Asked by: David Morris (Conservative - Morecambe and Lunesdale)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what information his Department holds on the reasons why Morecambe Bay Primary School failed to meet the threshold to retain the support of a social worker team to reduce the number of children on child protection plans to zero.
Answered by Nadhim Zahawi
The information requested is not held centrally.
Asked by: David Morris (Conservative - Morecambe and Lunesdale)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps her Department is taking to ensure that the former Skerton High School site is used for educational purposes.
Answered by Nick Gibb
The Department has no information as to what the local council propose to do with this closed school site. Should the local council wish to use the site for non educational purposes there is legislation in place to protect against the disposal of school land used for education. The local council are required to seek the consent of the Secretary of State before disposing or changing the use of school land.
Schedule 1 to the Academies Act 2010 requires consent where any school land has been used by a maintained school within the last eight years and Section 77 of the School Standards and Framework Act 1998 requires consent to be obtained for school playing field land used by (or for) a maintained school within the last 10 years.
We have not received any application from Lancashire County Council seeking consent to dispose of the former Skerton High School site. Further information about the protection of school land can be found at: https://www.gov.uk/guidance/school-land-and-property-protection-transfer-and-disposal.
Asked by: David Morris (Conservative - Morecambe and Lunesdale)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what guidance her Department has provided to teachers on the value added measure for 2016-17 for Key Stage 1 to Key Stage 2.
Answered by Nick Gibb
The Department published guidance, Primary School Accountability in 2016, which explains how the new progress measures will be calculated. It is available at: https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/496158/Primary_school_accountability_in_2016.pdf
This guidance will be updated in the autumn.
Asked by: David Morris (Conservative - Morecambe and Lunesdale)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what recent assessment she has made of the operation of the fair funding formula for schools; and when she expects the latest revision to that formula to be implemented.
Answered by Sam Gyimah
The first stage of a two-part consultation for national funding formulae for schools and high needs closed on 17 April. We are currently considering the responses. We will publish the second stage of the consultation later this year, alongside the government’s response to the first stage of the consultation. This second stage will set out the detailed design of the formulas, and will provide illustrative allocations for all schools and areas.
We have proposed to introduce the new national funding formulae from 2017-18.
Asked by: David Morris (Conservative - Morecambe and Lunesdale)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if he will estimate how much money his Department has spent in Morecambe and Lunesdale constituency since May 2010.
Answered by David Laws
The Department for Education does not allocate or record spending at a Parliamentary constituency level. The majority of funding provided by the Department for Morecambe and Lunesdale constituency is allocated indirectly via Lancashire local authority.[1]
Therefore, we have shown total allocations to Lancashire local authority, and to free schools, non-recoupment academies and music education hubs within Lancashire, with revenue and capital spending in separate tables. We do allocate funding directly to providers of 16-19 education, so we have separately shown total allocations for 16-19 education within the constituency of Morecambe and Lunesdale.
Table A shows the total revenue allocations made by the Department to Lancashire local authority, and to free schools, non-recoupment academies and music education hubs within Lancashire, in each of the financial years 2010-11 to 2013-14. This funding includes: the Dedicated Schools Grant (including two-, three- and four-year-old education); non-recoupment academies and free schools funding; Pupil Premium; music and sport grants; SEND and adoption reform grants; the Early Intervention Grant before 2013-14; and, from 2013-14, the Education Services Grant. The figures provided are in cash terms.
Table A: Revenue funding
Financial year | 2010-11 | 2011-12 | 2012-13 | 2013-14 | Total funding since the start |
Total revenue (£m) | 860 | 865 | 883 | 898 | 3,506 |
The figures in Table A are not comparable year-on-year for the reasons given below:
1. Since May 2010, there have been transfers of funding between DfE and other Government departments. These were mainly small amounts but the most significant were the Education Services Grant (national total of £1.03bn), which transferred from DCLG to DfE in 2013-14, and the Early Intervention Grant (national total of £2.3bn), which transferred from DfE to DCLG in 2013-14, with only a topslice remaining in DfE budgets.
2. DfE has also provided some funding to other Government departments to contribute to programmes that were jointly funded and managed, such as the Child Poverty Programme, administered by DWP.
Table B shows the total capital allocations to Lancashire schools from 2010-11 to 2013-14. Complete information on the Department's capital spending by constituency is not held centrally. The figures provided are in cash terms.
Table B: Capital funding
Financial year | 2010-11 | 2011-12 | 2012-13 | 2013-14 | Total funding since the start |
Total capital (£m) | 89 | 71 | 68 | 50 | 278 |
The Department provides funding directly to providers of 16-19 education on an academic year basis. Table C shows the total allocations made to post-16 institutions within the constituency of Morecambe and Lunesdale during the academic years 2010/11 to 2013/14 by the DfE and its agencies. 2013/14 was the first year of funding under a new 16-19 funding formula, so figures are not directly comparable to those of previous years. The figures provided are in cash terms.
Table C: 16-19 education
Academic year | 2010/11 | 2011/12 | 2012/13 | 2013/14 | Total funding since the start |
Total 16-19 funding – (£m) | 11 | 12 | 10 | 11 | 44 |
[1] We provide funding for free schools, non-recoupment academies and 16-19 institutions directly and provide funding for music education hubs via Arts Council England.
Asked by: David Morris (Conservative - Morecambe and Lunesdale)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, with reference to Lancaster City Council's Local Plan for Lancaster District 2011-2031: Strategic Options for Land Allocations, what assessment his Department has made of the potential expansion of demand for educational facilities for children and young adults that would arise under Option 5 of that plan.
Answered by Edward Timpson
Lancashire local authority has a statutory duty to ensure that there are sufficient school places available. The Department for Education continues to engage with Lancashire local authority, along with all other local authorities, to understand the place planning pressures they face.
The Department has not assessed Lancaster District council's plans for long-term expansion with regard to the provision of educational facilities. The council's plan is a local area consultation and decisions will be made at local level.
With regard to funding for additional school places, local authorities are asked to include potential pupils from new housing developments (where there is already planning permission or there is a high degree of confidence that they will go ahead) in their forecasts that they provide to the Department. These forecasts underpin the capital funding allocations for the delivery of school places. The Department has allocated a total of £83 million basic need funding to Lancashire local authority for the provision of school places between 2011-12 and 2016-17.
In addition to government funding, the Department expects housing developers to make a contribution to the infrastructure needs of the new communities created. Securing that funding is a matter for the local authority.
Asked by: David Morris (Conservative - Morecambe and Lunesdale)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if he will include cancer awareness education as part of the national curriculum in personal, social and health education.
Answered by Elizabeth Truss
Cancer awareness is important for all young people. However, I do not believe that there should be a statutory requirement for it to be taught in schools. The Government aims to reduce prescription throughout the education system, and trusts schools to provide what is best for their students. The Department for Education does not collect data on this topic.
Schools are free to teach cancer awareness when it is relevant to the national curriculum. For example, the science curriculum requires pupils to learn about the effects of drugs on their bodies, and the importance of physical activity and a healthy lifestyle is included in the requirements for physical education. In design and technology, schools may highlight the importance of nutrition and a healthy diet. Schools may include cancer awareness as part of personal, social, health and economic (PSHE) education, using suitable resources from relevant organisations. The PSHE Association has produced a suggested programme of study as guidance for teachers, and continues to highlight other sources of expertise.