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49408

registered interest
date	01/05/2014
answering body	Department for Education
answering dept id	60
answering dept short name	Education
answering dept sort name	Education
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Education, when he intends to reply to the letter to him dated 24 March 2014 from the right hon. Member for Manchester, Gorton with regard to Mr M Barnes.
tabling member constituency	Manchester, Gorton
tabling member printed	Sir Gerald Kaufman
uin	197512
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 06/05/2014 answer text <p>My Rt. hon Friend, the Secretary of State, replied to the Rt. hon Gentleman's letter on 25 April 2014.</p><p> </p> answering member constituency South West Norfolk answering member printed Elizabeth Truss question first answered 06/05/2014 12:00:00 answering member 4097 label Biography information for Elizabeth Truss
tabling member	451 label Biography information for Sir Gerald Kaufman

49219

registered interest
date	30/04/2014
answering body	Department for Education
answering dept id	60
answering dept short name	Education
answering dept sort name	Education
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what proportion of local authorities have higher than average not known rates for young people not in employment, education or training; and what steps he is taking to address such gaps in data.
tabling member constituency	Birkenhead
tabling member printed	Mr Frank Field
uin	197255
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 06/05/2014 answer text <p>It is local authorities who are responsible for collecting data about the activity of young people in their area.</p><p> </p><p>The Department for Education regularly publishes locally collected data on young people's activities, including the proportion of young people whose activity is not known. The latest quarterly figures covering young people of academic age 16 and 17 as at the end of December 2013 are available online at: www.gov.uk/government/publications/participation-in-education-and-training-by-local-authority. These include both the average for England and the figures for each local authority.</p><p> </p><p>The Department published statutory guidance in March 2013 setting out the requirement of local authorities to track young people's participation so that those who are not in education or training can be identified. The guidance is available online at: www.gov.uk/government/publications/participation-of-young-people-education-employment-and-training.</p> answering member constituency West Suffolk answering member printed Matthew Hancock question first answered 06/05/2014 12:00:00 answering member 4070 label Biography information for Matt Hancock
tabling member	478 label Biography information for Lord Field of Birkenhead

49222

registered interest
date	30/04/2014
answering body	Department for Education
answering dept id	60
answering dept short name	Education
answering dept sort name	Education
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what representations he has received on extending the powers provided to the National College for Teaching and Leadership for the investigation of historical incidents of abuse; and if he will make a statement.
tabling member constituency	Birmingham, Selly Oak
tabling member printed	Steve McCabe
uin	197270
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 06/05/2014 answer text <p>The Secretary of State for Education has received no representations on extending the powers provided to the National College for Teaching and Leadership (NCTL) for investigation of historical incidents of abuse.</p><p>The NCTL's remit sits within a broad safeguarding framework. The investigation of incidents of abuse by the NCTL historically or current will depend on the nature of the abuse. Where incidents of abuse relate to issues of child protection these would not ordinarily be matters that the NCTL would be directly involved in.</p><p>All employers of people working with children have a statutory duty to refer to the Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) all individuals who have been:</p><ol><li>convicted or cautioned for a relevant offence;</li><li>engaged in conduct that has harmed a child or put them at risk of harm; or</li><li>deemed to have satisfied the ‘harm test' in relation to children, i.e. there has been no relevant conduct but a risk of harm to a child still exists.</li></ol><p>The DBS will then consider whether to bar that person from working with children. Alongside this duty, where a teacher has been dismissed or resigned in the face of dismissal for a serious conduct matter, employers have a statutory duty to consider referring that teacher to the NCTL. In circumstances where the DBS decides to bar an individual any ongoing NCTL case would be discontinued. The NCTL primarily takes to a conclusion cases which have not met the DBS threshold for barring.</p> answering member constituency Crewe and Nantwich answering member printed Mr Edward Timpson question first answered 06/05/2014 12:00:00 answering member 1605 label Biography information for Edward Timpson
tabling member	298 label Biography information for Steve McCabe

