Asked by: Dan Carden (Labour - Liverpool Walton)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, pursuant to the Answer of 24 April 2023 to Question 180273 on Students: Cost of Living, whether his Department plans to respond to the report's recommendations.
Answered by Robert Halfon
The department recognises the additional cost of living pressures that have arisen this year and that have impacted students.
Based on active assessment of the available data and evidence and direct engagement with the sector, the government has taken action to support students with cost of living pressures.
On 11 January 2023 the department announced a one-off funding boost, increasing this year's student premium by £15 million, to support additional hardship requests.
There is now £276 million of student premium funding available for the 2023 academic year to support disadvantaged students who need additional help. This extra funding will complement the help universities are providing through their own bursary, scholarship and hardship support schemes.
The department has no current plans to respond formally to the report.
Asked by: Dan Carden (Labour - Liverpool Walton)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what recent assessment she has made of the potential merits of increasing the number of youth negotiators at the next COP conference.
Answered by Nick Gibb
Prior to the publication of the Department’s Sustainability and Climate Change Strategy in April 2022, the Sustainability and Climate Change Unit engaged young people in the development of the strategy. The Department’s Sustainability and Climate Change Strategy can be found here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/sustainability-and-climate-change-strategy/sustainability-and-climate-change-a-strategy-for-the-education-and-childrens-services-systems.
Youth engagement remains a priority. The Department will be supported by two volunteer Youth Focal Points who will be between the ages of 18 and 25. They will engage with other young people directly, work with policy leads and attend events both in the UK and internationally, including attending Conference of the Parties (COPs).
Throughout its Presidency year, the UK Government engaged with young people. Ahead of COP27 in Sharm-el-Sheikh, the UK COP Presidency supported the COP26 Indigenous Youth Programme and the Climate Youth Negotiators Programme. The programmes helped support young people with access and funding to attend COP27.
The Government will keep working with youth and other groups set up by Non-Governmental Organisations to ensure the United Arab Emirates COP Presidency promotes full participation.
Asked by: Dan Carden (Labour - Liverpool Walton)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps she is taking to increase youth participation in climate negotiations.
Answered by Nick Gibb
Prior to the publication of the Department’s Sustainability and Climate Change Strategy in April 2022, the Sustainability and Climate Change Unit engaged young people in the development of the strategy. The Department’s Sustainability and Climate Change Strategy can be found here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/sustainability-and-climate-change-strategy/sustainability-and-climate-change-a-strategy-for-the-education-and-childrens-services-systems.
Youth engagement remains a priority. The Department will be supported by two volunteer Youth Focal Points who will be between the ages of 18 and 25. They will engage with other young people directly, work with policy leads and attend events both in the UK and internationally, including attending Conference of the Parties (COPs).
Throughout its Presidency year, the UK Government engaged with young people. Ahead of COP27 in Sharm-el-Sheikh, the UK COP Presidency supported the COP26 Indigenous Youth Programme and the Climate Youth Negotiators Programme. The programmes helped support young people with access and funding to attend COP27.
The Government will keep working with youth and other groups set up by Non-Governmental Organisations to ensure the United Arab Emirates COP Presidency promotes full participation.
Asked by: Dan Carden (Labour - Liverpool Walton)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, pursuant to the Answer of 24 April 2023 to Question 180273 on Students: Cost of Living, if she will take steps to implement the recommendations within the All-Party Parliamentary Group on Students report on the impact of the cost-of-living crisis on students, published on 22 March 2023.
Answered by Robert Halfon
The government recognises the additional cost of living pressures that have arisen this year and that have impacted students. The department notes the recommendations made by the All-Party Parliamentary Group for Students and is carefully assessing the impact of the cost of living increase on students.
The department has continued to increase maximum loans and grants for living and other costs for undergraduate and postgraduate students each year and has also increased the amount available for hardship funding. This is in addition to support that comes directly from higher education (HE) providers.
