Asked by: Andrew Stephenson (Conservative - Pendle)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps her Department is taking to improve understanding of the effects on education of the misuse of drugs by children in schools.
Answered by Edward Timpson
The government funds the annual survey of smoking, drinking and drug use, which provides authoritative statistics on smoking, drinking and drug use among 11 to 15 year olds in England. It has been run annually since 1982 and provides national and regional trends in substance use. The latest survey data from 2014 shows that 18% of 11-15 year olds have smoked at least once, which is the lowest level since the survey began in 1982. The percentage of young people who have tried alcohol at least once (38%) was also its lowest level since 1982 and drug use has continued to decline with 15% of 11-15 year olds reporting that they had tried drugs at least once.
The evidence is clear that pupils with better health and wellbeing are likely to achieve better academically and that misusing drugs is likely to harm a child’s health and education.
As part of the statutory duty on schools to promote pupils’ wellbeing, schools have a clear role to play in preventing and handling drug misuse as part of their pastoral responsibilities. Department for Education jointly published drug advice for schools and local authorities, with the Association of Chief Police Officers (ACPO) in September 2012. The advice is available on gov.uk: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/drugs-advice-for-schools
Asked by: Andrew Stephenson (Conservative - Pendle)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what recent representations she has received on AQA's decision to discontinue the Polish A-level from 2018; and if she will make a statement.
Answered by Nick Gibb
The Secretary of State for Education has received a number of representations on AQA’s decision, including from the Polish Ambassador, whom I met on 21 May 2015, and in correspondence with several Members of Parliament.
We are currently considering what further support and encouragement can be provided to awarding organisations to enable as wide a range of languages as possible to be maintained at GCSE and A level.
The government has been clear that it wants to see all pupils provided with the opportunity to take a core set of academic subjects, including modern foreign languages. The number of pupils entering for a modern language GCSE has increased by 20% since 2010 due to the introduction of the English Baccalaureate. There are considerable benefits to learning a second language and the government is keen to see the range of languages at GCSE and A level preserved. To this end, the Secretary of State wrote to exam boards during the pre-election period to express her concern about their decision to stop awarding qualifications in some languages. She asked awarding organisations to work with Ofqual on the future of these qualifications and committed, if there is no further action, to launching a consultation on how best to secure the future of these qualifications.
Asked by: Andrew Stephenson (Conservative - Pendle)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many free child care places there were in Lancashire in each of the last 10 years.
Answered by Sam Gyimah
The table below provides the number of part time equivalent funded early education places, in Lancashire, from 2005 to 2014:
Part time equivalent number of funded early education places filled by 2-year-olds | Part time equivalent number of funded early education places filled by 3- and 4-year-olds | |
2005 | - | 22,300 |
2006 | - | 22,500 |
2007 | - | 22,600 |
2008 | - | 23,300 |
2009 | - | 23,800 |
2010 | - | 25,000 |
2011 | - | 25,200 |
2012 | - | 26,200 |
2013 | - | 26,700 |
2014 | 1,400 | 26,800 |
Source: Early Years Census (EYC), School Census (SC), and School Level Annual School Census (SLASC). Figures are rounded to the nearest 100.
Prior to 2010, the number of part-time places filled was derived by counting children taking up: 12.5 hours per week as one place; 10 hours per week as 0.8 places; 7.5 hours per week as 0.6 places; 5 hours per week as 0.4 places; and 2.5 hours per week as 0.2 places. A child taking up a place at a maintained nursery or primary school was counted as one part-time funded place. Since 2011, a part-time equivalent place has been equivalent to 15 hours. The part time equivalent places filled is derived from the number of funded places filled according to the amount of free entitlement a child receives. A child who holds a place at a maintained nursery or primary school is counted as one part time equivalent funded place.
The latest statistics can be found online at: www.gov.uk/government/statistics/provision-for-children-under-5-years-of-age-january-2014
Asked by: Andrew Stephenson (Conservative - Pendle)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assistance her Department has made available to Lancashire County Council for expanding the number of free childcare places.
Answered by Sam Gyimah
The Department for Education has provided funding to Lancashire as set out in the table below. This information can also be found at: http://media.education.gov.uk/assets/files/pdf/l/2yo%20capital%20and%20revenue%20funding%20allocations%20spreadsheet.pdf
and:
In addition, the Department has supported all local authorities through: national marketing campaigns; funding IT and implementation support; introducing an electronic checking service; and, providing live data to local authorities about which children in their area are eligible.
Lancashire | National | |||
Revenue allocation for 2 year olds: | Statutory | Trajectory | Total | Total |
2014-15 | £14,271,271 | £1,803,018 | £16,074,288 | £755,000,000 |
2013-14 | £7,259,833 | £2,850,014 | £10,109,847 | £525,000,000 |
Revenue total | £26,184,135 | £1,280,000,000 | ||
Capital (2012-13) | £1,917,510 | £100,000,000 | ||
Total investment | £28,101,645 | £1,380,000,000 | ||
Asked by: Andrew Stephenson (Conservative - Pendle)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many 16 to 18 year-olds in (a) Lancashire and (b) England were not in education, employment or training in each of the last two years.
Answered by Nick Boles
Definitive national estimates of participation in education, training and employment for young people aged 16 to 18 are published by the Department for Education in a Statistical First Release each June. The latest estimate at the end of 2013 shows that the proportion of 16 to 18-year-olds not in education, employment or training (NEET) was at a record low.
These estimates cannot be broken down to local authority level. However, local authorities collect information on 16 to 18-year-olds who are NEET in each local authority area in England. This information, including data for Lancashire, is published annually on GOV.UK [1], and we will add figures for 2014 on 19 March. This local authority information shows a total number of 16 to-18-year-olds NEET in England of 100,930 at the end of 2012, and 92,170 at the end of 2013, showing a reduction of 8,760.
It should be noted that the total number of young people NEET in the local authority data is lower than that in the national estimates. This is because local authority records relate only to those young people whose activity is known to them and are therefore likely to exclude some young people who are NEET.
Asked by: Andrew Stephenson (Conservative - Pendle)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many children in Lancashire were eligible for but did not claim free school meals in the latest period for which figures are available.
Answered by David Laws
The Department for Education routinely collects information on pupils who are claiming free school meals. This information is published in the ‘Schools, Pupils and their Characteristics: January 2014’ Statistical First Release.[1] It is not possible to identify the number of pupils who are eligible for but are not claiming free school meals from the data the department collects.
However, the department has published a research paper ‘Pupils not claiming free school meals: 2013’[2] which presents estimates of the numbers and proportions of pupils who are entitled to receive free school meals but are not claiming. The paper compares registration rates for children aged between 4 and 15 and highlights regions and local authorities where under-registration rates are high. Figures from this paper show the under-registration rate for Lancashire local authority is 6% (1,600 pupils).
[1] www.gov.uk/government/statistics/schools-pupils-and-their-characteristics-january-2014
[2] www.gov.uk/government/publications/pupils-not-claiming-free-school-meals-2013