Asked by: Catherine West (Labour - Hornsey and Wood Green)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, with reference to the announcement on 13 July 2023 that schoolteachers will receive a 6.5 per cent pay increase from September 2023, what assessment she has made of the potential effect on educational (a) provision and (b) outcomes of 3.5 percentage points of that pay increase being allocated from school budgets.
Answered by Nick Gibb
In November last year at the Autumn Statement, the Department announced an additional £2 billion in each of the 2023/24 and 2024/25 financial years, over and above totals announced at the 2021 Spending Review.
On 13 July 2023, the Department announced an additional £525 million this year, to support schools with the teachers’ pay award, and a further £900 million in the 2024/25 financial year.
It means overall school funding is rising by over £3.9 billion this year alone, compared to the 2022/23 financial year, on top of a £4 billion cash increase last year. Combined, that represents a 16% increase in just two years. School funding in 2024/25 will be more than £59.6 billion, the highest ever level in real terms per pupil.
This additional funding will enable head teachers to continue to invest in the areas that positively impact educational attainment, including high quality teaching and targeted support to the pupils who need it most, as well as helping schools to manage higher costs, including teacher pay awards.
Each year the Department publishes an assessment of schools’ costs and funding, which informs what pay award the Department judges to be affordable for schools from within this existing funding. In March 2023, the Department set out its calculation that schools, on average, could afford a pay award of 4% from within existing funding.
The Department decided to fund the 2023 pay award from a lower affordability figure than the 4% calculation, funding the costs of the pay award above 3.5%, on average, rather than above the 4% national affordability calculation. This is a more generous funding offer than back in March 2023, and all four unions have confirmed that this ensures the pay award is properly funded.
The Department is also providing a further up to £40 million in addition to the £525 million in the 2023/24 financial year, to support individual schools which find themselves in particular financial difficulties. This is to be allocated on a case by case basis.
Although the Department will have to make difficult decisions, the Secretary of State has been clear all frontline services will be protected. Funding for Early Years, SEND, School Conditions and Core School and College Budgets are fully protected. To help fund the pay award, the Secretary of State has also secured exceptional permission from the Treasury to keep money where there have been or will be underspends, which in normal years would have to be returned to Treasury.
Asked by: Catherine West (Labour - Hornsey and Wood Green)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps the Government is taking to respond to the recommendations on Apprenticeship pay rates in Low Pay Commission's annual report for 2022.
Answered by Robert Halfon
The government is committed to ensuring that apprentice pay supports the attraction and retention of talented individuals into apprenticeships.
The independent Low Pay Commission (LPC) is responsible for advising the government on annual changes to minimum pay rates. Its recommendations follow a period of extensive research and consultation with employers, sector representative bodies and government stakeholders. The report for 2022 can be found here: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/1129930/Low_Pay_Commission_Report_2022.pdf.
In November 2022, the government accepted, in full, the LPC’s recommendation to increase the Apprentice National Minimum Wage by 9.7% to £5.28 from April 2023.
Many employers choose to pay their apprentices more than the National Minimum Wage rate, recognising the value that apprentices bring to their workplace. Our data shows that average hourly pay for apprentices ranges between £8.23 for level 2 and £14.02 for level 6.
The LPC has committed to keeping the Apprentice Rate under close review. The consultation to inform their recommendations on the 2024 minimum wage rates ran from 23 March and closed on 9 June 2023. It is expected that the government will receive the recommendations through the 2023 annual report, this autumn.
The department continues to offer financial support to apprentices and makes £1,000 payments to employers and providers when they take on apprentices aged 16-18. This can be used to support costs such as wages, uniforms or travel, and the department is increasing the care leavers bursary from £1,000 to £3,000.
Asked by: Catherine West (Labour - Hornsey and Wood Green)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment she has made of the potential impact of the Education Recovery Programme on (a) children with special educational needs and disabilities and (b) additional learning needs.
Answered by Claire Coutinho - Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero
Helping pupils recover from the disruption of the COVID-19 pandemic is a departmental priority. The department recognises the disruption caused by the COVID-19 pandemic on pupils, particularly those with Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND) and other additional learning needs.
Through education recovery funding, the department has consistently prioritised pupils who attend specialist schools by providing additional uplifts to these schools in the Catch-up Premium in 2020/21, the Recovery Premium over 2021/22 to 2023/24, and summer schools in summer 2021. These pupils have also been supported through the school led tutoring for pupils who attend specialist settings including special units in mainstream schools, in recognition of the significantly higher per pupil costs they face.
All pupils will benefit from additional funding to ensure that teachers in schools and early years are able to access high quality training and professional development. The department knows that high quality teaching is the best way to support all pupils, including those with SEND.
