Asked by: Kerry McCarthy (Labour - Bristol East)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, pursuant to the Answer of 20 July 2022 to Question 37614 on Schools: Buildings, which schools had at least one construction element in condition grade (a) C and (b) D in Bristol East constituency when that data was collated; and which of those schools (i) have received and (ii) expect to receive funding in the next two years from the School Rebuilding Programme.
Answered by Nick Gibb
The Condition Data Collection (CDC) is one of the largest and most comprehensive data collection programmes in the UK’s public sector. It collected data on the building condition of government funded schools in England. It provides a robust evidence base to enable the Department to target capital funding for maintaining and rebuilding school buildings.
The key, high level findings of the CDC programme were published in May 2021 in the ‘Condition of School Buildings Survey: Key Findings’ report. This is available at: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/989912/Condition_of_School_Buildings_Survey_CDC1_-_key_findings_report.pdf.
Individual CDC reports have been shared with every school and their responsible body to use alongside their existing condition surveys to plan maintenance schedules and investment plans. The Department plans to publish detailed school level CDC data. The data is being prepared and will be published as soon as possible.
Well maintained, safe school buildings are a priority for the Department. Our funding is directed both to maintaining the condition of the school estate and rebuilding schools. The Department has allocated over £13 billion for improving the condition of schools since 2015, including £1.8 billion committed this financial year.
The ten year School Rebuilding Programme (SRP) is condition led. 400 of the 500 available places on the programme have been provisionally allocated. A list of these schools and the methodology used to select them is available at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/school-rebuilding-programme-schools-in-the-programme.
The following table shows the constituencies specified that have schools or colleges selected for the SRP:
Parliamentary constituency | Schools selected for SRP |
Feltham and Heston | Rivers Academy West London, announced July 2022 St Mark's Catholic School, announced December 2022 |
The 239 schools announced in December 2022 will enter delivery at a rate of approximately 50 per year, over a five year period from 2023. The Department is currently undertaking due diligence on these schools prior to scheduling them, with schools prioritised according to the condition of their buildings, readiness to proceed, and efficiency of delivery. The scope and funding for each project will be confirmed following detailed feasibility studies and condition surveys of buildings.
Where a school identifies significant safety issues with a building, that cannot be managed within local resources, the Department considers additional support on a case-by-case basis. This includes applications for Urgent Capital Support (UCS) from eligible institutions. Schools eligible for Condition Improvement Fund (CIF) can apply for UCS where there are urgent health and safety issues that threaten school closure and cannot wait until the next CIF bidding round.
Asked by: Kerry McCarthy (Labour - Bristol East)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps he is taking to ensure adequate provision of social care services for children and young people with disabilities and their families.
Answered by Will Quince
In the past three months we have published the Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND) and Alternative Provision (AP) Green Paper, and the Independent Review of Children’s Social Care published its final report.
The SEND and AP Green Paper aims to ensure the right support is delivered in the right setting at the right time for children and young people with SEND. Our proposals include the introduction of national standards for how needs are assessed, identified and met across education, health and care in order to drive greater national consistency
The Independent Review of Children’s Social Care has also now published its final report, making a number of recommendations on the support that disabled children and their families should receive. To respond to this Review we will publish a detailed and ambitious implementation strategy later this year. We are committed to aligning this with the SEND and AP reforms so that we build a coherent system with the best interest of all vulnerable children at its heart.
Local authorities have access to £54.1 billion core spending power in the 2022/23 financial year to deliver their services, including for children and young people, this is £3.7 billion more than in the 2021/22 financial year.
As part of this, the government has boosted the social care grant, increasing it by £636 million, and so bringing it to a total of around £2.35 billion in the 2022/23 financial year. Local authorities will have access to a one-off Services Grant in the 2022/23 financial year, which is worth over £800 million and can be used for all services, including children’s social care.
The department is also making better respite care available for those who care for children with special educational needs and disabilities, with councils invited to bid for an extra £30 million for the next three years to set up more than 10,000 additional short break and respite placements for vulnerable children.
We will publish proposals to improve support for young people with disabilities and their families.
Asked by: Kerry McCarthy (Labour - Bristol East)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment his Department has made of the potential financial benefits for sixth form colleges of converting to academy status as a result of (a) VAT exemptions, (b) VAT refunds, and (c) additional funding opportunities.
Answered by Alex Burghart - Shadow Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster
Sixth form colleges are independent statutory bodies and it is their responsibility to make an assessment of all the potential benefits and disbenefits of conversion to a 16-19 academy. The department has issued guidance to help inform their assessments: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/16-to-19-academies-application-process-for-sixth-form-colleges.
Asked by: Kerry McCarthy (Labour - Bristol East)
Question to the Department for Education:
What assessment he has made of the need to identify and provide support services for children with a parent serving a term of imprisonment.
Answered by Will Quince
We recognise the impact that a parent going to prison can have on a child’s learning, behaviour, mental health, and wellbeing. This is why statutory guidance Working Together to Safeguard Children is clear that anyone who has concerns about a child’s welfare should make a referral to local authority children’s social care.
