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Written Question
Schools: Fire Extinguishers
Tuesday 29th October 2019

Asked by: David Drew (Labour (Co-op) - Stroud)

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what representations he has received on the merits of mandatory installation of fire sprinklers in all (a) new and (b) refurbished schools in England; and if he will bring forward legislative proposals to make such installation mandatory.

Answered by Nick Gibb

Earlier this year, a Call for Evidence was held on the review of the Department’s Building Bulletin 100: ‘Design for Fire Safety in Schools’. This included questions on fire suppression systems, such as sprinklers. The responses have been analysed and follow up technical studies are being carried out by consultants. Until this work is completed, the Department’s policy on installing sprinklers in schools remains unchanged.

As part of this review, Department officials will be liaising further with their counterparts in Scotland and Wales on the impact of requiring sprinkler installation in new and refurbished school buildings.


Written Question
Schools: Fire Extinguishers
Tuesday 29th October 2019

Asked by: David Drew (Labour (Co-op) - Stroud)

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if he will request assessments from the (a) Scottish and (b) Welsh governments on the potential effect of requiring compulsory installation of fire sprinklers in (i) new and (ii) refurbished schools in Scotland and Wales; and if he will publish an assessment of the potential benefits of such legislation in England.

Answered by Nick Gibb

Earlier this year, a Call for Evidence was held on the review of the Department’s Building Bulletin 100: ‘Design for Fire Safety in Schools’. This included questions on fire suppression systems, such as sprinklers. The responses have been analysed and follow up technical studies are being carried out by consultants. Until this work is completed, the Department’s policy on installing sprinklers in schools remains unchanged.

As part of this review, Department officials will be liaising further with their counterparts in Scotland and Wales on the impact of requiring sprinkler installation in new and refurbished school buildings.


Written Question
Schools: Fire Prevention
Friday 4th October 2019

Asked by: David Drew (Labour (Co-op) - Stroud)

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if he will undertake an independent evaluation on what the evidential basis is for his Department's proposed test standard of BS 7176 for school noticeboards and if he will publish the results of that evaluation.

Answered by Nick Gibb

The Department is currently working with independent testing houses on developing and assessing the protocols for meeting the proposed British Standard for specifying noticeboards in schools. The Department will, in due course, issue a short note to responsible bodies on these new standards, which will also be included in the updated 'Building Bulletin 100: Design for Fire Safety in Schools' in 2020.

The Department’s output specification is primarily for use in setting construction and design standards for centrally delivered school building projects and is not a statutory guidance document. This specification is available to other responsible bodies in support of any school building construction activities.


Written Question
Schools: Fire Prevention
Friday 4th October 2019

Asked by: David Drew (Labour (Co-op) - Stroud)

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what plans he has to notify local education authorities and other approved education providers of their duties under the ESFA Output Specification Annex 3 Section 7.1.1.5 relating to fire standards and school notice boards.

Answered by Nick Gibb

The Department is currently working with independent testing houses on developing and assessing the protocols for meeting the proposed British Standard for specifying noticeboards in schools. The Department will, in due course, issue a short note to responsible bodies on these new standards, which will also be included in the updated 'Building Bulletin 100: Design for Fire Safety in Schools' in 2020.

The Department’s output specification is primarily for use in setting construction and design standards for centrally delivered school building projects and is not a statutory guidance document. This specification is available to other responsible bodies in support of any school building construction activities.


Written Question
Pupils: Sanitary Protection
Friday 2nd August 2019

Asked by: David Drew (Labour (Co-op) - Stroud)

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what progress is being made on the commitment to offer free sanitary products to schools by the start of the 2019-20 school year.

Answered by Kemi Badenoch - President of the Board of Trade

The former Chancellor of the Exchequer (Philip Hammond), my right hon. Friend, the Member for Runnymede and Weybridge, announced in his Spring Statement on 13 March 2019 that the Department for Education will lead a scheme to provide access to free sanitary products in all secondary schools and colleges across England. On 16 April 2019, the former Parliamentary Under Secretary of State for Children and Families (Nadhim Zahawi). my hon. Friend, the Member for Stratford-upon-Avon, announced that funding would be extended to cover need in primary schools and that national roll-out would take place in early 2020.

The invitation to tender for the period products scheme closed on 15 July 2019. The department is also working with stakeholders to develop guidance that will support institutions in embedding this scheme.


Speech in Commons Chamber - Mon 01 Jul 2019
Department for Education

Speech Link

View all David Drew (LAB - Stroud) contributions to the debate on: Department for Education

Written Question
Schools: Fire Prevention
Friday 28th June 2019

Asked by: David Drew (Labour (Co-op) - Stroud)

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if he will adopt the recommendations relating to fire safety and classroom notice boards submitted by the British Educational Suppliers Association to his review of Building Bulletin 100.

Answered by Nick Gibb

Schools must be safe places in which to work and study. The Department, as part of the regular review of its standards for school buildings, has recently completed research into the flammability of notice boards used in schools. The outcome of this work has been used to clarify the specification the Department uses in relation to noticeboards in new school buildings. The updated specification can be found at:

https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/school-design-and-construction.

The British Educational Suppliers Association responded to our recent call for evidence on Building Bulletin 100, which will be followed by a full public consultation on the guidance and its supporting tools.


Written Question
Home Education: Gloucestershire
Thursday 27th June 2019

Asked by: David Drew (Labour (Co-op) - Stroud)

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many children have been withdrawn from school to be home educated in Gloucestershire in each of the last five years for which figures are available; and how many of those children (a) before or (b) subsequent to their withdrawal have had an Education, Health and Care Plan.

Answered by Anne Milton

The information requested is not held centrally.

Data on numbers of children educated at home or those removed from school for that purpose are not collected by the department. Consultation on proposals for the creation of a mandatory register of children not enrolled at state-funded or registered independent schools closed on 24 June 2019. If the proposals were to be brought into effect, they would make such data available.


Written Question
Home Education: South West
Thursday 27th June 2019

Asked by: David Drew (Labour (Co-op) - Stroud)

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many children (a) are on the home education register and (b) have been removed from school by their parents or guardians in each local authority area in the South West in each of the last five years for which figures are available.

Answered by Anne Milton

The information requested is not held centrally.

Data on numbers of children educated at home or those removed from school for that purpose are not collected by the department. Consultation on proposals for the creation of a mandatory register of children not enrolled at state-funded or registered independent schools closed on 24 June 2019. If the proposals were to be brought into effect, they would make such data available.


Written Question
Home Education: South West
Thursday 27th June 2019

Asked by: David Drew (Labour (Co-op) - Stroud)

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what estimate he has made of the number of children who are being educated at home but who are not listed in the Home Education register in each South-west Authority in each of the last five years for which figures are available.

Answered by Anne Milton

The information requested is not held centrally.

Data on numbers of children educated at home or those removed from school for that purpose are not collected by the department. Consultation on proposals for the creation of a mandatory register of children not enrolled at state-funded or registered independent schools closed on 24 June 2019. If the proposals were to be brought into effect, they would make such data available.