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Speech in Commons Chamber - Wed 03 Feb 2021
Support for University Students: Covid-19

"The Government’s support package is welcome, but the Minister will be aware that many stakeholders do not think it goes far enough. There is a particular issue about students being required to pay full fees for courses that are nowhere near the quality and content of the course experience they …..."
Diane Abbott - View Speech

View all Diane Abbott (Ind - Hackney North and Stoke Newington) contributions to the debate on: Support for University Students: Covid-19

Written Question
Pre-school Education
Tuesday 13th January 2015

Asked by: Diane Abbott (Independent - Hackney North and Stoke Newington)

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many free early years education places were provided in (a) Hackney North and Stoke Newington constituency, (b) each London borough and (c) England in each year since 2010; and if she will make a statement.

Answered by Sam Gyimah

The tables below provide the number of children in receipt of funded early education provision in each London borough and in England from 2010 to 2014. The variation between areas will reflect local demand.

Information at constituency level is not readily available and could be obtained only at disproportionate cost.

Number of 3- and 4-year-olds benefitting from funded early education places

2010 to 2014

Position at January

2010

2011

2012

2013

2014

England

1,186,365

1,224,465

1,264,416

1,283,497

1,299,908

Camden

4,060

4,060

3,900

4,090

4,050

City of London

80

60

80

100

100

Hackney

6,360

6,640

6,700

6,970

7,140

Hammersmith and Fulham

4,030

4,080

4,110

4,130

4,050

Haringey

5,910

6,000

6,210

6,240

6,190

Islington

4,130

4,480

4,550

4,540

4,460

Kensington and Chelsea

2,720

2,740

2,700

2,730

2,740

Lambeth

6,550

6,930

7,030

7,150

7,110

Lewisham

6,480

6,870

7,160

7,450

7,390

Newham

8,870

9,260

9,660

9,750

9,710

Southwark

6,850

6,620

6,570

6,970

7,030

Tower Hamlets

6,270

6,530

6,580

6,780

6,940

Wandsworth

6,870

7,090

7,280

7,470

7,480

Westminster

3,860

3,780

3,890

3,810

3,750

Barking and Dagenham

5,300

5,850

6,360

6,690

6,760

Barnet

8,220

8,220

8,730

8,890

9,140

Bexley

5,510

5,720

6,000

6,080

6,140

Brent

6,690

7,050

7,390

7,730

8,070

Bromley

7,200

7,540

7,840

8,110

8,300

Croydon

8,670

9,320

9,710

9,780

9,710

Ealing

8,420

8,730

9,110

9,400

9,380

Enfield

7,570

7,930

8,460

8,620

8,680

Greenwich

6,870

7,330

7,390

7,330

7,410

Harrow

4,860

5,140

5,400

5,680

5,910

Havering

5,060

5,340

5,610

5,750

5,870

Hillingdon

6,990

7,320

7,670

7,990

8,240

Hounslow

5,560

5,860

6,380

6,750

6,940

Kingston upon Thames

3,580

3,850

4,120

4,220

4,250

Merton

5,090

5,390

5,780

5,750

5,760

Redbridge

7,380

7,920

8,200

8,340

8,520

Richmond upon Thames

4,780

5,200

5,390

5,460

5,680

Sutton

4,250

4,440

4,610

4,810

4,960

Waltham Forest

6,690

7,010

7,340

7,410

7,500

Count of children aged 3 and 4 at 31 December in the previous calendar year.

Any child attending more than one provider will have only been counted once.

Totals are rounded to the nearest 10.

