Asked by: David Evennett (Conservative - Bexleyheath and Crayford)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many people began an apprenticeship in 2022 in (a) Bexleyheath and Crayford constituency, (b) Bexley Borough and (c) Greater London.
Answered by Robert Halfon
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.
| Apprenticeship Starts | |
Geographical area | 2021/22 | 2022/23 (August to October, reported to date) |
Bexleyheath and Crayford constituency | 590 | 190 |
Bexley Borough | 1,530 | 510 |
London | 37,790 | 12,540 |
England | 349,190 | 122,290 |
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.
Asked by: David Evennett (Conservative - Bexleyheath and Crayford)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what recent assessment she has made of the adequacy of the level of educational choice for parents of children with special educational needs and disabilities in Bexleyheath and Crayford constituency.
Answered by Claire Coutinho - Shadow Minister (Equalities)
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.
Asked by: David Evennett (Conservative - Bexleyheath and Crayford)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps she has taken to (a) recruit and (b) retain more male primary school teachers.
Answered by Nick Gibb
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.
Asked by: David Evennett (Conservative - Bexleyheath and Crayford)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how much the average funding per pupil in mainstream schools was in (a) Bexleyheath and Crayford constituency, (b) the London Borough of Bexley, (c) Greater London and (d) England in each of the last three years.
Answered by Nick Gibb
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.
| Average per pupil funding through the Schools NFF | |||
Financial year | Bexleyheath and Crayford (Constituency) | Bexley (Local Authority) | London (Region) | England |
2022/23 | £5,435 | £5,543 | £6,240 | £5,358 |
2021/22 | £5,285 | £5,211 | £5,914 | £5,212 |
2020/21 | £4,889 | £4,825 | £5,529 | £4,828 |
Asked by: David Evennett (Conservative - Bexleyheath and Crayford)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many children in Bexleyheath and Crayford constituency have received free school meals in each of the last five years.
Answered by Nick Gibb
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.
Asked by: David Evennett (Conservative - Bexleyheath and Crayford)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what the average class size in secondary schools was in (a) Bexleyheath and Crayford constituency, (b) the London Borough of Bexley, (c) Greater London and (d) England on 4 July 2022.
Answered by Will Quince
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.
Location | Class Type | Average class size in the 2021/22 academic year |
Bexleyheath and Crayford | Primary | 27.9 |
| Secondary | 24.4 |
London Borough of Bexley | Primary | 27.5 |
| Secondary | 22.3 |
Greater London | Primary | 26.4 |
| Secondary | 22.1 |
England | Primary | 26.6 |
| Secondary | 23.4 |
Asked by: David Evennett (Conservative - Bexleyheath and Crayford)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what the average class size in primary schools was in (a) Bexleyheath and Crayford constituency, (b) the London Borough of Bexley, (c) Greater London and (d) England on 4 July 2022.
Answered by Will Quince
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.
Location | Class Type | Average class size in the 2021/22 academic year |
Bexleyheath and Crayford | Primary | 27.9 |
| Secondary | 24.4 |
London Borough of Bexley | Primary | 27.5 |
| Secondary | 22.3 |
Greater London | Primary | 26.4 |
| Secondary | 22.1 |
England | Primary | 26.6 |
| Secondary | 23.4 |
Asked by: David Evennett (Conservative - Bexleyheath and Crayford)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what representations his Department has received from educational organisations in Greater London on the effectiveness of SEND funding in the last 12 months.
Answered by Will Quince
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.