David Evennett

The Government has brought forward a substantial package of financial support for the hospitality sector since the start of the year. We keep these measures under close review and as a result my Rt hon Friend Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer set out in the Budget a £65 billion three-point plan to provide support for jobs and businesses (including the hospitality sector), with extensions to furlough, self-employed support, business grants, loans and VAT cuts – bringing total fiscal support to over £407 billion.

My Rt hon Friend Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer announced on the 5^th January a further package of support for businesses that are required to close, or which are severely affected by the restrictions put in place to tackle Covid-19 and save lives.

Business that are mandated to close may be eligible for grants of up to £4,500 for every six weeks of closure through the Local Restrictions Support Grant Addendum: 5 January Onward. The Closed Business Lockdown Payment is a one-off payment of up to £9,000 to support business during the difficult Spring period.

A further £500 million of discretionary funding has been made available via the Additional Restrictions Grant, this may be used to support business who have not been mandated to close but had their trade severely affected by restrictions.

We have extended the application deadline for the Bounce Back Loan Scheme, the Coronavirus Business Interruption Loan Scheme, and the Coronavirus Large Business Interruption Loan Scheme until 31 March 2021. Bounce Back Loan borrowers will also be able to top-up their loan, extend their loan term to ten years and take advantage of repayment holidays

The Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme will remain open until the end of April 2021, with employees receiving 80% of their current salary for hours not worked, up to a maximum of £2,500.

We are providing hospitality sector in Tiers 2 and 3 with a wide package of support to help them through the current crisis. This includes the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme, government-backed loans, Local Restrictions Support Grants and additional funding provided to Local Authorities to support businesses. On 1 December, my Rt. Hon. Friend the Prime Minister announced an additional £1,000 Christmas grant for ‘wet-led pubs’ in tiers 2 and 3.

The ONS data below shows the overall number of public houses and bars in Bexleyheath and Crayford, Bexley Borough, London and England in each year from 2011 to 2020. Numbers of business closures specifically (VAT de-registrations) are not available at this level of industrial and geographical detail.

Number of Public House and Bar Local Units

Source: ONS Business Counts. *Series break due to London geographical boundary change in 2016

We regularly engage with the industry to understand the challenges that pubs are facing. We have provided a range of business support which pubs have been able to take advantage of, including a one-year business rates holiday, business support grants and government-backed loans. Recently, further support has been announced such as the Job Support Scheme and its extension and the Local Restrictions Support Grant scheme.

As of 31 May, 699,354 loans have been approved under the Bounce Back Loan Scheme (BBLS), with a total value of £21.29 billion.

The Scheme has received 873,192 applications. The applications figure includes: approved applications; applications that are still to be processed; applications that have been declined; and applications that may turn out not to be eligible or cases where customers will decide not to proceed.

As of 31 May, 699,354 loans have been approved under the Bounce Back Loan Scheme (BBLS), with a total value of £21.29 billion.

The Coronavirus Business Interruption Loan Scheme (CBILS) is part of a comprehensive package of support for SMEs. The Government held discussions with the banking industry prior to the launch of CBILS. The Business Secretary continues to hold a regular dialogue with the largest CBILS lenders to monitor its implementation.

The Government has responded to feedback from stakeholders on CBILS, which includes the time taken by lenders to process applications, by:

• Removing the ability for lenders to ask for personal guarantees for loans under £250,000, and reducing the personal guarantee for loans over £250,000 to 20% of the outstanding balance after recoveries;
• Introducing technical changes to ensure that applications will be processed faster;
• Removing the forward-looking viability test; and
• Removing the per lender portfolio cap.

The Government will continue to monitor the scheme and introduce amendments as appropriate.

The Government has made £12.3 billion available to businesses under the Small Business Grants Fund and the Retail, Hospitality and Leisure Grants Fund. Local authorities are contacting businesses directly to deliver these grants.

As of 3 May, 696,970 business premises in England have received grants across the two schemes, totalling £8.595 billion, with more money delivered to businesses every day. In the London Borough of Bexley, grant payments have been made to 2,464 business premises, with a total number of 79,886 business premises benefiting from the two schemes in London. We do not hold information at constituency level, however, a full breakdown of grant funding allocated to and distributed by each local authority is available at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/coronavirus-grant-funding-local-authority-payments-to-small-and-medium-businesses.

This breakdown is updated on a weekly basis.

Through the Government’s Growth Deals for 2015 to 2021, we have awarded the London Economic Action Partnership (LEAP) £435.28 million to support large-scale local growth programmes across London.

