Asked by: Rosie Cooper (Labour - West Lancashire)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if he will raise the rate of funding for sixth form students to at least £4,760 per year.
Answered by Gillian Keegan - Secretary of State for Education
We are investing an extra £400 million in 16 to 19 education next year to ensure that we are building the skills that our country needs. We will increase the base rate of funding by 4.7%, from £4,000 to £4,188 for the academic year 2020/21. Over and above the base rate rise, this extra spending also includes new resources for high value and high cost courses and funding to support those on level 3 programmes to continue to study English and maths where needed.
This is the biggest injection of new money into 16 to 19 education in a single year since 2010 - with funding increasing faster for 16 to 19 than in 5 to 16 schooling – and will mean a significant increase in the average level of funding per student. We will of course continue to look at the needs of 16 to 19 education in future Spending Reviews.
Asked by: Rosie Cooper (Labour - West Lancashire)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what recent assessment he has made of the adequacy of funding for sixth form students.
Answered by Gillian Keegan - Secretary of State for Education
I refer the hon. Member to the answer given by my hon. Friend, the former Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Children and Families on 28 January 2020 to 5550.
Asked by: Rosie Cooper (Labour - West Lancashire)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps his Department is taking to ensure the provision of effective financial education for young people.
Answered by Nick Gibb
Since 2014 financial education has been statutory within the secondary national curriculum as part of citizenship and mathematics. Financial education ensures that pupils are taught the functions and uses of money, the importance of personal budgeting, money management and managing financial risk.
The Ofsted inspection framework sets out how inspections take a view on the quality of the broad and balanced education that a school provides. This includes how schools provide pupils with the knowledge and skills needed to take advantage of opportunities, responsibilities and experiences of later life, which can include financial education, as well as how curriculum subjects such as citizenship contribute to pupils’ personal development.
There are a number of organisations that support financial education for young people. Young Money recently launched a free financial education textbook for secondary schools, to support high quality teaching of the subject. We are currently working with the Money and Pension Service and HM Treasury to consider how we can support further the teaching of financial education in schools.
Asked by: Rosie Cooper (Labour - West Lancashire)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether (a) nationality and (b) country-of-birth data collected in the school census (i) has not been, (ii) is not and (iii) will not be processed for Home Office purposes; and if he will make a statement.
Answered by Nick Gibb
The Department collected data on the nationality and country of birth of pupils via the school census between autumn 2016 and summer 2018. This data was collected for research purposes and has not been shared, nor will it be shared, with the Home Office for immigration enforcement purposes.
The Home Office can only request information from the Department for Education for immigration enforcement purposes in circumstances where they have clear evidence a child may be at risk or there is evidence of illegal activity, including illegal immigration. In such cases limited data including a pupil’s address and school details may be requested from the National Pupil Database. It is right that this data is shared if it helps to keep a child safe from harm or to disrupt a crime.
The basis for sharing information is set out in a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between the Department for Education and the Home Office. A copy of this agreement is available in the house library.
Asked by: Rosie Cooper (Labour - West Lancashire)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if he will place in the Library copies of the Memorandum of Understanding and any other data-sharing agreement for pupil, student and workforce data between his Department and the Home Office.
Answered by Nick Gibb
The data sharing agreement between the Department for Education and the Home Office, and the Umbrella Memorandum of Understanding, will be placed in the Libraries of both Houses.
Asked by: Rosie Cooper (Labour - West Lancashire)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, pursuant to the Answer of 19 December 2018 to Question 201097 on Pupils: Personal Records, what methods schools have as available to them as joint data controllers to withdraw (a) nationality and (b) country-of-birth data that they collected in the school census since 2016 and which parents now wish to retract as a result of the ongoing use of pupil data for immigration enforcement purposes.
Answered by Nick Gibb
Data collected on pupil nationality and country of birth is not used for immigration enforcement purposes and has not been shared externally with third parties, including other government departments. The Department collected data on the nationality, country of birth and proficiency in English of pupils via the school census between autumn 2016 and summer 2018. The data are collected for research purposes to help us understand the impact of migration on the school system. Understanding trends in migration, and the associated needs in the school system, helps us ensure that all children, wherever they are from, have the best possible education.
