Asked by: Peter Bottomley (Conservative - Worthing West)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if she will make it her policy to publish additional non-statutory guidance on religious education syllabus content in schools.
Answered by Damian Hinds - Minister of State (Education)
Religious education (RE) is an important part of a school’s curriculum and can contribute to a young person’s personal, social, and academic development. When done well, it can develop children’s knowledge of British values and traditions, help them better understand those of other countries, and refine pupils’ ability to construct well-informed, balanced, and structured arguments. This is why RE remains a compulsory subject in all state-funded schools in England for each pupil up to the age of 18.
The department has no plans to publish additional non-statutory guidance on RE syllabus content in schools. The department’s policy is to allow RE curricula to be designed at a local level, whether this is through a locally agreed syllabus conference or by individual schools and academy trusts developing their own curricula. The department feels this is the most appropriate way for local demographics to be accounted for.
The department does however welcome the work that the Religious Education Council has done to assist curriculum developers by publishing its National Content Standard for RE in England.
Asked by: Munira Wilson (Liberal Democrat - Twickenham)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what the annual budget is for regional schools commissioners, per commissioner per region in each financial year since 2014-15; and how many staff were employed by each commissioner on average in each financial year since 2014-15.
Answered by Damian Hinds - Minister of State (Education)
The department has identified the costs as the workforce costs and the General Administration Expenditure for the Regional Schools Commissioners (RSCs) and their teams up to 2022, and for Regional Directors and their teams from 2022 onwards. RSCs were replaced in 2022 by Regional Directors with an expanded remit.
The department's policy of retaining financial records for seven years limits access to data before the 2016/17 financial year.
In 2019 the department underwent re-organisation to align its delivery work in relation to academies, free schools and school improvement, bringing together functions that were previously delivered in different parts of the department. This data for 2019/2022 is therefore not directly comparable to previous years, as the functions delivered by the RSC teams expanded.
The RSC Staff programme budget, represented in the table below, was held centrally until the 2020/2021 financial year and then was split and allocated to the individual regions from 2021/2022. This was a change in where the budget sat rather than a change in staffing levels.
Workforce actual spend data for Regional Schools Commissioner teams 2016/2022
Workforce Actual Spend (Millions of GBP) | FY 2016/17 | FY 2017-18 | FY 2018/19 | FY 2019/20 | FY 2020/21 | FY 2021/22 |
RSC East of England and North East London | £1.60 | £1.62 | £1.15 | £1.07 | £1.20 | £1.99 |
RSC East Midlands and Humber | £1.90 | £1.48 | £1.39 | £1.10 | £1.33 | £2.58 |
RSC Lancashire and West Yorkshire | £1.85 | £1.91 | £1.45 | £1.33 | £1.39 | £2.86 |
RSC North & Opportunity North East | £1.57 | £1.29 | £1.16 | £0.74 | £0.93 | £3.36 |
RSC North West London and South Central England | £1.89 | £1.62 | £1.27 | £1.33 | £1.51 | £3.06 |
RSC South East and South London | £2.18 | £1.66 | £1.43 | £1.11 | £1.63 | £3.40 |
RSD South West | £2.20 | £1.98 | £1.39 | £1.59 | £1.81 | £3.55 |
RSC West Midlands | £1.90 | £1.91 | £1.15 | £1.20 | £1.67 | £3.18 |
RSC Staff Programme Costs* | £4.08 | £9.95 | £14.68 | £15.90 | £16.31 | £0.37 |
Full Time Equivalent staffing data for Regional Schools Commissioner teams 2016/2022
Full Time Equivalent Staff per Region | FY16/17 | FY17/18 | FY18/19 | FY19/20 | FY20/21 | FY21/22 |
RSC East of England and North East London | 44.01 | 41.46 | 42.6 | 47.4 | 41 | 41.6 |
RSC East Midlands and Humber | 46.99 | 59.93 | 47 | 51.4 | 53 | 49.9 |
RSC Lancashire and West Yorkshire | 54.16 | 68.71 | 48.6 | 64.2 | 64.1 | 54.5 |
RSC North & Opportunity North East | 40.48 | 41.28 | 32.6 | 41.9 | 37.7 | 37.3 |
RSC North West London and South Central England | 49.35 | 52.43 | 48.4 | 64.1 | 51.6 | 43 |
RSC South East and South London | 54.19 | 58.52 | 42.4 | 61.7 | 54.8 | 52.3 |
RSC South West | 54.66 | 55.59 | 53.7 | 67.2 | 59.2 | 58.9 |
RSC West Midlands | 58.62 | 52.57 | 46.7 | 57.9 | 58.6 | 56.3 |
In July 2022, the creation of Regions Group within the department led to the replacement of the RSC role with Regional Directors, with a broader remit for the delivery of special educational needs and disabilities support and children’s social care improvement and interventions in their regions alongside their role in relation to academies and free schools. The regional structures were also re-organised to align with geographical boundaries of English regions. This data is therefore not directly comparable to the previous years.
