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882608

	registered interest
	date	13/04/2018
	answering body	Department for Education
	answering dept id	60
	answering dept short name	Education
	answering dept sort name	Education
	hansard heading	Academies: Standards
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps his Department has taken to improve the scrutiny of (a) finances and (b) academic performance at academies as a result of the collapse of the Wakefield City Academy Trust.
	tabling member constituency	Bradford East
	tabling member printed	Imran Hussain
	uin	135670
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 23/04/2018 answer text <p>The department continually reviews and improve systems and processes to oversee academies. We have strengthened our processes for monitoring the overall performance of MATs and ensuring growth is sustainable and delivers improvement. We have also improved support available, for example, through funding professional development programmes for MAT trustees[1] and funding Academy Ambassadors to match high calibre business leaders with academy trusts. Academy Ambassadors work closely with academy trusts and Regional Schools Commissioners to identify trust boards where additional business expertise would improve the governance of the trust and any skills or background that would be particularly desirable in light of the opportunities and challenges the trust is facing.</p><p> </p><p>The department has a robust system of financial accountability. Processes are founded on a clear framework communicated and regulated by the Education Skills and Funding Agency (ESFA), with effective oversight and compliance based on proportionate risk assessment, and robust intervention when things go wrong. ESFA scrutinises a broad range of academy trust data and intelligence to identify risk, including audited accounts and a number of annual financial returns.</p><p> </p><p>All academy trusts must publish details of their financial performance in annual accounts. To ensure strong external scrutiny, all academy trusts must have an annual external audit of their annual accounts by a registered statutory auditor and the department expect trusts to act on audit findings as an opportunity to strengthen their systems. The ESFA’s focus is much broader than intervention, working with the sector to continue building capacity and expertise in financial management and forecasting. To reinforce the importance of three year financial planning the ESFA are further strengthening budget forecasting, the ESFA CEO Eileen Milner wrote to academy trusts in March 2018 setting out the requirement for all academy trusts to submit three-year financial forecasts.</p><p> </p><p>Where concerns arise, ESFA works with trusts to prevent financial instability and enable them to recover their financial position and return to stable governance. Intervention is always proportionate, risk-based, and linked to non-compliance with requirements set out in the Academies Financial Handbook and academies’ funding agreements. The sector remains in a stable position, with just over 1% of academy trusts subject to an active Financial Notice to Improve.</p><p> </p><p>We constantly keep under review the financial control and reporting framework for academies and introduce any necessary enhancements through the Academies Financial Handbook and the Academies Accounts Direction, both of which are re-issued on an annual basis.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p>[1] https://www.gov.uk/guidance/school-governors-professional-development</p> answering member constituency Stratford-on-Avon answering member printed Nadhim Zahawi question first answered 23/04/2018 16:55:36 answering member 4113 label Biography information for Nadhim Zahawi
	tabling member	4394 label Biography information for Imran Hussain

816832

	registered interest
	date	05/01/2018
	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 steps her Department is taking to increase the number of children receiving free school meals who are entitled to them.
	tabling member constituency	Bradford East
	tabling member printed	Imran Hussain
	uin	121259
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 15/01/2018 answer text <p>We recognise the benefits of providing a healthy school meal to the most disadvantaged children and we want to make sure that as many eligible children as possible are claiming their free school meals.</p><p><br> Schools and local authorities have worked hard in recent years to encourage eligible families to register for free school meals, and we provide schools with a model registration form and guidance. We will continue to look at the most effective practice and to share this with schools and local authorities.</p> answering member constituency Stratford-on-Avon answering member printed Nadhim Zahawi question first answered 15/01/2018 17:28:50 answering member 4113 label Biography information for Nadhim Zahawi
	tabling member	4394 label Biography information for Imran Hussain

