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Tag: 2011

  • Michael Gove – 2011 Statement on Increased Funding to Address Shortage in Pupil Places

    Michael Gove – 2011 Statement on Increased Funding to Address Shortage in Pupil Places

    The statement made by Michael Gove, the then Secretary of State for Education, in the House of Commons on 3 November 2011.

    I would like to update the House on my Department’s work to address the shortage in pupil places being experienced by some local authorities, and reduce the level of prescription and unnecessary guidance which are a feature of the school premises regulations and hamper the development of new schools.

    I would also like to inform members of my final decisions on the Building Schools for the Future (BSF) programme in the six authorities which mounted Judicial Reviews.

    In July, I announced that an extra £500 million would be made available, this year, to local authorities experiencing the greatest need in managing shortfalls in providing pupil places. This additional funding has been made available from efficiencies and savings identified in BSF projects that are continuing.

    I can announce today that over one hundred local authorities will receive a share of the funding. The allocations have been calculated using figures provided to the Department for Education by local authorities through the 2011 School Capacity and Forecast Information returns. By using the most up-to-date information available we are making sure the savings identified are being targeted to local authorities experiencing the most severe need.

    I understand the economic situation means difficult choices need to be made about how to direct funding but I urge local authorities to target resources at managing the shortfalls in pupils places wherever they are most needed, and taking into account of the views of parents. This is especially pertinent in light of the data released last week by the Office for National Statistics (ONS) showing that previous projections for population growth were underestimated and by 2020 there will be around 21 per cent more primary age children than in 2010.

    Today’s extra funding means that in 2011-12, a total of £1.3 billion will have been allocated to fund additional school places. The Government already announced an allocation of £800 million funding in December 2010, twice the previous annual level of support. The nature of this funding, (capital grant which is not ring fenced) the nature of the projects it will fund, (mainly small primary school projects) and the readiness of local authorities to get projects underway mean that this money will be spent efficiently. Further, I expect much of it to benefit small and medium-sized enterprises and to stimulate local economic activity across the country.

    I would like to reassure those local authorities whose needs were not as severe as others – and which, therefore, did not receive a share of this extra £500 million – that future capital allocations for basic need and maintenance pressures will be announced later in the year.

    I am also launching a twelve week consultation on the revision of school premises regulations. The consultation document sets out how the Government intends to deregulate and end the confusion and unnecessary bureaucracy surrounding the current requirements. A copy of the consultation document will be placed in the House Libraries.

    I am proposing to make the requirements for independent and maintained schools identical and to reduce the overall number of regulations. Some regulations are duplicated in other pieces of legislation or are simply unnecessary and I propose to remove these regulations completely. I also think that other regulations can be simplified to remove unnecessary bureaucracy and make requirements proportionate, without reducing the quality of buildings. I would welcome views on my proposals, further details of which can be found on the Department for Education’s website.

    Finally, today I am announcing my decision on the schools that are subject to the BSF Judicial Review proceedings, brought by Luton Borough Council; Nottingham City Council; Waltham Forest London Borough Council; Newham London Borough Council; Kent County Council; and Sandwell Metropolitan Borough Council.

    I announced what I was minded to do in July and have received further representations from each of the claimant authorities. I considered these carefully but I am not persuaded that I should depart from the decision which I announced I was minded to take. My final decision is, therefore, not to fund the schools in the claim but, instead, to fund, in capital grant, the value of the claimant authorities proven contractual liabilities.

  • John Hayes – 2011 Speech to the Institute for Careers Guidance Annual Conference

    John Hayes – 2011 Speech to the Institute for Careers Guidance Annual Conference

    The speech made by John Hayes, the then Education Minister, at the Thistle Hotel in Brighton on 3 November 2011.

    Good morning everyone.

    I am very pleased to be here today in one of our most fashionable, creative and enterprising cities. Given that fashion is about here and now and I’m more interested in then and when, it is the other two adjectives – creative and enterprising – which are my main themes for today.

    The National Careers Service will be launched next April, and builds on Next Step, introduced last Summer, which has been and continues to be a vital and successful Government service. Next Step has the capacity to provide guidance to 700,000 adults a year, and can handle up to 1 million telephone guidance sessions and 20 million website sessions. And over 80% of adults receiving guidance say that it influences their decision to learn or move on in employment.

    These are impressive figures. They are testament to the achievements of the careers sector, and the respect in which careers guidance is held by those who have benefitted from it. And Next Step is a landmark service, streets ahead of the provision for adults we have seen in the past. Establishing a fully integrated careers service for adults was my ambition in opposition, delivered in Government.

    Now as we plan the launch of the National Careers Service we approach a moment of immense significance. It marks the point at which the careers sector will step into the sunlight. It is the start of your renaissance.

    And to do that, the sector needs to be both creative and enterprising, just as the City of Brighton and Hove has been. From the prescribing of seawater in the 1740s to its current epithet of “Silicon Beach”, Brighton has flourished.

    Change is always a challenge, and for some people too hard to face. Perhaps that’s why we’ve heard too much talk of a “golden age” in careers guidance which is at risk. I don’t want you to have any illusions that the past was better than the future. Although the Connexions service had an impact on the lives of many young people, it was a model that simply did not work.

    Giving professional careers guidance is a specialism, which requires expertise and experience. The Connexions model stretched professional careers advisers to breaking point, requiring of them that they give expert advice on health, housing, personal finance and other matters.

    This was ineffective, and ultimately destructive: the product of a public service strategy which asked professionals to do everything at once, rather than doing what they know best.

    This was not the right model for professional careers guidance, and it will not be the model for the future.

    The launch of the National Careers Service brings a clear focus on professional, independent guidance which springs from a deep knowledge of the labour market and the specialist skills and experience of the careers adviser. Empirical, up to date, and to the point. That is what you have all called for, and that is exactly what will be delivered.

    But it depends on the commitment of every single person in this room; every professional in the sector; everyone like us who has a passion for careers guidance.

