Asked by: Philip Dunne (Conservative - Ludlow)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many (a) looked after children and (b) children in need there are by (i) local authority and (ii) parliamentary constituency in the most recent period for which figures are available.
Answered by Michelle Donelan - Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology
The latest figures on children looked after by local authority were published in the local authority tables (Table LAA1) of the statistical release ‘Children looked after in England including adoption: 2017 to 2018’, which is available at: https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/children-looked-after-in-england-including-adoption-2017-to-2018. The 2018/19 statistics on children looked after will be released on 5 December 2019.
The latest figures on children in need by local authority were published on 31 October 2019, in the statistical release ‘Characteristics of children in need: 2018 to 2019’, which is available at : https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/characteristics-of-children-in-need-2018-to-2019. Table B1 shows the number of children in need at 31 March by local authority (column S).
The department does not collect information on looked after children or children in need by Parliamentary constituency.
Asked by: Philip Dunne (Conservative - Ludlow)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if he will make an assessment of the potential effect of ending independent inspections of local authority children's services on the effectiveness of the safeguarding of young people by those services.
Answered by Michelle Donelan - Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology
A uniquely independent and balanced assessment of all local authority children’s social care departments is provided by Ofsted and, as such, the inspectorate is an important driver of standards and accountability in the system. Where Ofsted inspectors use their powers to take a focussed look at the lived experience of children in a given area, and find a local authority is failing (‘inadequate’) to protect children or promote their welfare, the government is then able to take quick and decisive action to intervene and make services safe as quickly and decisively as possible. In recent years, we have seen an improvement in the performance of local authority children’s social care services, with 48% of local authorities now rated ‘good’ or ‘outstanding’, compared to 36% at the end of 2017.
Asked by: Philip Dunne (Conservative - Ludlow)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what the annual cost to the public purse would be of the provision of 30 hours free childcare a week to (a) 0 to 1 year-olds (b) 1 to 2 year-olds (c) 2 to 3 year-olds, (d) 3 and 4 year-olds; and what assessment he has made of the capacity of nurseries to extend childcare provision to each of those age groups.
Answered by Nick Gibb
It has not proved possible to respond to the hon. Member in the time available before Dissolution.
Asked by: Philip Dunne (Conservative - Ludlow)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many children were in (a) early years settings, (b) primary schools, (c) secondary schools and (d) further education rated (i) inadequate, (ii) requires improvement, (iii) good and (iv) outstanding by Ofsted in each year since 1997.
Answered by Nick Gibb
The information detailed below on early years settings, primary and secondary schools, and further education is available.
The latest Ofsted data for early years settings cover the period from 2011-2014 and can be found here:
https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/childcare-providers-and-inspections-as-at-31-march-2019.
The Department for Education only collects data on the number of children benefiting from free funded early education and holds no data on all children in early years settings.
The latest Ofsted data on Primary and Secondary school inspection data (which covers the period from 2010-2019) can be found here:
Ofsted changed their methodology in 2018 and the latest statistics are based on the new methodology. Information on the changes made can be found here :
The latest Ofsted data on the further education inspection ratings (covering the period from 2013 to 2019) can be found here:
https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/further-education-and-skills-inspection-outcomes.
Due to differences between the data sets of each area, and the time scales covered, data since 1997 for each area requested is not held centrally and could only be obtained at disproportionate cost.
Asked by: Philip Dunne (Conservative - Ludlow)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many (a) looked after children and (b) children in need are on the roll of independent schools.
Answered by Michelle Donelan - Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology
3,372 looked after children were on the roll of independent schools in January 2019, according to the most recent School Level Annual School Census figures. Through our Board School Partnerships initiative, we are encouraging local authorities to be more proactive in this field.
The department does not collect information in the school census on the number of children in need in independent schools.
Asked by: Philip Dunne (Conservative - Ludlow)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what estimate he has made of the annual cost to the public purse of extending the current system of 15 hours of free childcare for all three and four year olds to include an additional 15 hours for three and four year olds whose parents are in work.
Answered by Nick Gibb
Since September 2017, 3- and 4-year old children of working parents have been able to access an additional 15 hours free childcare, on top of the universal 15 hours entitlement. Details of this expenditure can be found in the Dedicated Schools Grant Allocations tables, here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/dedicated-schools-grant-dsg-2019-to-2020.