Evaluations of recovery interventions continue to be conducted and published when available, helping the department to understand their effectiveness and guide future policies and programmes. The department continues to monitor levels of attainment to understand the effects the COVID-19 pandemic and the department’s education policies have had, including on those children with SEND.
Asked by: Catherine West (Labour - Hornsey and Wood Green)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether the Government is taking steps to help ensure children in care are not moved away from where they were born.
Answered by Claire Coutinho - Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero
Local authorities have a statutory duty set out in Section 22(3) of the Children’s Act 1989 to ensure that there is sufficient provision in their area to meet the needs of children in their care.
The department recognises that there are not enough of the right homes in the right places for children in care to live in. We want to reduce out of area placements, but sometimes circumstances mean it is the right decision for a child to be placed outside their home authority.
In response to the urgent calls from the Competition and Markets Authority and the Care Review to transform the way care is provided to children, the government is working to drive forward improvements at a national, regional, and local level to increase sufficiency and improve standards of care and regulations.
By 2027, we will see an increase in the availability of high-quality, stable, and loving homes for every child in care local to where they are from. To achieve this, we are supporting local authorities to increase care placements and ensure they meet children’s needs, with £259 million capital funding for secure and open children’s homes.
The department is also investing £10 million to develop Regional Care Co-operatives (RCCs) to plan, commission, and deliver children’s social care placements. Through operating on a larger scale and developing specialist capabilities, the RCCs will be able to develop a wide range of places to better meet children’s needs. This, in turn, should lead to improved placement stability and fewer out of area placements.
We are also seeking to rebalance the market through investing in foster care. The department has pledged to invest over £27 million over the next two years to deliver a fostering recruitment and retention programme, so that foster care is available for more children who need it.
Asked by: Catherine West (Labour - Hornsey and Wood Green)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, pursuant to the Answer of 24 April 2023 to Question 180692 on Free School Meals: Disability, if she will make an assessment of (a) the potential implications for her policies of the research by Contact entitled Free School Meals survey results, published in April 2023, on the number of eligible disabled children who do not receive free school meals and (b) whether schools are taking adequate steps to ensure that their food provision accounts for medical, dietary and cultural needs.
Answered by Nick Gibb
Schools have a duty to provide nutritious, free meals to pupils who meet the eligibility criteria, including being a registered pupil of a state funded school. Free school meal (FSM) provision should be made to eligible pupils either on the school premises or at any other place where education is being provided. The Department expects schools to act reasonably in ensuring that their food provision accounts for medical, dietary and cultural needs and has published statutory guidance, which describes steps school may take, including the establishment of individual healthcare plans which may include special diets. The statutory guidance is available at: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/803956/supporting-pupils-at-school-with-medical-conditions.pdf#:~:text=On%201%20September%202014%20a%20new%20duty%20came,life%2C%20remain%20healthy%20and%20achieve%20their%20academic%20potential.
Local Authorities are funded to support children with special needs, including those who are unable to attend school on a long term basis. The Department’s published guidance on this can be found here: https://www.gov.uk/illness-child-education.
The Department does not plan to expand FSM to include pupils who are home, or privately educated. The Department will continue to keep eligibility under review to ensure that these meals are supporting those who most need them.
Asked by: Catherine West (Labour - Hornsey and Wood Green)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if her Department will issue guidance to (a) schools and (b) local authorities on making reasonable adjustments when providing Free School Meals for eligible disabled children who (i) have medical or sensory needs and (ii) are unable to attend school due to long term medical reasons and are receiving education elsewhere.
Answered by Nick Gibb
Schools have a duty to provide nutritious, free meals to pupils who meet the eligibility criteria, including being a registered pupil of a state funded school. Free school meal (FSM) provision should be made to eligible pupils either on the school premises or at any other place where education is being provided. The Department expects schools to act reasonably in ensuring that their food provision accounts for medical, dietary and cultural needs and has published statutory guidance, which describes steps school may take, including the establishment of individual healthcare plans which may include special diets. The statutory guidance is available at: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/803956/supporting-pupils-at-school-with-medical-conditions.pdf#:~:text=On%201%20September%202014%20a%20new%20duty%20came,life%2C%20remain%20healthy%20and%20achieve%20their%20academic%20potential.
Local Authorities are funded to support children with special needs, including those who are unable to attend school on a long term basis. The Department’s published guidance on this can be found here: https://www.gov.uk/illness-child-education.
The Department does not plan to expand FSM to include pupils who are home, or privately educated. The Department will continue to keep eligibility under review to ensure that these meals are supporting those who most need them.
