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1147932

	registered interest
	date	02/10/2019
	answering body	Department for Education
	answering dept id	60
	answering dept short name	Education
	answering dept sort name	Education
	hansard heading	Children: Communication Skills and Literacy
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what plans he has to tackle the word gap among pupils in (a) primary schools and (b) secondary schools.
	tabling member constituency	Swansea West
	tabling member printed	Geraint Davies
	uin	293417
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 08/10/2019 answer text <p>28% of children finish their reception year still without the early communication, language and literacy skills they need to thrive. The Department has set out an ambition to halve this figure by 2028. This is why the Department has launched ‘Hungry Little Minds’, a new three-year campaign to help parents support their child’s early language development. This builds on our wider early-years social mobility programme, where the Department is investing over £100 million.</p><p> </p><p>The Department is committed to continuing this support once children reach primary school, which is why one of the three aims of the £26.3 million English Hubs Programme is early language development. 34 primary schools have been appointed as English hubs to support nearly 3000 schools across England to improve educational outcomes for the most disadvantaged children in reception and Key Stage 1.</p><p> </p><p>The Department introduced a new curriculum for primary and secondary schools from 2014. The new curriculum for English increases the level of demand from an early age and aims to ensure that all pupils acquire a wide vocabulary, a good understanding of grammar, and proper knowledge of linguistic conventions for reading, writing and written language. <strong><br> <br> </strong></p> answering member constituency Bognor Regis and Littlehampton answering member printed Nick Gibb question first answered 08/10/2019 14:12:58 answering member 111 label Biography information for Nick Gibb
	tabling member	155 label Biography information for Geraint Davies

1140360

	registered interest
	date	18/07/2019
	answering body	Department for Education
	answering dept id	60
	answering dept short name	Education
	answering dept sort name	Education
	hansard heading	Schools: Admissions
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what recent steps he has taken to widen access to the highest performing schools in England and Wales.
	tabling member constituency	Newcastle-under-Lyme
	tabling member printed	Paul Farrelly
	uin	278923
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 23/07/2019 answer text <p>86% of schools in England are good or outstanding.</p><p>The Department has committed £7 billion to create new school places between 2015 and 2021, the vast majority of which are being created in the best existing schools or through good new schools. The Department is on track to create 1 million places this decade, the largest increase in school capacity in at least two generations.</p><p>Of the mainstream free schools approved between 2014 and 2017, 86% have been in areas where there was a need for more school places. 84% of free schools with inspection reports published by the end of May are rated good or outstanding.</p><p> </p><p>98% of grammar schools are also good or outstanding and the Department wants more disadvantaged pupils to be able to access a place at them. That is why it has made £100 million available through the Selective Schools Expansion Fund to create additional places, where needed, in selective schools that commit to a plan to improve access for disadvantaged children. In 2018 the Department announced 16 selective schools to be funded to expand, and it launched a second bidding round in 2019.</p><p>Education is a devolved matter and it is for the Welsh national assembly to decide on education in Wales.</p><p> </p> answering member constituency Bognor Regis and Littlehampton answering member printed Nick Gibb question first answered 23/07/2019 15:45:06 answering member 111 label Biography information for Nick Gibb
	tabling member	1436 label Biography information for Paul Farrelly

1140916

	registered interest
	date	22/07/2019
	answering body	Department for Education
	answering dept id	60
	answering dept short name	Education
	answering dept sort name	Education
	hansard heading	Pupils: Literacy
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if he will increase the time available for pupils sitting the Key Stage 2 reading assessment to reflect the increase in the number of words included in that test since 2014.
	tabling member constituency	Washington and Sunderland West
	tabling member printed	Mrs Sharon Hodgson
	uin	280189
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 30/07/2019 answer text <p>A new curriculum was introduced in 2014. Tests reflecting that curriculum were introduced in 2016. Since then the time allowed for the Key Stage 2 reading assessment has not changed. The test framework for the English reading test places a limit on the number of words that can be included in the texts and this limit has not been breached.</p><p>Assessments go through a rigorous test development process lasting three years. Thorough trialling of the materials, with the texts in the combinations they will appear in a final test, allows test developers to ensure the reading booklets are suitable and that the standard is maintained.</p> answering member constituency Bognor Regis and Littlehampton answering member printed Nick Gibb question first answered 30/07/2019 15:16:45 answering member 111 label Biography information for Nick Gibb
	tabling member	1521 label Biography information for Mrs Sharon Hodgson

