Asked by: Jared O'Mara (Independent - Sheffield, Hallam)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether his Department has plans to increase the level infrastructure spending on schools in Sheffield Hallam constituency.
Answered by Nick Gibb
The Department’s priorities for investment in the school estate are to ensure there are enough school places and that the school estate is safe.
The Department has committed £7 billion to deliver new school places between 2015-2021, on top of the investment in the free school programme.
Local authorities are under a statutory duty to ensure that there is a school place available for every child. Sheffield received £95.5 million to provide new school places from 2011-2018 and has been allocated a further £22 million from 2018-2021. Funding for school places is based on local authorities’ own data on school capacity and pupil forecasts. There is, therefore, no shortfall between the number of places funded and those that councils say they need to create.
Since 2015, the Department has allocated £6 billion in condition funding to those responsible for maintaining school buildings across the country. Included within this, Sheffield local authority receives an annual school condition allocation to invest in maintenance priorities across its schools. In 2018-19, they received £2.7 million and voluntary aided (VA) schools in the area were allocated £210,000.
Maintained schools in Sheffield also received their own direct capital allocations totalling £2 million in 2018-19 and £109,000 for VA schools. This includes their allocation from the additional £400 million of capital funding announced at Budget 2018. These figures do not include academies, which receive separate funding.
In addition, the Priority School Building Programme is rebuilding or refurbishing buildings in the worst condition at over 500 schools across England, including 4 schools in Sheffield City Council’s area.
The Department is collecting updated data on the condition of the school estate in England which is due to be completed in autumn 2019 and will help inform future funding policy. The Department will also continue to look carefully at capital funding in preparation for the next Spending Review, along with all its priorities for the education system.
Asked by: Jared O'Mara (Independent - Sheffield, Hallam)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what plans the Department have to replace the sixth form places lost as a result of the closure of Bradfield School Sixth Form in Sheffield Hallam.
Answered by Anne Milton
Local authorities are responsible for making sure that provision meets the needs of young people in their area.
The statutory duty to secure sufficient suitable education and training provision for all young people in their area lies with local authorities. Therefore, it is for Sheffield City Council to decide if there is a gap in provision or if students are able to access sufficient suitable places at other providers. If the local authority is able to provide evidence of a gap in provision, it should contact the Education and Skills Funding Agency to discuss options for filling that gap. This could include commissioning additional places if necessary.
Asked by: Jared O'Mara (Independent - Sheffield, Hallam)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment his Department has made of the effect on the National Funding Formula on (a) the number of school places, (b) spending per pupil, (c) school spending reserves and (d) sustainability of school funding in Sheffield Hallam constituency.
Answered by Nick Gibb
The national funding formula allocates the significant majority of funding for schools on a per pupil basis. Where the number of places increases, and those places are filled, the formula will allocate more funding accordingly. Similarly, if the number of pupils (and school places) decreases, less funding is allocated.
On average, schools in Sheffield Hallam constituency will attract 6.0% more funding per pupil by 2019-20, compared to 2017/18 – an increase of £248 per pupil. Total funding will increase by 7.6% when rising pupil numbers are also taken into account. These figures are based on 2018/19 pupil data.
The national funding formula came into force in April 2018. The Department does not collect data on school balances for the 2018/19 financial year, and therefore cannot draw conclusions about its effect on school reserves.
It is recognised schools have faced cost pressures in recent years. This is why a strategy has been announced setting out the support, current and planned, to help schools make the most of their available resources. The strategy can be found here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/supporting-excellent-school-resource-management.
Asked by: Jared O'Mara (Independent - Sheffield, Hallam)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what plans he has to replace potential lost funding for universities as a result of the UK leaving the EU without a deal.
Answered by Sam Gyimah
We remain confident that we will agree a mutually advantageous deal with the EU – we do not want or expect a no deal scenario. It is, however, the duty of a responsible government to continue to prepare for a range of potential outcomes, including the unlikely event of no deal. Extensive work to prepare for this scenario has been under way for almost two years and we are taking the necessary steps to ensure the country continues to operate smoothly from the day we leave. We have now published 106 specific technical notices – including on Horizon 2020 and Erasmus+ – to help businesses, universities, citizens and consumers prepare for a no deal scenario.
In the event of a no deal scenario the government’s underwrite guarantee will cover funding for successful competitive bids to Horizon 2020 submitted before exit day. In July 2018, we extended this guarantee to cover all successful competitive bids by UK entities to Horizon 2020 calls open to third country participation submitted between exit day and the end of 2020. The guarantee will apply for the lifetime of qualifying projects, even where this extends beyond 2020.
The government will cover funding for successful Erasmus+ bids from UK organisations that are submitted while the UK is still a Member State, even if they are not approved until after we leave. The government will need to reach agreement with the EU for UK organisations to continue participating in Erasmus+ projects and is seeking to hold these discussions with the EU. The government has also extended the underwrite guarantee to cover the payment of awards under successful Erasmus+ bids submitted post-March 2019 until the end of 2020. The eligibility of UK organisations to participate in calls for bids once the UK is no longer a Member State is subject to agreement between the EU and the UK.
Asked by: Jared O'Mara (Independent - Sheffield, Hallam)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how much funding has been allocated from the public purse to English for Speakers of Other Languages classes in each of the last five years.
