Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what changes his Department made to (a) guidance for schools, (b) Departmental practice and (c) funding decisions as a result of the independent evaluation of the implementation of Opportunity Areas published in October 2018.

The Implementation of Opportunity Areas independent evaluation, published in October 2018, looked at how the Opportunity Area (OA) programme was initially established. It highlighted the positive work carried out in setting up the OAs, including the collaboration between local stakeholders and the department's delivery teams, the development of clear delivery plans, and the commitment in each area to improving young people’s social mobility.

The evaluation’s recommendations influenced (a) the way thedepartment works with schools in those areas, for example in the way that schools are supported on teacher recruitment and retention; (b) the development of other departmental policies and practices, such as the setting up of Opportunity North East, which involved strong engagement with local stakeholders and the development of a clear, agreed delivery plan; and (c) funding decisions, such as the decision to allocate longer-term funding to the OAs, to allow the changes they are making to be embedded. The OA programme has continued to evolve and develop since that report. In particular, the departments close, on-going engagement with the schools in those areas has helped them to respond to the difficult issues emerging from the COVID-19 outbreak.