Workforce actual spend data for Regional Director teams 2022/2024
Workforce Actual Spend Data for Regional Director Teams 2022 – 2024 (Millions of GBP) | Workforce Actual | Workforce Actual (at end of Feb 2024) |
FY 2022/23 | FY 2023/24 | |
Regional Directorate - East Midlands | £2.70 | £3.11 |
Regional Directorate - East of England | £3.60 | £3.58 |
Regional Directorate - London | £4.06 | £3.68 |
Regional Directorate - North East | £2.47 | £2.09 |
Regional Directorate - North West | £4.44 | £4.36 |
Regional Directorate - South East | £4.04 | £3.93 |
Regional Directorate - South West | £4.34 | £4.13 |
Regional Directorate - West Midlands | £4.26 | £3.91 |
Regional Directorate - Yorkshire and the Humber | £4.00 | £3.89 |
Full Time Equivalent staffing data for Regional Director teams 2022/2024
Full Time Equivalent Staff per Region | FY22/23 | FY23/24 (Actual FTE at end of Feb 24) |
Regional Directorate - East Midlands | 47.7 | 54.6 |
Regional Directorate - East of England | 53.0 | 65.5 |
Regional Directorate - London | 55.6 | 56.3 |
Regional Directorate - North East | 38.3 | 33.2 |
Regional Directorate - North West | 76.2 | 80.0 |
Regional Directorate - South East | 62.8 | 61.2 |
Regional Directorate - South West | 66.3 | 78.5 |
Regional Directorate - West Midlands | 69.7 | 70.7 |
Regional Directorate - Yorkshire and the Humber | 62.7 | 71.7 |
Asked by: Ellie Reeves (Labour - Lewisham West and Penge)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment she has made of the potential impact of the decision to create 43 Hub Lead Organisations by Arts Council England on the future of (a) Music Education Hubs and (b) the wider music provision at schools.
Answered by Damian Hinds - Minister of State (Education)
Music Hubs are partnerships co-ordinated by a Hub Lead Organisation (HLO) and made up of schools and academy trusts, local authorities, music and wider arts and education organisations and charities, community or youth organisations and more. Having 43 HLOs working across a wider set of music education partnerships from September 2024 should bring significant benefits to children, young people and schools, as HLOs will be able to be more strategic, building stronger partnerships with those they work with, resulting in high-quality support in every local area and to ensure there are no local ‘cold spots’ where access to provision is limited.
This should also support a more consistent high-quality approach to music education for all children regardless of where they live or go to school, by offering:
Schools alone cannot provide the range of services needed for a good quality music education and Music Hubs provide many services that contribute to schools delivering high-quality music provision. Furthermore, Music Hubs will play a critical role in supporting schools who opt to implement the Model Music Curriculum published in 2021 and for schools implementing their Music Development Plans from September 2024. In time, Music Hubs will also support schools opting to use music curriculum resources from Oak National Academy, who will publish their full suite of key stage 3 and 4 resources in the summer and who recently announced a partner to produce a suite of key stages 1 and 2 resources.
The government has a long-standing commitment to high-quality music education and this is reflected in the government’s National Plan for Music Education published in June 2022. This sets out the vision to enable all children and young people to learn to sing, play an instrument and create music together, and have the opportunity to progress their musical interests and talents, including professionally by 2030. The department believes that Music Hubs play a vital role in ensuring children and young people across the country can access high-quality music education and this government values the many achievements that the existing Music Hub network has made since 2012.
