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  • Stephen Hammond – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    Stephen Hammond – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Stephen Hammond on 2015-10-21.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what progress her Department has made on preparing to amend the Admissions Code to give parents of summer-born children a right to defer their start to school; and when a consultation on those amendments will take place.

    Nick Gibb

    On 8 September, I announced the government’s intention to amend the School Admissions Code, subject to parliamentary approval, so that children born in summer can be admitted to the reception class at the age of five where this is the wish of their parents. This intention is set out in an open letter to parents, schools and local authorities which is available online at: www.gov.uk/government/publications/summer-born-children-nick-gibbs-letter-about-school-admissions

    Work is now underway to assess what other changes it might be appropriate to make to the Admissions Code. We hope to have a draft Code ready for consultation in the New Year.

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  • Joan Ryan – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    Joan Ryan – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Joan Ryan on 2015-10-21.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment she has made of the implications for her policies of the findings and recommendations of the National Deaf Children’s Society report, One year on: impact of changes to the special educational needs system on deaf children, published on 1 September 2015; and if she will make a statement.

    Edward Timpson

    The Children and Families Act 2014 introduced significant reforms to the Special Educational Needs and Disability (SEND) system. The new statutory framework will ensure that support is focused on needs and aspirations, enabling all pupils to achieve better outcomes in education and adult life.

    Since the Act came into force, in September 2014, there have been a number of significant changes to the SEND system, including the publication of ‘local offers’ of SEN services by local authorities; the introduction of streamlined education, health and care assessments; and new statutory protections for young people aged 16-25 in further education.

    Implementing these reforms requires substantial cultural and procedural change at local level. We are closely monitoring implementation and we are continuing to provide support.

    Local authorities in England each received a share of a £70 million reform grant in 2014-15; and of a further £45.2 million in 2014-15 and £31.7 million in 2015-16 to meet the additional costs of implementing the new SEN duties. Peer support is available to local authorities and their partners through a network of regional lead authorities. And we have funded a range of grants and contracts to provide advice and support to local authorities and their partners across education, health and social care. This includes support to parents and young people, through parent carer forums and the Independent Support programme (£15m per year in 2014-15 and 2015-16).

  • Stephen Hammond – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    Stephen Hammond – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Stephen Hammond on 2015-10-21.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether her Department has assessed the implications of using a premature child’s due date, rather than his or her birth date, for the purpose of determining when that child should start school.

    Nick Gibb

    We have announced the intention to amend the School Admissions Code so that, subject to parliamentary approval, children born in summer can be admitted to the reception class at the age of five, where this is the wish of their parents. Work is currently underway to assess what other changes it might be appropriate to make to the Code. As part of this process, we will consider whether it would be appropriate to use a prematurely-born child’s expected birth date in the admissions process.

  • Caroline Lucas – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    Caroline Lucas – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Caroline Lucas on 2015-10-21.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if she will commission an update to the research study of Recruitment, Deployment and Management of Supply Teachers in England commissioned by her Department in 2006; and if she will make a statement.

    Nick Gibb

    The Department for Education has no plans to commission an update to this research.

  • Kate Osamor – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    Kate Osamor – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Kate Osamor on 2015-10-21.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if she will bring forward legislative proposals to ensure that reviews into Ofsted’s conduct are conducted by an independent body.

    Nick Gibb

    Ofsted has well-established policies and procedures to investigate thoroughly and objectively any concerns received about its work. From August 2015, when a complaint about an Ofsted inspection is escalated to internal review, the handling of the case will also be assessed by a new scrutiny committee. For added independence, the scrutiny committee will include an external panel member who is a senior education practitioner or other sector leader not involved in carrying out inspections for Ofsted.

    If a complainant remains dissatisfied after this process, they can request an external review of the handling of their concerns by the Independent Complaints Adjudication Service for Ofsted.

  • Caroline Lucas – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    Caroline Lucas – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Caroline Lucas on 2015-10-21.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Education, pursuant to the Answer of 23 June 2015 to Question 2405, what the total cost to state-funded schools of hiring agency teachers was in (a) Brighton Pavilion constituency, (b) Brighton and Hove local authority area and (c) England in each year since 2010.

