Asked by: Jess Phillips (Labour - Birmingham, Yardley)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how much funding per head (a) was allocated for childcare in each constituency in the financial year 2010-11 and (b) is expected to be allocated for childcare in each constituency in the financial year 2017-18.
Answered by Caroline Dinenage
Funding for the free early years entitlements is allocated on a local authority basis. Prior to 2013-14, local authority funding allocations for early years were not separately identified within the Dedicated Schools Grant (DSG). Instead, they were part of the total DSG allocated to each local authority. Early years allocations for 2010-11 are not therefore available.
The new funding rates under our proposed early years national funding formula from 2017-18, can be found here:
The consultation on these new rates has now closed and the Government is preparing its response.
Asked by: Jess Phillips (Labour - Birmingham, Yardley)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what free school project applications have been withdrawn or cancelled since 2010; and what costs were incurred by the applicant on (a) property and planning, (b) technical advice and consultancy and (c) legal fees before withdrawal or cancellation.
Answered by Edward Timpson
There have been 39 schools cancelled or withdrawn since 2010.
The Department does not collect information about the costs incurred by applicants that have been withdrawn or cancelled.
Project Name | Project Status | School Phase | Local Authority |
Rivendale free school | Withdrawn | Primary | Hammersmith and Fulham |
The Rotherham central free school | Cancelled | Secondary | Rotherham |
Newham Free Academy | Cancelled | Secondary | Newham |
Chorley career and sixth form academy | Withdrawn | Secondary | Lancashire |
The Priory Rural Skills and Equestrian Free School | Withdrawn | Secondary | Lincolnshire |
The Northern Lights Primary School | Cancelled | Primary | Calderdale |
The Bristol primary school | Cancelled | Primary | Bristol City of |
Harris free school Tottenham | Withdrawn | All-Through | Haringey |
Barnfield fernwood free school | Withdrawn | Primary | Central Bedfordshire |
Rainbow schools Nottingham | Cancelled | Primary | Nottingham |
Newark School of Enterprise (formerly Exemplar Newark Business Academy) | Cancelled | Secondary | Nottinghamshire |
Warrington Montessori school | Cancelled | Primary | Cheshire West and Chester |
The Leeds retail and financial services academy | Cancelled | Secondary | Leeds |
The Free School Leeds | Withdrawn | Primary | Leeds |
Khalsa Engineering Academy | Withdrawn | Primary | Bradford |
TLG Bradford | Withdrawn | Secondary | Bradford |
Gateway Academy | Withdrawn | Secondary | Brent |
The advance school Norbury | Withdrawn | Primary | Croydon |
Harperbury Free School | Cancelled | Secondary | Hertfordshire |
On track Chiltern | Withdrawn | Secondary | Bedford |
Phoenix free school of Oldham | Cancelled | Secondary | Oldham |
Oasis community school Walthamstow | Cancelled | Secondary | Waltham Forest |
Marco Polo academy | Cancelled | Primary | Barnet |
Gladstone School | Cancelled | Secondary | Brent |
The inspirar bilingual academy | Withdrawn | Primary | Lincolnshire |
Harris Primary Free School Nunhead | Withdrawn | Primary | Southwark |
The Ashworth Preparatory School | Withdrawn | Primary | Northamptonshire |
Harris Primary Free School Tottenham Hale | Withdrawn | Primary | Haringey |
Crystal Palace Primary School | Withdrawn | Primary | Croydon |
Elements Primary School | Withdrawn | Primary | Barnsley |
Hackney Wick Academy | Cancelled | Secondary | Hackney |
Luton Girls' Academy | Cancelled | Secondary | Luton |
Powerlist Post 16 Leadership College | Withdrawn | 16-19 | City of London |
St Mary's CE Primary School | Cancelled | Primary | Hertfordshire |
STEM Academy Croydon Gateway | Withdrawn | 16-19 | Croydon |
Trinity High School | Withdrawn | Secondary | Merton |
BBG Parents Alliance (Birkenshaw, Birstall and Gomersal) | Cancelled | Secondary | Kirklees |
Harris/AESE Free School Tottenham | Cancelled | All-Through | Haringey |
Bury st Edmunds: Middle Phase | Cancelled | Secondary | Suffolk |
Asked by: Jess Phillips (Labour - Birmingham, Yardley)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, pursuant to the Answer of 21 October 2016 to Question 48942, how many financial notices to improve have been issued to academy trusts in each year since 2010; how many such cases resulted in schools being removed from the academy trust; and what average period of time is taken from identification of a problem for a financial notice to improve to be issued.
Answered by Edward Timpson
The Education Funding Agency introduced Financial Notices to Improve (FNtIs) in 2012. As of 3 November 2016, the following number of FNtIs have been issued:
Year | Number of FNtIs issued |
2012 | 1 |
2013 | 1 |
2014 | 18 |
2015 | 7 |
2016 | 25 |
Total | 52 |
Subsequent to an FNtI being issued, 25 schools in 7 trusts have been rebrokered to other academy trusts. However, the re-brokerage of a school can happen for a range of educational, financial and governance reasons and therefore cannot be attributed solely to an FNtI having being issued.
The EFA has a clear and robust strategy for intervention that ensures appropriate and proportionate action is taken swiftly in cases of concern. Formal intervention, including the issuing of FNtIs, is undertaken when it is clear that there has been a breach of the terms under which trusts operate, whether that be the Funding Agreement or the Academies Financial Handbook. When a ‘problem’ is established following the review and assessment of evidence - in a whistleblowing case, for example, we establish first whether there was any substance to an allegation before moving to intervention. Because of this, it is not possible to generate a single average as requested in the final part of the question.
