First elected: 7th May 2015
Speeches made during Parliamentary debates are recorded in Hansard. For ease of browsing we have grouped debates into individual, departmental and legislative categories.
e-Petitions are administered by Parliament and allow members of the public to express support for a particular issue.
If an e-petition reaches 10,000 signatures the Government will issue a written response.
If an e-petition reaches 100,000 signatures the petition becomes eligible for a Parliamentary debate (usually Monday 4.30pm in Westminster Hall).
Allow teacher predicted grades for BTEC students
Gov Responded - 17 Feb 2021 Debated on - 15 Mar 2021 View Wes Streeting's petition debate contributionsThe government should allow BTEC students to achieve teacher predicted grades rather than being forced into a system that is unethically downgrading thousands of students grades.
Close schools in Tier 4 areas
Gov Responded - 21 Jan 2021 Debated on - 15 Mar 2021 View Wes Streeting's petition debate contributionsSchools can be a breeding ground for the spread of coronavirus. Children are mingling at schools and returning to families who are potentially vulnerable, keeping rates high.
It's only been since schools opened that infection rates have been high in Kent, and keeping them open may keep it high.
Cancel GCSE and A-levels in 2021 replace with Course Work and Teacher Assessment
Gov Responded - 26 Jan 2021 Debated on - 15 Mar 2021 View Wes Streeting's petition debate contributionsCancel all standardise testing for year 11 and year 12 students in 2021. By replacing tests with smaller amounts of course work and teacher assessment, students would have a fair chance at achieving their target grades and it would relieve stress for teachers and students.
Keep schools closed until May
Gov Responded - 15 Mar 2021 Debated on - 15 Mar 2021 View Wes Streeting's petition debate contributionsPlease don’t send students back until we know we have had the priority groups vaccinated such as the elderly, the extremely clinically vulnerable, and those with underlying health conditions.
Fund research for childhood cancers with the worst survival rates
Gov Responded - 24 Mar 2020 Debated on - 7 Dec 2020 View Wes Streeting's petition debate contributions12 kids in the UK are diagnosed with cancer daily. 1 in 5 will die within 5 years, often of the deadliest types like DIPG (brainstem cancer) - fatal on diagnosis & other cancers on relapse. Yet there has been little, or no, funding for research into these cancers and little, or no, progress.
Keep schools closed until Covid 19 is no longer a threat
Gov Responded - 25 Nov 2020 Debated on - 7 Dec 2020 View Wes Streeting's petition debate contributionsThe threat of covid19 is real. Children can’t be expected to maintain sufficient social distancing to keep this virus from spreading. They are social creatures. Allowing them back to school could cause a new spike in cases. They could bring it back home, even if they are a-symptomatic.
Cancel GCSEs and A Levels in 2021
Gov Responded - 20 Oct 2020 Debated on - 7 Dec 2020 View Wes Streeting's petition debate contributionsThe Government should cancel GCSEs and A Levels in 2021 due to the disruption of Covid-19. By the time students go back to normal learning, 6 months will have passed since schools were closed to most pupils. This has already had a huge impact on the studying of so many.
Implement a two week school lockdown before 24 December to save Christmas
Gov Responded - 1 Dec 2020 Debated on - 7 Dec 2020 View Wes Streeting's petition debate contributionsSchools should move to online learning from 9 December so that all students and school staff have a chance to isolate for two weeks and then can safely meet older relatives.
Reclose schools and colleges due to increase in COVID-19 cases
Gov Responded - 25 Nov 2020 Debated on - 7 Dec 2020 View Wes Streeting's petition debate contributionsClose down schools and colleges due to the increase in COVID-19 cases. We are seeing cases of students and teachers catching the virus since schools have reopened.
No prosecution for parents that remove child from school during a pandemic.
Gov Responded - 6 Apr 2020 Debated on - 2 Nov 2020 View Wes Streeting's petition debate contributionsLegislate to allow parents to have the option to remove their children from school if there is a pandemic e.g. Coronavirus or similar without negative action by schools or local authorities. They shouldn’t lose the child’s place in the school or face any kind of prosecution.
These initiatives were driven by Wes Streeting, and are more likely to reflect personal policy preferences.
MPs who are act as Ministers or Shadow Ministers are generally restricted from performing Commons initiatives other than Urgent Questions.
