Asked by: Alec Shelbrooke (Conservative - Elmet and Rothwell)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps her Department is taking to maintain the provision of school transport services in rural areas.
Answered by Nick Gibb
The Department’s school transport policy aims to ensure that no child of compulsory school age is unable to access education because of a lack of transport. Local Authorities must arrange free travel to school for children aged 5 to 16 who attend their nearest school and cannot walk there due to the distance, route safety, or as a result of special educational needs, disability or mobility problems. There are additional rights to free transport for low-income families aimed at helping them exercise school choice. Home to school travel and transport guidance is available at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/home-to-school-travel-and-transport-guidance.
The majority of central Government funding for home to school transport is made available to Local Authorities through the Local Government Finance Settlement, administered by the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities. The Department provides grant funding to Local Authorities as a contribution towards the cost of extended rights transport, which is just under £45.8 million in the 2023/24 financial year.
Asked by: Alec Shelbrooke (Conservative - Elmet and Rothwell)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether pension benefits that retired teachers are in receipt of will be protected, in a similar way that pension benefits of retired NHS workers have been since the start of the covid-19 outbreak, in the event that they return to work after being called upon by him in December 2021.
Answered by Robin Walker
Generally, retired teachers returning to the classroom following the recent call for ex-teachers to help will not be subject to potential abatement of their teachers’ pension. This is because it is expected that they will be employed by supply teacher agencies, which tend not to be participating Teacher Pensions’ Scheme (TPS) employers.
TPS abatement rules would currently apply to retired teachers, with a final salary pension, if they were to be employed directly by a participating TPS employer. However, the call for ex-teachers to help in the classroom is expected to involve short-term and/or part-time appointments. Consequently, the amount of earnings involved is unlikely to result in any adjustment to individuals’ pension benefits on account of abatement.
We do not, therefore, anticipate there being a compelling need to suspend the abatement provisions in the way that the NHS has done to facilitate the longer-term re-employment of key staff. However, the department is monitoring the situation and, if needed, we will review the policy position.
Asked by: Alec Shelbrooke (Conservative - Elmet and Rothwell)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if he will publish the outcomes of the Developer Loans for Schools pilot between 2019-2021; and whether that programme will remain open in 2022.
Answered by Robin Walker
The Developer Loans for Schools pilot was launched in October 2019. Expressions of interest were received and assessed against the initial eligibility criteria. No loans were agreed, and no monies were committed. In July 2020, an internal review of all aspects of the pilot concluded that the need had changed, and it would not continue. There is no intention to revisit the initiative in 2022.
Asked by: Alec Shelbrooke (Conservative - Elmet and Rothwell)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education,if schools will be able to use the £1 billion Covid Catch-Up Premium for intensive revision lessons for Key Stage 4 pupils wishing to resit their GCSEs in the Autumn.
Answered by Nick Gibb
The Government has announced a catch-up package worth £1 billion, including a ‘Catch-Up Premium’ worth a total of £650 million, to support schools to make up for lost teaching time. This ‘Catch-Up Premium’ will be paid to schools in the 2020-21 academic year to support catch up for students aged 5 to 16.
As part of the catch-up package we have also announced a £350 million National Tutoring Programme which includes a 16 to 19 Tuition Fund. This fund will allocate up to £96 million as a one-off, one year, ring-fenced grant to school sixth forms, colleges and all other 16 to 19 providers to provide small group tutoring activity for disadvantaged 16 to 19 students whose studies have been disrupted as a result of COVID-19, including those resitting GCSEs. Further detail of this element will be confirmed in due course.
Asked by: Alec Shelbrooke (Conservative - Elmet and Rothwell)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if it his policy that local authorities should encourage schools and academies to update their risk assessments to reflect 1 metre plus social distancing.
Answered by Nick Gibb
On 2 July we published guidance to help schools plan for a full return of all children in September. This sets out that in preparation for September, schools should thoroughly review their health and safety risk assessments and draw up plans for the autumn term that address the risks identified.
Schools are expected to give consideration of how to reduce contacts and maximise distancing between those in school wherever possible and minimise potential for contamination so far as is reasonably practicable. These contacts can be reduced by a variety of steps including grouping children together, avoiding contact between groups and staff maintaining distance from pupils and other staff as much as possible.
Our guidance states that ideally, adults should maintain 2 metre distance from each other, and from children. We know that this is not always possible, particularly when working with younger children. In particular, adults should avoid close face to face contact and minimise time spent within 1 metre of anyone.
Children who are old enough should also be supported to maintain distance and not touch staff and their peers where possible. This will not be possible for the youngest children and some children with complex needs and it is not feasible in some schools where space does not allow. Schools doing this where they can, and even doing this some of the time, will help.
The guidance on the full opening of schools can be viewed here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/actions-for-schools-during-the-coronavirus-outbreak/guidance-for-full-opening-schools.
