Became Member: 12th July 1994
Left House: 20th December 2017 (Death)
Speeches made during Parliamentary debates are recorded in Hansard. For ease of browsing we have grouped debates into individual, departmental and legislative categories.
These initiatives were driven by Lord Quirk, and are more likely to reflect personal policy preferences.
Lord Quirk has not introduced any legislation before Parliament
Lord Quirk has not co-sponsored any Bills in the current parliamentary sitting
The Department’s target is for 93% of telephone enquiries to be answered within 45 seconds.
Call volumes to the general enquiries telephone line for the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills were as follows:
April 2012-March 2013: 41,562 calls
April 2013-March 2014: 31,426 calls (a 24% decrease from 2012-2013)
April 2014-March 2015: 30,533 calls (a 3% decrease from 2013-2014)
Training provision on communication skills is dependent on the needs of officials and teams. An advanced level course on the professional handling of telephone calls was most recently delivered to frontline call handlers on Thursday 20 August.
The government currently has no plans to introduceAutomatic Speaker Verification in respect of the detection of fraudulent telephone access to government services.
The Government agrees it is critical that all students acquire the essential literacy and numeracy skills they need to make the most of their courses and progress into a fulfilling career.
Alongside the reforms to raise standards in schools and increase the number and quality of apprenticeships, our Higher Education Green Paper sets out further measures to ensure all students benefit from high-quality teaching.
Decisions about which students to admit is ultimately a matter for individual institutions, but by lifting the cap on student numbers we are ensuring that more students can benefit from higher education than ever before.
We value diversity in the workforce and want to attract high quality teachers from both sexes. Recent figures show that, while 15% of full-time equivalent teachers in publicly- funded primary schools in England are male, the proportion of men starting primary initial teacher training programmes in 2014/15 is 21%, the highest proportion since comparable records were first maintained in 2008/09.
Teaching is a hugely popular career and there are currently more teachers in England’s classrooms than ever before and record levels of top graduates entering the profession.
In order to support recruitment in 2016/17, we have increased postgraduate bursaries, which put a premium on degree class, to attract top graduates in English Baccalaureate subjects including physics, mathematics, chemistry, biology, computing, modern foreign languages and geography. Prestigious scholarships, worth £30,000 for physics and £25,000 for mathematics, chemistry or computing, are also available to talented graduates with a first or 2:1 degree who are passionate about their subject and have the potential to be inspirational teachers. We are also continuing to fund Teach First and their mission to get the best graduates into challenging schools.
We are spending £67 million to recruit an additional 2,500 mathematics and physics teachers and boost the skills of 15,000 existing non-specialist teachers. This package includes new undergraduate courses that provide students in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) subjects the option to train to teach alongside their academic studies, and paid internships in teaching to increase opportunities for STEM undergraduates to experience teaching before they commit to it as a career.
We also run a programme of marketing activities to explain the benefits of a career in teaching and attract young people into the profession. This includes communicating with young people via the “Get into Teaching” website, digital advertising and activity on social media. Department officials attend more than 40 graduate recruitment events each year where they meet one-to-one with students, setting out the benefits of a career in teaching.
The government is committed to making teaching an attractive career for talented people, and will continue to support schools recruit and retain the brightest and best teachers. At a national level, our indicators show that the system overall is recruiting and retaining a sufficient number of teachers to meet demand. However, we fully recognise that, as the economy improves, schools face a challenge to recruit teachers, with schools in certain areas, such as coastal and rural areas, often facing greater difficulties.
We are supporting schools through policies that help them to attract and retain good teachers, such as reducing unnecessary workload, tackling poor pupil behaviour, and increasing pay flexibility.
The government’s plan for education is designed to help every student, regardless of their background, develop the knowledge, skills and values to prepare them for life in modern Britain. That is why we are reforming GCSEs and A levels to be robust and rigorous, to match the best education systems in the world and to keep pace with universities’ and employers’ demands.
We have also introduced gold-standard technical and vocational qualifications, ensuring our young people can choose from a wide range of academic and vocational courses.
The government has consulted extensively with a range of educational stakeholders including the teaching sectors and employers.
