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418411

registered interest
date	11/09/2015
answering body	Department for Education
answering dept id	60
answering dept short name	Education
answering dept sort name	Education
hansard heading	Pre-school Education
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps her Department is taking to ensure that children develop good early language skills before they reach primary school.
tabling member constituency	Stockton North
tabling member printed	Alex Cunningham
uin	9973
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 16/09/2015 answer text <p>The government recognises a key part of raising the standard of education for all children is to ensure they receive a good level of development in literacy and numeracy before they start school. The government has taken the following steps to ensure children are developing good early language skills before they reach primary school:</p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p>The Early Years Foundation Stage sets the prime areas of learning which early years providers must follow. This includes a focus on communication and language. The Early Years Foundation Stage requires providers to understand the needs of every child and support them as necessary to make progress. The Early Years Foundation stage is available online at:</p><p> </p><p><a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/335504/EYFS_framework_from_1_September_2014__with_clarification_note.pdf" target="_blank">https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/335504/EYFS_framework_from_1_September_2014__with_clarification_note.pdf</a></p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p>The numeracy and literacy skills of staff working with our youngest children are key to supporting children’s progression. We have improved early years qualifications and encouraged high-quality entrants with good numeracy and literacy skills into the profession through setting clear criteria for level 3 training courses and introducing early years initial teacher training.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p>The government has invested over £50 million funding through the Early Years Pupil premium, an additional £5.3 million to sector organisations under the VCS grants and a one off grant of £5 million to teaching schools and their childcare provider partners to support staff development. Many of the projects funded through departmental grants are supporting staff to develop strong pedagogical approaches to language development and early literacy.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p> answering member constituency East Surrey answering member printed Mr Sam Gyimah question first answered 16/09/2015 14:12:34 answering member 3980 label Biography information for Mr Sam Gyimah
tabling member	4122 label Biography information for Alex Cunningham

418251

registered interest
date	10/09/2015
answering body	Department for Education
answering dept id	60
answering dept short name	Education
answering dept sort name	Education
hansard heading	Education
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what the rationale is for attainment at Key Stage Level 4 being selected as the education indicator in the proposed Life Chance reports.
tabling member constituency	East Ham
tabling member printed	Stephen Timms
uin	9951
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 15/09/2015 answer text <p>The end of Key Stage 4 is a vital point in a young person’s education. It represents the culmination of a child’s education from the early years to age 16 and provides a consistent point at which to measure attainment across all young people.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p>Successful attainment at Key Stage 4 underpins future life chances. We want all young people to be well prepared for further education, higher education and work.</p><p> </p> answering member constituency East Surrey answering member printed Mr Sam Gyimah question first answered 15/09/2015 09:09:39 answering member 3980 label Biography information for Mr Sam Gyimah
tabling member	163 label Biography information for Sir Stephen Timms

417254

registered interest
date	07/09/2015
answering body	Department for Education
answering dept id	60
answering dept short name	Education
answering dept sort name	Education
hansard heading	Academies: Cheshire West and Chester
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what the cost has been of each academy conversion in Cheshire West and Chester since 2002.
tabling member constituency	Ellesmere Port and Neston
tabling member printed	Justin Madders
uin	9123
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 10/09/2015 answer text <p>14 schools have chosen to convert to academy status in Cheshire West and Chester since 2002. Each of these schools received the standard Academy Converter grant funding.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p>Details of grant funding for schools converting to academy status can be found online at: <a href="https://www.gov.uk/guidance/convert-to-an-academy-information-for-schools/3-prepare-for-conversion" target="_blank">https://www.gov.uk/guidance/convert-to-an-academy-information-for-schools/3-prepare-for-conversion</a>.</p><p> </p> answering member constituency Crewe and Nantwich answering member printed Edward Timpson question first answered 10/09/2015 15:56:57 answering member 1605 label Biography information for Edward Timpson
tabling member	4418 label Biography information for Justin Madders

