Asked by: Richard Holden (Conservative - North West Durham)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether (a) recyclable and (b) reusable sanitary products have been included in the scheme to make free sanitary products available in schools.
Answered by Michelle Donelan - Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology
The scheme provides a wide range of period products for schools and 16-19 organisations to choose from. This includes environmentally friendly pads, reusable pads, organic non-applicator tampons and menstrual cups. The ingredients for each product are provided on the ordering portal and in the scheme’s guidance.
Schools and colleges know their learners best and have the freedom to select the most suitable products for their learners, considering cost and type of product. We are monitoring product choice closely and will continue to seek opportunities to encourage the use of sustainable products as the scheme develops.
Asked by: Richard Holden (Conservative - North West Durham)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what proportion of children in schools in North West Durham passed the phonics screening check (a) when it was introduced and (b) in the latest period for which figures are available.
Answered by Nick Gibb
The Department introduced the phonics screening check for Year 1 pupils in 2012. The latest available figures are for the academic year 2018-19. Figures for the proportion of children in state-funded schools in North West Durham who met the expected standard in phonics in Year 1 are set out in the table below. As shown, 60% of pupils in state-funded schools in the parliamentary constituency met the expected standard in 2012, compared to 83% in 2019.
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Percentage of pupils meeting the expected standard in Year 1 in the phonics screening check | ||||
All state funded schools, England (2012, 2019) |
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| 2012 | 2019 | ||
| No. eligible pupils | % met standard | No. eligible pupils | % met standard |
England | 592,007 | 58% | 649,152 | 82% |
County Durham | 5,402 | 60% | 5,622 | 82% |
North West Durham | 959 | 60% | 1009 | 83% |
Equivalent figures for England and the local authority of County Durham are provided for context.
Asked by: Richard Holden (Conservative - North West Durham)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many and what proportion of apprenticeship starts there have been at level (a) 2 and (b) 3 and above in each year since 2009.
Answered by Michelle Donelan - Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology
The number and proportion of apprenticeship starts at level 2 and level 3 + in each year since 2008/09 are shown in the attached table.
Asked by: Richard Holden (Conservative - North West Durham)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether he has made an assessment of the (a) value for money of the Pause programme (b) potential merits of introducing (i) that scheme and (ii) similar programmes nationwide.
Answered by Michelle Donelan - Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology
Pause was successful in receiving funding through round 1 of the Children’s Social Care Innovation Programme to pilot the programme in 7 sites, then in round 2 to scale and spread the programme to 9 new local authority areas.
Evaluation of round 1 of the programme was completed in 2017 and estimated that the yearly cost savings attributed to each child removal that had been avoided were £57,102. The report is published at the following link: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/social-care-pause-programme.
Evaluation of round 2 ends in March 2020 and is due to be published in the summer. Studies of both rounds use a before and after impact evaluation design to understand women’s outcomes at the start and throughout the programme. These findings will inform further decisions about continued scaling up of Pause both within the pilot local authorities and nationwide.