Asked by: Justin Madders (Labour - Ellesmere Port and Bromborough)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment she has made of the potential merits of providing funding for exam remarks for students on the pupil premium.
Answered by Nick Gibb
If a pupil has concerns about their exam results, they should talk to their school or college who can request that the exam board reviews the marking of their exam script.
There may be a fee for a review of marking. Any fee paid to the awarding organisation will be refunded if a grade is changed following a review or appeal. It is for the school to decide whether they will pay for the review or whether the student should be charged for this service.
Schools are entitled to use pupil premium funding to pay for a review of marking, if they think it is appropriate.
Further information on how schools should use the pupil premium to raise the education attainment of disadvantaged pupils is set out in the government guidance here: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/1147853/Using_pupil_premium_guidance_for_school_leaders.pdf.
Asked by: Justin Madders (Labour - Ellesmere Port and Bromborough)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment she has made of the adequacy of the level of the grant paid for free school meals.
Answered by Nick Gibb
The Department recognises the cost pressures that some schools and suppliers may be facing. The Department is holding regular meetings with other Government Departments and with food industry representatives, covering a variety of issues including public sector food supplies.
The Department keeps funding under review to ensure that schools continue to be able to provide healthy and nutritious meals. The funding for the free school meals programme is increasing in 2023/24, in line with the latest available gross domestic product deflator forecast when the National Funding Formula was published in July 2022.
Universal Infant Free School Meals are funded through a direct grant to schools. The funding rate for the 2023/24 academic years stands at £2.53. This represents a 5% increase on the previous year’s rate.
Asked by: Justin Madders (Labour - Ellesmere Port and Bromborough)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, to confirm how many Mental Health Support Teams are in (a) the North West and (b) Ellesmere Port and Neston constituency.
Answered by Claire Coutinho - Shadow Minister (Equalities)
Mental Health Support Teams (MHSTs) are now in place in around 6,800 schools and colleges across the country, with 398 expert teams offering support to children experiencing anxiety, depression, and other common mental health issues. Information on the delivery of MHSTs can found at: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/1156762/Transforming_CYPMH_implementation_programme__data_release_May_2023.pdf. MHSTs have achieved their NHS Long Term Plan coverage ambition a year early, and more teams are coming, with over 500 MHSTs planned to be up and running by April 2024.
Data from NHS England shows that there are currently 58 MHSTs in the North West of England. 50 MHSTs are operational and 8 will be fully operational by April 2024. The data can be found here: https://www.england.nhs.uk/mental-health/cyp/trailblazers/#_Mental_Health_Support. Data on the number of MHSTs specifically in Ellesmere Port and Neston constituency is not currently available.
Asked by: Justin Madders (Labour - Ellesmere Port and Bromborough)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether her Department has held recent discussions with universities on student mental health.
Answered by Robert Halfon
It is a priority for the government that students are provided with the mental health support they need. The department engages regularly with universities and the broader higher education (HE) sector in pursuit of this goal.
We have made clear to the sector that our approach to supporting student mental health has three pillars:
I recently met with Universities UK (UUK), who represent 115 English Universities, to inform them of the department’s ambitions for the sector on mental health going forward. On 5 June 2023, I wrote to all university leaders, asking for their strongest possible commitment to the mental health of our students, including by showing ownership of mental health at an executive level. The department set a target for universities to sign up to the Mental Health Charter by September 2024, so universities take a whole-university approach to mental health and wellbeing and follow the principles set out in the Mental Health Charter.
We also made clear to the sector that we expect them to follow relevant best practice guidance shared with them by UUK and mental health experts.
The department will be engaging with the sector on implementation of best practice through the Higher Education Mental Health Taskforce. I have asked Student Support Champion, Professor Edward Peck to lead this, working with the sector, parents and students, and mental health experts. The Taskforce will set strong, clear, and measurable targets on which HE providers will report. The Taskforce will conclude its work with a final report in May next year, having produced an interim plan by the end of this year.
I will be chairing a roundtable with university and wider HE leaders to explore how the sector can make further improvements on mental health support, working alongside mental health experts and government.
Asked by: Justin Madders (Labour - Ellesmere Port and Bromborough)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, where the post of Director of Freedom of Speech in the Office for Students was advertised; who was involved in recruitment decisions for that post; and how many people applied for that post.
Answered by Claire Coutinho - Shadow Minister (Equalities)
The role of Director of Freedom of Speech and Academic Freedom was advertised on the Times Higher Education website.
