Tag: Lord Storey

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

To ask Her Majesty’s Government which local authorities provide (1) free transport, and (2) subsidised transport, for students in years 12 and 13.

Lord Nash

The statutory responsibility for post 16 transport rests with local authorities who are required to publish a transport policy statement setting out the arrangements they make to support young people to travel to further education and training.

These arrangements do not have to include free or subsidised transport, but local authorities are expected to make reasonable decisions based on local needs, circumstances and resources. Discounts or concessions are also available from local transport companies and schools, colleges or other providers.

Local authorities are encouraged to develop a collaborative approach when developing their statements to provide a full picture of the transport and support available. But it is for local organisations to decide whether to provide support and what level of discounts and concessions to give. The department does not collect specific information on which local authorities, transport companies, or education and training providers give free or subsidised transport for students in years 12 and 13.

The 16 to 19 Bursary Fund is also available to help young people with the costs associated with attending education or training, and transport is the biggest single area of expenditure for which this fund is used. Schools and colleges are responsible for deciding how to distribute their bursary allocations to students, and for establishing what criteria to use.

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

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what safeguards they have put in place to ensure that, if the student loan book is sold on, students are not faced with increased rates of interest on their student loans.

Baroness Evans of Bowes Park

As stated in the March 2016 Budget, the Government is continuing to prepare for the sale of the pre-2012 income contingent repayment student loan book, with a first sale expected in 2016-17.

Purchasers would have no direct relationship with borrowers, and would have no power to amend the terms of repayment. Government would still finance student loans and continue to collect repayments.

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

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of whether there was a significant disparity between the (1) GCSE, and (2) A-level, results of students living in rural areas and those in urban areas over the last five years.

Lord Nash

Our assessment of the total number of GCSE and A level results of students by degree of rurality is available in the file attached. This is published as part of the “GCSE and equivalent results in England” and the “A level and other level 3 results” statistical first releases.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Storey on 2016-07-13.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what measures are in place to ensure that there is an adequate supply of history, geography, and language teachers to meet the forecast demand stemming from the introduction of the English Baccalaureate.

Lord Nash

We have more teachers in our schools than ever before and the number of teachers has kept pace with changing numbers of pupils. There are more than 456,000 teachers in schools throughout England – up more than 15,000 since 2010. Teaching continues to be a popular profession with more than 14,000 former teachers coming back to the classroom in the last year.

We recognise that as schools increase their entry rates to English Baccalaureate (EBacc) subjects there will be more demand for specialist teachers, particularly language teachers. That is why we are spending over £1.3 billion up to 2020 to attract new teachers into the profession including continuing to offer teacher training bursaries in history, geography and languages to make sure that we continue to attract the brightest graduates. We have recently announced the expansion of the teacher subject specialism training to include modern foreign languages.

This investment in training the next generation of teachers clearly demonstrates the political will we have to make sure that all schools are able to recruit the teachers they need.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Storey on 2016-10-18.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what oversight is provided to private higher education providers enrolling students onto degree courses to ensure minimum criteria are met for entry onto undergraduate degrees.

Viscount Younger of Leckie

It is for individual higher education providers to determine the minimum criteria for entry onto their courses.

However, private providers must meet a number of conditions to gain designation for student support. These include having a successful Quality Assurance Agency Higher Education Review (Alternative Providers), which tests providers’ recruitment, selection and admission policies and procedures, as well as ensuring that all students recruited onto courses designated for student support meet a minimum English Language requirement.

The Department monitors whether providers comply with the conditions of designation to ensure providers are held accountable and to protect the student and public interest. If at any point the Department determines that the conditions have not been met, it could put in place a range of sanctions, including the removal of course designation.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Storey on 2015-11-24.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government how many local authority schools have opened in the last five years.

Lord Nash

On 1 February 2011 the Education Act 2011 amended the Education and Inspections Act 2006 to change the arrangements for establishing new schools. Most new schools are now established via the academy/free school presumption.

182 local authority maintained schools have opened since 01 January 2011.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Storey on 2015-12-17.

To ask the Leader of the House when revising the process for prayers was last considered, and what consideration has been given to including an opportunity for additional prayers following a national or international tragedy or disaster.

Baroness Stowell of Beeston

The process for prayers was last considered by the Procedure Committee in December 2012 (3rd Report, Session 2012-13, HL Paper 81). Any change to the present arrangements would be a matter for the Procedure Committee, in consultation with the Lords Spiritual.

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

To ask Her Majesty’s Government which local authority has taken the longest amount of time to assess and decide on an Education, Health and Care plan.

Lord Nash

Information on statements of special educational needs and statutory Education, Health and Care (EHC) plans maintained by local authorities is collected in the annual SEN2 data return from local authorities in January each year. The latest available data shows there were 4,205 statutory EHC plans maintained by local authorities, as of January 2015.

The Department does not collect information on which local authority has taken the longest amount of time to assess and decide on an EHC plan. Data is collected in the annual SEN2 return on the number of EHC plans which were issued within the 20 weeks set out in regulations.

Of the new EHC plans issued in 2014, 64.3% were within the 20 weeks when excluding exception cases. Including exception cases; 61.5% were issued within the 20 weeks. However, these figures cover EHC plans issued in the first four months of the transitional period where local authorities are beginning to implement the new reforms within 20 weeks.

This information was published in the statistical first release ‘Statements of SEN and EHC plans: England 2015’, in May 2015. Data for January 2016 is expected to be published in May 2016.

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

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what safeguards are in place to prevent children either never going to school or going missing from school.

Lord Nash

The law provides a number of safeguards to ensure that all children receive a suitable full-time education. These are set out in Chapters I and II of Part VI of the Education Act 1996, and include:

• a duty on local authorities to make arrangements to establish, as far as it is possible to do so, the identities of children of compulsory school age in their area who are not receiving suitable education (Section 436A);

• a duty on local authorities to arrange suitable education for all children of compulsory school age who may not for any period receive it, unless such arrangements are made for them (Section 19);

• a duty on parents to ensure that their child of compulsory school age is receiving suitable full-time education, either at school or otherwise (Section 7);

• provision for a local authority to issue a School Attendance Order to a parent where it is not satisfied that a child of compulsory age is receiving a suitable education (Section 437); and

• provision for the prosecution of a parent who has failed to secure their child’s regular attendance at school (Section 444).

Statutory guidance requires local authorities to have robust procedures and policies in place to enable them to carry out their duty to identify children of compulsory school age in their area who are not receiving suitable education (Children Missing Education, 2015).

Under the Education (Pupil Registration) (England) Regulations 2006, schools have a duty to inform their local authority, at agreed intervals, of the details of pupils who are regularly absent from school or have missed 10 school days or more without permission. Schools must also notify the authority if a pupil is to be deleted from the admission register in certain circumstances.

We are taking steps to ensure the system is as robust as it can be when it comes to protecting young people, while at the same time safeguarding the rights of parents to determine how and where to educate their children. The Department for Education is currently consulting on proposals to strengthen further the Education (Pupil Registration) (England) Regulations 2006 in order to require schools to inform local authorities under all grounds when a child’s name is deleted from a school register.

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

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what happens to gifts that ministers receive in their official capacity; where they are kept; and how they are eventually disposed of.

Lord Bridges of Headley

Gifts may be accepted in line with the provisions of the Ministerial Code

Retention and disposal arrangements are a matter for individual Departments. Departments may dispose of gifts after a suitable period of time has elapsed.