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Written Question
Pupils: Transgender People
Thursday 11th January 2024

Asked by: Apsana Begum (Labour - Poplar and Limehouse)

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether she had discussions with (a) teachers' trade unions and (b) LGBTQ+ organisations on her Department's draft guidance on Gender questioning children: draft schools and colleges guidance, published on 19 December 2023.

Answered by Damian Hinds - Minister of State (Education)

The department is keen to consider the full range of views from all stakeholders and the public consultation on the draft guidance which is open until 12 March 2024 to allow all organisations and individuals to comment.

During this 12-week consultation period, the department plans to engage with a range of interested organisations, including organisations that represent LGBT groups.

In forming the guidance the department and Ministers engaged with experts, including Dr Hilary Cass, school leaders and Parliamentarians, including those who represent LGBT groups.

Departmental officials spoke to a range of groups and organisations to help inform the guidance.


Written Question
Pupils: LGBT+ People
Tuesday 9th January 2024

Asked by: Apsana Begum (Labour - Poplar and Limehouse)

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether she has made an estimate of the proportion of pupils identifying as LGBTQ+ who have been bullied in the last 12 months.

Answered by Damian Hinds - Minister of State (Education)

The department has not made a specific assessment of the potential impact of schools on the mental health of LGBTQ+ young people, but the department is aware that bullying in school can have a profound effect on a child’s mental health and collect regular information.

To support schools, the department is providing over £3 million of funding, between 10 August 2021 and 31 March 2024, to five anti-bullying organisations to support schools to tackle bullying. This includes projects targeting bullying of particular groups, such as those who are victims of hate related bullying and homophobic, bi-phobic and transphobic based bullying.

The department is taking actions to tackle bullying as part of the commitment to ensuring schools are safe, supportive, inclusive environments where all pupils feel they belong. The department’s programme of senior mental health lead training is further supporting schools to promote the mental health and wellbeing of all pupils through effective whole-school approaches. This approach should include creating an environment that promotes respect and values diversity, having robust processes for identifying individuals or groups of pupils in need of further support, and ensuring all staff can recognise and understand how to respond to mental health concerns. The department has committed to offer all schools and colleges funding to train a senior mental health lead by 2025. Over 14,000 settings, including more than 7 in 10 state secondary schools, have taken up the offer so far.


Written Question
Pupils: LGBT+ People
Tuesday 9th January 2024

Asked by: Apsana Begum (Labour - Poplar and Limehouse)

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment she has made of the potential impact of schools on the mental health of young people identifying as LGBTQ+.

Answered by Damian Hinds - Minister of State (Education)

The department has not made a specific assessment of the potential impact of schools on the mental health of LGBTQ+ young people, but the department is aware that bullying in school can have a profound effect on a child’s mental health and collect regular information.

To support schools, the department is providing over £3 million of funding, between 10 August 2021 and 31 March 2024, to five anti-bullying organisations to support schools to tackle bullying. This includes projects targeting bullying of particular groups, such as those who are victims of hate related bullying and homophobic, bi-phobic and transphobic based bullying.

The department is taking actions to tackle bullying as part of the commitment to ensuring schools are safe, supportive, inclusive environments where all pupils feel they belong. The department’s programme of senior mental health lead training is further supporting schools to promote the mental health and wellbeing of all pupils through effective whole-school approaches. This approach should include creating an environment that promotes respect and values diversity, having robust processes for identifying individuals or groups of pupils in need of further support, and ensuring all staff can recognise and understand how to respond to mental health concerns. The department has committed to offer all schools and colleges funding to train a senior mental health lead by 2025. Over 14,000 settings, including more than 7 in 10 state secondary schools, have taken up the offer so far.


Written Question
Department for Education: Vodafone Group
Friday 23rd June 2023

Asked by: Apsana Begum (Labour - Poplar and Limehouse)

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment their Department has made of the potential effect of the merger between Three and Vodafone on their Department's contracts with Vodafone.

Answered by Nick Gibb

As an open economy, the Government welcomes and encourages investment where it supports the Prime Minister’s goal of boosting UK growth and jobs, meets the stringent legal and regulatory requirements, and does not compromise our national security. The Government has robust powers under the National Security and Investment Act 2021, which it introduced, to block or impose remedies on transactions that pose a national security risk.

The Department cannot comment on specific acquisitions nor the applicability of the National Security and Investment regime.

It is the responsibility of Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) to assess the effect on consumers and competition in the market, with input from sectoral regulators.