Number of 2-year-olds benefitting from funded early education places

2014

Position at January

2014

England

86,637

Camden

240

City of London

0

Hackney

460

Hammersmith and Fulham

190

Haringey

330

Islington

300

Kensington and Chelsea

160

Lambeth

400

Lewisham

440

Newham

530

Southwark

590

Tower Hamlets

270

Wandsworth

370

Westminster

230

Barking and Dagenham

680

Barnet

490

Bexley

410

Brent

330

Bromley

400

Croydon

490

Ealing

430

Enfield

730

Greenwich

390

Harrow

340

Havering

420

Hillingdon

390

Hounslow

350

Kingston upon Thames

170

Merton

260

Redbridge

420

Richmond upon Thames

160

Sutton

190

Waltham Forest

440

Count of children aged 2 at 31 December in the previous calendar year.

Any child attending more than one provider will have only been counted once.

Totals are rounded to the nearest 10.


Written Question
Education: Greater London
Thursday 18th December 2014

Asked by: Diane Abbott (Independent - Hackney North and Stoke Newington)

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what proportion of children in each London borough continued schooling to (a) A Level and (b) higher education since 2010.

Answered by David Laws

Destination Measures show the destinations of young people the year after they left secondary schooling (key stage 4) and the year after the young person took A level or equivalent qualifications (key stage 5). They show the percentage of pupils continuing their education in school, further education or sixth form college, in specialist provision or in a higher education institution.

The measures are published at local authority level and are available for destinations of young people in 2009/10, 2010/11 and 2011/12, published online at:

www.gov.uk/government/collections/statistics-destinations

Destinations in 2012/13 will be published in January 2015.


Written Question
Supply Teachers
Wednesday 17th December 2014

Asked by: Diane Abbott (Independent - Hackney North and Stoke Newington)

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, with reference to the NUT supply teacher survey 2014, what steps she plans to take to increase the pay of supply teachers employed through agencies.

Answered by David Laws

The Government does not set pay rates for supply teachers employed by agencies. The pay and employment conditions of supply teachers employed by private agencies are private commercial arrangements.


Written Question
Pupil Exclusions
Wednesday 17th December 2014

Asked by: Diane Abbott (Independent - Hackney North and Stoke Newington)

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many young people of what (a) age, (b) sex and (c) ethnicity were excluded from secondary school in (i) Hackney Local Authority area, (ii) London and (iii) England since 2010.

Answered by Nick Gibb

The requested information has been provided in the attached document.


Written Question
Supply Teachers
Thursday 4th December 2014

Asked by: Diane Abbott (Independent - Hackney North and Stoke Newington)

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if she will take steps to ensure that qualified teachers employed by private agencies to provide supply cover in schools have access to the Teachers' Pension Scheme.

Answered by David Laws

Supply teachers have access to the Teachers’ Pensions Scheme (TPS) where they have a contract of employment directly with the school or local authority in which they are working. Decisions about the precise employer/employee relationship are determined locally between the school and the agency.


Written Question
Supply Teachers
Friday 28th November 2014

Asked by: Diane Abbott (Independent - Hackney North and Stoke Newington)

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if her Department will provide guidance to supply teachers on the tax and unemployment implications of working for an umbrella company.

Answered by David Laws

Schools and local authorities are responsible for the recruitment of their supply teachers and deciding whether they use private agencies to recruit and employ them. If a supply teacher is employed by a private agency or their umbrella company, this is a private commercial arrangement between the school and agency.

The Department for Education does not provide guidance on tax and unemployment matters. These are matters for Her Majesty’s Revenue and Customs and the Department for Work and Pensions, respectively.


Written Question
Pupils: Bullying
Thursday 27th November 2014

Asked by: Diane Abbott (Independent - Hackney North and Stoke Newington)

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps her Department took to ensure that primary and secondary schools in England marked anti-bullying week; and what steps her Department is taking to tackle homophobic bullying in schools.

Answered by Sam Gyimah

The Government has sent a clear message to all schools that bullying is unacceptable and that they should take steps to prevent it from happening and to tackle it when it does.