The department has invested around £380 million of funding into Music Hubs between 2016 and 2021. As part of the National Plan for Music Education 2022, the department also announced £79 million of funding per year for the Music Hub programme, up to and including the 2024/25 academic year, to provide assurance and stability in music education. The department is also providing £25 million capital funding for musical instruments as part of the programme. The department will consider future funding for the next spending review in due course.
On average, the grant funding has consistently provided around 40% of a hub’s total income and hubs have historically used this to leverage other income streams over the lifespan of the programme. This co-funding approach will continue when the new programme is in place from September 2024. As set out in the investment programme, the department also expects organisations to have evidenced, as part of their applications to become one of the new HLOs, how at least 50% of a hub’s total income will come from other sources other than the revenue grant provided by the department by the end of the funding period.
There is no expectation on Music Hubs to provide free music tuition to all children. As part of the Music Hubs Investment Programme, bidders were required to submit plans detailing their strategic approach to ensure music education is inclusive of all children and young people with a range of needs, including how the Music Hub would ensure inclusion and widening opportunity will be embedded across all activity, plans and policies. This includes specific support and resources, including access to musical instruments, that will be made available for children and young people who are eligible for pupil premium, including looked-after children and/or those who are care experienced and those who have an identified special educational need or disability.
Asked by: Ellie Reeves (Labour - Lewisham West and Penge)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps she is taking to support schools to offer high quality music provision for all children (a) in the curriculum and (b) through (i) local authority-run and (ii) independent Music Education Hubs.
Answered by Damian Hinds - Minister of State (Education)
Music Hubs are partnerships co-ordinated by a Hub Lead Organisation (HLO) and made up of schools and academy trusts, local authorities, music and wider arts and education organisations and charities, community or youth organisations and more. Having 43 HLOs working across a wider set of music education partnerships from September 2024 should bring significant benefits to children, young people and schools, as HLOs will be able to be more strategic, building stronger partnerships with those they work with, resulting in high-quality support in every local area and to ensure there are no local ‘cold spots’ where access to provision is limited.
This should also support a more consistent high-quality approach to music education for all children regardless of where they live or go to school, by offering:
Schools alone cannot provide the range of services needed for a good quality music education and Music Hubs provide many services that contribute to schools delivering high-quality music provision. Furthermore, Music Hubs will play a critical role in supporting schools who opt to implement the Model Music Curriculum published in 2021 and for schools implementing their Music Development Plans from September 2024. In time, Music Hubs will also support schools opting to use music curriculum resources from Oak National Academy, who will publish their full suite of key stage 3 and 4 resources in the summer and who recently announced a partner to produce a suite of key stages 1 and 2 resources.
The government has a long-standing commitment to high-quality music education and this is reflected in the government’s National Plan for Music Education published in June 2022. This sets out the vision to enable all children and young people to learn to sing, play an instrument and create music together, and have the opportunity to progress their musical interests and talents, including professionally by 2030. The department believes that Music Hubs play a vital role in ensuring children and young people across the country can access high-quality music education and this government values the many achievements that the existing Music Hub network has made since 2012.
The department has invested around £380 million of funding into Music Hubs between 2016 and 2021. As part of the National Plan for Music Education 2022, the department also announced £79 million of funding per year for the Music Hub programme, up to and including the 2024/25 academic year, to provide assurance and stability in music education. The department is also providing £25 million capital funding for musical instruments as part of the programme. The department will consider future funding for the next spending review in due course.
On average, the grant funding has consistently provided around 40% of a hub’s total income and hubs have historically used this to leverage other income streams over the lifespan of the programme. This co-funding approach will continue when the new programme is in place from September 2024. As set out in the investment programme, the department also expects organisations to have evidenced, as part of their applications to become one of the new HLOs, how at least 50% of a hub’s total income will come from other sources other than the revenue grant provided by the department by the end of the funding period.
There is no expectation on Music Hubs to provide free music tuition to all children. As part of the Music Hubs Investment Programme, bidders were required to submit plans detailing their strategic approach to ensure music education is inclusive of all children and young people with a range of needs, including how the Music Hub would ensure inclusion and widening opportunity will be embedded across all activity, plans and policies. This includes specific support and resources, including access to musical instruments, that will be made available for children and young people who are eligible for pupil premium, including looked-after children and/or those who are care experienced and those who have an identified special educational need or disability.
Asked by: Ellie Reeves (Labour - Lewisham West and Penge)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how the Government’s Music Hub Investment Programme will support independent Music Education Hubs to provide free music education to all children.