417258

registered interest
date	07/09/2015
answering body	Department for Education
answering dept id	60
answering dept short name	Education
answering dept sort name	Education
hansard heading	Department for Education: Consultants
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what policy evaluations have been carried out by external organisations for her Department and its agencies in each financial year since 2010-11; whether the output of those evaluations was published; which organisation carried out each such evaluation; and what the value of each contract to provide that evaluation was.
tabling member constituency	Streatham
tabling member printed	Mr Chuka Umunna
uin	9247
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 14/09/2015 answer text <p>The Department for Education commissions external organisations to carry out policy research and evaluation. All of the commissioned research and evaluation feeds into policy strategy, development and refinement.</p><p> </p><p>The department follows Government Social Research (GSR) commissioning and publication protocol and ensures research and evaluation products are made publicly available and released promptly upon completion.</p><p> </p><p>Between 2010/11 and 2014/15, the department spent a total of £71.1 million on policy research and evaluation undertaken by external organisations.</p><p> </p><p>The department predicts an expenditure of c.£12,000,000 on policy research and evaluation in 2015/16.</p><p> </p><p>The information below covers all research and evaluation commissioned by the Department for Education and its agencies. The agencies are: the National College for Teaching and Leadership, the Standards and Testing Agency and the Education Funding Agency.</p><p> </p><p>Since May 2010 the department’s commissioned work and the work commissioned by its agencies has been published on the following websites:</p><p> </p><ul><li><p>Department for Education (March 2010-March 2013): <a href="http://webarchive.nationalarchives.gov.uk/20130403150653/https:/www.education.gov.uk/publications/RSG/AllRsgPublications/Page1" target="_blank">http://webarchive.nationalarchives.gov.uk/20130403150653/https://www.education.gov.uk/publications/RSG/AllRsgPublications/Page1</a></p></li><li><p>Department of Education: (Since April 2013): <a href="http://www.gov.uk/government/publications?keywords=&amp;publication_filter_option=research-and-analysis&amp;departments%5B%5D=department-for-education" target="_blank">www.gov.uk/government/publications?keywords=&amp;publication_filter_option=research-and-analysis&amp;departments%5B%5D=department-for-education</a></p></li><li><p>Completed policy evaluation and research carried out by departmental agencies can also be found at: <a href="http://www.gov.uk/government/publications" target="_blank">www.gov.uk/government/publications</a></p></li></ul><p> </p><p>The department also funded three research centres until March 2013. The evaluations and research carried out by the research centres can be found on the following websites:</p><p> </p><ul><li><p>Childhood Wellbeing Research Centre: <a href="http://www.cwrc.ac.uk/resources/773.html" target="_blank">www.cwrc.ac.uk/resources/773.html</a></p></li><li><p>Centre for Understanding Behaviour Change: <a href="http://www.bristol.ac.uk/cubec/researchreports/" target="_blank">www.bristol.ac.uk/cubec/researchreports/</a></p></li><li><p>Centre for Analysis of Youth Transitions: <a href="http://www.ifs.org.uk/search/publications?centres%5B0%5D=325&amp;sorting=newest" target="_blank">www.ifs.org.uk/search/publications?centres%5B0%5D=325&amp;sorting=newest</a></p></li></ul><p> </p><p>Details of which organisation carried out the research or evaluation studies can be found on the front page of each report.</p><p> </p> answering member constituency Bognor Regis and Littlehampton answering member printed Nick Gibb question first answered 14/09/2015 15:58:21 answering member 111 label Biography information for Nick Gibb
tabling member	4128 label Biography information for Chuka Umunna

417259

registered interest
date	07/09/2015
answering body	Department for Education
answering dept id	60
answering dept short name	Education
answering dept sort name	Education
hansard heading	Academies
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many officials her Department employs to administer the (a) academies and (b) free schools programme.
tabling member constituency	Ellesmere Port and Neston
tabling member printed	Justin Madders
uin	9097
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 14/09/2015 answer text <p>At the end of August 2015 the Department for Education employed:</p><p> </p><ol><li><p>281 full-time equivalent staff in its Academies Group and the Schools Commissioners Group working to open new academies and support them once opened; along with their administrative and corporate functions within the department.</p></li><li><p>101 full-time equivalent staff in its Free Schools Group and the Schools Commissioners Group working to assess free school applications, working with successful applicants as they prepare to open their schools and supporting the schools once opened; along with their administrative and corporate functions within the department.</p></li></ol><p> </p> answering member constituency Crewe and Nantwich answering member printed Edward Timpson question first answered 14/09/2015 15:49:51 answering member 1605 label Biography information for Edward Timpson
tabling member	4418 label Biography information for Justin Madders

417260

registered interest
date	07/09/2015
answering body	Department for Education
answering dept id	60
answering dept short name	Education
answering dept sort name	Education
hansard heading	Academies
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what estimate she has made of the total held in reserves by academies in each year since 2010.
tabling member constituency	Ellesmere Port and Neston
tabling member printed	Justin Madders
uin	9098
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 14/09/2015 answer text <p>Academies are independent organisations and hold reserves, both are working capital to manage day-to-day commitments, and to build funds for longer term planning, as they cannot borrow commercially.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p>The reserves held by academies are included in the Education Funding Agency’s published accounts for financial years 2012-13 and 2013-14. These reserves are shown in the Statement of Financial Position and are entitled the revaluation reserve and charitable fund. The Education Funding Agency does not have comparable figures for financial year 2011-12 and earlier years. At present, the figures for 2014-15 are not ready for publication. The accounts for financial year 2013-14, that also show balances for financial year 2012-13 are published online at: <a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/efa-annual-report-and-accounts-1-april-2013-to-31-march-2014" target="_blank">https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/efa-annual-report-and-accounts-1-april-2013-to-31-march-2014</a></p><p> </p> answering member constituency Crewe and Nantwich answering member printed Edward Timpson question first answered 14/09/2015 15:54:53 answering member 1605 label Biography information for Edward Timpson
tabling member	4418 label Biography information for Justin Madders