    I am sensitive to the scale of the challenge you face and know just how radical our ambitions are. But I want us to move on and up, and take bold strides forward. Yes,economic circumstances are difficult. But that must be a spur, an inspiration to even greater creativity, drive and ambition. As I said in Belfast, we simply have to do more with less; and that will be the project and the glory of the careers profession.

    I am passionate about guidance. It can set young people upon a path which will inspire and motivate them at every turn. It can help adults who have fallen on hard times turn around their lives. It deserves the highest and widest public recognition, and the prestige of a profession which is respected and admired.

    You have a chance, a golden chance, to turn your passion for guidance into a reinvigoration of the sector’s aims and ambitions. But we must move with the times. The model of the past is not the model of the future, and I want you to develop, to innovate, to reinvent where you need to reinvent, and to rise to the challenge.

    As I have said before, guidance is “the stuff of dreams”, because it clarifies and inspires. As Ruskin put it, “To see clearly is poetry, prophecy and religion, all in one.”

    The National Careers Service will bring online and helpline services for young people and adults together in one place. It will be required to hold the new, more rigorous matrix standard which I had the pleasure to launch earlier this month. It will have a redesigned website which makes information about careers and the labour market more accessible. It will provide high quality advice and guidance to adults in community locations. And it will be promoted at a national level, so that its profile and visibility are high.

    I want the National Careers Service to be the gold standard in careers guidance. It will not manage the market – the Government’s approach is to remove regulation, not increase it. But it will set a standard of quality and professionalism that all providers of guidance should seek to match.

    Alongside that, the Careers Profession Alliance is leading the renaissance of the guidance profession. Following the great work of the Careers Profession Task Force, the Alliance has set itself the target of achieving chartered status for the careers profession inside three years.

    I was delighted to share a platform today with Ruth Spellman, who is chair of the Alliance. This is not by chance, but by design. I want to stand shoulder to shoulder with the careers profession as it continues its journey, and I was pleased that Ruth spoke with authority about the steps which need to be taken.

    I applaud the ambition the Alliance have shown, and strongly support the work that Ruth and her colleagues are leading. Developing a set of professional standards which are respected and aspired to by all those providing careers advice – wherever they work and to whatever professional body they belong – is an undertaking of the utmost importance; and I urge all the parties involved onwards to success.

    I support the work on developing Higher Apprenticeships as a route for the professions, and I am sympathetic with the view that a quota of level 6 staff should be the aim. So the building blocks are in place. And we are working to a clear strategy, which will not change.

    The participation age for education and training will be raised to 18 in 2015. In line with that flagship policy, responsibility for careers guidance for young people will be devolved to the institutions of learning which know them best, and local authorities will be expected to work hard to re-engage those who have disengaged with the system. Schools will work with local authorities to identify young people who are at risk.

    The National Careers Service will provide information, advice and guidance which supports growth and social mobility, and is in tune with the labour market. Its advisers will be expert, and its reputation will be second to none.

    And underpinning this, the careers profession – and the market in high quality careers services – will continue to grow.

    We must continue to look for new and better ways of measuring and recording the positive outcomes to which guidance can lead. Government will play its part in seeking new sources of evidence; but we will continue to be challenged to justify every penny we spend, and the best evidence of success is that which you yourselves provide.

    The Alliance, its constituent bodies, and every organisation and adviser in the sector, will need to champion the quality of professional standards to which guidance is delivered, so that there is demand for professional services.

    And everyone whose business it is to engage in this noble profession – not just the National Careers Service – will need to look for the opportunities and openings which allow them to demonstrate their skill and commitment.

    I know there has been debate about the importance of face to face careers guidance for young people.

    I share the view that face to face guidance is of critical importance. Pupils and students can benefit enormously from support offered in person, which raises their aspirations and guides them onto a successful path.

    This is particularly true of those young people who do not have the social networks which can connect them to inspiring figures in different occupations; or those who come from families with a long history of unemployment; or those with learning difficulties or disabilities. You will have heard me speak before about the importance of wherewithal: many young people do not lack aspiration, but do lack the means to achieve their goals. Face to face guidance can help to move them onto the right path. This is the difference between information and advice, between data and understanding. It was Eliot after all who said “where is the knowledge lost in information.”

    Many of you have stressed the importance of ensuring that schools are able to draw on careers guidance of the highest quality. I share that view. My friends in the teaching profession have left me in no doubt that headteachers are ready to respond to the new duty to secure independent, impartial careers guidance. But they have called for support to help them take advantage of opportunity, and help others do the same.

    So today I am pleased to report that my right honourable friend Lord Hill of Oareford told the House of Lords last week that Government will bring forward statutory guidance for schools on the new legal duty. He also said that this statutory guidance will highlight to schools how they can be confident that the external support they are buying in is of the desired quality; and that the Government would consult on the guidance.

    Lord Hill also confirmed that the Government will place a clear expectation on schools that they should secure face-to-face careers guidance where it is the most suitable support, in particular for disadvantaged children, those who have special needs and those with learning difficulties or disabilities.

    These important messages in statutory guidance will be underpinned by the sharing of effective practice and evidence of what works. Headteachers need to be able to spread the word about the best, most innovative and most cost effective providers of guidance.

    And we will not stop there. The matrix standard embodies the quality I expect of all careers guidance services. As a visible national standard, it will be promoted, and should serve to help schools decide what careers guidance to secure.

    And providers in the National Careers Service will be encouraged to market their services to schools. This will provide an additional stimulus for the market in young people’s guidance to respond.

    Let me reiterate. We are moving from a past in which specialist, professional careers guidance was submerged by a model which did not work, to a future in which high quality, dynamic and responsive careers services will flourish.

    We can create a long term environment for guidance which endures. But the sector needs to seize its opportunity.

    And in Government, we will not rest on our laurels. On the contrary, we will continue to increase the reach and visibility of careers guidance.

    We will encourage careers guidance providers in the community to establish networks with other public, private and voluntary sector services. Specialist services working in partnership can have a huge impact on outcomes for individual people. So I want to build on the level of co-location which the Next Step service has already developed.

    I can confirm today that the number of Further Education colleges working with Next Step has now reached 139. Some, such as Southgate College, are exploring new models which bring together careers and job support. Here, in Brighton, Next Step South East is co-located with City College and the Whitehawk Inn community centre to deliver both support and training. We will work with the Association of Colleges, Jobcentre Plus and others to further develop those models. Following our launch in the spring, my ambition is for co-location with Job Centre Plus and colleges to exceed 250 sites across the UK by the end of next year. I can also announce that from April 2012, we will pilot new forms of co-location for the National Careers Service, including in places of worship, community centres, the charitable and voluntary sectors.

    We will help providers in the service to expand their share of business in the market, so they can take the quality of the National Careers Service offer out as widely as possible, and I want to explore how a peripatetic service can be put in place to serve rural areas like the one I represent. The National Careers Service – in towns, cities and villages across the UK.

    And we will continue to explore how we make best use of available funding to support Growth and Social Mobility – for example, by reviewing the groups which are eligible for more than one session of face to face support.

    The National Careers Service will be at the heart of the system. To play its role as part of the vision I have set out, it will need inspirational leadership, and a hotline to the profession. So I can announce today:

    that we will establish a National Council for Careers made up of key figures from the profession, to advise on the management and direction of the service as it continues to develop;

    and that in the New Year, we will publish a document confirming the policy and direction for careers guidance, which will reinforce everything I have said today.

    In Belfast, I issued a challenge, and called on you all to respond. My message has not changed. Indeed, it has got stronger, my conviction still more certain.

    This is the careers profession’s time. This is a renaissance. I love the past but I am not its captive. It will not take us forward.

    Everyone in this room, everyone out there in the sector is committed to inspiring and guiding the young people and adults of this country. We need to step up to the mark, as will the Government . In Kipling’s words “Gardens are not made by sitting in the shade.” We must continue the journey, and move into the bright sunshine. Moving forward, not holding back. Aiming high, not for ourselves, but for the lives we change through what we are and what we do.

    Thank you for listening.

  • Danny Alexander – 2011 Speech to the House of Commons on Public Service Pensions

    Danny Alexander – 2011 Speech to the House of Commons on Public Service Pensions

    The speech made by Danny Alexander, the then Chief Secretary to the Treasury, in the House of Commons on 2 November 2011.

    I wish to update the House on progress in reform of public service pensions to set out the new offer we have made as we seek to bring this issue to a conclusion by the end of this year.

    Our objective is to put in place new schemes that are affordable, sustainable and fair – to both taxpayers and public service workers. And to put in place schemes that can be sustained for decades to come.

    It’s not easy, but it’s the right thing to. I recognise that this is a contentious area. Public service workers deserve a good pension in retirement, as a fair reward for a lifetime spent serving the public.

    That is why in June last year the Chancellor commissioned Lord Hutton, the Work and Pensions Secretary in the previous Government, to take an impartial, dispassionate look at this to bring forward proposals for reform.

    His landmark report has set the terms of the debate, and I am sure the whole house will share my gratitude for his work.

    In his interim report, he found that there was a clear justification – based on the past cost increase borne by the taxpayer for an increase in member contributions.

    We accepted that recommendation, and increases in member contributions will take place starting next year – although next year’s increase merely reflects the increase already planned by the previous Government.

    In his final report, he set out a blueprint for a new landscape of public service pensions based on retaining defined benefit schemes, but moving to a fairer career average basis, and increasing the retirement age in line with the State Pension Age to protect the taxpayer against future increases in life expectancy.

    We accepted his recommendations in full as a basis for consultation, and we have been discussing the recommendations with the trade unions.

    Those discussions started in February, and are still going on. Despite some of the public comment, significant progress has been made. And I want to pay tribute to the Minister for the Cabinet Office and the General Secretary of the TUC for their tireless work to reach common ground on reform.

    The trade unions have welcomed many of the commitments that we made at the start of this process:

    • That public sector schemes will remain defined benefit, with a guaranteed amount provided in retirement
    • That all accrued rights will be protected. Everything public servants have earned until the point of change, they will keep and will be paid out in the terms expected, at the retirement age expected. Final salary means just that – your accrued rights will be based on the final salary not at the point of change, but your final salary whenever your career ends or you choose to leave the scheme.

    No public sector worker needs to have anything to fear at all for any of the entitlements they have already built up.

    We have reached agreement the importance of transparency, equality impacts, participation rates and opt-outs, scheme governance, and high level principles to inform consultations on scheme level pensions.

    However, the central issue of the value of new schemes remains to be agreed.

    Two aims need to bet:

    First, that for most low and middle income workers, the new schemes would generate an income at retirement at least as good as the amount they receive now.

    Second, that the taxpayer needs to be properly protected from the future risks associated with further increases in life expectancy, by linking the scheme normal pension age to State Pension Age.

    In early October, we set cost ceilings to meet these tests.

    Cost ceilings based on Lord Hutton’s recommendations that generate an accruals rate of 1/65th for the new schemes.

    Scheme by scheme discussions have been taking place on this basis, since the beginning of October.

    And while the talks have been productive,  trade unions and departmental ministers have given consistent feedback about what they think needs to change.

    Last week, the Minister for the Cabinet Office and I met the TUC negotiating team who pressed for a more generous cost ceiling was needed, and explicit protections for those workers nearest to retirement.

    I have received similar feedback from the Secretaries of State for Education and Health.

    Having listened to their views, I have decided to revise the government’s offer.

    Cabinet discussed these matters yesterday, and I met the TUC this morning to set out the terms of our new offer.

    It is an offer that increases the cost ceiling and provides for generous transitional arrangements for those closest to retirement, and I have made available to Members today a document that sets out the detail.

    This generous offer should be more than sufficient to allow agreement to be reached with the unions.

    But it is an offer that is conditional upon reaching agreement.

    I hope that on the basis of this offer, the Trade Unions will devote their energy to reaching agreement not on unnecessary and damaging strike action.

    That way this offer can inform the scheme by scheme talks that will continue until the end of the year. Of course, if agreement cannot be reached we may need to re-visit our proposals, and consider whether those enhancements remain appropriate.

    I can announce today that I have decided to offer an increase to the cost ceiling. So future schemes will now be based on a pension to the value of 1/60th of average salary, accruing for each year worked. That is an 8% increase on the previous offer.

    Let me give some examples of what that means.

    A teacher with a lifetime in public service with a salary at retirement of £37,800 would receive £25,200 each year under these proposals, rather than the £19,100 they would currently earn in the final salary Teachers’ Pension Scheme.

    A nurse with a lifetime in public service and a salary at retirement of £34,200 would receive £22,800 of pension each year if these reforms were introduced, whereas under the current 1995 NHS Pension Scheme arrangements they would only get £17,300.

    Pensions that remain considerably better than available in the private sector.

    To earn the equivalent pension in the private sector, the teacher retiring on £37,800 would need a pension pot of around £675,000, the nurse retiring on £34,200, a pot of £600,000. Both would require an annual contribution of around a third of their salary.

    In addition, I have listened to the argument that those closest to retirement should not have to face any change at all.

    That is the approach that we have taken in relation to increases to the State Pension Age over the years, and I think it is fair to apply that here too.

    I can also announce that scheme negotiations will be given the flexibility, outside the cost ceiling, to deliver protection so that no-one within 10 years of retirement will see any change in when they can retire nor any decrease in the amount of pension they receive.  .

    Anyone ten years or less from retirement age on 1 April 2012 are assured that there will be no detriment to their retirement income.

    We need to be clear about the backdrop against which this offer is made.

    I fully understand that families across the country are feeling financial pressure right now. These are unprecedented and tough economic times.

    But reform is essential because the costs of public service pensions have risen dramatically over the last few decades.

    The bottom line is that we are all living longer.

    The average 60 year old today is living ten years longer now, than they did in the 1970s. That is a remarkable and welcome feat of science and healthcare. But it also means that people are living in retirement longer and claiming their pension for longer.

    As a result the costs of public service pensions have risen to £32bn a year. An increase of a third over the last 10 years. And whilst they accounted for just under 1 % of GDP in 1970, they account for around 2% of GDP today.

    More than we spend in total on police, on prisons, and the courts.

    And for the most part, it hasn’t been the public service workers footing the bill. It’s been the general taxpayer.

    We have to reform to ensure the costs of pensions are sustainable in the long term and to ensure costs and risks are fairly shared between employees and taxpayers.

    I believe this package is affordable. I believe it is also fair, not just to public sector workers, but delivers significant long term savings to taxpayers who will continue to make a significant contribution to their pensions.

    If reform along these lines is agreed, I believe that we will have a deal that can endure for at least 25 years and hopefully longer.

    People are living longer, so public sector pension reform is inevitable. But we’ve listened to the concerns of public sector workers, and come up with a deal that’s fair and affordable. The lowest paid and people ten years off retirement will be protected – and public sector pensions will still be among the very best available.

    If reform of this sort is agreed, then no party in this house will need to seek further reform of the overall package. This sustainability is an important prize.

    So I hope that the trade unions will now grasp the opportunity that this new offer represents.

    And I hope party opposite will do the right thing, put party politics aside, and support the proposals, which came from John Hutton, in the interests of securing a long term consensus on the future of public service pensions.

    It is the chance of a lifetime to secure good, high quality, and fair public service pensions.

    Yes we are asking public service workers to contribute more.

    Yes, we are asking them to work longer, along with the rest of society

    But we are offering the chance of a significantly better pension at the end of it for many low and middle income earners.

    A fairer pension, so that low income workers stop subsidising pensions of the highest earners.

    A sustainable deal, that will endure for at least 25 years.

    An affordable deal, that ensures that taxpayers are being asked to make a sensible contribution, but keeps costs sustainable and under proper control.

    That is the new offer I am putting on the table today, it is an offer that the opposition should support and the unions should agree to and I commend this statement to the House.

  • PRESS RELEASE : Parents back fairer and simpler school admissions codes [November 2011]

    PRESS RELEASE : Parents back fairer and simpler school admissions codes [November 2011]

    The press release issued by the Department for Education on 2 November 2011.

    More pupils will be able to attend the best schools in a new-look admissions system that will be fairer and simpler for all parents, Schools Minister Nick Gibb said today.

    • All 800,000 primary school places to be offered on a single day
    • Adopted children to be given special priority

    Revised school admissions and appeals codes were published today following a 12-week consultation on proposals to overhaul the current system. The existing codes were too complex, confusing and unfair for parents. They undermined parental choice and rationed places at good schools. The consultation received more than 1,300 responses, 700 from parents who broadly welcomed the changes being made to the codes.
    Today’s codes, published alongside the Department for Education’s response to the consultation, include two new proposals:

    • Streamlining the primary school place offer system by introducing a new “national offer day”. Currently different admissions authorities release primary school offers on different dates. This can confuse and frustrate parents, especially those making applications for school places in different local authorities. There is already a secondary school national offer day, on March 1 each year. The primary school day is set to be on April 16 each year, starting in 2014. A three-week consultation on the codes’ regulations, including this date, starts shortly.
    • Giving adopted children who were previously looked after (and children who leave care under a special guardianship or residence order) the same, highest priority for places as they had as looked-after children. This would benefit around 5,000 children each year. As well as providing ongoing support to children who had been in care, it could help speed up the adoption process. There is anecdotal evidence that some adoptive parents delay applying for the adoption order so they can take advantage of the priority given to children in care.

    Schools Minister Nick Gibb said:

    A new National Offer Day for primary schools – as recommended by the Chief Schools Adjudicator – will introduce clarity and consistency in the system for hundreds of thousands of parents. Receiving offers on different days is confusing and stressful, especially for parents making cross-border applications to schools in neighbouring local authorities.

    Children in care should continue to be given special priority in school admissions after they have been adopted, or leave care under a special guardianship or residence order. Many of these children have had traumatic experiences in their early lives. They don’t stop being vulnerable just because they are now in a loving home. This will also speed up some adoptions – we know that some adoption orders are delayed until a child has started school because priority currently ends when that child leaves care.

