Asked by: Colleen Fletcher (Labour - Coventry North East)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether it is his Department's policy to take steps to fill gaps in further education provision as a result of the closure of a further education (a) college and (b) campus.
Answered by Gillian Keegan
Coventry College has two campuses, City and Henley, located less than two miles apart. The further education commissioner and the team have undertaken two visits to Coventry College in 2020, on the 9 and 10 March and 22 September. Space utilisation at both sites is below 30%, with Henley requiring significant capital investment to bring it up to a good standard. Travel to learn patterns indicate that learners travel from across the city to access provision at Henley and as such will not be adversely affected by the move to City.
Local authorities have a critical role to play in ensuring adequacy of provision and support for young people to access and participate in education and training. Their responsibilities and duties relating to participation are set out in the published statutory guidance for local authorities. This includes securing sufficient suitable education and training provision for all young people in their area who are over compulsory school age, but under 19 or aged 19 to 25 and for whom an education, health and care plan is maintained. This is a duty under the Education Act 1996. To fulfil this, local authorities need to have a strategic overview of the provision available in their area and to identify and resolve gaps in provision. More information on provision and support for young people in education and training can be found here: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/561546/Participation-of-young-people-in-education-employment-or-training.pdf.
Where local authorities feel that there is a specific gap in provision that cannot be addressed by existing providers, there is a process by which this can be brought to the attention of the Education and Skills Funding Agency for consideration and action as appropriate.
No colleges have closed in Coventry in the past ten years. In 2017 City College Coventry merged with Henley College to form Coventry College. No campuses have closed in Coventry in the past ten years. Three college sites have closed across the West Midlands in the past ten years.
In recent years capital funding has been managed by the local enterprise partnerships via the Department for Business, Energy & Industrial Strategy. However, my right hon. Friend, the Prime Minister, announced in June 2020 that an initial £200 million of the £1.5 billion capital funding to upgrade the further education estate was to be brought forward to this financial year (2020-21). This was paid to all eligible further education colleges and designated institutions in September 2020. Coventry College received £1.044 million. The Further Education Capital Transformation Fund, which will invest the remaining £1.3 billion over the coming 5 years, to upgrade the further education estate, opened for bids from colleges on 21 January 2021.
As part of the review, undertaken by the further education commissioner, and during recent engagement with Coventry College the availability of this capital funding has been discussed. Given the poor space utilisation at both Henley and City sites (less than 30% at each), the board agreed to close the Henley site and focus capital investment on creating enhanced facilities on the City site.
Asked by: Colleen Fletcher (Labour - Coventry North East)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what estimate he has made of the number of further education (a) colleges and (b) campuses that (i) have closed in the last ten years and (ii) are currently proposed to close in (A) Coventry, (B) the West Midlands and (C) England.
Answered by Gillian Keegan
Coventry College has two campuses, City and Henley, located less than two miles apart. The further education commissioner and the team have undertaken two visits to Coventry College in 2020, on the 9 and 10 March and 22 September. Space utilisation at both sites is below 30%, with Henley requiring significant capital investment to bring it up to a good standard. Travel to learn patterns indicate that learners travel from across the city to access provision at Henley and as such will not be adversely affected by the move to City.
Local authorities have a critical role to play in ensuring adequacy of provision and support for young people to access and participate in education and training. Their responsibilities and duties relating to participation are set out in the published statutory guidance for local authorities. This includes securing sufficient suitable education and training provision for all young people in their area who are over compulsory school age, but under 19 or aged 19 to 25 and for whom an education, health and care plan is maintained. This is a duty under the Education Act 1996. To fulfil this, local authorities need to have a strategic overview of the provision available in their area and to identify and resolve gaps in provision. More information on provision and support for young people in education and training can be found here: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/561546/Participation-of-young-people-in-education-employment-or-training.pdf.
Where local authorities feel that there is a specific gap in provision that cannot be addressed by existing providers, there is a process by which this can be brought to the attention of the Education and Skills Funding Agency for consideration and action as appropriate.
No colleges have closed in Coventry in the past ten years. In 2017 City College Coventry merged with Henley College to form Coventry College. No campuses have closed in Coventry in the past ten years. Three college sites have closed across the West Midlands in the past ten years.
In recent years capital funding has been managed by the local enterprise partnerships via the Department for Business, Energy & Industrial Strategy. However, my right hon. Friend, the Prime Minister, announced in June 2020 that an initial £200 million of the £1.5 billion capital funding to upgrade the further education estate was to be brought forward to this financial year (2020-21). This was paid to all eligible further education colleges and designated institutions in September 2020. Coventry College received £1.044 million. The Further Education Capital Transformation Fund, which will invest the remaining £1.3 billion over the coming 5 years, to upgrade the further education estate, opened for bids from colleges on 21 January 2021.
