Tag: Lord Storey

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Storey on 2016-06-28.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government why the net expenditure of the Standards and Testing Agency in the year ending March 2012 was over 25 per cent lower than the average yearly net expenditure for the period April 2010 to March 2015.

Lord Nash

The year ending March 2012 was the period when the Qualifications and Curriculum Development Agency closed and the Standards and Testing Agency opened. The reduction in expenditure can partly be explained by the transfer of functions between the two organisations. In addition, there was no whole cohort external marking of the Key Stage 2 writing test that year.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Storey on 2016-07-06.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what plans they have to improve teenage literacy, in the light of the 2016 OECD report Building skills for all: A review of England, which stated that the UK has the lowest literacy rates among 16 to 19 year-olds out of 23 developed countries.

Lord Nash

We are pleased that the OECD recognises in their review the changes we have made in recent years to ensure that all young people leave full-time education with a high standard of English.

The primary National Curriculum emphasises the teaching of early reading through systematic phonics and the importance of accurate spelling, punctuation and grammar. At secondary school pupils are expected to read a wide range of texts fluently and with good understanding.

We have reformed GCSEs to ensure they are more stretching and provide greater assurance of core literacy than the old GCSE. We are also taking action to improve the rigour and relevance of English Functional Skills qualifications, which are taken by many students and apprentices aged 16 and over.

To ensure all young people have every opportunity to secure proficiency in English, since 2014 we have required every 16-19 year old not holding a good pass in GCSE English and mathematics to continue to study these subjects as part of their 16-19 study programme. We have also embedded English and mathematics into our work-based training programmes such as apprenticeships and traineeships.

Last summer’s GCSE results show that over 4,000 more students aged 17 and over secured GCSE English at grades A*-C than the previous year.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Storey on 2016-10-19.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether they are planning to bring sixth form colleges in line with sixth form college academies in not having to pay VAT.

Lord Young of Cookham

I refer the noble Lord to the answer I gave on 25th October 2016 (Question HL2214).

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Storey on 2015-11-25.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of the (1) Mersey Waters, (2) Liverpool City, and (3) Sci-Tech Daresbury, Enterprise Zones in particular regarding new job creation and investment.

Baroness Williams of Trafford

DCLG publishes national and regional performance data collected from Enterprise Zones on a quarterly basis. Data is not published on individual zones. This data includes jobs attracted as well as investment and the number of business established.

Based on the most recent quarterly monitoring returns, Enterprise Zones in the North, which include Mersey Waters and Sci-Tech Daresbury, have attracted 5,889 jobs including construction jobs, 150 new businesses and secured around £1,120 million of private sector investment. This data is self-reported but all efforts have been made to ensure its accuracy.

Data for Liverpool City is not included, as it does not offer business rates discounts as part of the official Enterprise Zone programme.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Storey on 2015-12-08.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government, in the light of Article 2, section 1(b)(xiv) of EU Regulation 235/2014 and the Council of Europe Charter on Education for Democratic Citizenship and Human Rights Education, what action they have taken, and what action they plan to take, ahead of the EU Referendum to ensure that (1) active and engaging European and EU citizenship education is integrated into every primary and secondary school’s curriculum, and (2) training for specialist citizenship teachers is included in initial teacher education, and in teachers’ continuing professional development.

Lord Nash

Schools are aware of their duties regarding impartiality and treatment of political issues. Sections 406 and 407 of the Education Act 1996 require maintained schools to prevent political indoctrination and secure the balanced treatment of political issues. The new national curriculum includes an improved programme of study for citizenship education at key stages 3 and 4, which is organised around core knowledge and democracy, government and how laws are made and upheld. Pupils are also taught about local, regional, and international governance, and about the United Kingdom’s relations with the rest of Europe, the Commonwealth, the United Nations, and the wider world.

