Asked by: Clive Lewis (Labour - Norwich South)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether she plans to review Safety Valve agreements with local authorities.
Answered by Catherine McKinnell
Local authorities high needs budgets are under significant pressure, and the department is considering what support and reforms are needed to secure better outcomes and experiences for children and young people with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND), and to secure local authorities financial sustainability.
The Safety Valve programme is intended to help local authorities provide an improved SEND service by maximising the impact of their high needs budget and promoting a more stable and effective system for children and young people with SEND. Safety Valve agreements have been established only where both the local authority and the department agreed that the proposals would improve services for children and young people with SEND.
Safety Valve agreements are not intended to release local authorities from their obligations to fulfil their statutory duties to children and young people with SEND, and the department would not enter into an agreement with a local authority if it compromised their ability to meet these obligations. The department regularly reviews the implementation of all Safety Valve agreements through its monitoring process and provides support and intervention if they go off track. The future use of Safety Valve agreements is also under review. The department does not hold any specific data on the potential impact of Norfolk’s Safety Valve agreement.
Asked by: Clive Lewis (Labour - Norwich South)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps her Department is taking to help protect teachers from assaults by (a) pupils and (b) parents.
Answered by Stephen Morgan - Government Whip, Lord Commissioner of HM Treasury
No teacher should feel unsafe or face violence or abuse in the workplace. The department will always support teachers to ensure they can work in safe and calm classrooms. All school employers, including trusts, have a duty to protect the health, safety and welfare of their employees.
Every pupil deserves to learn and staff deserve to work in safe, calm classrooms. The government will back schools in delivering this.
The government is determined to understand the causes of poor behaviour. The department has already committed to providing access to specialist mental health professionals in every school, introducing free breakfast clubs in every primary school, and ensuring earlier intervention in mainstream schools for pupils with special needs.
Since 2021, the Behaviour Hubs programme has also offered support to schools that want to improve pupil behaviour and create calm, safe and supportive environments.
Asked by: Clive Lewis (Labour - Norwich South)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, pursuant to the Answer of 29 February 2024 to Question 15463 on Academies: Sports, if she will publish a list of academy trusts where consent was granted by her Department of freehold sale of publicly funded land which were not subject to conditions specifying that capital receipt should be reinvested in improving sports provision.
Answered by Damian Hinds
The department’s general policy is that the freehold sale of playing field land requires improvement to playing field in the educational estate by reinvesting capital receipt in sporting provision. Capital receipt from the sale of non-playing field land can be used for other benefits to the education estate, such as capital projects, save for any exceptional circumstances.
The department currently publishes a list of all playing field land disposals considered by the School Playing Field Advisory Panel since 2010, including freehold disposals, which is available on GOV.UK. This list is currently being updated for the period May to December 2023. https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/school-land-decisions-about-disposals/decisions-on-the-disposal-of-school-land.
Asked by: Clive Lewis (Labour - Norwich South)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, pursuant to the Answer of 29 February 2024 to Question 15463 on Academies: Sports, what steps her Department takes to monitor compliance by academy trusts with her Department's conditions of consent for the sale of publicly funded playing field land.
Answered by Damian Hinds
In addition to the requirement for an academy trust’s Accounting Officer to sign and return an acknowledgement letter, the department is considering measures to monitor compliance of conditions by academy trusts and other Responsible Bodies.
Measures under consideration include carrying out spot checks on cases, contacting academy trusts directly for confirmation that the conditions have been met and asking trusts to notify the department once they have been met.
Asked by: Clive Lewis (Labour - Norwich South)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, pursuant to the Answer of 21 February 2024 to Question 13588, on Academies, how her Department monitors whether capital receipts from the disposal of publicly funded playing fields by an academy trust are reinvested in improving sports provision at (a) the affected school and (b) local schools.
Answered by Damian Hinds
Consent to the freehold sale of publicly funded playing field land by an academy trust will usually be subject to a condition specifying how the capital receipt should be reinvested.
The department requires the trust’s Accounting Officer to sign and return an acknowledgement letter attached to the consent letter confirming that the trust will comply with all conditions of consent. Failure to comply with any conditions will mean that the trust may be in breach of its funding agreement.
Departmental officials will only mark a case closed once the signed acknowledgement letter is received by the department.
