Asked by: Richard Graham (Conservative - Gloucester)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many people (a) aged 16 to 64 who were economically inactive between February and April 2010, (b) aged 16 to 24 who were employed between February and April 2010 and (c) aged 16 to 24 who were unemployed between February and April 2010.
Answered by Jo Churchill - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
The 16-64 UK economic inactivity level was 9.5 million between February and April 2010. The 16-24 employment level was 3.7 million between February and April 2010 and the 16-24 unemployment level was 0.9 million.
Employment and unemployment data is published and available at:
Asked by: Richard Graham (Conservative - Gloucester)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if she will make an assessment of the impact of expenditure on high and special needs educational provision on Gloucestershire County Council's 2024-25 education budget.
Answered by David Johnston - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
Gloucestershire County Council has provisionally been allocated £97 million through the high needs national funding formula (NFF) in 2024-25, as published this July. This is a cumulative increase of 28% per head over the three years from 2021/22. The department will be publishing in December this year each local authority’s confirmed allocations for 2024/25, updated with the latest pupil number data, in their Dedicated Schools Grant allocations. The high needs NFF includes a factor based on local authorities’ historic spending, as of 2017/18. Gloucestershire is attracting £27 million in respect of that factor within its overall high needs NFF allocation for 2024/25.
Asked by: Richard Graham (Conservative - Gloucester)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how large Gloucestershire County Council's Dedicated Schools Grant deficit is compared to other local authorities; and whether her Department is taking steps to help support Gloucestershire County Council to implement the (a) Safety Valve and (b) Delivering Better Value programmes.
Answered by David Johnston - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
Gloucestershire County Council’s Dedicated Schools Grant (DSG) deficit for 2021/22 was £17 million (3.26% of DSG funding). For 2022/23 the DSG deficit is £28.6 million (5.19% of 2022/23 DSG funding).
Based on the 2021/22 figures, Gloucestershire County Council is the local authority with the 59th largest deficit.
The department is taking steps to support Gloucestershire County Council through the Delivering Better Value in the Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND) programme. The programme aims to help local authorities improve the outcomes for children and young people with SEND and place their local systems on a more sustainable financial footing.
Gloucestershire County Council is engaging positively with the programme and has completed the first phase which involves a root-cause diagnostic of its local system, engaging with its stakeholders; and the development of an implementation plan to address issues identified.
Asked by: Richard Graham (Conservative - Gloucester)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many pupils attended holiday activities and food programmes in (a) Gloucester and (b) Gloucestershire during summer (i) 2022 and (ii) 2023.
Answered by David Johnston - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
The below table includes data for Gloucestershire local authority for Summer 2022. The department does not hold data below local authority level.
2022
LA | TOTAL number of attendees [sum of all incl. other] - Primary Aged | TOTAL number of attendees [sum of all incl. other] - Secondary Aged | Overall |
Gloucestershire | 10,078 | 3,101 | 13,179 |
2023 data is not yet available.
Asked by: Richard Graham (Conservative - Gloucester)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many supported internships for people with high special educational needs have been made available for 16-19 year olds in Gloucestershire.
Answered by Robert Halfon
The SEN2 data publication indicates how many young people up to the age of 25 are enrolled on supported internships in Gloucestershire in 2021, 2022, and 2023. The data can found at: https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/data-tables/permalink/aa3ee401-2f03-4901-4e0e-08dbdfa6a426.
The department is not able to specify how many of these placements were for 16–19-year-olds. The department does not hold data on how many supported internship placements Gloucestershire made available.
In February 2022, the department announced that it is investing up to £18 million over the next three years to build capacity in the Supported Internships programme, aiming to double the number of Supported Internships to give more young people with an Education, Health and Care (EHC) plan the skills to secure and sustain paid employment.
In the 2023 Spring Budget, my right hon. Friend, the Chancellor of the Exchequer, announced up to £3 million to pilot extending Supported Internships to young people with learning difficulties and disabilities without EHC plans by March 2025.
Asked by: Richard Graham (Conservative - Gloucester)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many appeals of SEND decisions made by people from Gloucestershire were heard at tribunals in each of the last five years; and how many and what proportion of those cases were won by parents.
Answered by Mike Freer - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Justice)
Information about appeals to the First-tier Tribunal for Special Educational Needs and Disability (SEND) is published at: www.gov.uk/government/collections/tribunals-statistics.
The table below sets out the number of appeals to SEND against decisions made by the Local Authority in Gloucestershire for the period 2018 to 2023; and the percentage of appeals which were found in favour of the appellant (which includes parents and young people), for the years 2020 – 2022.
Academic year | Total appeals registered | Total appeals heard | Total of successful appeals | Percentage of successful appeals |
2018 | 40 | - | - | - |
2019 | 55 | - | - | - |
2020 | 27 | 12 | 11 | 92% |
2021 | 34 | 28 | 23 | 82% |
2022 | 131 | 84 | 83 | 99% |
Outcome data on appeals before 2020 are not available due to the Records Retention and Disposal Schedule (RRDS) of the Health, Education and Social Care Chamber of HM Courts and Tribunals Service (HMCTS) (of which SEND is part) requiring that data are deleted three years after the conclusion of the appeal. The full RRDS can be found at https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/62b47cfcd3bf7f0af821efef/health-education-social-care-chamber-rrds.pdf.