932220

	registered interest
	date	28/06/2018
	answering body	Department for Education
	answering dept id	60
	answering dept short name	Education
	answering dept sort name	Education
	hansard heading	Schools: North of England
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how much money allocated to the Northern Powerhouse schools strategy has been spent (a) in total, (b) in Bradford and (c) on teacher recruitment.
	tabling member constituency	Bradford East
	tabling member printed	Imran Hussain
	uin	158762
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 03/07/2018 answer text <p>In answer to part (a) how much money has been spent in total and part (c) how much money has been spent on teacher recruitment, I refer the hon. Member for Bradford East, to the answer I gave on 11 June 2018 to Question 140739 <a href="https://www.parliament.uk/business/publications/written-questions-answers-statements/written-question/Commons/2018-05-02/140739/" target="_blank">https://www.parliament.uk/business/publications/written-questions-answers-statements/written-question/Commons/2018-05-02/140739/</a>.</p><p>This sets out how the government has spent or committed more than £70 million to support educational improvement in the North, including on teacher recruitment.</p><p>In answer to part (b), we are not able to provide a total figure for Bradford as some funding, such as funding to grow the capacity of multi-academy trusts, is spent or allocated to support schools across more than one local authority. Some examples of how the Department is supporting Bradford schools are set out below:</p><ul><li>We are supporting teacher recruitment and providing tailored support to some of the schools facing significant recruitment and retention issues. We have already started to support a number of schools in Bradford and will increase that support over the next two years through the tailored support programme.</li><li>We are also investing in Bradford’s teachers through the Opportunity Area (OA). Bradford4Teaching is the city’s innovative campaign to attract the best teachers to live, work and build a career in Bradford. The campaign was developed and has been delivered in partnership by Bradford Council and the Northern Lights Teaching School Alliance. Through the OA programme, we are committed to invest at least £250,000 to extend the campaign. The Department is also committing an additional £1.5 million to support school improvement in Bradford’s most challenging schools through the OA programme. In total, as part of the OA programme, we are spending £72 million across 12 areas of the country facing challenges and Bradford will benefit from a share of that.</li><li>The regional academy growth fund supports successful trusts to grow and to improve standards in underperforming schools. Schools in Bradford that are underperforming have already benefited from this funding.</li><li>Through the Strategic School Improvement Fund, five applicants are supporting a total of 43 schools in Bradford. Two of the five applicants are exclusively supporting 31 Bradford schools and have been awarded funding totalling £807,970. The remaining three applications are supporting a total of 78 schools at a cost of £809,157. 12 of these schools are located in Bradford but it is not possible to isolate spend for the Bradford schools.</li></ul> answering member constituency Stratford-on-Avon answering member printed Nadhim Zahawi question first answered 03/07/2018 16:13:07 answering member 4113 label Biography information for Nadhim Zahawi
	tabling member	4394 label Biography information for Imran Hussain

932221

	registered interest
	date	28/06/2018
	answering body	Department for Education
	answering dept id	60
	answering dept short name	Education
	answering dept sort name	Education
	hansard heading	Teachers: North of England
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many people in the regions covered by the Northern Powerhouse schools strategy have (a) joined and (b) left the teaching profession since November 2017.
	tabling member constituency	Bradford East
	tabling member printed	Imran Hussain
	uin	158763
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 03/07/2018 answer text <p>Data for the period since 2017 is not available. Data for the period November 2017 to November 2018 will be collected later this year and published in 2019.</p><p>Information on the entrants and leavers is not available by region.</p> answering member constituency Stratford-on-Avon answering member printed Nadhim Zahawi question first answered 03/07/2018 16:07:42 answering member 4113 label Biography information for Nadhim Zahawi
	tabling member	4394 label Biography information for Imran Hussain

843810

	registered interest
	date	19/02/2018
	answering body	Department for Education
	answering dept id	60
	answering dept short name	Education
	answering dept sort name	Education
	hansard heading	Wakefield City Academies Trust
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what information his Department holds on the amount of funding removed from individual school budgets by the Wakefield City Academy Trust.
	tabling member constituency	Bradford East
	tabling member printed	Imran Hussain
	uin	128248
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 27/02/2018 answer text <p>Wakefield City Academies Trust is taking a trust-wide perspective of its finances, which many academy trusts do. The department is working to ensure all 21 academies transfer to incoming trusts in a way that secures the financial future for each school and the education of their pupils. All 21 academies will transfer to their new trusts with a balanced budget position, enabling incoming trusts to give each school a fresh start. To support this, the department is providing appropriate funding to the incoming trusts to improve pupil outcomes. The academies will be moving to a much more financially secure environment, and will be receiving excellent support from trusts with proven track records.</p> answering member constituency Stratford-on-Avon answering member printed Nadhim Zahawi grouped question UIN 128249 128250 question first answered 27/02/2018 16:19:17 answering member 4113 label Biography information for Nadhim Zahawi
	tabling member	4394 label Biography information for Imran Hussain

843811

	registered interest
	date	19/02/2018
	answering body	Department for Education
	answering dept id	60
	answering dept short name	Education
	answering dept sort name	Education
	hansard heading	Wakefield City Academies Trust
	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 provide additional funding to Trusts which are taking over schools from the Wakefield City Academy Trust.
	tabling member constituency	Bradford East
	tabling member printed	Imran Hussain
	uin	128249
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 27/02/2018 answer text <p>Wakefield City Academies Trust is taking a trust-wide perspective of its finances, which many academy trusts do. The department is working to ensure all 21 academies transfer to incoming trusts in a way that secures the financial future for each school and the education of their pupils. All 21 academies will transfer to their new trusts with a balanced budget position, enabling incoming trusts to give each school a fresh start. To support this, the department is providing appropriate funding to the incoming trusts to improve pupil outcomes. The academies will be moving to a much more financially secure environment, and will be receiving excellent support from trusts with proven track records.</p> answering member constituency Stratford-on-Avon answering member printed Nadhim Zahawi grouped question UIN 128248 128250 question first answered 27/02/2018 16:19:17 answering member 4113 label Biography information for Nadhim Zahawi
	tabling member	4394 label Biography information for Imran Hussain

