Asked by: Dan Carden (Labour - Liverpool Walton)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment his department has made of the adequacy of the level of funding for schools in Liverpool Walton.
Answered by Nick Gibb
The 2022 Autumn Statement announced significant additional core schools’ funding, increasing by £2 billion in 2023/24 and 2024/25, over and above totals announced at the Autumn Budget and Spending Review 2021. Taken together with the Dedicated Schools Grant allocations, core schools’ funding for both mainstream and high needs schools is increasing by £3.5 billion in 2023/24, compared to 2022/23. The core schools’ budget will total £57.3 billion in 2023/24 and £58.8 billion in 2024/25.
The Institute of Fiscal Studies has said that this additional funding will fully cover expected increases in school costs up to 2024 and will take spending per pupil back to at least 2010 levels in real terms. That means 2024/25 will be the highest ever level of spending on schools in real terms per pupil.
Mainstream schools in the Liverpool, Walton constituency are attracting an extra £2.5 million in 2023/24 compared to 2022/23 through the schools national funding formula (NFF). This is an increase of 2.2% per pupil in their pupil-led funding. Schools in Liverpool, Walton will attract over £87 million, based on the schools NFF. Constituency figures are based on an aggregate of school allocations.
All schools in Liverpool, Walton will also receive additional funding through the Mainstream Schools Additional Grant. This additional funding is worth an average 3.4% per pupil in 2023/24.
Final school level allocations will be announced in spring 2023.
Asked by: Dan Carden (Labour - Liverpool Walton)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if he will make an assessment of the potential merits of providing a fully funded, above-inflation pay rise for all teachers and support staff.
Answered by Nick Gibb
The 2022 Autumn Statement announced significant additional core schools’ funding, increasing by £2 billion in 2023/24 and 2024/25, over and above totals announced at the 2021 Spending Review. This additional funding will bring the core schools budget to a total of £58.8 billion in 2024/25.
The Government values the independent advice of the School Teachers’ Review Body (STRB), and the final pay award decisions for 2023/24 will be determined in light of the STRB’s recommendations.
Pay awards must achieve a careful balance between recognising the vital importance of public sector workers, whilst delivering value for the taxpayer, not increasing the country’s debt further and being careful not to drive even higher prices in the future. Sustained higher levels of inflation would have a larger impact on real incomes in the long run than the proportionate and balanced pay increases implemented following the recommendations from the Pay Review Bodies.
The Government does not have a role in setting the pay scales for support staff. Support staff and teaching assistant terms and conditions are determined locally by employers.
Asked by: Dan Carden (Labour - Liverpool Walton)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what estimate she has made of the number of teachers leaving the 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 estimate she has made of the number of teachers recruited into teacher training in the last (a) one, (b) two and (c) five years.
Answered by Nick Gibb
In 2022/23, the Department has recruited 23,224 new entrants starting postgraduate initial teacher training (ITT). This is a 23% decrease from 30,093 in 2021/22. The percentage of the postgraduate ITT target achieved for all subjects, secondary and primary, is 71%. This is a decrease of 26 percentage points, down from 97% in 2021/22. In 2018/19, the Department recruited 29,215 new entrants starting postgraduate ITT. 91% of the postgraduate ITT target was achieved.
Teacher recruitment has been challenging for several years. As expected, the unprecedented increase in new entrants to ITT in 2020/21 due to the COVID-19 pandemic has declined over the past two years. The graduate and general labour markets became more competitive and pay has risen in competing sectors, especially in priority science, technology, engineering, and mathematics subjects.
The Department is taking action to improve recruitment. £181 million is available in bursaries and scholarships to attract trainee teachers in high priority subjects for the 2023/24 academic year. This represents a £52 million increase on the current academic year. This includes bursaries worth up to £27,000 and scholarships worth up to £29,000 to encourage trainees to apply to train in key subjects such as chemistry, computing, mathematics, and physics. In addition, a Levelling Up Premium worth up to £3,000 tax free annually is available for mathematics, physics, chemistry, and computing teachers who choose to work in disadvantaged schools during the first five years of their careers. This will support recruitment and retention of specialist teachers in the subjects, schools, and areas that need them most.
The Department is introducing a relocation premium for overseas nationals coming here to train or teach languages and physics. This will help with visas and other expenses. The Department will also extend bursary and scholarship eligibility to all international trainee teachers in languages and physics.
Asked by: Dan Carden (Labour - Liverpool Walton)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether her Department has made an assessment of the consequences for her policies of findings by the National Deaf Children's Society that (a) the number of teachers of the deaf in England has dropped by 19 per cent since 2011 and (b) deaf children achieve on average a grade less at GCSE than their hearing peers.