Wes Streeting has not been granted any Adjournment Debates
A Bill to make provision about the skills and knowledge required of a person driving a taxi or private hire vehicle (TPHV) and related responsibilities of TPHV company operators and service providers; to require operators of TPHV companies and service providers to hold specified types and levels of insurance; to make provision about the tax liability of TPHV companies and service providers; and for connected purposes.
Brain Tumours Bill 2023-24
Sponsor - Siobhain McDonagh (Lab)
Victims of Crime and Anti-social Behaviour, Etc (Rights, Entitlements and Related Matters) Bill 2019-21
Sponsor - Peter Kyle (Lab)
Pedicabs (London) Bill 2019-21
Sponsor - Nickie Aiken (Con)
Banking (Consumer and Small Business Protection) Bill 2017-19
Sponsor - Charlie Elphicke (Ind)
National Health Service (Prohibition of Fax Machines and Pagers) Bill 2017-19
Sponsor - Alan Mak (Con)
Marriage (Same Sex Couples) (Northern Ireland) (No.2) Bill 2017-19
Sponsor - Conor McGinn (Ind)
Representation of the People (Young People's Enfranchisement) Bill 2017-19
Sponsor - Peter Kyle (Lab)
Automatic Electoral Registration (No. 2) Bill 2017-19
Sponsor - Jo Stevens (Lab)
Ceramics (Country of Origin Marking) Bill 2017-19
Sponsor - Baroness Anderson of Stoke-on-Trent (Lab)
National Living Wage (Extension to Young People) Bill 2017-19
Sponsor - Holly Lynch (Lab)
Children of Armed Services Personnel (Schools Admission) Bill 2016-17
Sponsor - Anne-Marie Trevelyan (Con)
Unauthorised Overdrafts (Cost of Credit) Bill 2016-17
Sponsor - Rachel Reeves (Lab)
Workers' Rights (Maintenance of EU Standards) Bill 2016-17
Sponsor - Melanie Onn (Lab)
Maternity and Paternity Leave (Premature Birth) Bill 2016-17
Sponsor - Steve Reed (LAB)
The House of Commons has a good track record for supporting young people into employment, and particularly those from disadvantaged and under-represented groups. We currently achieve this through the paid internships we offer as part of the Speaker's Parliamentary Placement Scheme and our Summer Diversity Internship Programme, as well as through our apprenticeship programme. In line with this commitment the House authorities are currently discussing the best way to engage with the Kickstart scheme, both as an employer and in their role supporting Members and their offices.
The information requested falls under the remit of the UK Statistics Authority.
A response to the Hon. Member's Parliamentary Question of 3 February is attached.
Edenred is a cross-government supplier procured through fair and open competition via the Crown Commercial Service procurement frameworks.
The Cabinet Office currently has one contract with Edenred which acts as a benefits hub for our employees. The current value of the contract is £1,960,000; however, a proportion of this money is an initial outlay from the Cabinet Office which will be returned to the public purse through contribution which will be made to the two employee salary sacrifice schemes (cycle to work and childcare vouchers).
The information requested falls under the remit of the UK Statistics Authority.
A response to the Hon. Member's Parliamentary Question of 7 November is attached.
As has been the case under successive administrations, the Prime Minister’s Office and the Government in Parliament are an integral part of the Cabinet Office.
As of 31 January 2021, apprentices make up 2.13% of the department’s workforce.
The information requested falls under the remit of the UK Statistics Authority. I have therefore asked the Authority to respond.
The information requested falls under the remit of the UK Statistics Authority. I have therefore asked the Authority to respond.
The Government remains committed to supporting unpaid carers in work. Legislation to deliver our commitment to introduce one week of leave for unpaid carers will be brought forward when Parliamentary time allows.
The Government has made these estimates which are available in the annual fuel poverty statistics projections report.
https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/fuel-poverty-statistics
The Secretary of State has set out to the House that protecting customers, particularly the most vulnerable, has been the Government’s priority during the peak in wholesale gas prices.
Households with prepayment meters continue to be protected by the CMA Prepayment Meter Price (PPM) Cap, which was extended in April 2021.
The Secretary of State has set out to the House that protecting customers, particularly the most vulnerable, has been the Government’s priority during the peak in wholesale gas prices.