LEAP brings entrepreneurs, businesses, the Mayoralty, and London Councils together to strategically support job creation in the capital. LEAP’s capital investment programme for further education providers in London will ensure facilities are available to support first-class training that meets employers’ needs.

The table below provides ONS data on new business registrations for VAT and/or PAYE (ONS Business Demography 2018 – Enterprise births, deaths and survivals).

To Note: Data is not available for periods earlier than 2013 or later than 2018.

The Government is extremely well prepared for these types of outbreaks; we are taking all necessary precautions to protect the public, including engaging with industry and the business community to discuss their preparedness planning. We have been receiving regular information from our stakeholders and continue to work together to keep on top of the situation.

The Government is closely monitoring developments in relation to potential economic impacts on the UK economy, as well as individual businesses and supply chains. For individual businesses, the first port of call for advice and support should still be gov.uk and the Department is scaling up its Business Support Helpline so businesses of all sizes can pick up the phone for guidance.

The Department is also working with Her Majesty’s Treasury to actively look at ways to support businesses, especially small-and medium-sized businesses, through this temporary period of disruption.

We want to make sure that the UK is the best place in the world to work and grow a business. That’s why we are backing businesses right across the country, with 381,000 new businesses starting last year, and the government-owned British Business Bank currently supports more than £7bn to over 91,000 smaller businesses.

The British Business Bank’s Start-Up Loans programme provides loans to entrepreneurs seeking to start and grow their own businesses. Since 2012 the programme has delivered more than 69,000 Start-Up Loans, providing more than £558m of funding, in every part of the United Kingdom. Since 2012:

• The constituency of Bexleyheath and Crayford received 72 loans worth over £661,000;
• In London 15,642 loans were issued worth over £126m.

In addition to its lending and investment activity, the British Business Bank’s online Finance Hub helps business owners to find the right finance options for their needs.

Government has also taken a number of steps in recent years to support the growth of small businesses across the UK, including cutting corporation tax to 19 per cent and increasing the employment allowance from £2,000 to £3,000 to benefit around 1m businesses. Reforms and reliefs to business rates, since Budget 2016, are worth £13 billion over the next five years.

All businesses in England including your constituency and London, can access support through our Gov.uk website, the Business Support Helpline (0300 456 3565) and through their Local Growth Hubs.

As well as an online support, London has recently opened five main physical sites (that will be staffed) in Vauxhall, Woolwich, Tottenham, Hammersmith and Corydon, and 4 satellite sites (to ensure a wide coverage of the sub regions) in Harrow, Wood Green, Brixton and Ilford to deliver surgeries and workshops. These are led and governed by London’s Local Enterprise Partnership, LEAP. Growth Hubs provide a free, impartial, ‘single point of contact’ to help businesses in these areas identify and access the right support for them at the right time no matter their size or sector. In 2018-2019 the London Growth Hub supported 4,651 businesses.

The number of teachers remains high, with over 465,500 full time equivalent teachers working in state funded schools across the country. That is over 24,000 more than in 2010.

The Department’s reforms are aimed at increasing teacher recruitment and at ensuring teachers across England stay and thrive in the profession.

The Department announced a £181 million financial incentives package for those starting initial teacher training 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 provides a Levelling Up Premium worth up to £3,000 annually 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. 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 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 talented people to teaching.

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 head teachers 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 school leadership staff to help reduce workload, and resources to support schools to implement effective flexible working practices.

Apprenticeship starts for the requested geographical areas in the 2021/22 academic year, and 2022/23 from August to October, reported to date, are shown in the table below.

Further information on apprenticeship starts can be found in the apprenticeships and traineeships statistics publication, which can be accessed here: https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/find-statistics/apprenticeships-and-traineeships.

Notes:

(1) Figures are rounded to the nearest 10.

(2) Data source is the Individualised Learner Record.

(3) Geography is based upon the home postcode of the learner.

(4) Starts are the count of apprenticeships started at any point during the stated academic period. Learners starting more than one Apprenticeship will appear more than once.

Bexley, the local authority in which Bexleyheath and Crayford falls, has a statutory responsibility under the Children and Families Act 2014 for keeping their local offer of services and provision for children and young people with special education needs and disabilities (SEND) under review. This should be done in co-production with parents, young people and educational providers. It is for local authorities to ensure there are sufficient school places for all pupils, including those with SEND. Under the Act, parents or young people have the statutory right to request that a particular school, further education college, or other educational institution is named in their education, health and care plan.