417341

registered interest
date	07/09/2015
answering body	Department for Education
answering dept id	60
answering dept short name	Education
answering dept sort name	Education
hansard heading	Children's Rights: Publicity
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment she has made of the effectiveness of the Government's work to increase awareness of children's human rights.
tabling member constituency	Eastleigh
tabling member printed	Mims Davies
uin	9117
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 10/09/2015 answer text <p>The government is fully committed to children’s rights and to implementing the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC). This can be seen through our work to embed children’s rights in government policy, including:</p><p> </p><ul><li><p>strengthening the remit of the Children’s Commissioner in England through the Children and Families Act 2014, giving them a statutory role to promote and protect children’s rights;</p></li><li><p>consulting children on issues that affect them (Article 12 of the UNCRC), including: a group of disabled children who provide regular ‘user perspective’ on how our SEN reforms; and my regular meetings with children in care and care leavers;</p></li><li><p>revising the citizenship programme of study to make clear that schools should develop pupils’ understanding of democracy, government and the rights and responsibilities of citizens.</p></li></ul><p> </p><p>Last year we submitted the UK’s fifth UNCRC periodic review report to the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child, and we will give evidence to that Committee next year.</p><p> </p> answering member constituency Crewe and Nantwich answering member printed Edward Timpson question first answered 10/09/2015 16:14:23 answering member 1605 label Biography information for Edward Timpson
tabling member	4513 label Biography information for Mims Davies

416321

registered interest
date	04/09/2015
answering body	Department for Education
answering dept id	60
answering dept short name	Education
answering dept sort name	Education
hansard heading	Free School Meals
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Education, by what date she expects to confirm whether children of parents who claim universal credit while in employment will be entitled to free school meals.
tabling member constituency	Birkenhead
tabling member printed	Frank Field
uin	8636
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 14/09/2015 answer text <p>We will continue to ensure that children from the poorest families benefit from a free school meal. The introduction of Universal Credit and simplification of the benefits system mean that the eligibility criteria for free school meals will need to be updated. The Department for Education is continuing to work closely with the Department for Work and Pensions on this. In the meantime, any child in a family in receipt of Universal Credit will continue to be entitled to free school meals.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p> answering member constituency East Surrey answering member printed Mr Sam Gyimah question first answered 14/09/2015 14:06:08 answering member 3980 label Biography information for Mr Sam Gyimah
tabling member	478 label Biography information for Lord Field of Birkenhead

416485

registered interest
date	04/09/2015
answering body	Department for Education
answering dept id	60
answering dept short name	Education
answering dept sort name	Education
hansard heading	Personal, Social, Health and Economic Education
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Education, when she plans to respond to the Fifth Report from the Education Committee, Session 2014-15, HC 145, on Life Lessons: PSHE and SRE in Schools, published on 17 February 2015.
tabling member constituency	Bristol East
tabling member printed	Kerry McCarthy
uin	8770
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 09/09/2015 answer text <p>The government’s response to the Education Select Committee’s report ‘Life Lessons: PSHE and SRE in schools’ was published in July 2015. The response can be found online at <a href="http://www.gov.uk/government/publications/pshe-and-sre-in-schools-government-response" target="_blank">www.gov.uk/government/publications/pshe-and-sre-in-schools-government-response</a>.</p><p> </p> answering member constituency Crewe and Nantwich answering member printed Edward Timpson question first answered 09/09/2015 16:29:01 answering member 1605 label Biography information for Edward Timpson
tabling member	1491 label Biography information for Kerry McCarthy

416775

registered interest
date	04/09/2015
answering body	Department for Education
answering dept id	60
answering dept short name	Education
answering dept sort name	Education
hansard heading	Defamation
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what estimate she has made of the number of false allegations of child abuse or mistreatment made against staff in (a) professional care centres, (b) social services units and (c) other contexts in each of the last three years.
tabling member constituency	Bristol North West
tabling member printed	Charlotte Leslie
uin	8725
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 09/09/2015 answer text <p>Local authorities are responsible for putting in place arrangements for the appropriate management of allegations against people who work with children. Statuary guidance on handling allegations is set out in Working Together 2015 and Keeping Children Safe in Education.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p>The Department for Education does not hold records of allegations made against staff. While sympathetic to the position of those subject to false allegations on any matter, we have no plans to set up a scheme to enable claims for professional damages in these circumstances.</p><p> </p> answering member constituency Crewe and Nantwich answering member printed Edward Timpson grouped question UIN 8945 question first answered 09/09/2015 16:28:05 answering member 1605 label Biography information for Edward Timpson
tabling member	3933 label Biography information for Charlotte Leslie