Asked by: Harriett Baldwin (Conservative - West Worcestershire)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what reforms she is considering to the eligibility rules for free school transport.
Answered by Catherine McKinnell
I refer the hon. Member for West Worcestershire to the answer of 4 November 2024 to Question 901015.
Asked by: Harriett Baldwin (Conservative - West Worcestershire)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many children in Worcestershire were subject to a School Attendance Order in (a) June 2023, (b) 2019 and (c) 2018.
Answered by Nick Gibb
As defined in the Section 436A of the Education Act 1996, children missing education (CME) are children of compulsory school age who are not registered pupils at a school and are not receiving suitable education otherwise than at a school.
The data shows that 1,310 children were CME, and 1,500 children were electively home educated in Worcestershire at any point in the 2021/22 academic year, the only year for which data is currently available. The data is available at: https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/find-statistics/elective-home-education(opens in a new tab), and at: https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/find-statistics/children-missing-education(opens in a new tab).
The Department also started collecting data on the number of school attendance orders (SAOs) in 2022. The number of SAOs issued in Worcestershire in 2021/22 has been suppressed in line with the Department’s publication methodology. This means that the figure is not zero, but rounds to zero. This is the only year for which data is currently available.
Asked by: Harriett Baldwin (Conservative - West Worcestershire)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many children did not attend (a) primary and (b) secondary school in Worcestershire in (i) 2018-19 and (ii) 2022-23.
Answered by Nick Gibb
As defined in the Section 436A of the Education Act 1996, children missing education (CME) are children of compulsory school age who are not registered pupils at a school and are not receiving suitable education otherwise than at a school.
The data shows that 1,310 children were CME, and 1,500 children were electively home educated in Worcestershire at any point in the 2021/22 academic year, the only year for which data is currently available. The data is available at: https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/find-statistics/elective-home-education, and at: https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/find-statistics/children-missing-education.
The Department also started collecting data on the number of school attendance orders (SAOs) in 2022. The number of SAOs issued in Worcestershire in 2021/22 has been suppressed in line with the Department’s publication methodology. This means that the figure is not zero, but rounds to zero. This is the only year for which data is currently available.
Asked by: Harriett Baldwin (Conservative - West Worcestershire)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what recent discussions he has had with the Board of Warwickshire College Group on their policy on site closures.
Answered by Alex Burghart - Shadow Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster
The Board of Warwickshire College Group (trading as WCG) has a legal duty as charitable trustees to act in the best interest of the corporation and maximise the value of surplus assets. Decisions made by the board are expected to be in line with their Estates Strategy and Space Management Policy. The Education and Skills Funding Agency nor the Department for Education have the powers to influence the board’s decision on individual site closures.