Asked by: Andrew Murrison (Conservative - South West Wiltshire)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether Bristol University has shared with him the results and conclusions of its investigation into Professor David Miller's conduct towards Jewish students launched in March 2021.
Answered by Michelle Donelan - Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology
The views of Professor Miller are ill-founded and wholly reprehensible, and the government wholeheartedly rejects them. We consider that the University of Bristol could do more to make its condemnation of that conduct clear to current and future students.
I understand the university is currently investigating these comments. The university has not yet completed the investigation. The government is not involved in this process and all details will remain confidential to the university until it has reached its conclusion.
I met with representatives of the University of Bristol in May 2021. I was reassured that the university recognises its obligations to keep Jewish students safe and to support them if they feel in any way threatened. I understand they are committed to completing the confidential investigation as quickly as possible with the rigour required for a complex investigation of this kind.
Asked by: Andrew Murrison (Conservative - South West Wiltshire)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether he has received any representations on the views expressed by Professor David Miller at Bristol University on Jewish students and organisations.
Answered by Michelle Donelan - Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology
The views of Professor Miller are ill-founded and wholly reprehensible, and the government wholeheartedly rejects them. We consider that the University of Bristol could do more to make its condemnation of that conduct clear to current and future students.
I understand the university is currently investigating these comments. The university has not yet completed the investigation. The government is not involved in this process and all details will remain confidential to the university until it has reached its conclusion.
I met with representatives of the University of Bristol in May 2021. I was reassured that the university recognises its obligations to keep Jewish students safe and to support them if they feel in any way threatened. I understand they are committed to completing the confidential investigation as quickly as possible with the rigour required for a complex investigation of this kind.
Asked by: Andrew Murrison (Conservative - South West Wiltshire)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether music teachers can undertake one-to-one instruction in (a) school and (b) home environments during the current phase of the easing of the covid-19 lockdown restrictions; and what guidance for the safe working of those music teachers is (i) available and (ii) in preparation.
Answered by Nick Gibb
One-to-one instruction, including in music, can take place in school and home environments, as long as the relevant guidance is followed. The Department published detailed guidance on 2 July for schools for all children and young people to return to full-time education from September 2020. This guidance provides schools, colleges and nurseries with the details needed to plan for a full return, as well as reassuring parents about what to expect for their children, this guidance can be found here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/actions-for-schools-during-the-coronavirus-outbreak/guidance-for-full-opening-schools.
The Department has also published guidance for community activities, holiday and after-school clubs, as well as other out-of-school provision for children over the age of five, which sets out the protective measures that need to be in place to ensure that such out-of-school provision can open as safely as possible. This guidance can be found here: 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/protective-measures-for-out-of-school-settings-during-the-coronavirus-covid-19-outbreak.
More detailed guidance on music will be published shortly.
The Government has also published specific guidance for people working out of the home, this can be found here: https://www.gov.uk/guidance/working-safely-during-coronavirus-covid-19/homes.
Asked by: Andrew Murrison (Conservative - South West Wiltshire)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, with reference to his Department's press release of 11 March 2019, Thousands of places created in new special free schools, what criteria was used to determine those local authorities selected to receive new special free schools.
Answered by Nadhim Zahawi
On 11 March 2019, my right hon. Friend, the Secretary of State for Education, announced the approval of 37 special free schools and 2 alternative provision free schools, providing thousands of new school places for children with special educational needs or those facing additional challenges in mainstream education.
The criteria used to assess local authority bids has now been removed from GOV.UK and is in the process of being uploaded onto the national archives web archives at: www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/webarchive/. A copy has been placed in the Libraries of both Houses.
Asked by: Andrew Murrison (Conservative - South West Wiltshire)
Question to the Department for Education:
o ask the Secretary of State for Education, with reference to his Department's press release of 11 March 2019, Thousands of places created in new special free schools, where in the South West he plans for those new special free schools providing 500 new places to be located.