The government is committed to ensuring that all teachers are trained to tackle serious behaviour issues as well as low-level classroom disruption. We have not undertaken a formal assessment of any correlation between classroom behaviour and classroom seating arrangements; however Sir Andrew Carter’s recent review of initial teacher training (ITT) content identified that some training courses are insufficiently robust in terms of training teachers to manage poor pupil behaviour. That is why we have invited Tom Bennett, a renowned behaviour expert, to lead an expert group to develop core content on behaviour management for ITT. His group will consider how best to promote their recommendations to ITT providers.
All qualified teachers are required to meet the Teachers’ Standards, which include specific requirements for developing and demonstrating effective behaviour management skills. This includes setting clear rules and routines for behaviour in classrooms, and taking responsibility for promoting good and courteous behaviour both in classrooms and around the school.
The government is committed to ensuring that all teachers are trained to tackle serious behaviour issues as well as low-level classroom disruption. We have not undertaken a formal assessment of any correlation between classroom behaviour and classroom seating arrangements; however Sir Andrew Carter’s recent review of initial teacher training (ITT) content identified that some training courses are insufficiently robust in terms of training teachers to manage poor pupil behaviour. That is why we have invited Tom Bennett, a renowned behaviour expert, to lead an expert group to develop core content on behaviour management for ITT. His group will consider how best to promote their recommendations to ITT providers.
All qualified teachers are required to meet the Teachers’ Standards, which include specific requirements for developing and demonstrating effective behaviour management skills. This includes setting clear rules and routines for behaviour in classrooms, and taking responsibility for promoting good and courteous behaviour both in classrooms and around the school.
The review of the English National Curriculum involved consideration of the curricula of high-performing jurisdictions around the world in which English is the medium of instruction. The high-performing jurisdictions selected for the review, which included looking at how vocabulary development was approached, were all outside continental Europe. The analysis for the review was extended to some non-Anglophone jurisdictions in order to assess how different jurisdictions define expectations around the reading of literature in their curricula. The eight European non-Anglophone jurisdictions selected were Denmark, Estonia, France, Latvia, Lithuania, Malta, Portugal and Poland.
The report from the review of what we can learn from the English, mathematics and science curricula of high-performing jurisdictions can be found here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/review-of-the-national-curriculum-in-england-what-can-we-learn-from-the-english-mathematics-and-science-curricula-of-high-performing-jurisdictions
In February 2014, following results of the Teacher Voice survey (2013) which showed that one in three secondary school teachers lacked confidence in their powers to discipline pupils, we updated our behaviour advice to make clear the range of sanctions that it is permissible for schools to deploy for poor behaviour. This update was aimed to reassure teachers of their powers to discipline pupils and increase teacher confidence to confront poor pupil behaviour.
The Teacher Voice survey funded by the Department for Education was repeated in May 2014, just three months after the behaviour advice was updated. The majority of teachers (74 per cent) said that the standard of pupil behaviour in their school is ‘good’ or ‘very good’. This is broadly similar to the findings for 2013 and an increase of 4 percentage points on the respective figure for 2008.
In addition, the Ofsted Annual Report published in December 2014 shows that 83 per cent of schools have behaviour that is good or better. We aim to repeat the same behaviour questions in future waves of the Teacher Voice survey in order to measure change in pupil behaviour over time.
Recent evidence suggests that the 16 to 19 funding and study programme reforms are now beginning to have a measurable impact on student provision.
Latest official figures[1] show the proportion of 16 year olds in education or apprenticeships at the end of 2013 was 93.8%. These figures reflect the first cohort impacted by raising the participation age and therefore suggest the policy is having a positive impact.
The number of students studying in full time education in academic year 2013 to 2014 has increased by 35% on the previous year.
In the same period, the number of students studying advanced (level 3) qualifications has increased by 11% and in year data suggests that 16 to 19 student enrolment in English and maths is better than expected with 89% of students without C grades in English and/or maths continuing their study in FE institutions.
Additionally, in September 2014 the government published a list of approved Applied General and Tech Level qualifications, improving the quality and relevance of vocational qualifications subjects on offer.
