Asked by: Ben Bradley (Conservative - Mansfield)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps he is taking to help teachers share lesson plans and professional development resources throughout their profession.
Answered by Nick Gibb
Through the Curriculum Fund, the Government is investing £7.7 million over five years to support the development and sharing of high quality complete curriculum programmes. In January, the Department awarded grants to 11 lead schools to share and pilot high quality complete curriculum programmes in over 60 other primary and secondary schools in science, history and geography. The purpose of the pilot is to better understand how curriculum programmes can be effectively implemented in other schools to reduce teacher workload and support better quality teaching. More information on the pilot can be found here: www.gov.uk/government/publications/curriculum-fund-programme-pilot.
Asked by: Ben Bradley (Conservative - Mansfield)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what estimate he has made of the number of secondary school school places that will be required in Mansfield in each year to 2025.
Answered by Nick Gibb
The Government has committed £7 billion of funding for school places between 2015 and 2021, on top of investment in the free schools programme. The school system is on track to create 1 million places this decade, the largest increase in school capacity for at least two generations.
The Department collects pupil forecasts, existing school capacities, and plans to deliver additional school places from each local authority via the annual school capacity survey. Information from local authorities, together with information on centrally funded projects to add places, such as new free schools, is used to produce estimates of the future need for school places.
The latest available estimates show that the 20 secondary planning areas within Nottinghamshire may require an additional 997 secondary school places by 2023/24 in order to meet forecast demand, of which Mansfield Secondary planning area may require 82 additional secondary school places.
The latest published data held relates to the position in the 2016/17 academic year and includes secondary forecasts to 2023/24. Data for the 2017/2018 academic year are due to be published on 28 March 2019.
Basic need allocations are based upon data supplied by local authorities themselves so there should be no shortfall between the number of places local authorities report they need to create, and the number the Department is funding.
Table 1:
Forecast secondary places needed in Nottinghamshire by planning area (modelled estimates)[1], [2]
Secondary Planning Area | 2017/18 | 2018/19 | 2019/20 | 2020/21 | 2021/22 | 2022/23 | 2023/24 |
Nottinghamshire Total | 375 | 418 | 628 | 676 | 891 | 897 | 997 |
Arnold Secondary | 16 | 34 | 76 | 111 | 95 | 141 | 139 |
Broxtowe North Secondary | 3 | 0 | 34 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 0 |
Broxtowe South Secondary | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
Carlton Secondary | 57 | 111 | 114 | 115 | 167 | 187 | 220 |
East Leake Secondary | 0 | 28 | 27 | 27 | 26 | 26 | 0 |
Gedling Secondary | 33 | 50 | 88 | 68 | 111 | 129 | 131 |
Harworth/Bircotes Secondary | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
Hucknall Secondary | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 10 |
Kirkby/Sutton Secondary | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
Mansfield Secondary | 0 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 74 | 35 | 82 |
Newark Secondary | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
Rainworth Secondary | 53 | 68 | 89 | 103 | 141 | 150 | 175 |
Retford Secondary | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
Rushcliffe East Secondary | 3 | 15 | 47 | 87 | 92 | 45 | 14 |
Rushcliffe Secondary | 22 | 53 | 73 | 86 | 108 | 100 | 91 |
Selston Secondary | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
Southwell Secondary | 17 | 12 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
Warsop Secondary | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
West Bridgford Secondary | 169 | 47 | 77 | 71 | 61 | 22 | 17 |
Worksop Secondary | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 13 | 63 | 119 |
Figures are rounded to the nearest whole number; therefore do not add up to the sum total.
[1] The data provide a snapshot in time at 1 May 2017. Currently, most forecasts continue to increase into the future whereas plans to create places is generally reported more strongly in the immediate future, since only places for which there are firm plans are included. The places needed will therefore naturally grow with time.
[2] Further information can be found in the place planning tables at: https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/school-capacity-academic-year-2016-to-2017.
Asked by: Ben Bradley (Conservative - Mansfield)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how much funding his Department has allocated for special needs provision in schools in Nottinghamshire in each year since 2013.
Answered by Nadhim Zahawi
Local authorities are required to provide schools with sufficient funds to enable mainstream schools to meet the additional cost of pupils with special educational needs and disabilities, up to the value of £6,000. This funding comes from the schools’ block of the Dedicated Schools Grant. While authorities will identify a notional special educational needs (SEN) budget for each school within the school’s overall budget, that notional budget is not ring-fenced, and schools are expected to manage their overall budget to best meet the needs of all their pupils, including pupils with SEN.