Asked by: Jess Phillips (Labour - Birmingham, Yardley)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, when she plans to respond to Questions (a) 48764, 48763 and 48762, tabled on 14 October 2016, (b) 48383, tabled on 12 October 2016, (c) 46707, tabled on 7 October 2016 and (d) 48933, tabled on 17 October 2016 by the hon. Member for Birmingham, Yardley.
Answered by Edward Timpson
Parliamentary questions 48764, 48762, 46707 and 48933 were answered on 01 November 2016. Questions 48763 and 48383 were answered on 04 November 2016.
Asked by: Jess Phillips (Labour - Birmingham, Yardley)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if she will estimate the number of employers which publish targets for the ratio of male to female apprentices.
Answered by Robert Halfon
The Government does not hold information on the number of employers that publish targets for the ratio of male to female apprentices.
Asked by: Jess Phillips (Labour - Birmingham, Yardley)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many planning areas in England are in need of additional secondary school places by September 2017; how many such areas have (a) never had an application to open a secondary or all-through mainstream free school and (b) no open secondary or all-through mainstream free schools.
Answered by Edward Timpson
The department collects information from each local authority on the number of available school places and pupil forecasts through the annual school capacity survey (SCAP). The main tables contain local authority level data. The underlying data on school capacity is published at school level and pupil forecasts at planning area level. The latest published data, relating to the position as reported at May 2015, can be found at:
https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/school-capacity-academic-year-2014-to-2015.
The department has also published local authority basic need scorecards for primary schools. The latest published scorecards relate to 2014 capacity and contain departmental estimates of the number of additional primary school places needed to meet demand in September 2016, once existing plans for new places have been factored in. The department does not publish data on the number of additional primary places needed to meet demand at planning area level. The latest published data and details of the methodology used for the estimates can be found at:
Estimates for the number of additional primary and secondary school places needed to meet demand in 2017/18 will be available when the department publishes the 2015 scorecards, which are currently in preparation. Local authorities will have planned and created many more places since the data was collected.
The department also published a transparency note on free school applications and assessing the need for places, in September 2016, which is available at:
This gives information on how many free schools have been approved in areas where there was a need for additional school places. Across all mainstream free schools approved in waves 5-11 (when a need for places had become one of the assessment criteria), 83% were located in areas where there was a need for additional school places. An additional group of schools were approved on the basis of more up-to-date LA data on future need for places or where section 106 agreements suggested need related to new housing developments. 76% of mainstream free schools opened up to September 2016 have been opened in areas where there was a need for additional school places.
Asked by: Jess Phillips (Labour - Birmingham, Yardley)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many planning areas in England are in need of additional primary school places by September 2017; how many such areas have (a) never had an application to open a primary or all-through mainstream free school and (b) no open primary or all-through mainstream free schools.
Answered by Edward Timpson
The department collects information from each local authority on the number of available school places and pupil forecasts through the annual school capacity survey (SCAP). The main tables contain local authority level data. The underlying data on school capacity is published at school level and pupil forecasts at planning area level. The latest published data, relating to the position as reported at May 2015, can be found at:
https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/school-capacity-academic-year-2014-to-2015.
The department has also published local authority basic need scorecards for primary schools. The latest published scorecards relate to 2014 capacity and contain departmental estimates of the number of additional primary school places needed to meet demand in September 2016, once existing plans for new places have been factored in. The department does not publish data on the number of additional primary places needed to meet demand at planning area level. The latest published data and details of the methodology used for the estimates can be found at:
Estimates for the number of additional primary and secondary school places needed to meet demand in 2017/18 will be available when the department publishes the 2015 scorecards, which are currently in preparation. Local authorities will have planned and created many more places since the data was collected.
The department also published a transparency note on free school applications and assessing the need for places, in September 2016, which is available at:
This gives information on how many free schools have been approved in areas where there was a need for additional school places. Across all mainstream free schools approved in waves 5-11 (when a need for places had become one of the assessment criteria), 83% were located in areas where there was a need for additional school places. An additional group of schools were approved on the basis of more up-to-date LA data on future need for places or where section 106 agreements suggested need related to new housing developments. 76% of mainstream free schools opened up to September 2016 have been opened in areas where there was a need for additional school places.
Asked by: Jess Phillips (Labour - Birmingham, Yardley)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many free schools were delayed in opening in each year since 2010.
Answered by Edward Timpson
Since the free schools programme began, 98 free school projects have had their opening date deferred. In each case there was a need to balance the risk of opening on the planned date against all the elements that must be in place to ensure that a free school is successful when it opens. Our guidance makes clear that allowing a free school project to enter the “pre-opening” phase does not guarantee that the school will open on the date originally planned by the proposer group, or open at all.
Free schools offer excellent value for money. The National Audit Office found in 2013 that free schools were built 45% more cheaply than other school building programmes. The free schools that are already open will provide over 180,000 new places.
Asked by: Jess Phillips (Labour - Birmingham, Yardley)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if she plans to encourage public sector employers to set gender targets when recruiting apprentices.
Answered by Robert Halfon
The Government has not set gender targets for the public sector when recruiting apprentices. Public sector organisations should adhere to employment and equalities legislation when recruiting apprentices.
Asked by: Jess Phillips (Labour - Birmingham, Yardley)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many university technical colleges have fewer pupils on roll than they have capacity for.
Answered by Edward Timpson
46 of 48 UTCs have opened since 2013 and understandably it will take a number of years for these UTCs to reach full capacity. To date only the JCB Academy, which opened in 2010, has reached full capacity.