Asked by: Laurence Turner (Labour - Birmingham Northfield)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment she has made of the potential merits of extending the provision of air cleaning units to education facilities.
Answered by Stephen Morgan - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
The department regularly reviews its guidance to ensure that it aligns with best practice and industry standards, to deliver high-quality school environments.
Between January 2022 and April 2023, the department provided over 9,000 air cleaning units to over 1,300 settings that had been identified with poor ventilation. The department has published guidance on how to use CO2 monitors and air cleaning units, which can be accessed here: https://www.gov.uk/guidance/using-co-monitors-and-air-cleaning-units-in-education-and-care-settings.
The department also publishes non-statutory guidance on indoor and outdoor air quality in ‘Building Bulletin 101: Guidelines on ventilation, thermal comfort and indoor air quality in schools’ (BB101), which can be found here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/building-bulletin-101-ventilation-for-school-buildings.
Asked by: Laurence Turner (Labour - Birmingham Northfield)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what progress her Department has made on the guidance for schools on mitigating poor air quality.
Answered by Stephen Morgan - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
The department regularly reviews its guidance to ensure that it aligns with best practice and industry standards, to deliver high-quality school environments.
Between January 2022 and April 2023, the department provided over 9,000 air cleaning units to over 1,300 settings that had been identified with poor ventilation. The department has published guidance on how to use CO2 monitors and air cleaning units, which can be accessed here: https://www.gov.uk/guidance/using-co-monitors-and-air-cleaning-units-in-education-and-care-settings.
The department also publishes non-statutory guidance on indoor and outdoor air quality in ‘Building Bulletin 101: Guidelines on ventilation, thermal comfort and indoor air quality in schools’ (BB101), which can be found here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/building-bulletin-101-ventilation-for-school-buildings.
Asked by: Laurence Turner (Labour - Birmingham Northfield)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what the average full-time salary was for (a) classroom and (b) all teachers in (i) academies, (ii) free schools, (iii) local authority maintained schools and (iv) all publicly-funded schools in 2023.
Answered by Catherine McKinnell - Minister of State (Education)
Information on the school workforce is published in the ‘School workforce in England’ statistical publication, which is available here: https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/find-statistics/school-workforce-in-england.
The attached table provides the full-time equivalent median average salary for classroom teachers and all teachers in academy schools, free schools, local authority maintained schools and all state-funded schools in England, as at November 2023.
Asked by: Laurence Turner (Labour - Birmingham Northfield)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many air cleaning units were provided to education facilities in (a) Birmingham Northfield constituency, (b) Birmingham, (c) the West Midlands and (d) England since 2020.
Answered by Stephen Morgan - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
Between January 2022 and April 2023, the department provided over 9,000 air cleaning units to over 1,300 education and childcare settings that had been identified with poor ventilation.
Four air cleaning units were provided to education settings in the Birmingham Northfield constituency, 269 units were provided to education settings in the Birmingham City Council area and 996 units were provided to education settings in the West Midlands. In total, 8,848 air cleaning units were delivered to education settings in England. These figures do not include units provided to early years settings.
The department has published guidance on how to use CO2 monitors and air cleaning units, which can be accessed here: https://www.gov.uk/guidance/using-co-monitors-and-air-cleaning-units-in-education-and-care-settings.
Asked by: Laurence Turner (Labour - Birmingham Northfield)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, with reference to section 7.2.12 of her Department's publication entitled School workforce census guide 2024: Guide for schools including academies within a Multi Academy Trust, published on 11 October 2024, how many and what proportion of teacher posts in publicly-funded schools in England were paid on each pay range record for which data was returned in the most recent workforce census period broken down by (a) academy schools, (b) free schools, (c) local authority maintained schools and (d) all publicly-funded schools.
Answered by Catherine McKinnell - Minister of State (Education)
Information on the school workforce is published in the ‘School Workforce in England’ statistical publication, which is available here: https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/find-statistics/school-workforce-in-england.
The attached table provides the pay ranges reported for teacher contracts broken down by school type in the November 2023 school workforce census, which is the latest data available.
Asked by: Laurence Turner (Labour - Birmingham Northfield)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, with reference to the Standards and Testing Agency's publication of 20 July 2022, entitled Information: primary assessments in the 2022/23 academic year, for what reason it was decided not to undertake further science sampling tests at Key Stage 2.
