The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jess Phillips on 2016-07-12.
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many people are working in her Department’s Counter-Extremism Steering Group.
Edward Timpson
There are currently 36 members of staff working in the Department’s Due Diligence and Counter Extremism Division.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jess Phillips on 2016-10-11.
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many level 3 apprenticeships have been available in her Department in each year since 2010; how many such apprenticeships were completed in full; and how many such apprentices subsequently progressed to level 4 or above.
Robert Halfon
The table below shows numbers of apprentices in the Department for Education in each financial year since 2009/10.
|
Financial Year |
Number of Apprentices in DfE |
Level |
|
2009/2010 |
19 |
All Level 3 |
|
2010/2011 |
12 |
all Levels 2 and 3 |
|
2011/2012 |
0 |
|
|
2012/2013 |
32 |
all Levels 2 and 3 |
|
2013/2014 |
15 |
all Level 4 |
|
2014/2015 |
34 |
20 Level 4 14 Levels 2 and 3 |
|
2015/16 |
64 |
48 Level 4 16 Levels 2 and 3 |
The Level 4 apprentices were all from the Civil Service Fast-track apprenticeship scheme, which lasts at least two years. The Level 2 and Level 3 apprentices were recruited directly by the Department.
The Department does not hold information about progression between levels or numbers completing apprenticeships.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jess Phillips on 2016-10-14.
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many university technical colleges have (a) closed and (b) converted to an academy or free school since 2010.
Edward Timpson
Three University Technical Colleges (UTCs) have closed since 2010. These are Black Country UTC and Hackney UTC, which closed in August 2015, and Central Bedfordshire UTC in August 2016.
One UTC has converted into a free school (i.e. a new academy), namely UTC Royal Borough of Greenwich, which ceased to be a UTC in August 2016 and became the Royal Greenwich Trust School.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jess Phillips on 2015-11-09.
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if she will list all the free school projects that have been withdrawn or cancelled to date; and what the cost to the public purse was of the withdrawal or cancellation of each such project.
Edward Timpson
The Department for Education does not have a full breakdown of revenue spent on staff salaries for proposed free school projects.
The total pre-opening expenditure for free school projects is published on GOV.UK:
www.gov.uk/government/publications/revenue-expenditure-for-free-schools
We will shortly update this information to include projects that opened or were withdrawn or cancelled up to September 2015.
“
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jess Phillips on 2016-01-04.
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, with reference to planned changes to the housing benefit cap announced in the Spending Review and Autumn Statement 2015, what assessment he has made of the effect of that cap on (a) domestic violence refuges and (b) other supported accommodation.
Justin Tomlinson
The introduction of Local Housing Allowance limits to social sector tenants in receipt of Housing Benefit or the housing element of Universal Credit will only apply from April 2018 where new tenancies have been taken out or renewed after April 2016.
The Department is working on the exact policy design details for tenants in supported accommodation which includes domestic violence refuges.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jess Phillips on 2016-02-05.
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps the Child Exploitation and Online Protection Centre is taking to protect children and young people from grooming through social media sites.
Karen Bradley
The National Crime Agency’s Child Exploitation and Online Protection (CEOP) Command leads, supports and coordinates the law enforcement response to the threat from child sexual exploitation and abuse (CSEA) which has been designated one of the highest priority crime threats facing the UK.
CEOP Command works closely with social media companies, and law enforcement agencies in the UK and overseas, to identify victims and pursue offenders engaged in grooming children on the internet. CEOP Command has developed a comprehensive education programme, called Thinkuknow, which provides targeted advice to children, parents and carers, including on how to use social media safely.
In 2014/15, over 3 million children saw the NCA’s Thinkuknow educational material. Further detail on the Thinkuknow campaign can be found online at: www.thinkuknow.co.uk
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jess Phillips on 2016-03-16.
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how much her Department has spent on academy conversions.
Edward Timpson
There have been 4897 academy conversions during the current and preceding five financial years. During the same period, the department has spent £323 million to support schools to become academies.
Further details are in the table below:
|
Financial Year |
Academy Conversions |
Costs |
|
2015-16 (April 15 – January 16) |
530 |
£17m |
|
2014-15 |
899 |
£48m |
|
2013-14 |
964 |
£59m |
|
2012-13 |
1079 |
£65m |
|
2011-12 |
1165 |
£67m |
|
2010-11 |
260 |
£67m |
|
Total |
4897 |
£323m |
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jess Phillips on 2016-04-12.
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, pursuant to the Answer of 22 March 2016 to Question 30916, for what reasons related party transactions by academy trusts can be classified as irregular or improper by the Education Funding Agency.
Edward Timpson
Related party transactions by academy trusts can be classified as irregular or improper if they are not dealt with in accordance with Parliament’s intentions, legislation, the terms of the trust’s funding agreement, the Academies Financial Handbook or the trust’s internal procedures. This includes spending money other than for the purposes intended by Parliament or without the appropriate standards of conduct.
Academy trusts operate under a robust accountability system which holds them to account for the results they achieve and their use of resources. This includes a requirement to publish audited accounts each year allowing the wider public the chance to hold academy trusts to account to help make sure that spend is securing better outcomes for pupils.
The 26 related party transactions are irregular and noted in the table below (together with our findings from reviewing 2013/14 financial statements). It is important to note that irregular classification can occur where there is insufficient evidence to form an opinion.
|
Concern type |
Summary of concern |
Number of breaches |
|
At cost |
The trust either confirmed that services from a related party were not provided at cost or there was insufficient evidence of this. |
5 |
|
Off-payroll |
The trust confirmed that they were not compliant with HM Treasury’s off-payroll requirements for a senior member of staff. |
5 |
|
Procurement |
The trust confirmed they did not follow an adequate procurement process for certain purchases from a related party. |
6 |
|
Procurement issues/ recruitment of family |
The trust confirmed they did not follow an adequate procurement process for certain purchases from a familial related party. |
1 |
|
Procurement/ at cost |
The trust confirmed they did not follow an adequate procurement process for certain purchases from a related party. The trust also either confirmed that services from a related party were not provided at cost or there was insufficient evidence of this. |
9 |
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jess Phillips on 2016-04-27.
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, when the Key Stage 1 spelling, punctuation and grammar test which was to be sat in May 2016 and which was subsequently cancelled was uploaded to the Standard and Testing Agency’s website; and when it was updated.
Nick Gibb
The version of the key stage 1 spelling test administration guidance which contained the live test content was uploaded to GOV.UK on 24 December 2015. The document was removed on 20 April 2016 and a new version was uploaded on 26 April 2016.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jess Phillips on 2016-05-19.
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many (a) mathematics and (b) physics teacher training places have been allocated in each available teacher training route for the 2016-17 school year; and how many of those places allocated have been filled.
Nick Gibb
There are no caps on the number of mathematics and physics trainees that universities, School Direct lead schools and school-centred initial teacher training providers can recruit. We changed the approach to ITT allocations for 2016/17 by not allocating places to individual organisations for postgraduate ITT courses.
We will publish the number of trainees starting courses in the 2016/17 academic year when we publish the ITT Census in November 2016.