49351

registered interest
date	30/04/2014
answering body	Department for Education
answering dept id	60
answering dept short name	Education
answering dept sort name	Education
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how much he has allocated to each local authority with responsibility for education to expand kitchens in order to provide free school meals for children under seven.
tabling member constituency	Warrington North
tabling member printed	Helen Jones
uin	197258
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 06/05/2014 answer text <p>Capital allocations to local authorities to support the introduction of universal infant free school meals were announced on 18 December 2013. A table showing the allocation to each local authority is available at the following link:</p><p><a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/capital-allocations-for-basic-need-and-infant-free-school-meals" target="_blank">https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/capital-allocations-for-basic-need-and-infant-free-school-meals</a></p><p> </p> answering member constituency Yeovil answering member printed Mr David Laws question first answered 06/05/2014 12:00:00 answering member 1473 label Biography information for Mr David Laws
tabling member	432 label Biography information for Helen Jones

48935

registered interest
date	29/04/2014
answering body	Department for Education
answering dept id	60
answering dept short name	Education
answering dept sort name	Education
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what financial provision he is making available to schools in Bournemouth for expansion of kitchens to provide free school meals for under sevens.
tabling member constituency	Bournemouth East
tabling member printed	Mr Tobias Ellwood
uin	197129
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 06/05/2014 answer text <p>The Department for Education is providing £150 million capital funding in the 2014-15 financial year to enhance school kitchen and dining facilities across England. From this, Bournemouth Borough Council was allocated £307,007 capital funding for its maintained and voluntary aided schools, and academies in Bournemouth were able to bid to the Academies Capital Maintenance Fund. In addition, Bournemouth Borough Council has been allocated £1.6 million in general schools capital maintenance funding, and is free to draw on that to improve kitchen facilities if that is a priority locally.</p><p> </p> answering member constituency Yeovil answering member printed Mr David Laws question first answered 06/05/2014 12:00:00 answering member 1473 label Biography information for Mr David Laws
tabling member	1487 label Biography information for Mr Tobias Ellwood

48948

registered interest
date	29/04/2014
answering body	Department for Education
answering dept id	60
answering dept short name	Education
answering dept sort name	Education
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Education, by what methods the National College of Teaching Leadership gathers information on the risk of sexual abuse at independent schools.
tabling member constituency	Birmingham, Selly Oak
tabling member printed	Steve McCabe
uin	197117
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 06/05/2014 answer text <p>The National College for Teaching and Leadership (NCTL) receives and acts upon referrals from employers (including independent schools), the police, Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) and the public.</p><p>The Teachers' Disciplinary (England) Regulations 2012 provide NCTL with the power to regulate teachers including those in independent schools. These regulations provide for any referral to be investigated regardless of the date of the alleged incident.</p><p>Upon receipt of a referral NCTL make an initial assessment of the allegations to establish whether, if proven, they have the prospect to meet the prohibition threshold using the Secretary of State's advice <em>‘Teacher misconduct: the prohibition of teachers'</em>. Where the case is assessed as serious enough to potentially meet the threshold the allegations are investigated seeking representations from the teacher involved and collecting other evidence deemed to be appropriate on a case by case basis. On conclusion of the investigation a further determination is made and where the allegations are still serious enough to potentially warrant a prohibition order, the matter is progressed to a panel hearing. The hearing is held in public and the panel comprises three panellists appointed through a public appointments process. The teacher can be present with his/her representative, witnesses may be called by either side, a presenting officer presents the case on behalf of NCTL and a legal adviser is present. At least one panellist must be a teacher panellist and at least one must be a lay panellist. The panel make a finding as to facts. Where the facts are found they go on to determine whether those facts amount to unacceptable professional conduct, conduct that may bring the profession into disrepute and/or conviction, at any time, of a relevant offence. Where the panel determine one or more of the above, they then go on to make a recommendation as to whether a prohibition order would be an appropriate sanction. The recommendation is considered by a senior official of NCTL on behalf of the Secretary of State and is either confirmed or amended.</p><p>The work of NCTL sits within a broader safeguarding framework. Independent Schools, like all employers of people working with children, have a statutory duty to refer to the Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) all individuals who have been:</p><ol><li>convicted or cautioned for a relevant offence;</li><li>engaged in conduct that has harmed a child or put them at risk of harm; or</li><li>deemed to have satisfied the Harm Test in relation to children i.e. there has been no relevant conduct but a risk of harm to a child still exists.</li></ol><p>The DBS will then consider whether to bar that person from working with children. In addition to this, where a teacher has been dismissed or resigned in the face of dismissal for a serious conduct matter, employers also have a statutory duty to consider referring that teacher to the NCTL. In the most serious cases, the DBS decides to bar an individual, at which point any ongoing NCTL case would be discontinued. The NCTL primarily takes to their conclusion cases which have not met the DBS threshold for barring.</p><p>Under arrangements established by the previous Government, teacher regulation was the responsibility of the General Teaching Council for England (GTCE) and all registered teachers fell within their jurisdiction. However, there was no requirement for teachers in independent schools to be registered, so many teachers in independent schools fell outside professional regulation. We have strengthened regulations so that the NCTL now has the power to regulate all teachers in independent schools.</p><p>Separate to the NCTL process for regulating teachers, the Department's Independent Education and Boarding Team (IEBT) administers the wider regulatory system for independent schools. This team can receive information about allegations of abuse from a variety of sources, including Ofsted, local authorities, parents and the police.</p><p>In the first instance, the Department will ensure that the actual allegations are being investigated by relevant authorities – the local authority and, where appropriate, the police. It is then the Department's role to ensure that the school in question is meeting the Independent School Standards. This will normally be done by commissioning an inspection and, where a school is found not to be meeting the standards, taking action to ensure it does so as soon as possible or, if necessary, is closed.</p> answering member constituency Crewe and Nantwich answering member printed Mr Edward Timpson grouped question UIN 197118 197119 question first answered 06/05/2014 12:00:00 answering member 1605 label Biography information for Edward Timpson
tabling member	298 label Biography information for Steve McCabe

