Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what funding her Department has allocated to support teachers of (a) maths and numeracy, (b) English and literacy, (c) science, (d) music, (e) history and (f) religious education through (i) subject knowledge enhancement courses for trainees, (ii) Oak National Academy Resources (A) planned and (B) existing (iii) subject hubs, (iv) support for level 3 provision, (v) bursaries and (vi) other support for continuing professional development in each of the last five years.

Answered by Damian Hinds - Shadow Secretary of State for Education

Raising standards is at the heart of this government’s agenda and, since 2010, the number of schools rated ‘good’ or ‘outstanding’ has risen to 90% from 68%. The Progress in International Reading Study (PIRLS) 2021 showed that English primary school children are the best in the western world and were ranked 4^th out of 43 comparable countries. While the pandemic affected the study, the Programme for International School Assessment 2022 also showed that 15 year old pupils in England performed above the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and development (OECD) average and are now 11^th in maths and 13^th in reading and science. This was up from 27^th in maths, 25^th in reading and 16^th in science in 2009.

The department has invested significantly to provide a world class education system, ensuring an excellent teacher for every child, high standards of curriculum attendance and behaviour, targeted support for every child that needs it and a stronger and fairer schools system. The overall core schools budget, including the recently announced additional pensions funding, will total £60.7 billion in 2024/25, which is the highest ever level in real terms per pupil. This means school funding will have risen by £11 billion by 2024/25 compared to 2021/22.

The funding breakdown requested since 2019/20 is included below. Figures for the 2023/24 financial year are subject to ongoing data collection and reconciliation and therefore we have not included this year in the table. The department reviews Initial Teacher Training (ITT) bursaries each year to determine the offer for trainees starting ITT the following academic year. In doing this, the department takes into account a number of factors including historic recruitment, forecast economic conditions and teacher supply need in each subject. The department focuses its funded Subject Knowledge Enhancement (SKE) courses in its highest priority subjects with the greatest sufficiency challenges.

In addition to the funding outlined in the table below, the department also offers national professional qualifications (NPQs), including specialist NPQs in leading literacy and leading primary mathematics. Details on scholarship funding available for autumn 2024 is available here: https://www.gov.uk/guidance/funding-for-national-professional-qualifications-npqs.

The quality of teaching is the single most important, in-school factor for improving pupil outcomes and it is particularly important for pupils from disadvantaged backgrounds. The department is creating a world-class teacher development system, which builds from ITT, through to early career support, specialisation and onto school leadership.

1. Due to the way the department allocated funding, it does not have historic data on SKE spending by subject. This total includes all SKE funding, regardless of subject

2. Oak was incubated by The Reach Foundation and predominantly funded through a department grant until 31 August 2022. The 2023/24 financial year is Oak’s arm’s length body allocated budget as 2023/24 actuals are not yet available. The funding for Oak National Academy covers the creation of curriculum resources across all national curriculum subjects for Key Stages 1 to 4

3. Where subject hubs are part of a contract with a supplier, we have included all contract costs, including those not directly for subject hubs but for other Career Progress Development (CPD) or central programme management. The department changed the way Maths Hubs were funded in the 2021/22 academic year, resulting in a visual drop by financial year but not across the academic years. The department also has subject hubs in computing and languages which are not shown in these figures but are included in total subject hub figures set out in WPQ 20499

4. ITT bursaries are paid and assured by academic year rather than financial year. The figures provided for each financial year have been calculated by prorating the total spend for the relevant academic years that the financial year spans. Academic years 2022/2023 and 2023/2024 are subject to ongoing data collection and reconciliation and the figures provided may therefore be subject to change

5. Trainees on general science ITT courses are not eligible for bursaries. However, bursaries are available for biology, chemistry, and physics specialism courses. The figures provided for science are the total spend across the three individual sciences.

Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:

To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, what steps her Department is taking to help support scientists to transition to animal-free, human-specific technologies through (a) practical support, (b) the provision of training and (c) other means.

Answered by Andrew Griffith - Shadow Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology

The Government, via UK Research & Innovation, funds the development of techniques that replace, reduce and refine the use of animals in research through the National Centre for 3Rs (NC3Rs). The NC3Rs encourages researchers’ to use non-animal methods (NAMs) in a number of ways, including supporting the skills base by funding PhD students to work only on the development of NAMs, and dedicated funding allowing researchers to test methods alongside existing animal studies. NC3Rs recently launched a network to bring researchers from academia, industry and regulatory authorities together to share knowledge on the use of NAMs methods for safety testing.

Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:

To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, if she will make an assessment of the potential merits of hosting a global summit on human-specific technologies for scientists and policymakers to discuss the transition to these methodologies.

Answered by Andrew Griffith - Shadow Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology

The UK works closely with international partners and key organisations such as the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) to promote the development and uptake of animal replacement technologies. There are currently no plans to host a summit on the matter.

Promoter’s Response to the First Special Report of the Holocaust Memorial Bill Select Committee

Found: Bottomley (until May 2024 the Conservative MP for Worthing West) called for a requirement in the bill

Found: Bottomley (until May 2024 the Conservative MP for Worthing West) called for a requirement in the bill

Found: Cash Derek Thomas Sir Alec Shelbrooke Elliot Colburn Sir Julian Lewis Siobhan Baillie Sir Peter

Found: _NC3 Ms Harriet Harman Dame Margaret Hodge Sir Peter Bottomley Daisy Cooper Ms Karen Buck

Found: Cash Derek Thomas Sir Alec Shelbrooke Elliot Colburn Sir Julian Lewis Siobhan Baillie Sir Peter

Found: _NC3 Ms Harriet Harman Dame Margaret Hodge Sir Peter Bottomley Daisy Cooper Ms Karen Buck

Found: Bottomley Fiona Bruce ★.

Found: _NC3 Ms Harriet Harman Dame Margaret Hodge Sir Peter Bottomley Daisy Cooper Ms Karen Buck

Found: _6 Sir Peter Bottomley .

Found: Negatived _6 Sir Peter Bottomley .

Found: _NC3 Ms Harriet Harman Dame Margaret Hodge Sir Peter Bottomley Daisy Cooper Ms Karen Buck

Found: _6 Sir Peter Bottomley .

Found: Liam Byrne Mr Ranil Jayawardena Simon Fell Selaine Saxby Will Quince Suella Braverman Sir Peter