Asked by: Mark Hendrick (Labour (Co-op) - Preston)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment her Department has made of the impact of trends in the level of specialist teachers on the educational attainment of students in (a) primary, (b) secondary and (c) further education.
Answered by Nick Gibb
Teacher quality is the most important in-school determinant of pupil outcomes. This is why the Department is taking action to attract more people to teaching and enable them to succeed through transforming their training and support.
9 in 10 hours taught in English Baccalaureate subjects in state funded secondary schools in 2021/22 were taught by a teacher with a relevant post-A level qualification. The Teachers’ Standards specify the subject knowledge required for the award of Qualified Teacher Status.
Information on teachers’ post-A level qualifications and the subjects taught in secondary schools is published in the annual ‘School Workforce in England’ national statistics. Details can be found at: https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/find-statistics/school-workforce-in-england.
The Department does not hold or publish data linking subject specialist teachers with attainment.
The Department has introduced a range of measures to attract teachers for the 2023/24 academic year, including tax-free bursaries worth £27,000 and tax-free scholarships worth £29,000 tax-free, to encourage talented trainees to key subjects such as chemistry, computing, mathematics, and physics. There are also bursaries of £25,000 for languages and scholarships of £27,000 for French, Spanish and German. The Department has also introduced an initial teacher training scholarship in modern foreign languages from 2023 to attract the most talented language graduates to teaching.
The new national further education (FE) recruitment campaign and Teach in FE service will support prospective FE teachers into jobs. It is expected to reach millions of prospective teaching staff, and target those with valuable experience in industry to train the next generation of technical experts.
The Department also funds the Taking Teaching Further programme which supports industry experts to move into FE teaching, and the Department is providing bursaries worth up to £26,000 in 2022/23, matched to school scholarship values, to support FE teacher training in priority subject areas such as science, mathematics and engineering.
Asked by: Mark Hendrick (Labour (Co-op) - Preston)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment her Department has made of the number of specialist teacher positions that remain vacant after (a) 6 months and (b) 12 months in (i) Preston constituency, (ii) Lancashire and (iii) England.
Answered by Nick Gibb
The information requested is not collected by the Department.
Information on the state-funded school workforce in England, including the number and rate of teacher vacancies by school, post and subject (where applicable) each November, is published in the annual ‘School Workforce in England’ national statistics release at: https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/find-statistics/school-workforce-in-england.
Asked by: Mark Hendrick (Labour (Co-op) - Preston)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, with reference to the Autumn Statement, CP 751 published on 17 November 2022, what proportion of the additional £2.3 billion in funding for schools will be allocated to the recruitment and retention of specialist teachers and staff.
Answered by Nick Gibb
The 2022 Autumn Statement has provided an additional increase in the core schools budget, including funding for mainstream and high needs schools, of £2.3 billion in both 2023/24 and 2024/25. After adjusting to take account of the removal of the compensation for employer costs of the Health and Social Care Levy, this brings the core schools budget to a total of £58.8 billion in 2024/25, £2 billion greater than published at the 2021 Spending Review.
These increases will deliver significant additional support to pupils and teachers, helping to deliver on the Government’s commitment to level-up education across the country. This additional funding will be used to support both mainstream schools and Local Authorities’ high needs budgets. The Department will set out plans for allocation shortly.
Asked by: Mark Hendrick (Labour (Co-op) - Preston)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment she has made of the potential merits of providing free continuing education for adults with (a) dyslexia, (b) illiteracy and (c) additional reading and learning disorders.
Answered by Robert Halfon
The department has invested £1.34 billion in the 2022/23 academic year in education and skills training for adults through the Adult Education Budget (AEB). The AEB fully funds or co-funds skills provision up to level 3 for eligible adults aged 19 and above, to help them gain the skills they need for work, an apprenticeship, or further learning.
The AEB also funds Learner Support to support learners with a specific financial hardship and Learning Support to meet the additional needs of learners with learning difficulties and disabilities, including the costs of reasonable adjustments, as set out in the Equality Act 2010. Learning Support can cover a range of needs including an assessment for dyslexia, funding to pay for specialist equipment or helpers, and arranging signers or note takers.
