Asked by: Lord Lexden (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what plans they have to amend the terms of reference of the National Tutoring Programme so that independent schools can participate fully in it.
Answered by Baroness Berridge
The Education Endowment Foundation (EEF), our delivery partner on the Tuition Partner strand of the National Tutoring Programme (NTP), launched the funding criteria on 31 August. Organisations will be selected to become NTP Tuition Partners through an open competition. The process is set out on the EEF’s website, together with information on criteria and expectations of tuition partners: https://nationaltutoring.org.uk/ntp-tuition-partners/for-tuition-partners.
EEF are seeking high quality tutoring organisations who can manage delivery in line with robust quality, capacity and evaluation requirements. As this is a competitive process, we have no plans to change those terms. However, as well as existing tutoring providers, EEF are happy to accept applications from other organisations, such as associations of independent schools, charities or universities, who are able to meet the necessary criteria. Applications will also be welcome from partnerships made up of a number of organisations with differing, but relevant experience.
Asked by: Lord Lexden (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask Her Majesty's Government how many school playing fields have been sold in each year since 2010; and what steps they will take to reduce the number of applications for further sales being given consent by the Secretary of State for Education.
Answered by Baroness Berridge
The department records and publishes details of my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Education’s consents for schools to dispose of areas of publicly funded playing field land. Disposals may take the form of freehold sales, long and short-term leases and grant of rights regarding access and use of land.
The definition of “playing field land”, as set out in the Schools Standards and Framework Act 1998 (SSFA 1998), is “land in the open air which is provided for the purposes of physical education or recreation”. This is a wide definition and it does not matter if the land is not currently in use for sport or recreation or is not laid out for formal team games. Disposals of any size require consent so the listed transactions do not necessarily represent the loss of whole pitches, courts or playgrounds.
Year | Number of Secretary of State consents given to disposal of areas of playing field land |
2001 – Apr 2010 | 242 |
May 2010 – Dec 2010 | 11 |
2011 | 9 |
2012 | 11 |
2013 | 37 |
2014 | 23 |
2015 | 22 |
2016 | 25 |
2017 | 49 |
2018 | 12 |
2019 | 11 |
2020 (up to July) | 13 |
Undated | 12 |
Under existing legislation, no-one may dispose of publicly funded playing field land without reference to the Secretary of State. The current departmental advice to local authorities, maintained schools, special schools, academies and free schools regarding disposal or change of use of playing field and school land (May 2015) clearly states that “all maintained schools and academies must provide suitable outdoor space to enable physical education in accordance with the school curriculum and to enable pupils to play outside” and that “there is a very strong policy presumption against the disposal of school playing field land”.
Further disposals that meet specific criteria can be made under a General Consent Order (GCO). Details can be found in Annexes E to H of the department’s current guidance: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/430705/Disposal_or_change_of_use_of_playing_field_and_school_land.pdf.
In summary, GCOs can be used for transactions that represent no net loss of playing field land to the school estate or where the loss is temporary. Disposals made under a general consent order are not published by the department and are not included in the figures above.
Examination of the decisions where the Secretary of State has given consent for the disposal of playing field land demonstrate that the majority of cases fall into two categories:
1) the disposal of land at closed school sites where these closures may be the result of school relocation, school merger or lack of demand for school places due to demographic changes. The Secretary of State will seek evidence that the site is no longer needed for the purpose of running a school, that pupils previously attending the closed school have access to equivalent or better sport and recreational facilities and that proceeds from the sale contribute to betterment of sporting and recreation facilities across the wider school estate; and
2) the disposal which results in the betterment of recreational and sports facilities at the school site e.g. where sports clubs or community groups fund investment in enhanced facilities, protect their investment by taking a lease from the school (which is a disposal of playing field land) and the facilities are subject to joint use agreements allowing the school to use the facilities during school operating hours and other users outside these hours.
There are a minority of instances where a disposal of playing field is required with little or no betterment in sporting or recreational facilities e.g. a boundary rectification; compulsory purchase; provision of sub stations or other utilities. In these instances, the Secretary of State requires applicants to demonstrate a benefit and that any loss has been minimised both in quantum and quality of the land disposed of.
