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 - Government Whip, Lord Commissioner of HM Treasury
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
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
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
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
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
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
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.
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 report by her Department entitled Academic year 2022/23: Key stage 4 destination measures, published on 24 October 2024, how many and what proportion of students who left key stage 4 study in each year between 2015-16 and 2020-21 in (a) Birmingham, (b) West Midlands and (c) England progressed to a sustained (i) education, (ii) employment and (iii) apprenticeships, broken down by whether those students received (A) an education, health and care plan, (B) SEN Support provision and (C) no SEND provision.
Answered by Janet Daby
The department publishes information on the destinations of pupils from state-funded mainstream schools in the year following completion of key stage 4, which shows the numbers and percentages of pupils continuing to a sustained education, employment or apprenticeship destination in England.
The tables in the links below contain the data requested.
Data pertaining to England can be accessed here: https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/data-tables/permalink/0b20e9b5-2fef-47b9-7106-08dd0ae16946.
Data pertaining to Birmingham and the West Midlands can be accessed here: https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/data-tables/permalink/775f4fb7-7c15-495d-f93a-08dd0adc50ad.
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 report by her Department entitled Academic year 2022/23: Progression to higher education or training, published on 24 October 2024, how many and what proportion of students who left 16-to-18 study in each year between 2015-16 and 2020-21 in (a) Birmingham, (b) West Midlands and (c) England progressed to a sustained level 4 or higher destination, broken down by whether those students received (i) an education, health and care plan, (ii) SEN Support provision and (iii) no SEND provision.
Answered by Janet Daby
The department publishes information on the percentage of level 3 pupils continuing to a sustained education or training destination at level 4 or higher, such as degrees, higher apprenticeships and higher national diplomas.
The data in the links below contain the data requested.
Data pertaining to England can be accessed here: https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/data-tables/permalink/7eb58822-e8ec-4240-f93b-08dd0adc50ad.
Data pertaining to Birmingham and West Midlands can be accessed here: https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/data-tables/permalink/dd7c6d4b-5aff-4639-f93f-08dd0adc50ad.
The data provided is for state-funded mainstream schools and state-funded mainstream colleges. Special educational needs (SEN) status is only recorded for students leaving schools. Students in colleges are recorded as learners with learning difficulties and disabilities. The definitions differ from SEN recorded by schools and so the data is therefore presented separately to the data for SEN. Breakdowns by education health and care plan and SEN support are not readily available in the progression to higher education or training data so only “identified SEN” and “no identified SEN” have been provided.
Asked by: Laurence Turner (Labour - Birmingham Northfield)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what recent progress she has made on establishing the School Support Staff Negotiating Body.
Answered by Catherine McKinnell
School support staff are an essential part of the school workforce, and the department recognises that they are crucial to ensuring we give children the best possible life chances.
That is why the reinstatement of the School Support Staff Negotiating Body (SSSNB) is a priority for this government. The department has recently set out plans to reinstate the SSSNB through the Employment Rights Bill, introduced in parliament on 10 October 2024. This is currently at the Committee Stage in the House of Commons. The SSSNB will have a remit to negotiate pay and terms and conditions, and to advise on training and career progression for school support staff in state-funded schools in England. The Body will be composed of representatives of employers, representatives of support staff, representatives of my right hon. Friend, the Secretary of State for Education and an Independent Chairperson.
The department is also continuing to engage with the recognised support staff trade unions and other stakeholders, including on the design of the SSSNB.
The SSSNB will play an important role in supporting the department’s work to drive high and rising standards in education and ensuring we give all children the best possible life chances.