Asked by: Alec Shelbrooke (Conservative - Elmet and Rothwell)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether it is his policy that (a) all schools return to normal teaching and (b) wraparound care providers resume normal operations in September 2020.
Answered by Nick Gibb
The Government has been clear that our intention is for all children to return to school from September. We want to get all children and young people back into education because it is the best place for them to learn, and because we know how important it is for their wellbeing to have social interactions with their teachers and friends.
On 2 July we published guidance to help schools plan for a full return of all pupils in September. In our guidance we advise schools to teach an ambitious and broad curriculum in all subjects from the start of the autumn term but make use of existing flexibilities to create time to cover the most important missed content.
Schools should consider resuming any breakfast and after-school provision, where possible, from the start of the autumn term. We recognise that schools may need to respond flexibly and build this up over time. Such provision will help ensure pupils have opportunities to re-engage with their peers and with the setting, ensure vulnerable children have a healthy breakfast and are ready to focus on their lessons, to provide enrichment activities, and also support working parents. Schools should carefully consider how they can make such provision work alongside their wider protective measures, including keeping children within their year groups or bubbles where possible. If it is not possible to maintain bubbles being used during the school day then schools should use small, consistent groups.
As part of Step 3 of the Government’s recovery strategy, wraparound care providers operating away from a school or nursery have been able to open from 4 July. We have published guidance for after school clubs and wraparound care providers, available at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/protective-measures-for-holiday-or-after-school-clubs-and-other-out-of-school-settings-for-children-during-the-coronavirus-covid-19-outbreak.
Asked by: Alec Shelbrooke (Conservative - Elmet and Rothwell)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether parents unable to utilise their 30 hours free childcare entitlement during the covid-19 lockdown will be able to carry those unused hours over for use during the summer holidays 2020.
Answered by Vicky Ford
We want parents to have access to a range of affordable childcare, giving them increased flexibility in their working hours and helping children thrive in the crucial early years. The government-funded early years entitlements deliver 15 or 30 hours a week of free, high quality, flexible childcare for eligible two, three and four-year-olds for 38 weeks a year.
The government wants to support nurseries, pre-schools and childminders during what must be a worrying and uncertain time. On 17 March, my right hon. Friend, the Chancellor of the Exchequer, confirmed the government would continue to pay funding to local authorities for the free entitlements for two, three and four-year-olds during the period of closures, providing reassurance for early years settings in light of the COVID-19 outbreak. This entitlement funding has continued to be paid to providers to try and ensure that once the lockdown measures are eased and people return to work, there remains sufficient childcare for all those who need it.
These entitlements, therefore, cannot be accrued for time not spent in the setting and so parents will not be able to carry over unused hours for use in the summer holidays.
From 1 June, childcare settings have been able to reopen for children of all ages.
Asked by: Alec Shelbrooke (Conservative - Elmet and Rothwell)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps he has taken to ensure the (a) cost-effectiveness and (b) availability of apprenticeships; and what assessment he has made of the level of compliance by schools with the Baker clause.
Answered by Anne Milton
Our reforms are making apprenticeships longer and better, with more off-the job training and proper assessment at the end, helping employers to create high quality apprenticeships training that will lead to a more skilled and productive economy. By 2020, funding available for investment in apprenticeships in England will have risen to over £2.5 billion per year, to increase the number of high quality opportunities.
New apprenticeship standards across all levels are being designed and driven by industry according to their skill needs. There are over 400 apprenticeship standards available, across all levels and in a wide range of occupations, with more in development.
The Institute for Apprenticeships and Technical Education is responsible for advising the Department for Education (DfE) on the appropriate funding band for apprenticeships, to support high quality apprenticeships and provide value for money for employers and government. The funding band represents the maximum government contribution towards the costs of apprenticeship training and assessment, and employers are encouraged to negotiate a price with their provider.
Information regarding the number of schools that are compliant with the Baker Clause is not held centrally, but the DfE has carried out a survey with the Association of Employment and Learning Providers in June 2018 to find out more about the early impact of the new law. Just over three quarters (76%) of the 75 providers surveyed stated that the duty is being partially complied with in their area. Just under a fifth (19%) said it was not being complied with at all. The remaining 5% said schools in their area are fully compliant. A more recent study by the Institute for Public Policy Research, published on 9 January, found that 70% of providers say that it is difficult to access schools in their area and 31% say that the situation has improved in the last year.
Asked by: Alec Shelbrooke (Conservative - Elmet and Rothwell)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what estimate he has made of the amount held in reserves by maintained schools in the Leeds City Council local authority area in for 2017/18.
Answered by Nick Gibb
The Department trusts schools to manage their own budgets and the great majority have a cumulative surplus of funds, built up over a number of years. In 2016/17 206 local authority maintained schools in Leeds recorded a cumulative surplus, which totalled £31,553,748.