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  • Andrew Rosindell – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Andrew Rosindell – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Andrew Rosindell on 2016-02-29.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, if he will estimate the average cost to the public of each Bachelor of Medicine and Bachelor of Surgery degree.

    Ben Gummer

    The Department does not hold information on the average cost to the taxpayer of training someone to become a Bachelor of Medicine and Bachelor of Surgery in the United Kingdom.

    The Personal Social Services Research Unit at the University of Kent estimates within their report ‘Unit Costs of Health and Social Care 2015’, training a doctor for their undergraduate degree (years one-five) to be £240,870 in total. This figure reflects the pre-registration costs of tuition, living expenses and clinical placements.

  • Ann Coffey – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    Ann Coffey – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Ann Coffey on 2016-02-29.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps her Department takes to monitor the compliance of local authorities with their statutory duty to secure sufficient accommodation for looked-after children.

    Edward Timpson

    Local authorities are required, so far as reasonably practicable, to secure sufficient accommodation within the authority’s area to meet the needs of looked after and vulnerable children. Statutory guidance to help local authorities meet this duty was issued in 2010.

    Local authorities’ compliance with the “sufficiency duty” is considered as part of Ofsted inspection. In order for a local authority’s overall effectiveness to be judged as good, they must demonstrate a clear strategy for commissioning and developing services and that there are sufficient resources to meet the needs of local children. Ensuring sufficient placements and services for looked after children also forms part of Ofsted’s judgement of local authorities’ leadership and management.

    Further details of the Ofsted inspection framework are available on GOV.UK at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/inspecting-local-authority-childrens-services-framework

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  • Ann Coffey – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    Ann Coffey – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Ann Coffey on 2016-02-29.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many (a) looked after children went missing and (b) incidents there were of looked after children going missing from their placement there were for each (i) type of placement and (ii) age of child in each of the last five years; and whether each such child who went missing was in a distant placement.

    Edward Timpson

    Figures on the number of children who had a missing incident in the year ending 31 March 2015, and the number of incidents by placement type and age, are attached. Data for earlier years was only collected for children who were missing for a period of at least 24 hours. Information on the distance of the placement from which a looked after child went missing is not readily available.

  • Stephen Timms – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    Stephen Timms – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Stephen Timms on 2016-02-29.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many graduates began the Frontline programme in each year since its establishment; and how many have been enrolled to start in 2016.

    Edward Timpson

    104 graduates began the programme in the first cohort (2014), followed by 124 graduates in the second cohort (2015). Enrolment for the third cohort is not yet complete, however Frontline aim to recruit up to 180 participants to start in 2016.

  • Sharon Hodgson – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    Sharon Hodgson – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Sharon Hodgson on 2016-02-29.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Education, pursuant to the Answer of 11 February 2016 to Question 25802, for what reasons her Department does not provide SEN or disability breakdowns in the revised A-level and other level 3 results in England statistical first release.

    Edward Timpson

    At present, this statistical first release only publishes data for A level and other Level 3 qualifications. Overall, the number of pupils with SEN and disabilities taking qualifications at this level is limited. Therefore, we have not deemed it appropriate to publish separate breakdowns for these groups given the small numbers involved. We will review this decision for future publications.

  • Sharon Hodgson – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    Sharon Hodgson – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Sharon Hodgson on 2016-02-29.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Education, pursuant to the Answer of 11 February 2016 to Question 25802, what the source of the data is on outcomes achieved by disabled children that her Department will use.

    Edward Timpson

    The source of the data published in the statistical first release Level 2 and 3 attainment by young people aged 19 is matched data from the Schools Census, Individualised Learner Record (ILR) data and information provided by awarding bodies. Any other data that is subsequently published will also use these data sources.

  • Sharon Hodgson – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    Sharon Hodgson – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Sharon Hodgson on 2016-02-29.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how much additional funding for 2016-17 her Department has allocated to (a) Ofsted and (b) the Care Quality Commission to support their inspection of the effectiveness of local areas in fulfilling their new special educational needs and disabilities duties.

    Edward Timpson

    For the financial year 2016-17, the department has allocated £1,057,675 of funding to Ofsted and the Care Quality Commission, in order to meet the costs of their inspections of local areas’ effectiveness in fulfilling their new special educational needs and disabilities duties.

  • Ben Howlett – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    Ben Howlett – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Ben Howlett on 2016-02-29.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps she is taking to secure the appropriate data to monitor the progress of programmes which encourage the uptake of STEM subjects by girls.

    Nick Gibb

    The Government funds a number of programmes which encourage the uptake of Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) subjects by girls. We monitor the progress of these programmes against their key performance indicators through regular reports and by evaluating their impact.

    In 2014 the Government published for the first time data showing the proportion of girls and boys studying A levels in science and maths at each post-16 institution, and in 2016 time series data of students entered for mathematics and science A level subjects by number of subjects and gender. Both sets of data will continue to be published on an annual basis.

  • Sharon Hodgson – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    Sharon Hodgson – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Sharon Hodgson on 2016-02-29.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether she plans to monitor local authority spending in 2016-17 on specialist education services for children with special educational needs and disabilities.

    Edward Timpson

    Local authorities’ (LAs) spending on education and children’s social care is monitored on a twice yearly basis. LAs are required under Section 251 (S251) of the Apprenticeships, Skills, Children and Learning Act 2009, to submit their planned (budget) and actual (outturn) expenditure to the Secretary of State, which includes spending in support of children with special educational needs and disabilities. The data collection began in early March 2016 for the 2016-17 budget statements, and the 2015-16 outturn statements are due to start being collected in early July 2016, with the 2016-17 outturn collection beginning in July 2017.

    The department publishes the data from these S251 financial collections on the GOV.UK website, usually in the following September for budget and in the following December for outturn. The department also requires LAs to provide us with an annual assurance statement from the Chief Finance Officer that confirms the funding given for the purpose of education has been spent in line with the regulations.

  • Sharon Hodgson – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    Sharon Hodgson – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Sharon Hodgson on 2016-02-29.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what estimate she has made of the cost of including data by type of disability in the school census.

    Edward Timpson

    No estimate has been made of the cost of including data by type of disability in the school census. The Department is exploring if there are other ways of capturing details of pupils’ disability.