Asked by: James Cartlidge (Conservative - South Suffolk)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many (a) teachers, (b) pupils and (c) other members of school staff who have been attending or working at school in England since 1 June 2020 have tested positive for covid-19 since that date.
Answered by Nick Gibb
Please note that the Department does not hold the information in the format required. The latest national data on pupil attendance in educational establishments since 23 March was published on Tuesday 16 June at the following link and covers data up to Thursday 11 June:
The data is collected from individual education establishments and the published figures include estimates for non-response.
Asked by: James Cartlidge (Conservative - South Suffolk)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what plans he has to improve SEND provision in Suffolk; and if he will make a statement.
Answered by Michelle Donelan - Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology
Our ambition is for every local authority and Clinical Commissioning Group to deliver a high-quality service for every child or young person with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND).
Ofsted and the Care Quality Commission conduct inspections of SEND services in local areas. Their inspection of Suffolk published in 2017 and subsequent revisit published in 2019 found strengths and improvements over time, but there remained a number of areas of significant weakness where sufficient progress had not been made.
Where we have concerns with performance, as there are with Suffolk, the Department for Education works with partners, including NHS England, to support and challenge local areas to improve. This includes regular advice and monitoring from the Department for Education and NHS England advisers as well as access to funded training opportunities and resources. Whilst there is more to be done, we welcome the progress being made and will continue to monitor the position closely.
In addition, in 2020-21, Suffolk will be receiving £74.9 million for its high needs budget, an increase of 17% per head of population aged 2-18 years old.
Asked by: James Cartlidge (Conservative - South Suffolk)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment he has made of the degree to which standards are adequately and continuously assessed by OFSTED at schools where the most recent inspection was outstanding; and if he will make a statement.
Answered by Nick Gibb
I wrote to Her Majesty’s Chief Inspector, Amanda Spielman, on 3 December setting out the Department’s position regarding the inspection of outstanding schools. A copy of this letter is attached.
Outstanding schools are exempt from routine Ofsted inspection but continue to be risk assessed annually. Ofsted has the power to inspect any school at any time if there are concerns about the quality of provision or safety of pupils.
Asked by: James Cartlidge (Conservative - South Suffolk)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what plans she has to promote graduate recruitment in the early years workforce.
Answered by Robert Goodwill
We are considering a range of approaches to increasing the number of graduates employed in the early years’ sector, and work is still underway. We will engage the sector in exploring ways to target support where it is most needed. We continue to support graduates into the sector through our funding of the Early Years Initial Teacher Training programme, including bursaries and employer incentives.
Further information about Early Years Initial Teacher Training is available at:
https://getintoteaching.education.gov.uk/explore-my-options/become-an-early-years-teacher
Asked by: James Cartlidge (Conservative - South Suffolk)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment she has made of the adequacy of funding of (a) secondary and (b) primary schools in South Suffolk, and if she will make a statement.
Answered by Nick Gibb
My Rt hon. Friend, the Secretary of State, announced an additional £1.3 billion for schools and high needs across 2018-19 and 2019-20, in addition to the schools budget set at Spending Review 2015, on 17 July. As a result, core funding for schools will rise from almost £41 billion in 2017-18 to £42.4 billion in 2018-19 and £43.5 billion in 2019-20, representing an increase in the total schools budget of over 6% between this year and 2019-20. This means funding per pupil will now be maintained in real terms for the remaining two years of this Spending Review.
The Secretary of State further set out the details of the new national funding formula for schools, including the funding it will allocate for schools in South Suffolk, on [14] September. They can be found at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/national-funding-formula-tables-for-schools-and-high-needs.
Asked by: James Cartlidge (Conservative - South Suffolk)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment she has made of the value of a national online platform for advertising teaching vacancies.
Answered by Nick Gibb
The Department is undertaking research to strengthen its understanding of the issues schools face when advertising teacher vacancies and the challenges teachers have finding and applying for jobs. This will inform the development and design of a new national teacher vacancy service.
This service will aim to reduce the time schools spend on publishing vacancies and the cost of recruiting new teachers. It will also make it easier for teachers to find jobs and increase the availability and quality of data on teacher recruitment.
We will provide further details in due course.
Asked by: James Cartlidge (Conservative - South Suffolk)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what discussions she has had with representatives of governors and head-teachers of small primary schools in England on potential mitigation of the effect on their schools of the apprenticeship levy.
Answered by Robert Halfon
We have engaged thousands of employers and training providers throughout the development of the apprenticeship funding reforms and continue to do so. This engagement helped to shape the funding policy proposals for England from May 2017, published on 25 October. We are continuing to work with stakeholders across the education sector to support schools in getting the full benefit of our apprenticeship funding reforms.
Our ongoing engagement includes with local authorities, whose levy contributions will cover the schools they maintain, where they employ the staff. We are clear that local authorities are responsible for working closely with these schools, to agree how the cost of the levy will be fairly spread and to ensure schools contributing to the levy can access the funding for apprenticeship training. My officials continue to support them in doing this.
We have published estimates of levy payments by sector, and previous apprenticeship spending by sector:
https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/545145/Apprenticeships_-expected_levy_and_total_spend_-_Aug_2016.pdf.
Asked by: James Cartlidge (Conservative - South Suffolk)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what estimate she has made of the potential cost of the apprenticeship levy to small primary schools in England in the first year of its operation.
Answered by Robert Halfon
Small primary schools will be liable for the apprenticeship levy, at 0.5% of their pay bill, if their staff are employed by a body whose total pay bill is over £3m. That will apply to community and voluntary controlled schools, where staff are employed by the local authority, and to many multi academy trusts.
The apprenticeship levy will support schools to train up and develop existing as well as new staff, an integral part of this government’s wider plans to improve productivity and provide opportunities for people of all backgrounds and all ages to enter the workplace. We encourage all schools to employ or designate apprentices, whether or not they pay the apprenticeship levy. Where schools do not pay the levy, or have exhausted the funds in their levy pot, they can put in 10% of the costs of apprentices’ training, and the government will provide the remaining 90%.
Asked by: James Cartlidge (Conservative - South Suffolk)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what progress her Department has made on creating a £10 million fund for small schools to secure expert support and advice on converting to academy status.
Answered by Edward Timpson
This Government recognises the particular challenges facing small and rural schools and is committed to supporting them. We have announced a package of measures to guarantee the continued success of these schools, including £10 million to secure expert support and advice. Details on how this will be administered, and further information, will be available in due course.
Asked by: James Cartlidge (Conservative - South Suffolk)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment she has made of the need for changing the formula by which spending is determined in English schools.
Answered by Sam Gyimah
School funding is based on historic data, which often means that it does not reflect current pupils’ needs. It is unfair that a school in one part of the country can attract over 50% more funding than an identical school elsewhere in the country. In 2015-16 an additional £390 million was given to local authorities considered to have been unfairly funded for schools in previous years. This was a significant step towards fairer funding; we are committed to making further progress.