Asked by: Stephen Timms (Labour - East Ham)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment she has made of the potential merits of including financial education in the primary school national curriculum.
Answered by Nick Gibb
Education on financial matters helps to ensure that young people are prepared to manage their money well, make sound financial decisions and know where to seek further information when needed.
The primary school curriculum already includes financial education within the mathematics curriculum, which provides young people with the knowledge and financial skills to make important financial decisions. In the primary mathematics curriculum, there is a strong emphasis on the essential arithmetic that pupils should be taught. This knowledge is vital, as a strong grasp of mathematics will underpin pupils’ ability to manage budgets and money. The mathematics curriculum also includes specific content about financial education, such as calculations with money.
Primary schools can also teach financial education through citizenship. Although this is not part of the National Curriculum until Key Stage 3, the Department has published a non-statutory citizenship curriculum for Key Stages 1 and 2. This supports schools to make sure that pupils are taught how to look after their money and realise that future wants, and needs may be met through saving. There is a wide range of resources available for schools, including the Money and Pension Service’s (MaPS) financial education guidance for primary and secondary schools in England. This guidance can be found here: https://maps.org.uk/2021/11/11/financial-education-guidance-for-primary-and-secondary-schools-in-england/.
The Department does not monitor financial education in primary schools, but the Department continues to work with MaPS and HM Treasury to consider the evidence and explore opportunities to promote the importance of financial education to schools. The Department is currently working with MaPS on a series of joint financial education webinars during this academic year, to help primary and secondary schools to improve pupils’ skills and knowledge and build teachers’ confidence in this area.
Asked by: Stephen Timms (Labour - East Ham)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what plans she has to improve young people’s understanding of buy-now-pay-later schemes.
Answered by Nick Gibb
The Department wants all young people to manage their money well, make sound financial decisions and know where to seek further information when needed. Financial education is included in the National Curriculum at Key Stages 3 and 4 but can be taught by schools at all Key Stages.
Pupils should be taught about the functions and uses of money, budgeting, money management, and managing financial risk. At secondary school, pupils are taught about income and expenditure, credit and debt, insurance, savings and pensions, financial products and services and the need to understand financial risk, including any emerging financial trends.
The mathematics curriculum includes a strong emphasis on the essential arithmetic that primary pupils should be taught. A strong grasp of mathematics will underpin pupils’ ability to manage budgets and money.
The Money and Pensions Service (MaPS) published financial education guidance for primary and secondary schools in England in November 2021, to support head teachers to enhance their financial education provision. Guidance for this can be found here: https://maps.org.uk/2021/11/11/financial-education-guidance-for-primary-and-secondary-schools-in-england/.
The guidance includes links to quality assured resources for schools, including content and activities on cryptocurrencies and buy now, pay later schemes. It also sets out the knowledge and skills pupils need to protect their personal data, critically evaluate online content, and identify scams.
The Department and MaPS are planning a series of joint financial education webinars during this academic year, to help schools to improve pupils’ skills and knowledge and build teachers’ confidence in this area.
Asked by: Stephen Timms (Labour - East Ham)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what plans she has to improve young people’s understanding of financial products.
Answered by Nick Gibb
The Department wants all young people to manage their money well, make sound financial decisions and know where to seek further information when needed. Financial education is included in the National Curriculum at Key Stages 3 and 4 but can be taught by schools at all Key Stages.
Pupils should be taught about the functions and uses of money, budgeting, money management, and managing financial risk. At secondary school, pupils are taught about income and expenditure, credit and debt, insurance, savings and pensions, financial products and services and the need to understand financial risk, including any emerging financial trends.
The mathematics curriculum includes a strong emphasis on the essential arithmetic that primary pupils should be taught. A strong grasp of mathematics will underpin pupils’ ability to manage budgets and money.
The Money and Pensions Service (MaPS) published financial education guidance for primary and secondary schools in England in November 2021, to support head teachers to enhance their financial education provision. Guidance for this can be found here: https://maps.org.uk/2021/11/11/financial-education-guidance-for-primary-and-secondary-schools-in-england/.
The guidance includes links to quality assured resources for schools, including content and activities on cryptocurrencies and buy now, pay later schemes. It also sets out the knowledge and skills pupils need to protect their personal data, critically evaluate online content, and identify scams.
The Department and MaPS are planning a series of joint financial education webinars during this academic year, to help schools to improve pupils’ skills and knowledge and build teachers’ confidence in this area.
Asked by: Stephen Timms (Labour - East Ham)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps she is taking to increase provision of affordable childcare in the UK.
Answered by Claire Coutinho - Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero
The department is committed to improving the cost, choice, and availability of childcare.
In July 2022, the department announced measures to increase the take-up of childcare support and reduce the costs and bureaucracy facing providers. These plans aim to give providers more flexibility and autonomy and ensure families can access government support to save them money on their childcare bills. This included consulting on changing staff-to-child ratios for 2-year-olds in group-based settings and clarifying flexibilities for childminders. As part of the Autumn Budget and Spending Review 2021, we have announced additional funding for the early years entitlements of £160 million in 2022/23, £180 million in 2023/24 and £170 million in 2024/25, compared to the 2021/22 financial year, for local authorities to increase hourly rates paid to childcare providers.
The department also announced a £1.2 million marketing campaign underway via the Childcare Choices website to ensure that every parent knows about the government-funded support they are eligible for. The website can be found here: https://www.childcarechoices.gov.uk/.
The department aims to attract more people to childminding, expand the childminder market by reducing the costs and bureaucracy facing providers, and encourage the growth of childminder agencies, enabling greater access to this flexible, affordable form of care. The full announcement can be viewed online at: https://www.gov.uk/government/news/drive-to-reduce-the-cost-of-childcare-for-parents.