Furthermore, we boosted our student premium funding support so now there is £276 million of available this academic year to support disadvantaged students who need additional help.
All households saved on their energy bills through the Energy Price Guarantee and the £400 Energy Bills Support Scheme discount. Students who buy their energy from a domestic supplier are eligible for the energy bills discount. The Energy Prices Act passed on 25 October 2022 includes the provision to require landlords to pass benefits they receive from energy price support, as appropriate, onto end users. Further details of the requirements under this act are set out in the legislation.
The Energy Bills Support Scheme Alternative Funding will provide £400 support to those households without a direct relationship to a domestic electricity supplier in England, Scotland and Wales, who have faced increased energy bill costs since 1 October 2022. This will include students in privately rented accommodation, where they receive their energy from an intermediary (such as a landlord or letting agency) who holds a commercial electricity contract.
Students whose bills are included in their rent, including energy charges, will typically have agreed their accommodation costs upfront when signing their contract for the current academic year.
Together with the HE sector, the department is doing all that it can to support students facing hardship. However, decisions on student finance have to be taken alongside other spending priorities to ensure the system remains financially sustainable and the costs of HE are shared fairly between students and taxpayers, not all of whom have benefited from going to university.
Asked by: Dan Carden (Labour - Liverpool Walton)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether her Department plans to publish a response to the report from the All-Party Parliamentary Group on Students on the impact of the cost-of-living crisis on students, published on 22 March 2023.
Answered by Robert Halfon
The government recognises the additional cost of living pressures that have arisen this year and that have impacted students.
The department is discussing the additional cost of living pressures in our regular meetings with stakeholders, including the Office for Students (OfS), Universities UK and the higher education Mission Groups. We have also consulted with the National Association of Student Money Advisers to understand the ongoing situation in relation to increased requests from students for hardship awards from their universities.
There is now £276 million of student premium funding available this academic year to support disadvantaged students who need additional help. The department works with the OfS to ensure universities support students in hardship using both hardship funds and drawing on the student premium.
The department has discussed the additional cost of living pressures in regular meetings with stakeholders, including the OfS, Universities UK and the higher education Mission Groups. We have also consulted with the National Association of Student Money Advisers to understand the ongoing situation in relation to increased requests from students for hardship awards from their universities.
The Office for National Statistics has twice surveyed students directly on the impact of cost of living pressures. The most recent report, published 24 February is available to view here: https://www.ons.gov.uk/peoplepopulationandcommunity/educationandchildcare/bulletins/costoflivingandhighereducationstudentsengland/30januaryto13february2023.
On 17 March, OfS published an insight brief to better understand the impact increasing living costs are having on students. The brief discusses data and research from OfS roundtable events, a poll commissioned by the OfS, and other student surveys to explore how the cost of living is affecting students and how universities and colleges are mitigating its impact.
The department welcomes the continued efforts of the OfS and the higher education sector to look at what more can be done to support students in need of financial help.
Asked by: Dan Carden (Labour - Liverpool Walton)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, when his Department plans to respond to the correspondence of 20 February 2023 from the hon. Member for Liverpool Walton on free school meals.
Answered by Nick Gibb
A response to correspondence dated 20 February 2023 from the hon. Member for Liverpool Walton has been sent.
Asked by: Dan Carden (Labour - Liverpool Walton)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment he has made of the implications for his policies of barriers to disabled children accessing free school meals.
Answered by Nick Gibb
The provision of Free School Meals (FSM) to children from households that are out of work or on low income is important to the Government. The latest statistics indicate that 39.7% of pupils with an Education, Health and Care plan, and 36.4% of pupils with special educational needs support, were eligible for FSM in 2022. More information is available at: https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/find-statistics/special-educational-needs-in-england/2021-22.
The Government spends around £1.5 billion per year so children have access to nutritious food during the school day and in the holidays. Around 1.9 million disadvantaged pupils are eligible for FSM, as well as an additional 1.25 million infants who receive a free meal under the universal infant FSM policy. Together, this provides support to over one third of all pupils in schools.
