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Written Question
Schools: Buildings
Wednesday 26th April 2017

Asked by: Andrew Stephenson (Conservative - Pendle)

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how much was awarded to schools in each English region through the Condition Improvement Fund in each of the last three years.

Answered by Nick Gibb

The total amount of funding awarded to schools in each of the English regions from the Condition Improvement Fund (CIF) in each of the last three years is shown in the table below.

The figures for the 2015-16 and 2016-17 rounds include funding for CIF appeals. The appeals round for 2017-18 has not yet been concluded.

Region

2015-16 £m

2016-17 £m

2017-18 £m

East Midlands

42.5

44.5

44.4

East of England

74.5

84.4

67.7

Inner London

7.9

10.5

11.1

North East

14.5

18.1

12.2

North West

35.8

45.9

49.8

Outer London

39.3

43.8

51.2

South East

65.2

60.0

54.0

South West

56.7

58.8

57.8

West Midlands

53.4

64.6

72.1

Yorkshire and the Humber

32.3

25.6

45.4

Total

422.1

456.3

465.6


Written Question
Free School Meals: Pendle
Monday 27th March 2017

Asked by: Andrew Stephenson (Conservative - Pendle)

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many children in Pendle were eligible for free school meals on the latest date for which figures are available.

Answered by Edward Timpson

Data for the number of pupils eligible for free school meals in each school in England are available in the underlying data in the annual ‘Schools, pupils and their characteristics’ statistical release. The most recent figures, from January 2016, are published at:

www.gov.uk/government/statistics/schools-pupils-and-their-characteristics-january-2016

The data are contained in the underlying data file, with ‘Schools_Pupils’ in the title.


Written Question
Citizenship: Education
Monday 27th March 2017

Asked by: Andrew Stephenson (Conservative - Pendle)

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment she has made of the effect of the inclusion of citizenship education in Key Stages 3 and 4 of the National Curriculum on understanding of democracy, government and how laws are made and upheld.

Answered by Nick Gibb

The Citizenship programmes of study were revised to focus on the core knowledge of citizenship such as democracy, Government, and how laws are made and upheld. They are designed to prepare pupils to play a full and active part in society. The Department has not made a formal assessment of these changes.

When inspecting schools, Ofsted considers the breadth and balance of the curriculum, including provision for pupils’ personal development, behaviour and welfare, as well as their spiritual, moral, social and cultural development. This includes how pupils develop and demonstrate knowledge and attitudes that will allow them to participate fully in and contribute positively to life in modern Britain. Ofsted have strengthened their inspection frameworks so that inspectors assess how well all schools protect pupils from the risks of extremism and radicalisation, and promote fundamental British values. High quality citizenship teaching can help schools to meet their obligations to protect pupils from radicalisation and promote fundamental British values. It can also help schools build pupils’ resilience to extremism through knowledge of important issue to enable them to question information, weigh arguments, and make reasoned judgments.


Written Question
Apprentices: Small Businesses
Friday 24th March 2017

Asked by: Andrew Stephenson (Conservative - Pendle)

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps she is taking to encourage small and medium-sized enterprises to employ apprentices.

Answered by Robert Halfon

Supporting and growing apprenticeships amongst smaller employers who won’t be asked to pay the levy is critical to us. Our decision to provide generous co-investment support and extend this to 100% support for employers with fewer than 50 employees, when they recruit a 16-18-year-old or a 19-24-year-old formerly in care or with an Education and Health Care plan shows this.

We are undertaking a range of communications and engagement activity to ensure employers of all sizes are aware of how they can benefit from the opportunities presented by apprenticeships.

The current phase of the Get in Go Far campaign focuses on helping smaller employers understand the benefits of apprenticeships. This is being supported by a telemarketing campaign led by the Skills Funding Agency. Small and Medium Enterprises will continue to play a critical role in growing apprenticeship opportunities.


Written Question
Children: Day Care
Wednesday 22nd March 2017

Asked by: Andrew Stephenson (Conservative - Pendle)

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if her Department will make provision for administrative costs incurred by nurseries as a result of extending the availability of free childcare.

Answered by Caroline Dinenage

We are increasing our annual investment in the free early years entitlements by £1 billion per year by 2019-20. This includes over £300 million a year for a significant increase to Government funding rates. We have also legislated to ensure that local authorities pass the vast majority of Government funding onto providers.

This new investment is based on our ‘Review of Childcare Costs’, published in November 2015. The Review explicitly considered providers’ administrative costs and was described by the National Audit Office as “thorough and wide-ranging”.

In addition, we are providing £2.15m to local authorities to improve their IT systems to allow more automation of the administrative requirements on providers.


Written Question
Apprentices: Ethnic Groups
Wednesday 15th March 2017

Asked by: Andrew Stephenson (Conservative - Pendle)

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps she plans to take to encourage people from Black and minority ethnic backgrounds to undertake apprenticeships.

Answered by Robert Halfon

We are committed to increasing the proportion of apprentices with a Black and Minority Ethnic background (BAME) by 20% by 2020, as part of the overall commitment to reach 3 million Apprenticeship starts in England.

