Asked by: Cat Smith (Labour - Lancaster and Fleetwood)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if she will make an assessment of the adequacy of support for children with SEND in Lancashire.
Answered by David Johnston - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
Lancashire were last inspected under the previous Ofsted and Care Quality Commission (CQC) framework and were issued with a Written Statement of Action (WSoA) with 12 areas of significant weakness. Following their revisit inspection, published in August 2020, Lancashire were moved onto an Accelerated Progress Plan (APP) for five areas of significant weakness which were deemed to have not made sufficient progress. A department Case Lead, alongside a NHS England and a special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) adviser, worked with the local authority and monitored their progress against the APP. After a series of reviews and data analysis, in 2021 the decision was taken that based on the evidence provided, that Lancashire had demonstrated clear and sustained progress against the areas highlighted in the accelerated progress plan.
As with all local areas, the department has continued to provide support and challenge to Lancashire through their regional case lead, who seeks regular assurance, through conversations with SEND leads, that they are sustaining the progress made. The department also analyses Lancashire’s position through the annual SEN2 data publication, assessing their data performance and using this information to shape discussions. This progress will be assessed in the next Ofsted and CQC inspection, with all local authorities due to be inspected by the end of 2027.
Asked by: Cat Smith (Labour - Lancaster and Fleetwood)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if she will make it her policy for carers who work less than 16 hours a week to be eligible to access 30 hours of free childcare.
Answered by David Johnston - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
To be eligible for the working parent entitlement, which includes the current 30 hours offer, parents will need to earn the equivalent of 16 hours a week at National Minimum Wage, which is £183 per week or £9,518 per year in 2024/25, and less than £100,000 adjusted net income per year. A parent on carer’s leave, or in receipt of certain benefits, may be eligible provided their partner is working and meets the eligibility criteria. Currently, there are no plans to change the eligibility criteria.
All 3 and 4 year olds are eligible for the universal 15 hour free entitlement, regardless of their parents’ circumstances. This is available the term after a child turns three and is available for 38 weeks a year. Further information on the entitlement can be found here: https://www.gov.uk/help-with-childcare-costs.
Asked by: Cat Smith (Labour - Lancaster and Fleetwood)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether her Department employs in-house photographers to capture images of Ministers undertaking their official duties.
Answered by Nick Gibb
The Department’s communications team includes a Digital Engagement and Creative Content team who create content to help communicate key messages to the public via social media feeds belonging to the Department. This content includes: photos, videos, graphics and animations. In addition, this can include occasional photography for Education Ministers undertaking their official duties.
Information about separate digital image files in the Department per minister is not readily available and could only be obtained at disproportionate cost.
Asked by: Cat Smith (Labour - Lancaster and Fleetwood)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many separate digital image files her Department holds per Minister in her Department undertaking official duties; and if she will make a statement.
Answered by Nick Gibb
The Department’s communications team includes a Digital Engagement and Creative Content team who create content to help communicate key messages to the public via social media feeds belonging to the Department. This content includes: photos, videos, graphics and animations. In addition, this can include occasional photography for Education Ministers undertaking their official duties.
Information about separate digital image files in the Department per minister is not readily available and could only be obtained at disproportionate cost.
Asked by: Cat Smith (Labour - Lancaster and Fleetwood)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many and what proportion of specialist schools are approved (a) 1, (b) 2-3, (c) 4-5 and (d) more than 6 months after their first registration.
Answered by Nick Gibb
The Specialist Schools Programme ended in 2011. Archive information on the programme is available at: https://web.archive.org/web/20100106023420/http://www.standards.dfes.gov.uk/specialistschools/.
Asked by: Cat Smith (Labour - Lancaster and Fleetwood)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what the current waiting time is for the registration of new specialist schools; and what recent steps she is taking to speed up the process.
Answered by Nick Gibb
The Specialist Schools Programme ended in 2011. Archive information on the programme is available at: https://web.archive.org/web/20100106023420/http://www.standards.dfes.gov.uk/specialistschools/.
Asked by: Cat Smith (Labour - Lancaster and Fleetwood)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if she will meet with providers of specialist schools to discuss the registration process for new specialist schools.
Answered by Nick Gibb
The Specialist Schools Programme ended in 2011. Archive information on the programme is available at: https://web.archive.org/web/20100106023420/http://www.standards.dfes.gov.uk/specialistschools/.
Asked by: Cat Smith (Labour - Lancaster and Fleetwood)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many teachers in Lancaster and Fleetwood constituency have left the profession in the last (a) one, (b) two and (c) five years.
Answered by Nick Gibb
As at November 2022, the latest data available, record numbers of teachers entered the profession now totalling 468,400 Full Time Equivalent (FTE) teachers, of which 63,200 were in the North West and 9,800 were in Lancashire. Since 2010, England has seen over 27,000 more teachers in our schools.
Information on the school workforce, including the number of teachers leaving service nationally, is published in the ‘School workforce in England’ statistical publication here: https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/find-statistics/school-workforce-in-england.
It is not possible to provide figures by parliamentary constituency. Over this period there has been a net increase in FTE teachers in both Lancashire Local Authority (from 9,179 to 9,788) and in the North West (from 60,926 to 63,247).
Asked by: Cat Smith (Labour - Lancaster and Fleetwood)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether she has made an assessment of the potential impact of the publication date of the School Teacher Review Body report on the ability of head teachers to plan their school budgets.
Answered by Nick Gibb
As part of the normal pay round process, the independent School Teachers’ Review Body has submitted its report and recommendations to Government on teacher pay for the 2023/24 academic year. The Department is considering the recommendations and will publish its response and the report in due course.
Funding for both mainstream schools and high needs, including the additional funding announced in the Autumn Statement, is £3.5 billion higher in the 2023/24 financial year, compared to the 2022/23 financial year. The Department provides these increases to school revenue budgets so that schools can cover cost increases in the year ahead, including to teacher pay.
Schools should plan for how teacher pay awards could be managed within this existing funding. It would be sensible for schools to consider the range of possible scenarios on pay that might materialise, and what the implications would be for their individual school.
Asked by: Cat Smith (Labour - Lancaster and Fleetwood)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what the average staff-to-student ratio was in secondary schools (a) nationally and (b) in Lancaster and Fleetwood constituency in (i) 2019, (ii) 2020, (iii) 2021 and (iv) 2022.
Answered by Nick Gibb
Information on the school workforce, including pupil to adult and pupil to teacher ratios at national, regional and Local Authority level, is published in the ‘School workforce in England’ statistical publication, which is available at: https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/find-statistics/school-workforce-in-england.
The table below provides the pupil to adult ratio and the pupil to teacher ratio for all state funded schools in Lancaster and Fleetwood constituency for academic years 2019/20 to 2022/23.
Pupil to adult and pupil to teacher ratios for schools in Lancaster and Fleetwood constituency, by academic year 2019/20 to 2022/231
Academic year | Pupil to adult ratio2,4 | Pupil to teacher ratio3,4 |
2019/20 | 11.7 | 18.9 |
2020/21 | 11.7 | 18.9 |
2021/22 | 11.5 | 18.7 |
2022/23 | 11.1 | 18.4 |
Source: School Workforce Census.
1. Workforce data as at November and pupils data as at the following January. For instance, 2019/20 relates to November 2019 workforce and January 2020 pupils.
2. Pupil to adult ratio includes teachers and support staff (excluding administrative and auxiliary staff).
3. Pupil to teacher ratio includes all teachers.
4. The ratios are calculated using pupil numbers taken from the publication, ‘Schools, pupils and their characteristics’, which is available at: https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/find-statistics/school-pupils-and-their-characteristics.