1166765

	registered interest
	date	28/10/2019
	answering body	Department for Education
	answering dept id	60
	answering dept short name	Education
	answering dept sort name	Education
	hansard heading	Academies: Pay
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps the Government is taking to reduce the salaries of executives of academy schools earning more than £150,000 a year.
	tabling member constituency	Coventry South
	tabling member printed	Mr Jim Cunningham
	uin	6189
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 31/10/2019 answer text <p>Academy trusts must exercise effective control over the use of public funding. That is why the Department has taken sustained action over the last two years to ensure executive pay is proportionate and justifiable.</p><p>Academy trusts are free to set their own salaries. Therefore, our challenge, and the consideration of the justification of any high executive salaries, takes into account factors including: educational performance, financial performance, the strength of the trust’s governance and the number of pupils being educated by the trust.</p><p>To date, the Department has challenged 278 academy trusts, both those paying a salary over £150,000 and those paying two or more over £100,000. The names of all these trusts are available on GOV.UK, along with guidance on the setting of executive pay. Since the Department commenced the challenge, 51 trusts have reduced salaries.</p><p>Most recently, the Department has strengthened the criteria for next year’s Condition Improvement Fund, which will incentivise academies and trusts to improve finances and governance. Bids will be assessed on a points based criteria and applicants outside of London will get a four-point deduction (a one-point deduction for trusts and academies in the greater London area) if they pay one salary over £150,000 or two or more salaries in excess of £100,000 and have failed to take appropriate action in response to our high pay challenge.</p> answering member constituency Bognor Regis and Littlehampton answering member printed Nick Gibb question first answered 31/10/2019 15:57:31 answering member 111 label Biography information for Nick Gibb
	tabling member	308 label Biography information for Mr Jim Cunningham

1146818

	registered interest
	date	27/09/2019
	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, what the implications for his Department's policies are of the finding by the Children's Commissioner for England in her report, Growing Up North, published in March 2018, that pupils from London who have had free school meals are twice as likely to go to university than equivalent children in the north.
	tabling member constituency	Houghton and Sunderland South
	tabling member printed	Bridget Phillipson
	uin	291571
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 02/10/2019 answer text <p>Against a background of rising standards, disadvantaged pupils in schools are catching up with their peers as since 2011, the attainment gap in England has narrowed by 9.5% at age 16 and 13.2% at age 11. Our reforms and the extra funding provided through the pupil premium have contributed to this success.</p><p>This year, schools in the North of England are receiving £787 million in additional funding through the pupil premium to improve the outcomes of their disadvantaged pupils. The Department has made available a wide range of resources to help schools make the greatest possible impact with their pupil premium grant.</p><p>The Department is investing £72 million in the 12 Opportunity Areas to tackle barriers preventing children and young people from achieving their potential. This is at the heart of our work to learn what works best in areas with entrenched social mobility barriers so we can roll out successful approaches across the country. Five of the areas targeted are in the North of England (Blackpool, Oldham, Bradford, Doncaster, and the North Yorkshire Coast) and in addition we have Opportunity North East. The Department is investing over £70 million to boost educational outcomes in the North, including through the Northern Powerhouse Schools Strategy.</p><p> </p><p>Widening access and participation in higher education (HE) is a priority. Everyone with the ability to succeed in HE should have the opportunity to participate, regardless of their background or where they grew up.</p><p>The Department has made real progress in ensuring universities are open to all. However, we are aware that more needs to be done to ensure that background isn’t a barrier to realising potential in HE.</p><p>In our latest guidance to the Office for Students on access and participation, we asked them to secure greater, faster progress, particularly at the most selective institutions, through Access and Participation Plans. Through these plans, universities set out what activities they intend to take to ensure students from disadvantaged backgrounds or under-represented groups can access, participate, succeed and progress from HE.</p> answering member constituency Bognor Regis and Littlehampton answering member printed Nick Gibb grouped question UIN 291572 question first answered 02/10/2019 16:04:22 answering member 111 label Biography information for Nick Gibb
	tabling member	4046 label Biography information for Bridget Phillipson