Currently, approximately 60% of the AEB is devolved to nine Mayoral Combined Authorities and the Mayor of London, acting where appropriate through the Greater London Authority. These authorities are now responsible for the provision of AEB-funded adult education for their residents and allocation of the AEB to providers. The Education and Skills Funding Agency (ESFA) will continue to be responsible for the remaining AEB in non-devolved areas.
The AEB supports four statutory entitlements to full funding for adult learners, which apply in devolved and non-devolved areas:
The ESFA-funded AEB for learners residing in non-devolved areas also supports more flexible tailored programmes of learning to be made available, which may or may not require a qualification, to help eligible learners engage in learning, build confidence, and enhance their wellbeing.
Asked by: Mark Hendrick (Labour (Co-op) - Preston)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps her Department is taking to help prevent the separation of siblings in the care system.
Answered by Claire Coutinho - Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero
The Children Act 1989 makes clear that when determining the most appropriate placement for a looked after child, the local authority must, as far as reasonably practicable, ensure the placement is such that the child can live with their sibling if that sibling is also looked after. Positive sibling relationships provide support both in childhood and adulthood and can be particularly valuable during changes in a young person’s life, such as leaving care.
There are factors that may mean it is not possible or desirable for siblings to be placed together. This can include children entering care at different times or having different needs due to past experiences or current emotional or behavioural issues. There may also be practical difficulties in accommodating large sibling groups together. It is important that these decisions are informed by an understanding of family functioning and family history, as well the wishes and feelings of children.
Where siblings cannot be placed together, local authorities are required under Schedule 2(15)(1) of the Children Act 1989 to try to promote contact between the child and any relative, including siblings, if this is consistent with the child’s welfare and is reasonably practical.
Asked by: Mark Hendrick (Labour (Co-op) - Preston)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, pursuant to the Answer of 27 September 2022 to Question 51450 on Speech and Language Therapy: Recruitment, what steps her Department is taking to help ensure adequate support for language and speech therapists in schools.
Answered by Claire Coutinho - Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero
The government is committed to ensuring that children with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND), including those with speech and language needs, receive the support they need to achieve at school.
The department knows that children and young people with SEND frequently require access to additional support from a broad specialist workforce across education, and health and care, including speech and language therapists. As set out in the SEND and Alternative Provision (AP) Green Paper, we are taking steps to increase the capacity of the specialist workforce.
The consultation closed on 22 July. The department is currently using this feedback, along with continued engagement with the system, to inform the next stage of delivering improvements for children, young people and their families. We will also continue to support the system in the immediate term to deliver change and improve the experience and outcomes for children and young people with SEND, and those who need AP.
Asked by: Mark Hendrick (Labour (Co-op) - Preston)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps her Department is taking to help ensure that schools are able to (a) carry out repairs, (b) heat their buildings and (c) provide after-school activities during the cost of living crisis.
Answered by Nick Gibb
The Department provides annual condition funding to schools and those responsible for school buildings to improve and maintain the school estate. The Department has committed over £13 billion since 2015, including £1.8 billion this financial year.
The Department also publishes several resources to support schools and their responsible bodies to effectively manage their estates and meet their legal duties. This includes good estate management for schools, in addition to guidance on specific issues such as managing asbestos, reinforced autoclaved aerated concrete and cladding.
Schools are being supported with their energy bills through the Energy Bill Relief Scheme, which will run until at least 31 March 2023. This will protect schools from high energy costs and give them greater certainty over their budgets over the winter months. The details of the scheme can be found here: https://www.gov.uk/guidance/energy-bill-relief-scheme-help-for-businesses-and-other-non-domestic-customers. Schools are also being supported by cash increases to the core schools budget, including a £4 billion increase this financial year.
Schools are best placed to understand and meet the needs of their pupils and have flexibility to decide what range of extra-curricular activities to offer. Both Pupil Premium and Recovery Premium can be used to fund enrichment activities. In March 2022, the Department updated its guidance to make this clear to schools.
The Department also supports a range of specific initiatives to expand access to high quality, extra-curricular activities, including the Holiday Activities and Food Programme and the Duke of Edinburgh’s Award. The Department is developing guidance to support schools to navigate the resources available to develop their extracurricular activities.