Asked by: Dan Carden (Labour - Liverpool Walton)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment has his Department has made of the impact of its Initial Teacher Training Market Review on its teacher recruitment targets.
Answered by Nick Gibb
Initial Teacher Training (ITT) recruitment targets are calculated using analysis from the Teacher Workforce Model (TWM). The TWM uses different sources to calculate these targets, including data regarding the composition of the teacher workforce and curriculum taught in secondary schools, returner and leaver rates, historic recruitment performance, economic data and forecasts, and the latest data and assumptions on future recruitment and retention of teachers. The TWM considers the cumulative effect of these factors when calculating ITT recruitment targets.
In the 2019 Teacher Recruitment and Retention Strategy, the Department committed to reviewing the ITT market, with the aim to make it work more effectively. Reforms to the ITT market will help all trainees across the country receive quality ITT provision and further support at every stage of their teaching career.
Safeguarding teacher supply is a priority. The Department has funded recruitment and retention to attract applications to ITT and continually monitors provision levels to ensure that there are enough ITT places to meet teacher recruitment targets. This involves working with a wide range of stakeholders to ensure there are sufficient ITT places across the country from the 2024/25 academic year.
Asked by: Dan Carden (Labour - Liverpool Walton)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment she has made of the reasons for teachers leaving that profession in the last (a) one, (b) two and (c) five years.
Answered by Nick Gibb
Information on the number of teachers leaving state-funded schools in England, and their reason for leaving, is published in the ‘School Workforce in England’ statistical publication, available at: https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/data-tables/permalink/ea6bb71b-3857-447a-2d4c-08dafaf734a0.
Based on the latest available data, 36,262 full time equivalent teachers left the state funded sector in 2020/21. This represents less than 1 in 10, or 8.1%, of all qualified teachers. This is up by 4,013 since 2019/20, but overall, the rate of teachers leaving the profession has decreased in the last five years from 10.6% in 2016/17, to 8.1% in 2020/21.
Asked by: Dan Carden (Labour - Liverpool Walton)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps her Department is taking to (a) recruit and (b) retain teachers in (i) Liverpool, Walton constituency, (b) Liverpool and (c) England.
Answered by Nick Gibb
The number of teachers remains high, with more than 465,000 full time equivalent (FTE) teachers working in state-funded schools across the country, 24,000 more than in 2010. There are over 4,200 FTE teachers in Liverpool, an increase of 180 since 2010, and 62,500 teachers in the North West, an increase of over 2,200 since 2010.
The Department announced a £181 million financial incentives package for those starting initial teacher training (ITT) in the 2023/24 academic year. The Department is providing bursaries worth up to £27,000 and scholarships worth up to £29,000 to encourage trainees to apply to train in key secondary subjects such as mathematics, physics, chemistry and computing. The Department has expanded the offer to international trainees in physics and languages.
Additionally, the Department provides a Levelling Up Premium, worth up to £3,000, for mathematics, physics, chemistry and computing teachers in the first five years of their careers who work in disadvantaged schools nationally, including within Education Investment Areas (EIAs). The Department provide the highest payments to teachers in eligible schools in EIAs. In Merseyside, six local authorities are EIAs. There are six schools in the Liverpool Walton constituency eligible for the Levelling Up Premium, as well as 59 schools in the Liverpool area, and 97 schools in Merseyside. The eligibility criteria and list of eligible schools is on GOV.UK: https://www.gov.uk/guidance/levelling-up-premium-payments-for-teachers.
The Department will deliver 500,000 teacher training and development opportunities by the end of 2024, giving all teachers and school leaders access to world class, evidence based training and professional development at every stage of their career. To support retention in the first few years of teaching, the Department has rolled out the Early Career Framework (ECF) 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 school leaders at all levels, from those who want to develop expertise in high-quality teaching practice to those leading multiple schools across trusts.