Tag: Catherine West

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Catherine West on 2016-01-19.

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps she is taking to increase secondary school places in London.

Nick Gibb

Local authorities are responsible for planning and securing sufficient school places in their area, and supporting them to do so is one of this Government’s top priorities. This is why the Government is investing £23 billion overall in school buildings to create 600,000 new school places, open 500 new free schools and address essential maintenance needs.

Basic need funding is allocated to local authorities to help them to create new school places. This Government has allocated £960 million to local authorities in London for places needed between 2015 and 2018, including at secondary level. This is in addition to the £2 billion London received between 2011 and 2015, almost 40% of the total funding provided to local authorities to help create new places in this period.

This funding has helped to create 155,000 new school places between 2010 and 2014. Of these new places, over 30,000 have been created in 52 open free schools. There are over 60 approved new schools due to open in London in future academic years.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Catherine West on 2016-02-09.

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, when her Department’s Sex and Relationship Education guidance published in 2000 will be updated.

Edward Timpson

The Government believes that all children should have the opportunity to receive a high quality and appropriate sex and relationship education (SRE). SRE is compulsory in all maintained secondary schools and many primary schools also teach it in an age-appropriate way. The Government also expects academies and free schools to deliver SRE as part of their provision of a broad and balanced curriculum.

Any state-funded school teaching SRE must have regard to the Secretary of State’s SRE guidance (2000). The Department has received requests about updating the existing SRE guidance which we will carefully consider.

Initial Teacher Training (ITT) is currently determined by the Teachers’ Standards, which all trainee teachers must be able to demonstrate by the end of their training. The Standards set out the key principles of good subject pedagogy and the importance of subject knowledge development across the curriculum. Schools and headteachers are best placed to determine which staff learning activities will be most beneficial for their schools and we expect them to lead the personal development of their teachers to improve the quality of all round teaching.

The Department supports schools’ efforts to improve PSHE teaching by drawing schools’ attention to a range of high quality PSHE education teaching resources, including quality resources, lesson plans, a programme of study, factsheets and case studies. These resources are kite-marked by the PSHE Association to ensure that schools can trust the materials they use and improve their teaching.

Ofsted does not inspect individual curriculum subjects. However, aspects of PSHE education and SRE will inform its judgment on personal development, behaviour and welfare. Inspectors must also consider the spiritual, moral, social and cultural development of pupils. Schools have responsibility for acting upon the inspection reports they receive and any weaknesses will be considered when the school is next inspected.

We expect schools to ensure that young people, whatever their developing sexuality or identity, feel that SRE education is relevant to them and sensitive to their needs. The statutory SRE guidance is clear that schools should teach about HIV/AIDS and other sexually transmitted diseases. Sexually transmitted infections are also covered as part of the national curriculum for science at key stage 3.

We welcome the supplementary SRE guidance ‘SRE for the 21st Century’ produced by Brook, the PSHE Association and the Sex Education Forum, which includes guidance on ensuring that SRE is inclusive. All children and young people, regardless of background or identity, are entitled to quality SRE that helps them build confidence and stay healthy.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Catherine West on 2016-02-19.

To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what the rate of pay is for cleaners in his Department.

Matthew Hancock

The pay range for directly employed London cleaning staff is £19,988 – £24,430 per annum.

The rates of pay for cleaning staff employed by our Facilities Management contractors around the country range from £6.70 per hour to £7.62 per hour, depending on the contract.

The pay of contracted cleaners will increase to the National Living Wage when that is introduced in April. As the living wage increases the minimum paid to cleaners will also increase.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Catherine West on 2016-02-25.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what the rate of pay is for cleaners in her Department.

Karen Bradley

Cleaning services across the Department are outsourced and suppliers currently pay as a minimum the National Minimum Wage. From the 1 April 2016 suppliers will pay as a minimum the National Living Wage for over 25 year olds.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Catherine West on 2016-03-10.

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, pursuant to the Answer of 4 March 2016 to Question 28606, how many cleaners working in buildings managed by her Department are paid at the rate of (a) £7.85 and (b) £9.15.

Nick Gibb

The number of cleaners working in buildings managed by the Department for Education paid at the rate of (a) £7.85 is 24, and (b) £9.15 is 23. This reflects the location of the contractor/staff.

From 1 April 2016, the rates will be increased to reflect the 2016 Living Wage Foundation rates.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Catherine West on 2016-03-22.

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, pursuant to Answer of 29 January 2016 to Question 23886, which UK representatives attended the meeting of the Reaper User Group between 14 and 18 March 2016.

Penny Mordaunt

UK attendance at the MQ-9 User Group was limited to representatives from the Royal Air Force, led by the Intelligence, Surveillance, Target Acquisition and Reconnaissance Force Commander.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Catherine West on 2016-04-25.

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what proportion of converter academies were rated as (a) good and (b) outstanding by Ofsted in each of the last five years.

Edward Timpson

This is a matter for Her Majesty’s Chief Inspector, Sir Michael Wilshaw. I have asked him to write to you and a copy of his reply will be placed in the libraries of the House.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Catherine West on 2016-04-27.

To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether sixth form colleges will be affected by VAT regulations if they convert to a 16 to 19 academy.

Mr David Gauke

Sixth form colleges that become academies will be subject to the same VAT rules as other academies.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Catherine West on 2016-05-26.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, with reference to the Answer of 12 May 2016 to Question 37016, what assessment he has made of the change in the number of full-time equivalent paramedics employed by the London Ambulance Service over the last three years.

Ben Gummer

We are advised by London Ambulance Service NHS Trust (LAS) that during 2015/16, it recruited 717 frontline staff. In doing so, LAS achieved its recruitment target and filled all its available frontline posts.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Catherine West on 2016-07-12.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, when he expects to (a) issue the local authority self-assessment questionnaire on implementation of the adult autism strategy, (b) receive all responses from local authorities and (c) publish the results of the questionnaire.

David Mowat

The fourth local authority self-assessment questionnaire on implementation of the adult autism strategy is expected to be issued under a joint letter from the Department and the Association of Directors of Adult Social Services, to Directors of Adult Social Services, before the end of July. This is with the aim of receiving responses by 17 October 2016. As with previous exercises, Public Health England will collate and analyse the data received and publish full results and all the individual responses. An exact date for publication has not yet been set but this is likely to happen in the period February to March 2017.