Asked by: Andrew Lewer (Conservative - Northampton South)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment he has made of the role school-specific uniform plays in counteracting bullying in schools.
Answered by Nick Gibb
The Department strongly encourages schools to have a school uniform. We recognise the valuable role it can play in contributing to the ethos of a school and setting an appropriate tone.
It is for the governing body of a school (or in the case of academies, the academy trust) to decide whether there should be a school uniform and what it will be.
When deciding upon a school uniform policy and considering how the school uniform should be sourced, governing bodies should give highest priority to the consideration of cost and value for money for parents. Governing bodies should be able to demonstrate that they have obtained the best value for money from suppliers.
The Government is pleased to support the recently introduced Private Member’s Bill to ‘Make provision for guidance about the cost aspects of school uniform policies.’ It will place a duty on the Secretary of State for Education to issue statutory guidance pertaining to the cost aspects of school uniform policies. We intend to consider the views of a full range of stakeholders when developing this statutory guidance.
Asked by: Andrew Lewer (Conservative - Northampton South)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment he has made of the role school-specific uniform plays in promoting a sense of identity within schools and their local communities.
Answered by Nick Gibb
The Department strongly encourages schools to have a school uniform. We recognise the valuable role it can play in contributing to the ethos of a school and setting an appropriate tone.
It is for the governing body of a school (or in the case of academies, the academy trust) to decide whether there should be a school uniform and what it will be.
When deciding upon a school uniform policy and considering how the school uniform should be sourced, governing bodies should give highest priority to the consideration of cost and value for money for parents. Governing bodies should be able to demonstrate that they have obtained the best value for money from suppliers.
The Government is pleased to support the recently introduced Private Member’s Bill to ‘Make provision for guidance about the cost aspects of school uniform policies.’ It will place a duty on the Secretary of State for Education to issue statutory guidance pertaining to the cost aspects of school uniform policies. We intend to consider the views of a full range of stakeholders when developing this statutory guidance.
Asked by: Andrew Lewer (Conservative - Northampton South)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what plans he has to hold discussions with school-uniform retailers, distributors and manufacturers on his Department's school uniform guidance; and what plans he has to work with that sector to implement that guidance.
Answered by Nick Gibb
The Department strongly encourages schools to have a school uniform. We recognise the valuable role it can play in contributing to the ethos of a school and setting an appropriate tone.
It is for the governing body of a school (or in the case of academies, the academy trust) to decide whether there should be a school uniform and what it will be.
When deciding upon a school uniform policy and considering how the school uniform should be sourced, governing bodies should give highest priority to the consideration of cost and value for money for parents. Governing bodies should be able to demonstrate that they have obtained the best value for money from suppliers.
The Government is pleased to support the recently introduced Private Member’s Bill to ‘Make provision for guidance about the cost aspects of school uniform policies.’ It will place a duty on the Secretary of State for Education to issue statutory guidance pertaining to the cost aspects of school uniform policies. We intend to consider the views of a full range of stakeholders when developing this statutory guidance.
Asked by: Andrew Lewer (Conservative - Northampton South)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment he has made of the (a) quality and (b) value for money of school-specific uniform.
Answered by Nick Gibb
The Department strongly encourages schools to have a school uniform. We recognise the valuable role it can play in contributing to the ethos of a school and setting an appropriate tone.
It is for the governing body of a school (or in the case of academies, the academy trust) to decide whether there should be a school uniform and what it will be.
When deciding upon a school uniform policy and considering how the school uniform should be sourced, governing bodies should give highest priority to the consideration of cost and value for money for parents. Governing bodies should be able to demonstrate that they have obtained the best value for money from suppliers.
The Government is pleased to support the recently introduced Private Member’s Bill to ‘Make provision for guidance about the cost aspects of school uniform policies.’ It will place a duty on the Secretary of State for Education to issue statutory guidance pertaining to the cost aspects of school uniform policies. We intend to consider the views of a full range of stakeholders when developing this statutory guidance.
Asked by: Andrew Lewer (Conservative - Northampton South)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many and what proportion of children attend an independent school in each (a) local authority and (b) constituency in the latest period for which figures are available.
Answered by Michelle Donelan
The department publishes figures on the number of independent schools and pupils attending them in the annual 'Schools, Pupils and Characteristics' release. Figures for the national and local authority levels are provided in tables 1a, 1b and 1c of the following link: https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/schools-pupils-and-their-characteristics-january-2019.
The underlying data file includes figures for individual schools including school name, school type, parliamentary constituency and location. Full addresses can be found at the Get Information About Schools website here: https://get-information-schools.service.gov.uk/.
The Oxford Analytics October 2018 report, 'The Impact of Independent Schools on the UK Economy', estimated that independent schools provide an annualised taxpayer cost saving of £3.5 billion, compared to the cost of educating all pupils in the state sector.
Asked by: Andrew Lewer (Conservative - Northampton South)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many pupils there were at each independent school in each (a) local authority area and (b) parliamentary constituency in the latest period for which figures are available; and if he will publish the name and address of each of those schools.
Answered by Michelle Donelan
The department publishes figures on the number of independent schools and pupils attending them in the annual 'Schools, Pupils and Characteristics' release. Figures for the national and local authority levels are provided in tables 1a, 1b and 1c of the following link: https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/schools-pupils-and-their-characteristics-january-2019.
The underlying data file includes figures for individual schools including school name, school type, parliamentary constituency and location. Full addresses can be found at the Get Information About Schools website here: https://get-information-schools.service.gov.uk/.
The Oxford Analytics October 2018 report, 'The Impact of Independent Schools on the UK Economy', estimated that independent schools provide an annualised taxpayer cost saving of £3.5 billion, compared to the cost of educating all pupils in the state sector.