Asked by: Simon Kirby (Conservative - Brighton, Kemptown)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if he will estimate the total number of ministerial replies from his Department to hon. Members in a parliamentary session; and what proportion of such replies are sent (a) by letter and (b) by email.
Answered by Elizabeth Truss
Information is not available in the form requested. Reports on the performance of Departments in handling correspondence from hon. Members and peers are published by the Minister for the Cabinet Office and Paymaster General each year and include numbers of letters to which Ministers reply. The report for the calendar year 2013 (Official Report 13 May 2014, 17WS) shows that 16,898 such letters were received by Department for Education Ministers. Most correspondence from hon. Members continues to be received as letters and is replied to in the same format, although Ministers will continue to reply in email form when they consider it appropriate to do so.
Asked by: Simon Kirby (Conservative - Brighton, Kemptown)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what plans his Department has to increase the number of replies sent electronically to letters from hon. Members.
Answered by Elizabeth Truss
Information is not available in the form requested. Reports on the performance of Departments in handling correspondence from hon. Members and peers are published by the Minister for the Cabinet Office and Paymaster General each year and include numbers of letters to which Ministers reply. The report for the calendar year 2013 (Official Report 13 May 2014, 17WS) shows that 16,898 such letters were received by Department for Education Ministers. Most correspondence from hon. Members continues to be received as letters and is replied to in the same format, although Ministers will continue to reply in email form when they consider it appropriate to do so.
Asked by: Simon Kirby (Conservative - Brighton, Kemptown)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if he will bring forward proposals to relocate (a) staff and (b) offices of his Department to Brighton; and if he will make a statement.
Answered by Elizabeth Truss
The Department for Education does not plan to relocate its staff or offices to Brighton.
Following the Department's Estates Review in 2012, it was announced that the Department would rationalise the existing estate from 12 core sites to 6, while maximising the efficiency of the retained sites. This has now been accomplished and the 6 remaining properties are located in Coventry, Darlington, London, Manchester, Nottingham and Sheffield.
Asked by: Simon Kirby (Conservative - Brighton, Kemptown)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many times (a) he and (b) officials in his Department have visited schools in the areas of highest deprivation since May 2010; and if he will make a statement.
Answered by Elizabeth Truss
My Rt. hon Friend, the Secretary of State, has made a priority of visiting schools and colleges located in deprived areas. Almost two thirds of the schools and colleges the Secretary of State for Education, Michael Gove, has visited since 2010, are located in the 50% most deprived areas of England according to the 2010 Index of Multiple Deprivation. This does not include political or constituency visits.
It is not possible to say on how many occasions officials from the Department have visited schools in this group, as this information is not readily available and could be obtained only at disproportionate cost.
Asked by: Simon Kirby (Conservative - Brighton, Kemptown)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what recent steps he has taken to integrate better into schools children with challenging behaviour; and if he will make a statement.
Answered by Elizabeth Truss
I refer the hon. Gentleman to the reply given to him on 8 October 2013, Official Report, Column 257W.
Since October, we have updated our advice on behaviour to re-emphasise the need for clear rewards and sanctions. We have outlined a range of sanctions that it is permissible for teachers to use to tackle challenging behaviour when it occurs. We have also been clear that schools should use rewards to praise and reinforce good behaviour.
In addition, we have produced a range of case studies showing good practice in how schools manage behaviour and bullying. The case studies provide examples of what effective schools do to integrate children with challenging behaviour into the school ranging from support through schools' pastoral systems to using art and modified curricula to support the inclusion of pupils with behaviour difficulties.
The new special educational needs (SEN) Code of Practice makes it clear that, while persistent disruptive or withdrawn behaviour does not necessarily mean that a pupil has SEN, schools should determine whether there are any causal factors, such as undiagnosed learning difficulties, difficulties with communication or mental health issues, so that support can be put in place for the pupil to stay at the school and make progress.
Asked by: Simon Kirby (Conservative - Brighton, Kemptown)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps his Department takes to support parents whose children attend a school in special measures; and if he will make a statement.
Answered by Edward Timpson
The Government is clear that the best way forward for any school judged inadequate by Ofsted is for it to become an academy with the support of a strong sponsor. We consider that sponsored academy arrangements will safeguard the long-term future of such schools and will secure rapid and sustained improvement, which should reassure parents.