Answered by Anne Milton
Funding for adult education, including English for Speakers of Other Languages (ESOL), is not allocated by subject at the national level. Instead, education providers have the freedom and flexibility to use their Adult Education Budget (AEB) allocation to meet the needs of their local communities, including through the provision of ESOL classes. Unemployed adults who are looking for work are eligible for full funding; all other learners are co-funded with the government contributing 50% of the course fee.
The table attached sets out the funding spent on ESOL from the AEB over the past five years based on what providers delivered. The table also shows the funding for English language projects by the Ministry for Housing, Communities and Local Government. The department cannot show future subject-specific allocations, as this is for each provider to determine based on local demand and need on an annual basis. In addition, from 2019/20, the government is devolving approximately 50% of the AEB to eight Combined Authorities and London (subject to meeting readiness conditions). These areas will have responsibility for determining adult English language and other adult further education provision in their local areas.
There are a number of other funding sources for ESOL and English language provision, including through Home Office funding for English language as part of its commitment to help vulnerable people integrate into their local communities.
Asked by: Jared O'Mara (Independent - Sheffield, Hallam)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how much funding has been allocated from the public purse to English for Speakers of Other Languages classes in each of the next five years.
Answered by Anne Milton
Funding for adult education, including English for Speakers of Other Languages (ESOL), is not allocated by subject at the national level. Instead, education providers have the freedom and flexibility to use their Adult Education Budget (AEB) allocation to meet the needs of their local communities, including through the provision of ESOL classes. Unemployed adults who are looking for work are eligible for full funding; all other learners are co-funded with the government contributing 50% of the course fee.
The table attached sets out the funding spent on ESOL from the AEB over the past five years based on what providers delivered. The table also shows the funding for English language projects by the Ministry for Housing, Communities and Local Government. The department cannot show future subject-specific allocations, as this is for each provider to determine based on local demand and need on an annual basis. In addition, from 2019/20, the government is devolving approximately 50% of the AEB to eight Combined Authorities and London (subject to meeting readiness conditions). These areas will have responsibility for determining adult English language and other adult further education provision in their local areas.
There are a number of other funding sources for ESOL and English language provision, including through Home Office funding for English language as part of its commitment to help vulnerable people integrate into their local communities.
Asked by: Jared O'Mara (Independent - Sheffield, Hallam)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what the net change in funding will be for schools in Sheffield under the new funding formula in the next 12 months.
Answered by Nick Gibb
In 2018-19, Sheffield local authority will see a funding increase across the schools, high needs, and central school services blocks of 2.7%, or £10.0 million. Within this, the schools block element will also see a 2.7% increase in 2018-19, or £8.3 million, and every school in Sheffield will attract at least a 0.5% per pupil increases under the national funding formula. When the national funding formulae are fully implemented, Sheffield would see an increase of up to 7.9%, or £29 million. This information is available in the summary table at https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/national-funding-formula-tables-for-schools-and-high-needs.
These increases are subject to changes in pupil data; we will publish updated allocations for 2018-19 in December, which take account of the latest pupil numbers from the October 2017 census.
Asked by: Jared O'Mara (Independent - Sheffield, Hallam)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many of the apprenticeship training programmes which the Education and Skills Funding Agency quality approved six months ago are still (a) operational and (b) quality-approved.
Answered by Anne Milton
The Education and Skills Funding Agency’s Register of Apprenticeship Training Providers can be viewed via https://roatp.apprenticeships.sfa.bis.gov.uk/download. It was first published in March 2017. It lists the organisations that are approved to deliver apprenticeship training to employers.
From May 2017, all providers who want to deliver apprenticeship training must meet a set criteria regarding due diligence, financial health, capacity and capability, and quality in order to be included on the Register.
There are 2184 providers currently listed on the Register and 50 providers have been removed since it was first published on 14 March 2017.
Asked by: Jared O'Mara (Independent - Sheffield, Hallam)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what the change has been in proportion and number of new apprenticeship starts since May 2017.
Answered by Anne Milton
There have been 43,600 apprenticeship starts for the provisional 2016/17 academic year since May 2017 to July 2017.
These figures are available in the Statistical First Release, published on 12 October 2017:
Additionally, the Further Education data library also holds further information and breakdowns for apprenticeship starts:
https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/fe-data-library.
Asked by: Jared O'Mara (Independent - Sheffield, Hallam)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what the percentage change was in the number of traineeship starts in 2016-17 from that number in each of the previous three years.
Answered by Anne Milton
The table below provides provisional figures for the 2016/17 academic year on the number of apprenticeship starts for learners with and without a learning difficulty and disability.
| 2016/17 Full Year (Provisional) | Percentage Distribution |
Learning Difficulty/Disability | 50,470 | 10.3% |
No Learning Difficulty/Disability | 434,050 | 88.3% |
Not Known | 6,820 | 1.4% |
Total | 491,300 | 100.0% |
Note: Total figures are rounded to the nearest hundred.
Apprenticeship data is collected via the Individualised Learner Record (ILR). The ILR does not hold information on statements of special educational need for apprenticeship learners, this is only collected for school pupils via the school census. Information on Learners with Learning Difficulties and/or Disabilities is self-declared by the learner and covers a wider range of both learning difficulties and disabilities. For further information on apprenticeship starts by demographic breakdowns, please refer to the demographic data tool via:
The table attached provides provisional traineeship starts figures for the 2016/17 academic year along with the percentage changes in comparison to finalised figures from each of the three previous years. Comparisons to previous academic years should be made with caution as the provisional figures are subject to change. Final 2016/17 academic year figures will be published on 23 November 2017.
For further information on traineeship starts by academic year, please refer to the October SFR main tables via: