Tag: Caroline Ansell

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Caroline Ansell on 2015-11-26.

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps she is taking to improve the retention rate of newly qualified teachers; and if she will make a statement.

Nick Gibb

Teacher retention rates have remained stable for over a decade. Approximately 90 per cent of teachers are in service in the year after they qualify, and 72 per cent of those who qualified in 2009 were still teaching 5 years later. Over the longer term, over 60 per cent of teachers remain in service 10 years after qualifying.

But we recognise that it is vital for schools to be able to retain good teachers – that is why we have made significant policy interventions in the areas that teachers tell us matter most such as improving pupil behaviour and reducing unnecessary workload. We have appointed behaviour expert Tom Bennett to lead a review to ensure new teachers are fully trained in dealing with disruptive children, and to consider all of the challenges of managing behaviour in 21st century schools.

We have established three groups to address the biggest concerns that teachers raised in the workload challenge – marking, planning and data management. The groups will create principles for practice and make specific recommendations for action. All three groups are due to report to Ministers in spring 2016.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Caroline Ansell on 2016-04-22.

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps she is taking to ensure that schools make use of a broad curriculum in meeting their EBacc obligations under the new performance measures; and if she will make a statement.

Nick Gibb

All state-funded schools, including academies and free schools, must provide a broad and balanced curriculum that promotes spiritual, moral, cultural, mental and physical development of pupils. Ofsted inspectors examine whether schools are providing a broad and balanced curriculum which meets statutory requirements and the needs and interests of pupils.

The EBacc has been designed to be limited in size to provide a rigorous academic core whilst leaving space in the curriculum for other subjects. On average, pupils in state-funded schools enter nine GCSEs and equivalent qualifications, rising to more than ten for more able pupils. For many pupils, taking the EBacc will mean taking seven GCSEs; and for those taking triple science, it will mean taking eight. This means that there will continue to be room for pupils to study other subjects.

We set out our EBacc proposals in our consultation. We will respond to the consultation in due course.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Caroline Ansell on 2015-11-09.

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what assessment he has made of the effect of the family test on his Department’s policies; and if he will make a statement.

Caroline Dinenage

The Family Test was introduced in October 2014 and can be located at the following link Family Test Guidance

The Family Test is part of the policy making process and is applied in a proportionate way in the development of new policy in line with the guidance. Potential impacts of policy on family functioning and relationships are identified and brought to the attention of Ministers where appropriate.

There is no requirement to publish the Family Test assessments. The Ministry of Justice does not collect information on the number of full Family Test assessments completed.

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The below Parliamentary question was asked by Caroline Ansell on 2015-11-26.

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what support the Goverment is providing for mature students who wish to enter the teaching profession; and if she will make a statement.

Nick Gibb

Mature students are an important source of new teachers and bring relevant knowledge and skills from their previous employment. In 2015/16, 21 per cent of new entrants to initial teacher training (ITT) courses were aged 30 or over. To attract more potential career changers, our marketing campaign, ‘Your Future, Their Future’, uses a range of media, including television advertising, national newspaper advertising and targeted digital and print communications. As part of this we will be running the ‘New Year New Career’ sub-campaign, which is dedicated to attracting career changers, throughout January 2016.

We provide support specifically for career changers to make the transition to teaching, especially in the subjects where they are needed the most, including:

• The School Direct (salaried) route is specifically targeted at career changers with three years’ work experience and allows them to earn a salary whilst they train to teach. We provide grant funding to schools to subsidise the costs of salary and training for trainees on this route.
• For ITT 2016/17, we are working with 18 School Direct lead schools to develop and recruit to part-time and abridged School Direct (salaried) courses in maths and physics starting in September 2016. The aim of this pilot is to test whether schools can attract more career changers by offering flexible training routes which meet the needs of different individuals.

In addition, career changers can access extensive support that is available for all ITT candidates. This includes bursaries or scholarships of up to £30,000 tax-free; advice and guidance from the expert advisers on the Get Into Teaching Line; help with arranging school experience to assist with their ITT application; and access to our free Train to Teach events.

