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  • Graham Brady – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    Graham Brady – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Graham Brady on 2015-10-20.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what amount of pupil premium paid was not spent in the year it was paid in each of the last four years; what proportion of the total spending on pupil premium that amounted to in each of those years; and what estimate she has made of the total amount of pupil premium carried over in each of those years.

    Mr Sam Gyimah

    The department does not collect information from schools and academies on the amounts of the pupil premium spent in any given year nor the amount carried forward to future years.

    Local Authorities are obliged to provide an annual assurance that all pupil premium funding paid to them has been distributed appropriately. Schools and academies are also required to publish how much pupil premium funding they have received; what they have spent this on; and what impact this has had on the attainment of those pupils under the scope of the grant. This information is published annually, on their websites.

    Whilst we do not collect the specific information requested, we do publish the pupil premium allocations themselves and they are available here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/pupil-premium-2015-to-2016-allocations

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  • Graham Brady – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    Graham Brady – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Graham Brady on 2015-10-20.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment her Department has made of the effects on the worst funded schools of adjusting the percentage applied in the calculation of the Minimum Funding Guarantee.

    Mr Sam Gyimah

    The minimum funding guarantee protects schools from significant changes in their funding, limiting the year-on-year reductions in a school’s pupil-led funding to 1.5%.

    The minimum funding guarantee for schools will continue to be set at minus 1.5% per pupil for 2016-17. We have committed to making funding fairer, but we cannot comment on the detail of proposals prior to the outcome of the Spending Review.

  • Nicholas Soames – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    Nicholas Soames – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Nicholas Soames on 2015-10-20.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment she has made of Key Stage 2 results in West Sussex.

    Nick Gibb

    Provisional information on the latest Key Stage 2 results in West Sussex and other local authorities is published as part of the “National curriculum assessments: key stage 2, 2015 (provisional)” release[1].

    These indicate that 77% of pupils in West Sussex local authority achieved level 4 or above in reading, writing and mathematics, below the national average of 80%. This is down from 78% in 2013/14.

    In the same year, 21% of pupils in West Sussex local authority achieved level 5 or above in reading, writing and mathematics, below the national average of 24%. This is down from 22% in 2013/14.

    Since the phonics check was introduced in West Sussex, the proportion of children who achieve the expected standard has risen each year to 73% in 2015. This remains, however, below the national average of 77%.

    Standards in some West Sussex schools are currently too low. I have therefore written to West Sussex County Council, asking them to set out their plans to improve results, so that more children in West Sussex receive the standard of education to which they are entitled.

    This is part of our national plan to raise standards, by setting higher expectations in our curriculum and qualifications; creating a self-improving school system; and promoting strong school governance through academies and free schools. We are also committed to making sure schools are funded fairly so all pupils have access to a good education – a key part of our core mission ensure every child reaches their full potential.

    [1] 2014/15 provisional local authority level tables can be found at: https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/456135/SFR30_2015_KS2_LA_Tables.xls

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  • Nicholas Soames – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    Nicholas Soames – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Nicholas Soames on 2015-10-20.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps are being taken to ensure that schools in West Sussex are delivering educational excellence.

    Nick Gibb

    Provisional information on the latest Key Stage 2 results in West Sussex and other local authorities is published as part of the “National curriculum assessments: key stage 2, 2015 (provisional)” release[1].

    These indicate that 77% of pupils in West Sussex local authority achieved level 4 or above in reading, writing and mathematics, below the national average of 80%. This is down from 78% in 2013/14.

    In the same year, 21% of pupils in West Sussex local authority achieved level 5 or above in reading, writing and mathematics, below the national average of 24%. This is down from 22% in 2013/14.

    Since the phonics check was introduced in West Sussex, the proportion of children who achieve the expected standard has risen each year to 73% in 2015. This remains, however, below the national average of 77%.

    Standards in some West Sussex schools are currently too low. I have therefore written to West Sussex County Council, asking them to set out their plans to improve results, so that more children in West Sussex receive the standard of education to which they are entitled.

    This is part of our national plan to raise standards, by setting higher expectations in our curriculum and qualifications; creating a self-improving school system; and promoting strong school governance through academies and free schools. We are also committed to making sure schools are funded fairly so all pupils have access to a good education – a key part of our core mission ensure every child reaches their full potential.

    [1] 2014/15 provisional local authority level tables can be found at: https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/456135/SFR30_2015_KS2_LA_Tables.xls

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  • Vicky Foxcroft – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    Vicky Foxcroft – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Vicky Foxcroft on 2015-10-20.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many children aged between four and seven in (a) Lewisham, Deptford constituency, (b) the London Borough of Lewisham and (c) London received free school meals in each of the last five academic years.

    Mr Sam Gyimah

    Prior to the 2014/15 academic year, the department did not collect data on the number of free school meals given out to pupils below school level. The department does not, therefore, hold information on receipt of free school meals by pupils of different ages for earlier years.

    Data from the January 2015 school census at regional and local authority level can be found in table 8e of ‘Schools, Pupils and their Characteristics: January 2015 statistics’[1]. Constituency level data can be obtained by aggregating the underlying school level data from the same publication. This is available in the ‘SFR16_2015_Schools_Pupils_UD’ file within the underlying data, which contains information on each school within constituencies and the number of infant pupils who took a free school meal on census day.

    [1] https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/schools-pupils-and-their-characteristics-january-2015

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  • Ian Austin – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    Ian Austin – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Ian Austin on 2015-10-20.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if the costs to schools of administering the reception baseline assessment will be funded by her Department in each year of the current Parliament.

    Nick Gibb

    The Department for Education is currently considering all spending, as part of the ongoing spending review.

  • Ian Austin – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    Ian Austin – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Ian Austin on 2015-10-20.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many schools which signed up to the reception baseline providers that were subsequently not approved by her Department will have their costs reimbursed by her Department.

    Nick Gibb

    On 3 July 2015, the Department for Education contacted schools which had selected suppliers that were not approved by the department. This communication confirmed that, should the school continue to use that supplier, no costs would be reimbursed.

  • Ian Austin – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    Ian Austin – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Ian Austin on 2015-10-20.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what the estimated cost to the public purse of developing the reception baseline assessment policy implemented in September 2015 (a) was in 2014-15 and (b) is expected to be in 2015-16.

    Nick Gibb

    The expenditure in 2014/15 was£82,507.81.

    Costs for 2015/16 cannot be released until finalised.

  • Ian Austin – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    Ian Austin – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Ian Austin on 2015-10-20.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what the estimated cost to the public purse is of her Department’s comparative studies on reception baseline assessments.

    Nick Gibb

    Costs are not yet finalised and we cannot provide the information until the study is complete.

  • Henry Smith – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    Henry Smith – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Henry Smith on 2015-10-20.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what plans the Government has to meet the demand for school places in Crawley.

    Edward Timpson

    Local authorities are responsible for planning and securing sufficient school places in their area, and supporting them in doing so 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. West Sussex has been allocated £57 million of basic need funding for the period 2015-18. West Sussex also received £113 million between 2011 and 2015, helping to create 8,565 new school places between 2010 and 2014. In addition to this, the Gatwick School, an all-through free school that opened in September 2014, is due to provide 1,020 additional 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

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