In March 2022, the department announced High Needs Provision Capital Allocations amounting to a new investment of over £1.4 billion. This funding is to support local authorities to deliver new places for academic years 2023/24 and 2024/25, and to improve existing provision for children and young people with SEND or who require alternative provision. This funding forms part of the £2.6 billion we are investing between 2022 and 2025 and represents a significant, transformational investment in new high needs provision. It will support local authorities to deliver new places in mainstream and special schools, as well as other specialist settings. It will also be used to improve the suitability and accessibility of existing buildings.

The Department wants to attract and retain diverse, talented teachers from all backgrounds, including male teachers.

In 2021, the Department’s new application service for initial teacher training (ITT) in England, ‘Apply for teacher training’, was rolled out nationally. It has been designed to be as user friendly as possible and has been extensively tested with a diverse range of potential applicants to ensure it helps remove barriers to great teachers applying for ITT courses.

The Department’s recruitment campaigns are targeted at audiences of students, recent graduates, and potential career changers, regardless of their identity or background. The Department takes every effort to ensure that advertising is fully reflective of this across the full range of marketing materials used.

The reforms outlined in the Government’s response to the ITT market review will help meet the commitment made in the teacher recruitment and retention strategy to create a world class teacher development system by transforming the training and support teachers receive at every stage of their career.

To ensure that all children and young people get the best education, it is essential that the Department has a workforce of well trained and well supported teachers, with the expertise needed to deliver great teaching every day.

The schools National Funding Formula (NFF) calculates an allocation for every school, based on their individual pupil and school characteristics. Schools’ allocations under the NFF for the 2022/23 financial year can be viewed at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/national-funding-formula-tables-for-schools-and-high-needs-2022-to-2023. Schools’ allocations under the NFF for the 2021/22 financial year can be found at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/national-funding-formula-tables-for-schools-and-high-needs-2021-to-2022. Schools’ allocations under the NFF for the 2020/21 financial year can be found at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/national-funding-formula-tables-for-schools-and-high-needs-2020-to-2021.

The below table shows the average funding per pupil allocated through the NFF for Bexleyheath and Crayford, Bexley, London and England over the past three years. Per pupil funding excludes growth funding and individual schools’ actual allocations are based on local authorities’ local funding formulae.

The Department publishes annual figures on the number of pupils who are eligible for free school meals, based on school census data.

The most recently published figures are for January 2022. The full collection of publications can be found here: https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/statistics-school-and-pupil-numbers. The attached table provides information for Bexleyheath and Crayford from the 2017/18 to 2021/22 academic years.

The department does not hold figures on class sizes for dates throughout the year. Class size is recorded annually on the January school census day and is regarded as a representative sample of class size. The figures are published here: https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/find-statistics/school-pupils-and-their-characteristics.

The table below shows the average primary and secondary class sizes for the Bexleyheath and Crayford constituency, the London Borough of Bexley, Greater London and England and for the 2021/22 academic year.

The department does not hold figures on class sizes for dates throughout the year. Class size is recorded annually on the January school census day and is regarded as a representative sample of class size. The figures are published here: https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/find-statistics/school-pupils-and-their-characteristics.

The table below shows the average primary and secondary class sizes for the Bexleyheath and Crayford constituency, the London Borough of Bexley, Greater London and England and for the 2021/22 academic year.

The department receives many representations on the effectiveness of the funding for provision for children and young people with special educational needs and disabilities, from all parts of England, including Greater London. These include communications from parents, schools, and other providers, and from local authorities and other organisations.

This government continues to deliver year on year, real terms per pupil increases to the core schools budget with a £7 billion cash increase in funding by the 2024/25 financial year, compared with the 2021/22 financial year, taking total funding to £56.8 billion by 2024-25. As a result, we were able to announce last December that high needs funding for children and young people with complex needs is increasing in this financial year 2022-23 by £1 billion to a total of £9.1 billion. This unprecedented year-on-year increase of 13% comes on top of the £1.5 billion increase over the last two years and will continue to support local authorities and schools with the increasing costs they are facing.

The ‘Schools White Paper – Opportunity for all: strong schools with great teachers for your child’, which was published on 28 March 2022, sets out our long-term vision for a school system that helps every child to fulfil their potential by ensuring that they receive the right support, in the right place, at the right time. The cornerstones of a broad, academic, knowledge-rich curriculum are literacy and numeracy. The full White Paper can be found here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/opportunity-for-all-strong-schools-with-great-teachers-for-your-child.

