Asked by: Steve Baker (Conservative - Wycombe)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if he will make it his policy to provide financial assistance to state boarding schools who have lost boarding fees to support them through the covid-19 outbreak; and if he will make a statement.
Answered by Nick Gibb
Many boarding schools have been impacted by loss of income from a range of sources including boarding fees, catering and sports facilities. While these schools have, in some cases, been able to benefit from schemes such as the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme, in line with guidance on the GOV.UK website (https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/coronavirus-covid-19-financial-support-for-education-early-years-and-childrens-social-care), many have still been left facing financial challenges.
The Department continues its work to monitor and support the financial health of the whole education sector and the impact of the COVID-19 outbreak is a crucial part of that.
The Department supports academy trusts facing financial difficulties through the existing framework for financial support (https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/financial-support-for-academy-trusts-in-financial-difficulty), which enables academies to approach the Education and Skills Funding Agency (ESFA) for additional financial support.
A temporary measure has also been agreed that enables academy trusts to apply to the ESFA to use their general unrestricted reserves to support boarding provision in response to these circumstances.
In the case of maintained schools, schools should discuss with their local authority to make sure their use of unrestricted reserves complies with the local authority’s accounting requirements.
Asked by: Steve Baker (Conservative - Wycombe)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if he will make it his policy to ensure state boarding resumes in September 2020; and if he will make a statement.
Answered by Nick Gibb
We want to get all children and young people back into education as soon as the scientific advice allows because it is the best place for them to learn, and because we know how important it is for their mental wellbeing to have social interactions with their peers, carers and teachers.
We are working to bring all children and young people, including those at boarding schools, back into education in September.
Asked by: Steve Baker (Conservative - Wycombe)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what recent discussions he has had with the Chancellor of the Exchequer on capital funding for family hubs.
Answered by Michelle Donelan - Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology
We are working with councils to champion family hubs. We have commissioned research from the Early Intervention Foundation to learn from effective local practice, which will be reported in spring 2020. We are exploring what other steps could support the family hub model.
The Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government has announced additional funding of up to £165 million to extend the Troubled Families Programme for an extra year. This will mean more people in need get access to the programme's early, practical and coordinated support to transform their lives for the better.
Asked by: Steve Baker (Conservative - Wycombe)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if the Government will make it its policy to include family hubs as part of its (a) early years strategy, (b) Troubled Families programme and (c) children's services reform; and if he will make a statement.
Answered by Michelle Donelan - Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology
We are working with councils to champion family hubs. We have commissioned research from the Early Intervention Foundation to learn from effective local practice, which will be reported in spring 2020. We are exploring what other steps could support the family hub model.
The Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government has announced additional funding of up to £165 million to extend the Troubled Families Programme for an extra year. This will mean more people in need get access to the programme's early, practical and coordinated support to transform their lives for the better.
Asked by: Steve Baker (Conservative - Wycombe)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, pursuant to the Answer of 17 October 2019 to Question 1676, for how long he will maintain supplementary funding for local authorities to preserve the funding rates of maintained nursery schools.
Answered by Nick Gibb
The Government recognises that maintained nursery schools are an important part of the early years sector and that they provide valuable services to disadvantaged children.
The Government invests approximately £60 million of supplementary funding each financial year for local authorities to preserve the funding rates of maintained nursery schools.
The Government plans to spend £3.6 billion to support early education in the financial year 2020-21. I confirmed details of this spending review in a written statement to the House on 31 October 2019, available here: https://www.parliament.uk/business/publications/written-questions-answers-statements/written-statement/Commons/2019-10-31/HCWS56/.
Asked by: Steve Baker (Conservative - Wycombe)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if she will review the free school application process to ensure that hon. Members, local councillors and other relevant stakeholders are kept informed of proposed developments in their area.
Answered by Edward Timpson
The free schools programme is a demand-led programme. We assess applications to establish free schools against published criteria. At the beginning of each application wave we write to local authorities to ask for their views about any free school applications received. We consult them again about the ones that have been invited to attend an interview and then again about the ones that are proceeding to the next stage of the process, the pre-opening stage. In addition Lord Nash writes to all the relevant Hon. Members at the end of the application wave to let them know which applications in their constituencies have been successful.
Under section 10 of the Academies Act 2010 the trust behind the proposal must consult the people they think appropriate on whether to enter into a funding agreement with the Secretary of State. The funding agreement needs to be signed before the school can open. This statutory consultation informs stakeholders and the local community about the project and gives them the opportunity to comment on it.
We are continually looking for ways to improve the application process.
Asked by: Steve Baker (Conservative - Wycombe)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what recent discussions she has had with (a) the Education Funding Agency and (b) other statutory bodies about the future use of the former Penn School site; and if she will make a statement.
Answered by Edward Timpson
The department has received and responded to correspondence about the site of the former Penn School. There is a meeting scheduled to take place with Mr Baker and Martin Post, Regional Schools Commissioner (RSC) for North West London and South Central England, on 13 January 2017 in order to discuss the future of the school site and provide some assurances. A representative from the Free Schools Regional Delivery team is also available to be contacted prior to this meeting.
Asked by: Steve Baker (Conservative - Wycombe)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what recent assessment he has made of the (a) feasibility and (b) cost to the public purse of enabling supply teachers to contribute to the teachers' pension scheme.
Answered by David Laws
Supply teachers are able to participate in the Teachers' Pension Scheme (TPS) where they are employed by an ‘accepted employer'. In the main, these are local authorities (LAs), academies and further education colleges. This includes supply teachers who are recruited by a supply agency but then employed directly, under a contract of employment, by the accepted employer. The LA, academy or further education college is responsible for meeting a number of obligations that fall to employers under the teachers' pensions regulations, not least of which is to pay the employer contribution to the TPS.
However, where supply teachers are self-employed or remain employed by the supply agency, and their services are provided under a ‘contract for services', it is not possible for them to participate in the TPS. This is because the Department for Education cannot mandate that private sector employers participate in the scheme.
It is for LAs, academies and further education colleges to determine how supply teachers are employed – which can in turn enable access to the TPS under the current arrangements.