Asked by: Jim McMahon (Labour (Co-op) - Oldham West, Chadderton and Royton)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether all employee and employer pension contributions for former staff of the Collective Spirit Free School are up to date.
Answered by Nadhim Zahawi
Employee and employer pension contributions for former staff of the Collective Spirit Free School are a matter for the Trust.
Asked by: Jim McMahon (Labour (Co-op) - Oldham West, Chadderton and Royton)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many referrals were made to the police in relation to the finances of (a) academies and (b) free schools.
Answered by Nadhim Zahawi
Since the establishment of the Education and Skills Funding Agency (ESFA) on 1 April 2012, the ESFA has taken action to refer:
a) 16 academies to the police, of which
b) 2 are free schools,
in relation to their finances.
The ESFA does not hold data regarding local authority maintained schools referred to the police in relation to their finances. This data is managed by local authorities.
Asked by: Jim McMahon (Labour (Co-op) - Oldham West, Chadderton and Royton)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether there is a timetable to return the former Collective Spirit Free School site to Oldham Council.
Answered by Nadhim Zahawi
We are currently assessing a number of options for the future use of the Collective Spirit Free School site in Oldham. We continue to work towards a solution with local partners and intend to resolve the future use of the site early in the New Year.
Asked by: Jim McMahon (Labour (Co-op) - Oldham West, Chadderton and Royton)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what recent assessment he has made of the adequacy of education funding for 16 to 18 year olds.
Answered by Anne Milton
We recognise that every young person should have access to an excellent education. This is why we announced in the last spending review that we will continue to protect the base rate of funding for all 16 to 19-year olds until 2020. We are also providing disadvantage funding (over £500 million in 2017/18), and other uplifts in addition to the base rate of funding for programmes that are more expensive to deliver, such as large academic and technical programmes and those with higher costs.
We have announced funding increases to strengthen education for 16 to 18-year olds in key respects. The department is providing extra funding to support institutions to grow participation in level 3 mathematics (an extra £600 for every additional student), and to pilot additional support for post-16 basic mathematics. Our commitment to the 16 to 19 sector has contributed to the current record high proportion of 16 to 17-year olds who are participating in education or apprenticeships since consistent records began. Furthermore, a substantial investment was announced in technical education for 16 to 19-year olds, rising eventually to an extra £500 million a year when T Levels are fully rolled out.
We are considering the efficiency and resilience of the further education sector, and will be assessing how far existing and forecast funding and regulatory structures meet the costs for a high quality provision. This work will align closely with the Post-18 Funding Review to ensure a coherent vision for further and higher education.
Asked by: Jim McMahon (Labour (Co-op) - Oldham West, Chadderton and Royton)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what comparative estimate he has made of the apprenticeship uptake in Greater Manchester in (a) the last twelve months and (b) the previous three years.
Answered by Anne Milton
We publish the number of apprenticeship starts by academic year and local authority in the ‘FE data library’: https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/fe-data-library.
The table attached shows the figures for the local authorities within Greater Manchester from 2013/14.
Asked by: Jim McMahon (Labour (Co-op) - Oldham West, Chadderton and Royton)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what plans his Department has for the former Collective Spirit Free school site in Chadderton, Oldham.
Answered by Nick Gibb
We have not yet made a decision on the future of the Collective Spirit Free School site in Oldham. We are currently working with local partners and assessing a number of options for the future use of the site.