[1] Participation in education, training and employment, age 16 to 18 Statistical First Release https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/participation-in-education-training-and-employment-age-16-to-18
Vocabulary development is embedded with the information on grammar in the section of the National Curriculum framework document entitled ‘Vocabulary, grammar and punctuation’, which also sets out the terminology that pupils should be taught to use to discuss their writing.
The National Curriculum framework does not contain a separate programme of study for vocabulary, nor did it in draft form. Vocabulary development is instead emphasised and integrated throughout the programmes of study, and linked to reading, writing and spelling. Reading widely and often, together with reading for pleasure, is also reinforced throughout the programmes of study, and attention to the quantity and quality of reading will support vocabulary development.
The National Curriculum framework sets a clear expectation that teachers develop pupils’ vocabulary actively, building systematically on pupils’ current knowledge.
Vocabulary development is embedded with the information on grammar in the section of the National Curriculum framework document entitled ‘Vocabulary, grammar and punctuation’, which also sets out the terminology that pupils should be taught to use to discuss their writing.
The National Curriculum framework does not contain a separate programme of study for vocabulary, nor did it in draft form. Vocabulary development is instead emphasised and integrated throughout the programmes of study, and linked to reading, writing and spelling. Reading widely and often, together with reading for pleasure, is also reinforced throughout the programmes of study, and attention to the quantity and quality of reading will support vocabulary development.
The National Curriculum framework sets a clear expectation that teachers develop pupils’ vocabulary actively, building systematically on pupils’ current knowledge.
The importance of vocabulary development is emphasised and integrated throughout the National Curriculum framework. This covers both general vocabulary development and the subject-specific language that pupils need to be able to use to progress in, for example, mathematics and science. Both the reading and writing domains of the English programmes of study emphasise the importance of building pupils’ vocabulary, so they understand and can use a wide range of words.
The approach to developing vocabulary is first through securing word reading and comprehension and second through pupils developing an understanding of how words and meaning can be created using prefixes and suffixes. Morphology and etymology are emphasised at Key Stage 2 to further develop pupils’ capacity for understanding and developing vocabulary. This is brought together in the appendix covering vocabulary, grammar and punctuation, which also sets out the terminology that pupils should be taught to use to discuss their writing.
The National Curriculum Framework document was updated in December 2014 to include the new science programmes of study for Key Stage 4. The English programmes of study remain unchanged since their original publication in September 2013 for Key Stages 1-3 and June 2014 for Key Stage 4.
We welcome Her Majesty’s Chief Inspector’s report which highlights continuing improvement in schools and further education. The report shows that there are now over a million more children being taught in good and outstanding schools than in 2010. The Chief Inspector is right to highlight areas which require further improvement and these matters will form part of the regular discussion between ministers and Ofsted. As part of its role, the Commons Education Select Committee will be taking evidence from the Chief Inspector about the Annual Report at its hearing on 28 January 2015 and we will consider the evidence from that session as part of our ongoing discussions with the Chief Inspector. As a government we are committed to ensuring high standards in schools across the country.
The importance of vocabulary development is emphasised and integrated throughout the National Curriculum framework. This covers both general vocabulary development and the subject-specific language that pupils need to be able to use to progress in, for example, mathematics and science. Both the reading and writing domains of the English programmes of study emphasise the importance of building pupils’ vocabulary, so they understand and can use a wide range of words.
The approach to developing vocabulary is first through securing word reading and comprehension and second through pupils developing an understanding of how words and meaning can be created using prefixes and suffixes. Morphology and etymology are emphasised at Key Stage 2 to further develop pupils’ capacity for understanding and developing vocabulary. This is brought together in the appendix covering vocabulary, grammar and punctuation, which also sets out the terminology that pupils should be taught to use to discuss their writing.
The National Curriculum Framework document was updated in December 2014 to include the new science programmes of study for Key Stage 4. The English programmes of study remain unchanged since their original publication in September 2013 for Key Stages 1-3 and June 2014 for Key Stage 4.
