Asked by: James Wild (Conservative - North West Norfolk)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what estimate she has made of the annual cost of providing free breakfast clubs in all primary schools.
Answered by Stephen Morgan - Government Whip, Lord Commissioner of HM Treasury
The government is committed to making quick progress on delivering breakfast clubs in every primary school. Breakfast clubs will remove barriers to opportunity, by providing a supportive start to the day, ensuring every child, no matter their circumstances, is well prepared for school and ready to achieve.
The department has already taken decisive action by announcing in the King’s Speech that, under the Children’s Wellbeing Bill, every primary school in England will offer a free breakfast club. Legislating for breakfast club provision will give schools the certainty they need to plan for the future. Before the legislation comes into force, the department will work with the sector to make sure the right support, including funding, is in place.
Asked by: James Wild (Conservative - North West Norfolk)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what her planned timetable is to roll out free breakfast clubs to all primary schools.
Answered by Stephen Morgan - Government Whip, Lord Commissioner of HM Treasury
The government is committed to making quick progress on delivering breakfast clubs in every primary school. Breakfast clubs will remove barriers to opportunity, by providing a supportive start to the day, ensuring every child, no matter their circumstances, is well prepared for school and ready to achieve.
The department has already taken decisive action by announcing in the King’s Speech that, under the Children’s Wellbeing Bill, every primary school in England will offer a free breakfast club. Legislating for breakfast club provision will give schools the certainty they need to plan for the future. Before the legislation comes into force, the department will work with the sector to make sure the right support, including funding, is in place.
Asked by: James Wild (Conservative - North West Norfolk)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what estimate she has made of the proportion of state schools which teach the national curriculum.
Answered by Catherine McKinnell
Maintained schools in England are legally required to follow the National Curriculum up to age 16, but academies, including free schools, are not. The department does not hold data on the proportion of academies currently following the National Curriculum, but knows that many choose to teach it.
As part of the legislative programme announced in the King’s Speech, the department intends to legislate to require academies to teach the National Curriculum, once changes are made following the Curriculum and Assessment Review. This will give parents certainty over their children’s education, and it will give academies time to prepare. The department will discuss with the sector the practicalities of implementing this change.
The review will recommend a core curriculum that is designed to empower, not restrict, academies and other schools. It will support the innovation and professionalism of teachers, whether in academies or maintained schools, and will enable them to adapt how they teach the curriculum to their students’ lives and life experiences.
Asked by: James Wild (Conservative - North West Norfolk)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what the average amount of per pupil funding in mainstream schools in (a) North West Norfolk constituency, (b) Norfolk and (c) England is (i) in the 2023-24 and (ii) planned for in the 2024-2025 financial year.
Answered by Damian Hinds
Through the schools national funding formula (NFF), the department calculates and publishes notional funding allocations for each mainstream school. These are aggregated up at local authority level and, following an update in pupil numbers, are used to calculate each local authority’s dedicated schools grant (DSG) allocations. Each local authority then determines individual schools’ final funding allocations through their own local formula.
In the 2023/24 financial year, through the DSG and mainstream schools additional grant (MSAG) combined, the national average per-pupil funding for mainstream schools in England is £5,839, a 5.6% increase from the previous year. Norfolk’s average per-pupil funding is £5,723, a 5.7% increase from the previous year. These are actual funding allocations. The department does not calculate the equivalent figures at constituency level as they would depend on each local authority’s own local formula.
The department has not yet published the DSG allocations for the 2024/25 financial year. However, we have published notional school level allocations through the NFF. In 2024/25, through the notional NFF allocations, the national average per-pupil funding for England will be £5,950, a 1.9% increase from this current financial year. Norfolk’s average per-pupil funding will be £5,851, a 2.2% increase from this current financial year.
North West Norfolk’s average per-pupil funding based on the notional NFF allocations will be £5,833, a 2.2% increase from this current financial year. However, final allocations for North West Norfolk will depend on the local authority’s local formula. The department does not have the equivalent per-pupil figure at constituency level for 2023/24 since it would not include the MSAG, which is paid separately from the NFF in 2023/24.