Answered by Catherine McKinnell - Minister of State (Education)
Statutory teacher assessment of science is undertaken annually at the end of key stage 2 for all pupils in the relevant cohort. Between 2014 and 2020, biennial national science sampling tests were used to supplement this teacher assessment data, with a nationally representative sample of key stage 2 pupils participating in these tests to monitor the performance and attainment in science at national level.
The science sampling test scheduled to take place in 2020 was cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic and, due to resource pressures on the department, the previous government decided not to recommence science sampling thereafter. The ongoing Curriculum and Assessment Review is considering the current assessment system and will make its recommendations later in the year.
Asked by: Laurence Turner (Labour - Birmingham Northfield)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, with reference to the Answer of 11 December 2014 to Question 217660 on Teachers, whether the programme of talks referred to is ongoing.
Answered by Catherine McKinnell - Minister of State (Education)
Following the 2024 general election, the Programme of Talks forum was stood down to enable the department to develop new and improved ways of working with employer organisations, unions and other key stakeholders. This government is committed to resetting the relationship with the sector, where we work together on priority areas for reform, building on decades of the sector’s experience and excellence. Tackling high workload for school staff remains a key focus for this government.
Asked by: Laurence Turner (Labour - Birmingham Northfield)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, with reference to the Answer of 10 December 2020 to Question 126005, on Classroom Assistants: Pay, if she will provide the same salary data for (a) 2020, (b) 2021, (c) 2022, and (d) 2023.
Answered by Catherine McKinnell - Minister of State (Education)
Information on the school workforce is published in the ‘School workforce in England’ statistical publication, which can be found here: https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/find-statistics/school-workforce-in-england.
The attached table provides the average salary for all full-time general teaching assistants, higher level teaching assistants and all teaching assistants in local authority maintained schools, academy schools and free schools in England, as at November each year.
Support staff may have more than one contract, therefore individuals may be counted more than once.
School support staff play a vital role in children’s education and development. The department values and recognises the professionalism of the entire school workforce and will address recruitment and retention challenges by reinstating the School Support Staff Negotiating Body.
This body will be tasked with establishing a national terms and conditions handbook, training and progression routes, ensuring that schools can recruit and retain the staff needed to deliver high quality, inclusive education.
Asked by: Laurence Turner (Labour - Birmingham Northfield)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, with reference to the Answer of 10 May 2024 to Question 24203 on Youth Endowment Fund, whether it remains her Department's policy to (a) fund and (b) promote the alternative provision specialist taskforce programmes.
Answered by Catherine McKinnell - Minister of State (Education)
The alternative provision specialist taskforces (APST) programme has placed multi-professional teams, including youth workers, family workers and speech and language therapists, within alternative provision (AP) in 22 areas in England. The objective of the APST is to holistically respond to the needs of children requiring AP, which includes some of the country’s most disadvantaged children, to address the multiple barriers preventing them engaging in education, achieving and thriving and being safe.
The department is sharing learning on APST to benefit areas outside of the pilot which may wish to adopt the approach, to strengthen provision for children within AP or on the cusp of permanent exclusion. This information can be accessed here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/alternative-provision-specialist-taskforces-apst.
The APST pilot is jointly funded by the department and the government Shared Outcomes Fund until March 2025. Departmental officials will continue to support pilot areas, including Birmingham, on planning for March 2025 onward.
Asked by: Laurence Turner (Labour - Birmingham Northfield)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, pursuant to the Answer of 25 November 2024 to Question 15056 on Non-teaching Staff: Pay, if she will provide a version of that table further broken down by (a) local authority maintained, (b) academy and (c) free school employer status.
Answered by Catherine McKinnell - Minister of State (Education)
Information on the school workforce is published in the ‘School Workforce in England’ statistical publication here: https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/find-statistics/school-workforce-in-england.
The attached table provides the pay ranges reported for support staff post contracts broken down by school type in the November 2023 school workforce census, which is the latest data available.
Support staff may have more than one contract, therefore individuals may be counted more than once.
School support staff play a vital role in children’s education and development. The department values and recognises the professionalism of the entire school workforce and will address recruitment and retention challenges by reinstating the School Support Staff Negotiating Body.
This Body will be tasked with establishing a national terms and conditions handbook, training and progression routes, thereby ensuring that schools can recruit and retain the staff needed to deliver high-quality, inclusive education.