Show Search Form

Search Results

registered interest	true false
date	exactly: or between: and
answering body
answering dept id
answering dept short name
answering dept sort name
hansard heading
house id
legislature	pref label
question text
tabling member constituency
tabling member printed
uin
answer	is ministerial correction true false date of answer exactly: or between: and answer text answering member constituency answering member printed grouped question UIN question first answered answering member label
tabling member	label

Search

1672146

registered interest
date	22/11/2023
answering body	Department for Education
answering dept id	60
answering dept short name	Education
answering dept sort name	Education
hansard heading	Schools: Repairs and Maintenance
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 help ensure that schools are able to carry out high quality repairs on their buildings.
tabling member constituency	Strangford
tabling member printed	Jim Shannon
uin	3226
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 01/12/2023 answer text <p>Well-maintained, safe school buildings are a priority for the department in order that they support a high-quality education for all children.</p><p> </p><p>Responsibility for keeping buildings safe and well-maintained lies with schools and their responsible bodies, such as local authorities, academy trusts and voluntary-aided bodies. The department supports them by providing access to annual capital funding, delivering major rebuilding programmes, and offering guidance and support.</p><p> </p><p>The department has allocated over £15 billion since 2015 for keeping schools in England safe and operational, including £1.8 billion in 2023/24. This funding is informed by consistent data on the condition of the school estate. Devolved administrations received funding for education through the Barnett formula at the Spending Review 2021.</p><p> </p><p>Responsible bodies in England, depending on their size and type, are either eligible to receive annual school condition allocation (SCA) funding to use on improving the condition of their schools, or are instead able to bid into the Condition Improvement Fund (CIF) each year for specific capital projects. Schools in England also receive funding to spend on their capital priorities or contribute to larger projects through an annual devolved formula capital allocation (DFC). Details on SCA, DFC and CIF can be found on GOV.UK.</p><p> </p><p>CIF eligible schools can apply for urgent capital support at any time in the year, if they have urgent building issues that need to be addressed. Details on how to apply for urgent capital support are available here: <a href="https://www.gov.uk/guidance/condition-improvement-fund" target="_blank">https://www.gov.uk/guidance/condition-improvement-fund</a>.</p><p> </p><p>The department provides extensive guidance for responsible bodies to help them make effective spending decisions and manage their estates strategically and safely through resources such as the ‘Good estate management for schools’ guidance. The guidance is available at: <a href="https://www.gov.uk/guidance/good-estate-management-for-schools" target="_blank">https://www.gov.uk/guidance/good-estate-management-for-schools</a>.</p><p> </p><p>In addition to condition capital funding, the school rebuilding programme (SRP) will transform buildings at 500 schools in Engand over the next decade, prioritising schools in poor condition and with evidence of potential safety issues. The department has announced 400 schools to date, including 239 in December 2022.</p><p> </p><p>The department is providing targeted support for RAAC and will fund emergency mitigation work needed to make school and college buildings safe, including installing alternative classroom space where necessary. Where schools and colleges need additional help with revenue costs, the department expects all reasonable requests will be approved. The department will also fund refurbishment projects, or rebuilding projects where these are needed, to remove RAAC from the school estate, including through the SRP.</p> answering member constituency East Hampshire answering member printed Damian Hinds question first answered 01/12/2023 14:07:47 answering member 3969 label Biography information for Damian Hinds
tabling member	4131 label Biography information for Jim Shannon

1671535

registered interest
date	20/11/2023
answering body	Department for Education
answering dept id	60
answering dept short name	Education
answering dept sort name	Education
hansard heading	Children: Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder
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 support children with ADHD in schools.
tabling member constituency	Strangford
tabling member printed	Jim Shannon
uin	2593
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 28/11/2023 answer text <p>In the Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND) and Alternative Provision (AP) improvement plan, the department set out its vision to improve mainstream education by setting standards for the early and accurate identification of needs and for timely access to support to meet those needs, including for children and young people with ADHD. The standards will clarify the types of support that should be ordinarily available in mainstream settings and who is responsible for securing the support.</p><p>The department will also develop practitioner standards to equip frontline professionals to make best use of provision and identify needs early, accurately and consistently. The first three practice guides will be published by the end of 2025 and will focus on advice for mainstream settings which is rooted in existing best practice.</p><p>To support the needs of pupils with SEND, particularly in mainstream settings where most of these learners are educated, the department has funded the Universal Services programme. This programme, backed by almost £12 million of funding, will help the school and further education workforce to identify and meet the needs of children and young people with SEND earlier and more effectively. It will also help them successfully prepare children and young people for adulthood, including employment.</p> answering member constituency Wantage answering member printed David Johnston question first answered 28/11/2023 14:46:56 answering member 4761 label Biography information for David Johnston
tabling member	4131 label Biography information for Jim Shannon

