Asked by: Lord Forsyth of Drumlean (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask His Majesty's Government whether they intend to remove charitable status from independent schools; and if so, what is their estimate of the impact this would have on the cost of nursery education.
Answered by Baroness Smith of Malvern - Minister of State (Education)
The government has not proposed to remove charitable status from independent schools.
Asked by: Lord Laming (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to reduce the number of children who frequently fail to attend school.
Answered by Baroness Smith of Malvern - Minister of State (Education)
This government has been clear that absence from school is a key barrier to overcome, because if pupils are not attending school they cannot benefit from good teaching and learning.
Thanks to the efforts of the sector, there are more learners in school almost every day this year compared to last. However, with 1.6 million children still persistently absent, missing 10% of lessons or more, poor attendance remains a major challenge.
That is why the department will work with the sector to bring breakfast clubs to all primary schools, so that every child is in on time and ready to learn. The department will also introduce new annual Ofsted reviews of safeguarding, attendance, and off-rolling. The department will also tackle mental health issues among young people by providing access to specialist mental health professionals in every school.
This is in addition to activity to support schools and local authorities to tackle the school absence challenge. This includes:
Wider measures such as the pupil premium, the special educational needs and disabilities and alternative provision improvement plan, and the holiday activities and food programme also benefit attendance.
Asked by: Lord Alton of Liverpool (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the extent to which the independence of the UK higher education sector has been compromised by a reliance on funding from China.
Answered by Baroness Smith of Malvern - Minister of State (Education)
The government has made significant strides to protect our values against those who do not respect the UK’s fundamental rights and freedoms, or whose strategic intent is hostile to UK interests. The department has committed, in the Integrated Review Refresh, to review the full set of legislative and other provisions designed to protect our academic sector, in order to identify what more the department could or should be doing.
The department recognises the potential for overseas interference in our higher education (HE) sector and we are committed to ensuring ways to increase transparency, improve HE providers’ overall resilience and economic security, whilst respecting the autonomy of universities.
A key part of the department’s International Education Strategy is diversification. Our universities must ensure they have appropriate processes in place to manage risks associated with dependence on a single source of funding, whether that is from a single organisation or a single country. The Office for Students, the regulator of HE in England, monitors the risk of over-reliance on overseas income at a sector level.
Asked by: Lord Allen of Kensington (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask His Majesty's Government when they intend to introduce the Skills England bill.
Answered by Baroness Smith of Malvern - Minister of State (Education)
The Skills England Bill will be introduced as soon as Parliamentary time allows. The Bill will transfer functions from the Institute for Apprenticeships and Technical Education to Skills England, and will be an important part of steps taken to establish Skills England in phases over the next 9 to 12 months.
Asked by: Amanda Martin (Labour - Portsmouth North)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps she is taking to help improve educational outcomes for (a) children in social care and (b) other care-experienced young people.
Answered by Janet Daby - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
This government will champion the ambitions of all children and ensure that background is not a barrier to success. In the department’s Children’s Wellbeing Bill, we will set out our plans to raise standards for all children in social care and will ensure that they are supported to thrive.
Asked by: Neil O'Brien (Conservative - Harborough, Oadby and Wigston)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what the average spend per pupil was in state schools in each year since 1994, broken down by region.
Answered by Catherine McKinnell - Minister of State (Education)
The table below provides per pupil funding units from 2018/19 to 2024/25, which represents the funding provided for schools in all regions, nationally.
The department cannot provide comparable funding data back to 1994, due to the changes in the funding system since that time. In particular, funding for schools was only identified separately from funding for high needs or early years in 2013, and funding for central school services provided by local authorities was split out from the schools block funding in 2018/19.
The figures below represent the core funding schools receive through the schools block of the Dedicated Schools Grant (DSG). All the figures in the table, apart from those for 2018/19 exclude growth funding but include premises funding. They do not include additional funding that schools have received for pay and pensions, or other funding streams, such as the pupil premium.
Region | DSG Schools Block per pupil funding | ||||||
| 2018/19 * | 2019/20 | 2020/21 | 2021/22 | 2022/23 | 2023/24 | 2024/25 |
East Midlands | £4,426 | £4,477 | £4,702 | £5,086 | £5,393 | £5,698 | £5,818 |
East of England | £4,445 | £4,447 | £4,643 | £5,021 | £5,322 | £5,616 | £5,736 |
London | £5,383 | £5,360 | £5,529 | £5,914 | £6,240 | £6,553 | £6,656 |
North East | £4,618 | £4,649 | £4,828 | £5,220 | £5,538 | £5,869 | £5,993 |
North West | £4,629 | £4,653 | £4,838 | £5,221 | £5,524 | £5,835 | £5,962 |
South East | £4,335 | £4,372 | £4,589 | £4,975 | £5,268 | £5,555 | £5,681 |
South West | £4,346 | £4,393 | £4,614 | £5,010 | £5,317 | £5,614 | £5,734 |
West Midlands | £4,638 | £4,652 | £4,823 | £5,198 | £5,506 | £5,815 | £5,931 |
Yorkshire and the Humber | £4,590 | £4,622 | £4,819 | £5,202 | £5,508 | £5,824 | £5,949 |
* In the 2018/19 DSG, growth funding and premises funding were calculated together, so the 2018/19 funding figures include growth funding. All other years exclude growth funding.
Asked by: Anna Dixon (Labour - Shipley)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment her Department made of the adequacy of SEND services in Shipley constituency; and what steps she has taken to support the local authority to improve SEND provisions.
Answered by Catherine McKinnell - Minister of State (Education)
Ofsted and the Care Quality Commission are jointly responsible for inspecting local area arrangements for children and young people with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND).