The Government does not prescribe initial teacher training (ITT) content. However, all ITT courses must ensure that trainee teachers can meet the Teachers’ Standards. This sets clear expectations and defines the minimum level of practice expected of teachers in England. The standards require all teachers and trainees to have secure knowledge of relevant subject and curriculum areas and demonstrate a critical understanding of developments in them. Ofsted inspects the quality of ITT against the Teachers’ Standards and no trainee can be recommended for qualified teacher status (QTS) until they have met the Standards in full at the appropriate level. Schools and headteachers are best placed to determine which development activities will be most beneficial for their schools and we expect them to lead on the development of their teachers.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Storey on 2016-01-20.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what support they make available for stand-alone academies facing budget deficits and the possibility of becoming bankrupt.

Lord Nash

Academy trusts are required to set balanced budgets each year, and it is the trustees’ responsibility to manage the funding for their school effectively and appropriately.

Where stand-alone academy trusts are facing genuine financial difficulties, there are a number of ways they can access support to help them return to financial stability. These include:

• Accessing the recently launched suite of tools and information designed to improve financial health and efficiency within schools
• Working with the Education Funding Agency (EFA) to agree a recovery plan to identify savings and ensure value for money
• In the most serious cases, the EFA may agree to provide an advance of funding that is repayable over an agreed timeframe
• If appropriate, working with Regional Schools Commissioners to consider joining a multi-academy trust

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Storey on 2016-01-29.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether they have guidelines for local authorities about charging for responses to Freedom of Information requests.

Lord Bridges of Headley

The Government has not published guidance for local authorities about charging for Freedom of Information requests.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Storey on 2016-02-11.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether they have any plans to ensure that every academy has its own governing body.

Lord Nash

Under the Academies Act 2010 an academy is a charitable company limited by guarantee and is therefore required under the Companies Act 2006 to have members and a board of trustees/ directors.

In a Multi-Academy Trust (MAT), individual academies do not have a separate legal identity and are all under the control of the trust board. Whether the board establishes local governing boards for each academy or local governing bodies to oversee groups of academies, and the range of functions delegated to any such boards, are both a matter for the board to determine – but in all cases the board remains accountable for all the academies in the MAT.

Fewer, higher quality and more highly skilled boards overseeing groups of schools is central to the Government’s strategy for improving the quality of governance. It is also the key to schools realising a wide range of other financial and educational benefits. While every academy may not therefore have its own governing body, our guidance in the Governance Handbook makes clear that boards should have meaningful and effective arrangements in place for engaging with and listening to the views and needs of parents, staff and the wider local community.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Storey on 2016-03-08.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government how they ensure that schools comply with their admission policies, and what action they take when a school is found to be admitting pupils in contravention of their admission policy.

Lord Nash

All state funded schools are required to comply with the statutory School Admissions Code when setting and applying their admission arrangements. Once admission arrangements have been determined, anyone who believes they are unfair or unlawful may make an objection to the Schools Adjudicator.

When allocating places, admission authorities must ensure they do so strictly in accordance with their published admissions criteria.

Any parent who is refused a place at a school for which they have applied has the right to appeal to an independent appeal panel. If the panel finds that the school’s admission arrangements were unlawful and had not been applied properly in the individual’s case, the appeal must be upheld and the admission authority must admit the child.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Storey on 2016-05-25.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government, further to the Written Answer by Lord Nash on 9 May (HL7985), in the light of their policy of not cutting the education budget of individual schools, what extra funding they are providing to schools to support the increase in the on-costs on teachers’ salaries in the last three years.

Lord Nash

At the Spending Review we announced we would protect the core schools budget in real terms during this Parliament. Schools are expected to manage within their individual budgets, including taking account of national insurance and pension contributions. From 2017 we have committed to introduce a national funding formula so that we can allocate funding more fairly, based on schools’ individual needs and the characteristics of their pupils. That will mean schools are better placed to manage cost pressures and to make informed decisions about their spending over a longer term.