Asked by: Peter Bottomley (Conservative - Worthing West)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what her Department's expected timeline is for determining the location of the new primary SEND school in West Sussex .
Answered by David Johnston - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
The department is currently pursuing negotiations with West Sussex County Council for the department’s preferred location for the new special school, in West Durrington. Subject to this agreement, the department will be in a position to begin the process of acquiring the site. The department will ensure that the project director continues to keep my hon. Friend, the member for Worthing West updated as things progress.
Asked by: Peter Bottomley (Conservative - Worthing West)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether her Department has made a recent assessment of regional variations in levels of supply and demand for religious education teachers in secondary schools.
Answered by Damian Hinds - Minister of State (Education)
One of our top priorities is to ensure that the department continues to attract, retain and develop the highly skilled teachers we need to inspire the next generation. There are now over 468,000 full time equivalent (FTE) teachers in state-funded schools in England, which is an increase of 27,000 (6%) since 2010. This makes it the highest FTE of teachers since the School Workforce Census began in 2010.
The department understands there is further to go to improve recruitment in some subjects. That is why the department has put in place bursaries worth £10,000 tax-free to encourage talented trainee teachers to teach Religious Education (RE).
The 2023/24 pay award means that teachers and leaders in maintained schools received the highest pay award in over thirty years and it delivers our manifesto commitment of at least a £30,000 starting salary for school teachers in all regions of the country in all subjects, including RE.
RE is an essential part of a school’s curriculum and remains a compulsory subject in all state-funded schools, including academies, to all pupils up to the age of 18.
Whilst no detailed assessment of primary teacher’s confidence in teaching RE has taken place, it is right that teachers feel confident in delivering the content for this subject. To ensure high standards and confidence in RE teaching, RE resources are being procured by Oak National Academy as part of the second tranche of its work. Oak will work closely with the sector and utilise sector experience when producing new materials for RE. This will ensure that high quality lessons are available nationwide, benefitting both teachers and pupils. These resources will begin to be available from Autumn 2024 and be fully available by September 2025
Data on numbers of qualified RE teachers are available on a national scale only. Using the Teacher Workforce Census there were 15,721 RE teachers in state-funded secondary schools nationally in 2022/23, which represents an increase from 15,529 in 2021/22 (up 192 teachers or 1.2%).
Asked by: Peter Bottomley (Conservative - Worthing West)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether her Department (a) is taking and (b) plans to take steps to increase the number and proportion of teachers trained in religious education teaching.
Answered by Damian Hinds - Minister of State (Education)
One of our top priorities is to ensure that the department continues to attract, retain and develop the highly skilled teachers we need to inspire the next generation. There are now over 468,000 full time equivalent (FTE) teachers in state-funded schools in England, which is an increase of 27,000 (6%) since 2010. This makes it the highest FTE of teachers since the School Workforce Census began in 2010.
The department understands there is further to go to improve recruitment in some subjects. That is why the department has put in place bursaries worth £10,000 tax-free to encourage talented trainee teachers to teach Religious Education (RE).
The 2023/24 pay award means that teachers and leaders in maintained schools received the highest pay award in over thirty years and it delivers our manifesto commitment of at least a £30,000 starting salary for school teachers in all regions of the country in all subjects, including RE.
RE is an essential part of a school’s curriculum and remains a compulsory subject in all state-funded schools, including academies, to all pupils up to the age of 18.
Whilst no detailed assessment of primary teacher’s confidence in teaching RE has taken place, it is right that teachers feel confident in delivering the content for this subject. To ensure high standards and confidence in RE teaching, RE resources are being procured by Oak National Academy as part of the second tranche of its work. Oak will work closely with the sector and utilise sector experience when producing new materials for RE. This will ensure that high quality lessons are available nationwide, benefitting both teachers and pupils. These resources will begin to be available from Autumn 2024 and be fully available by September 2025
Data on numbers of qualified RE teachers are available on a national scale only. Using the Teacher Workforce Census there were 15,721 RE teachers in state-funded secondary schools nationally in 2022/23, which represents an increase from 15,529 in 2021/22 (up 192 teachers or 1.2%).
Asked by: Peter Bottomley (Conservative - Worthing West)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if she will make an assessment of the adequacy of levels of confidence among primary school teachers in teaching religious education.
Answered by Damian Hinds - Minister of State (Education)
One of our top priorities is to ensure that the department continues to attract, retain and develop the highly skilled teachers we need to inspire the next generation. There are now over 468,000 full time equivalent (FTE) teachers in state-funded schools in England, which is an increase of 27,000 (6%) since 2010. This makes it the highest FTE of teachers since the School Workforce Census began in 2010.
The department understands there is further to go to improve recruitment in some subjects. That is why the department has put in place bursaries worth £10,000 tax-free to encourage talented trainee teachers to teach Religious Education (RE).
The 2023/24 pay award means that teachers and leaders in maintained schools received the highest pay award in over thirty years and it delivers our manifesto commitment of at least a £30,000 starting salary for school teachers in all regions of the country in all subjects, including RE.
RE is an essential part of a school’s curriculum and remains a compulsory subject in all state-funded schools, including academies, to all pupils up to the age of 18.
Whilst no detailed assessment of primary teacher’s confidence in teaching RE has taken place, it is right that teachers feel confident in delivering the content for this subject. To ensure high standards and confidence in RE teaching, RE resources are being procured by Oak National Academy as part of the second tranche of its work. Oak will work closely with the sector and utilise sector experience when producing new materials for RE. This will ensure that high quality lessons are available nationwide, benefitting both teachers and pupils. These resources will begin to be available from Autumn 2024 and be fully available by September 2025
Data on numbers of qualified RE teachers are available on a national scale only. Using the Teacher Workforce Census there were 15,721 RE teachers in state-funded secondary schools nationally in 2022/23, which represents an increase from 15,529 in 2021/22 (up 192 teachers or 1.2%).
