Asked by: Yasmin Qureshi (Labour - Bolton South and Walkden)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, pursuant to the Answer of 20 July 2022 to Question 37614 on Schools: Buildings, which schools had at least one construction element in condition grade (a) C and (b) D in (i) Bolton South East, (ii) Bolton West and (iii) Bolton North East constituencies when that data was collated; and which of those schools (A) have received and (B) expect to receive in the next two years funding from the School Rebuilding Programme.
Answered by Nick Gibb
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 Department is still preparing the data and will publish it 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 the SRP:
Parliamentary constituency | Schools selected for SRP |
Bolton West |
|
City of Durham |
|
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.
Asked by: Yasmin Qureshi (Labour - Bolton South and Walkden)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps his Department is taking to ensure that political and Ministerial changes at his Department do not affect the (a) smooth running of this year’s exams and (b) his Department's ability to address any issues arising from them.
Answered by Will Quince
The responsibility for maintaining standards in exams lies with Ofqual, the independent regulator of qualifications. My right hon. Friend, the Secretary of State for Education is assured that the exam boards and Ofqual have well established processes in place to manage any issues arising with the delivery of exams and awarding and are keeping the department informed. This is not affected by political or ministerial changes.
Asked by: Yasmin Qureshi (Labour - Bolton South and Walkden)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how much public funding the University of Bolton has received in each year between 2010 and 2022.
Answered by Andrea Jenkyns
The Higher Education Statistics Agency (HESA) collects and publishes data on the finances of higher education providers in the UK.
Income data by the source is available for each UK higher education provider in Table 7 of HESA’s Higher Education Provider Data: Finance pages for the academic years 2015/16 to 2019/20 are available at: https://www.hesa.ac.uk/data-and-analysis/finances/table-7.
Asked by: Yasmin Qureshi (Labour - Bolton South and Walkden)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps his Department is taking to ensure effective support for refugees arriving from Afghanistan, including the enrolment of school aged children.
Answered by Robin Walker
Work is underway across government departments, and with charities and local authorities, to ensure refugees arriving from Afghanistan are properly supported so they can rebuild their lives. Local authorities will receive a funding package to support the resettlement of these families.
We are prioritising making sure that children of all ages have access to education, including by working with local authorities and other networks to make sure this can happen as soon as possible.
We are providing at least £12 million in extra education funding, which prioritises additional school places for children and young people, but also covers school transport, extra English lessons, specialist teachers and more.