When the costs of additional support required for a pupil with SEN exceed £6,000, the local authority should also allocate additional top-up funding to cover the excess costs. This top-up funding, and all funding for special schools comes from the local authority’s high needs budget. In December 2018, we announced an additional £250 million in high needs funding across the current financial year and the next, bringing Nottinghamshire’s total high needs funding to £64.0 million in 2018-19.
The schools and high needs allocations for Nottinghamshire since 2013-14 are as follows:
Year | Schools | High needs |
2013-14 | £435.3 million | £53.4 million |
2014-15 | £436.2 million | £56.2 million |
2015-16 | £441.6 million | £56.7 million |
2016-17 | £447.8 million | £57.3 million |
2017-18 | £459.4 million | £59.8 million |
2018-19 | £469.1 million | £64.0 million |
Asked by: Ben Bradley (Conservative - Mansfield)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what recent assessment he has made of his Department's progress in tackling the skills and productivity gap in the Midlands.
Answered by Anne Milton
We are working closing with the West Midlands Combined Authority on the implementation of the Skills Deal, which is designed to help tackle the skills and productivity gap in the region. This includes supporting them to maximise the opportunities of the Apprenticeship Levy; and to drive adult learning and retraining in digital skills via a pilot that will inform the National Retraining Scheme.
From the 2019/20 academic year, the adult education budget will be devolved to the West Midlands Combined Authority. Once devolved, the combined authority will decide how best to use this funding, to meet the needs of their residents and the local economy. The department has worked very closely with officials in the combined authority to support their preparations, and a strong relationship has been established. A Memorandum of Understanding between the department and the combined authority establishes a collaborative way of working at all levels to maximise the potential of adult education devolution.
We are also establishing Skills Advisory Panels, which bring together local employers and skills providers to pool knowledge on skills and labour market needs, and to work together to understand and address key local challenges. Both the West Midlands Mayoral Combined Authority and Greater Lincolnshire Local Enterprise Partnership were in the first phase of local areas, working with the department to develop the policy. The West Midlands Combined Authority has already held its inaugural meeting of its Skills Advisory Panel in November 2018. The department is working with all panels across England, including in the Midlands, to establish their Skills Advisory Panels by October 2019, in line with the guidance[1] the department published in December 2018.
We are also supporting, alongside other government departments, the Midlands Engine’s Vision for Growth, which includes tackling the mismatch between business skills needs and the skill levels of residents in the region.
[1] Department for Education (DfE) (December 2018) Skills Advisory Panels: Guidance on the Role and Governance, available at: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/762629/Skills_Advisory_Panels-Guidance_on_the_Role_and_Governance.pdf and DfE (December 2018) Skills Advisory Panels Analytical Toolkit, avaialbe at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/skills-advisory-panels-analytical-toolkit.
Asked by: Ben Bradley (Conservative - Mansfield)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what plans he has to increase the number of individuals aged 24 and over taking part in distance learning.
Answered by Chris Skidmore
Within higher education, we have already made a number of changes to support part-time and mature part-time learners. This academic year, for example, part-time students are, for the first time ever, able to access full-time equivalent maintenance loans.
As stated in the government response to the consultation on part-time maintenance loans, we would like to extend these new loans to distance learning courses, but we must maintain confidence in the student finance system and ensure that adequate controls are in place to prevent the misuse of public funds. The department will extend these loans to distance learners only if robust controls are put in place to manage the risks associated with that mode of study. The department is currently considering those controls, and a final decision regarding whether it is feasible to extend maintenance loans to distance learners will be made once this scrutiny is completed.
Beyond student finance, the National Retraining Scheme is an ambitious, far-reaching programme to drive adult learning and retraining, in order to respond to changes in the economy and support people to progress in work, redirect their careers and secure the higher-paid, higher-skilled jobs of the future, focusing on those individuals that need it most.
To inform the design of the scheme, the Flexible Learning Fund is supporting 31 pilot projects across England with a total value of £11.4 million. The projects are designing and testing innovative, flexible learning that is easy to access. The pilots are aimed at adults who are working, or who are returning to work, with either low or intermediate skills. A range of delivery methods are being tested; most of the projects will make use of on-line technologies to a degree, as well as ‘blended learning’ that combines online and face-to-face learning.
We know that technology can play a really important role in making learning more flexible and adaptive, as well as breaking down the barrier of distance. It is important that we take advantage of these developments as part of the scheme.
Asked by: Ben Bradley (Conservative - Mansfield)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many pots of funding there are in his Department for external bodies to access for training, upskilling and incentivising recruitment; and what the value is of those funds.
Answered by Anne Milton
We do not routinely report on funding in the terms requested therefore the information requested is not held centrally.