Asked by: Mark Hendrick (Labour (Co-op) - Preston)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what recent steps her Department has taken to help increase female representation in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics programmes at university.
Answered by Robert Halfon
The department has taken action to increase the numbers of female students pursuing science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) courses at higher levels.
12 Institutes of Technology have already been established, with a further nine announced in December 2021. Institutes of Technology are designed to be prestigious, high-quality education providers, created through innovative collaborations between further education colleges, universities, and employers. They provide higher technical education and training in key STEM sectors such as digital, construction, advanced manufacturing, and engineering. This enables local people to pursue rewarding jobs and provides local businesses with the skilled workforce they need. Institutes of Technology play a key role in widening local participation in technical education and training from disadvantaged and under-represented groups, including women, which will help to increase the long-term pipeline of STEM skills.
The department has funded research programmes to investigate ways to tackle gender balance in STEM subjects. This includes the ‘Improving Gender Balance’ national research trial for physics and the ‘Gender Balance in Computing Programme’. The computing research, led by the Raspberry Pi Foundation, has now concluded and its findings will be published in due course.
There are over 350 apprenticeship standards available in STEM, many of which are at degree level and delivered by universities, such as Civil and Manufacturing Engineering apprenticeships. These offer another way for people to study STEM subjects at university, whilst also earning a salary with a STEM employer. Overall, the number of women taking STEM apprenticeships has increased to 15%, up from 11% in the 2019/20 academic year.
The proportion of female full-time undergraduate entrants studying STEM courses has also increased, from 33.6% in 2011 to 42.2% in 2021.
Asked by: Mark Hendrick (Labour (Co-op) - Preston)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what data his Department holds on the number of incidents of violence, verbal threats and aggression towards (a) headteachers, (b) teachers, and (c) teaching staff at primary schools have been reported in Preston and Lancashire over the last three years; and what steps have been taken to tackle the levels of violent incidents and abuse experienced by educators.
Answered by Will Quince
The department does not hold information on the number of incidents of violence, verbal threats and aggression towards headteachers, teachers and teaching staff in primary schools. Data is collected on the number of exclusions and suspensions where the reason given is ‘Physical assault against an adult’ or ‘Verbal abuse or threatening behaviour against an adult’. Data for Lancashire, for the three most recent years for which this data is available, can be found at: https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/data-tables/permalink/21bc45ac-5922-46f9-9ed1-33bd9c534a28
Schools have a duty and a responsibility to protect pupils and staff from violent incidents and abuse. The government supports schools with a range of guidance to help them fulfil their responsibilities, including advice on health and safety, school security and targeted advice on gangs and youth violence. In addition, the department is clear that teachers should not be subjected to any form of abuse simply for doing their jobs, and that any form of violence in school is completely unacceptable and should not be tolerated. While the department expects schools to take immediate and robust action if incidents of violence occur, any decision on how to issue sanctions that address misbehaviour is a matter for the school to decide. Should the incident constitute a criminal offence, the school should report it to the police.
We will shortly be publishing the updated Behaviour in Schools guidance. This will advise schools on how they can build a positive behaviour culture through a whole-school approach, to help schools create calm, safe and supportive environments.
We are also publishing the updated Searching, Screening and Confiscation guidance to provide a clear process for staff to follow through various stages of searching and screening, while still enabling pupils to express any concerns that may arise.
Asked by: Mark Hendrick (Labour (Co-op) - Preston)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many pupils with an Education Health and Care plan were missing education whilst awaiting a place at a Specialist School in Preston and Lancashire at the beginning of the last three academic years; and for how long was each pupil missing education.
Answered by Brendan Clarke-Smith
The department collects and publishes data annually from local authorities on the total number of children and young people who are awaiting the provision specified in their Education, Health and Care (EHC) plans at: https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/find-statistics/education-health-and-care-plans.
Figures for Lancashire on the number of children of compulsory school age who have an EHC plan and were not in education can be found at the following link: https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/data-tables/permalink/2d628262-9886-457c-aca3-e0c32b749269. Data is only collected at local authority level so figures for Preston are not available.
The information requested on how long each pupil was missing education is also not held.