As Ofgem notes in its Autumn 2021 Consumer Protection report, the use of Prepayment Meters has continued to decrease for both gas and electricity customers, representing the lowest recorded proportions since 2012 for electricity customers and a steady decline for gas customers since 2017.
The Secretary of State has set out to the House that protecting customers, particularly the most vulnerable, has been the Government’s priority during the peak in wholesale gas prices.
As Ofgem notes in its Autumn 2021 Consumer Protection report, the use of Prepayment Meters has continued to decrease for both gas and electricity customers, representing the lowest recorded proportions since 2012 for electricity customers and a steady decline for gas customers since 2017.
The energy price cap will save 15 million families up to £100 on their energy bills this winter. The Government supports low-income and fuel poor households with their energy bills through the Warm Home Discount, Winter Fuel Payments and Cold Weather Payments.
In addition, the Government has announced an extra £500 million for local authorities through the new Household Support Fund to provide help to millions of the most in need.
The Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (excluding its Executive Agencies) currently has 97 apprentices. The proportion of apprentices employed by the Department is 1.78%.
As part of the Bounce Back Loan Scheme application process lenders undertake fraud checks, including Know Your Customer and Anti Money Laundering checks as required. In addition, the application form is clear – any individual who knowingly provides false information is at risk of criminal prosecution. We are working across Departments, and with lenders and law enforcement agencies, to tackle fraudulent abuse of the scheme.
Further details of how we expect the Bounce Back Loan Scheme to perform are set out in our accounts for 2019-20, a copy of which has been placed in the Libraries of the House. At this early stage, such estimates are naturally highly uncertain as reflected in the explanatory notes of the Accounts.
The Construction Talent Retention Scheme will support the redeployment of staff that are at risk of redundancy across the construction sector, while also enabling temporary employee loans between businesses. The Scheme will give displaced workers from other sectors a route to find new employment in construction.
This not-for-profit Scheme will be funded by the Department until the end of the current financial year, with £1.164 million having been secured. The construction industry will provide funding to support the Scheme post-March 2021.
The Summer Economic Update announced £50m to demonstrate innovative approaches to retrofitting social housing at scale, accelerating the delivery of the Social Housing Decarbonisation. This will mean warmer and more energy efficient homes and could reduce annual energy bills by hundreds of pounds for some of the poorest households, as well as lowering carbon emissions. The Programme will be UK wide and will upgrade thousands of poor energy performing social homes, with high levels of energy efficiency (e.g. floor / wall insulation) and low carbon heating (where appropriate).
In his Summer Economic Update, my Rt. Hon. Friend Mr Chancellor of the Excheqer announced a £2bn Green Home Grant scheme that will support homeowners and landlords in England to improve the energy efficiency of their properties, reducing energy bills and carbon emissions, and supporting a green economic recovery.
The funding will be spent on paying for accredited tradespeople to install a range of measures, for example insulation, to improve the energy performance of their homes. Further detail on the range of measures will be announced in the coming days, before the full launch.
An individual’s pay during their redundancy notice period is based on their rights under their contract of employment and the statutory right to notice pay.
Employees who are dismissed due to redundancy and who satisfy certain qualifying conditions are also statutorily entitled to a lump sum from their employer, based on their age, length of service and contractual weekly earnings, subject to a statutory upper limit.
While individual’s redundancy rights will depend on their contractual terms and statutory protections, the Coronavirus Job Retention scheme does not prevent an individual who is using the scheme from being placed on redundancy notice. During this difficult period, we urge employers to exercise discretion and not use the Job Retention Scheme to make someone redundant on less favourable terms than they would otherwise have received.
The Government is clear that excessive price increases exploiting the covid-19 outbreak are unacceptable. We are speaking with retailers daily and the Competition and Markets Authority has established a taskforce to tackle the issue. It has approached traders already to stop excessive price increases. Consumers and businesses should report any issues directly to the taskforce online. The Government is monitoring this situation closely and will take further action if it is necessary.
The Government takes the issue of disinformation very seriously. Since March 2020 the DCMS-led cross-Government Counter Disinformation Unit (CDU) has worked to provide a comprehensive picture of the extent, scope and the reach of disinformation and misinformation linked to COVID-19.