48949

registered interest
date	29/04/2014
answering body	Department for Education
answering dept id	60
answering dept short name	Education
answering dept sort name	Education
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what role the National College of Teaching Leadership plays with regard to investigations of allegations of historic, sexual abuse at independent schools for which they are now responsible.
tabling member constituency	Birmingham, Selly Oak
tabling member printed	Steve McCabe
uin	197118
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 06/05/2014 answer text <p>The National College for Teaching and Leadership (NCTL) receives and acts upon referrals from employers (including independent schools), the police, Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) and the public.</p><p>The Teachers' Disciplinary (England) Regulations 2012 provide NCTL with the power to regulate teachers including those in independent schools. These regulations provide for any referral to be investigated regardless of the date of the alleged incident.</p><p>Upon receipt of a referral NCTL make an initial assessment of the allegations to establish whether, if proven, they have the prospect to meet the prohibition threshold using the Secretary of State's advice <em>‘Teacher misconduct: the prohibition of teachers'</em>. Where the case is assessed as serious enough to potentially meet the threshold the allegations are investigated seeking representations from the teacher involved and collecting other evidence deemed to be appropriate on a case by case basis. On conclusion of the investigation a further determination is made and where the allegations are still serious enough to potentially warrant a prohibition order, the matter is progressed to a panel hearing. The hearing is held in public and the panel comprises three panellists appointed through a public appointments process. The teacher can be present with his/her representative, witnesses may be called by either side, a presenting officer presents the case on behalf of NCTL and a legal adviser is present. At least one panellist must be a teacher panellist and at least one must be a lay panellist. The panel make a finding as to facts. Where the facts are found they go on to determine whether those facts amount to unacceptable professional conduct, conduct that may bring the profession into disrepute and/or conviction, at any time, of a relevant offence. Where the panel determine one or more of the above, they then go on to make a recommendation as to whether a prohibition order would be an appropriate sanction. The recommendation is considered by a senior official of NCTL on behalf of the Secretary of State and is either confirmed or amended.</p><p>The work of NCTL sits within a broader safeguarding framework. Independent Schools, like all employers of people working with children, have a statutory duty to refer to the Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) all individuals who have been:</p><ol><li>convicted or cautioned for a relevant offence;</li><li>engaged in conduct that has harmed a child or put them at risk of harm; or</li><li>deemed to have satisfied the Harm Test in relation to children i.e. there has been no relevant conduct but a risk of harm to a child still exists.</li></ol><p>The DBS will then consider whether to bar that person from working with children. In addition to this, where a teacher has been dismissed or resigned in the face of dismissal for a serious conduct matter, employers also have a statutory duty to consider referring that teacher to the NCTL. In the most serious cases, the DBS decides to bar an individual, at which point any ongoing NCTL case would be discontinued. The NCTL primarily takes to their conclusion cases which have not met the DBS threshold for barring.</p><p>Under arrangements established by the previous Government, teacher regulation was the responsibility of the General Teaching Council for England (GTCE) and all registered teachers fell within their jurisdiction. However, there was no requirement for teachers in independent schools to be registered, so many teachers in independent schools fell outside professional regulation. We have strengthened regulations so that the NCTL now has the power to regulate all teachers in independent schools.</p><p>Separate to the NCTL process for regulating teachers, the Department's Independent Education and Boarding Team (IEBT) administers the wider regulatory system for independent schools. This team can receive information about allegations of abuse from a variety of sources, including Ofsted, local authorities, parents and the police.</p><p>In the first instance, the Department will ensure that the actual allegations are being investigated by relevant authorities – the local authority and, where appropriate, the police. It is then the Department's role to ensure that the school in question is meeting the Independent School Standards. This will normally be done by commissioning an inspection and, where a school is found not to be meeting the standards, taking action to ensure it does so as soon as possible or, if necessary, is closed.</p> answering member constituency Crewe and Nantwich answering member printed Mr Edward Timpson grouped question UIN 197117 197119 question first answered 06/05/2014 12:00:00 answering member 1605 label Biography information for Edward Timpson
tabling member	298 label Biography information for Steve McCabe