Officials at the department managed the recruitment process. The essential and desirable criteria against which applicants were assessed were included in the job advert, which can be sent to any members interested. The department received 16 applications for the role.
An interview panel was chaired by Hannah Sheehan (Director of Higher Education Quality in the department) and joined by Lord Wharton of Yarm (Chair of the Office for Students) and Robert Colvile (Director of the Centre for Policy Studies), who joined as an independent panellist.
The Director was appointed by my right hon. Friend, the Secretary of State for Education, in the same way that other board members of the Office for Students are appointed under the Higher Education and Research Act 2017.
Asked by: Justin Madders (Labour - Ellesmere Port and Bromborough)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if she will publish the criteria used by the Office for Students to assess the suitability of candidates for its new Director for Freedom of Speech and Academic Freedom post.
Answered by Claire Coutinho - Shadow Minister (Equalities)
The role of Director of Freedom of Speech and Academic Freedom was advertised on the Times Higher Education website.
Officials at the department managed the recruitment process. The essential and desirable criteria against which applicants were assessed were included in the job advert, which can be sent to any members interested. The department received 16 applications for the role.
An interview panel was chaired by Hannah Sheehan (Director of Higher Education Quality in the department) and joined by Lord Wharton of Yarm (Chair of the Office for Students) and Robert Colvile (Director of the Centre for Policy Studies), who joined as an independent panellist.
The Director was appointed by my right hon. Friend, the Secretary of State for Education, in the same way that other board members of the Office for Students are appointed under the Higher Education and Research Act 2017.
Asked by: Justin Madders (Labour - Ellesmere Port and Bromborough)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether her Department has had recent discussions with schools on their ability to support pupils experiencing mental health difficulties.
Answered by Claire Coutinho - Shadow Minister (Equalities)
The department is helping schools and colleges to develop effective approaches to promote and support mental wellbeing, including through offering funded senior mental health lead training to all state schools and colleges by 2025. Many schools and colleges have prioritised pupil and student wellbeing since COVID-19, and increased school budgets and recovery funding can be used to support wellbeing.
The department is also increasing the number of Mental Health Support Teams (MHSTs) working with schools and colleges from 287 in 2022 to 400 in 2023, covering around 35% of pupils in England. Around 500 MHSTs are planned to be up and running in 2024.
Understanding the experience of education staff promoting and supporting the mental wellbeing of children and young people is an integral part of how we have developed and are providing support to schools and colleges. The department has regular engagement with representative bodies including discussion on mental wellbeing. We also gather insight through school and college panels and other experience surveys, and visits, along with other specific engagement with the education sector. In the latest school and college panel survey in November 2022, 73% of school teachers that responded felt they knew how to help pupils with mental health issues access support offered by their school.
Insight directly from schools and colleges has been critical to informing the roll-out of MHSTs in partnership with the NHS. User research with schools and colleges has also shaped our offer of senior mental health lead training. The department is continuing to engage schools and colleges to understand what further support would help them to effectively meet the needs of children and young people. Officials work closely with our Mental Health and Wellbeing Partnership Group of national education stakeholders to shape further support.
Asked by: Justin Madders (Labour - Ellesmere Port and Bromborough)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, pursuant to the Answer of 3 March 2023 to Question 155153 on the Minimum Wage, what the total value of the contracts with the firms named in the list amount to.
Answered by Nick Gibb
The total contract value for the contracts referenced in the answer to Question 155153 on the minimum wage, is currently £118,151.32.
Details of Government contracts above £10,000 are published on Contracts Finder, which can be found here: https://www.contractsfinder.service.gov.uk/Search.
Asked by: Justin Madders (Labour - Ellesmere Port and Bromborough)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, when the School Sport and Activity Action Plan will be published.
Answered by Nick Gibb
I refer the hon. Member for Ellesmere Port and Nelson to the answer I gave on 19 January 2023 to Question 122259.
Asked by: Justin Madders (Labour - Ellesmere Port and Bromborough)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether her Department has contracted work to a business named in round 18 of the National Minimum Wage Naming Scheme in the last 3 years.
Answered by Nick Gibb
The Department contracted with two businesses that were named in round 18 of the National Minimum Wage Naming Scheme, one in each of the past two years.
Details of Government contracts above £10,000 are published on Contracts Finder at: https://www.contractsfinder.service.gov.uk/Search.