Asked by: Catherine West (Labour - Hornsey and Wood Green)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what data her Department holds on the number of teachers employed in state schools who deliver for-profit tutoring services.
Answered by Nick Gibb
Information on the school workforce in England, including subjects taught in state funded secondary schools, is collected as part of the annual School Workforce Census each November. Information is published in the ‘School Workforce in England’ statistical publication, available at: https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/find-statistics/school-workforce-in-england.
Information on the number of teachers delivering for profit tutoring services is not collected by the Department.
There are no contractual restrictions on teachers having more than one job, as long as there is no detrimental impact on the teacher’s ability to deliver their contractual obligations and responsibilities. These would need to be negotiated between the individual teacher and their employer.
Asked by: Catherine West (Labour - Hornsey and Wood Green)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether his Department plans to take into consideration the historic under-recruitment of subject-specialist teachers in the future allocation of teacher training bursaries.
Answered by Nick Gibb
When deciding the bursaries for Initial Teacher Training (ITT), the Department takes a number of factors into account including historic recruitment, forecast economic conditions and teacher supply need in each subject.
The unprecedented increase in new entrants to ITT seen in 2020/21 has declined over the past two years. The graduate labour market became more competitive and pay has risen in competing sectors.
To respond to this challenge, the Department announced an ITT financial incentives package worth up to £181 million for 2023/24, which is a £52 million increase on the previous year. This includes bursaries worth £27,000 tax free and scholarships worth £29,000 tax free, to encourage talented trainees to teach in key subjects such as mathematics, physics, chemistry and computing.
Asked by: Catherine West (Labour - Hornsey and Wood Green)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether she has made an assessment of the potential merits of updating the national guidance on Free School Meals to include reference to the duty to make reasonable adjustments for eligible disabled children who are unable to access meals due to dietary or sensory requirements.
Answered by Nick Gibb
The Education Act 1996 places a duty on maintained schools and academies to provide nutritious, free meals to pupils that meet the eligibility criteria, and are attending school during term time. These meals must meet the standards for school food as laid out in ‘The Requirements for School Food Regulations 2014’, which can be found here: https://www.legislation.gov.uk/uksi/2014/1603/contents/made.
The Department expects schools to act reasonably in ensuring that their food provision accounts for medical, dietary, and cultural needs.
It is important that the Department that the guidance on free school meals meets the needs of pupils. As such, this guidance is kept under review.
Asked by: Catherine West (Labour - Hornsey and Wood Green)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps she is taking to help ensure that recruitment targets for religious education teachers are met.
Answered by Nick Gibb
As at the last school workforce census (November 2021, published in June 2022), the number of teachers remains high, with over 465,500 full time equivalent teachers working in state funded schools across the country.
In the 2020/21 academic year the Department exceeded the postgraduate initial teacher training target for religious education (RE). 129% of the target was achieved (660 new entrants recruited), whilst in the 2021/22 academic year performance against the target fell to 94% (442 new entrants recruited) and in 2022/23, 76% of the target was achieved (341 new trainees) in RE.
The Department is concentrating funding in attracting the best teachers where they are needed the most, through its teaching marketing campaign, support services for prospective trainees, and competitive starting salary.
To make it easier for people to become teachers, the Department has launched its new digital service, ‘Apply for teacher training’, enabling a more streamlined, user-friendly application route.
The Teaching marketing campaign provides inspiration and support to explore a career in teaching and directs people to the ‘Get Into Teaching’ service. Through a new website, prospective trainees can access support and advice through expert one to one Teacher Training Advisers, a contact centre and a national programme of events.
The Department has recently raised starting salaries outside London by 8.9% to £28,000 and remains committed to the Government’s ambition of delivering £30,000 starting salaries to attract people to teaching.
The Department is delivering 500,000 teacher training and development opportunities by the end of 2024, giving all teachers and headteachers access to world-class, evidence-based training and professional development at every stage of their career.
The Department’s reforms are aimed at increasing teacher recruitment and at ensuring teachers across England stay and thrive in the profession in all subjects, including RE.
To support retention in the first few years of teaching, the Department has rolled out the Early Career Framework nationally, providing the foundations for a successful career in teaching. This is backed by over £130 million a year in funding.
The Department has also launched a new and updated suite of National Professional Qualifications for teachers and headteachers at all levels, from those who want to develop expertise in high quality teaching practice to those leading multiple schools across trusts.
The Department has published a range of resources to help address staff workload and wellbeing. This includes the Education Staff Wellbeing Charter, which the Department is encouraging schools to sign up to as a shared commitment to promote staff wellbeing. The Department has also published the workload reduction toolkit, developed alongside headteachers to help reduce workload, and resources to support schools to implement effective flexible working practices.