48950

registered interest
date	29/04/2014
answering body	Department for Education
answering dept id	60
answering dept short name	Education
answering dept sort name	Education
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps are open to the National College of Teaching Leadership on receipt of information of an allegation of child abuse at an independent school.
tabling member constituency	Birmingham, Selly Oak
tabling member printed	Steve McCabe
uin	197119
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 06/05/2014 answer text <p>The National College for Teaching and Leadership (NCTL) receives and acts upon referrals from employers (including independent schools), the police, Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) and the public.</p><p>The Teachers' Disciplinary (England) Regulations 2012 provide NCTL with the power to regulate teachers including those in independent schools. These regulations provide for any referral to be investigated regardless of the date of the alleged incident.</p><p>Upon receipt of a referral NCTL make an initial assessment of the allegations to establish whether, if proven, they have the prospect to meet the prohibition threshold using the Secretary of State's advice <em>‘Teacher misconduct: the prohibition of teachers'</em>. Where the case is assessed as serious enough to potentially meet the threshold the allegations are investigated seeking representations from the teacher involved and collecting other evidence deemed to be appropriate on a case by case basis. On conclusion of the investigation a further determination is made and where the allegations are still serious enough to potentially warrant a prohibition order, the matter is progressed to a panel hearing. The hearing is held in public and the panel comprises three panellists appointed through a public appointments process. The teacher can be present with his/her representative, witnesses may be called by either side, a presenting officer presents the case on behalf of NCTL and a legal adviser is present. At least one panellist must be a teacher panellist and at least one must be a lay panellist. The panel make a finding as to facts. Where the facts are found they go on to determine whether those facts amount to unacceptable professional conduct, conduct that may bring the profession into disrepute and/or conviction, at any time, of a relevant offence. Where the panel determine one or more of the above, they then go on to make a recommendation as to whether a prohibition order would be an appropriate sanction. The recommendation is considered by a senior official of NCTL on behalf of the Secretary of State and is either confirmed or amended.</p><p>The work of NCTL sits within a broader safeguarding framework. Independent Schools, like all employers of people working with children, have a statutory duty to refer to the Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) all individuals who have been:</p><ol><li>convicted or cautioned for a relevant offence;</li><li>engaged in conduct that has harmed a child or put them at risk of harm; or</li><li>deemed to have satisfied the Harm Test in relation to children i.e. there has been no relevant conduct but a risk of harm to a child still exists.</li></ol><p>The DBS will then consider whether to bar that person from working with children. In addition to this, where a teacher has been dismissed or resigned in the face of dismissal for a serious conduct matter, employers also have a statutory duty to consider referring that teacher to the NCTL. In the most serious cases, the DBS decides to bar an individual, at which point any ongoing NCTL case would be discontinued. The NCTL primarily takes to their conclusion cases which have not met the DBS threshold for barring.</p><p>Under arrangements established by the previous Government, teacher regulation was the responsibility of the General Teaching Council for England (GTCE) and all registered teachers fell within their jurisdiction. However, there was no requirement for teachers in independent schools to be registered, so many teachers in independent schools fell outside professional regulation. We have strengthened regulations so that the NCTL now has the power to regulate all teachers in independent schools.</p><p>Separate to the NCTL process for regulating teachers, the Department's Independent Education and Boarding Team (IEBT) administers the wider regulatory system for independent schools. This team can receive information about allegations of abuse from a variety of sources, including Ofsted, local authorities, parents and the police.</p><p>In the first instance, the Department will ensure that the actual allegations are being investigated by relevant authorities – the local authority and, where appropriate, the police. It is then the Department's role to ensure that the school in question is meeting the Independent School Standards. This will normally be done by commissioning an inspection and, where a school is found not to be meeting the standards, taking action to ensure it does so as soon as possible or, if necessary, is closed.</p> answering member constituency Crewe and Nantwich answering member printed Mr Edward Timpson grouped question UIN 197117 197118 question first answered 06/05/2014 12:00:00 answering member 1605 label Biography information for Edward Timpson
tabling member	298 label Biography information for Steve McCabe

