Asked by: Rachael Maskell (Labour (Co-op) - York Central)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment she has made of the availability of (a) SEND and (b) alternative provision placements.
Answered by David Johnston - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
Local authorities are responsible for providing enough school places for children in their area.
The department supports local authorities to provide sufficient school places through capital funding and has published over £1.5 billion of High Needs Provision Capital Allocations for the 2022/23 and 2023/24 financial years. This funding is allocated to local authorities to support them to deliver new places and improve their existing provision for children and young people with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) as well as those who require alternative provision (AP). This funding forms part of the department’s transformational investment of £2.6 billion in new high needs provision between 2022 and 2025 and is on top of its ongoing delivery of new special and AP free schools.
Last summer, the department began collecting data from local authorities on available capacity in special schools, SEND units and resourced provision, along with corresponding forecasts of demand for these places. This data will help the department to more effectively support local authorities to fulfil their statutory duty to provide sufficient specialist places.
High needs funding to help local authorities with the ongoing costs of provision for children and young people with complex SEND and those in AP is increasing to over £10.5 billion next year, which is an increase of over 60% from the 2019/20 allocations.
Asked by: Catherine McKinnell (Labour - Newcastle upon Tyne North)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether she has made an assessment of the potential impact of school building conditions on trends in the level of teacher (a) recruitment and (b) retention.
Answered by Damian Hinds - Minister of State (Education)
There are now record numbers of full-time equivalent teachers in state-funded schools in England, totalling over 468,000, which is an increase of 27,000 (6%) since 2010.
The department appreciates that there is more to do, particularly in disadvantaged areas. The department is offering a Levelling Up Premium worth up to £3,000 after tax for mathematics, physics, chemistry and computing teachers in the first five years of their careers who choose to work in disadvantaged schools. For the 2024/25 and 2025/26 academic years, the department will be doubling the rates of the Levelling Up Premium to up to £6,000 after tax.
This is on top of the 6.5% pay award that teachers and leaders in maintained schools received for 2023/24, which was the highest pay award for teachers in over thirty years, delivered on our manifesto commitment of a minimum £30,000 starting salary for school teachers in all regions of the country. This, combined with the increase in the LUP, means a new maths teacher in Blackpool could be receiving the equivalent of £38,570 starting salary next year, before accounting for the 2024/25 pay award.
To further support recruitment to high-priority subjects, the department also provides financial incentives worth up to £196 million, including bursaries worth £28,000 tax-free and scholarships worth £30,000 tax-free, to encourage talented trainees to teach mathematics, physics, chemistry and computing.
To help retention, the department has published a range of resources to help address teacher workload and wellbeing and support schools to introduce flexible working practices. The department has convened a workload reduction taskforce to explore how it can further support trust and school leaders to minimise workload for teachers.
Well-maintained, safe school buildings are a priority for the department. Responsibility for keeping buildings safe and well-maintained lies with schools and their responsible bodies, such as local authorities, academy trusts and voluntary-aided bodies. The department supports them by providing capital funding, delivering major rebuilding programmes and offering guidance and support.
The department has allocated over £15 billion since 2015 to keep schools safe and operational, including £1.8 billion in 2023/24. This is informed by consistent data on the condition of the school estate. The department’s School Rebuilding Programme will transform buildings in poor condition at over 500 schools. New buildings are already being delivered across the country with modern designs that are designed to be net zero carbon in operation.
Asked by: Rachael Maskell (Labour (Co-op) - York Central)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps she is taking to help support local authorities that have an increasing number of children requiring (a) education, health and care plans, (b) specialist services and (c) alternative provision.
Answered by David Johnston - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
High needs funding supports local authorities with the costs of provision for the increasing number of children with Education, Health and Care plans, those who require specialist services and those in alternative provision (AP), including children with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) placed in AP.
In the 2024/25 financial year, the department is increasing high needs revenue funding to over £10.5 billion, which will be an increase of over 60% from 2019/20. The City of York Council is due to receive an allocation of £28.5 million in 2024/25, which is a cumulative increase of 27% per head over the three years from 2021/22.
