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  • Shabana Mahmood – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    Shabana Mahmood – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Shabana Mahmood on 2014-07-15.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many studio colleges have fulfilled the terms of their funding agreements for student recruitment targets.

    Mr Edward Timpson

    Post-opening student recruitment targets are only included in funding agreements for studio schools where there has been concern about potential pupil recruitment prior to the school opening.

    Five studio schools have specific termination clauses relating to post-opening student recruitment targets in their funding agreements. One school closed on 31 August 2013 and another is due to close on 31 August 2014 because they did not fulfil the funding agreement criteria in respect of the pupil recruitment target. Neither school was given an extension of time to meet the target. The other three schools have not yet reached the deadlines for their pupil recruitment targets.

    The majority of studio schools opening in September 2013 and all those due to open in September 2014 have pre-opening targets for student recruitment included in their funding agreements to ensure that the schools will be financially viable upon opening.

  • Shabana Mahmood – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    Shabana Mahmood – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Shabana Mahmood on 2014-07-15.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many studio colleges that have fallen behind or failed to meet their student recruitment numbers have been given an extension of time to make further progress to achieve the numbers of students set out in their funding agreements; and what the average additional time given to those colleges to recruit enough students to fulfil funding agreement criteria was.

    Mr Edward Timpson

    Post-opening student recruitment targets are only included in funding agreements for studio schools where there has been concern about potential pupil recruitment prior to the school opening.

    Five studio schools have specific termination clauses relating to post-opening student recruitment targets in their funding agreements. One school closed on 31 August 2013 and another is due to close on 31 August 2014 because they did not fulfil the funding agreement criteria in respect of the pupil recruitment target. Neither school was given an extension of time to meet the target. The other three schools have not yet reached the deadlines for their pupil recruitment targets.

    The majority of studio schools opening in September 2013 and all those due to open in September 2014 have pre-opening targets for student recruitment included in their funding agreements to ensure that the schools will be financially viable upon opening.

  • Shabana Mahmood – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    Shabana Mahmood – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Shabana Mahmood on 2014-07-15.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many studio colleges have fallen behind or failed to meet the levels of student recruitment required for them to meet the terms of their funding agreements.

    Mr Edward Timpson

    Post-opening student recruitment targets are only included in funding agreements for studio schools where there has been concern about potential pupil recruitment prior to the school opening.

    Five studio schools have specific termination clauses relating to post-opening student recruitment targets in their funding agreements. One school closed on 31 August 2013 and another is due to close on 31 August 2014 because they did not fulfil the funding agreement criteria in respect of the pupil recruitment target. Neither school was given an extension of time to meet the target. The other three schools have not yet reached the deadlines for their pupil recruitment targets.

    The majority of studio schools opening in September 2013 and all those due to open in September 2014 have pre-opening targets for student recruitment included in their funding agreements to ensure that the schools will be financially viable upon opening.

  • Annette Brooke – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    Annette Brooke – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Annette Brooke on 2014-07-15.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether it is in the remit of Ofsted to investigate pupils’ safety from asbestos in school buildings when it inspects schools; and if she will make a statement.

    Mr David Laws

    It is not in Ofsted’s remit to assess asbestos management in schools. The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) is the lead regulator on managing asbestos.

  • Andrew Rosindell – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    Andrew Rosindell – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Andrew Rosindell on 2014-07-15.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps her Department is taking to promote alternatives to university to young people.

    Mr Edward Timpson

    We want it to become the norm for young people to choose between an apprenticeship or university as equally prestigious routes to their career. We have placed a duty on schools to provide independent careers guidance for pupils in years 8-13 on the full range of options, including apprenticeships. We have published statutory guidance requiring schools to ensure that other providers, such as further education colleges, have the opportunity to inform pupils about their offer. The guidance also states that schools should offer pupils the opportunity to develop the entrepreneurial skills necessary for self-employment.

    The guidance is published online at:

    www.gov.uk/government/publications/careers-guidance-for-young-people-in-schools

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  • Andrew Rosindell – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    Andrew Rosindell – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Andrew Rosindell on 2014-07-15.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what guidance her Department has issued to ensure staff at free schools receive appropriate levels of background check.

    Mr Nick Gibb

    Free schools, like all other state-funded schools, are required by law to carry out a range of checks on staff, including Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) checks.