As set out in section 5(2) of the Education Act 2005 (as amended) all state-funded schools are subject to inspection by Ofsted. This includes all community, foundation and voluntary schools, community and foundation special schools, pupil referral units, maintained nursery schools, academies (which includes free schools), city technology colleges, city technology colleges for the technology of the arts and certain non-maintained special schools approved by the Secretary of State under section 342 of the Education Act 1996.
As part of our plan for education the Government is ensuring that local authorities have the resources and flexibility to provide the school places needed by their communities.
We are giving councils £5 billion to spend on new school places over the course of this parliament and have announced a further £2.35 billion to create the places needed by September 2017. This has already enabled local authorities to create 260,000 additional pupil places between May 2010 and May 2013, with many more in the pipeline for September 2015.
Funding for the day-to-day running of a school is based primarily on the number of pupils in the school. Local authorities are able to allocate additional funding for pupils with particular needs – including pupils for whom English is not their first language.
The new core maths qualification is designed for students who have already achieved a GCSE grade C and wish to continue studying maths but not necessarily at AS/A level.
Qualifications are already available for students that have not achieved a GCSE C grade in either maths or English but are not yet ready to retake their GCSE.
A list of 263 stepping stone qualifications for teaching from September 2014 was published on 17 July and is updated regularly. 178 of those qualifications are specifically for English, 79 for maths and 6 combined.
We believe schools and colleges were given enough notice and information. The Department for Education introduced 16-19 Study Programme requirements in August 2013 following public consultation in 2011 and a series of publications and dissemination activities in 2012.
“Study Programmes for 16-19 year olds – Government response to consultation and plans for implementation” was published in June 2012. This set out the curriculum changes required. The publication in December 2012 of “16-19 Funding Formula 2013/14 – Funding full participation and study programmes for young people” included further details of the funding conditions associated with these changes.
In autumn 2012, the Department sponsored nine Regional Conferences about 16-19 study programmes. Schools and colleges were further notified of curriculum and funding changes in the termly emails sent by the Department to all head teachers and chairs of governors. The EFA also include details in their fortnightly post-16 bulletins.
Information provided to schools and colleges including articles, case studies, technical guidance and lists of approved vocational qualifications are available on GOV.UK and provider websites. The most recent update is published online at:
The Ofsted Report “Transforming 16-19 education and training” evaluates progress in the implementation of 16-19 study programmes immediately following their introduction in September 2013. Inevitably, it will take time for such far-reaching changes to take effect.
The Department for Education introduced changes to the 16-19 curriculum to ensure that all students had clear education and employment goals and that the subjects they studied, and other activity, contributed towards these. Students who had not already achieved a GCSE in maths and English were also required to continue to study these subjects.
Ofsted’s report reveals that most schools and colleges had made changes, particularly in relation to English and maths.
Schools and colleges were notified of the 16-19 Study Programme requirements in the termly Departmental emails sent to all head teachers and chairs of governors. Further communications will emphasise how these changes will affect Ofsted inspection grades.
This Government has made a historic commitment to address long-standing concerns about the literacy and maths skills of young people in England. The Department for Education is reforming the English and mathematics curriculum and qualifications to be academically rigorous, and to keep pace with universities’ and employers’ demands. We want to make sure that young people have access to English and mathematics education that set expectations matching those in the highest performing countries.
The Department is also reforming A and AS levels in English and mathematics to make sure they properly equip students for higher education. Students will start to study the new A levels in English from September 2015. Reformed A and AS levels in mathematics will be introduced from September 2016.
New level 3 Core Maths qualifications are currently being piloted and will become available from 2015. These new qualifications encourage students to continue the study of mathematics post-16. The Government is providing £20 million in 2014-16 to support piloting and to build capacity to teach the new Core Maths qualifications in schools, sixth form colleges and further education colleges.
From 2015, students will be able to study new GCSEs in English and mathematics. These reformed qualifications will provide greater assurance of strong English, literacy and mathematics.
In July 2012, the Government announced that students that did not hold at least a C grade GCSE would have to continue to study English and mathematics from age 16 to 18 or the institution they attend would lose funding. More recently, Minister Hancock announced that, from September 2015, students holding a D grade in English and/or mathematics would have to take a GCSE course only rather than an alternative stepping stone qualification.