Answered by Claire Coutinho - Shadow Minister (Equalities)
The department is firmly committed to ensuring that children with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND), including sensory impairment, receive the support needed to succeed in their education.
We have developed a new approval process for providers of the Mandatory Qualification for Sensory Impairment (MQSI) from the start of the 2023/2024 academic year. Our aim is to ensure a steady supply of teachers for children with visual, hearing, and multi-sensory impairments, in both specialist and mainstream settings.
The department has promoted the development of hearing impaired specialist units and also resourced provisions in mainstream schools so that more deaf children can be educated with all children. Co-operation between education and health professionals is also key. Programmes such as the new-born hearing screening, have been effective at early identification and ensuring that very young children receive the specialist support they need.
On 29 March 2022, the department published the SEND and Alternative Provision (AP) Green paper, which sets out our plans to improve the experience and outcomes for children and young people with SEND and those who need AP. We are now carefully considering all of the feedback we received and will publish a full response in an Improvement Plan early this year.
Asked by: Dan Carden (Labour - Liverpool Walton)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps she plans to take to improve the (a) accessibility, (b) affordability and (c) quality of childcare.
Answered by Claire Coutinho - Shadow Minister (Equalities)
The department is committed to improving the cost, choice, and availability of childcare. We continue to work across government to look at ways to make childcare more affordable and accessible, and to encourage families to use government-funded support they are entitled to.
In July 2022, the department announced measures to increase take-up of childcare support and reduce the costs and bureaucracy facing providers. We announced a £1.2 million marketing campaign via the Childcare Choices website to ensure that every parent knows about the government funded support they are eligible for. More information is available here: https://www.childcarechoices.gov.uk/.
The department aims to attract more people to childminding, expand the childminder market by reducing the costs and bureaucracy facing providers and encourage the growth of childminder agencies, enabling greater access to this flexible, affordable form of care. These plans aim to give providers more flexibility and autonomy and ensure families can access government support to save them money on their childcare bills. The full announcement is available here: https://www.gov.uk/government/news/drive-to-reduce-the-cost-of-childcare-for-parents.
On top of spending over £3.5 billion in each of the past three years on our early education entitlements, we are investing up to £180 million of recovery support in the early years sector to improve early language and train early years staff. The department has also reformed the Early Years Foundation Stage to improve outcomes for all at age 5, and reduce paperwork, so practitioners and teachers can spend more time supporting children.
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 potential merits of extending free childcare.
Answered by Claire Coutinho - Shadow Minister (Equalities)
Improving the cost, choice, and availability of childcare is a priority for this government. The department is already exploring options to help parents access the childcare they need. Further information on the childcare offers available to parents can be found at: https://www.childcarechoices.gov.uk.
The department has built up a significant early education and childcare offer to parents. In 2010, to support children to develop social skills and prepare them for school, the government extended free early education and care for all three and four-year-olds, regardless of parental income or working status, from 12.5 hours a week to 15 hours a week.
In 2013, the department introduced 15 hours of free early education and care for disadvantaged two year-olds, which aims to support improved educational outcomes for the most disadvantaged children who are the least likely to take up formal childcare, but who stand to benefit from it the most.
In 2017, the department introduced an additional 15 hours, providing a total of 30 hours of free early education and care for working parents of three and four-year-olds, if they earn the equivalent of 16 hours a week at national minimum or living wage and under £100,000 per year. This can help save working parents up to £6,000 a child per year.
Tax-Free Childcare is also available to parents who meet the same income criteria as the 30 hours free childcare entitlement, and can be worth up to £2,000 per year for children aged 0 to 11, or up to £4,000 per year for disabled children aged up to 17.
Through the roll out of Universal Credit, eligible working parents are now able to claim back up to 85% of their childcare costs.
The government is also investing over £200 million a year in our Holiday Activities and Food (HAF) programme, which all local authorities in England deliver in the Easter, summer and Christmas holidays.
Asked by: Dan Carden (Labour - Liverpool Walton)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, with reference to the Institute for Public Policy Research report entitled Delivering a Childcare Guarantee, published on 6 December 2022, what assessment she has made of the potential merits of that report's recommendations.
Answered by Claire Coutinho - Shadow Minister (Equalities)
The report “Delivering a Childcare Guarantee” makes several recommendations that cover sustainable funding for childcare and early education, the sufficiency of the number of childcare places on offer to parents, and our investment in the early years workforce. Getting this right is fundamentally important for parents and children, and we are looking at all options to improve the cost, flexibility and availability of childcare, and crucially, outcomes for children.