The Investment Security Unit works closely with the CMA on cases that are being considered for both national security and competition reasons. A memorandum of understanding has been agreed between the Investment Security Unit and the CMA to assist joint working. This memorandum of understanding is available at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/operation-of-the-national-security-and-investment-act-2021-memorandum-of-understanding/mou-between-beis-and-the-cma-on-the-operation-of-the-national-security-and-investment-act-2021.


Written Question
Pupils: Transgender People
Friday 9th June 2023

Asked by: Apsana Begum (Labour - Poplar and Limehouse)

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether forthcoming guidance for schools on supporting trans pupils will include guidance on protecting pupils from transphobic bullying.

Answered by Nick Gibb

The Government is clear that bullying should never be tolerated, and the Department is committed to supporting schools to tackle it. The Department provides advice for schools outlining schools’ responsibilities. The ‘Preventing bullying’ guidance makes clear that schools should make appropriate provision for a bullied child's social, emotional, and mental health needs. The guidance is available at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/preventing-and-tackling-bullying.

The Department knows that gender is a complex and sensitive issue. The Department is working with my right hon. Friend, the Minister for Women and Equalities, to develop guidance to support schools in relation to gender questioning pupils. A draft for consultation will be published later in the summer term.

The Department is providing over £2 million of funding between 10 August 2021 and 31 March 2023 to five anti-bullying organisations to support schools to tackle bullying. This includes projects targeting bullying of particular groups, such as those who are victims of hate related bullying and homophobic, biphobic, and transphobic bullying.

The Department is also ensuring that all pupils in England are taught content on respectful relationships, in person and online, as part of new mandatory relationships, sex and health education (RSHE). These subjects are designed to give pupils the knowledge they need to lead happy, safe, and healthy lives and to foster respect for other people and difference.

All schools are required by law to have a behaviour policy that outlines measures to encourage good behaviour and prevent all forms of bullying amongst pupils. The policy should set out the behaviour expected of pupils, the sanctions that will be imposed for misbehaviour, and rewards for good behaviour. This should be communicated to all pupils, school staff, and parents. This is supported by ‘Respectful School Communities’, a self review and signposting tool to support schools to develop a whole school approach which promotes respect and discipline. This tool can combat bullying, harassment, and prejudice of any kind, including hate based bullying, and is available at: https://educateagainsthate.com/resources/respectful-school-communities-self-review-signposting-tool-2/.


Written Question
Refugees: Ukraine
Friday 24th February 2023

Asked by: Apsana Begum (Labour - Poplar and Limehouse)

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many Ukrainian refugee children have been offered school places in Poplar and Limehouse constituency since February 2022; and how much funding has been allocated to the local authority of Tower Hamlets for the provision of those school places.

Answered by Nick Gibb

The Department does not normally collect data on the nationality of children admitted to schools. A monthly survey of school placements for children from outside the UK was conducted between May and September 2022 to obtain better data on school place pressures. The results of this can be found here: https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/find-statistics/school-placements-for-children-from-outside-of-the-uk.

Across this time period, Tower Hamlets Council reported 117 applications from Ukrainian refugees for primary placements, and 50 for secondary.

The Department provided additional funding to the local authorities for arrivals under the Homes for Ukraine visa scheme in 2022/2023. Tower Hamlets Council has received £133,067.50 to date through this grant and allocations are available here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/homes-for-ukraine-education-and-childcare-funding. In 2023/2024, Local Authorities will be funded in the normal way. All primary and secondary children on roll at the October 2022 pupil census will attract funding through the National Funding Formula.


Written Question
Children: Domestic Abuse
Friday 5th November 2021

Asked by: Apsana Begum (Labour - Poplar and Limehouse)

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment he has made of the implications for his policies of the removal by the family courts of the children of survivors of domestic abuse.

Answered by Will Quince

The government wants every child to be in a stable, loving home that is right for them. One of the key principles of the law is that children are best looked after within their families. However, in situations where a child is at risk of significant harm, the local authority has a statutory duty to take action to safeguard and promote the child’s welfare.

We recognise that domestic abuse can impact on children’s health, wellbeing and development, with lasting effects into adulthood. The Domestic Abuse Act, which received Royal Assent on 29 April 2021, exemplifies this government’s commitment to ensuring the needs of victims and children are at the forefront of tackling domestic abuse.

The government has recently consulted on draft Domestic Abuse statutory guidance, which emphasises the importance of social workers working in partnership with children, families and professionals, and highlights effective features of practice such as multi-disciplinary working and adopting a strengths-based approach.

The system of family justice in England is based firmly on the principle that children should not be taken into care without a court independently assessing and carefully scrutinising all the evidence first. The court can only make an order where it concludes that there is reasonable cause to believe that the child is suffering from, or is likely to suffer, significant harm if the order were not made - and that taking the child from their family’s care will be in the child’s best interests.