Decisions made by Local Authorities about the special educational needs of young people can be overturned on appeal for a variety of reasons. For instance, further evidence, including evidence in the form of oral testimony, may be provided at the hearing. HMCTS cannot comment on decisions made by independent tribunal judiciary.
Asked by: Richard Graham (Conservative - Gloucester)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many music teachers there are in Gloucestershire; and how many there were in 2010.
Answered by Damian Hinds - Minister of State (Education)
Information on the school workforce in England, including the number of subject teachers in state funded secondary schools, is collected each November as part of the annual School Workforce Census. Information is published in the ‘School Workforce in England’ statistical publication, available at: https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/find-statistics/school-workforce-in-england.
The number of hours spent teaching music and other subjects nationally in a typical week for the 2011/12 to 2022/23 academic years (full time period available), is available at: https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/data-tables/permalink/8a899462-7a12-4c60-4df6-08dbdfa6a426.
As of 2022/23, there were 75 music teachers (any teacher timetabled to teach music) at Key Stages 3, 4, and 5 in the 36 state funded secondary schools in Gloucestershire that reported data on subjects taught. There were a further five schools that did not report such data. An equivalent figure for 2010/11 is not available.
Timetabled teaching is reported for a typical week in November, as determined by the school. It does not cover an entire year of teaching. If there are variations in timetabling across the year, this is not covered in the data available to the department.
Subject taught is only collected from secondary schools that use electronic timetabling software that can produce data in the format required. Data is then weighted to provide national totals.
Asked by: Richard Graham (Conservative - Gloucester)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether her Department plans to provide additional funding to Gloucestershire County Council for education services.
Answered by Damian Hinds - Minister of State (Education)
The Central School Services Block (CSSB) funds local authorities to carry out central functions on behalf of all pupils in maintained schools and academies. The CSSB funding comprises two distinct parts: funding for ongoing responsibilities, and for historic commitments. In 2023/24, Gloucestershire received a total of £3,077,365 in CSSB funding, and its provisional CSSB allocation for 2024/25 through the National Funding Formula is £3,197,919. Final allocations for 2024/25 will be published in December within the Dedicated Schools Grant.
Asked by: Richard Graham (Conservative - Gloucester)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many apprenticeship starts there were in (a) Gloucester and (b) Gloucestershire in each year since 2010.
Answered by Robert Halfon
Since the 2010/11 academic year there have been 14,860 apprenticeship starts in Gloucester and 57,200 in Gloucestershire reported to date. These totals include the 2022/23 academic year figures which are provisional and cover the first three quarters (August 2022 to April 2023). The full year figures for the 2022/23 academic year will be published on 30 November 2023.
Apprenticeship starts are recorded on the Individualised Learner Record (ILR) and published by the department in the apprenticeships and traineeships statistics publication, which can be accessed at: https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/find-statistics/apprenticeships-and-traineeships. Apprenticeship starts for Gloucester and Gloucestershire for the 2010/11 to 2022/23 academic years are shown here: https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/data-tables/permalink/38cbdfef-ad03-41bc-4937-08dbdfb23d99.
Asked by: Richard Graham (Conservative - Gloucester)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many pensioners in Gloucester constituency who received the winter fuel allowance also received the (a) £400 energy bill discount, (b) £150 council tax rebate, (c) £150 warm home discount, (d) £900 energy price guarantee and (e) the £150 disability Cost of Living payment; what assessment he has made of the impact of those allowances on pensioners in Gloucester constituency; and what assessment he has made of trends in the number of pensioners in that constituency in 2023-24.
Answered by Laura Trott - Chief Secretary to the Treasury
The information requested for part a) to d) is not held by this department. Therefore, the department cannot make an assessment of how many pensioners received the combination of support listed in the question or the impact of receiving such allowances.
The number of Winter Fuel Payments received in Gloucester constituency in winter 2021 to 2022 was 18,468. Statistics for the Winter of 2022 to 2023 will be published in September 2023. A full breakdown of Winter Fuel Payment statistics can be found here: Winter Fuel Payment statistics for winter2020 to 2021 and winter 2021 to 2022 - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk).
The Department for Work and Pensions has published management information on the total number of Pensioner Cost of Living Payments made. The information can be found here: Pensioner Cost of Living Payment management information - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)
The department has also published management information on the number of means-tested benefits and disability Cost of Living payments made. The information can be found here Cost of Living Payment management information - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)
In line with the Code of Practice for Statistics, the number of Cost of Living Payments made in specific constituencies is the subject of an upcoming statistical release, and cannot be released before that publication is ready, subject to usual quality assurance.
As reported in the DWP benefits statistics, there were 18,817 people in receipt of State Pension in Gloucester constituency in the quarter ending August 2022, a very slight increase from 18,597 in the quarter ending August 2021. This information can be found here DWP benefits statistics: February 2023 - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk). The ONS has released constituency level data on the age of the UK population using an interactive dashboard which can be found here Constituency data: population, by age (parliament.uk)