48959

registered interest
date	29/04/2014
answering body	Department for Education
answering dept id	60
answering dept short name	Education
answering dept sort name	Education
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Education, which schools in Devon have (a) applied for and (b) received academy status since 2010.
tabling member constituency	Tiverton and Honiton
tabling member printed	Neil Parish
uin	197037
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 06/05/2014 answer text <p>Since 2010 the Department has received 72 applications from schools in Devon to convert to academy status; 59 have opened as academies. The details of these schools can be found at the following link, which is updated monthly:</p><p> </p><p><a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/open-academies-and-academy-projects-in-development" target="_blank">https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/open-academies-and-academy-projects-in-development</a></p><p> </p> answering member constituency Crewe and Nantwich answering member printed Mr Edward Timpson question first answered 06/05/2014 12:00:00 answering member 1605 label Biography information for Edward Timpson
tabling member	4072 label Biography information for Neil Parish

49011

registered interest
date	29/04/2014
answering body	Department for Education
answering dept id	60
answering dept short name	Education
answering dept sort name	Education
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many and what proportion of the emails sent by his Department to schools on 3 April 2014 setting out guidance on keeping children safe have not been opened by the recipient to date.
tabling member constituency	Leicester East
tabling member printed	Keith Vaz
uin	197110
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 06/05/2014 answer text <p>On 3 April the Department for Education published updated statutory guidance on safeguarding, ‘Keeping Children Safe in Education'. On the same day, we emailed all headteachers a letter from the Secretary of State drawing their attention to the guidance. We will be publishing this on the website in due course.</p><p>The letter was emailed to 31,660 addressees in 25,035 schools. As of 30 April, 13,285 (43.1%) recipients had opened the email, and 9,402 (30.5%) recipients had clicked through to the guidance on safeguarding.</p><p>Other records show that the guidance has been seen by a greater number of people. Between 3 and 29 April the web page hosting the guidance received 65,729 page views. The Department also published 5 tweets in support of the publication. These achieved a total reach of 639,315, and the embedded links were clicked 755 times.</p><p>The guidance will also be highlighted in the summer term 2014 schools' email and Need to Know timelines that will be sent to all schools in May. Schools can also access relevant information through social media, and messages from the Education Funding Agency and the National College for Teaching and Leadership. The Department also sends regular emails to all local authorities.</p><p>Officials have also promoted the guidance through various stakeholder groups that work with the Department, including the Headteacher Reference Groups and the Education Forum; members of the latter include chairs of local safeguarding children boards. And they have written to head and teacher unions who met Ministers in January to discuss female genital mutilation and broader safeguarding issues.</p> answering member constituency Crewe and Nantwich answering member printed Mr Edward Timpson question first answered 06/05/2014 12:00:00 answering member 1605 label Biography information for Edward Timpson
tabling member	338 label Biography information for Keith Vaz