Written Question
Higher Education: Greater London
Wednesday 19th May 2021

Asked by: Apsana Begum (Labour - Poplar and Limehouse)

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment he has made of the potential effect of the Office for Students' plans to exclude the London allowance factor in the calculation for relevant London-based higher education providers on the quality of teaching at London universities.

Answered by Michelle Donelan - Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology

The Strategic Priorities Grant, formerly referred to as the Teaching Grant, plays an important role in supporting providers and students to develop the skills and knowledge needed locally, regionally, and nationally to support the economy.

We have asked the Office for Students (OfS) to reform the Grant for the 2021-22 financial year. These reforms include the reallocation of high-cost subject funding towards the provision of high-cost subjects that support the NHS and wider healthcare policy, high-cost STEM subjects, and subjects meeting specific labour market needs.

The London weighting accounts for a small proportion of London-providers’ income. Providers in London received around £64 million London Weighting in the 2020-21 academic year, which is less than 1% of their estimated total income.

London universities will be able to benefit from the significant uplifts we are making to elements of the Strategic Priorities Grant, including the first real terms increase in years in per capita funding for high-cost subjects in grant funding, as well as being able to bid for capital investment to support the delivery of strategic subjects.

We have also asked the OfS for a £10 million increase to the specialist provider allocation, to support these institutions which are particularly reliant on Strategic Priorities Grant funding, many of whom are London-based. We want to ensure that our small and specialist providers, including some of our top music and arts providers, receive additional support, and that grant funding is used to effectively support students.

The OfS has now publicly consulted on these proposals, and responses from universities, students and others will be taken into account before any final decisions on allocations are made.


Written Question
Environment Protection: Vocational Education
Tuesday 2nd March 2021

Asked by: Apsana Begum (Labour - Poplar and Limehouse)

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps his Department is taking to increase provision of low carbon vocational training.

Answered by Gillian Keegan - Secretary of State for Education

The department is taking a number of steps to help deliver the provision needed to boost skills for green jobs.

The Green Jobs Taskforce, following its launch on 12 November last year, has aims to help the UK build back greener and deliver the skilled workforce needed to reach net zero emissions by 2050. This is a joint initiative between the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy and the Department for Education.

Details of the taskforce including a full list members can be found at: https://www.gov.uk/government/news/uk-government-launches-taskforce-to-support-drive-for-2-million-green-jobs-by-2030.

With help from the taskforce, we will ensure that our existing skills programmes (such as those set out in the recent Skills for Jobs White Paper and my right hon. Friend the Prime Minister’s recent Lifetime Skills Guarantee) can be directed to support the net zero agenda and help to identify where the evidence tells us we might need to go further or faster.

For example, the Institute for Apprenticeships and Technical Education has convened a Green Apprenticeships Advisory Panel (GAAP) to guide the continued alignment of apprenticeships with net zero and wider sustainability objectives. The GAAP is employer-led and includes stakeholders with an interest in climate change and sustainability. It aims to help identify which apprenticeships directly support the green agenda and which may need to be refocused. The panel will also crucially identify where there are potential opportunities to create new green apprenticeships and identify employers to help take this work forward.


Written Question
Climate Change and Sustainable Development: Curriculum
Tuesday 2nd March 2021

Asked by: Apsana Begum (Labour - Poplar and Limehouse)

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether he plans to make sustainability and climate crisis compulsory subjects for schoolchildren following August 2020 research which found that only 4 per cent of students reported being well informed about climate change.

Answered by Nick Gibb

Climate change and related topics, such as sustainability, are included throughout both the science and geography curricula and GCSEs. In primary science and geography, pupils are given a foundation for the further study of the environment in secondary school. For example, in primary science pupils are taught about how environments can change as a result of human actions. In geography at primary, pupils will be taught about seasonal and daily weather patterns, climate zones and human geography, including land use, economic activity, and the distribution of natural resources.

In secondary science, pupils are taught about the production of carbon dioxide by human activity and the effect this has on the climate. This is expanded on in GCSE science where pupils will consider the evidence for additional anthropogenic causes of climate change. In secondary geography pupils will look at how human and physical processes interact to influence and change landscapes, environments and the climate. As part of GCSE geography pupils will look at the causes, consequences of and responses to extreme weather conditions and natural weather hazards. In 2017, the Department also introduced a new environmental science A level. This will enable students to study topics that will support their understanding of climate change and how it can be tackled. Schools and teachers can go beyond the topics set out in the National Curriculum, or do more in-depth teaching of these topic areas, if they so wish.