Since 2012, the Department for Education and the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills have been working with the sector and stakeholders to prepare for the expansion of post-16 GCSE teaching. A two-year, £30 million further education workforce package has been introduced, focusing on training existing teachers and recruiting more graduates to teach English and mathematics at GCSE level.
The Department for Education believes that improving the quality of teaching in both English and mathematics is crucial to ensure that all students have the foundation for future study and work. The Government believes that it is important that schools take responsibility for their own development, and Government support is therefore carefully focused on priorities for improvement.
In English, we are placing a particular emphasis on getting the basics right at primary school and, alongside the reform of the national curriculum, have already provided schools with £23.7 million in match-funding to enable teachers to purchase high quality phonics products and training materials. From September 2011 to October 2013 over 14,300 schools (around 80% of eligible schools) with key stage 1 and, from January 2013, key stage 2 claimed up to £3,000 in match-funding.
By ensuring high quality phonics teaching, the Government’s aim is to improve literacy levels to give all children a solid base to build upon as they progress through school.
The Department for Education has made it clear that a return to textbooks would support the new national curriculum. High-quality textbooks can prevent teachers from spending unnecessary time creating plans from scratch, and provide well-planned stretching activities for pupils. The new national curriculum presents new opportunities for publishers to provide quality materials for teachers. The expert subject groups that the department has facilitated have been working closely with educational publishers to make sure that the challenging areas of the new national curriculum, including English, will be fully covered by high-quality teaching materials.
The Department for Education wants all pupils to acquire a wide vocabulary and become competent in the conventions for reading, writing and spoken language. The Department’s new English curriculum aims to ensure that all pupils can write clearly and accurately and are competent in the arts of speaking and listening. The Government believes that it is important that schools take responsibility for their own improvement, including identifying what support their teachers need to ensure that they are teaching the new curriculum most effectively.
The Department for Education has made it clear that a return to textbooks would support the new national curriculum. High-quality textbooks can prevent teachers from spending unnecessary time creating plans from scratch, and they provide well-planned stretching activities for pupils. England has very low textbook use compared with many other countries, including high-performing countries like Singapore, where mathematics textbooks play an important part in the success of their pupils. The efficacy studies of the Marshall Cavendish mathematics textbooks are compelling, and the Department is delighted that these textbooks are being adapted for the English market.
The information requested is only available at disproportionate cost.
All children, regardless of circumstance or setting deserve a good education. We have taken a range of actions to drive up the quality of education for those children who are educated in alternative provision (AP) following an exclusion, including through the introduction of AP academies and AP free schools.
Information on the number of permanent and fixed period exclusions since 2000 is published in the “Permanent and fixed period exclusions from schools in England: 2011 to 2012 academic year” Statistical First Release[1]. Information on fixed period exclusions was collected for the first time in 2003/04. Information for 2012/13 will be published on 31 July 2014.
It is vital that teachers have the support and respect of parents to manage pupil behaviour so they can teach in an orderly environment.Good schools recognise the importance of engaging parents and have developed their own approaches according to the particular circumstances of the school.
In response to a question about what teachers viewed as the most common factors causing poor behaviour in schools, excluding special educational needs and other medical factors, 72% considered ‘lack of parental support or poor parenting skills' as the most common factor causing poor behaviour, and ‘parental lack of respect for teachers and authority' was the second most frequently selected factor.
We are aware of research, including that based on data from the National Child Development Study, that shows that parental involvement has a positive effect on children's achievement even when the influence of background factors such as social class and family size have been taken into account.
The 2013 National Foundation for Educational Research (NfER) Teacher Voice Survey, commissioned by the Department for Education, found that 55% of teachers surveyed agreed that parents generally respected a teacher's authority to discipline pupils.
In March 2014, we published a series of case studies on behaviour and bullying, which include examples of what good schools are doing to engage parents in a spirit of openness and shared responsibility. These case studies contain examples of the work good schools do with parents to encourage participation of hard-to-reach groups and are published online at:
https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/managing-behaviour-and-bullying-in-schools-case-studies
The Department for Education believes that improving the quality of teaching in literacy and numeracy is crucial to building the foundation for future study and work. The Government has revised the national curriculum and set more rigorous and challenging content in English and mathematics to match the highest performing countries around the world. The new programmes of study for English and maths will challenge pupils to realise their potential in an increasingly competitive global market.
