Asked by: John Hayes (Conservative - South Holland and The Deepings)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many people were employed by her Department to work on matters relating to equality, diversity and inclusivity in (a) 2021 and (b) 2022.
Answered by Nick Gibb
The average headcount of staff employed by the Department (excluding arm's length bodies of the Department) to work on matters relating to equality, diversity and inclusivity in the respective years is:
Year | Headcount |
2021 | 9 |
2022 | 8 |
Asked by: John Hayes (Conservative - South Holland and The Deepings)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether she has made an estimate of the number of schools in England which only provide gender neutral toilets.
Answered by Nick Gibb
The advice on Standards for School Premises (2015) is clear that suitable toilet and washing facilities must be provided for the sole use of pupils, and that separate toilets for boys and girls aged 8 years or over are provided, except where the toilet facility is provided in a room that can be secured from the inside and that is intended for use by one pupil at a time. The advice on Standards for School Premises is available at: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/410294/Advice_on_standards_for_school_premises.pdf#:~:text=The%20Education%20Act%201996%20places%20a%20duty%20on,and%20new%20schools%20maintained%20by%20a%20local%20authority3.
It is for schools to find reasonable ways, in accordance with the law, to balance every child’s right to access clean and safe toilet facilities when they need them.
The Department does not collect data on the number of schools that only provide gender-neutral toilets.
Asked by: John Hayes (Conservative - South Holland and The Deepings)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if she will hold discussions with the Teaching Regulation Agency on the adequacy of its guidelines on (a) misgendering and (b) preferred pronouns, in the context of the case of Joshua Sutcliffe.
Answered by Nick Gibb
Guidance on ‘Teacher misconduct: the prohibition of teachers’ (the Advice) sets out the arrangements for the regulatory system relating to teacher misconduct. These arrangements are operated by the Teaching Regulation Agency (TRA), an executive agency of the Department, which acts on behalf of the Secretary of State for Education, as the regulator of the teaching profession. The Advice is available here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/teacher-misconduct-the-prohibition-of-teachers--3.
The Advice sets out the factors to be considered by an independent professional conduct panel convened by the TRA for the purposes of regulating the teaching profession. The Advice is used to inform panel considerations, findings and recommendations to the Secretary of State about whether to impose a prohibition order on a teacher. A panel must consider each case on its own merits. The decision maker who acts on behalf of the Secretary of State also uses the Advice when considering the panel’s recommendation and in deciding whether to make a prohibition order.
Given the independent nature of the panel, it would be inappropriate for the Secretary of State to comment on the specifics of any case or look to direct a panel in any way.
Asked by: John Hayes (Conservative - South Holland and The Deepings)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if she will make an assessment of the implications for her policies on freedom of speech at universities of attempts to cancel an appearance at the Oxford Union by Professor Kathleen Stock; and if she will make a statement.
Answered by Claire Coutinho - Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero
The Higher Education (Freedom of Speech) Act 2023 will place duties upon registered higher education providers, their colleges and students’ unions to take steps to ensure freedom of speech.
Visiting speakers will be protected, and if they have suffered adverse consequences because of a breach of the duties of a provider, college or students’ union, they will be able to make a complaint using a new free-to-use complaints scheme, which will be operated by the Office for Students.
Asked by: John Hayes (Conservative - South Holland and The Deepings)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how much her Department spent on staff training related to diversity and inclusion in 2022.
Answered by Nick Gibb
The department spent £162,835 on staff training related to diversity and inclusion in 2022.
Asked by: John Hayes (Conservative - South Holland and The Deepings)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many and what proportion of exclusions from school in South Holland and the Deepings constituency were of pupils with SEN, in the latest period for which data is available.
Answered by Will Quince
The department does not hold figures on education, health and care (EHC) plan assessments requested or EHC plans put in place for students living in South Holland and the Deepings constituency. The department does hold figures on EHC plan workload at local authority level. The most recently published figures for Lincolnshire local authority can be found here: https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/find-statistics/education-health-and-care-plans.
