Asked by: Joan Ryan (The Independent Group for Change - Enfield North)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment he has made of the effect of the apprenticeship levy on schools in (a) Enfield North constituency, (b) the London Borough of Enfield and (c) London.
Answered by Anne Milton
The department will be monitoring the uptake of apprenticeships by schools, as we would with other parts of the public sector. Public sector bodies are required to annually publish and report to the department on their progress towards the apprenticeship target. The first reports (covering the period 1 April 2017 – 31 March 2018) are due by 30 September 2018.
As we have outlined to the Public Accounts Committee, our assessment of the cost pressures on schools will include the financial impact of the apprenticeship levy.
Asked by: Joan Ryan (The Independent Group for Change - Enfield North)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what the average weekly cost was of a childcare place in (a) the Enfield North constituency, (b) the London Borough of Enfield and (c) London in each year since 2010.
Answered by Nadhim Zahawi
The department collects data on the weekly regional cost of childcare through our regular parent surveys. These can be found at the following link: https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/statistics-childcare-and-early-years.
Asked by: Joan Ryan (The Independent Group for Change - Enfield North)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what recent steps his Department has taken to support UCL's Holocaust Education Programme's Beacon Schools Project.
Answered by Nick Gibb
The Government has provided £3.75 million of funding to University College London Institute of Education’s Centre for Holocaust Education (CfHE) since 2008, and we have recently confirmed that we will continue to fund the programme until 2020. The aim of the programme, which is jointly funded by the Pears Foundation, is to help ensure that teachers are equipped with the training and resources they need to deliver effective Holocaust education. Some of this funding is used to support the CfHE’s Beacon Schools project.
Asked by: Joan Ryan (The Independent Group for Change - Enfield North)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many and what proportion of those eligible for free school meals in (a) Enfield North constituency, (b) London and (c) the UK took up free school meals in each of the last seven years.
Answered by Robert Goodwill
Figures on the number and proportion of children taking a free school meal and those eligible for free school meals are published, for all authorities in England, annually. The figures can be found in the statistical first releases available at: https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/statistics-school-and-pupil-numbers.
Data are not summarised by parliamentary constituency, but data for each school is available via the link to underlying tables then the file ‘…Schools_Pupils_UD’. The figures can be filtered by school phase and parliamentary constituency.
A UK figure is not available. As education is a devolved matter, statistics on schools are published separately by the four administrations.
Asked by: Joan Ryan (The Independent Group for Change - Enfield North)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many and what proportion of children in (a) Enfield North constituency, (b) London and (c) the UK were eligible for free school meals in each year since 2010.
Answered by Robert Goodwill
Figures on the number and proportion of children taking a free school meal and those eligible for free school meals are published, for all authorities in England, annually. The figures can be found in the statistical first releases available at: https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/statistics-school-and-pupil-numbers.
Data are not summarised by parliamentary constituency, but data for each school is available via the link to underlying tables then the file ‘…Schools_Pupils_UD’. The figures can be filtered by school phase and parliamentary constituency.
A UK figure is not available. As education is a devolved matter, statistics on schools are published separately by the four administrations.
Asked by: Joan Ryan (The Independent Group for Change - Enfield North)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what the average class size was in (a) primary and (b) secondary schools in (i) Enfield North constituency, (ii) London and (iii) the UK in each of then last seven years.
Answered by Nick Gibb
Average class size figures for state-funded schools in England are calculated and published annually in the statistical first releases available at: https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/statistics-school-and-pupil-numbers.
A national summary of average class sizes for Key Stages 1 and 2 and secondary is in the link to national tables, tables 6a and 6b respectively.
A summary at local authority and regional level is only available for Key Stages 1 and 2 and is in the link to local authority and regional tables, table 11.
Data is not summarised by parliamentary constituency, but data for each school providing average class sizes for Key Stages 1 and 2, where appropriate, and overall is available via the link to underlying tables for each year then the file ‘…Schools_Classes_UD’. The figures can be filtered by school phase, local authority and parliamentary constituency.
A UK figure is not available. As education is a devolved matter, statistics on schools are published separately by the four administrations.
Asked by: Joan Ryan (The Independent Group for Change - Enfield North)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if she will make an assessment of the potential merits of introducing mandatory requirements for schools to take effective safeguarding measures against knife crime.
Answered by Robert Goodwill
There are no circumstances in which it is acceptable to take weapons into school. Doing so is likely to be a criminal offence and may have serious consequences.
The Department for Education issues statutory guidance to schools, Keeping children safe in education (KCSIE, September 2016), to which all schools must have regard when carrying out their duties to safeguard and promote the welfare of children. KCSIE is clear that all school staff have a responsibility to provide a safe environment in which children can learn. Schools have a statutory power to search for, and confiscate, prohibited items such as knives and weapons.
The Department for Education has produced advice for schools, Searching, screening and confiscation: advice for schools (updated September 2016,) which makes it clear that school staff can search pupils and their possessions without consent where there are reasonable grounds to do so. If a pupil refuses to be searched, the school may bar them from the premises.
The Government has taken steps to tackle behaviour and discipline in schools. Teachers’ powers to search pupils have been strengthened by adding to the list of prohibited items and allowing schools to search for any items banned by the school’s rules. As well as a more general power to search for items that have been, or could be, used to cause harm or break the law, teachers can also search for prohibited items.
Keeping children safe in education is available at:
https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/keeping-children-safe-in-education--2.
Searching, screening and confiscation: advice for schools is available at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/searching-screening-and-confiscation.
Asked by: Joan Ryan (The Independent Group for Change - Enfield North)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if she will set out plans to address issues identified in the report by London Councils, Talking heads: the views of London's school leaders in future challenges, published in June 2017, on the effect of funding changes on outcomes, planned changes in the number of teachers and changes made to curriculum breadth in London schools.
Answered by Nick Gibb
The Government will continue to work to ensure that every child has the opportunity to attend a good school and that all schools are fairly funded. We want all children, regardless of where they live or their background, to receive a high quality education that fulfils potential and creates opportunity.
The Queen’s Speech was clear that the Government is determined to introduce a fairer distribution of funding for schools. We are committed to ensuring that no school has its budget cut as a result of the new formula.
We received over 25,000 responses to the consultation, including the response from London Councils. We are grateful to all those who expressed their views on school funding and the proposed formula as part of this process. We will publish the response to the consultation in due course.
Asked by: Joan Ryan (The Independent Group for Change - Enfield North)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment she has made of the implications for her policies of the findings of the report by the Institute for Fiscal Studies, The short- and long-run impact of the national funding formula for schools in England, published in March 2017, on the projected change in the level of school spending per pupil by 2021-22 if the proposed formula were to be implemented.
Answered by Nick Gibb
We want to ensure every school has the resources it needs to deliver a high quality education for every child and that all schools are fairly funded.
Since 2010 the schools budget has been protected in real terms. The Government has committed to increase the school budget further, as well as continuing to protect the Pupil Premium to support those who need it. We know that how schools use their money is also important in delivering the best outcomes for pupils. The Government has produced tools, information and guidance to support improved financial health and efficiency in schools which can be found at:
https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/schools-financial-health-and-efficiency.
We received over 25,000 responses to the consultation. We are grateful to all those who expressed their views on school funding and the proposed formula as part of this process. We will publish the response to the consultation in due course.