Asked by: Lord Redwood (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the 2027–28 cost of participating in the Erasmus+ programme.
Answered by Baroness Smith of Malvern - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
The government have now concluded negotiations with the European Commission on the UK’s association to Erasmus+ in 2027. This commitment covers the 2027/28 academic year. Any participation in Erasmus+ into the next Multiannual Financial Framework will need to be agreed in the future and be based on a fair and balanced contribution.
We have secured significantly improved financial terms compared to default arrangements, ensuring a fairer balance between the UK’s contribution to the EU and the number of UK participants who receive funding. We negotiated a 30% discount, securing participation for 2027 at a cost of approximately £570 million, saving UK taxpayers around £240 million while securing the benefits of participation for young people in the UK and across the EU.
The UK will receive most of that money back to distribute amongst UK beneficiaries. UK participants will also have the opportunity to compete for grants from a c.£1 billion central pot directly managed by the European Commission.
The department will report to Parliament the costs arising from our participation, including costs related to the implementation of the programme, in its annual accounts.
Asked by: Lord Redwood (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what grants were provided by her Department to (a) Wokingham Borough Council and (b) state-aided schools in Wokingham in the (i) 2022-23 and (ii) 2023-24 financial year; and how much was awarded in each grant.
Answered by Damian Hinds
Revenue funding covers ongoing or operational expenses associated with schools. The majority of this is provided on a per pupil basis to support learning and attainment, but it also includes other aspects such as school running costs and salaries.
The following revenue grants were allocated to Wokingham Borough Council and/or schools within the council in both the 2022/23 and 2023/24 financial years: the Dedicated Schools Grant, Pupil Premium, PE and Sports Premium, Coronavirus (COVID-19) Recovery Premium, National Tutoring Programme, Teachers’ Pension Employer Contribution Grant and Universal Infant Free School Meals.
Other grants were allocated in specific financial years, to support schools with growing costs and the 2023 teachers’ pay award. These include: the Schools Supplementary Grant (2022/23), Mainstream Schools Additional Grant (2023/24), Teachers’ Pay Additional Grant (2023/24).
Wokingham Borough Council’s revenue grant allocations can be found in the separate table provided. The total school revenue funding grants, broken down by individual schools within the local authority, are published annually, in full. For 2022/23, these can be found at: https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/find-statistics/school-funding-statistics. The 2023/24 financial year school revenue funding statistics are scheduled to be published in the same format in January 2024.
Additional revenue funding is provided for post-16 provisions, such as sixth forms and colleges.
The department also allocates capital funding each year to support local authorities to provide sufficient childcare, mainstream and high needs school places, as well as keeping the school buildings that they are responsible for safe and operational. The following capital grants were allocated to Wokingham Borough Council in both the 2022/23 and 2023/24 financial years: the Basic Need Capital Allocations Grant, High Needs Provision Capital Allocations Grant, Childcare Expansion Capital Grant and School Condition Allocations (SCA).
Larger multi-academy trusts and voluntary-aided bodies in Wokingham will also have been allocated SCA funding for the schools for which they are responsible, although allocations typically cut across local authority boundaries. Smaller academy-trusts and voluntary aided bodies will have been invited to bid into the Condition Improvement Fund (CIF), to apply for funding for specific projects. Outcomes for CIF for 2022/23 and 2023/24 can be found on GOV.UK.
State-funded schools in Wokingham will also have been allocated funding to spend on their capital priorities or contribute to larger projects through an annual Devolved Formula Capital allocation.
In 2022/23, eligible schools and sixth-form colleges also received an allocation from an additional £447 million of capital funding to improve energy efficiency.
More information on school condition funding, including allocations for 2022/23 and 2023/24, can be found on GOV.UK.
Wokingham Borough Council’s grant allocations for Basic Need, High Needs, Childcare and (for its maintained schools) total SCA for the 2022/23 and 2023/24 financial years can be found in the separate table provided.
Asked by: Lord Redwood (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what the (a) maximum and (b) average reduction in per pupil funding for a state secondary school was in each of the last five years.
Answered by Nick Gibb
Between 2015-16 and 2019-20 the government has made a significant investment in schools, with core schools funding growing by nearly £4 billion.
The table below shows the average funding per secondary pupil we have allocated to local authorities in England through the schools block of the Dedicated Schools Grant (DSG) for 2018-19 and 2019-20.
Financial year | Average Schools block secondary unit of funding (SUF) |
2018-19 | £5,228.74 |
2019-20 | £5,294.78 |
Before 2018-19, the Department did not distinguish between phases when allocating funding to local authorities through the DSG. Each local authority will have set their own funding rates for secondary pupils for each year in this period. The average funding per pupil (schools block unit of funding) for the period between 2014-15 and 2017-18 is available in the table below.
Financial year | Average Schools block unit of funding (SBUF) |
2014-15 | £4,555.02 |
2015-16 | £4,612.11 |
2016-17 | £4,636.43 |
2017-18 | £4,618.63 |
The drop in schools block per pupil funding between 2016-17 and 2017-18 is due to local authorities re-baselining funding between the DSG blocks, resulting in funding moving from the schools block into the high needs block.
In addition to schools block funding, schools also receive funding from separate funding streams and additional grants, such as the central schools services, and the high needs blocks of the DSG, as well as the Pupil Premium.
Local authorities continue to be responsible for distributing funding to schools in their local area, which they will have determined through their own local formulae. As a result, the Department does not hold any analysis of this data in order to provide the maximum and average change per secondary pupil at school level as requested. The Department publishes schools block allocations for individual maintained schools and academies online, which can be accessed at: https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/schools-block-funding-allocations.
Asked by: Lord Redwood (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what minimum per pupil sum is for a state secondary school to provide each pupil with a good quality education.
Answered by Nick Gibb
There is no consensus about the minimum operating cost of a school at present. Each school is unique and the Department believes it should be for head teachers to decide their operating model.
The Department does have minimum per pupil funding levels in the national funding formula (NFF). In 2019-20 the minimum per pupil funding level for secondary schools is £4,800. Local authorities remain responsible for decisions about the distribution of funding at the local level, and Wokingham Borough Council has chosen to implement the NFF minimum per pupil funding levels.
Asked by: Lord Redwood (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, which EU (a) legislative and (b) other proposals her Department is leading negotiations on for the Government in the Council of the EU.
Answered by Nick Gibb
The Department for Education is not leading any negotiations in the Council of the EU.
The Government Equalities Office is leading negotiations for the Government on a proposal for a Council Directive on implementing the principle of equal treatment between persons irrespective of religion or belief, disability, age or sexual orientation.
Asked by: Lord Redwood (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what EU directives related to her Department's responsibilities are awaiting transposition into UK law.
Answered by Nick Gibb
There are no EU directives relating to the Department for Education’s responsibilities that are awaiting transposition into UK law.
Asked by: Lord Redwood (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many new EU directives and regulations have been transposed into UK law by his Department since May 2010.
Answered by Nick Boles
The Department for Education has not had responsibility for transposing into UK law any EU directives or regulations since May 2010.
Asked by: Lord Redwood (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many times the UK has lost EU infraction proceedings since May 2010 which relate to matters that fall within her Department's responsibility.
Answered by Nick Boles
The UK has never been fined for an infraction.
Since May 2010, the UK has not lost any EU infraction proceedings that relate to matters that fall within the Department for Education’s responsibility.
Asked by: Lord Redwood (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what levels of stock his Department holds of (a) stationery, (b) printer cartridges, (c) treasury tags and other fasteners and (d) other office consumables.
Answered by Elizabeth Truss
The information requested is not held centrally, and could only be collated at disproportionate cost.