1671539

registered interest
date	20/11/2023
answering body	Department for Education
answering dept id	60
answering dept short name	Education
answering dept sort name	Education
hansard heading	Apprentices: Taxation
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what recent assessment she has made of the impact of the apprenticeship levy on the uptake of apprenticeships.
tabling member constituency	Strangford
tabling member printed	Jim Shannon
uin	2596
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 28/11/2023 answer text <p>Since 2010, there have been over 5.5 million apprenticeship starts. During that time, the department has built a new skills system from the ground up which better meets the needs of employers and apprentices today.</p><p> </p><p>The apprenticeship levy was introduced in 2017 to incentivise larger businesses to develop and invest in their own apprenticeship programmes whilst ensuring the availability of funding for smaller employers wanting to offer apprenticeships.</p><p> </p><p>There have been over 2.2 million apprenticeship starts in employers of all sizes across England since the levy was introduced. There are now over 680 high quality standards available from entry level right through to masters level, with over 5,000 employers involved in their development. There is now a much broader range of apprenticeships than ever before in occupations such as architect, cyber security, and nursing, in addition to traditional occupations like bricklayer, plumber, or hairdresser.</p><p> </p><p>More apprentices are now taking higher level subjects linked to higher paid jobs in key areas. Starts on higher apprenticeships at Level 4 and above have more than doubled, from 48,150 in the 2017/18 academic year to 106,360 in the 2021/22 academic year. The department has also seen year-on-year growth of degree level apprenticeships with almost 196,000 starts since their introduction in 2014. The department is providing an additional £40 million over the next two years to support degree apprenticeship providers to expand and help more people access them.</p><p> </p><p>The apprenticeship levy has enabled the government to increase investment in the apprenticeships system in England, reaching £2.7 billion by the 2024/25 financial year. In the past two financial years, on average 98% of the English apprenticeship budget was spent showing strong demand by employers for high quality apprenticeships training. Large employers can use their levy contributions to fund apprenticeships in their own business, or they can transfer their funds to other businesses in their supply chain, sector or region. Funds that levy payers do not draw on are used to fund apprenticeship training in small and medium sized businesses which allows employers of all sizes to benefit from training apprentices.</p> answering member constituency Harlow answering member printed Robert Halfon question first answered 28/11/2023 13:05:02 answering member 3985 label Biography information for Robert Halfon
tabling member	4131 label Biography information for Jim Shannon