Asked by: Peter Bottomley (Conservative - Worthing West)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what information his Department holds on the longest length of time a primary school has been waiting for a response from Edenred relating to a query about free school meal vouchers since the beginning of the covid-19 outbreak.
Answered by Vicky Ford
As my right hon. Friends the Prime Minister and Chancellor of the Exchequer have both made clear, the government will do whatever it takes to support people affected by Covid-19.
During this period, we are asking schools to support pupils eligible for benefits-related free school meals by providing meals or food parcels through their existing food providers wherever possible. However, we recognise that providing meals and food parcels is not a practicable option for all schools. That is why, on 31 March, we launched a national voucher scheme as an alternative option, with costs covered by the Department for Education.
Voucher codes are being processed and many thousands of families are redeeming them. As of 28 April, Edenred have indicated that over 16,500 schools have placed orders for codes under this scheme. As of Friday 7 May, Edenred reported that over £58 million worth of voucher codes have been redeemed into supermarket e-gift cards by schools and families.
Schools can contact Edenred using either the email address or phone number setup specifically for the Department of Education’s national voucher scheme (freeschoolmeals@edenred.com or 0333 400 5932). We do not hold details of the time taken to respond to individual queries. We are working closely with Edenred regarding the performance of the voucher scheme and their engagement with queries from schools.
We are working tirelessly with Edenred to resolve any outstanding technical problems so that children eligible for free schools meals are supported quickly. As always, we thank schools for their patience while we expand the system to meet the high demand and for ensuring that the families who are most in need continue to receive the support that they require.
These are rapidly developing circumstances and we will continue to keep the situation under review and to keep Parliament updated accordingly.
Asked by: Peter Bottomley (Conservative - Worthing West)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether arrangements are in place to allow schools to purchase free school meal vouchers direct from local supermarkets during the covid-19 lockdown.
Answered by Vicky Ford
As both my right hon. Friends the Prime Minister and Chancellor of the Exchequer have made clear, the government will do whatever it takes to support people affected by COVID-19.
Our latest guidance on providing free school meals at this time is available at the following link:
Through the national voucher scheme, schools and families could initially access eGift cards for Morrisons, Tesco, Sainsbury’s, Asda, Waitrose and M&S. On Monday 27 April Aldi were added to this scheme and on Wednesday 29 April McColl’s were also added. As of the 7th May, Edenred report that £58 million has been converted into supermarket vouchers by families and schools. We recognise that it may not be convenient or possible for some families to visit one of these supermarkets and we are continuing to work to see if additional supermarkets can be added to this list.
If families are not able to access any of the supermarkets which are part of the national voucher scheme, schools are able to purchase vouchers directly for alternative supermarkets. Schools can be reimbursed for the cost of these alternatives through the schools coronavirus exceptional costs fund, up to £15 per pupil per week. This funding covers unavoidable additional costs incurred due to the COVID-19 outbreak that cannot be met from their existing resources.
These are rapidly developing circumstances; we continue to keep the situation under review and will keep Parliament updated accordingly.
Asked by: Peter Bottomley (Conservative - Worthing West)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if he will make it his policy to calculate and update each year the amount of high needs funding to be allocated on the number of children being diagnosed with special needs; and what his policy is on directly correlating funding with need.
Answered by Nadhim Zahawi
The high needs national funding formula allocates funding to local authorities through a range of proxy factors, including socio-economic deprivation, low attainment and disability. This is to avoid the perverse incentive to label children as having special educational needs (SEN) or a disability to secure additional funding, which would arise if the number of education, health and care plans determined the amount of funding allocated. As identified in ‘research on funding for young people with special educational needs’, a report by ISOS Partnership in 2015, there is a significant correlation between these proxy indicators and SEN. The use of these proxy indicators means that local authorities with higher proportions of SEN children typically attract additional funding.The research report can be found at: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/445519/DFE-RR470_-_Funding_for_young_people_with_special_educational_needs.pdf.
Asked by: Peter Bottomley (Conservative - Worthing West)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment he has made of the potential effect of the devolution of the adult education budget on the development of literacy, numeracy and digital skills.
Answered by Anne Milton
By devolving the Adult Education Budget to Mayoral Combined Authorities, local areas will be able to shape the delivery of skills for the benefit of their residents. To make sure that there is a quality and consistent offer throughout, the department will continue to specify which qualifications will be eligible for full funding through the English, mathematics and digital statutory duties.
Asked by: Peter Bottomley (Conservative - Worthing West)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what public funding has been provided to the Workers Educational Association in each of the last three years; and what plans the Government has to fund the Workers Educational Association in the future.
Answered by Anne Milton
The table attached shows the amount funding paid by the Education and Skills Funding Agency (ESFA) to the Workers Educational Association for the past three funding years (from August to July).
The Workers Educational Association are in scope to receive an allocation and will be notified of the amount of funding available to them shortly.
For 2018 to 2019, the ESFA will continue to allocate the Adult Education Budget (AEB).
From 2019 to 2020, responsibility for the AEB will be devolved to eight Mayoral Combined Authorities (MCAs) and the Greater London Authority.
Once authorities take on the role they will, within the agreed conditions of their devolution deal, be responsible for commissioning AEB provision in their local areas, having the freedom to set their own priorities, whilst still being subject to the statutory duties of my right hon. Friend, the Secretary of State. This will allow them to focus on meeting local area need and delivering local economic objectives.
The ESFA will continue to allocate funding to providers that do not deliver in the devolved areas.