    The revised codes contain half as many of the 650 existing mandatory requirements placed on admissions authorities and are significantly slimmer, at 61 pages long compared with the current 138 pages. Almost half of respondents to the consultation said the codes met the aims of greater transparency and simplification.

    The revised codes also confirm most of the plans set out in the consultation. They:

    • Give greater freedom to good, successful schools so they can increase the number of places they offer to children in their area. More than half of all respondents to the consultation agreed with this proposal.
    • Allow schools to give some priority to children of those staff who have been employed for at least two years or who have been recruited to meet a school’s particular skills shortage. A majority of parents responding to the consultation agreed with the principle of giving priority to school staff.
    • Allow schools to take twins and other multiple-birth children, and children of armed forces personnel, into infant classes even if it takes the class over the 30-child legal limit. This was supported by 83 per cent of respondents.
    • Allow academies and Free Schools to prioritise pupils from the poorest backgrounds. Respondents supportive of this proposal said it would give more opportunities to children from low-income families.
    • Introduce a new in-year admissions process so fewer children face delays in finding a new school. Parents will apply direct to schools, rather than having to go through a local authority. More than half of respondents agreed with this proposal. In-year applications happen when a child moves to a new area.
    • Ban councils from using area-wide “lotteries” as the principal method of allocating places across a local authority area. Some 57 per cent of all respondents supported this change.
    • Cut bureaucracy by requiring admission authorities to consult on arrangements only every seven years, rather than every three years, if no changes are proposed. This was supported by more than half of all respondents.
    • Allow anyone to object to admissions arrangements. Currently only a very restricted list of people can do so. Almost three-quarters of respondents agreed with this proposal.

    Schools Minister Nick Gibb said:

    The new Admissions Codes are slimmer, less repetitive and easier to read and use. For these reasons alone they should help to reduce the stress confronting parents as they navigate the schools admissions system and find a place for their child.

    But the new codes also remove the restriction on good schools being able to expand if they wish – a freedom that will provide more good school places.

    And the new Codes help schools to attract and retain the best teachers and school support staff by allowing them to ensure their own children have a place at their school.

    All these measures and the priority we are giving to children who are adopted from the care system are all designed to help raise the standard in our schools and close the attainment gap between those from poorer and wealthier backgrounds.

    Unnecessary prescription has also been stripped out of the draft Appeals Code to reduce costs and bureaucracy for local authorities and schools. But maintaining minimum requirements will ensure fairness and transparency.

    • Parents will have at least 20 days to lodge an appeal against primary or secondary school decisions. The current 10-day limit means parents must appeal quickly but many then drop the appeal because they later get an offer at another of their preferred schools. In the last school year for which figures are available (2008/09), more than a quarter of all appeals lodged (24,550 out of 88,270) were not taken forward, wasting time and money.
    • Guidance against hearing appeals on school premises will be overturned. At the moment admission authorities sometimes have to make costly, taxpayer-funded bookings of hotels or conference rooms.
    • Admission authorities will no longer be required to advertise for lay appeal members every three years, but must ensure that panel members are independent and that they retain their independence for the duration of their service.

    The revised codes may still be amended before they are laid before Parliament on December 1 for final approval. Subject to that, the Department intends to bring them into force on February 1, 2012. Admissions for the September 2013 intake will be the first to be operated under the new codes.

  • PRESS RELEASE : All vocational qualifications to be judged against strict new rules [October 2011]

    PRESS RELEASE : All vocational qualifications to be judged against strict new rules [October 2011]

    The press release issued by the Department for Education on 27 October 2011.

    An end to schools boosting their performance table position

    Only high quality, rigorous vocational qualifications will count in performance tables, and they will be included on a one-for-one basis with academic qualifications, under new guidance announced today by the Department for Education.

    The new guidance, following a 10 week consultation, lists the characteristics vocational qualifications need to be included in the headline measures of the school performance tables.

    This will stop schools picking subjects in order to boost performance table positions, rather than choosing the right qualifications for their pupils.

    Currently all qualifications count in performance tables whether or not they include external assessment. Some qualifications are worth as much as six GCSEs.

    From 2014 only valued vocational qualifications that meet strict new criteria will be recognised in the tables. GCSEs, established iGCSEs and AS Levels will continue to be included. All these qualifications will count equally on a one-for-one basis.

    Qualifications will only count if:

    • they offer pupils proven progression into a broad range of further qualifications or careers post-16, rather than narrowing students’ options
    • they are the size of a GCSE or bigger
    • they have a substantial proportion of external assessment and require students to use knowledge across their subject
    • they have grades such as A*-G (those with simple pass or fail results will be excluded).

    Any qualification that has been taught for at least two years will also be expected to have good levels of take-up among 14-16 year olds.

    Nick Gibb, Schools Minister, said today:

    We want to be sure that the vocational qualifications taken by 14-16 year olds genuinely lead on to further education and are valued by employers. No pupil should be preparing for a vocational qualification simply to boost the school’s “GCSE or equivalent” score in the performance tables.

    These reforms introduce a systematic and fair set of rules that will determine which of the many thousands of qualifications taught in schools can be included in performance tables for 2014 onwards.

    They will lead to a boost in the quality of vocational qualifications being taken and will enhance the opportunities for young people to progress.

    The changes follow Professor Alison Wolf’s report on vocational qualifications. Her report demonstrated that the current performance table system creates perverse incentives. Schools have been tempted to teach qualifications which attract the most points in the performance tables – not the qualifications that will support young people to progress:

    • The number of so called “equivalent” qualifications taken in schools up to age 16 has exploded in recent years – from 15,000 in 2004 to 575,000 in 2010.
    • In 2009-10, 125,367 students achieved Level 1 (grades D to G) in so-called equivalent qualifications, up from 11,007 in 2003-04.
    • In 2009-10, 462,182 students achieved Level 2 (grades A* to C) in so-called equivalent qualifications, including BTECs, up from 1882 in 2003-04.