The government therefore does not have any plans to change its policy position. The department does have plans to refresh the published guidance with respect to the application process which with reiterate the presumption against a loss.
Asked by: Lord Lexden (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what plans they have to allow boarding houses at residential schools to provide accommodation for students to self-isolate to comply with COVID-19 public health advice; and whether, and if so, when they will issue guidance about this to residential schools.
Answered by Baroness Berridge
Our latest guidance on isolation for residential educational settings is available here:
It contains advice on managing isolation for individuals or groups in the event that a child, young person or staff member in a residential setting either shows symptoms of COVID-19 or is confirmed as having the disease.
This guidance applies to mainstream boarding schools as well as to all other residential educational settings.
Asked by: Lord Lexden (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the effectiveness of section 63 of the Children and Families Act 2014 in ensuring that parents of children with special educational needs or a disability are able to choose an independent school if that is their wish.
Answered by Lord Agnew of Oulton
Section 63 of the Children and Families Act (2014) sets out the local authority’s duty to pay fees for special educational provision where an institution, including an independent institution, is named in a final education, health and care (EHC) plan.
The process by which parents’ wishes are considered is, instead, set out within the ‘Special Educational Needs & Disabilities 0-25 Code of Practice’, attached, and under section 39 of the Children and Families Act (2014).
Chapter 9 in the ‘Special Educational Needs & Disabilities 0-25 Code of Practice’ sets out the duties of local authorities and the rights of parents regarding the naming of schools in EHC plans. When a local authority is finalising an EHC plan, parents can ask for a particular school to be named in the plan. This can be any maintained nursery school; maintained school; any form of academy or free school (mainstream or special); non-maintained special school; independent special school or independent specialist college, where they have been approved for this purpose by my right hon. Friend, the Secretary of State for Education, under section 41 of the Children and Families Act (2014). These schools are published in the section 41 list, which is available to all parents and young people.
The local authority must name the parent’s or young person’s choice of school in the EHC plan unless the school would be unsuitable for the child or young person’s age, ability, aptitude or special educational need or unless the child or young person’s attendance would be incompatible with the efficient education of others or the efficient use of resources.
The child’s parent or the young person may also make representations for places at independent schools, independent colleges or other post-16 providers that are not on the section 41 list. However, these schools are not obliged to admit children with EHC plans and local authorities are not under the same conditional duty to name these schools in EHC plans.
As at January 2019, there were 17,362 children and young people with EHC plans in independent schools. This figure represents 4.9% of all children and young people with an EHC plan.
Asked by: Lord Lexden (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the work of the Chartered College of Teaching.
Answered by Lord Agnew of Oulton
In January 2017, The Chartered College of Teaching (CCT) became a new, independent, professional teaching body and now has more than 24,000 members. Their membership offer includes a peer-reviewed and award-winning journal; an online platform for members to share and engage with research; the Chartered Teacher programme to recognise excellence in teaching; and access to teacher networks, conferences and workshops.
CCT has contributed their expertise to the department; for example, in the development of the Early Career Framework and Recruitment and Retention Strategy, published in January 2019. The department is continuing to work with CCT about their plans to increase membership and support the teaching profession in the future.
Asked by: Lord Lexden (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the report by Refugee Action Turning Words into Action: why the Government must invest now to let refugees learn, published in June.
Answered by Lord Agnew of Oulton
The government recognises that learning English is essential in enabling refugees to rebuild their lives. We are working across government to develop a new strategy for English for speakers of other languages (ESOL) in 2019. The strategy will provide a shared vision for all publicly funded English language provision and it will include addressing the needs of refugees. We will explore what needs to be done to enable good local solutions and to support greater access to English language provision. We will consider the ‘Turning Words into Action’ report, attached, as we develop the strategy.
The department funds ESOL through the Adult Education Budget (AEB), which is allocated to providers on an annual basis. Colleges and adult learning providers have the freedom and flexibility to determine how they use their AEB allocation to meet the needs of their communities. This includes planning, with local partners, the ESOL courses that they will deliver locally. The Home Office and the Department for Education have provided £10 million to enable refugees resettled through the Vulnerable Persons Resettlement Scheme to access additional classes.
