Asked by: Jim Fitzpatrick (Labour - Poplar and Limehouse)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, under what circumstances the Office of the Schools Adjudicator (OSA) will be the statutory decision maker for proposals to establish a new voluntary-aided schools, and whether the OSA has the ability to override a decision made by a local authority.
Answered by Nick Gibb
In line with the existing legislation, there are two situations in which the Schools Adjudicator would decide whether to approve a voluntary-aided school proposal.
The first situation is if the local authority has rejected a proposal. In this situation, the proposer can appeal to the Schools Adjudicator. The Schools Adjudicator will then make a fresh decision which will override the decision made by the local authority.
The second situation is if a local authority has failed to make a decision within two months of the end of the representation period, which is a stage in the statutory process. In this situation, the local authority must refer the proposal to the Schools Adjudicator to be decided.
Asked by: Jim Fitzpatrick (Labour - Poplar and Limehouse)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment he has made of the potential merits of expanding the definition of school which Ofsted can inspect to include unregistered schools.
Answered by Anne Milton
Ofsted already has the power to carry out inspections, where it has reasonable cause to believe that an unregistered school is being operated on the premises.
Since January 2016, we have operated and funded a joint team with Ofsted to investigate unregistered schools, which has had significant success. In the last two years this team have conducted 192 inspections and issued 50 warning notices to suspected illegal schools, 38 of which have ceased to operate or have closed.
The offence of operating an unregistered independent educational establishment is created by section 96 of the Education and Skills Act 2008. Since 5 January 2015, two cases were referred to the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) for early advice following which investigations were discontinued. Two further cases were referred to the CPS for a charging decision. Neither of these cases met the evidential test under the Code for Crown Prosecutors. A further case is currently with the CPS for advice.
Asked by: Jim Fitzpatrick (Labour - Poplar and Limehouse)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether he has made an assessment of the potential merits of making compulsory the registration of the place of education of children of compulsory school age.
Answered by Anne Milton
The department keeps under review the need for extension of registration requirements.
Asked by: Jim Fitzpatrick (Labour - Poplar and Limehouse)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps his Department has taken against the proprietors of unregistered schools in each of the last five years; and how many such cases have been referred to the CPS in that same period.
Answered by Anne Milton
Ofsted already has the power to carry out inspections, where it has reasonable cause to believe that an unregistered school is being operated on the premises.
Since January 2016, we have operated and funded a joint team with Ofsted to investigate unregistered schools, which has had significant success. In the last two years this team have conducted 192 inspections and issued 50 warning notices to suspected illegal schools, 38 of which have ceased to operate or have closed.
The offence of operating an unregistered independent educational establishment is created by section 96 of the Education and Skills Act 2008. Since 5 January 2015, two cases were referred to the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) for early advice following which investigations were discontinued. Two further cases were referred to the CPS for a charging decision. Neither of these cases met the evidential test under the Code for Crown Prosecutors. A further case is currently with the CPS for advice.
Asked by: Jim Fitzpatrick (Labour - Poplar and Limehouse)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what recent assessment his Department has made of the potential merits of increasing the scope of evidence that Ofsted is able to collect during its inspections of unregistered educational establishments.
Answered by Anne Milton
Where Ofsted has reasonable cause to believe that the offence of operating an unregistered school is being committed on any premises, they have the power to enter and inspect the premises, and inspect and take copies of any records or other documents, which they believe may be required for the purposes of proceedings in relation to such an offence. Obstructing Ofsted in the exercise of these functions is a criminal offence. The department operates and funds a joint team with Ofsted on unregistered schools. We work together closely with Ofsted on all of these issues, including on the extent of their powers, which we keep continually under review.
Asked by: Jim Fitzpatrick (Labour - Poplar and Limehouse)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, when his Department plans to publish its response to the consultation on out-of-school education settings.
Answered by Anne Milton
We will be publishing our response to the call for evidence shortly. As well as carefully considering the wide range of responses received, we have been working with a range of partners across the sector to strengthen our understanding of these settings. Our continued work with communities will ensure any future system is effective and carefully takes into account the differences of this broad and diverse sector, which varies considerably in their characteristics and the types of education and activities that they offer.