The Unit’s primary function is to provide a comprehensive picture of the extent, scope and impact of disinformation and misinformation regarding Covid-19 and to work with partners to ensure appropriate action is taken. Where dangerous and incorrect claims about the virus are identified these are flagged to the relevant platforms, whose responsibility it is to take action in accordance with their terms and conditions. As an operational matter it is not appropriate for the government to give a running commentary on the amount of disinformation identified.
The Counter Disinformation Policy Forum was a six-month pilot programme that concluded on 10 June 2021. It brought together social media companies, academics, fact-checkers and researchers in response to concerns about the serious risk of harm posed by COVID-19 and anti-vaccination mis/disinformation.
Although the Policy Forum has concluded, DCMS regularly meets with major social media platforms bilaterally and at an Industry Group. This helps further our collective understanding of the issues and the steps being taken to address misinformation and disinformation in order to ensure this issue is tackled effectively. DCMS also continues to engage with relevant cross-sector expertise from across academia and civil society.
In addition the DCMS-led Counter Disinformation Unit monitors for false and misleading narratives shared on social media. Where dangerous and incorrect claims about the virus are identified these are flagged to the relevant platforms.
The Counter Disinformation Policy Forum was a six-month pilot programme that concluded on 10 June 2021. It brought together social media companies, academics, fact-checkers and researchers in response to concerns about the serious risk of harm posed by COVID-19 and anti-vaccination mis/disinformation.
Although the Policy Forum has concluded, DCMS regularly meets with major social media platforms bilaterally and at an Industry Group. This helps further our collective understanding of the issues and the steps being taken to address misinformation and disinformation in order to ensure this issue is tackled effectively. DCMS also continues to engage with relevant cross-sector expertise from across academia and civil society.
In addition the DCMS-led Counter Disinformation Unit monitors for false and misleading narratives shared on social media. Where dangerous and incorrect claims about the virus are identified these are flagged to the relevant platforms.
The Government takes the issue of disinformation very seriously. Since March 2020 the DCMS-led cross-Government Counter Disinformation Unit (CDU) has worked to provide a comprehensive picture of the extent, scope and the reach of disinformation and misinformation linked to COVID-19.
The Unit’s primary function is to provide a comprehensive picture of the extent, scope and impact of disinformation and misinformation regarding Covid-19 and to work with partners to ensure appropriate action is taken. Where dangerous and incorrect claims about the virus are identified these are flagged to the relevant platforms, whose responsibility it is to take action in accordance with their terms and conditions. As an operational matter it is not appropriate for the government to give a running commentary on the amount of disinformation identified.
We are planning for this year’s National Remembrance Sunday Service to take place on November 8. We will be putting in place a number of mitigations according to the official public health guidance so that this significant national event can take place safely. We will continue to monitor the situation and will make further changes should they become necessary.
Organisations across civil society are already working tirelessly to support their communities in response to covid-19. I have had several conversations with civil society organisations about responding to covid-19 and its potential impact on charities and social enterprises. Last week the Minister for Civil Society, Baroness Barran, held a roundtable with over 45 charities to listen to their concerns. We are working with colleagues across government to shape support available to mitigate risks in the coming weeks and months and deliver effectively for communities.
The mental health of children is a priority for this government and schools play a vital role in this, particularly by providing calm, safe and supportive learning environments that promote good mental wellbeing and help pupils who need it to access early targeted support.
Schools are best placed to decide what support to provide to respond to the social, emotional and mental health needs of their pupils. This can include the provision of school-based mental health professionals such as counsellors and working with external providers and, where necessary, NHS specialist services.
The requested information on schools offering professional mental health support is not collected centrally. The department collects information on staff working in state funded schools via the annual School Workforce Census, but does not directly identify mental health professionals. The results are published in the annual ‘School Workforce in England’ national statistics release, available at: https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/find-statistics/school-workforce-in-england.
To expand access to early mental health support in schools and colleges, the department is working with NHS England to increase the number of Mental Health Support Teams (MHSTs) working with schools and colleges. These teams include trained mental health professionals who can offer support to children experiencing common mental health problems and liaise with external specialist services to help pupils get the right support. As of April 2023, MHSTs covered 35% of pupils in schools and students in further education in England. We are expanding coverage to an estimated 44% of pupils/students by the end of this financial year and at least 50% by April 2025.
The Universities and Colleges Admissions Service (UCAS) publishes figures on the number of applications to subjects allied to medicine.
