Asked by: Imran Hussain (Labour - Bradford East)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, when his Department plans to publish its response to Sir Nick Weller's report on the Northern powerhouse schools strategy.
Answered by Nick Gibb
The Government published its response to Sir Nick Weller’s report on the Northern powerhouse schools strategy as part of the 2016 Northern Powerhouse strategy. (https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/571562/NPH_strategy_web.pdf).
Asked by: Imran Hussain (Labour - Bradford East)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps her Department is taking to increase the number of children receiving free school meals who are entitled to them.
Answered by Nadhim Zahawi
We recognise the benefits of providing a healthy school meal to the most disadvantaged children and we want to make sure that as many eligible children as possible are claiming their free school meals.
Schools and local authorities have worked hard in recent years to encourage eligible families to register for free school meals, and we provide schools with a model registration form and guidance. We will continue to look at the most effective practice and to share this with schools and local authorities.
Asked by: Imran Hussain (Labour - Bradford East)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment her Department has made of the effect of the number of hours worked on teachers’ job satisfaction.
Answered by Nick Gibb
The Teacher Workload Survey 2016 assessed the number of hours worked by teachers, and any self-reported impact[1]. In response to this, and wider evidence on teacher workload, the Department has undertaken a programme of work on removing unnecessary teacher workload, which is outlined in the action plan[2], published in February 2017.
Asked by: Imran Hussain (Labour - Bradford East)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment her Department has made of the effect of teachers' working patterns on job satisfaction.
Answered by Nick Gibb
There is evidence that part time and other types of flexible working can benefit employees, and may contribute to improved retention in both primary and secondary schools. For example, recent research from the National Foundation for Educational Research (NFER)[1] on teacher retention recommended that schools should consider how to implement flexible working opportunities. The Department also carried out a survey of teacher workload and working hours in 2016[2], and committed to gathering information on teacher workload every two years.
My Right Hon Friend, The Secretary of State for education held a national summit on flexible working in October, which examined the role of Government and others in improving flexible working opportunities for teachers. As a result of the summit. more than 60 pledges were made by the Department, schools and other organisations. Departmental guidance was published this year to help teachers who are considering working flexibly, and to help schools and employers to encourage, support, and enable flexible working requests. The guidance, and a new policy paper on increasing flexible working opportunities in schools, can be found here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/increasing-flexible-working-in-schools/increasing-flexible-working-opportunities-in-schools.
[1] https://www.nfer.ac.uk/publications/LFSB01/LFSB01.pdf
[2] https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/teacher-workload-survey-2016
Asked by: Imran Hussain (Labour - Bradford East)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment her Department has made of the effect of the level of availability of part-time jobs in secondary schools on levels of teacher retention.
Answered by Nick Gibb
There is evidence that part time and other types of flexible working can benefit employees, and may contribute to improved retention in both primary and secondary schools. For example, recent research from the National Foundation for Educational Research (NFER)[1] on teacher retention recommended that schools should consider how to implement flexible working opportunities. The Department also carried out a survey of teacher workload and working hours in 2016[2], and committed to gathering information on teacher workload every two years.
My Right Hon Friend, The Secretary of State for education held a national summit on flexible working in October, which examined the role of Government and others in improving flexible working opportunities for teachers. As a result of the summit. more than 60 pledges were made by the Department, schools and other organisations. Departmental guidance was published this year to help teachers who are considering working flexibly, and to help schools and employers to encourage, support, and enable flexible working requests. The guidance, and a new policy paper on increasing flexible working opportunities in schools, can be found here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/increasing-flexible-working-in-schools/increasing-flexible-working-opportunities-in-schools.
[1] https://www.nfer.ac.uk/publications/LFSB01/LFSB01.pdf
[2] https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/teacher-workload-survey-2016
Asked by: Imran Hussain (Labour - Bradford East)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what provisions her Department has made to accommodate more part-time job opportunities within the teaching sector?
Answered by Nick Gibb
My Rt hon. Friend the Secretary of State hosted a summit on flexible working on 30 October 2017 where she announced a government drive to encourage more flexible working in schools and unveiled new plans to promote flexible working across the teaching profession.