Asked by: Clive Lewis (Labour - Norwich South)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many applications by academy trusts in Norwich to her Department to sell school grounds have been successful.
Answered by Damian Hinds
Departmental officials have checked records from 1 January 2020 to 12 February 2024, and the total number of successful applications from academy trusts for the freehold sale of school land is 49.
The department’s policy is that capital receipts from the disposal of publicly funded playing field land should ordinarily be reinvested in improving sports provision at the affected school or local schools. Capital receipts from the disposal of publicly funded non-playing field land should be reinvested in capital projects at the affected school or local schools. Playing field land is defined widely as: land in the open air which is provided for the purposes of physical education or recreation.
Departmental officials have checked the records from 1 January 2020 to 12 February 2024, and the department has not received any applications from academy trusts in Norwich to sell school land.
Asked by: Clive Lewis (Labour - Norwich South)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many applications by academy trusts to her Department to sell school grounds have been successful.
Answered by Damian Hinds
Departmental officials have checked records from 1 January 2020 to 12 February 2024, and the total number of successful applications from academy trusts for the freehold sale of school land is 49.
The department’s policy is that capital receipts from the disposal of publicly funded playing field land should ordinarily be reinvested in improving sports provision at the affected school or local schools. Capital receipts from the disposal of publicly funded non-playing field land should be reinvested in capital projects at the affected school or local schools. Playing field land is defined widely as: land in the open air which is provided for the purposes of physical education or recreation.
Departmental officials have checked the records from 1 January 2020 to 12 February 2024, and the department has not received any applications from academy trusts in Norwich to sell school land.
Asked by: Clive Lewis (Labour - Norwich South)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps her Department is taking to support children in school who have reported an allegation of sexual assault or rape by a peer.
Answered by Nick Gibb
The Department’s statutory safeguarding guidance ‘Keeping children safe in education (KCSIE)’ provides schools and colleges with advice on handling allegations of sexual assault or rape by a peer. All schools and colleges must have regard to this guidance when carrying out their duties to safeguard and promote the welfare of pupils.
KCSIE does not provide, nor would it be possible to provide, detailed guidance on what to do in every case. Instead, it provides effective safeguarding practice and principles for schools to consider in their decision making process.
Part five of KCSIE provides clear advice on what schools should do to manage any reports of child on child sexual violence or sexual harassment. It provides detailed information on schools’ legal responsibilities, best practice, and advice on managing reports of harmful sexual behaviour or abuse, with links to specialist advice and support for children.
The Department consults bi-annually on KCSIE to ensure that it provides school and college safeguarding leads with the information they need to keep pupils safe.
Asked by: Clive Lewis (Labour - Norwich South)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether her Department is taking steps to ensure that only Structural Engineers who are Licenced Asbestos Contractors will be used to carry out inspections of reinforced autoclaved aerated concrete (RAAC) products.
Answered by Nick Gibb
Reinforced Autoclaved Aerated Concrete (RAAC) does not contain asbestos.
Any intrusive works that are required to assess the presence of RAAC, are carried out by licensed asbestos contractors where asbestos containing materials are suspected, as Health and Safety Executive guidance dictates.
Further information on RAAC in education settings is available at: https://educationhub.blog.gov.uk/2023/09/06/new-guidance-on-raac-in-education-settings/. Background on RAAC management information can be accessed here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/reinforced-autoclaved-aerated-concrete-raac-management-information/background-on-raac-management-information.
Asked by: Clive Lewis (Labour - Norwich South)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether her Department has made an assessment of the prevalence of the use of asbestos in reinforced autoclaved aerated concrete (RAAC) products.
Answered by Nick Gibb
Reinforced Autoclaved Aerated Concrete (RAAC) does not contain asbestos.
Any intrusive works that are required to assess the presence of RAAC, are carried out by licensed asbestos contractors where asbestos containing materials are suspected, as Health and Safety Executive guidance dictates.
Further information on RAAC in education settings is available at: https://educationhub.blog.gov.uk/2023/09/06/new-guidance-on-raac-in-education-settings/. Background on RAAC management information can be accessed here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/reinforced-autoclaved-aerated-concrete-raac-management-information/background-on-raac-management-information.