1146819

	registered interest
	date	27/09/2019
	answering body	Department for Education
	answering dept id	60
	answering dept short name	Education
	answering dept sort name	Education
	hansard heading	Pupils: Disadvantaged
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what the implications for his Department's policies are of the finding by the Northern Powerhouse Project in its 2018 report, Educating the North, that disadvantaged pupils in the north achieve attainment levels 1.3 percentage points less than the national disadvantaged average and 6.5 percentage points less than their disadvantaged peers in London.
	tabling member constituency	Houghton and Sunderland South
	tabling member printed	Bridget Phillipson
	uin	291572
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 02/10/2019 answer text <p>Against a background of rising standards, disadvantaged pupils in schools are catching up with their peers as since 2011, the attainment gap in England has narrowed by 9.5% at age 16 and 13.2% at age 11. Our reforms and the extra funding provided through the pupil premium have contributed to this success.</p><p>This year, schools in the North of England are receiving £787 million in additional funding through the pupil premium to improve the outcomes of their disadvantaged pupils. The Department has made available a wide range of resources to help schools make the greatest possible impact with their pupil premium grant.</p><p>The Department is investing £72 million in the 12 Opportunity Areas to tackle barriers preventing children and young people from achieving their potential. This is at the heart of our work to learn what works best in areas with entrenched social mobility barriers so we can roll out successful approaches across the country. Five of the areas targeted are in the North of England (Blackpool, Oldham, Bradford, Doncaster, and the North Yorkshire Coast) and in addition we have Opportunity North East. The Department is investing over £70 million to boost educational outcomes in the North, including through the Northern Powerhouse Schools Strategy.</p><p> </p><p>Widening access and participation in higher education (HE) is a priority. Everyone with the ability to succeed in HE should have the opportunity to participate, regardless of their background or where they grew up.</p><p>The Department has made real progress in ensuring universities are open to all. However, we are aware that more needs to be done to ensure that background isn’t a barrier to realising potential in HE.</p><p>In our latest guidance to the Office for Students on access and participation, we asked them to secure greater, faster progress, particularly at the most selective institutions, through Access and Participation Plans. Through these plans, universities set out what activities they intend to take to ensure students from disadvantaged backgrounds or under-represented groups can access, participate, succeed and progress from HE.</p> answering member constituency Bognor Regis and Littlehampton answering member printed Nick Gibb grouped question UIN 291571 question first answered 02/10/2019 16:04:23 answering member 111 label Biography information for Nick Gibb
	tabling member	4046 label Biography information for Bridget Phillipson

1140382

	registered interest
	date	18/07/2019
	answering body	Department for Education
	answering dept id	60
	answering dept short name	Education
	answering dept sort name	Education
	hansard heading	Pupils: Absenteeism
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps he has taken to reduce rates of absence among pupils that are (a) eligible free school meals, (b) have special educational needs and (c) are of the Irish Heritage and Gypsy/Roma ethnic groups in each London Borough.
	tabling member constituency	Feltham and Heston
	tabling member printed	Seema Malhotra
	uin	279037
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 24/07/2019 answer text <p>All children of compulsory school age, regardless of their circumstances, are entitled to a full-time education which is suitable to their age, ability, aptitude and any special educational needs they may have. All parents have a legal duty to ensure that if their child is of compulsory school age that they receive a full time education, either by attendance at school or otherwise.</p><p>Schools should continually monitor pupils’ absence. If a child’s absence reaches a level of concern, the school should raise this with the parents and the local authority in the best interest of the child’s education. School and local authorities should consider the individual circumstances of each case and take the appropriate course of action to ensure the child receives consistent education. This can include the use a range of parental responsibility measures to provide support or sanctions to parents when their child’s attendance at school becomes a problem.</p><p>Schools also receive pupil premium funding to support pupils who have been registered for free school meals at any point in the last six years, and have the flexibility to use it to improve attendance if this is deemed a priority.</p><p> </p><p>The Department wants all children and young people, regardless of special educational need or disability, to receive the right support to succeed in their education. and as they move into adult life. In 2014, the Department introduced significant reforms to enable schools to put the right support in place for those pupils so that they can attend school.</p><p>The Department has established a new Gypsy, Roma and Traveller (GRT) stakeholder group, chaired by the noble Baroness Whitaker. This group aims to ensure that any efforts to improve the school system take into account GRT pupils’ needs.</p> answering member constituency Bognor Regis and Littlehampton answering member printed Nick Gibb question first answered 24/07/2019 11:25:01 answering member 111 label Biography information for Nick Gibb
	tabling member	4253 label Biography information for Seema Malhotra

1166719

	registered interest
	date	28/10/2019
	answering body	Department for Education
	answering dept id	60
	answering dept short name	Education
	answering dept sort name	Education
	hansard heading	Schools: Discipline
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps his Department is taking to limit the use of isolation booths in schools.
	tabling member constituency	Newcastle-under-Lyme
	tabling member printed	Paul Farrelly
	uin	6248
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 31/10/2019 answer text <p>All schools are required by law to have a behaviour policy which outlines measures to encourage good behaviour and prevent all forms of bullying amongst pupils. The school’s behaviour policy should set out the behaviour expected of pupils, the sanctions that will be imposed for misbehaviour, and rewards for good behaviour. This should be communicated to all pupils, school staff, and parents.</p><p>To help schools develop effective strategies, the Department has produced advice for schools which covers what should be included in the behaviour policy. This advice can be viewed here:</p><p><a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/behaviour-and-discipline-in-schools" target="_blank">https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/behaviour-and-discipline-in-schools</a>.</p><p>Existing guidance makes clear that schools can adopt a policy which allows disruptive pupils to be placed in isolation away from other pupils for a limited period. If a school uses isolation rooms as a disciplinary penalty, this should be made clear in their behaviour policy. As with other disciplinary penalties, schools must act lawfully, reasonably and proportionately in all cases. The school must also ensure the health and safety of pupils.</p><p>It is for individual schools to decide how long a particular pupil should be kept in isolation and for the staff member in charge to determine what pupils may and may not do during the time they are there. Schools should ensure that pupils are kept in isolation no longer than is necessary and their time spent there is used as constructively as possible. Schools must allow pupils time to eat or use the toilet.</p><p>The Department has made no recent assessment of trends in the level of the use of isolation booths in schools, and has no plans to collect national data on their use.</p> answering member constituency Bognor Regis and Littlehampton answering member printed Nick Gibb grouped question UIN 6249 6250 question first answered 31/10/2019 16:23:42 answering member 111 label Biography information for Nick Gibb
	tabling member	1436 label Biography information for Paul Farrelly