Answered by Nadhim Zahawi
On 11 March 2019, my right hon. Friend, the Secretary of State for Education, announced the approval of 37 special free schools and 2 alternative provision free schools, providing thousands of new school places for children with special educational needs or those facing additional challenges in mainstream education. This includes the approval of 6 new special schools in the south-west. The schools will open in the following local authority areas: Cornwall, Dorset, North Somerset, Plymouth, Somerset and Wiltshire. The new school to be opened in Wiltshire local authority will be located in Salisbury and will also cater for students in the surrounding areas.
Asked by: Andrew Murrison (Conservative - South West Wiltshire)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, with reference to his Department's press release of 11 March 2019, Thousands of places created in new special free schools, to which local authorities that £365 million funding has been allocated.
Answered by Nick Gibb
On 11 March 2019, my right hon. Friend, the Secretary of State for Education announced 37 new special and 2 alternative provision free schools, providing thousands of new school places for children with special educational needs or those facing additional challenges in mainstream education.
Separately, the Department’s special provision capital fund is allocated to local authorities to build new places and improve facilities for children with special educational needs and disabilities across a range of settings, including mainstream and special schools. This totals £365 million from 2018-19 to 2020-21.
Allocations can be found on GOV.UK at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/send-provision-capital-funding-for-pupils-with-ehc-plans.
Asked by: Andrew Murrison (Conservative - South West Wiltshire)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what discussions she has had with Ofsted on (a) recent closures of nurseries due to safety concerns and (b) the effectiveness of (i) pre-scheduled and unscheduled site inspections.
Answered by Caroline Dinenage
I recently met Ofsted’s Deputy Director for Early Years to discuss a range of issues on the regulation of childcare, including inspection arrangements and the quality standards of childcare providers. Departmental officials have regular business meetings with the Ofsted early years team and brief me on all developments as appropriate.
Departmental Ministers discussed and agreed the new system of inspections with Ofsted prior to Ofsted launching the Common Inspection Framework in September 2015. The framework covers the arrangements for both scheduled inspections and unscheduled inspections based on an assessment of risk. The framework and inspection guidance can be viewed on Ofsted’s website from the following link:
Asked by: Andrew Murrison (Conservative - South West Wiltshire)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps she plans to take to involve private sector childcare providers in assessing the efficacy of free childcare funding.
Answered by Caroline Dinenage
The Department is developing plans to monitor the implementation of 30 hours of free childcare. We have been clear that getting the funding right is critical to successful delivery of this new entitlement and this is why we are introducing an early years national funding formula and maximising the funding that goes to providers.
We will continue to use census data collections and market surveys to monitor and evaluate the childcare market, conduct longitudinal research through the Study of Early Education and Development (SEED), and undertake our long-standing, nationally representative surveys of providers and parents. We will use these to assess the impact of the free entitlement from both providers’ and parents’ perspectives.
We will also keep under review the data underpinning the early years national funding formula.
Asked by: Andrew Murrison (Conservative - South West Wiltshire)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps her Department plans to take to determine the efficiency of the provision of free childcare funding.
Answered by Caroline Dinenage
The Department is developing plans to monitor the implementation of 30 hours of free childcare. We have been clear that getting the funding right is critical to successful delivery of this new entitlement and this is why we are introducing an early years national funding formula and maximising the funding that goes to providers.
We will continue to use census data collections and market surveys to monitor and evaluate the childcare market, conduct longitudinal research through the Study of Early Education and Development (SEED), and undertake our long-standing, nationally representative surveys of providers and parents. We will use these to assess the impact of the free entitlement from both providers’ and parents’ perspectives.
We will also keep under review the data underpinning the early years national funding formula.
Asked by: Andrew Murrison (Conservative - South West Wiltshire)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what the value is of outstanding student loan debts owed by graduates who have moved overseas since 2006.
Answered by Lord Johnson of Marylebone
The information requested is not available without disproportionate cost.
Data provided by the Student Loans Company (SLC) shows that the 113,600 English student loan borrowers who were known to be overseas at the beginning of the financial year 2016-17 had a total loan balance of £1.6 billion. Statistics covering English student loan borrowers are published annually by the SLC in the Statistical First Release (SFR) ‘Student Loans in England’.
http://www.slc.co.uk/official-statistics/student-loans-debt-and-repayment/england.aspx
Information on the repayment status of English student loan borrowers who have become liable to repay (by repayment cohort) can be found in table 3A of the SFR.