The figures above do not include the additional funding we are providing through the Teachers Pay Additional Grant , which is being provided on top of the DSG and the NFF in both 2023/24 and 2024/25. Nor do they include other grants, such as the pupil premium.
Asked by: James Wild (Conservative - North West Norfolk)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether she plans to extend the Nuffield Early Language Intervention programme.
Answered by David Johnston
The department is investing over £17 million on the Nuffield Early Language Intervention (NELI), improving the language skills of reception age children who need it most following the pandemic. In July 2023, the department announced that funded support for the 11,100 schools registered for the NELI programme would continue for the academic year 2023/24.
The programme targets children needing extra support with their speech and language development and is proven to help them make four months of additional progress; this is seven months for those on free school meals.
The department estimates that the programme has screened over 500,000 children in the last three years and supported 160,000 children affected by the pandemic.
Asked by: James Wild (Conservative - North West Norfolk)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment she has made of the adequacy of financial support available to kinship carers.
Answered by David Johnston
On 2 February 2023, the department published the children’s social care implementation strategy and consultation ‘Stable Homes, Built on Love’, which set out how we will achieve broad, system-wide transformation.
Through this strategy we have made a commitment to implement or explore each of the Independent Review of Children’s Social Care recommendations on kinship care.
The department will publish our kinship strategy later this year which will set out a range of policies designed to support kinship families in England.
Financial support is a vital element of enabling children to remain within their family and friends’ network and we are considering how we can further support carers beyond the existing support local authorities provide for kinship carers.
Asked by: James Wild (Conservative - North West Norfolk)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what recent estimate she has made of the number of university students whose exam and dissertation grades will be delayed.
Answered by Robert Halfon
The department understands that the vast majority of students will remain unaffected by the industrial action and, in most cases, will receive their full results on time, and progress and/or graduate as normal. On 23 June 2023, the Universities and Colleges Employers Association (UCEA) published research findings which surveyed 49% of higher education (HE) institutions in the New Joint Negotiating Committee for Higher Education Staff. These institutions provided updated feedback on the impact of the marking and assessment boycott on students at their institutions:
A link to these research findings can be found here: https://www.ucea.ac.uk/news-releases/23june23/.
HE institutions are working on minimising the disruption to their students in a variety of ways, including reallocating marking to other staff members and hiring external markers. Moreover, many HE institutions can award degrees when they have enough evidence of a student’s prior attainment to do so. Others will be able to assign provisional grades to students to allow them to progress.
On 12 June 2023, the Office for Students (OfS), the independent regulator of HE in England, wrote to institutions affected by the boycott to reiterate its expectations in relation to its conditions of registration. The OfS will continue to monitor this ongoing situation through their normal regulatory mechanisms and have published guidance for students affected by industrial action.
On 22 June 2023, I met with Universities UK (UUK), the Russell Group and UCEA to better understand the impact that this boycott will have on students and the mitigating actions their members are taking to protect students’ interests.
I have also written to the Russell Group and UUK, encouraging them to continue to do everything within their powers to protect the interests of students during this phase of industrial action. On 27 June 2023, I met with a number of HE representative groups to discuss the marking and assessment boycott, including the mitigating actions HE institutions are taking to protect their students’ interests.
The government believes students should be at the heart of the higher education system. This is why we set up the OfS to regulate the HE sector in England, protect student rights and ensure the sector is delivering real value for money. The OfS has published guidance to students on their rights during industrial action, which is available at: https://www.officeforstudents.org.uk/for-students/student-rights-and-welfare/student-guide-to-industrial-action/.
Students who have complaints about their HE experience should contact their provider in the first instance. Students in England and Wales may also raise a complaint with the Office of the Independent Adjudicator, which was set up to provide an alternative to the courts and is free of charge to students. Further information can be found here: https://www.oiahe.org.uk/.
My officials and I will continue to engage with the HE sector over the coming weeks to help better understand the boycott’s impact on students and the mitigating actions HE institutions are taking to protect their students’ interests
Asked by: James Wild (Conservative - North West Norfolk)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what recent discussions she has had with university vice-chancellors on delays in marking exams and dissertations.
