Tag: Stephen Timms

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Stephen Timms on 2016-03-15.

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, for what reasons sex and relationships education is statutory in maintained secondary schools and not in other secondary schools.

Edward Timpson

Academies do not have to follow the national curriculum but are required to provide a ‘broad and balanced’ curriculum. This allows them to have the maximum possible freedom to personalise learning for all their pupils, including the most able pupils and those needing additional support.

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 relationship education 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) which makes clear that all sex and relationship education should be age-appropriate and that schools should ensure young people develop positive values and a moral framework that will guide their decisions, judgements and behaviour.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Stephen Timms on 2016-03-24.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, to how many appeal hearings her Department did not send a representative at (a) First-tier Tribunal (Immigration and Asylum) and (b) Upper Tribunal (Immigration and Asylum) in (i) 2012-13 (ii) 2013-14 and (iii) 2014-15.

James Brokenshire

The Government publishes the percentage of appeal hearings at which the Secretary of State for the Home Department was represented on a quarterly basis. Below is a table covering the 2012-2015 period.

Appeal Representation Rates

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Stephen Timms on 2016-04-14.

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether the Youth Obligation can be extended beyond six months for a participant who is not work-ready at the end of that period.

Priti Patel

The Youth Obligation will be introduced from April 2017 for 18-21 year old Universal Credit claimants (UC) in the all work related requirements conditionality group.

At the 6 month stage, UC claimants who are not in work, on an Apprenticeship or participating in work-related training, will be required to go on a mandatory work placement to give them the skills they need to get on in work.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Stephen Timms on 2016-04-19.

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether she plans for local authorities to continue to receive basic need allocations of capital for new school places under her proposals for all schools to become academies.

Edward Timpson

Local authorities will continue to be responsible for ensuring there are enough school places to meet demand and supporting them to do this will remain one of the government’s top priorities for this Parliament. That is why we allocate funding to local authorities based on their own estimates of the number of places they will need and will continue to do so. We have committed to spending £7 billion on school places up to 2021 which, along with our investment in the free schools programme, we expect to deliver 600,000 new places.

Local authorities have always relied on their strong relationships with local schools to deliver the places needed and this will not change as more schools convert to become academies.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Stephen Timms on 2016-05-04.

To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what steps he has taken to alert employers to the potential effect of failure to report PAYE correctly and on time on employee’s families with relation to universal credit.

Mr David Gauke

Throughout the development of Real Time Information HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) worked closely with employers to highlight the importance of accurate and timely filing for customers, not only from an HMRC perspective but also to ensure accurate awards of Universal Credit. The December 15 Employer Bulletin, issue 57, also alerted employers to the impact that late, missing and incorrect returns can have on Universal Credits.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Stephen Timms on 2016-05-18.

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, with reference to the Answer of 25 April 2016 to Question 34910, what qualifications are required by his Department for English and mathematics tutors who teach functional skills in numeracy and literacy.

Mark Lancaster

The Ministry of Defence general policy on the provision of Functional Skills (FS) training is that tutors employed to teach English and mathematics to Service Personnel are required to have a minimum Level 4 teaching qualification prior to employment. Once employed, all tutors must then successfully complete the ‘Defence Train the Trainer Course’.

Armed Forces training establishments follow more detailed criteria on the standard of qualification for tutors employed to deliver FS training. Two principal groups provide Functional Skills education within the Army. Basic Skills Development Managers (BSDMs) are employed across the Army Educational Services and are required to hold a nationally-recognised teaching qualification and a Adult Basic Skills Subject Specialisation Award (ABSSA) at a minimum of Level 4 in literacy or numeracy. The Army also contracts out FS delivery completed on the Army Apprenticeship Programme. Tutors on the various apprenticeships are required to hold an overall Level 5 teaching qualification and have appropriate subject matter expertise.

All Royal Air Force (RAF) English and Mathematics FS tutors are required to have a minimum Level 4 ABSSA teaching qualification in their respective subject prior to employment. The Royal Navy also have minimum entry Level 4 FS qualifications requirement for all its tutors. The RAF and Royal Navy also expect an ABSSA teaching qualification in English and maths for tutors on the various apprenticeships as well as appropriate subject matter expertise.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Stephen Timms on 2016-05-26.

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what assessment his Department has made of the potential effect of the loss of local authorities’ access to housing benefit claim data on their ability to target services and support tenants effectively; and if he will make a statement.

Justin Tomlinson

Local authorities are the data owners of Housing Benefit data. DWP shares customer data with local authorities in order for them to assess claims more effectively and quickly and to help them to keep claims right. We have contingency arrangements in place, should those interfaces fail.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Stephen Timms on 2016-06-10.

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether it is her policy that local stakeholders will be able to express views on proposals to require a school to convert to academy status.

Edward Timpson

Since launching our proposals in the White Paper Educational Excellence Everywhere, the Government has listened to feedback from all stakeholders with an interest in the proposals, and will continue to do so.

Under the Academies Act 2010, governing bodies of schools who wish to convert to academy status must consult formally about their plans with anyone who has an interest in the school. This will include staff members and parents, but should also involve pupils and the wider local community. Where a school is failing or otherwise eligible for intervention there is no requirement to consult, but the proposed sponsor of the new academy is under a duty to communicate their plans to improve the school to parents.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Stephen Timms on 2016-07-11.

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, on what dates the Regional School Commissioners Strategy Forum has met.

Edward Timpson

The minutes and agendas of the Regional School Commissioners (RSC) Strategy Forum are for internal use and are not published.

The RSCs meet monthly for the RSC Strategy Forum. The dates on which these meetings have taken place are as follows:

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Stephen Timms on 2016-07-12.

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, which multi academy trusts have taken on new academies in the 2016-17 financial year to date.

Edward Timpson

A list of academies that have opened this financial year together with their trust information is attached and available through the department’s Edubase site at: http://www.education.gov.uk/edubase/home.xhtml

Regional Schools Commissioners take very seriously all decisions to allow a trust to take on additional schools.

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