Answered by Damian Hinds - Minister of State (Education)
Music Hubs are partnerships co-ordinated by a Hub Lead Organisation (HLO) and made up of schools and academy trusts, local authorities, music and wider arts and education organisations and charities, community or youth organisations and more. Having 43 HLOs working across a wider set of music education partnerships from September 2024 should bring significant benefits to children, young people and schools, as HLOs will be able to be more strategic, building stronger partnerships with those they work with, resulting in high-quality support in every local area and to ensure there are no local ‘cold spots’ where access to provision is limited.
This should also support a more consistent high-quality approach to music education for all children regardless of where they live or go to school, by offering:
Schools alone cannot provide the range of services needed for a good quality music education and Music Hubs provide many services that contribute to schools delivering high-quality music provision. Furthermore, Music Hubs will play a critical role in supporting schools who opt to implement the Model Music Curriculum published in 2021 and for schools implementing their Music Development Plans from September 2024. In time, Music Hubs will also support schools opting to use music curriculum resources from Oak National Academy, who will publish their full suite of key stage 3 and 4 resources in the summer and who recently announced a partner to produce a suite of key stages 1 and 2 resources.
The government has a long-standing commitment to high-quality music education and this is reflected in the government’s National Plan for Music Education published in June 2022. This sets out the vision to enable all children and young people to learn to sing, play an instrument and create music together, and have the opportunity to progress their musical interests and talents, including professionally by 2030. The department believes that Music Hubs play a vital role in ensuring children and young people across the country can access high-quality music education and this government values the many achievements that the existing Music Hub network has made since 2012.
The department has invested around £380 million of funding into Music Hubs between 2016 and 2021. As part of the National Plan for Music Education 2022, the department also announced £79 million of funding per year for the Music Hub programme, up to and including the 2024/25 academic year, to provide assurance and stability in music education. The department is also providing £25 million capital funding for musical instruments as part of the programme. The department will consider future funding for the next spending review in due course.
On average, the grant funding has consistently provided around 40% of a hub’s total income and hubs have historically used this to leverage other income streams over the lifespan of the programme. This co-funding approach will continue when the new programme is in place from September 2024. As set out in the investment programme, the department also expects organisations to have evidenced, as part of their applications to become one of the new HLOs, how at least 50% of a hub’s total income will come from other sources other than the revenue grant provided by the department by the end of the funding period.
There is no expectation on Music Hubs to provide free music tuition to all children. As part of the Music Hubs Investment Programme, bidders were required to submit plans detailing their strategic approach to ensure music education is inclusive of all children and young people with a range of needs, including how the Music Hub would ensure inclusion and widening opportunity will be embedded across all activity, plans and policies. This includes specific support and resources, including access to musical instruments, that will be made available for children and young people who are eligible for pupil premium, including looked-after children and/or those who are care experienced and those who have an identified special educational need or disability.
Asked by: Ellie Reeves (Labour - Lewisham West and Penge)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, for what reason additional funding to cover increases in employers’ pension contributions will not be provided to existing non-local authority Music Education Hubs beyond the current academic year.
Answered by Damian Hinds - Minister of State (Education)
As part of the ongoing Music Hubs investment programme, Arts Council England informed potential bidders on 15 June 2023 that Department for Education funding from September 2024 would be made up of the revenue and capital grants only, and that there would be no additional ring-fenced top-up funding to support teacher pensions from this point on. Indicative allocations for both revenue and capital were also published for the 2024/25 academic year as part of the investment programme information.
The department understands that this will be an adjustment for music education organisations that have received top-up funding in the past and that is why the department has given both incumbent and potential new Hub Lead Organisations (HLOs) over 12 months’ notice of this intention so that this can be carefully planned for well in advance.
Following the conclusion of the current Music Hubs competition, due to be announced next month, the department will work with Arts Council England to set final grant allocations for the newly competed HLOs that take over from September 2024. As part of this work, due consideration will be given to additional pension pressures due to the forthcoming increase in employer contribution to the Teacher Pension Scheme.
Asked by: Mark Hendrick (Labour (Co-op) - Preston)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if she will make an assessment of the implications for her policies of the reasons for which some disabled children cannot (a) eat and (b) access free school meals; and whether she plans to make reasonable adjustments to free school meals to help disabled children to access them.