    The Department for Education issues ‘pre-opening guidance’ to free school proposers to help them establish their schools. It includes guidance on their responsibilities for checking the suitability of staff. The guidance is published online at:

    www.gov.uk/government/publications/mainstream-free-school-pre-opening-guide

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  • Andrew Rosindell – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    Andrew Rosindell – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Andrew Rosindell on 2014-07-15.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps she is taking to ensure that parents of disruptive children are made fully aware of their child’s bad behaviour.

    Mr Nick Gibb

    The majority of schools are safe and disciplined environments, where teachers are respected and pupils learn in an orderly environment. Nevertheless, Ofsted indicated in its 2013 annual report that there are 700,000 pupils in schools where behaviour is just not good enough.

    The Government has taken strong action to support schools in maintaining discipline and developing a culture of respect for teacher authority. In the Education Act 2011, we strengthened teachers’ powers to discipline pupils for poor behaviour. Teachers can now issue same-day detentions and search pupils for banned items. We have also provided clarity on the use of reasonable force. Earlier this year we outlined a range of tough but proportionate sanctions that teachers can use to punish poor behaviour and maintain discipline. From January 2014, Ofsted introduced ‘no-notice’ inspections for schools with behaviour issues.

    All schools must, by law, have a behaviour policy and make this known to parents, usually by placing it on the school’s website. Our advice makes clear that it is vital that the behaviour policy is well understood by staff, parents and pupils, and that it is consistently applied.

    Good schools recognise the importance of engaging parents and have developed their own approaches according to the particular circumstances of the school. In March 2014, we published a series of case studies on managing behaviour and bullying, which include examples of what good schools are doing to engage parents in a spirit of openness and shared responsibility. These case studies are published online at:

    www.gov.uk/government/collections/managing-behaviour-and-bullying-in-schools-case-studies

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  • Peter Luff – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    Peter Luff – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Peter Luff on 2014-07-15.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment she has made of the potential value of the Careers Lab programme and the recommendations of its recent report Inspiring the Next Generation to her Department’s skills policy.

    Mr Edward Timpson

    We are creating a better skills system that is led by employers with more relevant, respected qualifications and an emphasis on young people acquiring the skills and knowledge they need to succeed. This approach is reflected in the Government’s policy on careers guidance, which centres on schools and colleges building stronger links with employers to inspire and motivate young people about the world of work.

    More employers are getting involved by offering coaching, mentoring, work tasters and work experience to ensure that pupils can access careers advice from people with experience of business. Careers Lab is an example of this employer-led approach.

    In the report, ‘Inspiring the next generation’, the recommendations for government focus on the importance of holding schools to account for the destinations of students and the need to set quality standards to help schools judge which career initiatives are worthwhile. The Government has communicated its expectations to schools on both of these areas. New statutory guidance and departmental advice on careers guidance and inspiration, effective from September, provides a framework for schools and paints a clear picture of what high quality careers guidance looks like. This incorporates information about the quality assurance of any external organisations that schools plan to work with.

    The guidance is clear that schools will now be held to account for the outcomes for their students through destination measures. Ofsted will take greater account of the quality of careers guidance and of students’ destinations in school inspections when judging the effectiveness of a school’s leadership and management. Data on post-16 education destinations is already published in Performance Tables. We intend to publish full key stage 4 and key stage 5 destinations data in performance tables once we are content that the data are robust enough.

  • Henry Smith – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    Henry Smith – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Henry Smith on 2014-07-15.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how much funding Crawley constituency will receive through the pupil premium in the financial year 2014-15.

    Mr David Laws

    Schools and academies in Crawley constituency have been allocated £4.026 million through the pupil premium for financial year 2014-15.

    This includes funding through the deprivation, service child and children adopted from care elements, but excludes the looked-after children element as this is not available at a parliamentary constituency level.

  • Caroline Lucas – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Energy and Climate Change

    Caroline Lucas – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Energy and Climate Change

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Caroline Lucas on 2014-07-15.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, for what reason a Renewable Obligation Certificate banding review for cuts to the large-scale PV Renewable Obligation band in 2015 and 2016 was ruled out as an option in the recent Renewables Obligation consultation.

    Amber Rudd

    The Government may carry out a banding review of RO support in England and Wales for any technology at any time if certain legislative conditions are met. As indicated in our consultation document and impact assessment, it is not clear that any of the conditions are met to trigger a banding review of solar support at this time. These are available on DECC’s web page:

    https://www.gov.uk/government/consultations/consultation-on-changes-to-financial-support-for-solar-pv.

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