Asked by: Rosie Duffield (Independent - Canterbury)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment he has made of the potential merits of creating an independent regulator of further education providers.
Answered by Gillian Keegan
The quality of further education (FE) providers is independently regulated by Ofsted. Financial health is regulated by the Education and Skills Funding Agency, which ensures direct accountability to ministers.
In addition, the FE Commissioner provides practitioner experience to help improve leadership and governance. This includes supporting colleges at risk (through diagnostic assessments) and highlighting best practice, supported by the National Leaders of Further Education.
We are currently considering the recommendations of the Independent Review of College Financial Oversight, carried out by Dame Mary Ney, and will publish the report and the government response in due course.
Asked by: Rosie Duffield (Independent - Canterbury)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps he is taking to monitor the number of children becoming eligible for free school meal vouchers due to decreased household income as a result of covid-19.
Answered by Vicky Ford
Schools and local authorities will continue to accept free school meal applications from parents and pupils. The department will continue to provide access to the Eligibility Checking System to support schools and local authorities in verifying and awarding free school meals.
Asked by: Rosie Duffield (Independent - Canterbury)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps his Department is taking to ensure the safety of children in care placed in unregulated homes.
Answered by Michelle Donelan
This is a priority area for this government. Where local authorities place children in independent and semi-independent settings, they must ensure that they are suitable and meet the needs of young people.
Ministers have reminded local authorities of their duty to keep children safe, particularly if they are placed away from their area. My right hon. Friend, the Secretary of State for Education, made this expectation clear in his letter to local authorities last year, and we will progress action.
Asked by: Rosie Duffield (Independent - Canterbury)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment he has made of the effect of the UK leaving the EU without a deal on food standards in schools.
Answered by Kemi Badenoch - Leader of HM Official Opposition
The department expects that all schools will meet the School Food Standards in a no-deal scenario. Our standards ensure that schools meals are healthy and nutritious, and restrict the amount of fat, sugar and salt that can be served during the school day.
The UK has a high level of food security built upon a diverse range of sources, including strong domestic production and imports from other countries. This will continue to be the case whether we leave the EU with or without a deal. The government is working in partnership with food suppliers to ensure this continues.
Our guidance for schools in relation to this matter is published on GOV.UK at:
Asked by: Rosie Duffield (Independent - Canterbury)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, pursuant to the Answer of 23 July 2019 to Question 279134, what assessment he has made of the potential merits of setting up an independent body to run a student complaints scheme for (a) Level three and (b) Level two qualifications.
Answered by Kemi Badenoch - Leader of HM Official Opposition
Students with concerns about their education already have several options available to them.
If a student studying at an Education and Skills Funding Agency (ESFA) funded further education college, or other provider, has any general concerns they should first issue a formal written complaint to their college or provider. If the student remains dissatisfied after exhausting this process, they may contact the ESFA.
The Office of Qualifications and Examinations Regulation (Ofqual) is the independent regulator of qualifications, examinations and assessments in England. Where the complaint relates to the awarding organisation, Ofqual recommends that students speak to their college or provider in the first instance, who will be able to advise on whether a complaint should be made to the relevant awarding organisation. Ofqual has its own complaints procedure for regulated awarding organisations and qualifications. It expects complainants to have pursued the relevant awarding organisation’s complaints procedure before going to Ofqual.
Asked by: Rosie Duffield (Independent - Canterbury)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment he has made of the potential merits in extending consumer protection law to cover further education courses.
Answered by Anne Milton
An assessment of the potential merits of extending consumer protection law to cover further education (FE) courses has not been made. However, the government promotes high quality FE within a regulatory framework, that aims to protect the rights of learners accessing FE courses.
FE college corporations operate as independent charities and are subject to robust accountability arrangements for the public funding they receive. Ofsted inspects and publicly reports on the quality of education within FE providers. The Education and Skills Funding Agency (ESFA) allocates significant annual funding to providers of education and skills training for young people and adults. ESFA holds providers to account for their performance to ensure they consistently raise standards.
The FE Choices learner satisfaction survey 2017-18 captures learners’ experiences of their college or training organisation. The most recent survey was published by the department on 19 July and reports that 82% of learners were ‘likely’ or ‘extremely likely’ to recommend their learning provider to friends or family.
FE providers must also ensure that complaint handling processes and practices are accessible, clear and fair to learners.
Asked by: Rosie Duffield (Independent - Canterbury)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what estimate he has made of the number of school days missed by girls as a result of period poverty.
Answered by Nadhim Zahawi
We have sought to establish whether there has been any rigorous national assessment of the prevalence of period poverty or its impact on attendance, however none appears to be available.
We have produced additional analysis of our absence statistics to look for evidence of period poverty. Our analysis, published in March 2018, shows that while absence rates amongst girls do increase after a certain age, there is no evidence to suggest that this is related to pupils being disadvantaged. This suggests period poverty does not have a significant, nation-wide impact on attendance. We do want to find out more which is why we have placed questions on these issues in the department’s 2018 surveys for pupils and senior school leaders.
We have made it a priority to reduce overall pupil absence and there has been some notable success in this area, with overall yearly absence rates decreasing from 6.5% of possible sessions missed in 2006/07 to 4.7% in 2016/17.