The new maths GCSE will have more content, be more challenging and – alongside English - will be double weighted in school performance tables. The Department has recently allocated £11 million to fund 32 new maths hubs to support a more challenging maths GCSE to improve the quality of maths education. This initiative, which includes a teacher exchange programme with Shanghai, will enable every school and college in England, from early years to the post-16 sector, to access locally-tailored support in all areas of maths teaching and learning.
The new national curriculum for English places a greater emphasis on reading and requires pupils to study a range of books, poems and plays.
The national curriculum for English will give teachers greater flexibility and freedom which will help to raise standards and expectations for all pupils. It has been significantly slimmed down and will free up teachers to use their professional judgement to design curricula that meet the needs of their pupils.
The new English language GCSE will place greater demands on pupils and has more emphasis on those skills demanded by employers. The new English literature GCSE will build on this foundation, and encourage students to read, write and think critically.
The Department for Education has made no assessment of the impact of children facing, or not facing, the teacher.
The Department believes that teachers should have a plan for pupil seating arrangements in classrooms, rather than leaving it to pupil preference or chance. Where and how pupils are seated will depend entirely on the lesson and its objectives. Teachers are best placed to take these decisions.
Good behaviour and discipline are key to effective teaching and learning. The recent OECD report identified that serious disciplinary problems in England are unusual and in most schools the learning environment is good. Just 21% of teachers in England agree or strongly agree that they have to wait quite a long time at the start of their class for students to quieten down. This is less than the median for all countries of 27% and below all but one of the high-performing countries. England is typically very close to the international average on other measures of classroom disciplinary environment, including disruptive noise and interruptions in the classroom.
This Government has never been complacent in trying to equip schools with the tools they need to manage discipline in the classroom. That is why we gave schools the powers to impose same-day detentions, extended their powers to search for items that could cause harm or offence, made clear that schools should not have a ‘no touch' policy and clarified the use of reasonable force. The Government also introduced a system of independent review panels which, unlike the previous system, cannot undermine schools' decisions on permanent exclusion. In September 2012 we introduced the New National Professional Qualification for Headship with more robust content on behaviour management. In addition, Ofsted have begun implementing no-notice follow-up school monitoring inspections where concerns were previously identified about standards of behaviour.
More recently, in February 2014, and following results from the Teacher Voice Survey (2013) which showed that one in three secondary teachers lacked confidence in their powers to discipline pupils, we:
· issued updated behaviour advice to make clear that tough but proportionate sanctions, including litter picking in the playground, removing graffiti, writing lines or an essay, are all valid punishments;
· produced a series of case studies showing how good schools manage behaviour, ranging from the use of inclusion art projects, having a specially modified curriculum, using Saturday detentions and increased visibility of senior staff around school throughout the day.
We remain determined to support schools in providing safe, calm and orderly classrooms where pupils can learn effectively.
The Government does not have any evidence of any correlation between bad behaviour in schools and the absence of a specified dress code for pupils and teachers.
The Department for Education has issued advice that strongly encourages schools to have a uniform, as it can play a valuable role in contributing to the ethos of a school and setting an appropriate tone. However, it is for the governing body of a school (or the academy trust in the case of academies and free schools) to decide whether there should be a uniform policy and other rules on appearance. This flows from the duties placed upon all governing bodies by statute to ensure that school policies promote good behaviour and discipline among the pupil body.
Dress codes for teachers are a matter for employers to determine, whether that is the governing body, academy trust or local authority. As part of the general terms and conditions of employment agreed with employees we would expect schools to consider an appropriate dress code, relevant to the individual setting, taking into account the requirements of the post.
Information on the number of exclusions from academies in England in the 2010/11[1] and 2011/12[2] academic years is available in table 16 of the “Permanent and fixed period exclusions from schools in England” statistical first releases for each year.
Information on the number of excluded pupils that were admitted to local authority schools is not held by the Department.