As set out in the White Paper, our ambition for literacy and numeracy is that by 2030 90% of primary school children will achieve the expected standard in reading, writing, and mathematics, and the percentage of children meeting the expected standard in the worst performing areas will have increased by a third.

The White Paper adds to this by setting an ambition that in secondary schools the national GCSE average grade in both English language and in mathematics increases from 4.5 in 2019 to 5 by 2030. These aims are not for any one school or teacher to achieve alone, but a measurement of success across the country at a system level. The department’s strategy to improve literacy and numeracy outcomes for all children carefully considers how we do this for vulnerable or disadvantaged groups, including children who are on free school meals or those with special educational needs.

The White Paper builds on the department’s record of supporting the improvement of literacy standards over the past decade, including the introduction of the phonics screening check, the English Hubs programme, the publication of the reading framework, and the validation of phonics programmes. The English Hubs are currently delivering intensive support to over 1000 partner schools, reaching approximately 50,000 pupils in reception and year 1. Supported schools containing an above-average proportion of free school meal pupils over-represented in the programme, along with those schools underperforming in phonics. These dedicated Hubs will continue to support schools to drive up literacy standards, including driving improvements in the quality of early reading teaching.

In addition, from autumn 2022, the National Professional Qualification (NPQ) for Leading Literacy will be available. The qualification has been designed to develop teacher expertise in leading the development of pupils’ language, reading, and writing in all key stages. It is aimed at teachers and leaders who have, or are aspiring to have, responsibilities for leading literacy across a school, year group, key stage, or phase. The content framework which underpins this qualification was published in October 2021 here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/national-professional-qualifications-frameworks-from-september-2021. Further details around eligibility and funding for this qualification will be announced in due course.

99% of grammar schools are good or outstanding. 75% percent are outstanding. They provide excellent education and are oversubscribed.

There is already a wide range of published research that explores the question of the effect of grammar schools on social mobility. [1] [2] [3] [4] [5]

In order to promote greater social mobility, the Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) between the Department for Education and the Grammar School Heads Association sets out the commitment of its members to increase the number of disadvantaged pupils on roll. Many prioritise pupil premium children for admission. Those gaining places in a grammar school will benefit from the high quality education they deliver.

Alongside the MOU, the 22 successful bids from the Selective Schools Expansion Fund all prioritise pupil premium children for admission, with some also committing to lowering the entrance test pass mark for such pupils and undertaking outreach work to increase the number of disadvantaged pupils on roll. They are in the early stages of delivering their five-year plans.

[1] Andrews et al., 2016, EPI, “Grammar schools and social mobility”

[2] Atkinson et al., 2006, "The result of 11+ Selection: An Investigation into Opportunities and Outcomes for Pupils in Selective LEAs"

[3] Gorard and Siddiqui, 2016, "Grammar schools in England: a new approach to analysing their intakes and outcomes"

[4] Burgess et al., 2018, "Assessing the role of grammar schools in promoting social mobility"

[5] Cribb et al., 2013, "Entry into Grammar Schools in England"

The initial requests for Education, Health and Care (EHC) plans relating to 2019 and 2020 are published at the following link: https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/data-tables/permalink/1ff67fe5-249c-4a8e-b2a1-a172c1ae0b23.

The department does not yet hold information on the number of initial requests for EHC plans in 2021, but this will be published in May 2022 at the following link: https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/find-statistics/education-health-and-care-plans.

The government is investing £2.5 billion in the National Skills Fund in England.

Since 1 April 2021, the government is supporting adults who do not hold A level equivalent or higher qualifications to access over 400 funded level 3 courses, with Free Courses for Jobs. This offer is a long-term commitment, backed by £95 million from the National Skills Fund in year one.

Complementing this support for adults, Skills Bootcamps offer free, flexible courses of up to 16 weeks to give people the opportunity to build up sector specific skills and fast-track to an interview with a local employer. The department is expanding the Skills Bootcamp programme across the country during 2021/22 financial year, with £43 million from the National Skills Fund. There will be digital Skills Bootcamps available in each English region and a wide coverage of technical Skills Bootcamps. We are also delivering Skills Bootcamps in retrofit construction skills to support the green industrial revolution.

From 2025, the department will introduce a Lifelong Loan Entitlement equivalent to 4 years of post-18 education. People will be supported to study throughout their life, with the opportunity to train, retrain and upskill as needed in response to changing skills needs and employment patterns. It will help transform post-18 study, delivering greater parity between further and higher education.

