Asked by: Ian Mearns (Labour - Gateshead)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether the Government's agreement with Edenred for the provision of the free school meal voucher scheme contains an exclusivity clause which prevents his Department engaging alternative or additional suppliers.
Answered by Vicky Ford
As both my right hon. Friends the Prime Minister and Chancellor of the Exchequer have made clear, the government will do whatever it takes to support people affected by COVID-19.
We are encouraging schools to use existing catering arrangements to provide meals or food parcels to pupils who are eligible for free school meals while they are staying at home. Where this is not possible, the Department for Education has developed a national voucher scheme as an alternative.
The government’s contract agreement with Edenred for the provision of the free school meal voucher scheme does not include an exclusivity clause and we are able to engage with alternative or additional suppliers, should this be required. We have no plans to do this at this time.
Schools are best placed to determine what's most appropriate locally, and are free to make their own arrangements outside the national voucher scheme. Our guidance for schools sets out that they can be reimbursed for costs incurred where that scheme is not suitable for their families, including where none of the eight participating supermarkets have branches nearby.
These are rapidly developing circumstances; we continue to keep the situation under review and will keep Parliament updated accordingly.
Asked by: Ian Mearns (Labour - Gateshead)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education what the adult education budget is for (a) financial year 2019-20 and (b) academic year 2019-20; and what proportion of that budget is devolved to the seven combined authorities in England.
Answered by Nadhim Zahawi
The Adult Education Budget for the financial year 2019-20 is £1.34 billion, of which £52 million is held nationally for traineeships and continuing learners. The 6 Mayoral Combined Authorities and the Greater London Authority have been allocated 49% of the remaining budget.
Asked by: Ian Mearns (Labour - Gateshead)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, for what reason gender is a mandatory field on funding applications to the Education and Skills Funding Agency; and whether he plans to make an assessment of the adequacy of that agency's funding application form.
Answered by Nick Gibb
The Education and Skills Funding Agency (ESFA) does not collect ‘gender’ on funding applications to the ESFA – it collects data on ‘sex’. This is in order to ensure that the ESFA has an awareness of whether applications are coming from men or women. The Department regularly reviews policies to ensure they are relevant and up to date.
However, there is no statutory or policy requirement at this time to collect additional information from providers on gender. Amendments and additions to individual learner record data collections also incur costs to the sector and as such, the Department has no right to request it. The responsibility for this level of monitoring sits with the sector and with employers to ensure they are following the law.
Asked by: Ian Mearns (Labour - Gateshead)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what proportion of (a) children and (b) children eligible for free school meals reached a Good Level of Development at age five in the Gateshead constituency in each of the last three years.
Answered by Nadhim Zahawi
The requested data is shown in the attached table.
Results at local authority level for academic year 2017/18 are due to be published on Thursday 29 November.