1669240

registered interest
date	10/11/2023
answering body	Department for Education
answering dept id	60
answering dept short name	Education
answering dept sort name	Education
hansard heading	Religion: Primary Education
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what plans her Department has to ensure a high standard of primary religious education training in (a) Initial Teacher Training and (b) early career teacher induction.
tabling member constituency	Strangford
tabling member printed	Jim Shannon
uin	1352
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 22/11/2023 answer text <p>Religious education (RE) is an essential part of a school’s curriculum and remains a compulsory subject in all state funded schools, including academies, to all pupils up to the age of 18. RE develops an individual’s knowledge and understanding of the religions and beliefs which form part of contemporary society, as well as serving to inform their own values and behaviour.</p><p>The department is offering a £10,000 bursary for RE trainee teachers starting Initial Teacher Training courses in the 2024/25 academic year. The department has published this information on the ‘Get Into Teaching’ website and will be marketing the offer to prospective teachers through other channels.</p><p>The mandatory Initial Teacher Training (ITT) Core Content Framework (CCF) sets out a core minimum entitlement for all trainees of what should be covered during their teacher training. While all ITT courses must encompass the CCF in full, it remains for accredited ITT providers to design their full course curricula in a way that is appropriate to the needs of trainees and for the subject, phase, and age range that the trainees will be teaching, which for some ITT courses, would include religious education training.</p><p>To be awarded Qualified Teacher Status, trainee teachers must demonstrate that they satisfy all of the Teaching Standards at the appropriate level, including Part Two of the standards, which requires all teachers to demonstrate consistently high standards of personal and professional behaviour.</p><p>The department has publicly committed to reviewing the ITT CCF and Early Career Framework (ECF) alongside each other. Building on lessons learned from the first few years of CCF implementation and ECF delivery, the department plans to revise the CCF and ECF into a more closely combined framework, or set of frameworks, which cover the first three years or more at the start of a teacher’s career articulating what trainee and new teachers need to know and need to know how to do.</p><p>This underpins a joined-up sequence of training and development over at least the first three years of new teachers’ careers to support them at the start of their new career. The department aims to ensure that what new teachers learn across these early years of their career delivers continuous, coherent and complementary learning for all trainees and new teachers, and provides the confidence and skills for a lifelong career in teaching.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p> answering member constituency East Hampshire answering member printed Damian Hinds grouped question UIN 1125 question first answered 22/11/2023 17:06:31 answering member 3969 label Biography information for Damian Hinds
tabling member	4131 label Biography information for Jim Shannon

1669241

registered interest
date	10/11/2023
answering body	Department for Education
answering dept id	60
answering dept short name	Education
answering dept sort name	Education
hansard heading	Religion: Education
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether her Department plans to take steps to fund network hubs for Religious Education; and if she will make a statement.
tabling member constituency	Strangford
tabling member printed	Jim Shannon
uin	1353
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 21/11/2023 answer text <p>Religious education (RE) is an essential part of a school’s curriculum and remains a compulsory subject in all state funded schools, including academies, to all pupils up to the age of 18. RE develops an individual’s knowledge and understanding of the religions and beliefs which form part of contemporary society, as well as serving to inform their own values and behaviour.</p><p>Although the Department has not been involved in the establishment of the RE Hubs project, the Department welcomes its work to support teachers and practitioners. The Department currently has no plans to provide funding for the project. The Department does, however, provide support for RE in other ways.</p><p>The Department is offering a £10,000 bursary for RE trainee teachers starting Initial Teacher Training courses in the 2024/25 academic year. The Department has published this information on the ‘Get Into Teaching’ website and will be marketing the offer to prospective teachers through other channels.</p><p>To ensure high standards of RE teaching, resources will be procured by Oak National Academy during the second tranche of its work. Oak will work closely with the sector and utilise sector experience when producing new materials for RE. This will ensure that high quality lessons are available nationwide, benefitting both teachers and pupils, should schools opt to use them.</p><p>To support high standards of RE teaching in all schools, the Department is continuing to offer eight week subject knowledge enhancement (SKE) courses in the 2023/24 academic year, for candidates who have the potential to become outstanding teacher but need to increase their subject knowledge. The eight week SKE course, available in RE, can be undertaken on a full time or part time basis, but must be completed before qualified teacher status can be recommended and awarded. Eligible candidates could be entitled to a SKE bursary of £175 per week to support them financially whilst completing their SKE course. More information on these courses is available at: <a href="https://www.gov.uk/guidance/subject-knowledge-enhancement-an-introduction" target="_blank">https://www.gov.uk/guidance/subject-knowledge-enhancement-an-introduction</a>.</p> answering member constituency East Hampshire answering member printed Damian Hinds question first answered 21/11/2023 14:46:13 answering member 3969 label Biography information for Damian Hinds
tabling member	4131 label Biography information for Jim Shannon

1669243

registered interest
date	10/11/2023
answering body	Department for Education
answering dept id	60
answering dept short name	Education
answering dept sort name	Education
hansard heading	Religion: Education
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether her Department is taking steps to ensure that regulations on the teaching of religious education are the same for individual academies and multi-academy trusts; and if she will make a statement.
tabling member constituency	Strangford
tabling member printed	Jim Shannon
uin	1354
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 21/11/2023 answer text <p>Religious education (RE) is an essential part of a school’s curriculum and remains a compulsory subject in all state funded schools in England, including academies, for all pupils up to the age of 18.</p><p>There are no regulations relating to teaching of RE. The statutory duty for maintained schools to teach the subject is set out in primary legislation. This requirement is mirrored in funding agreements for mainstream academies and multi-academy trusts.</p> answering member constituency East Hampshire answering member printed Damian Hinds question first answered 21/11/2023 14:58:12 answering member 3969 label Biography information for Damian Hinds
tabling member	4131 label Biography information for Jim Shannon

