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Written Question

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Monday 31st March 2014

Asked by: Jake Berry (Conservative - Rossendale and Darwen)

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what applications he received from groups in Lancashire to establish a new free school in (a) 2013 and (b) 2014 to date.

Answered by Edward Timpson

The Department for Education publishes a list of every application received in all the completed application rounds on the gov.uk website.

Applications received in Wave 4 can be found at:

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/free-schools-wave-4-application-information

Applications received in Wave 5 can be found at:

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/free-schools-wave-5-application-information

Applications received in 2013 to establish free schools were part of Waves 4 and 5. As the published list states, two applications were received from groups in Lancashire in Wave 4: Burnley High School and Steiner Academy Lancaster. No applications from groups in Lancashire were received in Wave 5.

Applications received so far in 2014 are part of Wave 6. The Department for Education will publish a list of all applications received shortly after the assessment process is complete, in the same way it has for previous rounds.

Written Question

Question Link

Monday 31st March 2014

Asked by: Jake Berry (Conservative - Rossendale and Darwen)

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps his Department is taking to reduce absences from school due to bullying.

Answered by Elizabeth Truss

The Government has made tackling all forms of bullying a top priority. It is never acceptable for a child to be bullied, victimised or harmed in any way and the Government does not want any young person to be absent from school due to the effects of bullying.

All schools are required, by law, to have a behaviour policy with measures to prevent all forms of bullying among pupils. Ofsted now holds schools clearly to account for their effectiveness. Under the current Ofsted framework, school inspectors consider pupil behaviour and safety, which includes how well schools prevent bullying, harassment and discrimination.

In the Education Act 2011, we strengthened teachers' powers to discipline pupils for poor behaviour, including bullying. They can now issue same day detentions, confiscate banned items and search for, and if necessary delete, inappropriate images on mobile phones which might be linked to cyberbullying.

We are also providing £4 million of funding over two years from spring 2013 to four organisations: Beatbullying, the DianaAward, Kidscape and the National Children's Bureau, to develop effective measures in school to prevent and tackle bullying.

Good schools create a positive ethos with clear expectations about pupil behaviour that prevent bullying from happening in the first place and deal with it quickly if it does occur.

We recognise the effect that bullying can have, that is why on 17 March 2014 we published a factsheet to help schools identify and support pupils which is available here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/preventing-and-tackling-bullying.

Speech in Commons Chamber - Mon 06 Jan 2014
Oral Answers to Questions

"Will the Secretary of State update the House on what steps he has taken to enable good primary schools to expand, and parents to open new primary schools, in areas where new housing has created high demand for places?..."
Jake Berry - View Speech

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Speech in Commons Chamber - Thu 28 Nov 2013
Small Businesses

"On the issue of late payment, my hon. Friend may be aware that the court system can make judgments on small business interest rates whereby a punitive rate of interest is paid by a large business to a smaller one if it fails to pay. Would she welcome the introduction …..."
Jake Berry - View Speech

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Speech in Commons Chamber - Thu 28 Nov 2013
Small Businesses

"I congratulate my hon. Friend the Member for Newton Abbot (Anne Marie Morris) on securing this important debate. Before I go on to talk about the challenges that businesses face—I am sure we would all recognise them from our constituencies—I would like to celebrate some of the successes of small …..."
Jake Berry - View Speech

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Speech in Commons Chamber - Mon 09 Sep 2013
Oral Answers to Questions

"Does my right hon. Friend think the policy of uncontrolled immigration pursued by the Opposition has led to some of the pressure that we see on primary school places in areas such as Rossendale and Darwen?..."
Jake Berry - View Speech

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Speech in Commons Chamber - Tue 26 Jun 2012
Secondary Education (GCSEs)

"In 2004, when the hon. Gentleman was criticised for putting a cake decoration qualification on a par with GCSE maths he called it “educational snobbery”. Does he stand by those comments? Does he still believe that cake decorating is equivalent to GCSE maths?..."
Jake Berry - View Speech

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Speech in Commons Chamber - Mon 27 Feb 2012
Oral Answers to Questions

"The Darwen Aldridge Community Academy is a school in my constituency that has already achieved academy status. It recently applied to set up a studio school through the same foundation. Will the Minister update the House on when we will have a decision on the first round of bidding for …..."
Jake Berry - View Speech

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Speech in Commons Chamber - Thu 27 Oct 2011
Oral Answers to Questions

"T1. If he will make a statement on his departmental responsibilities...."
Jake Berry - View Speech

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Speech in Commons Chamber - Thu 27 Oct 2011
Oral Answers to Questions

"I thank my right hon. Friend for that answer. I congratulate Ministers on the fantastic apprenticeship numbers that were announced today. With that and the rebalancing of our economy in mind, and given that in Rossendale and Darwen we have a manufacturing economy, can the Secretary of State tell the …..."
Jake Berry - View Speech

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