The department continues to work across government, looking at ways to make childcare more affordable and to encourage families to use the government-funded support they are entitled to.
Asked by: Stephen Timms (Labour - East Ham)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, with reference to the Answer of 23 November 2020 to Question 119161, what recent estimate he has made of when the former East Ham police station building will be back in use.
Answered by Jonathan Gullis
Newham Planning Committee has resolved to approve the planning application for the East Ham Police Station, subject to the finalisation of a Section 106 agreement for a cycle scheme, carbon offset, travel plan and monitoring of employment/skills.
The department will enter into the building contract shortly. Once completed the building will be handed over to Newham Collegiate School. We anticipate this will allow the school to expand its places from September 2024.
Asked by: Stephen Timms (Labour - East Ham)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what recent assessment he has made of the prevalence of large employers offering inclusive blended work experience programmes, both in-person and virtual, for young people from disadvantaged backgrounds.
Answered by Andrea Jenkyns
We currently do not collect data on the number of T Level industry placements delivered, or committed to, by individual employers. Instead, this information is held by education providers, who are responsible for securing industry placements for their T Level students and, therefore, we are unable to report on the number of large employers currently offering or planning on offering industry placements. However, as part of our ongoing engagement with employers on T Levels, we are encouraging employers of all sizes, including large employers, to offer industry placements.
Traineeships provide young people from all backgrounds with an opportunity to gain valuable work experience and skills needed to start a successful career in a variety of industries.
Through The Careers & Enterprise Company (CEC), we continue to support schools and colleges to provide young people with access to meaningful experiences of the workplace.
We know that during the COVID-19 pandemic, Careers Leaders in schools,colleges and employers responded creatively to the challenges of providing experiences of the workplace, adapting their careers programmes to provide virtual encounters with employers. Many employers are now taking a blended approach to providing workplace experiences..
The CEC have published a range of key resources to support Careers Leaders to develop their careers programmes. This includes guidance around how to meet Gatsby Benchmark 6 (experiences of the workplace) more meaningfully, resources from the ‘My Week of Work’ event, and links to virtual tours with employers and work experience programmes.
The CEC has also worked in partnership with CareerMap and Engineering UK to develop a new resource for employers around virtual work experience and continue to increase opportunities for young people to engage with employers.
Over 300 ‘Cornerstone’ employers who represent a range of business sizes and sectors, including Rolls Royce and BAE Systems, are working with Careers Hubs to bring together business effort and engagement with local schools and colleges. 3,750 Enterprise Advisers are also working with schools and colleges to develop their employer engagement plans.
Asked by: Stephen Timms (Labour - East Ham)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what plans he has to renew Primary PE and Sport Premium funding for the academic year 2022-23.
Answered by Will Quince
I refer the hon. Member for East Ham, the hon. Member for Streatham and the hon. Member for Denton and Reddish, to the answer I gave on 16 June 2022 to Question 16901.
Asked by: Stephen Timms (Labour - East Ham)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many and what proportion of schools enrolled on the National School Breakfast Programme have been issued breakfast food orders this academic year since 7 February 2022.
Answered by Will Quince
The government is committed to supporting school breakfast provisions. Accordingly, it is investing up to £24 million to extend the National School Breakfast Programme until July 2023. This funding will support up to 2,500 schools in disadvantaged areas, meaning that thousands of children from low-income families will be offered free nutritious breakfasts to better assist their attainment, wellbeing and readiness to be taught.
As of 22 December 2021, 1,245 schools signed up for the programme, and 847 schools placed food orders. The government will continue to work with its supplier, Family Action, to monitor relevant data and consider suitable occasions to share more information on the programme as it progresses.
Despite the number of challenges faced by schools due to the COVID-19 outbreak, the department has noted positive levels of interest in the programme. The enrolment process for the programme is still underway. The department has extended free breakfast provision beyond April 2022, allowing schools to receive free provisions until the end of July 2022. As a result, any school signing up to the programme now is still able to benefit from two terms worth of free food.
Asked by: Stephen Timms (Labour - East Ham)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment he has made of the reasons for the National School Breakfast Programme not reaching its target of 2,500 schools by January 2022; and if he will make a statement.
Answered by Will Quince
The government is committed to supporting school breakfast provisions. Accordingly, it is investing up to £24 million to extend the National School Breakfast Programme until July 2023. This funding will support up to 2,500 schools in disadvantaged areas, meaning that thousands of children from low-income families will be offered free nutritious breakfasts to better assist their attainment, wellbeing and readiness to be taught.
As of 22 December 2021, 1,245 schools signed up for the programme, and 847 schools placed food orders. The government will continue to work with its supplier, Family Action, to monitor relevant data and consider suitable occasions to share more information on the programme as it progresses.
Despite the number of challenges faced by schools due to the COVID-19 outbreak, the department has noted positive levels of interest in the programme. The enrolment process for the programme is still underway. The department has extended free breakfast provision beyond April 2022, allowing schools to receive free provisions until the end of July 2022. As a result, any school signing up to the programme now is still able to benefit from two terms worth of free food.
Asked by: Stephen Timms (Labour - East Ham)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, pursuant to the oral contribution of the Minister for Universities of 15 July 2021, Official Report, column 646, that the Government will provide an update on alternative student finance as it concludes the post-18 review of education and funding, what plans he now has to introduce a system of alternative student finance.
Answered by Michelle Donelan - Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology
The government’s priority, in our response to the report of the Independent Panel of the Review of Post 18 Education and Funding, is to put the student finance system on a sustainable footing for the long term.
As part of our response, we are introducing the Lifelong Loan Entitlement (LLE). We are considering if and how Alternative Student Finance (ASF) could be delivered as part of the LLE.
We believe it is sensible to align future delivery of an ASF product with these major reforms to ensure fair treatment for all students.