The local authority and its social workers have specific roles and responsibilities to lead statutory assessments. Every assessment should reflect children’s needs within their family and community context, including taking account of a parent being in prison. These children’s circumstances vary considerably and therefore local agencies are best placed to determine what support is needed – whether early help, statutory social care services, or support for other needs such as mental health.
Statutory guidance for schools (Keeping Children Safe in Education) is clear that staff should consider the additional needs of children with a family member in prison or who are affected by parental offending. The guidance highlights the risk of poor outcomes including poverty, stigma, isolation, and poor mental health. It signposts staff to the National Information Centre on Children of Offenders website which provides specialist staff advice and resources to support professionals working with offenders’ children and their families, to help mitigate negative consequences for those children.
Asked by: Kerry McCarthy (Labour - Bristol East)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether he plans to remove the School Food Standards requirement to serve meat three times a week in line with the Reference Diet recommended in the National Food Strategy.
Answered by Vicky Ford
The School Food Standards provide the legislative framework to ensure schools provide children with healthy food and drink options, and to make sure that children get the energy and nutrition they need across the school day. The School Food Standards are in line with current government advice on red and processed meat, encouraging schools to serve it in moderation as a good source of nutrients, including iron, zinc and vitamin B12.
Work to update the standards was paused during the COVID-19 outbreak. We do however keep this position under review, and are working with the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs to carefully consider the National Food Strategy’s recommendations and will respond in full with a White Paper in due course.
Asked by: Kerry McCarthy (Labour - Bristol East)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what discussions he has had with departmental colleagues on the introduction of an updated Reference Diet as set out in recommendation 14 of the National Food Strategy.
Answered by Vicky Ford
The School Food Standards provide the legislative framework to ensure schools provide children with healthy food and drink options, and to make sure that children get the energy and nutrition they need across the school day. The School Food Standards are in line with current government advice on red and processed meat, encouraging schools to serve it in moderation as a good source of nutrients, including iron, zinc and vitamin B12.
Work to update the standards was paused during the COVID-19 outbreak. We do however keep this position under review, and are working with the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs to carefully consider the National Food Strategy’s recommendations and will respond in full with a White Paper in due course.
Asked by: Kerry McCarthy (Labour - Bristol East)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, with reference to page 15 of the National Food Strategy, whether he plans to implement the recommendation that the School Food Standards should be updated.
Answered by Vicky Ford
The School Food Standards provide the legislative framework to ensure schools provide children with healthy food and drink options, and to make sure that children get the energy and nutrition they need across the school day. The School Food Standards are in line with current government advice on red and processed meat, encouraging schools to serve it in moderation as a good source of nutrients, including iron, zinc and vitamin B12.
Work to update the standards was paused during the COVID-19 outbreak. We do however keep this position under review, and are working with the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs to carefully consider the National Food Strategy’s recommendations and will respond in full with a White Paper in due course.
Asked by: Kerry McCarthy (Labour - Bristol East)
Question to the Department for Education:
What recent discussions he has had with Public Health England on updating school food standards.
Answered by Vicky Ford
On 7 May and 6 November 2019 we brought together an advisory group comprising of key stakeholders in the food, nutrition and health sectors who hold a wide breadth of knowledge and expertise in relation to school food. This was to discuss the proposed updates to the standards.
Due to the priority of responding to the COVID-19 outbreak and the pressures on schools this presents, and considering the robustness of the existing standards, the government have paused taking further action during the course of the COVID-19 outbreak on updating the School Food Standards. I have also discussed this with the Chief Nutritionist who confirmed that the top priority should be to ensure that schools comply with the current standards fully. Ministers have been clear throughout that schools should continue to ensure that the existing school food standards are fully adhered to across the school day. On 24 March 2021 I wrote to all schools to remind them of their obligations under the standards and encouraging the provision of hot meals where possible.
Asked by: Kerry McCarthy (Labour - Bristol East)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, with reference to the covid-19 guidance for early years and childcare providers, whether church-based childcare groups are permitted to resume under the covid-19 tier restrictions.
Answered by Vicky Ford
The guidance entitled ‘Local restriction tiers: what you need to know’ sets out the local restriction tier system in place from Wednesday 2 December and includes what can and cannot be done in each tier.
There are exemptions that apply to all tiers, including for places of worship, that allow childcare, education, or training (meaning education and training provided as part of a formal curriculum) and supervised activities provided for children to operate. This includes wraparound care (before and after-school childcare), groups and activities for under 18s, and children’s playgroups.
Further information on this guidance is available here: https://www.gov.uk/guidance/local-restriction-tiers-what-you-need-to-know and https://www.gov.uk/guidance/local-restriction-tiers-what-you-need-to-know#exemptions.
Asked by: Kerry McCarthy (Labour - Bristol East)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Member for South West Bedfordshire, representing the Church Commissioners, if he will place in the Library a digitised map of all Church Commissioner landholdings.
Answered by Andrew Selous
The land holdings owned by the Church Commissioners have to a large extent been registered with the Land Registry, and information on those holdings is publicly available via the Land Registry.
To compile and publish a digitised map of all land holdings in the manner requested would incur a disproportionate cost to the Church Commissioners.