of the classical world through study of the social, historical, and cultural context of the literature and sources selected.

The new electronics GCSE increases the demand of the subject by increasing the breadth and depth of content students are required to study. The new electronics AS and A-levels have improved depth and breadth with new topics such as the principles of semiconductors added. The GCSE, AS and A-level content also includes strengthened mathematical requirements and a detailed list of equations that students will be required to know and understand.

The film studies GCSE, AS and A-levels will require students to study critically recognised, culturally and historically significant films. At GCSE and AS students will study at least six films including at least one British, one non-English language and one independent film and at least one historical film made before 1961. A-level students will study at least 12 films from at least three continents covering pre-1930 to present day, including documentary, experimental and silent film. Overall the content emphasises a more academic approach with greater emphasis on a critical and contextual understanding of film, and at A-level of film theory.

The new law AS and A-level content will ensure students study a greater number of areas of substantive law: at AS one area of public law and one area of private law; and at A-level at least three areas of law. Students also need to study the nature of law including links to moral concepts, how law interacts with society, and the English legal system.

The new media studies GCSE, AS and A-levels will ensure that students have an understanding of the main theoretical concepts underpinning the subject. Students will study media language, representation, media industries, and audiences, and will apply all four of these to at least one audio visual, one print and one online media form. Overall, students will study nine forms of media and all products studied must be culturally, socially and historically significant. The AS and A-level also require students to study a wide range of specified theories and theorists.

The new and more demanding statistics GCSE requires students to study the statistical enquiry cycle and to perform key statistical calculations such as interpercentile range and standard deviation. Students will be required to know and use fundamental formulae, for example to determine Spearman’s rank correlation coefficient. New content has been added, such as using collected data and calculated probabilities to determine and interpret risk, and interpreting the characteristics of a binomial distribution.

[HCWS508]

Police Grant Report England and Wales 2016-17

Thursday 4th February 2016 Written Statements

[The Minister for Policing, Crime and Criminal Justice (Mike Penning)]

My right hon. Friend the Home Secretary has today laid before the House, “The Police Grant Report (England and Wales) 2016/17” (HC 753). The report sets out, my right hon. Friend the Home Secretary’s determination for 2016-17 of the aggregate amount of grant that she proposes to pay under section 46(2) of the Police Act 1996, and the amount to be paid to the Greater London Authority for the Mayor’s Office for Policing and Crime.

At the time the provisional police grant report 2016-17 was laid on 17 December 2015 I said that I was also considering whether a limited amount of police capital grant would be reallocated. After careful consideration I have decided that £10.4 million will be reallocated to support police national technology services. This will assist in providing necessary investment in these critical police services.

To assist police and crime commissioners and chief constables with their medium-term financial planning, I have also decided to provide further information on the police funding settlement over the spending review period. Please note that these figures are indicative only. Home Office Ministers will decide on the level of reallocations for each year on an annual basis, but PCCs should assume that these will be broadly in line with those in 2016-17. PCCs should plan on the basis that their direct resource funding—consisting of formula funding, legacy council tax grants, national and international city grants and precept—will remain at broadly flat cash levels when compared with 2015-16, throughout the spending review period.

This statement also includes details of other funding streams that the Home Office, the Department of Communities and Local Government and the Welsh Government intend to provide to the police in 2016-17.