The latest data covering applications up to the end of the 2022 admissions cycle is available at: https://www.ucas.com/data-and-analysis/undergraduate-statistics-and-reports/ucas-undergraduate-end-cycle-data-resources-2022.
To access the figures, click on ‘Applications & offers’ under the ‘Sector’ heading, then select ‘Subject group – HECoS (detailed)’ from the drop-down box at the top of the page. The table then shows the number of main scheme applications to ‘(CAH02) subjects allied to medicine’. To select the full breakdown of subjects allied to medicine in the table, click on the + sign to the left of ‘(CAH02) subjects allied to medicine’. Note that figures are not available on a consistent basis prior to 2019.
The Universities and Colleges Admissions Service (UCAS) publishes figures on the number of applications to subjects allied to medicine.
The latest data covering applications up to the end of the 2022 admissions cycle is available at: https://www.ucas.com/data-and-analysis/undergraduate-statistics-and-reports/ucas-undergraduate-end-cycle-data-resources-2022.
To access the figures, click on ‘Applications & offers’ under the ‘Sector’ heading, then select ‘Subject group – HECoS (detailed)’ from the drop-down box at the top of the page. The table then shows the number of main scheme applications to ‘(CAH02) subjects allied to medicine’. To select the full breakdown of subjects allied to medicine in the table, click on the + sign to the left of ‘(CAH02) subjects allied to medicine’. Note that figures are not available on a consistent basis prior to 2019.
The Condition Data Collection (CDC) is one of the largest and most comprehensive data collection programmes in the UK’s public sector. It collected data on the building condition of government funded schools in England. It provides a robust evidence base to enable the Department to target capital funding for maintaining and rebuilding school buildings.
The key, high level findings of the CDC programme were published in May 2021 in the ‘Condition of School Buildings Survey: Key Findings’ report. This is available at: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/989912/Condition_of_School_Buildings_Survey_CDC1_-_key_findings_report.pdf.
Individual CDC reports have been shared with every school and their responsible body to use alongside their existing condition surveys to plan maintenance schedules and investment plans. The Department plans to publish detailed school level CDC data. The data is still being prepared and it will be published as soon as possible.
Well maintained, safe school buildings are a priority for the Department. Our funding is directed both to maintaining the condition of the school estate and rebuilding schools. The Department has allocated over £13 billion for improving the condition of schools since 2015, including £1.8 billion committed this financial year.
The ten year School Rebuilding Programme (SRP) is condition led. 400 of the 500 available places on the programme have been provisionally allocated. A list of these schools and the methodology used to select them is available at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/school-rebuilding-programme-schools-in-the-programme.
The following table shows the constituencies specified that have schools or colleges selected for SRP:
Parliamentary constituency | Schools selected for SRP |
Ilford North | John Bramston Primary School, announced December 2022 |
The 239 schools announced in December 2022 will enter delivery at a rate of approximately 50 per year, over a five year period from 2023. The Department is currently undertaking due diligence on these schools prior to scheduling them, with schools prioritised according to the condition of their buildings, readiness to proceed, and efficiency of delivery. The scope and funding for each project will be confirmed following detailed feasibility studies and condition surveys of buildings.
Where a school identifies significant safety issues with a building, that cannot be managed within local resources, the Department considers additional support on a case-by-case basis. This includes applications for Urgent Capital Support (UCS) from eligible institutions. Schools eligible for Condition Improvement Fund (CIF) can apply for UCS where there are urgent health and safety issues that threaten school closure and cannot wait until the next CIF bidding round.
The 2021 summer schools programme was part of the education recovery response to help pupils catch-up on lost education. School participation and pupil attendance were optional.
Over the summer, almost 2,800 secondary schools across England signed up to host a summer school, to help pupils catch up on lost education caused by the COVID-19 outbreak, as well as helping to improve mental health and wellbeing.
The window for claims from schools for running summer schools closed on 1 November 2021. The department is currently processing claims and analysing the figures, including numbers of attendees.
The department intends to evaluate the summer schools programme in due course, the findings of which will inform our decisions on future summer schools.
The 2021 summer schools programme was part of the education recovery response to help pupils catch-up on lost education. School participation and pupil attendance were optional.