Bradford last received an area SEND inspection in March 2022, during which inspectors identified five areas of significant weakness:
The local area was required to produce a written statement of action to explain, to Ofsted and the department, how they would address these areas of weakness.
Following the inspection outcome, the department has worked closely with its partners in NHS England to monitor, support and challenge the local area partnership in making the necessary improvements. The City of Bradford Metropolitan District Council is also receiving additional support from a specialist SEND advisor, and the department will continue to work with the Council and relevant stakeholders to support them in improving SEND services and provision in Bradford.
High needs funding is increasing to over £10.5 billion for the 2024/25 financial year. Of this, through their dedicated schools grant for the 2024/25 financial year, Bradford is receiving a high needs funding allocation of £122.3 million. This funding will continue to help with the costs of supporting children and young people with SEND.
Asked by: Damian Hinds (Conservative - East Hampshire)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many (a) children of secondary school age are resident, (b) children are on roll at state secondary schools and (c) places are unfilled in state secondary schools in (i) the South West, (ii) the local authority area of Bristol City Council, (iii) secondary planning area 8010015, (iv) secondary planning area 8010016 and (v) secondary planning area 8010017.
Answered by Catherine McKinnell - Minister of State (Education)
The department does not hold information on all children and young people by residence.
Information on unfilled state secondary school places, as at May 2023, is published in the School Capacity statistics publication, which can be found here: https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/find-statistics/school-capacity. This is available at region and local authority level here for the South West and City of Bristol: https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/data-tables/permalink/f8c9439a-21b9-4c4b-e0d7-08dccd7b577b. School level information is also available here: https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/data-catalogue/data-set/5f26c269-bf72-41ab-8292-e17b58ed7c98 and can be aggregated to planning area level.
This publication also contains information on the number of pupils on roll as at May 2023 to allow comparisons with data on unfilled places. However, this is not the latest data for numbers on roll. The latest published data on secondary age pupils on roll in state-funded secondary schools is for January 2024 and is published in the Schools, pupils and their characteristics publication, which can be found here: https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/find-statistics/school-pupils-and-their-characteristics. This is available at a region and local authority level here for the South West and City of Bristol: https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/data-tables/permalink/b2d9d5ee-2876-47a6-b242-08dccd7b0275. School level information is also available here: https://content.explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/api/releases/6a45c262-aaca-4bda-a548-cc9d1dc63137/files/6a137329-83ce-4e2e-8043-1f15ab5c7101 and can be aggregated to planning area level.
For secondary planning area 8010015, there were 4,391 secondary pupils on roll in May 2023, with zero secondary school places unfilled. In January 2024, there were 4,342 pupils on roll.
For secondary planning area 8010016, there were 12,960 secondary pupils on roll in May 2023, with 460 secondary school places unfilled (3.6%). In January 2024, there were 13,236 pupils on roll.
For secondary planning area 8010017, there were 7,563 secondary pupils on roll in May 2023, with 760 secondary school places unfilled (10.2%). In January 2024, there were 7,754 pupils on roll.
Asked by: Calvin Bailey (Labour - Leyton and Wanstead)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether she plans to (a) take steps to (i) improve accountability processes for and (ii) simplify complaint routes for the parents of children that access SEND provision in schools and (b) continue the SEND Change Programme.
Answered by Catherine McKinnell - Minister of State (Education)
Ofsted and Care Quality Commission commenced a strengthened local inspection framework in January 2023, which places a greater emphasis on the outcomes being achieved for children and young people. It is the primary tool to maintain a focus on high standards in the special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) system, across all partners.
Where a council does not meet its duties, the department can take action that prioritises children’s needs and supports local areas to bring about rapid improvement. The department works to monitor, support and, where necessary, challenge local authorities, working closely with NHS England to tackle any weaknesses that sit with health partners.
The department welcomes the publication of the Big Listen response. We will continue to work with Ofsted to consider how outcomes for children with SEND or in alternative provision (AP) are better reflected in the Education Inspection and the Area SEND inspection frameworks going forwards.
There are several routes of redress for parents or young people who disagree with decisions or actions of their educational setting or local authority. However, the department does understand these processes can be lengthy and difficult for families to navigate. It is in everyone’s interests that routes of redress are set out clearly and that complaints are resolved at the earliest possible stage.
The work of the Change Programme partnerships has provided valuable insights and learning across the SEND and AP system. This includes informing the department's thinking about effective inclusive mainstream practice, which is an area where more needs to be done to ensure children with SEND receive the support they need and deserve. We will share more news on the future direction of the Change Programme in due course.
Asked by: Josh Newbury (Labour - Cannock Chase)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps her Department is taking to ensure the adequacy of school place provision in areas with high levels of housebuilding.
Answered by Catherine McKinnell - Minister of State (Education)
Local authorities are responsible for providing enough school places for children in their area. The department provides capital funding through the Basic Need grant to support local authorities to provide school places, based on their own pupil forecasts and school capacity data. Nearly £1.5 billion of allocations have been confirmed to support local authorities to create school places needed over the current and next two academic years, up to and including the academic year starting in September 2026. Local authorities’ allocations are published here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/basic-need-allocations.
Contributions from housing developers are also an important way of helping to meet demand for new school places when housing developments are driving pupil numbers. It is for the Local Planning Authority (LPA) to secure developer contributions through section 106 agreements or the Community Infrastructure Levy, and to decide on the local infrastructure needs that this contribution should support. The department would encourage LPAs to secure significant contributions for new school places and work closely with colleagues planning school places in their area, including county councils when the local authority responsible for education is not the LPA.