There were 3 permanent exclusions and 231 suspensions of pupils with special educational needs (SEN) from schools in South Holland and the Deepings parliamentary constituency during the 2019/20 academic year. 33% of permanent exclusions and 40% of suspensions in 2019/20 were of pupils with SEN. SEN includes pupils with and without EHC plans.
Asked by: John Hayes (Conservative - South Holland and The Deepings)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many requests for Education and Health Care Plans were (a) requested by parents in the South Holland and the Deepings constituency and (b) signed off by Lincolnshire Council for students in the South Holland the Deepings constituency, in the latest period for which data is available.
Answered by Will Quince
The department does not hold figures on education, health and care (EHC) plan assessments requested or EHC plans put in place for students living in South Holland and the Deepings constituency. The department does hold figures on EHC plan workload at local authority level. The most recently published figures for Lincolnshire local authority can be found here: https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/find-statistics/education-health-and-care-plans.
There were 3 permanent exclusions and 231 suspensions of pupils with special educational needs (SEN) from schools in South Holland and the Deepings parliamentary constituency during the 2019/20 academic year. 33% of permanent exclusions and 40% of suspensions in 2019/20 were of pupils with SEN. SEN includes pupils with and without EHC plans.
Asked by: John Hayes (Conservative - South Holland and The Deepings)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps his Department is taking to ensure that a daily act of worship is taking place in every maintained school.
Answered by Nick Gibb
Every maintained school, academy and free school is required to ensure that collective worship takes place each day.
If the Department is informed that a school may be in breach of this requirement, it will be investigated. Where needed, the Department will remind schools of their duty on this matter and advise on how this can be met.
Asked by: John Hayes (Conservative - South Holland and The Deepings)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps his Department is taking to ensure that schools commemorate and celebrate Her Majesty the Queen’s forthcoming Platinum Jubilee.
Answered by Nick Gibb
The Department is currently considering ways in which it, and schools, can commemorate and celebrate The Queen’s Platinum Jubilee. Details of this will be available once decisions have been made and plans are in place.
Asked by: John Hayes (Conservative - South Holland and The Deepings)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps his Department is taking to ensure that the curriculum for all school pupils includes (a) the work of William Shakespeare and (b) the full canon of English Literature.
Answered by Nick Gibb
The National Curriculum for English aims to ensure that all pupils appreciate our rich and varied literary heritage. It encourages pupils to read a range of books, poems, and plays to encourage the development of a life-long love of literature. Pupils should be taught to maintain positive attitudes to reading and understanding of what they read by increasing their familiarity with a wide range of books, including myths, legends and traditional stories, modern fiction, fiction from our literary heritage, and books from other cultures and traditions.
The English National Curriculum applies to all state-maintained schools, but not academies or free schools. Academies must teach a broad and balanced curriculum, including English. It is a statutory requirement that maintained schools follow the English Programmes of Study. Whilst these Programmes of Study do not set out specific reading lists at secondary level, they set out the following categories from which schools should choose texts.
At Key Stage 3, all pupils in maintained schools must study: English Literature, both pre-1914 and contemporary, including prose, poetry and drama; Shakespeare (two plays); and seminal world literature. We have also strengthened the Key Stage 4 English Programmes of Study to ensure all pupils read a wide range of high-quality, challenging, classic English Literature. There is a renewed focus on the reading of whole texts. At Key Stage 4, all pupils in maintained schools must study: at least one play by Shakespeare; works from the 19th, 20th and 21st centuries; and poetry since 1789, including Romantic poetry.
Exam boards will set out a range of choices within the following categories from which schools can select texts. Those taking a GCSE in English Literature, which is the majority of Key Stage 4 pupils, must study: at least one play by Shakespeare; at least one nineteenth-century novel; a selection of poetry since 1789, including representative Romantic poetry; and fiction or drama from the British Isles from 1914 onwards.