Answered by Damian Hinds - Minister of State (Education)
All schools have duties under the Equality Act 2010 towards individual disabled children and young people, and they must make reasonable adjustments to prevent them being put at a substantial disadvantage. This means that a school cannot treat a pupil unfairly as a consequence of their disability.
As it relates to school food, the duty to make reasonable adjustments requires schools to tailor their provision to ensure that it is accessible to disabled pupils. Furthermore, this duty is anticipatory, and so schools need to actively consider whether any reasonable adjustments are needed in order to avoid any disadvantage that may otherwise occur.
The department has updated its existing guidance on free school meals to clarify schools’ duties to make reasonable adjustments for disabled children, and to support productive conversations between schools and parents about suitable food provision. The guidance can be found here: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/65fdad5965ca2f00117da947/Free_school_meals.pdf.
Asked by: Ellie Reeves (Labour - Lewisham West and Penge)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether her Department has issued guidance to independent music education hubs on the removal of additional top-up funding for pension contributions from September 2024.
Answered by Damian Hinds - Minister of State (Education)
As part of the ongoing Music Hubs investment programme, Arts Council England informed potential bidders on 15 June 2023 that Department for Education funding from September 2024 would be made up of the revenue and capital grants only, and that there would be no additional ring-fenced top-up funding to support teacher pensions from this point on. Indicative allocations for both revenue and capital were also published for the 2024/25 academic year as part of the investment programme information.
The department understands that this will be an adjustment for music education organisations that have received top-up funding in the past and that is why the department has given both incumbent and potential new Hub Lead Organisations (HLOs) over 12 months’ notice of this intention so that this can be carefully planned for well in advance.
Following the conclusion of the current Music Hubs competition, due to be announced next month, the department will work with Arts Council England to set final grant allocations for the newly competed HLOs that take over from September 2024. As part of this work, due consideration will be given to additional pension pressures due to the forthcoming increase in employer contribution to the Teacher Pension Scheme.
Asked by: Andrew Rosindell (Conservative - Romford)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what information his Department holds on the number of threatening calls that were made to schools in (a) Romford constituency and (b) the UK in the last 12 months.
Answered by Damian Hinds - Minister of State (Education)
Schools in England do not have a legal requirement to report to the department threats that are received via phone calls. However, schools are expected to have policies and procedures in place to handle these situations. The procedures may include reporting threats to local authorities and the police, this depends on the nature and severity of the threat. Schools may also choose to inform the relevant authorities as a precautionary measure to ensure the safety and security of students and staff.
Asked by: Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi (Labour - Slough)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what recent assessment she has made of the (a) adequacy of the level of experience of cover supervisors in schools and (b) potential impact of the use of cover supervisors on (i) student safety and (ii) educational outcomes.
Answered by Damian Hinds - Minister of State (Education)
Supply teachers perform a valuable role and make an important contribution to the smooth running of schools by filling posts on a temporary basis and by covering teacher absences.
The type of school a supply teacher works in determines the qualifications required. In local authority-maintained schools, maintained special schools and non-maintained special schools, anyone who teaches is legally required to hold qualified teacher status (QTS), subject to the following exceptions:
Academies, free schools and independent schools are not subject to these requirements and have the freedom to appoint teachers with alternative qualifications.
Headteachers are ultimately responsible for the educational performance in their schools and the governing body carries out certain checks on supply staff, and the department trusts them to take decisions about the right mix of qualifications, skills, and experience that they expect teachers in their schools to have.
In August 2018, in conjunction with the Crown Commercial Service, the department launched the agency supply deal. A link to the guidance can be found here: https://www.gov.uk/guidance/deal-for-schools-hiring-supply-teachers-and-agency-workers. The deal supports schools to get value for money when hiring agency supply teachers and other temporary school staff.
The deal has established a list of preferred suppliers that schools can access, all of which:
The department strongly recommends that schools consider using preferred suppliers first for their agency staffing needs.
Schools can learn more about the deal at: https://www.gov.uk/guidance/deal-for-schools-hiring-supply-teachers-and-agency-workers.
The department commissioned a research project last year into the use of supply staff in schools. This research has surveyed and interviewed supply teachers and school leaders and will improve understanding of the supply market. Publication of the report is due in the summer.