As part of the review, undertaken by the further education commissioner, and during recent engagement with Coventry College the availability of this capital funding has been discussed. Given the poor space utilisation at both Henley and City sites (less than 30% at each), the board agreed to close the Henley site and focus capital investment on creating enhanced facilities on the City site.
Asked by: Colleen Fletcher (Labour - Coventry North East)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what recent discussions (a) his Department and (b) agencies of his Department have had with the Coventry College Board on the availability of capital funding to refurbish or rebuild its Henley Campus; and what the outcome was of those discussions.
Answered by Gillian Keegan
Coventry College has two campuses, City and Henley, located less than two miles apart. The further education commissioner and the team have undertaken two visits to Coventry College in 2020, on the 9 and 10 March and 22 September. Space utilisation at both sites is below 30%, with Henley requiring significant capital investment to bring it up to a good standard. Travel to learn patterns indicate that learners travel from across the city to access provision at Henley and as such will not be adversely affected by the move to City.
Local authorities have a critical role to play in ensuring adequacy of provision and support for young people to access and participate in education and training. Their responsibilities and duties relating to participation are set out in the published statutory guidance for local authorities. This includes securing sufficient suitable education and training provision for all young people in their area who are over compulsory school age, but under 19 or aged 19 to 25 and for whom an education, health and care plan is maintained. This is a duty under the Education Act 1996. To fulfil this, local authorities need to have a strategic overview of the provision available in their area and to identify and resolve gaps in provision. More information on provision and support for young people in education and training can be found here: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/561546/Participation-of-young-people-in-education-employment-or-training.pdf.
Where local authorities feel that there is a specific gap in provision that cannot be addressed by existing providers, there is a process by which this can be brought to the attention of the Education and Skills Funding Agency for consideration and action as appropriate.
No colleges have closed in Coventry in the past ten years. In 2017 City College Coventry merged with Henley College to form Coventry College. No campuses have closed in Coventry in the past ten years. Three college sites have closed across the West Midlands in the past ten years.
In recent years capital funding has been managed by the local enterprise partnerships via the Department for Business, Energy & Industrial Strategy. However, my right hon. Friend, the Prime Minister, announced in June 2020 that an initial £200 million of the £1.5 billion capital funding to upgrade the further education estate was to be brought forward to this financial year (2020-21). This was paid to all eligible further education colleges and designated institutions in September 2020. Coventry College received £1.044 million. The Further Education Capital Transformation Fund, which will invest the remaining £1.3 billion over the coming 5 years, to upgrade the further education estate, opened for bids from colleges on 21 January 2021.
As part of the review, undertaken by the further education commissioner, and during recent engagement with Coventry College the availability of this capital funding has been discussed. Given the poor space utilisation at both Henley and City sites (less than 30% at each), the board agreed to close the Henley site and focus capital investment on creating enhanced facilities on the City site.
Asked by: Colleen Fletcher (Labour - Coventry North East)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps his Department is taking to support schools to educate their students about the dangers of carrying a knife.
Answered by Nick Gibb
The new subjects of Relationships Education (for primary aged pupils), Relationships and Sex Education (for secondary aged pupils), and Health Education (for all pupils in state funded schools) are being taught from this academic year. The content of the statutory guidance for the new subjects can help address the underlying causes of knife crime.
Pupils should be taught how to build positive and respectful relationships and appropriate ways of resolving conflict. The guidance includes a clear statement that pupils will be taught that resorting to violence is never acceptable. Pupils need to know how to be safe and healthy, and how to manage their academic, personal, and social lives in a positive way.
Health Education should also support a school’s whole-school approach to fostering pupil wellbeing and developing pupils’ resilience and ability to self-regulate. This integrated, whole-school approach to the teaching and promotion of health and wellbeing has the potential to positively impact on behaviour and attainment. Pupils should be taught about the benefits of hobbies, interests and participation in their own communities as well as the importance of physical activity. This can help focus on alternative activities pupils can engage in.
Issues around knife crime can also still be taught as part of a school’s wider curriculum. For example, schools can choose to include lessons on weapons awareness and gangs as part of their Personal, Social, Health and Economic Education or Citizenship curriculum, with high quality materials available to schools to support teaching in these areas.
Asked by: Colleen Fletcher (Labour - Coventry North East)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what the average monthly cost was of a childcare place in (a) Coventry, (b) the West Midlands and (c) England in each year since 2010.