1662747

registered interest
date	13/10/2023
answering body	Department for Education
answering dept id	60
answering dept short name	Education
answering dept sort name	Education
hansard heading	Social Services: Children
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Education, with reference to the The National review into the murders of Arthur Labinjo-Hughes and Star Hobson, published 26 May 2022 and Independent review of children's social care: final report, published 23 May 2022, what progress her Department has made on implementing the recommendations of those reviews; and what discussions she has had with the devolved administrations on coordinating action in that area.
tabling member constituency	Strangford
tabling member printed	Jim Shannon
uin	200601
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 26/10/2023 answer text <p>It has not proved possible to respond to the hon. Member in the time available before Prorogation.</p> answering member constituency Wantage answering member printed David Johnston question first answered 26/10/2023 11:28:43 answering member 4761 label Biography information for David Johnston
tabling member	4131 label Biography information for Jim Shannon

1659540

registered interest
date	11/09/2023
answering body	Department for Education
answering dept id	60
answering dept short name	Education
answering dept sort name	Education
hansard heading	Universities: Admissions
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what recent discussions she has had with the higher education sector on the availability of university places for domestic students.
tabling member constituency	Strangford
tabling member printed	Jim Shannon
uin	198708
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 20/09/2023 answer text <p>The UK higher education (HE) system is amongst the best in the world. Attracting the brightest students internationally is good for our universities and delivers growth at home.</p><p>Domestic students continue to make up the vast majority of overall undergraduate students within UK universities. The proportion of international acceptances on results day this year was 12.3%, having been 14.7% at the same point in 2019.</p><p>This year on A level and T level Results Day, 186,710 English-domiciled 18-year-olds were accepted to HE providers in England compared to 162,680 in 2019.</p><p>Ensuring that everyone has the opportunity to access a world class education remains a top priority and is fundamental to the department’s ambition to level-up skills, growth, and economic opportunity across the country.</p><p>As autonomous bodies independent from the government, universities are responsible for their own recruitment decisions. Most universities have separate home and international student recruitment targets, set before the admissions cycle even begins. Universities plan their student numbers very carefully, not least because there are important implications for the provision of student support and wellbeing services, accommodation, and everything else needed to deliver the best student experience.</p><p>The department and I regularly engage with the HE sector to support policy making and delivery and did so throughout the 2023 cycle.</p><p>Most recently, on 7 September 2023, I attended the Universities UK annual conference and discussed how the government is supporting universities to maximise their immense economic and social impact. Key topics discussed included degree apprenticeships, the Lifelong Loan Entitlement and Horizon.</p> answering member constituency Harlow answering member printed Robert Halfon question first answered 20/09/2023 12:46:42 answering member 3985 label Biography information for Robert Halfon
tabling member	4131 label Biography information for Jim Shannon

