Blog

  • Lord Davies of Stamford – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    Lord Davies of Stamford – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Davies of Stamford on 2014-03-25.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of the level of cuts to funding for tertiary education students aged 18 in Lincoln and the East Midlands.

    Lord Nash

    On 13 March we announced that we would mitigate the impact in academic year 2014/15 of the reduction in funding for 18-year-olds that we announced at the spending round in June 2013.

    Without this mitigation, the reduction in funding for 18-year-olds would have led to a reduction of around 2% of total funding for 16- to 18-year-olds in the East Midlands and 3% in Lincoln.

    The mitigation policy that we have just announced is to ensure that no institution will lose more than 2% of its 16- to 18-year-old funding in academic year 2014/15 as a result of the reduction in funding for 18-year-olds, and Lincoln College (the only further education college in Lincoln) will benefit from this mitigation. This will give schools and colleges more time to adapt to the change, including for those students who are already on courses.

  • Lord Fellowes – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    Lord Fellowes – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Fellowes on 2014-03-25.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether the Lord Chancellor considers that the rehabilitation and behaviour of prisoners will be encouraged by preventing them receiving books by post.

    Lord Faulks

    Up to 12 books may be held by prisoners in their cell at any one time. Prisoners may have additional books stored locally at the prison. Every prison has a library, to which every prisoner has access.

    Ministers have not made any policy changes specifically about the availability of books in prisons. The changes to the Incentives and Earned Privileges national policy framework we introduced last year in relation to parcels were introduced to ensure consistency across the estate and to make sure that security can be maintained. There have always been controls on the sending of parcels into prisons, and allowing parcels to be sent in unrestricted would be operationally unmanageable and would lead to a significant risk of drugs and other illicit items being smuggled into prisons.

    The National Offender Management Service works closely with the Shannon Trust to support schemes such as ‘Toe by Toe’, which includes peer mentoring to improve reading levels.

  • Lord Mendelsohn – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Energy and Climate Change

    Lord Mendelsohn – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Energy and Climate Change

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Mendelsohn on 2014-03-25.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what is the percentage cost over-run established by the management board for any budget in the Department of Energy and Climate Change to merit being tabled at the departmental management board; and how many times in the last 12 months that has occurred.

    Baroness Verma

    The departmental management board review the Department’s expenditure forecasts against Parliamentary control totals. No cost over-runs have been forecast in the last 12 months.

  • Lord Mendelsohn – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    Lord Mendelsohn – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Mendelsohn on 2014-03-25.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what is the percentage cost over-run established by the management board for any budget in the Department for Education to merit being tabled at the departmental management board; and how many times in the last 12 months that has occurred.

    Lord Nash

    The Department for Education’s financial position is reviewed every month by the Department’s Management Committee.

  • Lord Mendelsohn – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    Lord Mendelsohn – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Mendelsohn on 2014-03-25.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what is the percentage cost over-run established by the management board for any budget in the Ministry of Defence to merit being tabled at the departmental management board; and how many times in the last 12 months that has occurred.

    Lord Astor of Hever

    The Defence Board receives a monthly report on the performance of each of its Top level Budgets showing the forecast position against the allocated budget. It also receives information on the delivery of the Ministry of Defence’s key equipment and other projects. The Board assesses this management information at each meeting and takes action as and when necessary.

  • Lord Mendelsohn – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    Lord Mendelsohn – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Mendelsohn on 2014-03-25.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what is the percentage cost over-run established by the management board for any budget in the Department for Communities and Local Government to merit being tabled at the departmental management board; and how many times in the last 12 months that has occurred.

    Baroness Stowell of Beeston

    The Department’s financial position is reviewed on a regular basis.

  • Lord Taylor of Warwick – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    Lord Taylor of Warwick – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Taylor of Warwick on 2014-03-26.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what steps they are taking to tackle unauthorised absences of pupils during term-time.