    Nick Gibb

    Information for the expenditure on agency supply teaching staff is available online in the following locations.

    Spend data on agency supply staff by maintained schools at a national level is available in the publication ‘Expenditure by Local Authorities and Schools on Education, Children and Young People’s Services: 2013-14’ (Table 3), at: https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/schools-education-and-childrens-services-spending-2013-to-2014

    Spend data on agency supply staff by academies at a national level is available in ‘Income and expenditure in Academies in England: 2012 to 2013 (Experimental Statistics)’ (Raw data SATS table) at: https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/income-and-expenditure-in-academies-in-england-2013-to-2014

    Detailed Information on the income and expenditure of local authorities and schools (including academies) can be found in the Department’s local authority and school finance data publications at the following link: https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/statistics-local-authority-school-finance-data

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  • Caroline Lucas – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    Caroline Lucas – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Caroline Lucas on 2015-10-21.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Education, pursuant to the Answer of 3 June 2015 to Question 36, if she will make it her policy to separately identify agency teachers in the annual School Workforce Census; and if she will make a statement.

    Nick Gibb

    The government believes that it is for schools to decide when it is appropriate to employ agency teachers; this allows schools to manage their resources and staffing structures in a way that meets local needs and priorities without central prescription from government. The annual School Workforce Census already captures sufficient information regarding the overall teacher employment position in each school.

  • Matthew Offord – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    Matthew Offord – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Matthew Offord on 2015-10-21.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps her Department is taking to ensure that there are adequate numbers of school places in Hendon constituency.

    Edward Timpson

    Local authorities are responsible for planning and securing sufficient school places in their area; supporting them in this is one of this government’s top priorities. We allocate basic need funding to local authorities to help create new school places where they are needed. The London Borough of Barnet has been allocated £27.9 million for the period 2015-18. Barnet also received £68.7 million of basic need funding between 2011 and 15, which is an increase of 49.5 million compared to the amount spent by the previous government in the period 2007-11.

    The money allocated to Barnet since 2011 has helped to create 7,136 new school places between 2010 and 2014. In addition, Watling Park School, a primary free school that opened in September 2015, is due to provide 420 additional primary places once at full capacity.

    Information on basic need allocations can be found online at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/basic-need-allocations-2015-to-2018

    “

  • Vicky Foxcroft – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    Vicky Foxcroft – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Vicky Foxcroft on 2015-10-21.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what assessment he has made of the comparative merits of universities using (a) postcodes and (b) household incomes to determine whether a student lives in a low-participation neighbourhood for the purposes of eligibility for bursaries; and if he will make a statement.

    Joseph Johnson

    Universities wishing to charge fees above the basic fee level must agree an access agreement with the independent Director of Fair Access, setting out the support they will give to students from disadvantaged backgrounds. The Director of Fair Access has said that universities should use any evidence they have about the impact of financial support on widening participation when making decisions on their support packages. They should also include details of the evidence used in their access agreements.

    It is for universities themselves to decide the criteria for awarding bursaries and, in respect of students from disadvantaged backgrounds, to set these out in their access agreement. Each university will decide its criteria taking into account the make-up of its own student body and its individual mission.

  • Joan Ryan – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Energy and Climate Change

    Joan Ryan – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Energy and Climate Change

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Joan Ryan on 2015-10-21.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, what recent assessment she has made of the financial effect of the removal of pre-accreditation from the Feed-in-Tariff on businesses planning to pre-accredit renewable energy schemes before the end of 2016.

    Andrea Leadsom

    The consultation on removing pre-accreditation contained a statement of impact, setting out an assessment of the effects of this change. The Government Response to the consultation makes references to the assessment of the impact of removing pre-accreditation, having considered the consultation submissions. In addition, the FIT review consultation’s impact assessment contains projections which take into account the effect of removing pre-accreditation on scheme deployment, along with other measures proposed in the review.