The summit explored possible short and long term proposals to make flexible working easier for schools to implement. The summit led to over 60 pledges to take action to increase the opportunities for flexible working in schools. These pledges were published on the flexible working pages on published on 1 December 2017 and can be found at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/increasing-flexible-working-in-schools/increasing-flexible-working-opportunities-in-schools.
The Government is committed to carrying out research looking at changing recruitment practices in schools. In addition, we are committed to running a one-year pilot of a revised model of the ‘Leadership Coaching Pledge’ for women teachers including extra support for part-time workers and people returning to teaching after a break. Further information is available at: https://www.tscouncil.org.uk/women-leading-in-education-coaching-pledge/.
Asked by: Imran Hussain (Labour - Bradford East)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment her Department has made of the effect of scrutiny of schools by (a) her Department and (b) Ofsted on the (i) workload and (ii) job satisfaction of teachers.
Answered by Nick Gibb
The Department is working with Ofsted to tackle the drivers of unnecessary workload at national level. We recognise the importance of assessing the impact that its policy changes have on teachers' workload and job satisfaction. The Department for Education Protocol sets out commitments to provide schools with a year’s lead time for any changes to accountability, the curriculum and qualifications, and to take into account the workload impact on schools of such changes.
The Department’s ‘workload action plan’, published in February 2017 alongside the results of the 2016 Teacher Workload Survey, sets out the steps we will take to continue to tackle workload at all levels of the education system. Ofsted has carried out a range of activity to support workload reduction: its recently published strategy includes a commitment to seek to reduce regulatory burdens, streamline inspection process and tackle the workload side effects of inspection. These commitments align with the Government’s commitment to reduce the burdens of inspection. Further information is available at: https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/594680/Teacher_Workload_Action_Plan.pdf.
Asked by: Imran Hussain (Labour - Bradford East)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps her Department is taking to improve teachers’ job satisfaction.
Answered by Nick Gibb
We are taking action in a number of areas that teachers inform us are the key to reducing workplace stress, including eliminating unnecessary workload. We are working extensively with unions, teachers and Ofsted to challenge practices that create unnecessary workload, and we will continue to look for ways to support the profession on this important issue.
Following the Stevenson/Farmer Review, which highlighted the importance of public sector employers supporting employee wellbeing, we are currently considering the evidence and what more we can usefully do to support teachers’ wellbeing. We are promoting a whole school approach to mental health, including pupils and staff. In the Transforming Children and Young People’s Mental Health Green Paper we set out plans to incentivise schools to put in place designated senior mental health leads, trained to set up and oversee whole school approaches.
Asked by: Imran Hussain (Labour - Bradford East)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment she has made of the effect of changes in the school funding formula on teachers' salaries.
Answered by Nick Gibb
We want to ensure every school has the resources it needs to deliver a high quality education for every pupil. We will continue to work to ensure that every pupil has the opportunity to attend a good school and that all schools are fairly funded. We will reflect on the message that people sent at the election about the funding of our schools, and are considering the more than 25,000 responses we received to the National Funding Formula consultation. We will publish our response in due course.
All schools need access to high quality teachers, throughout England. We are recruiting the teachers we need at the national level, despite the challenges caused by an improving economy and rising pupil numbers. We know, however, that some schools are facing significant challenges. We are working with key stakeholders to ensure greater support for pupils in deprived areas, which will include supporting schools to ensure teacher recruitment and retention challenges are addressed.
Asked by: Imran Hussain (Labour - Bradford East)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment she has made of the effect of changes to the schools funding formula on teacher recruitment and retention in deprived areas.
Answered by Nick Gibb
We want to ensure every school has the resources it needs to deliver a high quality education for every pupil. We will continue to work to ensure that every pupil has the opportunity to attend a good school and that all schools are fairly funded. We will reflect on the message that people sent at the election about the funding of our schools, and are considering the more than 25,000 responses we received to the National Funding Formula consultation. We will publish our response in due course.
All schools need access to high quality teachers, throughout England. We are recruiting the teachers we need at the national level, despite the challenges caused by an improving economy and rising pupil numbers. We know, however, that some schools are facing significant challenges. We are working with key stakeholders to ensure greater support for pupils in deprived areas, which will include supporting schools to ensure teacher recruitment and retention challenges are addressed.