Asked by: Jo Platt (Labour (Co-op) - Leigh and Atherton)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many times he has met the Social Mobility Commission since his appointment.
Answered by Nadhim Zahawi
The Secretary of State has not had the opportunity to meet with the Social Mobility Commission since his appointment given the current vacancies of the chair and commissioners. Progress on appointing a new Chair and Commissioners is well underway and is taking place in line with the procedures set out in the Governance Code for Public Appointments. My fellow ministers and I look forward to working with the successful candidate to drive forward on improving social mobility.
Asked by: Jo Platt (Labour (Co-op) - Leigh and Atherton)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether any work is being undertaken by the Social Mobility Commission in the absence of a chair or commissioners.
Answered by Nadhim Zahawi
The Commission Secretariat continues to deliver routine functions such as responding to enquiries on the State of the Nation report and previously published research reports; managing research projects that were agreed by the former Chair and board of commissioners as part of their research programme; scoping new projects and preparing for the incoming Chair and commissioners.
Asked by: Jo Platt (Labour (Co-op) - Leigh and Atherton)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what progress has been made in the appointment of the (a) Chair and (b) board of the Social Mobility Commission.
Answered by Nadhim Zahawi
The recruitment of a new Chair of the Social Mobility Commission is underway and applications closed on 30 March. Interviews will take place in May. This is a public appointment, and the process will be completed following the procedures set out in the Governance Code for Public Appointments. We plan to begin the recruitment process for new Commissioners shortly, to allow the new Chair to be involved in the process.
Asked by: Jo Platt (Labour (Co-op) - Leigh and Atherton)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, pursuant to the Answer of 6 March 2018, to Question 129771 in which local authority the 117 alternative provision academies and free schools are located; for which years between 2013 to 2017 those academies have been open; and whether those such academies are new schools or convert academies.
Answered by Nadhim Zahawi
As at end of February 2018, there are 117 open AP academies and free schools; 79 are schools that have converted as academies and 38 have opened as new free schools. The tables attached provide figures on the number of these establishments, split by local authority and the year they opened between 2012 and 2018.
Asked by: Jo Platt (Labour (Co-op) - Leigh and Atherton)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, pursuant to the Answer of 6 February 2018 to Question 125156, on Pupil Referral Units (PRUs), in which local authority areas the (a) 70 PRUs which applied to convert to academy status and (b) 76 PRUs which have converted to alternative provision academies are located.
Answered by Nadhim Zahawi
The 70 Pupil Referral Units (PRUs) which applied to convert to academy status between January 2013 and January 2018 spanned 45 local authorities (refer to attached Table 1).
The 76 PRUs that converted to alternative provision academies during the same period spanned 47 local authorities (refer to attached Table 2).
Asked by: Jo Platt (Labour (Co-op) - Leigh and Atherton)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many Pupil Referral Units were open in each local authority area in England in each year since 2013.
Answered by Nick Gibb
Pupil referral units (PRUs) are set up and maintained by local authorities to provide an education to pupils who cannot attend mainstream or special schools.
The data containing the number of PRUs open in each local authority from 2013 to 2017 can be found in the attached table. This table sets out the number of PRUs open in January of each year. This data excludes the number of alternative provision (AP) academies and free schools. To date, there are 117 AP academies and free schools open.