Over the summer, almost 2,800 secondary schools across England signed up to host a summer school, to help pupils catch up on lost education caused by the COVID-19 outbreak, as well as helping to improve mental health and wellbeing.
The window for claims from schools for running summer schools closed on 1 November 2021. The department is currently processing claims and analysing the figures, including numbers of attendees.
The department intends to evaluate the summer schools programme in due course, the findings of which will inform our decisions on future summer schools.
In addition to the department’s ambitious wider spending review settlement for schools and 16-19 settings; since June 2020 nearly £5 billion in education recovery funding to support children and young people recover from the COVID-19 outbreak has been announced. The department’s recovery programmes allow early years, school and college leaders to support those pupils most in need to help them catch-up. This includes the catch-up premium in the 2020/21 academic year and the recovery premium in the 2021/22 academic year. Using evidenced based interventions, this funding can also be used to tackle non-academic barriers to success in school, such as enrichment activities like arts and sport.
The department has also committed £200 million for secondary schools to deliver face-to-face summer schools in summer 2021, giving secondary pupils access to enrichment activities, such as games, music, drama and sports that they have missed out on over the COVID-19 outbreak. Almost 2,800 secondary schools across England signed up to host a summer school, this will have helped to support physical and mental health and wellbeing.
The government is committed to high-quality education for all pupils, and integral to this are the arts and music. The department provides significant funding for a range of cultural education programmes, including music, which schools can access – over £620 million between 2016 to 2021, additional to core school budgets. We confirmed £80 million funding for this financial year, 2021-22, for music programmes; and we continue to provide just over £4 million for a set of tailored arts programmes. We will continue to invest around £115 million per annum in cultural education over the next three years, though our music, arts and heritage programmes, working closely with the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, Arts Council England and others.
Alongside this, schools have continued to receive their core funding throughout the COVID-19 outbreak. The recent spending review announced that core funding for schools will rise by a further £4.7 billion by 2024-25, compared to previous plans, this builds on the largest school funding increase in a decade at the 2019 spending round.
Collectively, this will support schools to deliver a broad and ambitious curriculum and enrichment activities.
In addition to the department’s ambitious wider spending review settlement for schools and 16-19 settings; since June 2020 nearly £5 billion in education recovery funding to support children and young people recover from the COVID-19 outbreak has been announced. The department’s recovery programmes allow early years, school and college leaders to support those pupils most in need to help them catch-up. This includes the catch-up premium in the 2020/21 academic year and the recovery premium in the 2021/22 academic year. Using evidenced based interventions, this funding can also be used to tackle non-academic barriers to success in school, such as enrichment activities like arts and sport.
The department has also committed £200 million for secondary schools to deliver face-to-face summer schools in summer 2021, giving secondary pupils access to enrichment activities, such as games, music, drama and sports that they have missed out on over the COVID-19 outbreak. Almost 2,800 secondary schools across England signed up to host a summer school, this will have helped to support physical and mental health and wellbeing.
The government is committed to high-quality education for all pupils, and integral to this are the arts and music. The department provides significant funding for a range of cultural education programmes, including music, which schools can access – over £620 million between 2016 to 2021, additional to core school budgets. We confirmed £80 million funding for this financial year, 2021-22, for music programmes; and we continue to provide just over £4 million for a set of tailored arts programmes. We will continue to invest around £115 million per annum in cultural education over the next three years, though our music, arts and heritage programmes, working closely with the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, Arts Council England and others.
Alongside this, schools have continued to receive their core funding throughout the COVID-19 outbreak. The recent spending review announced that core funding for schools will rise by a further £4.7 billion by 2024-25, compared to previous plans, this builds on the largest school funding increase in a decade at the 2019 spending round.
Collectively, this will support schools to deliver a broad and ambitious curriculum and enrichment activities.
In addition to the department’s ambitious wider spending review settlement for schools and 16-19 settings; since June 2020 nearly £5 billion in education recovery funding to support children and young people recover from the COVID-19 outbreak has been announced. The department’s recovery programmes allow early years, school and college leaders to support those pupils most in need to help them catch-up. This includes the catch-up premium in the 2020/21 academic year and the recovery premium in the 2021/22 academic year. Using evidenced based interventions, this funding can also be used to tackle non-academic barriers to success in school, such as enrichment activities like arts and sport.