1658547

registered interest
date	06/09/2023
answering body	Department for Education
answering dept id	60
answering dept short name	Education
answering dept sort name	Education
hansard heading	Teachers: Sick Leave and Vacancies
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps she is taking to reduce (a) permanent vacancies and (b) sickness absences among teachers.
tabling member constituency	Strangford
tabling member printed	Jim Shannon
uin	198045
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 15/09/2023 answer text <p>Education is a devolved matter, and this response outlines relevant information for England only.</p><p> </p><p>Recent data shows that there are now over 468,000 full time equivalent (FTE) teachers in state funded schools in England, which is an increase of 27,000 (6%) since 2010. This makes it the highest number of FTE teachers on record since the School Workforce Census began in 2010.</p><p> </p><p>The Department is taking action to increase teacher recruitment and retention and reduce vacancies. The Department accepted, in full, the School Teachers’ Review Body’s recommendations for the 2023/24 pay award for teachers and head teachers, resulting in a pay award of 6.5%. This is the highest pay award for teachers in over thirty years. The Department has put in place tax free bursaries worth £27,000 and tax free scholarships worth £29,000 , to encourage talented trainees in key subjects such as mathematics, physics, chemistry and computing to apply to teacher training.</p><p> </p><p>Additionally, the Department supports schools and trusts with their recruitment through Teaching Vacancies. The Department’s free vacancy listing service for state funded schools in England can be found here: <a href="https://teaching-vacancies.service.gov.uk/" target="_blank">https://teaching-vacancies.service.gov.uk/</a>.</p><p> </p><p>Staff wellbeing is a crucial element of our commitment to recruit and retain more teachers. The Department has published a range of resources to help schools address teacher workload issues, prioritise staff wellbeing and support schools to introduce flexible working practices.</p><p> </p><p>The Department has worked in partnership with the education sector and mental health experts to develop the Education Staff Wellbeing Charter which can be found here: <a href="https://www.gov.uk/guidance/education-staff-wellbeing-charter" target="_blank">https://www.gov.uk/guidance/education-staff-wellbeing-charter</a>. Building on a successful pilot, the Department is also funding the charity, Education Support, to provide professional supervision and counselling to school and college head teachers . Over 1000 head teachers have benefitted from this support so far and the Department recently announced the expansion of the programme, by doubling places for this year. School and college leaders can find support by visiting Education Support's website, which is available at: <a href="https://www.educationsupport.org.uk/get-help/help-for-your-staff/wellbeing-services/school-and-fe-leaders-service/" target="_blank">https://www.educationsupport.org.uk/get-help/help-for-your-staff/wellbeing-services/school-and-fe-leaders-service/</a>.</p><p> </p><p>The Department does not provide guidance on teachers’ sick leave. For most teachers, sick leave entitlements are set out in the Burgundy Book national agreement. This is an agreement on conditions of service between Unions and Local Authorities, facilitated by the Local Government Association, which the Department has no jurisdiction or input into. The vast majority of Local Authorities follow the terms of the Burgundy Book scheme, which is incorporated into their teachers’ contracts of employment.</p><p> </p><p>All schools must ensure that they oversee the health and welfare of their staff and should have a clear sickness absence management policy. Governing bodies may find it helpful to refer to Acas’s Managing Absence guidance, available at: <a href="https://www.acas.org.uk/creating-absence-policies" target="_blank">https://www.acas.org.uk/creating-absence-policies</a>.</p><p> </p><p>The Health and Safety Executive also provides extensive advice on managing sickness absence and returning to work, which includes a toolkit to help with absence management, which can be found here: <a href="https://www.hse.gov.uk/sicknessabsence/" target="_blank">https://www.hse.gov.uk/sicknessabsence/</a>.</p> answering member constituency Bognor Regis and Littlehampton answering member printed Nick Gibb question first answered 15/09/2023 13:14:49 answering member 111 label Biography information for Nick Gibb
tabling member	4131 label Biography information for Jim Shannon

1658112

registered interest
date	05/09/2023
answering body	Department for Education
answering dept id	60
answering dept short name	Education
answering dept sort name	Education
hansard heading	Universities: Antisemitism and Iran
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what recent discussions her Department has had with student bodies on tackling (a) anti-Semitic and (b) pro-Iranian messaging in universities.
tabling member constituency	Strangford
tabling member printed	Jim Shannon
uin	197782
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 13/09/2023 answer text <p>The government is clear that antisemitism is abhorrent and has no place in higher education (HE), and our universities should be welcoming and inclusive environments.</p><p>HE providers have clear responsibilities under the Equality Act 2010, to adopt robust policies and procedures that enable them to investigate and swiftly address reports of antisemitism. The Prevent duty requires relevant HE bodies, when exercising their functions, to have due regard to the need to prevent people from being drawn into terrorism.</p><p>Department officials meet regularly with the Union of Jewish Students to discuss our collective efforts in the ongoing fight against antisemitism on university campuses.</p><p> </p> answering member constituency Harlow answering member printed Robert Halfon question first answered 13/09/2023 16:31:06 answering member 3985 label Biography information for Robert Halfon
tabling member	4131 label Biography information for Jim Shannon