843812

	registered interest
	date	19/02/2018
	answering body	Department for Education
	answering dept id	60
	answering dept short name	Education
	answering dept sort name	Education
	hansard heading	Wakefield City Academies Trust
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether funding removed from individual school budgets by Wakefield City Academy Trust will be reimbursed.
	tabling member constituency	Bradford East
	tabling member printed	Imran Hussain
	uin	128250
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 27/02/2018 answer text <p>Wakefield City Academies Trust is taking a trust-wide perspective of its finances, which many academy trusts do. The department is working to ensure all 21 academies transfer to incoming trusts in a way that secures the financial future for each school and the education of their pupils. All 21 academies will transfer to their new trusts with a balanced budget position, enabling incoming trusts to give each school a fresh start. To support this, the department is providing appropriate funding to the incoming trusts to improve pupil outcomes. The academies will be moving to a much more financially secure environment, and will be receiving excellent support from trusts with proven track records.</p> answering member constituency Stratford-on-Avon answering member printed Nadhim Zahawi grouped question UIN 128248 128249 question first answered 27/02/2018 16:19:17 answering member 4113 label Biography information for Nadhim Zahawi
	tabling member	4394 label Biography information for Imran Hussain

862026

	registered interest
	date	14/03/2018
	answering body	Department for Education
	answering dept id	60
	answering dept short name	Education
	answering dept sort name	Education
	hansard heading	Wakefield City Academies Trust
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Education, pursuant to the Answer of 30 November 2017 to Question 116798, when he plans to publish the Education Funding Agency reports on Wakefield City Academy Trust; and if he will make a statement.
	tabling member constituency	Bradford East
	tabling member printed	Imran Hussain
	uin	132445
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 23/03/2018 answer text <p>Once all of the academies currently part of Wakefield City Academies Trust are transferred to new trusts, a copy of the report of the multi-academy trust review carried out by the Education and Skills Funding Agency in 2016, will be placed in Libraries of both Houses.</p> answering member constituency Stratford-on-Avon answering member printed Nadhim Zahawi question first answered 23/03/2018 10:04:04 answering member 4113 label Biography information for Nadhim Zahawi
	tabling member	4394 label Biography information for Imran Hussain

882605

	registered interest
	date	13/04/2018
	answering body	Department for Education
	answering dept id	60
	answering dept short name	Education
	answering dept sort name	Education
	hansard heading	Wakefield City Academies Trust
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Education, when his Department was notified of concerns about the financial stability of the Wakefield City Academy Trust by the Schools Commissioner.
	tabling member constituency	Bradford East
	tabling member printed	Imran Hussain
	uin	135667
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 23/04/2018 answer text <p>Following a disappointing set of results in 2016, where 17 of its 21 academies were below average, and with four of its academies judged inadequate by Ofsted, Regional Schools Commissioners (RSCs) became particularly concerned about schools in the Wakefield City Academies Trust (WCAT).</p><p> </p><p>The Trust Board recognised that it did not have the capacity within the Trust and its academies to bring about the rapid, sustainable school improvement which many of its schools needed, and passed a resolution to ask the department to re-broker all of its schools to new trusts that did have capacity. The decision to re-broker all 21 schools and close WCAT was based on concerns regarding the disappointing educational performance of 17 of its 21 academies, and not on financial management of the trust.</p><p> </p><p>RSCs are embedded in the Department for Education so there is not an inherent time lag between concerns being identified and RSCs and the wider department taking appropriate action.</p> answering member constituency Stratford-on-Avon answering member printed Nadhim Zahawi question first answered 23/04/2018 16:51:17 answering member 4113 label Biography information for Nadhim Zahawi
	tabling member	4394 label Biography information for Imran Hussain

882603

	registered interest
	date	13/04/2018
	answering body	Department for Education
	answering dept id	60
	answering dept short name	Education
	answering dept sort name	Education
	hansard heading	Wakefield City Academies Trust: Assets
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what the value of assets transferred was from each school under the control of the Wakefield City Academy Trust in each year that the Trust was responsible for the running of those schools.
	tabling member constituency	Bradford East
	tabling member printed	Imran Hussain
	uin	135665
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 23/04/2018 answer text <p>In line with its Funding Agreement, Wakefield City Academies Trust (WCAT) is taking a trust-wide perspective of its finances. The department has looked at the allegations of assets being moved inappropriately from WCAT schools and we have seen no evidence of this. The West Yorkshire Police have investigated and found allegations of financial irregularities at the trust to be unsubstantiated. As a result, the police concluded their inquiries with no further action. This follows the auditors’ unqualified opinion on the trust’s accounts.</p><p> </p><p>Our priority continues to be to transfer the schools to strong trusts that will be able to drive rapid and sustainable school improvement, to give pupils the best possible education. On 1 April 2018, 11 of the schools formally transferred from WCAT to their new Trusts. The department is working to transfer the remaining 10 academies as smoothly as possible and in a way that secures the financial future for each school as well as the education of their pupils. We have worked with all the schools and the new trusts to provide appropriate support and resources, including funding, so that each of the schools has what is required to improve pupil outcomes.</p> answering member constituency Stratford-on-Avon answering member printed Nadhim Zahawi grouped question UIN 135666 135669 question first answered 23/04/2018 14:23:57 answering member 4113 label Biography information for Nadhim Zahawi
	tabling member	4394 label Biography information for Imran Hussain