The department has also committed £200 million for secondary schools to deliver face-to-face summer schools in summer 2021, giving secondary pupils access to enrichment activities, such as games, music, drama and sports that they have missed out on over the COVID-19 outbreak. Almost 2,800 secondary schools across England signed up to host a summer school, this will have helped to support physical and mental health and wellbeing.
The government is committed to high-quality education for all pupils, and integral to this are the arts and music. The department provides significant funding for a range of cultural education programmes, including music, which schools can access – over £620 million between 2016 to 2021, additional to core school budgets. We confirmed £80 million funding for this financial year, 2021-22, for music programmes; and we continue to provide just over £4 million for a set of tailored arts programmes. We will continue to invest around £115 million per annum in cultural education over the next three years, though our music, arts and heritage programmes, working closely with the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, Arts Council England and others.
Alongside this, schools have continued to receive their core funding throughout the COVID-19 outbreak. The recent spending review announced that core funding for schools will rise by a further £4.7 billion by 2024-25, compared to previous plans, this builds on the largest school funding increase in a decade at the 2019 spending round.
Collectively, this will support schools to deliver a broad and ambitious curriculum and enrichment activities.
In addition to the department’s ambitious wider spending review settlement for schools and 16-19 settings; since June 2020 nearly £5 billion in education recovery funding to support children and young people recover from the COVID-19 outbreak has been announced. The department’s recovery programmes allow early years, school and college leaders to support those pupils most in need to help them catch-up. This includes the catch-up premium in the 2020/21 academic year and the recovery premium in the 2021/22 academic year. Using evidenced based interventions, this funding can also be used to tackle non-academic barriers to success in school, such as enrichment activities like arts and sport.
The department has also committed £200 million for secondary schools to deliver face-to-face summer schools in summer 2021, giving secondary pupils access to enrichment activities, such as games, music, drama and sports that they have missed out on over the COVID-19 outbreak. Almost 2,800 secondary schools across England signed up to host a summer school, this will have helped to support physical and mental health and wellbeing.
The government is committed to high-quality education for all pupils, and integral to this are the arts and music. The department provides significant funding for a range of cultural education programmes, including music, which schools can access – over £620 million between 2016 to 2021, additional to core school budgets. We confirmed £80 million funding for this financial year, 2021-22, for music programmes; and we continue to provide just over £4 million for a set of tailored arts programmes. We will continue to invest around £115 million per annum in cultural education over the next three years, though our music, arts and heritage programmes, working closely with the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, Arts Council England and others.
Alongside this, schools have continued to receive their core funding throughout the COVID-19 outbreak. The recent spending review announced that core funding for schools will rise by a further £4.7 billion by 2024-25, compared to previous plans, this builds on the largest school funding increase in a decade at the 2019 spending round.
Collectively, this will support schools to deliver a broad and ambitious curriculum and enrichment activities.
The January 2021 census will be used to determine pupil premium eligibility for alternative provision and pupil referral units for the financial year 2021-22. Pupil premium eligibility for mainstream and special schools will be based on the October 2020 census. Per pupil funding rates will be the same as in 2020-21, which is expected to increase pupil premium funding from £2.4 billion in 2020-21 to more than £2.5 billion in 2021-22 as more children have become eligible for free school meals. In addition to this, the Government announced a further £300 million for a one-off Recovery Premium which will be allocated to schools based on the same methodology as the pupil premium. In this way, schools with more disadvantaged pupils will receive larger amounts.
The Department will confirm pupil premium allocations for the financial year 2021-22 in June 2021. This will provide the public with information on the specific amounts that regions, local authorities, and schools are receiving through the pupil premium for 2021-22.
The Department publishes information on pupil premium allocations and the number of pupils eligible annually. The most recent publicly available figures can be found via this link: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/pupil-premium-allocations-and-conditions-of-grant-2020-to-2021.
Information on the change in numbers of pupils eligible for free school meals between October 2020 and January 2021 is not available because statistics are not available yet for January 2021. The information has been collected in the January school census and will be published in June 2021.
I refer the hon. Member for Ilford North to the answer I gave on 5 March 2021 to Question 160739.
The Department has provided additional funding to schools, on top of existing budgets, to cover unavoidable costs incurred between March and July 2020 due to the COVID-19 outbreak that could not be met from their budgets.
