The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jenny Chapman on 2016-04-19.
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what progress has been made on the provision of universal infant free school meals.
Mr Sam Gyimah
Universal infant free school meals (UIFSM) have been a great success, with over 1.3m additional infants enjoying a nutritious, free meal at lunchtime and parents saving hundreds of pounds a year.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jenny Chapman on 2016-04-19.
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many Sure Start centres were in operation on 1 March 2016.
Mr Sam Gyimah
On 1 March 2016 local authorities listed as being in operation 3,331 main children’s centres and sites open to families and children providing children’s centre services as part of a network.
Children’s centre records are maintained by local authorities and are made publicly available via the department’s “EduBase portal” at: http://www.education.gov.uk/edubase/home.xhtml
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The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jenny Chapman on 2016-04-19.
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what recent representations her Department has received from primary schools on the requirement to make milk available during the school day.
Mr Sam Gyimah
We have had one piece of correspondence on milk from a school in recent months. The Department does not collect data on the consumption of milk. The revised School Food Standards are effective from 1 January 2015 and designed to be easier to read and implement. A full public consultation on the School Food Standards regulations was held between 6 March and 16 April 2014. All schools were subsequently notified of the guidance through our termly communications with schools. The standards and guidance are available on gov.uk at:
http://www.legislation.gov.uk/uksi/2014/1603/contents/made
https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/standards-for-school-food-in-england
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The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jenny Chapman on 2016-04-19.
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what guidance her Department has provided to schools on their compliance with the milk requirements of her Department’s school food standards.
Mr Sam Gyimah
We have had one piece of correspondence on milk from a school in recent months. The Department does not collect data on the consumption of milk. The revised School Food Standards are effective from 1 January 2015 and designed to be easier to read and implement. A full public consultation on the School Food Standards regulations was held between 6 March and 16 April 2014. All schools were subsequently notified of the guidance through our termly communications with schools. The standards and guidance are available on gov.uk at:
http://www.legislation.gov.uk/uksi/2014/1603/contents/made
https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/standards-for-school-food-in-england
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The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jenny Chapman on 2016-04-19.
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment she has made of the effect of Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services on the health, wellbeing and performance of young people in schools and colleges.
Mr Sam Gyimah
We want children to do well academically. Attainment is supported if students have good health and mental wellbeing and when they have access to specialist mental health services where they need it.
The Government is investing an additional £1.4bn in children’s mental health this Parliament. Clinical Commissioning Groups (CCGs) across the country have worked with partners, including schools and colleges, to produce local transformation plans for children and young people’s mental health services. These should set out what will be done locally to make the best use of the resources available – changing how child and adolescent mental health services (CAMHS) are delivered in response to the challenges set out in the Future in Mind report and increasing the focus on preventative activity. NHS England has put the plans through an assurance process before releasing funds and is carrying out an analysis of plans to identify practice that can be shared to inform future planning.
In addition we have contributed to a £3m joint pilot with NHS England which is testing how single points of contact in CAMHS and schools can secure effective mental health support to pupils. The pilots are involving over 250 schools in 27 CCG areas through joint training, which supports schools and CAMHS leads to identify specific activity to improve support in their area.
The Department of Health has commissioned a new survey into the prevalence of mental health conditions in children and young people in England, the first since 2004. They expect this to be published in 2018.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Julie Elliott on 2016-04-19.
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what discussions she has had with teachers on her proposal that all schools be required to convert to academies.
Edward Timpson
The Secretary of State regularly meets teachers at a range of events while visiting schools and in meetings at the Department as well as headteacher reference groups and expert panels. In these meetings, the Secretary of State discusses the Government’s commitment to achieving educational excellence everywhere.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Rebecca Long Bailey on 2016-04-19.
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what estimate she has made of legal costs (a) to her Department and (b) to the academies and local authorities affected arising following the transfer of all local authority school land to the Secretary of State under the plans to convert all schools to academies; and what estimate she has made of such costs of the granting of leases to each academy under those plans.
Edward Timpson
In our recent White Paper, Educational Excellence Everywhere, we announced our intention for the freehold of land at community schools to transfer to the Secretary of State on their conversion to Academy status. We are clear that we want all schools to become academies and are considering proposals to remove obstacles for schools – there are too many cases where negotiations over the use of land have delayed conversion to academy status.
We are now working closely with local authorities to explore how these transfers will work in practice, including how we can best minimise the costs local authorities already face in relation to resolving land issues during conversion. The Secretary of State for Education already has the power to direct that where academy land is no longer required for a school, the land or any proceeds of sale can be returned to the local authority. That power will remain unchanged. We will, in considering how best to implement these measures, of course ensure that local needs are taken into account.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Rebecca Long Bailey on 2016-04-19.
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether a property management company will be created for land held as a result of the proposals to transfer land owned by local authorities to the Secretary of State as part of the policy of converting all schools to academies.
Edward Timpson
We have no plans to create a property management company to hold land transferred to the Secretary of State as a result of the proposals outlined in our White Paper for converting community schools. Our expectation is that any such land would be held by the Secretary of State to ensure the land is safeguarded for educational use.
We are separately developing proposals for a new body of property specialists to help meet our commitment to deliver 500 more free schools by 2020. Their focus will be on acquiring sites for free schools; rather than the management of existing school land. Finding sites quickly is often the biggest obstacle to opening new schools, and this proposal will help ensure we have the right people working for us to secure best value for the taxpayer.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jess Phillips on 2016-04-19.
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, which of her Department’s directors has responsibility for implementation of its commitments under the Armed Forces Covenant.
Edward Timpson
I, as Minister of State for Children and Families, am responsible for implementing the Department for Education’s commitments under the Armed Forces Covenant. The senior civil servant who supports the Minister in implementing the commitments is Juliet Chua, director of the Post-16 and Disadvantage Group in the Education Standards Directorate.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Tim Farron on 2016-04-19.
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what proportion of children attending primary school were born outside the UK.
Nick Gibb
The Department does not collect information about where pupils were born or their nationality.