    Schools will still be free to offer any qualification approved for 14- to 16-year-olds. Teachers will still be able to use their professional judgment to offer the qualifications which they believe are right for their pupils. But only those meeting the Department’s rigorous characteristics will count in performance tables.

    In early 2012, the Department will publish the full list of qualifications that will count in performance tables in 2014.

    Awarding bodies are still able to refine their existing qualifications offer before then. For existing qualifications too new to prove progression or take-up there will be opportunities for awarding bodies to gather evidence for review. Awarding bodies whose qualifications fail the assessment and/or grading characteristics only, meeting the other characteristics, will have up to a year to redevelop them. There will be a two-year period where no brand new qualifications will be considered for inclusion in the performance tables.

  • PRESS RELEASE : Response to the IFS report on education spending [October 2011]

    PRESS RELEASE : Response to the IFS report on education spending [October 2011]

    The press release issued by the Department for Education on 25 October 2011.

    A Department spokesman said:

    The Government had to take tough decisions to reduce the deficit, but the schools’ budget is actually increasing by £3.6 billion in cash over the next four years. This protects per pupil funding levels and includes the new Pupil Premium, which provides an extra £488 for every child on Free School Meals and which will rise over the next three years.

    On top of this, we’ve increased the free entitlement to 15 hours per week for all three and four-year-olds from last September – and are now extending it all disadvantaged two-year-olds. The two year freeze on teachers’ pay also means schools are benefitting from a lower level of inflation.

    The new capital budget is higher than the average annual capital budget between 1997-98 to 2004-05. But the Government was absolutely right to look at the amount of money spent on school buildings. An independent review showed that tax-payers money was being wasted on red-tape and consultants, not on building schools. Our new plans will build schools cheaper and quicker than before.

  • Sarah Teather – 2011 Speech to the National Children and Adult Services Conference

    Sarah Teather – 2011 Speech to the National Children and Adult Services Conference

    The speech made by Sarah Teather, the then Children’s Minister, on 24 October 2011.

    Thanks to NCAS. It’s a great pleasure to be here today.

    This is not an easy time to be in government at any level. It’s not an easy time to be in national government, and it’s not an easy time to be in local government. I am sure I speak for all Ministers in saying that we’re extremely grateful for all that you have done working with us over the last year at a time when I know that it hasn’t been easy for you.

    Despite challenging financial circumstances, the government is determined to stick to the principles I outlined to you last year. Our priorities are early intervention; a focus on the most disadvantaged; and we want to do that by working through principles of localism.

    In an ideal world I could wave a magic wand and conjure up more money. I am sure that all of you wish that you could too. But the truth is that neither of us can. You know as well as I do that the government has to tackle the deficit and we have to get the economy back onto a sound footing.

    It makes it an incredibly challenging time for all of us to play a leadership role. But you don’t get to choose your moment to be in government. You only get to choose how you act. It’s more important now, than at any other time, that we have very clear priorities, and that we stick to those despite the challenging circumstances in which we’re working.

    It would have been easier for us to have acceded to calls to reintroduce ring fencing, to tighten up targets, and to introduce more prescriptive guidance. We chose not to. We made a promise to you that we would give you more freedom and give you more power to act. Localism is something that we believe in and it is something that we’ve tried to stick to.

    Similarly, I imagine it would have been easier for you to have cut deeply into early intervention services. But many of you have chosen not to do that this year. Most of you have worked incredibly hard to protect frontline services. Most of you have done your best to prioritise Sure Start Children’s Centres, by merging back office functions, clustering services, because you know that this makes sense. You know that it makes sense for children, it makes sense for families and, in the long term, it makes good financial sense for you if you’re running a council.

    Tough times are the times when leadership comes to the fore. We know we need to give DCSs the space to fill that leadership role. We have recently issued a consultation on revised statutory guidance on the role of the DCS and Lead Member for Children’s Services.

    It is much shorter and much less prescriptive. It will be up to local authorities to determine their structures. It is important that we’re able to assure ourselves that we have in place the clear line of accountability that Lord Laming and Professor Munro saw as critical to the well-being and safety of children and young people. This is a question of balance, a question where we’re trying to make sure that we clearly balance our priorities with our localist principles. I would certainly encourage you to respond to the consultation.

    Part of leadership is about sharing knowledge with one another. There is an enormous amount that you can teach others, very much including myself.

    We’ve seen that clearly in the 18 authorities who are participating in trials this year to develop provision or capacity for the new entitlement for two year olds.

    Already some promising evidence is filtering through. For example, in Rotherham, settings have boosted the number of places they can offer through earlier opening times and stretching the offer across all weeks of the year, rather than just during term time. One setting now offers 45 places rather than 14.

    Similarly, we’ve seen great examples in Medway, where they’ve created a database to track the development of each child or cohort, so that children starting to fall behind are identified promptly.

    Examples like this are just the tip of the iceberg. I’m sure that there will be many examples in your local authority where you know that you’re really challenging practice; that you’re taking ideas forward; that you’re doing things on the ground that others could learn from. I hope that conferences like this are opportunities for you to flaunt those examples and advertise them to others to make sure that everyone is learning from the good practice that is working on the ground.

    We’ve been trying to tap into that ingenuity and good practice in the way in which we are developing policy.

    Early Years

    Just before the summer recess we issued a document called Families in the Foundation Years. We worked on that document in a different way: through a co-production process, working with local authority representatives and professionals from the early years to make sure we were actually developing policy from the ground up.

    There’s a considerable amount of work now building on that initial work that we announced in the summer. We have our consultation on Early Education and Childcare coming up. This is really important – for lead members and DCSs as well as for early years leads.

    It is important because it sets out proposals for which disadvantaged two-year-olds will be eligible for free early education from September 2013.

    We want to make sure that your teams have local discretion to fund other disadvantaged two years old who might benefit. In particular, that means children with disabilities or with special educational needs.

    Included in the consultation is draft guidance for the delivery of free early education for 2, 3 and 4 year olds, along with strengthened criteria for free early education places so that we have a more open process for identifying quality and promoting improvement.