Academies are bound by their funding agreements to comply with the statutory requirements on admissions and the Admissions Code as if they were a maintained school. Schools, including academies, cannot refuse to admit pupils on the grounds of past behaviour unless they have received two or more permanent exclusions.
Ofsted's annual report (2012/13) indicates that around 700,000 pupils are in schools where behaviour needs to improve.
This figure is based on Ofsted's behaviour inspection judgement for 2013, which shows that nationally 8 per cent of schools in England are rated less than ‘good', and the number of pupils on roll in schools taken from the rounded January 2013 School Census Data. Information in the form requested is not held by the Department.
29 per cent of secondary school teachers did not feel confident using disciplinary powers, compared to 17 per cent of primary school teachers. The Department for Education does not hold separate data for local authority schools and academies.
Permanent exclusions data was first collected in 1994/95. Information on fixed period exclusions was only collected from 2003/04.
Information on exclusion rates prior to 2005/06 was collected via the Termly Exclusions Survey rather than the School Census.
Exclusion is a decision for headteachers alone to take. The Government does not set targets or expected levels for exclusion. Rather, the Government's policy is that headteachers need to ensure good discipline in schools, in the interest of all their pupils, and should feel confident in using exclusion where they believe this is warranted by a pupil's behaviour.
The current targets across DWP for answering telephone calls from the public are:
· Working Age Benefits - 2 minutes (with the exception of Universal Credit which is 1 minute 30 seconds).
· State Pension, State Pension Credit, Personal Independence Payment, Disability Living Allowance, Attendance Allowance, Carers Allowance - 1 minute 30 seconds.
· Child Maintenance Group - 1 minute.
We are unable to provide information relating to the request for a percentage change over the past three years in the number of telephone calls from the public, as prior to April 2013, reporting was produced through the telephony platform itself. As the platform has a 14 rolling month data retention policy, and no robust archive of data was maintained at this time, robust data is not available for this period.
All staff working in the Department for Work and Pensions who are new to delivering phone services receive job specific training which includes communication skills. New members of staff also have the opportunity to observe experienced staff allowing them to pick up a range of communication skills from experienced Agents.
The Department established Health Education England (HEE) with a clear duty to ensure an effective system is in place for education and training in the National Health Service and public health system and that our future workforce has the right numbers, skills, values and behaviours to meet patients’ needs today and tomorrow, taking account of all the available evidence.
The Centre for Workforce Intelligence (CfWI) was commissioned to undertake a stocktake of the speech and language therapy (SLT) workforce in England that investigates the current balance of demand and supply for SLTs and explores how this is expected to change by 2025. The scope included all SLTs, including those working in the public and private sector.
HEE plans to commission 668 Speech and Language therapist training in 2015-16, an increase of 3.7% over 2014-15. HEE will take the content of the CfWI SLT stocktake into account in their workforce planning and future commissioning decisions.
The British Government is aware of the harmful practice of breast ironing in some Commonwealth and other African countries. There is little reliable data on the number of girls suffering this form of abuse, but we strongly condemn violence against women and girls in all its forms.
The Government places gender equality at the heart of our bilateral development programming and works through diplomatic and development channels to tackle the causes and drivers of violence against women and girls as a matter of priority. The manifestations of violence may change but it is critical to address the structural causes of violence, including harmful beliefs and attitudes.
In Cameroon, Kenya and Nigeria we are continuing to engage with governments and local communities to support the rights of women and girls, including ending harmful practices which constitute violence against women and girls. In Cameroon our High Commission has been working closely with the Minister of Women’s Empowerment and the Family on campaigns in coordination with local religious leaders, to raise awareness and support community-led change to end the harmful practice of breast ironing.
The British Government is aware of the harmful practice of breast ironing in some Commonwealth and other African countries. There is little reliable data on the number of girls suffering this form of abuse, but we strongly condemn violence against women and girls in all its forms.
The Government places gender equality at the heart of our bilateral development programming and works through diplomatic and development channels to tackle the causes and drivers of violence against women and girls as a matter of priority. The manifestations of violence may change but it is critical to address the structural causes of violence, including harmful beliefs and attitudes.
