Asked by: Hilary Benn (Labour - Leeds South)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what arrangements are in place to enable schools to contact Edenred about problems with free school meals vouchers.
Answered by Vicky Ford
Schools can contact Edenred using either the email address or phone number set up specifically for the department’s national voucher scheme (freeschoolmeals@edenred.com or 0333 400 5932). Call volumes are very high at the moment so we would recommend submitting queries via email where possible. As always, we thank schools for their patience and for ensuring that families most in need continue to receive the support they require.
We are working tirelessly with Edenred to resolve any outstanding technical problems so that children eligible for free schools meals are supported quickly.
These are rapidly developing circumstances and we will continue to keep the situation under review and to keep Parliament updated accordingly.
Asked by: Hilary Benn (Labour - Leeds South)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether children who are EU citizens will require settled status to be eligible for state education after 31 October 2019 in the event that the UK leaves the EU without an agreement.
Answered by Nick Gibb
It has not proved possible to respond to the hon. Member in the time available before Prorogation.
Asked by: Hilary Benn (Labour - Leeds South)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment he has made of the effect of changes in the level of Government funding of local authorities on the effectiveness of children's services in local authorities in England.
Answered by Nadhim Zahawi
Funding for children’s services is made available through the Local Government Finance Settlement which gives local authorities flexibility to target spending according to local needs and to fulfil their statutory responsibilities, including services for children and families. Through the Settlement, the government has made available over £200 billion across the 5 year spending period. For 2019-20 this means an increase in core spending power from £45.1 billion in 2018-19 to £46.4 billion.
At Autumn Budget my right hon. Friend the Chancellor of the Exchequer announced an extra £410 million to address pressures on adult and children social care services. A further £84 million, over five years, was also announced. This funding will support up to 20 local authorities to improve their social work practice and decision-making, enabling them to work more effectively with the most vulnerable children and their families. This builds on our almost £270 million improvement and innovation programmes that help local authorities deliver effective children’s services. This includes 98 projects which have enabled local authorities to develop, test and scale new approaches to supporting vulnerable children in the social care system. 20 of our best local authorities are also working with the government as ‘Partners in Practice’ sharing their knowledge of what excellent children’s social care looks like to improve the quality of services across the country.
Local authority effectiveness has also been rising. Since January 2018, Ofsted have judged 12 local authorities as no longer inadequate and 5 local authorities have been rated outstanding.
Asked by: Hilary Benn (Labour - Leeds South)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what information he holds on the average funding per pupil in (a) 11-16 schools, (b) sixth forms and sixth form colleges in the state sector, (c) sixth form schools and colleges in the independent sector and (d) higher education in the latest year for which information is available.
Answered by Nick Gibb
Average per pupil funding in schools, sixth form colleges and higher education providers are determined by different funding streams, and comprise both core per student allocations and different dedicated sources that are less easy to present on a per pupil basis.
The average per pupil funding for 11-16 schools in England is £5,228.74[1]
The average per pupil funding for 16-19 year olds in schools and sixth form colleges can be found in the below table:
| 2017-18[2] | |
Schools and Academies | £4,443 |
|
Sixth Form Colleges | £4,498 |
|
The Government does not generally fund children in Independent schools, and as such the information requested on per pupil funding in those settings is not held centrally.
Eligible universities and colleges are able to charge up to the maximum fee cap of £9,250, alongside committing to access and participation activity. Varying rates of grant funding apply for different purposes. For the accounting year 2016-17 £1.37 billion was distributed by the Higher Education Funding Council for England (now the Office for Students) in support of teaching activity in higher education.[3]
In the financial year 2016-17, the total amount lent through the Student Loans Company was £13.4 billion for tuition fees and maintenance for undergraduate students. The amount lent for Postgraduate Masters was £325 million. [4]
[1] https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/dedicated-schools-grant-dsg-2018-to-2019 (This refers to funding allocated through the schools block of the DSG only. Schools will receive additional funding from other, dedicated sources, such as the pupil premium).
[2] The above figures exclude high needs funding but include both full and part-time students, and allocations for the 16 to 19 bursary fund and free meals funding.
[3] http://www.hefce.ac.uk/media/HEFCE,2014/Content/Pubs/2016/201607/HEFCE2016_07.pdf.
[4] https://www.slc.co.uk/media/9729/slcsfr012017.pdf. - The value of the Government’s contribution via Student Loan Company loans is contingent upon future repayments and interest rates.
Asked by: Hilary Benn (Labour - Leeds South)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what representations he has received on the effect of changes to higher education funding on the Open University.