Asked by: Ben Bradley (Conservative - Mansfield)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps he is taking to support schools and children’s groups to develop appropriate physical activity facilities and equipment for children with disabilities.
Answered by Nadhim Zahawi
The government firmly believes in the importance of physical education (PE) and sport to develop all children’s physical competency and teach valuable life skills such as character, resilience, communication and team work that can be carried through into adulthood and improve overall wellbeing and employability.
Since 2013, the government has invested over £1 billion through the primary PE and sport premium to improve PE, sport, physical activity and extra-curricular activities for all pupils. We encourage schools to use this funding to support their least active pupils achieve the Chief Medical Officers’ guidelines of 60 minutes of physical activity each day, of which 30 minutes should be during the school day. Schools have the freedom to use the funding to determine which activities will improve participation, especially for their least active pupils and a commitment in the childhood obesity plan to promote a national ambition for every primary school to embrace an active mile, such as the Daily Mile. £100 million from the soft drinks industry levy is being used to provide the healthy pupils capital fund to improve pupils’ access to facilities for physical activity, healthy eating, mental health and wellbeing and medical conditions.
The Equality Act (2010) requires that all schools must implement accessibility plans which include increasing the extent to which disabled pupils can participate in the curriculum, and improve the physical environment of schools to enable disabled pupils to take better advantage of education, benefits, facilities and services provided. Since 2014 the department has funded a grant to ensure pupils with special educational needs and disabilities have improved opportunities to take part in PE and school sport.
Asked by: Ben Bradley (Conservative - Mansfield)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps he is taking to support the least active young people to participate more in PE and school sport.
Answered by Nadhim Zahawi
The government firmly believes in the importance of physical education (PE) and sport to develop all children’s physical competency and teach valuable life skills such as character, resilience, communication and team work that can be carried through into adulthood and improve overall wellbeing and employability.
Since 2013, the government has invested over £1 billion through the primary PE and sport premium to improve PE, sport, physical activity and extra-curricular activities for all pupils. We encourage schools to use this funding to support their least active pupils achieve the Chief Medical Officers’ guidelines of 60 minutes of physical activity each day, of which 30 minutes should be during the school day. Schools have the freedom to use the funding to determine which activities will improve participation, especially for their least active pupils and a commitment in the childhood obesity plan to promote a national ambition for every primary school to embrace an active mile, such as the Daily Mile. £100 million from the soft drinks industry levy is being used to provide the healthy pupils capital fund to improve pupils’ access to facilities for physical activity, healthy eating, mental health and wellbeing and medical conditions.
The Equality Act (2010) requires that all schools must implement accessibility plans which include increasing the extent to which disabled pupils can participate in the curriculum, and improve the physical environment of schools to enable disabled pupils to take better advantage of education, benefits, facilities and services provided. Since 2014 the department has funded a grant to ensure pupils with special educational needs and disabilities have improved opportunities to take part in PE and school sport.
Asked by: Ben Bradley (Conservative - Mansfield)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many pots of funding there are in his Department for training, upskilling and incentivising recruitment; and what the value is of those funds.
Answered by Anne Milton
The department has allocated a central budget for this financial year of £2.28 million to support the training and upskilling of Department for Education (DfE) staff (£521,000) and apprenticeship programmes (£1.759 million) for DfE staff.
The department’s central recruitment budget for this financial year is £602,000 to cover Government Recruitment Services for all grades, attraction spend, senior civil service (SCS) Individual Leadership Assessments and other SCS recruitment costs.
The central allocations above support departmental priorities. DfE teams hold local budgets to support team related priorities.
Asked by: Ben Bradley (Conservative - Mansfield)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what plans he has put in place to ensure that every primary school child is able to undertake at least 60 minutes of moderate to vigorous physical activity a day.
Answered by Nadhim Zahawi
It is important that all children have the opportunity to engage in physical activity and sport in a way that interests them. We want all primary school children to do at least 30 minutes of the Chief Medical Officers’ recommended 60 minutes of daily physical activity at school.
As part of our Childhood Obesity Plan we are promoting a national ambition that every primary school should adopt an active mile initiative, which can be a good way for schools to achieve this aim. We support primary schools to enhance their Physical Education (PE) and sport provision through the PE and sport premium, which we have recently increased to £320 million per year using money from the Soft Drinks Industry Levy. This money can be used to improve the PE, sport and extra-curricular activities offered by schools.
Other initiatives to encourage increased physical activity by primary age pupils outside the school day include the department’s Essential Life Skills Fund and Sport England’s Families Fund. Both programmes support children from low income families to access opportunities to develop competence and confidence in their ability to be physically active outside the school day.