    I think you’ll also be pleased to hear it has dropped in size from 100 pages to fewer than 20. I hope that’s good news! It’s something that we are trying to do across the piece.

    And do please feed in to Professor Nutbrown’s upcoming review, which will be looking at the early years workforce, something which is incredibly important and which many of you have raised with me at previous conferences. It will be formally launched at the end of this month, through a ‘call to evidence’ to the sector. We’re very keen to hear your views, so please do get involved.

    Payment by results is another good example of where the sector leading the way in shaping future services. Local authorities are supporting one other under the guidance of the ADCS, SOLACE and the LGA.

    Trials of payment by results for children’s centres have started in 26 areas. These will find ways to reward children’s centres and local authorities for improvements in outcomes, rather than inputs, with a particular focus on child development, school readiness and reducing inequalities for the most disadvantaged families. We’re looking forward to hearing what makes a difference on the ground, and what needs to change.

    Another critical aspect of leadership is joining up services in the interests of children. I know that this is something that you do every day in your work.

    It’s something that is core to what we’ve been trying to do through our Green Paper on Special Educational Needs, and the reforms that we’re taking forward.

    We want health services to be firmly integrated into a local offer, a single assessment process and the Education, Health and Care plan.

    Local authority leaders have key role in achieving this ambition. I’m grateful to those of you whose teams are currently involved in the pathfinders. We’ve already seen some very exciting ideas coming out from them, and it’s a tremendous credit to the local authorities involved.

    We have a lot to do to make sure that these proposals work. They’ve been developed with the ideas that have come from you and come from others over the first 18 months that we’ve been in government. A lot of work is going to be needed to hold all of those professionals’ feet to the fire, including making sure that we properly integrate that work with health, something that I know many of you feel very strongly about. I’m going to need all of your help on the ground to make sure that we develop that properly.

    The pilots are trying to make sure that we look through to 25; that we deal with the issues around transition that we know are so difficult. Bringing together assessments and bringing together the role of the voluntary sector.

    I hope that it will put children, young people and families at the heart of the process. Making sure the services they receive are not just about adults, but about the children and young people who are receiving them.

    There are many exciting opportunities coming up for local authorities – getting more involved in public health, for example. Tom Jeffery and David Behan are giving a presentation on this subject on Friday, and looking at issues around the new relationship with public health, something that I know many of you will be interested in.

    I know that this is a tough time, and I also know that it’s not going to get any easier in the short term. We both know that.

    But we can’t stand still in that time, no matter how difficult it may be. We have to put in place now the right changes. The right structural changes that will benefit us in the long term. Making sure that we’re clear about our priorities. Making sure that partnership working really does work.

    A great deal can change, even in days when money is short, by working better together. By changing how we work. By changing the way in which we learn from one another.

    That takes leadership. And it takes a different style of leadership. Leadership which is open – open to challenge, open to new ideas. Not necessarily ideas that were started here, but also making sure that we’re making the most of ideas that started in other places too.

    Let me finish by saying a huge thank you to you for all that you have done, for all the work that you’re taking forward; for all the ways that you’ve positively responded to consultations and requests that we’ve made of you for more information, detail and examples to make sure that we’re getting our policy right. I’m determined that we continue to work in that spirit, and look forward to working with you over the next twelve months.

  • PRESS RELEASE : Academies see double the increase of other maintained schools at GCSE [October 2011]

    PRESS RELEASE : Academies see double the increase of other maintained schools at GCSE [October 2011]

    The press release issued by the Department for Education on 20 October 2011.

    Only a fifth of pupils took the core academic GCSEs this year.

    Figures out today reveal that academies’ GCSE results have improved by more than twice the level of other maintained schools.

    The provisional GCSE results for 2011 show that:

    • in academies the percentage of pupils achieving 5 or more GCSEs including English and maths rose from 40.6% to 45.9%, an increase of 5.3 percentage points
    • in all maintained schools the percentage of pupils achieving 5 or more GCSEs including English and maths rose from 55.2% to 57.8%, an increase of 2.6 percentage points.

    The statistic for academies is based on the 166 sponsored academies with results in both 2010 and 2011. Their performance is particularly impressive as these academies replaced historically underperforming schools in deprived areas.

    Schools Minister Nick Gibb said:

    The government believes that teachers and head teachers know best how to run schools. Academy status gives professionals the freedom they need to do their job and today’s figures show that that autonomy works. Academies continue to outperform the national average, completely transforming previously underperforming schools serving some of the most deprived communities.

    The government is turning around more underperforming schools than ever before. In May 2010 there were a total of 203 sponsored academies. Since then the coalition has opened 116 more sponsored academies. More sponsored academies will open this academic year than in the history of the academies programme. The government has also allowed good schools to take on academy freedoms. 1,031 schools have chosen to do so.

    The results also show that just a fifth of pupils studied the core academic subjects that make up the English Baccalaureate (EBacc). Only one in six pupils managed to secure good grades in a combination of English, maths, a language, history or geography, and two sciences.

    The provisional GCSE results for 2011 show that:

    • only 22.7% of all pupils were entered for a combination of subjects that could lead to the EBacc – last year it was 22.0% just 16.5% of all pupils achieved the EBacc – last year it was 15.6%

    Ministers have been clear that all pupils, regardless of their background, should be given the opportunity to study the core academic subjects.

    Research recently published by the Department for Education showed the huge positive impact the EBacc is having on future GCSE choices. Since its introduction, 47 per cent of pupils taking GCSEs in 2013 are now studying a combination of EBacc subjects.

    The researched showed that, compared to entries in 2010, there is an increase in the percentage of pupils taking GCSEs in the EBacc subjects in 2013 by:

    • 26% in history
    • 28% in geography
    • 22% in languages
    • 82% in triple science.

    Schools Minister Nick Gibb said:

    It is a scandal that four-fifths of our 16-year-olds did not take the core academic GCSEs that universities and employers demand – when far more are capable of doing so.

