Asked by: Jim Fitzpatrick (Labour - Poplar and Limehouse)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what discussions she has had with (a) the Minister in the Home Office responsible for the Fire Service, (b) the Minister in the Department for Communities and Local Government responsible for building regulations and (c) the Government's Chief Fire and Rescue advisor before the publication of the Government's revised guidance on fire sprinklers in schools.
Answered by Nick Gibb
The Department’s guidance on fire safety in schools is Building Bulletin (BB) 100. This was published in 2007 and is currently being updated. BB 100 includes advice on the use of fire sprinklers in schools as a property protection measure, but not as separate guidance.
Officials are working to update BB100, and have involved officials from the Home Office, the Chief Fire and Rescue Adviser’s Unit and the Department for Communities and Local Government as part of this work. The Government will publish its response to the consultation alongside revised guidance in due course.
Asked by: Jim Fitzpatrick (Labour - Poplar and Limehouse)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many pupils were displaced from school buildings as a result of fire in each of the last 10 years; and for how long on average those pupils were placed in temporary classrooms.
Answered by Nick Gibb
The Department for Education does not hold data on the number of pupils displaced from school buildings as a result of fire. If a school building is rendered unusable by fire, or any other event, active steps are taken to ensure pupils have the proper access to education.
Asked by: Jim Fitzpatrick (Labour - Poplar and Limehouse)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what plans her Department has to offer British sign language as an option at GCSE.
Answered by Nick Gibb
There are no plans to introduce additional GCSE subjects.
Asked by: Jim Fitzpatrick (Labour - Poplar and Limehouse)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many children for whom hearing impairment is a primary need and who attended a grammar school achieved five GCSEs including English and mathematics at grades A* to C in 2015-16.
Answered by Nick Gibb
The number of pupils for who have a hearing impairment as a primary need, attended a selective school and achieved 5A*-C grades including English and mathematics in 2014/15 was 43.
Asked by: Jim Fitzpatrick (Labour - Poplar and Limehouse)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many children for whom hearing impairment is a primary special educational need attended a grammar school in each of the last five years.
Answered by Nick Gibb
The table below shows the number of children with hearing impairments who have attended a grammar school in each of the last five years:
Pupils with Hearing Impairment as their Primary SEN Type in Grammar Schools by Year | ||||
January 2012 - 2016 |
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England |
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. | Grammar Schools |
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Year | Total Pupils | Total pupils with Hearing Impairment as their Primary SEN Type |
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Number | % (1) |
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2012 | 161,012 | 177 | 0.1 |
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2013 | 161,482 | 186 | 0.1 |
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2014 | 162,629 | 202 | 0.1 |
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2015 | 164,149 | 297 | 0.2 |
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2016 | 166,517 | 327 | 0.2 |
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| Source: School Census |
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(1) Percentages are rounded to the nearest 0.1. |
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Asked by: Jim Fitzpatrick (Labour - Poplar and Limehouse)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment has been made of the effect on the productivity of the economy of the decision to close the UK Commission for Employment and Skills and the associated Skills Sector Councils.
Answered by Robert Halfon
The remit and priorities of the UK Commission for Employment and Skills (UKCES) were to:
While these activities helped to raise awareness of the importance of skills development, which is a driver of productivity, no specific assessment has been made of any effect on UK productivity as a result of the decision to close the UKCES and the associated Sector Skills Councils.
As a result of these decisions, Whitehall departments have been working with the UK Commission to agree a way forward.
National Occupational Standards (NOS) will be managed by the Devolved Administrations and transferred to another public sector organisation. Decisions on the detail of how NOS will be managed are the responsibility of the Devolved Administrations. The contents of the NOS database will remain publicly available and employers throughout the UK can continue to use NOS if they so choose although they are not a mandatory requirement in England for either qualifications or apprenticeships.
The management of the Employer Skills Survey, the Employer Perspectives Survey and the Labour Market Information for All Portal is being moved into the Department for Education. The Investors in People function will continue and the Government is looking to secure its future.
Asked by: Jim Fitzpatrick (Labour - Poplar and Limehouse)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many school fires have been reported in each year since 2005; and what the cost has been of replacing or repairing the buildings affected by such fires in each such year.
Answered by Nick Gibb
The numbers of reported school fires in Great Britain are as follows:
2005/06: 1,400
2006/07: 1,200
2007/08: 1,000
2008/09: 1,000
2009/10: -----
2010/11: 800
2011/12: 700
2012/13: 600
2013/14: 600
These are National Statistics’ figures published on GOV.UK and are rounded[1].
There are no statistics for 2009/10 as none were published for that year due to an incomplete data set. Since 2014/15 fire statistics are published as England only, with data on ‘educational premises’ including other institutions such as colleges and universities, alongside schools, which is not consistent with the data above. These England only statistics are available on GOV.UK: https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/fire-statistics
The Government does not hold data centrally on the annual cost of replacing or repairing school buildings following damage by fire. However, the Department is currently collecting data on both the capital costs resulting from fire damage and the costs of providing alternative accommodation.
[1] https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/fire-statistics-great-britain-2013-to-2014