The department has spent over £3.5 billion in each of the past three years on early education entitlements to support families with the cost of childcare. At the Spending Review 2021, we announced additional funding for the early years entitlements of £160 million in 2022/23, £180 million in 2023/24 and £170 million in 2024/25, compared to the 2021/22 financial year. For 2023/24, we are investing an additional £20 million, on top of the additional £180 million already announced, to help support providers at a national level with additional costs associated with the national living wage.
The department is not currently planning to extend our free early education entitlements. We remain committed to supporting working parents through a range of childcare offers, including Universal Credit and Tax-Free Childcare, which are available to working parents of children from age 0.
The department is supporting parents to access the childcare they need through the ‘right to request’, which enables a parent to request that the school their child attends considers establishing wraparound and/or holiday childcare provision, if they are not already doing so. Schools must respond to these requests and should not refuse them without a reasonable justification. The government is also investing up to £30 million to continue our national school breakfast programme until July 2024, supporting up to 2,500 schools in disadvantaged areas. The programme offers free nutritious breakfasts to children from low-income families, to support their attainment, wellbeing, and readiness to learn.
Under Section 6 of the Childcare Act 2006, local authorities are responsible for ensuring that the provision of childcare is sufficient to meet the requirements of parents in their area. The department has regular contact with each local authority in England, and if a local authority raises concerns about sufficiency issues we will, of course, support it with any specific requirements. We are currently seeking to procure a contract that will provide support to local authorities who are seeking to improve their ability to fulfil their childcare sufficiency duties.
Finally, we recognise that workforce recruitment and retention are key issues for the early years sector. The majority of the sector is made up of private, voluntary and independent organisations who set their own rates of pay. However, we acknowledge the concerns raised by the sector regarding the perceived impact of salary rates. The department is working with the sector to build our understanding of the workforce situation, and how we might support providers in this area.
The government is already providing a package of training, qualifications, expert guidance, and targeted support for the early years sector to focus on the development of the youngest and most disadvantaged children and help to address existing recruitment and retention challenges. We are funding a range of programmes, including additional funding for graduate level specialist training which leads to early years teacher status and an accredited level 3 early years SENCO qualification.
Childminders are an important part of the early years workforce and the childcare market more widely, providing flexible, high-quality and affordable childcare that many parents both want and need. We have announced a set of measures to support childminders and boost their numbers. More information about this will be provided in due course.
Asked by: Dan Carden (Labour - Liverpool Walton)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, with reference to the Ofsted Annual Report 2021/22: education, children’s services and skills published 13 December 2022, what assessment she has made of the implications for her Department's policies of that report's findings on special needs provision; and whether she plans to take steps to improve special needs provision.
Answered by Claire Coutinho - Shadow Minister (Equalities)
The department is aware of the Ofsted Annual Report which highlights areas of the special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) system including recruitment and staff turnover, local area SEND inspections, and the increase in the number of pupils identified as having SEND.
The SEND and Alternative Provision (AP) Green Paper set out the department’s proposals for how we will improve the SEND system, so that it delivers improved outcomes, improved experiences, and financial sustainability.
The department is committed to publishing a full response to the green paper in an improvement plan in early 2023.
We will continue to support the system in the immediate term to deliver change and continue to improve the experience and outcomes for children and young people with SEND, and those who need AP.
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 help improve health and social care services' (a) engagement with and (b) support for children and families as part of the SEND reforms.
Answered by Claire Coutinho - Shadow Minister (Equalities)
The Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND) and Alternative Provision (AP) Green Paper looks at the full range of the SEND system, spanning early years provision through to further education and encompassing education, health and care.
Underpinning the proposals is the creation of a new set of national SEND and AP standards. The proposal aims to improve clarity and drive national consistency in how needs are assessed, identified and met across education, health and care.
We are committed to better understanding the support that children and young people need from the specialist workforce, to support effective workforce planning. In the Green Paper, the Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) made a commitment to work with the Department for Education, NHS England and Health Education England to build the evidence base to assess the demand for the diagnostic and therapeutic workforce from children and young people with SEND.
We will provide further detail about how we plan to improve health and social care services when we publish our response to the Green Paper through our Improvement Plan early in 2023.
In February, we announced a new £30 million investment to provide short breaks over the next three years. Local areas can bid for a share of £30 million for the next three years to set up additional short break placements, helping to provide positive opportunities for disabled children and young people and to give family carers a break so they can look after vulnerable children better in the long-term.
The Care Quality Commission and Ofsted have jointly inspected areas since 2016. In 2023 they will begin an updated inspection framework with a renewed focus on whether local areas are delivering improved outcomes for children and young people.
We are committed to publishing an ambitious and detailed implementation strategy for children’s social care early in the new year. Our plans for children’s social care and SEND reform are being drawn up in parallel and we will continue to work closely with DHSC, so that reforms resulting from these reviews lead to a coherent system that works for all vulnerable children.