    Lord Nash

    We know from evidence that pupils who have regular attendance at school are four times more likely to achieve five or more A*-C grades at GCSE including English and maths than those pupils who are persistently absent. This is why the Department for Education reduced the threshold at which pupils are classified as being persistently absent, from 20 to 15 per cent of school missed. This measure enables schools to identify earlier those pupils with troubling attendance patterns, and to do something about them.

    In 2012, we increased the level of the school attendance penalty fines of £50 and £100 to £60 and £120 respectively; and in 2013 reduced the overall timescales for paying fines from 42 to 28 days. Our reforms are working. In 2012/13, 300,895 pupils were persistently absent, down from 433,130 in 2009/10. This is a fall of almost a third. 130,000 fewer pupils were missing 15% of school in 2012/13 compared to 2010/11.

  • Lord Judd – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for International Development

    Lord Judd – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for International Development

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Judd on 2014-03-26.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what is their assessment of the report by UNICEF Under Siege: the devastating impact on children of three years of conflict in Syria, published in March.

    Baroness Northover

    This report provides an account of the impact this most brutal and damaging conflict is having on the lives of Syrian children. DFID shares UNICEF’s concerns for the 5.5 million children who are affected by the crisis, more than double the number in March 2013. The needs of Syrian children are a major priority for the UK’s humanitarian assistance in Syria and the region.

  • Lord Quirk – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    Lord Quirk – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Quirk on 2014-03-26.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government, further to the Written Answers by Lord Nash on 15 October 2013 (WA 76–7) and 21 October 2013 (WA 122), by what mechanism they have subsequently monitored the enhancement of teaching in maths and English, and with what outcomes.

    Lord Nash

    The new national curriculum sets out very clearly what should be taught to pupils. However, it deliberately gives teachers the flexibility to decide how to teach it. The Department for Education expect schools to identify the support that they need to prepare for the new curriculum, recognising that different schools will face different challenges.

    The Department has provided funding to teaching schools to work with their alliances and beyond, and we have been signposting schools to the range of free support that is available in English and mathematics including the resources developed by the National Literacy Trust and the National Centre for Excellence in the Teaching of Mathematics. The sector-led expert subject groups have been providing audit tools and guidance, and publishers are bringing a variety of new materials to market.

    The Government is funding a national network of around 30 maths hubs to drive up the quality of mathematics teachers. Each hub will be led by an outstanding school and will provide support to all schools in the area, across all areas of mathematics education. Systematic phonics has been emphasised in the teaching of early reading in the new national curriculum because evidence shows that it is the most effective way of teaching all children to begin to read. We have provided match-funding of £23 million to primary schools to purchase high quality phonics resources.

    Ofsted, as part of their on-going programme of inspection, report on the quality of teaching in schools to ensure that teaching in subjects such as English and mathematics is resulting in improved achievement.

  • – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by on 2014-03-26.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government, further to the remark by Lord Nash on 9 July 2013 (HL Deb, col 225), that they are focusing heavily on ensuring that teachers have the resources to deliver the new curriculum

    Lord Nash

    The new national curriculum sets out very clearly what should be taught to pupils. However, it deliberately gives teachers the flexibility to decide how to teach it. We expect schools to identify the support that they need to prepare for the new curriculum, recognising that different schools will face different challenges.

    The Department for Education has provided funding to teaching schools to work with their alliances and beyond, and we have been signposting schools to the range of free support that is available in English and mathematics including the resources developed by the National Literacy Trust and the National Centre for Excellence in the Teaching of Mathematics. The sector-led expert subject groups have been providing audit tools and guidance, and publishers are bringing a variety of new materials to market.

    The Government is funding a national network of around 30 Maths Hubs to drive up the quality of mathematics teachers. Each hub will be led by an outstanding school and will provide support to all schools in the area, across all areas of mathematics education. Systematic phonics has been emphasised in the teaching of early reading in the new national curriculum because evidence shows that it is the most effective way of teaching all children to begin to read. We have provided match-funding of £23 million to primary schools to purchase high quality phonics resources.