Asked by: Philip Dunne (Conservative - Ludlow)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, with reference to the October 2019 national funding formula release, what estimate he has made of the average per-pupil funding increase in (a) 2020-21, (b) 2021-22 and (c) 2022-23 in (i) each (i) school, (ii) local authority and (iii) parliamentary constituency.
Answered by Nick Gibb
In 2020-21, the National Funding Formula (NFF) will ensure that every school attracts at least a per-pupil increase in line with inflation, with faster than inflation for most. Nationally, per-pupil funding is increasing by 4.2% per pupil next year. The Department has published provisional NFF allocations to show what each school is attracting under the NFF, and what each local authority will receive, per pupil, for schools in its local area. This is available at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/national-funding-formula-tables-for-schools-and-high-needs-2020-to-2021.
The attached table shows the increase in funding that schools are receiving by constituency area.
Local authorities continue to be responsible for determining final allocations, in consultation with local schools, and will inform schools of their budgets for next year early in 2020. While the Department has not yet determined school funding allocations beyond 2020-21, we have announced that funding levels will increase by £4.8 billion in 2021-22, and £7.1 billion in 2022-23, compared to 2019-20.
Asked by: Philip Dunne (Conservative - Ludlow)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment has been made of the effect on school standards of removing independent, national assessments by OFSTED of school standards and safeguarding on (a) provision (b) primary schools (c) secondary schools and (d) further education provision.
Answered by Nick Gibb
Ofsted is the only body able to provide an independent, rounded judgement of schools, further education provision, and early years settings. This role has helped to raise standards in our schools with 87% of primary schools and 75% of secondary schools rated good or outstanding, compared to 67% and 64% respectively in 2010. Currently, 82% further education and skills providers are judged good or outstanding, compared to 64% in 2012. Currently, 95% of early years providers are rated good or outstanding, compared to 74% in 2012.
Ofsted also plays an important role in safeguarding for early years, schools and further education provision. As part of the overall effectiveness judgement, inspectors will always make a written judgement about the effectiveness of the arrangements for safeguarding children and pupils.
Asked by: Philip Dunne (Conservative - Ludlow)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what estimate he has made of the average per pupil funding increase in each parliamentary constituency in 2020-21.
Answered by Nick Gibb
In 2020-21, the National Funding Formula (NFF) will ensure that every school attracts at least a per-pupil increase in line with inflation, with faster than inflation for most. Nationally, per-pupil funding is increasing by 4.2% per pupil next year. The Department has published provisional NFF allocations to show what each school is attracting under the NFF, and what each local authority will receive, per pupil, for schools in its local area. This is available at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/national-funding-formula-tables-for-schools-and-high-needs-2020-to-2021.
The attached table shows the increase in funding that schools are receiving by constituency area.
Local authorities continue to be responsible for determining final allocations, in consultation with local schools, and will inform schools of their budgets for next year early in 2020. While the Department has not yet determined school funding allocations beyond 2020-21, we have announced that funding levels will increase by £4.8 billion in 2021-22, and £7.1 billion in 2022-23, compared to 2019-20.
Asked by: Philip Dunne (Conservative - Ludlow)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment his Department has made of the effect of increasing teacher starting salaries to £30,000 by 2022-23 on the recruitment and retention of teachers; how much new teachers in inner and outer London will receive in addition to that starting salary; and whether existing teachers will receive salary increases to ensure that their salary is above the new starting salary.
Answered by Nick Gibb
We introduced the Teacher Recruitment and Retention Strategy in January 2019. This highlighted evidence demonstrating the need to take significant action on starting salaries and early career pay over the medium term to address recruitment and retention challenges. By raising starting salaries for new teachers to £30,000, we are increasing the competitiveness of the early career pay framework, and ensuring the teaching profession is positioned at the top of the graduate labour market.
Our proposals include pay rises for all teachers, and new starters after 2022 will not ‘overtake’ existing teachers. London weighting will continue, providing a salary uplift for teachers within the London areas. These proposals will be put forward in our evidence to the School Teachers’ Review Body. We have asked them in the remit letter to consider how best to design the overall pay structure, alongside the move to a significantly higher starting salary, to best support recruitment and retention to the profession. This evidence will be published in due course.