    Parents across the country rightly expect that their child will receive a broad and balanced education that includes English, maths, science, a language and history or geography. Sadly, all too often it is the pupils from the poorest backgrounds who are denied this opportunity. Last year, only 4% of children from poorer backgrounds achieved the English Baccalaureate GCSEs, compared to 17% of their peers.

    The coalition government is reversing this shameful decline. Since the introduction of the EBacc, more young people are choosing to study the academic subjects which give them the knowledge and skills they need to progress to further study or to rewarding employment.

    The EBacc is not compulsory but it is about closing the attainment gap between rich and poor and about increasing opportunity.

    The provisional GCSE and A level results for 2011 also show that:

    • the overall number of five GCSE (or iGCSE or equivalent) passes at A* to C including English and mathematics for all pupils has increased this year by 4.8 percentage points to 58.3% – in state-funded schools there was a 2.6 percentage point rise to 57.8%
    • 71.0% of pupils made the expected level of progress in English between key stage 2 and key stage 4, with 64.2% of pupils doing so in maths
    • 92.7% of pupils achieved passes equivalent to at least two A Levels, down from 94.8% the previous year.

    On A levels, Nick Gibb added:

    A Levels are a key stepping stone towards higher education and future careers. It’s only right that we make sure our qualifications match the best in the world and keep pace with the demands of employers and universities.

    It is astonishing that three times as many private school pupils are achieving three A grades or higher at A level compared to pupils from state schools. We must close this gap – which is why we are driving up teaching standards across the profession and developing a world-class curriculum for all.

  • PRESS RELEASE : Teachers most vulnerable to false accusations according to new research [October 2011]

    PRESS RELEASE : Teachers most vulnerable to false accusations according to new research [October 2011]

    The press release issued by the Department for Education on 17 October 2011.

    Government legislating to protect teachers

    Nearly half of serious allegations against school teachers turn out to be unsubstantiated, malicious or unfounded, according to new research published today (17 October 2011).

    The findings also show that school teachers are more likely to face allegations than other staff in schools and further education colleges.

    This comes as the government is looking to give teachers a legal right to anonymity from allegations made by pupils until the point they are charged with a criminal offence. The new power is in the Education Bill, which is currently going through Parliament.

    The interim findings from a survey of 116 local authorities in England show that in 2009 to 2010, of the 12,086 allegations of abuse referred to local authorities:

    • almost one in four allegations against staff were made against school teachers (2827)
    • nearly half of the allegations (1234) made against school teachers were then found to be unsubstantiated, malicious or unfounded
    • almost a fifth of school teachers (459) were suspended whilst the allegation was being investigated
    • only around half of investigations (2264) against school teachers and non-teaching staff were dealt with within a month – the government guidance says 80 per cent of cases should be concluded by this time

    Schools Minister Nick Gibb said:

    Every allegation of abuse must be taken seriously, but some children think they can make a false allegation without any thought to the consequences for the teacher concerned.

    When these allegations are later found to be malicious or unfounded, the damage is already done. It can have a devastating impact and ruin a teacher’s career and private life.

    This research shows why the coalition government’s plan to give teachers a legal right to anonymity when allegations are made by pupils is so important. We will back teachers as they seek to maintain discipline in schools and raise academic standards.

    The government has already revised guidance to local authorities and schools to speed up the investigation process when a teacher or a member of staff is accused by a pupil of an offence. This will help ensure all allegations are swiftly dealt with.

    New advice published in July 2011 makes it clear that:

    • heads can temporarily or permanently exclude pupils who make malicious allegations. In extreme circumstances, they can involve the police if there are grounds for believing a criminal offence has been committed
    • schools should not automatically suspend teachers accused of using force unreasonably where other alternatives exist
    • the vast majority (80 per cent) of cases should be resolved within a month, 90 per cent within three months and all but the most exceptional within a year
    • malicious, unsubstantiated or unfounded allegations should not be included in employment references, and malicious allegations stripped from teacher personnel records

    The legal protection from false allegations comes as part of the government’s drive to improve school discipline and shift the balance of power in the classroom back to teachers. Research shows that two thirds of teachers say bad behaviour is driving professionals out of the classroom.

    Other measures in the Education Bill to give teachers the confidence to exercise authority and ensure good behaviour in the classroom include:

    • extending teachers’ powers to search pupils for any items that have, or could be, used to cause harm or break the law, and for items banned by school rules
    • stopping appeals panels sending excluded children back to the school from which they were excluded
    • removing the requirement on schools to give parents 24 hours notice of detention
  • PRESS RELEASE : Sir David Bell will be leaving the Department for Education [October 2011]

    PRESS RELEASE : Sir David Bell will be leaving the Department for Education [October 2011]

    The press release issued by the Department for Education on 17 October 2011.

    Sir David Bell will be leaving the Department for Education at the end of the year to take up post as Vice Chancellor of the University of Reading.

    Speaking about his resignation, Sir David Bell said:

    It has been an enormous privilege and pleasure to serve four secretaries of state and three prime ministers since the beginning of 2006. I have particularly enjoyed the past 17 months working with first Coalition Government since the Second World War and supporting Michael Gove in leading one of the most exciting phases of education reform for generations. That is something that I will always remember and look back on with a great sense of pride and achievement.

    I am now looking forward very much to the next phase of my career in education as I become Vice Chancellor of the University of Reading, an institution renowned for its world-leading research and its outstanding student experience. This is a very exciting time in higher education and I am certain that the University of Reading will consolidate and enhance its position as one of the Top 200 universities in the world.

    Michael Gove said:

    David is an exemplary public servant. He has led the Department for Education for almost six years now, and I have benefited enormously from his wisdom, his counsel and his experience as I have taken on this role as Secretary of State for Education. David has been at the forefront of many of our education institutions – as a headteacher, leading a Local Authority, as her Majesty’s Chief Inspector, and as the Permanent Secretary in this Department, and it is a fitting tribute to his many talents that he will continue to play a leading part in education as Vice-Chancellor at the University of Reading. He has my warmest congratulations on this new role.

    The process for recruiting a replacement Permanent Secretary for the Department will begin imminently.