Asked by: Christine Jardine (Liberal Democrat - Edinburgh West)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment she has made of the implications for her policies of students graduating from universities without receiving their degree classification.
Answered by Robert Halfon
Unlike some education sectors, where the government has taken part in negotiations with trade unions, universities are autonomous. They are therefore responsible for the pay and pension provision of their staff. Whilst the government plays no formal role, we are concerned about the potential impact of the marking and assessment boycott on students, particularly those who are coming up to graduation, and looking to enter the jobs market or progress to further study.
The department understands that the majority of students will remain unaffected by the industrial action and, in most cases, will receive their full results on time and progress and/or graduate as normal.
The Universities and Colleges Employers Association (UCEA) has published research findings which surveyed 49% of higher education (HE) institutions in the New Joint Negotiating Committee for Higher Education Staff. These institutions provided feedback on the impact of the marking and assessment boycott on students at their institutions:
These research findings can be accessed at: https://www.ucea.ac.uk/news-releases/23june23/.
On 22 June 2023, I met with Universities UK (UUK), the Russell Group, and UCEA to better understand the impact of the boycott and the mitigating actions their members are taking to protect students’ interests. I have also written to the Russell Group and UUK, encouraging them to continue to do everything within their powers to protect the interests of students.
On 27 June 2023, I met with a number of HE representative groups to discuss the marking and assessment boycott, including the mitigating actions HE institutions are taking.
HE institutions are working on minimising disruption to students in a variety of ways, including reallocating marking to other staff members, and hiring external markers. Many HE institutions can award degrees when they have enough evidence of a student’s prior attainment to do so. Others will be able to assign provisional grades to students to allow them to progress and, once all papers have been marked, degree classifications will either remain as provisionally assigned or be uplifted to reflect the student’s achievements.
The government believes students should be at the heart of the HE system. This is why we set up the Office for Students (OfS) to regulate the HE sector in England, protect student rights, and ensure the sector is delivering real value for money. The OfS published guidance to students on their rights during industrial action at: https://www.officeforstudents.org.uk/for-students/student-rights-and-welfare/student-guide-to-industrial-action/.
On 12 June 2023, the OfS wrote to institutions affected by the boycott to reiterate its expectations in relation to its conditions of registration. The OfS will continue to monitor this situation through their normal regulatory mechanisms.
The Department continues to engage with the HE sector and we hope all parties can reach an agreement that delivers good value for students, staff and universities, so further industrial action can be avoided.
Asked by: Christine Jardine (Liberal Democrat - Edinburgh West)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how much her Department spent on recruitment consultants in each of the last three years.
Answered by Nick Gibb
I refer the hon. Member for Edinburgh West to the answer I gave on 15 November 2022 to Question 76168.
Asked by: Christine Jardine (Liberal Democrat - Edinburgh West)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what the cost to the public purse was of Ministerial severance pay in his Department between 1 January 2016 to 8 November 2022.
Answered by Nick Gibb
The provision of severance payments for Ministers is set out in legislation.
Details of the severance payments made to Ministers when leaving office are published in departments’ annual reports and accounts.
Asked by: Christine Jardine (Liberal Democrat - Edinburgh West)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how much funding his Department provides for British Sign Language (a) resources and (b) teaching in primary schools.
Answered by Robin Walker
The department does not collect information on the number of pupils who learn British Sign Language (BSL) in primary schools as it is not a mandatory subject for schools in England.
The schools national funding formula (NFF) distributes funding for primary and secondary mainstream schools in England. Funding is distributed fairly, based on the needs of schools and their pupil cohorts. Within the NFF, the department does not allocate funding specifically for British Sign Language resources and teaching (nor for any other subjects), and school leaders have flexibility over how they use their budgets to support the attainment and progress of their pupils. They may, if they choose, include BSL in their curriculum or offer it as an extra curriculum subject.
Asked by: Christine Jardine (Liberal Democrat - Edinburgh West)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what estimate he has made of the number of children who learn British Sign Language in primary school.
Answered by Robin Walker
The department does not collect information on the number of pupils who learn British Sign Language (BSL) in primary schools as it is not a mandatory subject for schools in England.
The schools national funding formula (NFF) distributes funding for primary and secondary mainstream schools in England. Funding is distributed fairly, based on the needs of schools and their pupil cohorts. Within the NFF, the department does not allocate funding specifically for British Sign Language resources and teaching (nor for any other subjects), and school leaders have flexibility over how they use their budgets to support the attainment and progress of their pupils. They may, if they choose, include BSL in their curriculum or offer it as an extra curriculum subject.
Asked by: Christine Jardine (Liberal Democrat - Edinburgh West)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the hon. Member for Perth and North Perthshire, representing the House of Commons Commission, what the pay ranges are for House of Commons staff; and how many FTE equivalent staff are employed at each grade.
Answered by Pete Wishart
The House operates three separate pay structures; Senior Commons Structure (SCS, in line with Senior Civil Service grades); Catering Staff; and the remaining staff of the House (A–E grades). There is a specialist pay range within the main A–E pay structure and a separate pay structure for former Metropolitan Police staff (MPS) that transferred into the House of Commons Service in April 2016.
Details of the numbers of FTE staff employed at each grade are shown in Annex A.
Details of the pay ranges are shown in Annexes B and C.