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Speech in Westminster Hall - Tue 05 Mar 2019
Catholic Sixth-form Colleges

"Clearly there is the issue of any potential legal impediment. Will the Minister confirm that, provided the United Kingdom leaves the European Union on 29 March, that legal impediment will fall way and it would be up to the Government to bring forward a change in the law—a private Member’s …..."
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Written Question
Teachers: Pay
Monday 4th March 2019

Asked by: Bob Blackman (Conservative - Harrow East)

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, pursuant to the Answer of 9 January 2019 to Question 204600 on Teachers: Pay, what advice his Department received on the decision to award the teachers’ pay grant to maintained schools and academies and not sixth form colleges.

Answered by Nick Gibb

Ministers received detailed advice from officials before announcing the Teachers’ Pay Grant. Unions and other representative organisations also contacted the Department.

The Teachers’ Pay Grant was introduced in response to changes to the School Teachers’ Pay and Conditions Document (STPCD), following recommendations from the School Teachers’ Review Body. This document applies to maintained schools, and as many academies choose to follow it, the grant was available to both maintained schools and academies.

There are 16-19 maintained schools which must follow the STPCD. These were included in the pay grant, alongside equivalent academies.

Further education (FE) and sixth form colleges have a different legal status and relationship to Government. They are private institutions, independent of Government, and it is for employers to agree pay structures, based on local needs. The Department is considering carefully the needs of FE colleges, including in relation to funding, in preparation for the next Spending Review.

Written Question
Teachers: Pay
Tuesday 19th February 2019

Asked by: Bob Blackman (Conservative - Harrow East)

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, pursuant to the Answer of 9 January 2019 to Question 204600 on Teachers: Pay, what representations his Department received on the decision to award the teachers’ pay grant to maintained schools and academies but not sixth form colleges.

Answered by Nick Gibb

Since the Teachers’ Pay Grant methodology was published in September 2018, the Department has been contacted by representative organisations, unions, individual colleges, Members of Parliament, and members of the public. These have mainly been through correspondence, but also some meetings with officials and ministers.

Further education (FE) and sixth form colleges have a different legal status and relationship to government when compared with schools. They are private institutions, independent of government, and it is for individual employers to agree pay structures, based on local needs. The Department is carefully considering the needs of FE providers, including in relation to funding, in preparation for the next Spending Review.

Speech in Westminster Hall - Wed 18 Jul 2018
Swaminarayan School Closure

"I congratulate my honourable friend, the hon. Member for Ealing, Southall (Mr Sharma), on securing this important debate. I, too, made a request to the Deputy Speaker to have a debate on the subject. As the hon. Gentleman mentioned, I was leader of the council when the Swaminarayan School was …..."
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Speech in Westminster Hall - Wed 18 Jul 2018
Swaminarayan School Closure

"One of the questions I asked—I apologise to the Minister, because they were not necessarily expected—was: what assistance can the Department give to parents who wish to set up a free school, if they wish to pursue that route? There are 377 pupils in the school at the moment...."
Bob Blackman - View Speech

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Speech in Commons Chamber - Mon 11 Dec 2017
Oral Answers to Questions

"Parents in my constituency largely have access to schools offering faith-based education for their children, if they desire it, but every one of those schools is over-subscribed. What more can my right hon. Friend do to ensure that there is real choice for parents in faith-based education?..."
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Written Question
Faith Schools
Monday 11th December 2017

Asked by: Bob Blackman (Conservative - Harrow East)

Question to the Department for Education:

What steps she is taking to support the opening of more faith schools.

Answered by Nick Gibb

I am a strong supporter of Church and faith schools, they are high performing, popular with parents and make an excellent contribution to our education system. Through the free schools programme we have supported the creation of 71 new state-funded Church and faith schools.

Speech in Commons Chamber - Thu 14 Sep 2017
Schools: National Funding Formula

"I congratulate my right hon. Friend on delivering yet another of our election manifesto commitments. As a fellow London MP, she will know that we are affected by twin aspects in London. The first is rising rolls and young people needing a school place. Despite expanding a number of schools …..."
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Speech in Commons Chamber - Wed 06 Sep 2017
Free Childcare Entitlement

"I congratulate my hon. Friend on delivering on this election promise, but will he keep the funding arrangements under review, particularly those in high-cost areas? Even in these early days, some constituents have complained to me that there is a lack of availability at a local level. That is driven …..."
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Speech in Commons Chamber - Tue 04 Jul 2017
Education: Public Funding

"Given that during the general election campaign, headteachers from all over the country wrote to parents to say that per pupil funding would be cut quite dramatically, what will my right hon. Friend do to make sure that parents receive the good news that there will be no reductions in …..."
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View all Bob Blackman (Con - Harrow East) contributions to the debate on: Education: Public Funding