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The below Parliamentary question was asked by Bill Wiggin on 2014-05-07.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how many new members of (a) staff and (b) nursing staff have been taken on by the NHS in North Herefordshire in the last 12 months.

Dr Daniel Poulter

The information is available neither in the format requested nor specifically for the North Herefordshire area. Wye Valley NHS Trust provides health services across Herefordshire and further afield. 2gether NHS Foundation Trust provides social and mental health care services across Herefordshire and Gloucestershire.

Information on how many new members of staff and doctors and nursing staff have been taken on by Wye Valley NHS Trust and 2gether NHS Foundation Trust from January 2013 to January 2014 is shown in the following table:

	Joiners between January 2013 and January 2014
Total NHS staff (excluding Bank, Locums and Trainee Doctors):
Wye Valley NHS Trust	336
2gether NHS Foundation Trust	162
of which:
Hospital and Community Health Service doctors (excluding Locums and Trainees):
Wye Valley NHS Trust	9
2gether NHS Foundation Trust	8
Qualified nursing, midwifery and health visiting staff:
Wye Valley NHS Trust	120
2gether NHS Foundation Trust	37

Source:

Health and Social Care Information Centre (HSCIC), provisional monthly NHS workforce data

Notes:

1. Turnover data is based on headcount.

2. Figures are for staff that have joined from outside each NHS trust.

Monthly data:

1. As from 21 July 2010, the HSCIC has published experimental, provisional monthly NHS workforce data (experimental tag has been removed from 24 April 2012)

2. As expected with provisional data, some figures may be revised from month to month as issues are uncovered and resolved

3. The monthly workforce data is not directly comparable with the annual workforce census; it only includes those staff on the Electronic Staff Record i.e. it does not include Primary care staff or Bank staff. It also includes locum doctors (not counted in the annual census).

4. There are also new methods of presenting data (headcount methodology is different and there is now a role count). This information is available from September 2009 onwards at:

www.ic.nhs.uk/pubs/provisionalmonthlyhchsworkforce

Data quality:

The HSCIC seeks to minimise inaccuracies and the effect of missing and invalid data but responsibility for data accuracy lies with the organisations providing the data. Methods are continually being updated to improve data quality. Where changes impact on figures already published, this is assessed but unless it is significant at national level figures are not changed. Impact at detailed or local level is footnoted in relevant analyses.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Bill Wiggin on 2014-05-07.

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if he will discuss with (a) the Whitbourne Independent School and Hub and (b) other projects whose applications for free school status were turned down those applicants’ feedback on how the application process can be made easier for small independent schools.

Mr Edward Timpson

The Department for Education welcomes all feedback on its processes and routinely surveys both successful and unsuccessful free school applicants to ensure the application process remains rigorous and fair and that only the strongest applications are approved.

The Whitbourne Independent School and Hub unsuccessfully applied to the New School Network’s development programme, but has not applied to the Department of Education to open a free school. It is welcome to do so.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Bill Wiggin on 2014-05-07.

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if he will make it his policy to give free schools more flexibility on requirements relating to (a) the involvement of volunteers and (b) provision of flexi-school places.

Mr Edward Timpson

Volunteers in free schools, like maintained schools, can work alongside paid staff members to offer a range of skills and experience that can enhance pupils’ learning. We encourage skilled members of the community to take up a range of voluntary roles in schools from being governors to listening to children read. The Government has reformed child protection policies to remove bureaucracy and enable managers to use their judgement about the checks and supervision required for each individual depending on their circumstances.

The free school programme encourages innovation and the decision to offer flexi-school places or how to deploy volunteers is one for individual head teachers. However, the free school criteria requires all applicants to meet rigorous standards including demonstrating how they would ensure a high quality education for every pupil and outlining a sustainable staffing structure.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Bill Wiggin on 2014-05-07.

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many schools in North Herefordshire have unsuccessfully applied for free school status.

Mr Edward Timpson

There have been two applications to establish free schools in North Herefordshire: one in 2012 was successful and one in 2013 was unsuccessful.

A list of all applications to establish free schools is published online at:

Wave 1 and 2:

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/name-local-authority-previous-school-name-and-faith-designation-of-applications-to-open-a-free-school-waves-1-and-2

Wave 3:

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/name-local-authority-previous-school-name-and-faith-designation-of-applications-to-open-a-free-school-wave-3

Wave 4:

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/free-schools-wave-4-application-information

Wave 5:

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/free-schools-wave-5-application-information

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The below Parliamentary question was asked by Bill Wiggin on 2014-05-07.

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many applications for free school status for which the Church of England has agreed to provide school premises have been (a) approved and (b) rejected.

Mr Edward Timpson

The Department for Education does not hold the information in the form requested.

Whether applicants already have premises for their proposed school, and who provides those premises, are not, on their own, material factors in the decision to approve or reject a free school application. Rather, that decision is based principally on an assessment of the need for the school, the strength of the applicants’ education plans and their ability to deliver a school that is financially viable and likely to be judged “good” or “outstanding” by Ofsted.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Bill Wiggin on 2014-05-07.

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what estimate he has made of the average length of time between an application for free school status being made and a successful applicant school opening; and what plans he has to reduce the time taken.

Mr Edward Timpson

In cases where there is no existing school, the average length of time between an application for a free school being made and a brand new school opening is approximately eighteen months. There are instances where a free school is able to open in a shorter amount of time, for example, in the case of an existing independent school that wants to join the state sector.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Bill Wiggin on 2014-05-07.

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what progress he has made on making the process for school leaving local education authority control to become free schools easier.

Mr Edward Timpson

Free schools are a type of academy, established either as new provision or by independent schools joining the state sector. Maintained schools cannot become free schools, but they can convert to become academies, which enjoy broadly the same freedoms as free schools. The Department for Education is continually refining the academy conversion process. Guidance has been shortened, documentation simplified and standardised, including a ‘plain English’ version of the funding agreement, and an online application form introduced in March, saving schools time in submitting information to the department.

The number of converter academies continues to increase, with 2,795 converter academies open as of May 2014.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Bill Wiggin on 2014-05-07.

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many applications for free school status from applicants which already have premises have been refused.

Mr Edward Timpson

The Department for Education does not hold the information in the form requested.

Whether applicants already have premises for their proposed school, and who provides those premises, are not, on their own, material factors in the decision to approve or reject a free school application. Rather, that decision is based principally on an assessment of the need for the school, the strength of the applicants’ education plans and their ability to deliver a school that is financially viable and likely to be judged “good” or “outstanding” by Ofsted.