The statutory duty to provide sufficient school places, including for pupils with SEND, sits with local authorities. The department allocates funding to support local authorities to meet this duty and has provided over £1.5 billion of high needs Provision Capital Allocations for the 2022/23 and 2023/24 financial years. This funding can be used to deliver new places in mainstream and special schools, as well as other specialist settings, and to improve the suitability and accessibility of existing buildings.
Asked by: Rachael Maskell (Labour (Co-op) - York Central)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps she is taking to (a) fund and (b) ensure adequate provision of (i) facilities and (ii) childcare for children with SEND.
Answered by David Johnston - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
The government provides high needs funding for children aged 0-25 with complex special educational needs and disabilities (SEND), including those in their early years who need childcare. The department is increasing high needs revenue funding, nationally, to over £10.5 billion in the 2024/25 financial year, which will be an increase of over 60% from the 2019/20 allocations of high needs funding. The City of York Council is due to receive an allocation of £28.5 million in 2024/25, which is a cumulative increase of 27% per head through the high needs national funding formula, over the three years from 2021/22.
In addition, specifically for those in the early years, the government provides the Disability Access Fund. In the 2024/25 financial year, this will increase to £910 per eligible child per annum, and will be extended to children aged 2 and under. Children aged 2, 3 and 4 years old who are in receipt of Disability Living Allowance or have an Education, Health and Care plan are also eligible for 15 hours free childcare a week.
The department is also funding training for up to 7,000 early years Special Educational Needs Coordinators (SENCOs), resulting in an accredited Level 3 early years SENCO qualification. Some 5,000 practitioners have already registered for the training.
The The SEND and Alternative Provision (AP) Improvement Plan, published in March 2023, sets out how an effective single national SEND and AP system will be delivered. Many of the proposals in the Improvement Plan will have an impact on early years education, and young children with SEND. There will be new national practitioner standards for meeting the needs of children with SEND and identifying their individual needs. There will also be new local SEND and AP Partnerships, strengthened accountability and dashboards, and funding reforms to ensure all settings are able to deliver an inclusive practice for all.
The statutory duty to provide sufficient school places, including for pupils with SEND, sits with local authorities. The department allocates funding to support authorities to meet this duty and has provided over £1.5 billion of High Needs Provision Capital Allocations for the 2022/23 and 2023/24 financial years. This funding can be used to deliver new places in mainstream and special schools, as well as other specialist settings, and to improve the suitability and accessibility of existing buildings.
Asked by: Stephen Morgan (Labour - Portsmouth South)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether she has made an assessment of the potential impact of the real term changes in funding for schools in Portsmouth South constituency between 2023-24 and 2024-25 on a) educational attainment of pupils b) classroom sizes and c) classroom resources.
Answered by Damian Hinds - Minister of State (Education)
This government is committed to providing a world-class education system for all children and has invested significantly in education to achieve that.
Nationally, funding for both mainstream schools and high needs, including additional funding for teachers’ pay, is over £1.8 billion higher in 2024/25, compared to 2023/24. The overall core school budget will total over £59.6 billion in 2024/25. This is the highest ever in real terms per pupil.
Through the schools National Funding Formula (NFF), the department calculates and publishes notional funding allocations for each mainstream school. These are aggregated at local authority level and, following an update in pupil numbers, are used to calculate each local authority’s Dedicated School Grant (DSG) allocations. Each local authority then determines individual schools’ final funding allocations through their own local formula.
Through the 2023/24 notional NFF, schools in Portsmouth South are allocated an average £5,814 per pupil. Through the 2024/25 notional NFF, schools in Portsmouth South are allocated an average £6,135 per pupil. This is a cash increase of 2.0% compared to 2023/24. This increase is after taking into account the mainstream schools additional grant (MSAG), which the department has rolled into the schools NFF in 2024/25, to ensure that this additional funding forms an on-going part of schools’ core budgets.
These constituency figures are based on an aggregation of school-level allocations. Schools’ actual allocations are based on local authorities’ funding formulae.