While it was a matter for schools to determine whether to mark anti-bullying week, the Department for Education supported activities held as part of anti-bullying week. Nick Gibb, Minister of State for School Reform, attended an event hosted by the Diana Award to celebrate the work of its anti-bullying ambassadors. Edward Timpson, Minister of State for Children and Families, attended an event hosted by the Anti-Bullying Alliance, which focused on the bullying of children with special educational needs and disabilities. He also attended an anti-bullying assembly at the Ark Global Academy in London which featured WWE (World Wrestling Entertainment, which champions anti-bullying in the USA) as part of the lead-in to anti-bullying week.

As well as raising the profile of the occasion via the Department’s twitter account, we also published two pieces of advice at the beginning of anti-bullying week. The first is to on help teachers to guard themselves against cyberbullying and what to do if it happens. This information is published online at:

www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/374850/Cyberbullying_Advice_for_Headteachers_and_School_Staff_121114.pdf

The second piece of advice is for parents on how to help keep their children safe from cyberbullying, the signs to look for that they might be being cyberbullied and how to respond if they are. This information is published online at:

www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/375420/Advice_for_Parents_on_Cyberbullying_131114.pdf

The Department is providing just under £4 million to anti-bullying organisations over two years (2013-15) and it has recently launched two grant programmes: a £25 million voluntary and community sector grant which includes work to address all bullying in schools; and a £2 million grant in conjunction with the Government Equalities office to support projects that specifically tackle homophobic, biphobic and transphobic bullying in schools.


Written Question
Schools: Islam
Thursday 27th November 2014

Asked by: Diane Abbott (Independent - Hackney North and Stoke Newington)

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps she is taking to prevent and reduce Islamophobia in primary and secondary schools.

Answered by Edward Timpson

The Department for Education is committed to tackling Islamophobia and all other forms of prejudice in our schools. We want every school to promote fundamental British values, including mutual respect and tolerance of those of different faiths and beliefs. Citizenship education, as part of the new national curriculum, should cover the diverse national, regional, religious and ethnic identities in the United Kingdom and the need for mutual respect and understanding. We have also strengthened teachers’ powers and provided additional funding to deal with bullying, including racist bullying. Ofsted inspections include consideration of how well schools prevent bullying and tackle harassment and discrimination, as required by the Equality Act 2010.


Written Question
Employment: Females
Thursday 27th November 2014

Asked by: Diane Abbott (Independent - Hackney North and Stoke Newington)

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps her Department is taking to encourage increased female representation in (a) science and technology and (b) other traditionally male-dominated sectors; and if she will make a statement.

Answered by Nick Boles

My Rt hon. Friend, the Secretary of State for Education has confirmed that she wants to see improvements to the quality of careers advice and guidance available to young people. We have issued revised statutory guidance for schools, which strengthens the requirement to build links with employers to inspire and mentor students. Schools are free to determine the most appropriate forms of engagement but might consider mentoring, workplace visits, work experience and employer talks. This will be particularly helpful in addressing stereotypes about specific career paths and providing young people with inspirational role models in a range of careers.

We have made significant progress in attracting more students to study science and maths at A level. Compared to 2010, we now have a thousand more girls studying physics every year and two thousand more girls studying maths. Our most recent A level results show that for the first time maths is now the most popular A level subject. The proportion of students entering A levels in biology, chemistry and physics has all increased too.

However, we need to go further. The Government has reformed the national curriculum and qualifications, to ensure that they enable young people to acquire the necessary knowledge and understanding to progress to further study and employment; we are recruiting top graduates into teaching by providing bursaries and scholarships in mathematics and the sciences of up to £25,000; and we are supporting schools through professional development and enrichment programmes, such as the Stimulating Physics Network and the establishment of 32 Maths Hubs.

The Government is also supporting Your Life, a three-year industry-led campaign, to ensure the UK has the maths and science skills it needs to succeed in a competitive global economy. The Your Life campaign will help to inspire young people to study A level maths and physics as a gateway to exciting and wide-ranging careers, and help employers recruit and retain talent, particularly women.