Asked by: Alex Burghart (Conservative - Brentwood and Ongar)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what estimate she has made of the cost to the public purse of increasing teachers' pay in line with inflation over the course of the current Parliament.
Answered by Nick Gibb
Teachers’ pay is based on recommendations made by the School Teachers’ Review Body (SRTB).
The SRTB, which reports to the Secretary of State on an annual basis, considers evidence from a range of stakeholders before making their recommendations.
As stated in the Written Ministerial Statement on 10 July 2017 the Secretary of State has accepted the STRB’s recommendations for this year subject to the consultation, which commenced on 10 July 2017 and closes on 28 July 2017. When the consultation is complete the final School Teachers’ Pay and Conditions Document for 2017-18 will be published.
Asked by: Alex Burghart (Conservative - Brentwood and Ongar)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what estimate she has made of the cost of introducing free school meals to all primary school children.
Answered by Robert Goodwill
Expanding universal infant free school meals (UIFSM) to all primary school children is not something the government plans to do and we have not examined this fully. However, initial costings suggest there would be an additional cost of between £700m to £900m per year, increasing the overall cost of UIFSM to between £1.3 billion and £1.5 billion per year.
Asked by: Alex Burghart (Conservative - Brentwood and Ongar)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what estimate she has made of the cost of restoring the education maintenance allowance for 16 to 18-year-olds in each parental income decile.
Answered by Anne Milton
The Department for Education has not assessed the cost of restoring the Education Maintenance Allowance for 16 to 18 year olds in each parental income decile.
Asked by: Alex Burghart (Conservative - Brentwood and Ongar)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many and what proportion of white pupils at the end of Key Stage 4 who were eligible for free school meals in any of the previous six years were children in need at any point in their life.
Answered by Robert Goodwill
I am sorry, but we do not hold information in the requested format on the number and proportion of white pupils at the end of Key Stage 4 who were eligible for free school meals in any of the previous six years and were children in need at any point in their life
Asked by: Alex Burghart (Conservative - Brentwood and Ongar)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what estimate she has made of the cost of introducing free lifelong learning education in further education colleges.
Answered by Anne Milton
The Government offers a range of support for adult learners, including through the Adult Education Budget and through Advanced Learner Loans. Details of the funding are published through the Skills Funding Letter (https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/599089/SFA_Letter_2017-18_final.pdf). The Government has also announced £40 million at this year’s Budget to fund pilots that will test ambitious, new approaches to removing barriers to lifelong learning.