From the start of the 2019/20 academic year approximately 50% of the AEB will be devolved to 6 Mayoral Combined Authorities (MCAs) and to the Mayor of London through the Greater London Authority (GLA). The MCAs and GLA will be responsible for commissioning and funding AEB provision, including ESOL, for learners resident in their areas.
We know that there are many examples of good practice to overcome barriers for learners with childcare needs. Through the ESOL strategy, we will explore what else needs to be done to enable good local solutions and to support greater access to English language provision.
Asked by: Lord Lexden (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of whether collaboration between maintained and independent schools will increase as a result of the Education and Skills Funding Agency funding, announced on 6 June
Answered by Lord Agnew of Oulton
The new partnerships grant funding announced on 7 June at the Schools Together Group annual conference, aims to raise the ambition for what schools can achieve together, and to remove a key financial barrier to new partnerships forming. It is designed to attract bids from both new partnerships who may benefit from seed funding, as well as existing partnerships looking to deepen and expand their collaborations. We will publish further details and invite schools to submit bids in the autumn.
As part of this programme, the department also plans to conduct evaluation on the success of this grant in increasing the quality and impact of partnerships. This will be published in due course.
Asked by: Lord Lexden (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what were their reasons for increasing the employer’s contribution to the Teachers’ Pension Scheme.
Answered by Lord Agnew of Oulton
A number of factors determine the cost of providing pensions, most significantly by the Superannuation Contributions Adjusted for Past Experience (SCAPE) rate. The SCAPE discount rate is the central measure of the affordability of public service pension schemes; it is based on the Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR) forecasts for long-term Growth Domestic Product growth. In light of the material change to the OBR forecast compared to the forecast at Budget 2016, and based on the methodology for setting the SCAPE rate as agreed in 2011,
HM Treasury took the decision to set the SCAPE discount rate at 2.4% plus Consumer Price Index from 1 April 2019. This reduction in the SCAPE rate has resulted in an increase to employer contributions in the Teachers Pension Scheme of 7.2 percentage points.[1]
[1] based on an implementation date of 1 September 2019.
Asked by: Lord Lexden (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the ability of maintained and independent schools to afford the increase in the employer’s contribution to the Teachers’ Pension Scheme announced in October.
Answered by Lord Agnew of Oulton
In the schools sector, the department currently proposes to cover the costs of maintained schools, academies, independent special schools and non-maintained special schools. The department will be consulting shortly to form an assessment on the impact these costs will impose on the sector.
Asked by: Lord Lexden (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask Her Majesty's Government, further to the reply by Viscount Younger of Leckie on 22 November (HL Deb, cols 325–8), whether they will ensure that all local councils respect the right of parents of children with special needs to nominate a local independent school on an education health and care plan.
Answered by Lord Agnew of Oulton
The government does not have any plans to conduct such an inquiry.
The government has made fundamental changes to the way the special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) support system works for families. The system is now more person-centred with significant direction given to local authorities, and other bodies, to engage effectively with families.
Local authorities should respond appropriately to any SEND Tribunal appeal. In doing so, they will inevitably incur costs. When families make appeals, the local authority will need to judge how to respond to them and in doing so, must put the interests of the child or young person first.
The government are investing £20 million until March 2020 to improve the quality of local information, advice and support services available to families, and to provide guidance and training to local authorities to help improve the quality of education, health and care (EHC) plans.
Parents have the right to ask that an independent school, approved under Section 41 of the Children and Families Act (2014) and published in a list available to all parents and young people, be named on their EHC plan.
The local authority must, after consultation with the school, name the requested school unless specific criteria apply. These conditions are that the school would be unsuitable for the young person’s needs, incompatible with the efficient education of others or an inefficient use of the local authority’s resources.
Parents may also make representations for a place at an independent school that is not on the Section 41 list and the local authority must consider their request. While not under the same conditional duty to name the provider, the local authority must have regard to the general principle that children should be educated in accordance with their parents’ wishes if this is compatible with the provision of efficient instruction and does not cause unreasonable public expenditure.