We have taken action through our current marketing campaign, ‘Get in Go Far’ to ensure that there is clear representation from apprentices from BAME backgrounds, including showcasing BAME apprentices in high status professional roles.

On 21 February 2017 we launched the Apprenticeships Diversity Champions Network. This network, chaired by Nus Ghani MP, will be engaging and inspiring employers and communities to ensure that apprenticeships are represented by people from a diverse range of backgrounds, reflecting the widest spectrum of our society. The 23 members are committed to encouraging other employers to promote diversity in apprenticeships, and to championing apprenticeships in BAME communities.

The National Careers Service provides information about learning and work, with a helpline giving professional advice on making the right choices, before and during apprenticeships.


Written Question
Pre-school Education: Finance
Tuesday 8th November 2016

Asked by: Andrew Stephenson (Conservative - Pendle)

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether she plans to extend funding for maintained nursery schools beyond the two years indicated in the consultation on the Early Years National Funding Formula, published in August 2016.

Answered by Caroline Dinenage

Maintained nursery schools make a very important contribution to social mobility. That is why, as we introduce new funding arrangements in the early years, we are providing local authorities with supplementary funding of £55m a year for maintained nursery schools for at least two years. This will provide stability by maintaining their current funding, and is part of our record investment in childcare – £6 billion per year by 2020.

We will say more about the funding of maintained nursery schools later in the autumn in our response to the consultation on an Early Years National Funding Formula. And we will consult the sector on the future of maintained nursery schools in further detail, including on what happens after this two year period, in due course.


Written Question
Pre-school Education: Finance
Tuesday 8th November 2016

Asked by: Andrew Stephenson (Conservative - Pendle)

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether her Department has considered funding maintained nursery schools under the School National Funding Formula instead of the Early Years National Funding Formula.

Answered by Caroline Dinenage

Maintained nursery schools make a very important contribution to social mobility. That is why, as we introduce new funding arrangements in the early years, we are providing local authorities with supplementary funding of £55m a year for maintained nursery schools for at least two years. This will provide stability by maintaining their current funding, and is part of our record investment in childcare – £6 billion per year by 2020.

We will say more about the funding of maintained nursery schools later in the autumn in our response to the consultation on an Early Years National Funding Formula. And we will consult the sector on the future of maintained nursery schools in further detail, including on what happens after this two year period, in due course.


Written Question
Students: Loans
Tuesday 20th September 2016

Asked by: Andrew Stephenson (Conservative - Pendle)

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what the total value of the repayments issued by the Student Loans Company to people who had overpaid their student loan was in each of the last five years.

Answered by Lord Johnson of Marylebone

The Student Loans Company (SLC) administers student loans for each of the UK Government Administrations. It collected £1.79 billion in the 2015-16 financial year in repayments on loans made in England. Statistics covering English 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/full-catalogue-of-official-statistics/student-loans-debt-and-repayment.aspx

Information on the value of English loan over-repayments that have been refunded by the SLC in each financial year can be found in Table 1 of the SFR.

Latest management information (as at April 2016) from the SLC shows that, in the tax year 2014-15, there were 66,100 English domiciled borrowers who had over-repaid their loans through PAYE tax collection.

The SLC informs borrowers who are within two years of completing repaying their loans that they may opt to make loan repayments by direct debit, rather than through the tax system.

Borrowers who take up the option to repay by direct debit will not over-repay their loans. If borrowers choose not to repay by direct debit, it is possible that they may over repay, as the SLC receives details of repayments made by borrowers from HMRC on an annual basis. We would encourage more borrowers to take up the direct debit option when they are near to the end of their loans.

Where borrowers have over-repaid, the SLC will contact them to tell them that they have a refund due and make arrangements to pay the money back to them. Any borrower who has over repaid can also contact the SLC at any point to have the money refunded to them.


Written Question
Students: Loans
Tuesday 20th September 2016

Asked by: Andrew Stephenson (Conservative - Pendle)

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many people who have already repaid their student loan in full are having loan repayments deducted from their pay.

Answered by Lord Johnson of Marylebone

The Student Loans Company (SLC) administers student loans for each of the UK Government Administrations. It collected £1.79 billion in the 2015-16 financial year in repayments on loans made in England. Statistics covering English 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/full-catalogue-of-official-statistics/student-loans-debt-and-repayment.aspx

Information on the value of English loan over-repayments that have been refunded by the SLC in each financial year can be found in Table 1 of the SFR.

Latest management information (as at April 2016) from the SLC shows that, in the tax year 2014-15, there were 66,100 English domiciled borrowers who had over-repaid their loans through PAYE tax collection.

The SLC informs borrowers who are within two years of completing repaying their loans that they may opt to make loan repayments by direct debit, rather than through the tax system.

Borrowers who take up the option to repay by direct debit will not over-repay their loans. If borrowers choose not to repay by direct debit, it is possible that they may over repay, as the SLC receives details of repayments made by borrowers from HMRC on an annual basis. We would encourage more borrowers to take up the direct debit option when they are near to the end of their loans.

Where borrowers have over-repaid, the SLC will contact them to tell them that they have a refund due and make arrangements to pay the money back to them. Any borrower who has over repaid can also contact the SLC at any point to have the money refunded to them.