The right to erasure or right to retraction are classed as individual rights requests under general data protection regulation (GDPR) and the 2018 Data Protection Act (DPA). Whilst individual rights are not absolute under GDPR/DPA, any individual rights requests from data subjects for data held or processed by the Department, or from individuals with unambiguous consent to act on behalf of a data subject, should be made via the contact us form on the DfE website and selecting ‘something else’ under the ‘question’ option. The form is available here: https://form.education.gov.uk/fillform.php?self=1&form_id=cCCNJ1xSfBE&type=form&ShowMsg=1&form_name=Contact+the+Department+for+Education&noRegister=false&ret=%2Fmodule%2Fservices&noLoginPrompt=1.
Asked by: Rosie Cooper (Labour - West Lancashire)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment he has made of the economic merits of the level of funding for early intervention services provided by local authority children’s services.
Answered by Nadhim Zahawi
The government has funded the Early Intervention Foundation (EIF) since 2013, including providing almost £2 million of funding in 2018-20, to assess, evaluate and disseminate evidence of what works. The EIF has assessed the benefits of a wide range of specific early intervention programmes and suggested that, whilst producing robust estimates is challenging, there is a compelling argument that intervening early is likely to bring economic benefits to society. In particular, the EIF has highlighted that the long-term economic benefits are considerable where early intervention leads to labour market gains, such as improvements in employment and earnings. However, the EIF is clear that this is not a quick fix and is unlikely to reduce pressure on the social care system in the short term.
The value of early intervention is reflected in the statutory guidance “Working Together to Safeguard Children (2018)”, which is clear that providing early help is more effective in promoting children’s welfare than reacting later and that it plays an important part in supporting children and young people to achieve better outcomes. The guidance is clear that local areas should have a comprehensive range of effective, evidence-based services in place to address assessed needs early. It is right that local authorities are free to decide how to use their children’s social care budget to manage local priorities and deliver the best services for children.
The government has also committed £920 million to the Troubled Families Programme, an early intervention approach which aims to achieve significant and sustained improvement for families in difficult circumstances.
Asked by: Rosie Cooper (Labour - West Lancashire)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, with reference to the Action for Children press release entitled Children's funding slashed by a third per child, leaving thousands at risk of falling into crisis, dated 26 February 2019, what recent assessment he has made of the adequacy of the level of funding for children’s services.
Answered by Nadhim Zahawi
At Autumn Budget my right hon. Friend, the Chancellor announced an extra £410 million to address pressures on social care services, along with £84 million over five years to support up to 20 local authorities to improve their social work practice and decision-making, enabling them to work more effectively with the most vulnerable children and their families.
This builds on the £200 billion government has already made available to councils up to 2020 to provide services in the best interests of local residents, including those for children and young people.
We are also working closely with the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government and the sector to ensure decisions around core funding made at Spending Review, and how it is shared between local authorities as part of the review of relative needs and resources, are informed by the best available evidence.
The government will continue to work closely with the sector to consider long-term children’s services funding as part of the upcoming Spending Review.
Asked by: Rosie Cooper (Labour - West Lancashire)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment he has made of the implications for his policies of the Action for Children press release entitled Children's funding slashed by a third per child leaving thousands at risk of falling into crisis, dated 26 February 2019.
Answered by Nadhim Zahawi
At Autumn Budget my right hon. Friend, the Chancellor announced an extra £410 million to address pressures on social care services, along with £84 million over five years to support up to 20 local authorities to improve their social work practice and decision-making, enabling them to work more effectively with the most vulnerable children and their families.
This builds on the £200 billion government has already made available to councils up to 2020 to provide services in the best interests of local residents, including those for children and young people.
We are also working closely with the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government and the sector to ensure decisions around core funding made at Spending Review, and how it is shared between local authorities as part of the review of relative needs and resources, are informed by the best available evidence.
The government will continue to work closely with the sector to consider long-term children’s services funding as part of the upcoming Spending Review.