The below Parliamentary question was asked by Ruth Smeeth on 2016-01-27.
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what funding was available for the Pupil Premium Summer School Programme in 2015.
Mr Sam Gyimah
The Department made up to £46m of funding from the pupil premium available to support schools in delivering summer schools in 2015. The actual amount paid to the 2,171 secondary schools that chose to take part in the 2015 programme, which involved over 92,000 pupils, was £38m.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Ruth Smeeth on 2016-01-27.
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how much of the available funding for the Pupil Premium Summer School Programme was spent in 2015; and how much was spent on food provision for children outside term time.
Mr Sam Gyimah
From 2015-16, the total expenditure by the Department on the summer schools programme was £38m. The Department does not collect data on the number of schools that provided meals for pupils as part of their summer school, nor on the amount of summer school funding spent on food provision.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Chris Green on 2016-01-27.
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment she has made of the effectiveness of the Your Life campaign in changing the perceptions of STEM subjects amoung young people.
Nick Gibb
This Government welcomes the independently led Your Life campaign which aims to increase the number of young people studying science and mathematics at A level, and which is funded by nine corporate sponsors. We look forward to hearing from the campaign what impact it has had on young people’s perceptions.
Since 2010 the number of young people studying science and mathematics A levels has increased by around 29,000. The Government is committed to further increasing these numbers and is taking action to do so, such as recruiting top graduates into teaching.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Tim Loughton on 2016-01-27.
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, when she plans to publish the findings of the review into children’s residential care undertaken by Sir Martin Norey.
Edward Timpson
This review is being led independently by Sir Martin Narey. The review is currently expected to report to Government in spring 2016 and its findings will be published after this.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Alex Cunningham on 2016-01-27.
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what discussions he has had with the Chancellor of the Exchequer on measures to ensure that banks and other financial institutions are not able to profit from the merging of any further education institutions as a result of his Department’s area reviews.
Nick Boles
I refer the hon Member to the answer to Question UIN 02129.
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The below Parliamentary question was asked by Chris Green on 2016-01-27.
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps the Government is taking to work with schools and teacher training providers to (a) increase the number of science and mathematics teachers and (b) to ensure that such teachers work in the schools where they are most needed.
Nick Gibb
We recognise that increasing the number of science and mathematics teachers, particularly in some parts of the country, given the career choices available to graduates of these subjects is a challenge. We are taking a number of steps to increase their numbers further.
We are implementing a package of up to £67 million to transform mathematics and physics teaching in England. This will provide subject knowledge training to 15,000 non-specialist serving teachers and recruit up to 2,500 additional mathematics and physics teachers. The package includes programmes to encourage the brightest A level students and undergraduates into teaching; salaried part-time and abridged courses for career changers; a salaried route for post-doctoral maths and physics researchers; and support for qualified teachers wishing to return to the profession.
We have increased bursaries for science and mathematics trainee teachers; including £30,000 for physics trainees with first-class degrees. We are also offering prestigious scholarships, worth up to £30,000 for physics, and £25,000 for mathematics, chemistry and computing trainees, in partnership with the professional bodies for these subjects.
Through the School Direct route, which is specifically targeted at career changers and allows them to earn a salary whilst they train to teach, we are providing enhanced grant funding of £25,000 (up to £29,900 in inner London) to schools that pay the trainee an enhanced salary of at least £21,000 (£25,000 in inner London).
Our marketing campaign, Your Future | Their Future, includes targeted subject specific science and mathematics advertising through a range of media. Those who wish to teach secondary science or mathematics are eligible for our enhanced Premier Plus service, which provides support from a dedicated adviser to guide them through the application process. Those applicants who would benefit from it can also access funded courses to boost or refresh their subject knowledge to a level that will allow them to teach the subject.
To ensure that these teachers work in the schools where they are most needed, we have expanded school-led initial teacher training (ITT) by introducing School Direct and accrediting more school-centred initial teacher training providers. School-led ITT gives schools the leading role in responding to recruitment needs in their local area, including for science and mathematics teachers. We have also supported the growth of Teach First, a prestigious teacher training route which places trainees in some of the most deprived and challenging areas of the country. As a result of these reforms, 2015/16 is the first year in which more than half of postgraduate ITT is school-led, with 51% of trainees on a school-led route.
The National College for Teaching and Leadership has also recently changed its approach to allocating ITT places, giving individual schools and universities the freedom to recruit as many science and mathematics trainees as they need, up to the national target for each subject.
We have also recently launched the National Teaching Service (NTS). This will help schools that are finding it difficult to retain and recruit the teachers they need, such as in rural, coastal or deprived areas. We will first test aspects of the model through a pilot of 100 NTS teachers/middle leaders starting in secondary and primary schools in the North West from September 2016. Thereafter the national programme will be rolled out to other parts of the country so that by 2020 there will be 1,500 outstanding NTS teachers and middle leaders in schools that need them.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Shannon on 2016-01-27.
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps are being taken in primary schools to address obesity.
Edward Timpson
A number of measures are already helping to address obesity in primary schools in England. The Government has committed over £600 million per year to funding free school meals for all pupils in reception, year 1 and year 2, providing nutritious meals every day and helping to form good eating habits early. The School Food Standards, introduced in 2015, ensure that healthy food is provided throughout the school day and severely restrict fat and sugar. We will continue to invest £150 million per year until 2020 to improve the quality of PE and sport in primary schools. PE is compulsory at all four key stages in the national curriculum for maintained schools.
The Government will launch its childhood obesity strategy shortly. It will look at everything that contributes to a child becoming overweight and obese. It will also set out what more can be done by all sides, including schools.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lisa Cameron on 2016-01-27.
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how his Department responds to and investigates the death of non-combatant employees on military bases.
Mark Lancaster
Any incident involving a death at a Ministry of Defence establishment in the UK would be immediately reported to the local police force who will conduct the appropriate investigation.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jo Cox on 2016-01-27.
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, whether Veterans Welfare Service staff are permitted to represent ex-servicemen and women at tribunal hearings to contest War Pension Scheme decisions made by Veterans UK.
Mark Lancaster
Veterans Welfare Service staff are not permitted to act as representatives for veterans engaged in Pensions Appeal Tribunal hearings. They would, however, provide advice about the range of organisations that would be able to act as representatives, or explain how they could request someone of their own choosing.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Shannon on 2016-01-27.
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what protections exist for British veterans of the Iraq War who are subject to prosecutions for alleged crimes committed while undertaking their service.
Penny Mordaunt
The Government has consistently maintained that the vast majority of Service personnel deployed on operations overseas act in accordance with the law and their training. However, there remains a legal duty to investigate credible allegations of criminal offences, and to prosecute where appropriate. The Director of Service Prosecutions applies the same test as his civilian counterpart, and Courts Martial, like civilian courts, will convict only where the case is proved beyond reasonable doubt. The Iraq Historic Allegations Team has referred two cases to the Director of Service Prosecutions to date; in both cases he has declined to prosecute.
Police investigations and other proceedings can impose a strain on the Service personnel and veterans affected, and we take very seriously our duty of care to them. Anyone who is interviewed as a suspect is entitled to free legal advice; this continues in the event that the case proceeds to prosecution. We also seek to provide pastoral support to Service personnel and veterans who are under investigation, or who are called upon to give evidence to inquests and inquiries. The Department funds independent legal advice wherever necessary in such cases.