Answered by Sam Gyimah
The Open University (OU) plays an important role in the higher education sector. Department for Education officials have met with senior staff from the OU and I am due to meet with both its interim and immediate former vice chancellors.
The government and the Office for Students (OfS) monitor the financial sustainability of the higher education sector in England. The OfS monitors the financial sustainability of individual providers in receipt of public funding, including the OU.
The independent panel supporting the review of post-18 education and funding recently concluded a call for evidence process which invited all interested parties to submit evidence to inform its work.
The government has provided £48 million to support teaching in 2017 to 2018 at the OU, including funds to support part-time students.
Asked by: Hilary Benn (Labour - Leeds South)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether non-UK EU students starting university courses in the UK in academic year 2019-20 will be charged home student fees for the full duration of their course.
Answered by Sam Gyimah
Applications for courses starting in 2019/20 do not open until September 2018, and we will ensure EU students starting courses at English Institutions in that academic year have information well in advance of this date.
Asked by: Hilary Benn (Labour - Leeds South)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what representations he has received on the recommendation to school inspectors made by the Chief Inspector of Schools in November 2017 on girls wearing hijabs in schools.
Answered by Nick Gibb
The Department regularly engages with a wide range of stakeholders and has heard views on this announcement through these engagements. The Department also receives representations from a diverse range of people, some of whom have expressed views about Ofsted’s announcement. Where questions have been asked that relate to Ofsted policy, we have directed the representations to Ofsted for comment.
Ofsted is in the process of finalising guidance for inspectors, including in relation to schools’ uniform policies. In developing this guidance Ofsted has held meetings with a range of stakeholders, including representatives from faith groups and other interested parties. Ofsted aims to publish this guidance by the end of January 2018, taking account of the views expressed during these discussions.
Asked by: Hilary Benn (Labour - Leeds South)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether she plans to hold an inquiry into the operation of the Wakefield City Academies Trust.
Answered by Robert Goodwill
Academy trusts operate under a strict system of oversight and accountability. The Education and Skills Funding Agency (ESFA) periodically visits multi academy trusts to assess their financial management and governance arrangements. We do not publish these routine assurance reports. The ESFA undertook a routine review of Wakefield City Academies Trust between June and September 2015 and made a follow-up visit in July 2016. At this time, we do not intend to publish the ESFA report into Wakefield City Academies Trust, as this could be obstructive to the process of ensuring all the schools are placed with new trusts.
The Department is working closely with Wakefield City Academy Trust to manage a smooth transition for its pupils. The Department’s priority is to ensure that all children receive the best possible education, by transferring the schools to trusts that will be better able to improve outcomes for pupils.
Asked by: Hilary Benn (Labour - Leeds South)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if she will place in the Library a copy of the Education Funding Agency investigation into the Wakefield City Academies Trust produced in 2016.
Answered by Robert Goodwill
Academy trusts operate under a strict system of oversight and accountability. The Education and Skills Funding Agency (ESFA) periodically visits multi academy trusts to assess their financial management and governance arrangements. We do not publish these routine assurance reports. The ESFA undertook a routine review of Wakefield City Academies Trust between June and September 2015 and made a follow-up visit in July 2016. At this time, we do not intend to publish the ESFA report into Wakefield City Academies Trust, as this could be obstructive to the process of ensuring all the schools are placed with new trusts.
The Department is working closely with Wakefield City Academy Trust to manage a smooth transition for its pupils. The Department’s priority is to ensure that all children receive the best possible education, by transferring the schools to trusts that will be better able to improve outcomes for pupils.
Asked by: Hilary Benn (Labour - Leeds South)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what proportion of pupils attending state-funded (a) grammar schools and (b) schools that are not grammar schools (i) are eligible for free schools meals and (ii) have special educational needs.
Answered by Nick Gibb
The Government does not collect data on pupils who have social educational needs.
The number and proportion of pupils known to be eligible for and claiming free school meals are set out below.
| Eligible for and claiming FSM |
State-funded grammars | 2.5% (4,237 of 166,517 pupils) |
Non-selective state-funded secondary schools | 13.8% (416,279 of 3,026,901 pupils) |
Source: January 2016 school census return. The data includes all pupils on roll, including those over 16.
The consultation document Schools that work for Everyone proposes that we should seek to identify and support those families which are ‘just managing’; those on modest incomes who might not be in receipt of benefits but nevertheless are just about managing. The document also proposes that we should place conditions on new selective schools so that they attract more pupils from disadvantaged backgrounds, and that they should work with non-selective schools to raise standards for all pupils.