Asked by: Ruth George (Labour - High Peak)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what estimate he has made of the number of pupils permanently excluded from schools in Derbyshire at key stage (a) 1, (b) 2, (c) 3 and (d) 4 in each of the last five years.
Answered by Nick Gibb
Information on the number of permanent exclusions in Derbyshire broken down by year group is published in the ‘Permanent and fixed-period exclusions in England 2015 to 2016’ National Statistics release, available here: https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/permanent-and-fixed-period-exclusions-in-england-2015-to-2016.[1] Total exclusion figures for each key stage are not published.
A table is attached showing the total Number and Rate of permanent exclusions in Derbyshire Local Authority from 2011/12 to 2015/16, broken down by year group.
[1] Underlying exclusions data for local authorities can be found in the file SFR_35_2017_LA_characteristics.csv, also available to view at the above site.
Asked by: Ruth George (Labour - High Peak)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, which schools are in the 20 per cent most deprived areas.
Answered by Nadhim Zahawi
The department does not routinely produce information about schools in the 20% most deprived areas. The department’s main measure of deprivation is the percentage of pupils eligible for Free School Meals (FSM) and this is included in School Performance Tables. The full list of FSM rates per school can be downloaded from the School Performance Tables website and ranked accordingly: https://www.compare-school-performance.service.gov.uk/.
Asked by: Ruth George (Labour - High Peak)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many children will be eligible for free school meals as a result of the protections for entitlement under the existing arrangements.
Answered by Nadhim Zahawi
As explained in our consultation paper, we have recently brought forward proposals to update the temporary criteria for free school meals eligibility under universal credit. In setting these new criteria, we are ensuring that the new arrangements are fair, consistent and simple to deliver. The consultation paper is available to view here: https://consult.education.gov.uk/healthy-pupil-unit/fsm/.
Last year, around 1.1 million of the most disadvantaged children were eligible for and claiming a free meal. As a result of our proposed criteria, we estimate that by 2022 around 50,000 more children will benefit from a free school meal compared to the previous benefits system.
In addition, we will also provide generous protections to ensure that no child will lose out as a result of these changes up until the end of the rollout of universal credit. This is part of ongoing policy development.
Asked by: Ruth George (Labour - High Peak)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many children will be eligible for free school meals as a result of the protections for entitlement under the existing arrangements.
Answered by Nadhim Zahawi
As explained in our consultation paper, we have recently brought forward proposals to update the temporary criteria for free school meals eligibility under universal credit. In setting these new criteria, we are ensuring that the new arrangements are fair, consistent and simple to deliver. The consultation paper is available to view here: https://consult.education.gov.uk/healthy-pupil-unit/fsm/.
Last year, around 1.1 million of the most disadvantaged children were eligible for and claiming a free meal. As a result of our proposed criteria, we estimate that by 2022 around 50,000 more children will benefit from a free school meal compared to the previous benefits system.
In addition, we will also provide generous protections to ensure that no child will lose out as a result of these changes up until the end of the rollout of universal credit. This is part of ongoing policy development.
Asked by: Ruth George (Labour - High Peak)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if he will estimate how many children will become eligible for free school meals in each of the next 5 years under (a) proposal in the Eligibility for free school meals and the early years pupil premium under Universal Credit government consultation and (b) existing rules of eligibility.
Answered by Nadhim Zahawi
As explained in our consultation paper, we have recently brought forward proposals to update the temporary criteria for free school meals eligibility under Universal Credit. In setting these new criteria, we are ensuring that the new arrangements are fair, consistent and simple to deliver. The consultation paper is available to view here: https://consult.education.gov.uk/healthy-pupil-unit/fsm/.
Free school meals are targeted at children who need them most. If all children in families receiving Universal Credit were to become eligible for a free school meal this would result in around half of school age pupils becoming eligible compared to a current rate of around 14%.
Under our proposed new criteria, we estimate that by 2022 around 50,000 more children will benefit from a free school meal compared to the previous benefits system.
Asked by: Ruth George (Labour - High Peak)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many families would be better off reducing their income to less than £7,400 a year to secure free school meals.
Answered by Nadhim Zahawi
The information requested is not held centrally. The government recently held a public consultation on setting a net earnings threshold under universal credit to determine a household’s eligibility for free school meals. Under our proposals, we estimate that by 2022 around 50,000 more children will benefit from a free school meal compared to the previous benefits system.
Asked by: Ruth George (Labour - High Peak)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, when she plans to respond to Question 4640, tabled by the hon. Member for High Peak on 12 July 2017 on children: day care.
Answered by Robert Goodwill
I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave on 21 July 2017 to question UIN 4640.
Asked by: Ruth George (Labour - High Peak)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what estimate she has made of the (a) total number and (b) proportion of families eligible for the offer of 30 hours free childcare who have (i) registered for their place via the Childcare Choices website and (ii) also had their code validated by a childcare provider.
Answered by Robert Goodwill
The Childcare Choices website provides information on whether parents could be eligible for a range of government childcare offers, including 30 hours free childcare. Parents can apply for Tax-Free Childcare and 30 hours free childcare through the digital Childcare Service, which is accessible via Childcare Choices.
As of 18 July, successful parent applications via the Childcare Service have generated 145,463 valid 30 hours eligibility codes. 48,577 valid codes have been verified by local authorities.
The number of eligible children fluctuates by term and by parental employment and we cannot estimate with precision how many children are eligible at any specific time.