Answered by Robert Halfon
The department understands that the vast majority of students will remain unaffected by the industrial action and, in most cases, will receive their full results on time, and progress and/or graduate as normal. On 23 June 2023, the Universities and Colleges Employers Association (UCEA) published research findings which surveyed 49% of higher education (HE) institutions in the New Joint Negotiating Committee for Higher Education Staff. These institutions provided updated feedback on the impact of the marking and assessment boycott on students at their institutions:
A link to these research findings can be found here: https://www.ucea.ac.uk/news-releases/23june23/.
HE institutions are working on minimising the disruption to their students in a variety of ways, including reallocating marking to other staff members and hiring external markers. Moreover, many HE institutions can award degrees when they have enough evidence of a student’s prior attainment to do so. Others will be able to assign provisional grades to students to allow them to progress.
On 12 June 2023, the Office for Students (OfS), the independent regulator of HE in England, wrote to institutions affected by the boycott to reiterate its expectations in relation to its conditions of registration. The OfS will continue to monitor this ongoing situation through their normal regulatory mechanisms and have published guidance for students affected by industrial action.
On 22 June 2023, I met with Universities UK (UUK), the Russell Group and UCEA to better understand the impact that this boycott will have on students and the mitigating actions their members are taking to protect students’ interests.
I have also written to the Russell Group and UUK, encouraging them to continue to do everything within their powers to protect the interests of students during this phase of industrial action. On 27 June 2023, I met with a number of HE representative groups to discuss the marking and assessment boycott, including the mitigating actions HE institutions are taking to protect their students’ interests.
The government believes students should be at the heart of the higher education system. This is why we set up the OfS to regulate the HE sector in England, protect student rights and ensure the sector is delivering real value for money. The OfS has published guidance to students on their rights during industrial action, which is available at: https://www.officeforstudents.org.uk/for-students/student-rights-and-welfare/student-guide-to-industrial-action/.
Students who have complaints about their HE experience should contact their provider in the first instance. Students in England and Wales may also raise a complaint with the Office of the Independent Adjudicator, which was set up to provide an alternative to the courts and is free of charge to students. Further information can be found here: https://www.oiahe.org.uk/.
My officials and I will continue to engage with the HE sector over the coming weeks to help better understand the boycott’s impact on students and the mitigating actions HE institutions are taking to protect their students’ interests
Asked by: James Wild (Conservative - North West Norfolk)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, with reference to the Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND) and Alternative Provision (AP) Improvement Plan published on 2 March 2023, what the process will be for selecting Integrated Care Boards to be Early Language and Support For Every Child (ELSEC) pathfinders.
Answered by Claire Coutinho - Shadow Minister (Equalities)
The selection of Integrated Care Boards (ICBs) is dependent on the lead local authority identification process and the subsequent mapping of Regional Expert Partnerships (REPs), based on geographical boundaries.
Lead local authorities and REPs will be testing and refining the system-level reforms set out in the Improvement Plan, including the Early Language Support for Every Child (ELSEC) pilot. Selection of lead local authorities will determine how and where a REP is formed, with the appropriate ICBs then forming part of the local area. Wherever possible, the local authorities forming a REP will sit within a single ICB to ensure close collaboration with health partners.
Asked by: James Wild (Conservative - North West Norfolk)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how much the average funding per pupil in mainstream schools was in (a) North West Norfolk constituency, (b) Norfolk and (c) England in each of the last three years.
Answered by Nick Gibb
The table below shows the average funding per pupil allocated through the National Funding Formula for North West Norfolk, Norfolk, and England over the past three years. Per pupil funding excludes growth funding and individual schools’ actual allocations are based on local authorities’ local funding formulae.
| 2020/21 | 2021/22 | 2022/23 |
North West Norfolk (Constituency) | £4,703 | £5,077 | £5,235 |
Norfolk (Local Authority) | £4,726 | £5,097 | £5,419 |
England | £4,828 | £5,212 | £5,534 |