Schools were eligible to claim for funding for: increased premises related costs associated with keeping open over the Easter and summer half term holidays; support for free school meals for eligible children who were not in school, where schools were not using the national voucher scheme; and additional cleaning costs required due to confirmed or suspected COVID-19 cases, over and above the cost of existing cleaning arrangements.
To date, the Department has paid schools £138 million for all claims within the published scope of the fund, across both application windows. In the first application window we offered the opportunity for schools to flag other exceptional costs not included under the agreed categories, which were subject to further assessment. Schools applied for £42 million of additional costs which were not paid. We made it clear that we could not guarantee any claims beyond the published scope of the fund would be paid. It is reasonable for taxpayers to expect that public funding is targeted towards those who most need it. Therefore, the fund was targeted towards the costs we identified as the biggest barrier to schools operating as they needed to between March and July 2020 to support vulnerable children and children of critical workers.
Over 15,500 schools applied for funding through the exceptional costs fund, and to date we have made more than 19,000 payments from the fund. Around 450 schools did not apply for any of the eligible categories of funding and have not received payments.
The Department will publish a full breakdown of allocations from the exceptional costs fund, by school, in due course.
Data on consultancy spend against the categories a) marketing, (b) focus group, (c) polling and (d) other promotional activity is not readily available and could only be obtained at a disproportionate cost.
A transactional breakdown of spending over £25,000 is published at the links below. The reports can be filtered by Consultancy under ‘Expense Type’.
Spend reporting for Financial Year 2020 to 2021: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/dfe-and-executive-agency-spend-over-25000-2020-to-2021.
Spend reporting for Financial Year 2019 to 2020: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/dfe-and-executive-agency-spend-over-25000-2019-to-2020.
Spend reporting for Financial Year 2018 to 2019: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/dfe-and-executive-agency-spend-over-25000-2018-to-2019.
Spend reporting for Financial Year 2017 to 2018: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/dfe-and-executive-agency-spend-over-25000-2017-to-2018.
Spend reporting for Financial Year 2016 to 2017: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/dfe-and-executive-agency-spend-over-25000-2016-to-2017.
Spend reporting for Financial Year 2015 to 2016: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/dfe-and-executive-agency-spend-over-25000-2015-to-2016.
A summary of DfE Consolidated Group consultancy expenditure for each year can be found in the relevant Annual Report and Accounts, published here: https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/dfe-annual-reports.
Consultants are hired to work on projects in a number of specific situations:
This expertise was mainly used to support change programmes across the Group and specialist research contracted out to third parties.
The expenditure for each year is as follows:
Financial Year | £m |
2019-20 | 12.7 |
2018-19 | 13.1 |
2017-18 | 14.6 |
2016-17 | 12.1 |
2015-16 | 8.6 |
As of Monday 8 March 2021, over 1.2 million laptops and tablets have been delivered to schools, academy trusts, local authorities and further education colleges. More information can be found here: https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/find-statistics/laptops-and-tablets-data.
The Department publishes this data every week during term time.
Primary assessments have a crucial role in supporting pupils to grasp the basics of reading, writing and mathematics and to prepare them for secondary school. The Department is planning for a full programme of primary assessments to take place in the 2021-22 academic year. We will confirm full details for 2021-22 primary assessments in due course.
The Government remains clear that exams are the fairest method to assess pupils. We know that pupils and teachers will be working hard in preparation for GCSE and A level exams in 2022, as well as for their vocational and technical qualification exams and assessments, including BTEC examinations. We will make sure that the interests of pupils are at the centre of our considerations.
It is important that pupils in this cohort are able to get a grade safely and fairly and we will continue to monitor the impact of the COVID-19 outbreak on all pupils to ensure that those due to take exams and assessments in 2022 are supported to move to the next stage of their lives fairly. We will make further announcements in due course.
The spring 2021 census date was 21 January and the window for schools to return census data closed on Wednesday 17 February. The data collection is due to close fully following data cleaning and validation in mid-March.
Spring census data is then released annually, mainly via the four national statistics publications listed below. The weblinks refer to the publications January 2020. The release schedule for January 2021 is expected to follow similar timescales.
A provisional publication schedule giving anticipated month of publication can be found in the gov.uk research and statistics publication calendar at: https://www.gov.uk/search/research-and-statistics?content_store_document_type=upcoming_statistics&order=release-date-oldest.