The figures do not include the additional funding the department is providing through the Teachers Pay Additional Grant (TPAG). Nor do they include other grants, such as the Pupil Premium.
The government provides these increases to school revenue budgets so that schools can cover cost increases in the year ahead. However, schools have autonomy over their own spending and should use this to raise attainment as well as to manage their classroom resources.
Asked by: Stephen Morgan (Labour - Portsmouth South)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what the real term change in average per pupil spending was in Portsmouth South constituency between the 2023-24 and 2024-25 financial years.
Answered by Damian Hinds - Minister of State (Education)
This government is committed to providing a world-class education system for all children and has invested significantly in education to achieve that.
Nationally, funding for both mainstream schools and high needs, including additional funding for teachers’ pay, is over £1.8 billion higher in 2024/25, compared to 2023/24. The overall core school budget will total over £59.6 billion in 2024/25. This is the highest ever in real terms per pupil.
Through the schools National Funding Formula (NFF), the department calculates and publishes notional funding allocations for each mainstream school. These are aggregated at local authority level and, following an update in pupil numbers, are used to calculate each local authority’s Dedicated School Grant (DSG) allocations. Each local authority then determines individual schools’ final funding allocations through their own local formula.
Through the 2023/24 notional NFF, schools in Portsmouth South are allocated an average £5,814 per pupil. Through the 2024/25 notional NFF, schools in Portsmouth South are allocated an average £6,135 per pupil. This is a cash increase of 2.0% compared to 2023/24. This increase is after taking into account the mainstream schools additional grant (MSAG), which the department has rolled into the schools NFF in 2024/25, to ensure that this additional funding forms an on-going part of schools’ core budgets.
These constituency figures are based on an aggregation of school-level allocations. Schools’ actual allocations are based on local authorities’ funding formulae.
The figures do not include the additional funding the department is providing through the Teachers Pay Additional Grant (TPAG). Nor do they include other grants, such as the Pupil Premium.
The government provides these increases to school revenue budgets so that schools can cover cost increases in the year ahead. However, schools have autonomy over their own spending and should use this to raise attainment as well as to manage their classroom resources.
Asked by: Nadia Whittome (Labour - Nottingham East)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if she will take steps to ensure every (a) primary and (b) secondary pupil in England can visit the theatre at least once in their school career.
Answered by Damian Hinds - Minister of State (Education)
All state-funded schools should teach a broad and balanced curriculum that promotes pupils' cultural development. The best schools combine creative subjects with core subjects, and the department is committed to ensuring that all pupils have access to both.
Cultural education is therefore integral to a high-quality education. Alongside drama as part of the English curriculum and dance as part of the physical education curriculum, music and art and design, remain important pillars of the knowledge-rich National Curriculum.
Drama is not an individual subject within the English National Curriculum, but it is an important part of a pupil’s school experience. The main introduction of drama to the primary programmes of study details the type of drama opportunities pupils should be given and acknowledges the artistic practice of drama. Teachers will use their professional judgement as to how and when such opportunities are created.
On 10 February 2017, the department announced an update to the content for the GCSE in drama and the A level in drama and theatre studies to specify that all pupils will now have the entitlement to experience live theatre, reaffirming the government’s commitment to providing pupils with an enriching arts education.
A parent’s income should not be a barrier to a pupil participating in a school trip. Schools may not charge for school trips that take place during school hours, or which take place outside school hours but are part of the National Curriculum, part of religious education, or part of the syllabus for a public exam that the pupil is being prepared for at the school. Parents can be asked for contributions towards the cost of a trip, but schools must make clear that contributions are voluntary. The published advice, ‘Charging for School Activities’, is clear that no pupil should be excluded from an activity simply because their parents are unwilling or unable to pay. The advice can be found at: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/706830/Charging_for_school_activities.pdf.
Finally, pupil premium funding will rise to over £2.9 billion in the 2024/25 academic year. The increase will ensure that this targeted funding continues to help schools to support the educational outcomes of disadvantaged pupils. As set out in the menu of approaches, schools are able to use pupil premium to fund extracurricular activities, including school trips to theatres.