The department is continuing to invest in education and skills training for adults through the Adult Education Budget (AEB), investing £1.34 billion in the 2021/22 financial year. The AEB fully funds or co-funds skills provision for eligible adults aged 19 and above from pre-entry to level 3, to support adults to gain the skills required for work, apprenticeships or further learning.

The government is committed to continuing support for school breakfast clubs and we are investing up to £24 million to continue our national programme for the next two years. This funding will support around 2,500 schools in disadvantaged areas meaning that thousands of children from low-income families will be offered free nutritious breakfasts to better support their attainment, wellbeing and readiness to learn.

The focus of the programme is to target the most disadvantaged areas of the country, including the Department for Education’s Opportunity Areas. Schools’ eligibility for the programme is based on the Income Deprivation Affecting Children Index (IDACI) deprivation scale – a nationally recognised indicator of need – to ensure provision is directed where it is most needed. Schools will be eligible for the programme if they have 50% or more pupils within bands A-F of the IDACI scale.

The enrolment process for schools joining the programme is currently ongoing, and we have seen a strong interest so far from eligible schools since we invited the expressions of interest. Schools are currently still able to apply to join the programme. As we are still registering schools for the programme, it is too early to publish a list of participating schools. However, we will of course consider the best opportunities to share information on the programme as it progresses.

The Department has worked closely with Public Health England to develop and refresh the system of controls, which are available to view here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/actions-for-schools-during-the-coronavirus-outbreak/schools-coronavirus-covid-19-operational-guidance#system-of-controls. These include cleaning hands thoroughly more often than usual, minimising contact between individuals, and keeping occupied spaces well ventilated to reduce the risk of transmission in schools. Testing regimes and the system of controls, when implemented in line with schools’ own workplace risk assessment, create an inherently safer environment for children and staff where the risk of transmission of infection is substantially reduced. The way to control the COVID-19 outbreak is the same, even with the current new variants.

On 8 June the Government announced an enhanced support package for any areas affected by local outbreaks. The package includes specialist rapid response teams, surge testing and enhanced contact tracing, military support, specialist communication, supervised in school testing, and discretion to reintroduce face coverings in communal areas in schools if directors of public health decide it is appropriate.

Schools in the Bexleyheath and Crayford constituency are receiving £82.8 million in 2021/22 through the National Funding Formula (NFF) – a 2.4% cash increase. This reflects an increase of 3.4% in pupil-led funding compared to 2020/21. In Bexleyheath and Crayford constituency, primary schools are attracting an average of £4,471, while secondary schools are attracting an average of £6,218 per pupil funding via the NFF. We do not provide final allocations at the constituency level. The amount that Bexleyheath and Crayford constituency attracts for schools will depend on Bexley’s local funding formula and up to date pupil numbers and characteristics from the October 2020 census.

Apprenticeships provide people with the opportunity to earn and learn the skills needed to start an exciting career in a wide range of industries, including artificial intelligence, archaeology, data science, business management, and banking. We want more people to benefit from high-quality apprenticeships. Since May 2010, there have been 7,190 apprenticeship starts in Bexleyheath and Crayford (constituency).

We are supporting employers to offer new apprenticeship opportunities by increasing the incentive payment to £3,000 for every new apprentice hired between 1 April and 30 September 2021 as part of the government's Plan for Jobs. We continue to work with the Department for Work and Pensions to enable Kickstart placements to turn into apprenticeships where that is the right thing for the employer and the young person.

In addition, we are supporting the largest-ever expansion of traineeships and are working with employers to develop new occupational traineeships in rail, construction and engineering which will create a pathway for young people to progress into apprenticeships or other employment. The government confirmed an additional £126 million at Budget to fund a further 43,000 traineeship places in the 2021/22 academic year, and we have extended the £1,000 incentive payments for employers who offer traineeship work placement opportunities to July 2022.

To encourage more young people to consider apprenticeships, we are promoting apprenticeships in schools across the country through our Apprenticeship Support and Knowledge programme. This free service provides schools and teachers with resources and interventions to help better educate young people about apprenticeships. In the Skills for Jobs white paper, published in January 2021, we announced that we will be introducing a 3-point-plan to enforce the Baker Clause, our requirement that all maintained schools and academies provide opportunities for providers of technical education and apprenticeships to visit schools to talk to all year 8 to 13 pupils. This includes creating clear minimum legal requirements, specifying who is to be given access to which pupils and when. This is an important step towards real choice for every pupil.