Answered by Vicky Ford
For a child taking up the universal 15 hours entitlement, the costs to the government are as follows:
Early years funding rates from the introduction of the early years national funding formula in 2017-18 can be found here:
Early years funding allocations are published as part of the dedicated schools grant here:
https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/dedicated-schools-grant-dsg-2020-to-2021.
Asked by: Colleen Fletcher (Labour - Coventry North East)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what guidance his Department issues on nutrition in packed lunches.
Answered by Vicky Ford
We encourage schools to have a whole school approach to healthy eating. Schools may use the School Food Standards as a guide, when writing their packed lunch policies. For example, confectionery is banned throughout the school day and foods high in salt, sugar and fat are restricted.
We want to make it easier for parents to feel confident that they are preparing healthy balanced, lunches for their children. Further information such as recipes, tips and swap suggestions that are practical and affordable for parents are available on the Change4Life website at: https://www.nhs.uk/change4life-beta/healthier-lunchboxes.
Asked by: Colleen Fletcher (Labour - Coventry North East)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what the Government's (a) planned and (b) actual expenditure on 16 to 19 education provision was in each of the last five years in (i) Coventry, (ii) the West Midlands and (iii) England.
Answered by Gillian Keegan
16 to 19 funding is not allocated to specific geographic locations. The department allocates the funding through a national funding formula to individual institutions, who are able to use their funds as appropriate to support students in line with the funding rules we set each year.
We publish our allocations by institution and these can be found at the link below. This covers the last 5 academic years: https://www.gov.uk/guidance/16-to-19-education-funding-allocations#published-allocations.
It should be noted that this data relates to institutions and is therefore not a measure of allocations to residents within Coventry or the West Midlands.
Asked by: Colleen Fletcher (Labour - Coventry North East)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what estimate he has made of the average class size in (a) primary and (b) secondary schools in (i) Coventry North East Constituency, (ii) Coventry, (iii) the West Midlands and (iv) England.
Answered by Nick Gibb
Average class size statistics are contained in the National Statistics release ‘Schools pupils and their characteristics’ and available at the following link: https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/find-statistics/school-pupils-and-their-characteristics.
In the 'Download associated files' section, the file ‘Class sizes – state-funded primary and secondary schools’ has this information at national, regional and local authority level. The file ‘school level underlying data – class sizes’ has school level information that can be filtered at parliamentary constituency level. The release also has a function to create bespoke tables. For convenience, this link provides a table for Coventry, the West Midlands and England: https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/data-tables/permalink/3576031b-f586-4e21-8f12-f4650fe80205.
Asked by: Colleen Fletcher (Labour - Coventry North East)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what estimate he has made of the average number of hours per week of sport and physical activity undertaken by pupils in (a) primary and (b) secondary schools in each of the last five years; and what assessment he has made of the effect of the covid-19 outbreak on levels of sport and physical activity participation in schools.
Answered by Nick Gibb
The Department does not collect information from schools on the time pupils spend each week on sport and physical activity.
Sport England’s annual Active Lives Children’s Survey collects information on the proportion of pupils who do 30 minutes or more of physical activity in school each day. It was first carried out in the 2017/18 academic year. The most recent survey is available here: https://www.sportengland.org/news/active-lives-children-and-young-people-survey-academic-year-201819-report-published.
The results of the 2019/20 Active Lives Children’s Survey will be published in the new year and will include information on the impact of the COVID-19 outbreak.
Schools have the flexibility to decide how physical education, sport, and physical activity will be provided during the COVID-19 outbreak, whilst following the measures in their system of controls. The Department recognises that the COVID-19 outbreak has had an impact on schools’ ability to teach PE and to provide opportunities to take part in sport. This is especially the case for swimming, where access to venues has been restricted due to water safety measures. To help schools provide the best possible range of activities, the Department’s guidance for the full opening of schools refers to more detailed advice and support from organisations such as the Association for PE, Youth Sport Trust, Sport England, and Swim England: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/actions-for-schools-during-the-coronavirus-outbreak/guidance-for-full-opening-schools.
Asked by: Colleen Fletcher (Labour - Coventry North East)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what estimate he has made of the proportion of (a) primary and (b) secondary age children in (i) the West Midlands and (ii) Coventry who attend a school rated (A) outstanding and (B) good by Ofsted.
Answered by Nick Gibb
The data published by Ofsted shows the number of schools rated as Outstanding, Good, Requires Improvement, and Inadequate which is available from the published data.
Please see the attached table.