1166721

	registered interest
	date	28/10/2019
	answering body	Department for Education
	answering dept id	60
	answering dept short name	Education
	answering dept sort name	Education
	hansard heading	Schools: Discipline
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether his Department plans to collect information on the use of isolation booths by schools.
	tabling member constituency	Newcastle-under-Lyme
	tabling member printed	Paul Farrelly
	uin	6249
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 31/10/2019 answer text <p>All schools are required by law to have a behaviour policy which outlines measures to encourage good behaviour and prevent all forms of bullying amongst pupils. The school’s behaviour policy should set out the behaviour expected of pupils, the sanctions that will be imposed for misbehaviour, and rewards for good behaviour. This should be communicated to all pupils, school staff, and parents.</p><p>To help schools develop effective strategies, the Department has produced advice for schools which covers what should be included in the behaviour policy. This advice can be viewed here:</p><p><a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/behaviour-and-discipline-in-schools" target="_blank">https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/behaviour-and-discipline-in-schools</a>.</p><p>Existing guidance makes clear that schools can adopt a policy which allows disruptive pupils to be placed in isolation away from other pupils for a limited period. If a school uses isolation rooms as a disciplinary penalty, this should be made clear in their behaviour policy. As with other disciplinary penalties, schools must act lawfully, reasonably and proportionately in all cases. The school must also ensure the health and safety of pupils.</p><p>It is for individual schools to decide how long a particular pupil should be kept in isolation and for the staff member in charge to determine what pupils may and may not do during the time they are there. Schools should ensure that pupils are kept in isolation no longer than is necessary and their time spent there is used as constructively as possible. Schools must allow pupils time to eat or use the toilet.</p><p>The Department has made no recent assessment of trends in the level of the use of isolation booths in schools, and has no plans to collect national data on their use.</p> answering member constituency Bognor Regis and Littlehampton answering member printed Nick Gibb grouped question UIN 6248 6250 question first answered 31/10/2019 16:23:42 answering member 111 label Biography information for Nick Gibb
	tabling member	1436 label Biography information for Paul Farrelly

1166723

	registered interest
	date	28/10/2019
	answering body	Department for Education
	answering dept id	60
	answering dept short name	Education
	answering dept sort name	Education
	hansard heading	Schools: Discipline
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment he has made of trends in the level of the use of isolation booths in schools in each of the last five years.
	tabling member constituency	Newcastle-under-Lyme
	tabling member printed	Paul Farrelly
	uin	6250
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 31/10/2019 answer text <p>All schools are required by law to have a behaviour policy which outlines measures to encourage good behaviour and prevent all forms of bullying amongst pupils. The school’s behaviour policy should set out the behaviour expected of pupils, the sanctions that will be imposed for misbehaviour, and rewards for good behaviour. This should be communicated to all pupils, school staff, and parents.</p><p>To help schools develop effective strategies, the Department has produced advice for schools which covers what should be included in the behaviour policy. This advice can be viewed here:</p><p><a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/behaviour-and-discipline-in-schools" target="_blank">https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/behaviour-and-discipline-in-schools</a>.</p><p>Existing guidance makes clear that schools can adopt a policy which allows disruptive pupils to be placed in isolation away from other pupils for a limited period. If a school uses isolation rooms as a disciplinary penalty, this should be made clear in their behaviour policy. As with other disciplinary penalties, schools must act lawfully, reasonably and proportionately in all cases. The school must also ensure the health and safety of pupils.</p><p>It is for individual schools to decide how long a particular pupil should be kept in isolation and for the staff member in charge to determine what pupils may and may not do during the time they are there. Schools should ensure that pupils are kept in isolation no longer than is necessary and their time spent there is used as constructively as possible. Schools must allow pupils time to eat or use the toilet.</p><p>The Department has made no recent assessment of trends in the level of the use of isolation booths in schools, and has no plans to collect national data on their use.</p> answering member constituency Bognor Regis and Littlehampton answering member printed Nick Gibb grouped question UIN 6248 6249 question first answered 31/10/2019 16:23:43 answering member 111 label Biography information for Nick Gibb
	tabling member	1436 label Biography information for Paul Farrelly