In Cameroon, Kenya and Nigeria we are continuing to engage with governments and local communities to support the rights of women and girls, including ending harmful practices which constitute violence against women and girls. In Cameroon our High Commission has been working closely with the Minister of Women’s Empowerment and the Family on campaigns in coordination with local religious leaders, to raise awareness and support community-led change to end the harmful practice of breast ironing.
The Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) has held meetings throughout the past year with a number of diplomatic missions and international organisations about outstanding parking fines and other debts. The subject of a mission’s outstanding debts is also raised with all incoming Heads of Mission. In April this year FCO officials wrote to all diplomatic missions with unpaid parking fines over £500 to give them the opportunity to either pay the outstanding fines, or to dispute them with the creditors, before the publication of the details to Parliament. Subsequent payments of parking fines, including amounts waived by councils, totalled £214,154.
The Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) has held meetings throughout the past year with a number of diplomatic missions and international organisations about outstanding London Congestion Charge bills and fines, and other debts. The subject of a mission’s outstanding debts is also raised with all incoming Heads of Mission.
In March this year FCO officials wrote to all diplomatic missions with unpaid London Congestion Charges over £100,000 requesting payment of the outstanding fines as a matter of priority and to give them the opportunity to pay the outstanding fines, or to dispute them with Transport for London (TfL), before we published the details.
Statistics provided by TfL show that the vast majority (around two thirds) of diplomatic missions pay Congestion Charges. Diplomatic missions which do not pay, claim that the Congestion Charge is a form of tax from which they should be exempt under the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations (VCDR) 1961. The view of the Government is that there are no legal grounds to exempt diplomats and they are therefore expected to pay Congestion Charges. Officials from the FCO, the Department for Transport (DfT) and TfL continue work to identify a solution to the legal impasse with non-paying missions.
HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC) recognise that their customer service has not been good enough, and have taken major steps to improve, including recruiting 3,000 new staff into customer service roles, available outside normal office hours when many of their customers choose to call them. The process of recruiting and training the new staff is now complete. These improvements have started to make a difference. This month, HMRC have answered more than 80 per cent of calls, and average queue times are now around 10 minutes.
HMRC also recognise that some customers have been waiting too long for a response to their complaint. HMRC have recovery plans in place and their performance is improving week on week.
HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC) recognise that their customer service has not been good enough, and have taken major steps to improve, including recruiting 3,000 new staff into customer service roles, available outside normal office hours when many of their customers choose to call them. The process of recruiting and training the new staff is now complete. These improvements have started to make a difference. This month, HMRC have answered more than 80 per cent of calls, and average queue times are now around 10 minutes.
HMRC also recognise that some customers have been waiting too long for a response to their complaint. HMRC have recovery plans in place and their performance is improving week on week.
As stated in an earlier response (HL897), HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) publishes its performance data quarterly on the gov.uk website.
HMRC handles 50 million calls a year from customers. It aims to answer 80 per cent of all calls and accepts that it is not currently delivering on that aspiration. HMRC published a press release on 25 June in which it apologised for the poor service, acknowledged that some customers were struggling to get through on the telephone and outlined a number of initiatives it is putting in place to improve performance.
All new HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) telephony advisers receive two days of call handling soft skills training, prior to handling customer calls. Further call handling training is provided depending on the needs of the advisor.
The first escalation for complaints from an adviser is to a Team Leader. 80 per cent of complaints are successfully handled at this point.
HMRC’s Personal Tax Operations has a specific team who deal with customer complaints received via telephone.
HMRC has a target of answering 80 per cent of all calls received.
Information regarding the training and performance on telephony issues for other Government Departments is not held centrally and should be obtained from the Departments concerned.
All new HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) telephony advisers receive two days of call handling soft skills training, prior to handling customer calls. Further call handling training is provided depending on the needs of the advisor.
The first escalation for complaints from an adviser is to a Team Leader. 80 per cent of complaints are successfully handled at this point.
HMRC’s Personal Tax Operations has a specific team who deal with customer complaints received via telephone.
HMRC has a target of answering 80 per cent of all calls received.
Information regarding the training and performance on telephony issues for other Government Departments is not held centrally and should be obtained from the Departments concerned.