Asked by: Nadia Whittome (Labour - Nottingham East)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether she plans to take steps to ensure that pupils from low income families are able to participate in school visits to theatres.
Answered by Damian Hinds - Minister of State (Education)
All state-funded schools should teach a broad and balanced curriculum that promotes pupils' cultural development. The best schools combine creative subjects with core subjects, and the department is committed to ensuring that all pupils have access to both.
Cultural education is therefore integral to a high-quality education. Alongside drama as part of the English curriculum and dance as part of the physical education curriculum, music and art and design, remain important pillars of the knowledge-rich National Curriculum.
Drama is not an individual subject within the English National Curriculum, but it is an important part of a pupil’s school experience. The main introduction of drama to the primary programmes of study details the type of drama opportunities pupils should be given and acknowledges the artistic practice of drama. Teachers will use their professional judgement as to how and when such opportunities are created.
On 10 February 2017, the department announced an update to the content for the GCSE in drama and the A level in drama and theatre studies to specify that all pupils will now have the entitlement to experience live theatre, reaffirming the government’s commitment to providing pupils with an enriching arts education.
A parent’s income should not be a barrier to a pupil participating in a school trip. Schools may not charge for school trips that take place during school hours, or which take place outside school hours but are part of the National Curriculum, part of religious education, or part of the syllabus for a public exam that the pupil is being prepared for at the school. Parents can be asked for contributions towards the cost of a trip, but schools must make clear that contributions are voluntary. The published advice, ‘Charging for School Activities’, is clear that no pupil should be excluded from an activity simply because their parents are unwilling or unable to pay. The advice can be found at: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/706830/Charging_for_school_activities.pdf.
Finally, pupil premium funding will rise to over £2.9 billion in the 2024/25 academic year. The increase will ensure that this targeted funding continues to help schools to support the educational outcomes of disadvantaged pupils. As set out in the menu of approaches, schools are able to use pupil premium to fund extracurricular activities, including school trips to theatres.
Asked by: Nick Fletcher (Conservative - Don Valley)
Question
To ask the Minister for Women and Equalities, what steps she is taking with the Secretary of State for Education to help close the gap in exam results between boys and girls.
Answered by Damian Hinds - Minister of State (Education)
Raising attainment for all pupils, no matter their gender or background is at the heart of this government’s agenda, and we are committed to providing a world-class education system for all.
The latest data show that, while girls continue to outperform boys across most headline measures, the gender gap between boys and girls is narrowing.
At KS2 in 2022/23, the gender gap between boys and girls at the expected standard in reading, writing and maths has decreased since 2021/22 and is the lowest it has been since 2016/17. KS4 results show the gender gap has narrowed across all headline measures when comparing 2022/23 with both 2018/19 and 2021/22.
The Schools White Paper (March 2022) was clear about the direction of travel needed to improve attainment. It set out our long-term vision for a school system that helps every child to fulfil their potential by ensuring that they receive the right support, in the right place, at the right time – founded on achieving world-class literacy and numeracy.
This is supported by significant investment in education. Next year, including the recently announced funding for pension contributions, overall school funding is increasing by £2.9 billion compared to 2023-24, taking the total to £60.7 billion in 2024-25 – the highest ever level in real terms per pupil. This will help schools in their vital work to close attainment gaps, and level up educational opportunities.
Alongside this, the department takes a range of steps to improve attainment and outcomes for all pupils, including improving the quality of teaching and curriculum resources, strengthening the school system, increasing attendance, and providing targeted support where needed.
We know that disadvantaged pupils and those with additional needs are more likely to fall behind and need extra support to reach their full potential. This is why we provide additional funding as part of schools’ overall funding to support disadvantaged pupils through the pupil premium, which will rise to over £2.9 billion in 2024-25, an increase of £80 million from 2023-24.
Programmes such as Free School Meals that support over 2 million children, the Holiday Activities and Food programme (HAF), and support for up to 2,700 breakfast clubs also support disadvantaged pupils.
We also continue to collaborate with other government departments to address out-of-school factors that we know have a significant impact on attainment outcomes.