Asked by: Kerry McCarthy (Labour - Bristol East)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how much was spent in each local authority on pupil premium plus in (a) 2015-16, (b) 2016-17 and (c) 2017-18; and how much of that spending was on pupil premium plus for (i) looked after children, (ii) former looked after children who are on special guardianship orders, (iii) former looked after children who are on child arrangements orders and (iv) former looked after children who have been placed for adoption or adopted.
Answered by Nadhim Zahawi
The pupil premium plus funding, including both looked after and formerly looked after children for the relevant years, can be found in the published tables using the links below:
https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/pupil-premium-2015-to-2016-allocations.
https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/pupil-premium-conditions-of-grant-2016-to-2017.
https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/pupil-premium-conditions-of-grant-2017-to-2018.
Asked by: Kerry McCarthy (Labour - Bristol East)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps he is taking to ensure that children with complex needs are able to obtain a place in a school appropriate for their needs.
Answered by Nadhim Zahawi
Children with complex special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) usually have an Education, Health and Care (EHC) plan. The SEND Code of Practice sets out the rights of parents and young people to request the school of their choice when a final EHC plan is issued.
Local authorities must name that school in the EHC plan unless it would not be suitable for the pupil’s age, ability, aptitude or SEND, or unless the attendance of the pupil there would be incompatible with the efficient education of others or the efficient use of resources. A school named in an EHC plan has a statutory duty to admit the child or young person.
Local authorities have a statutory duty to keep local provision for children and young people with SEND and their families under review to ensure that it continues to meet local needs. This would include the provision of sufficient school places that can support pupils with SEND.
The department has allocated £365 million of capital funding (over and above basic need funding) to help build new places at mainstream and special schools and to improve existing places to benefit current and future pupils. Local authorities must consult with local stakeholders to decide how best to spend their allocation.
Asked by: Kerry McCarthy (Labour - Bristol East)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment his Department has made of the educational outcomes for children with pathological demand avoidance.
Answered by Nadhim Zahawi
The Department for Education has not assessed the educational outcomes of children and young people who have had a health diagnosis of pathological demand avoidance (PDA) as a distinct group.
The department collects data on the educational outcomes of children identified as having special educational needs in comparison to children without special needs. Where individual children and young people with PDA have been identified as having a special educational need, they will be captured via these data collections.
Asked by: Kerry McCarthy (Labour - Bristol East)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many schools paying the apprenticeship levy have taken on apprentices since that levy was introduced.
Answered by Anne Milton
The apprenticeship levy was introduced in April 2017. Information on the number of schools that have paid the apprenticeship levy is not available in the format requested as data on the apprenticeship levy is reported to Her Majesty’s Revenue and Customs via the Pay As You Earn scheme rather than by organisation.
As reported in the statistics publication “Public sector apprenticeships in England: 2017 to 2018” (available at https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/public-sector-apprenticeships-in-england-2017-to-2018), there were approximately 6,300 apprenticeship starts in schools between May 2017 and March 2018. Many of these apprenticeship starts will be funded by the apprenticeship levy directly or via local government. Around half of the 6,300 starts were in local authority maintained schools
Asked by: Kerry McCarthy (Labour - Bristol East)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment he has made of the effect on school budgets of the requirement to pay the apprenticeship levy.
Answered by Nick Gibb
The Department published a technical note in February on school costs, which included an estimate of the cost pressure on schools due to the introduction of the apprenticeship levy. This note can be found at https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/schools-costs-technical-note. The Department estimated that over 16,000 schools (three-quarters of the total) would pay the apprenticeship levy.
Schools are encouraged to use funds in their apprenticeship service accounts to pay for the training and assessment costs of apprentices they employ. The Department expects schools to benefit at a similar level to the costs of the levy. The Government provides a 10% top up to employers’ apprenticeship service funds, so that it is possible to receive more funding than is paid by way of the levy. Local authorities are expected to work closely with schools contributing to the levy to ensure they can access funding for apprenticeship training.
Asked by: Kerry McCarthy (Labour - Bristol East)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what support his Department provides to schools to ensure that students and staff are able to (a) identify potential victims of female genital mutilation and (b) deal with such cases sensitively and appropriately.
Answered by Nadhim Zahawi
The government’s statutory safeguarding guidance for schools, ‘Keeping Children Safe in Education’, outlines the reporting procedures for female genital mutilation, along with other forms of abuse. All school staff should receive safeguarding training at induction and that this should be updated regularly.
The Department for Education recently consulted on strengthening that guidance. We expect to publish our response to the consultation shortly.
Asked by: Kerry McCarthy (Labour - Bristol East)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps his Department is taking to ensure better reporting procedures in schools for suspected cases of female genital mutilation.
Answered by Nadhim Zahawi
The government’s statutory safeguarding guidance for schools, ‘Keeping Children Safe in Education’, outlines the reporting procedures for female genital mutilation, along with other forms of abuse. All school staff should receive safeguarding training at induction and that this should be updated regularly.
The Department for Education recently consulted on strengthening that guidance. We expect to publish our response to the consultation shortly.
Asked by: Kerry McCarthy (Labour - Bristol East)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, pursuant to the oral contribution of the Under-Secretary of State for Education of 19 January 2018, Official Report, column 1247, how local authorities can apply to become a pilot area for schemes to combat school holiday hunger.
Answered by Nadhim Zahawi
The activity on research and stakeholder engagement mentioned on 19 January is already underway and further details for our pre-piloting activity in Summer 2018 will be made available shortly. The aim of this initial work will be to inform the development of a pilot programme which will run in the 2019 Easter and summer holidays. Drawing on the learning from this research and engagement activity, government will set out our plans for the pilot programme later in 2018.
Asked by: Kerry McCarthy (Labour - Bristol East)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what percentage of academies founded between January 2010 and June 2014 have voluntarily signed up to the national school food standards.
Answered by Nadhim Zahawi
Statutory School Food Standards apply to local authority maintained schools, academies that opened prior to September 2010 and academies and free schools in England entering into a funding agreement from June 2014.
All new academies are expected to meet the food standards. Over 1400 academies, founded between September 2010 and June 2014, are voluntarily following the standards and we encourage the remaining schools to commit to them.
Asked by: Kerry McCarthy (Labour - Bristol East)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, when she plans to review the National Plan for Music Education.
Answered by Nick Gibb
The National Plan for Music Education sets out a vision for music education that gives children from all backgrounds and every part of England the opportunity to learn a musical instrument; to make music with others; to learn to sing; and to have the opportunity to progress. The Department continues to have regular meetings with music teachers to discuss aspects of the National Plan for Music Education. The current plan runs until 2020 and any proposals for a review or extension of the Plan will be announced in 2018.