Those who wish to teach secondary biology, geography, maths, physics, chemistry, languages or computing are also eligible for our enhanced Premier Plus service. This includes tailored advice from a dedicated adviser, including the practicalities that often affect career changers, such as childcare funding. Applicants who wish to teach these subjects can also access funded Subject Knowledge Enhancement (SKE) courses, through which they can boost or refresh their subject knowledge.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Caroline Ansell on 2016-04-22.

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many teachers in the school system lacked Qualified Teacher Status in each of the last five years; and if she will make a statement.

Nick Gibb

The following table provides the full-time equivalent number of teachers without Qualified Teacher Status in service in state funded schools in England, November 2010 to 2014. November 2015 data will be available at the end of June.

	FTE number of teachers without QTS	% of teachers without QTS
2010	16,700	3.8
2011	16,100	3.7
2012	16,000	3.6
2013	16,600	3.7
2014	20,300	4.5

Source: School Workforce Census

Our recent White Paper, Educational Excellence Everywhere, announced that we intend to replace the current arrangements for teacher qualification with a new, stronger accreditation that will be based on clear evidence of effective teaching practice. The new system will allow schools to employ as teachers individuals with appropriate qualifications and experience and put them on a pathway to full accreditation, recognising their proficiency in the classroom.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Caroline Ansell on 2015-11-09.

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether his Department has received assurances from Heathrow Airport that it will meet all of the Airports Commission recommendations before a decision is made on airport expansion; and if he will make a statement.

Mr Robert Goodwill

The Government is currently considering the large amount of very detailed analysis contained in the Airports Commission’s final report before taking any decisions on next steps.

The Government will carefully consider all the evidence set out when making a decision on additional runway capacity.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Caroline Ansell on 2015-11-26.

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what training her Department has provided to staff on the family test; what other steps she has taken to raise awareness of the family test among staff of her Department; and if she will make a statement.

Edward Timpson

Officials from the Department for Education have liaised with the Department for Work and Pension as the lead Department for the Family Test to embed it into the policy process. This has included training officials on applying the Test, disseminating relevant evidence, learning materials and best practice.

The Department for Education follows that guidance, which can be found at https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/family-test-assessing-the-impact-of-policies-on-families.

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The below Parliamentary question was asked by Caroline Ansell on 2016-04-22.

To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, what steps she is taking to support the solar industry in the South East; and if she will make a statement.

Andrea Leadsom

Government recognises the significant role that solar deployment under the Feed-in-Tariffs (FITs) has played in engaging non-energy professionals in the electricity market, and the role that small-scale generation can play in the future energy mix. We therefore decided to keep the FITs scheme open in order to support the solar industry on a path to subsidy-free deployment.

Some 91,000 solar installations directly supported by FITs have been undertaken in the South East, providing 425 MW of generating capacity.

The new tariffs we’ve introduced will provide appropriate rates of return within a capped budget, encouraging further solar deployment whilst providing significantly better value for money to bill payers.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Caroline Ansell on 2015-11-09.

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps he is taking to ensure the routine use by his Department of the family test; and if he will make a statement.

Mr Robert Goodwill

Officials in my Department have liaised with Department of Work and Pensions as the lead department for the Family Test on cross government activity to embed and encourage routine use of the Test. This has included training officials on applying the Test, disseminating relevant learning materials and best practice.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Caroline Ansell on 2015-11-26.

To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, what training her Department has provided to staff on the family test; what other steps she has taken to raise awareness of the family test among staff of her Department; and if she will make a statement.

Andrea Leadsom

The Family Test was announced by my rt. hon. Friendthe Prime Minister in August 2014 and introduced in October 2014. The Department for Work and Pensions published guidance on how the test should be applied when formulating policy and the Department follows that guidance.1 In order to augment this guidance, the Department is preparing specific guidance on how to apply the Family Test within DECC, which will form part of the Department’s refresh of our approach to collecting and using evidence on the impacts of policies.

The Department is focused on understanding consumers when developing policies, and have implemented an internal project which has delivered a number of consumer-focused tools which will enhance our understanding of consumers. This includes a Consumer Panel and training for senior officials on open policy making where the Family Test will specifically be referenced. Analytical tools have also been developed to analyse the impacts of policies on energy bills for different types of households and also the implications for fuel poverty.

[1] Available online at: https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/368894/family-test-guidance.pdf.

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