Asked by: Stephen Hepburn (Independent - Jarrow)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how much funding has been made available to South Tyneside local authority for early years provision in each of the last seven years; and how much funding is being made available to South Tyneside local authority for early years provision under her Department's new early years national funding formula in each of the next three years.
Answered by Robert Goodwill
The early years funding allocation for South Tyneside local authority can be found here for the following financial years:
2013-14:
https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/dedicated-schools-grant-2013-to-2014
2014-15:
https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/dedicated-schools-grant-2014-to-2015
2015-16:
https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/dedicated-schools-grant-dsg-2015-to-2016
2016-17:
https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/dedicated-schools-grant-dsg-2016-to-2017
2017-18 – First year under Early Years National Funding Formula (provisional allocation):
https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/dedicated-schools-grant-dsg-2017-to-2018
Prior to 2013-14, early years’ local authority funding allocations were not separately identified within the Dedicated Schools Grant (DSG). Instead, they were part of the total DSG allocated to each local authority. Early years allocations prior to 2013-14 are not therefore available.
Funding allocations for 2018-19 and 2019-20 will be announced in due course.
Asked by: Stephen Hepburn (Independent - Jarrow)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps she is taking to improve the retention of teachers in (a) Jarrow constituency, (b) South Tyneside and (c) the North East.
Answered by Nick Gibb
We are providing greater support to teachers to tackle the most frequently cited reason for teachers wanting to leave the profession, which is unnecessary workload. We are continuing our extensive work with the profession to remove unnecessary burdens so that teachers can concentrate on teaching and not bureaucracy and paperwork. This includes implementing the recommendations of the three independent review groups from the 2014 Workload Challenge – ineffective marking, use of planning and resources, and data management. We are also encouraging schools to make greater use of the pay flexibilities, including retention allowances.
Although North East teacher leavers rates are lower than the national average for primary and secondary schools (in 2015) we are working with key stakeholders to ensure greater support for schools. This will include supporting schools in each region, including the North East, to ensure teacher retention challenges are addressed.
Asked by: Stephen Hepburn (Independent - Jarrow)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what recent discussions she has had with headteachers in (a) Jarrow constituency, (b) South Tyneside local authority area and (c) Gateshead local authority area on (i) school funding and (ii) the effect of the new school funding formula on schools in those areas.
Answered by Nick Gibb
Officials from the Department have met with head teachers from across the country to discuss school funding, as part of our consultation on a schools and high needs national formulae.
We received over 25,000 responses to the consultation. We are grateful to all those who expressed their views on school funding and the proposed formula as part of this process. We will publish the response to the consultation in due course.
The core schools budget has been protected in real terms since 2010 and will be £41bn in 2017-18. We recognise, nevertheless, that schools are facing cost pressures and we will continue to provide support to help them use their funding in cost effective ways. This includes tools, information and guidance to support improved financial health and efficiency in schools, including School Workforce Planning Guidance to help schools make well-informed decisions about their staff structures. These can be found at:
https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/schools-financial-health-and-efficiency.
Asked by: Stephen Hepburn (Independent - Jarrow)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment she has made of the potential effect of the proposed school funding formula on the number of teaching posts in (a) Jarrow constituency, (b) South Tyneside, (c) the North East and (d) the UK.
Answered by Nick Gibb
Officials from the Department have met with head teachers from across the country to discuss school funding, as part of our consultation on a schools and high needs national formulae.
We received over 25,000 responses to the consultation. We are grateful to all those who expressed their views on school funding and the proposed formula as part of this process. We will publish the response to the consultation in due course.
The core schools budget has been protected in real terms since 2010 and will be £41bn in 2017-18. We recognise, nevertheless, that schools are facing cost pressures and we will continue to provide support to help them use their funding in cost effective ways. This includes tools, information and guidance to support improved financial health and efficiency in schools, including School Workforce Planning Guidance to help schools make well-informed decisions about their staff structures. These can be found at:
https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/schools-financial-health-and-efficiency.
Asked by: Stephen Hepburn (Independent - Jarrow)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps the Government is taking to ensure that repayment terms will not be affected by the proposed sale of the student loans book for those paying off such loans.
Answered by Lord Johnson of Marylebone
The position of people who hold student loans, including those whose loans are within the scope of the planned sale, will not be affected in any way as a result of the planned sale. The sale will not and cannot alter the mechanisms and terms of repayment.