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1355284

registered interest
date	14/09/2021
answering body	Department for Education
answering dept id	60
answering dept short name	Education
answering dept sort name	Education
hansard heading	Assessments: Fees and Charges
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if he will make an assessment of the potential merits of introducing a fund for parents and guardians of home-schooled children to receive remuneration for the costs of (a) GCSE and (b) A level examination fees.
tabling member constituency	Hendon
tabling member printed	Dr Matthew Offord
uin	49100
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 22/09/2021 answer text <p>The department recognises the choice of parents and guardians to home educate their children. For most children, particularly the most vulnerable, we are clear that school is the best place for their education. Our guidance on elective home education highlights that parents/carers who home educate will need to assume full financial responsibility for their child’s education. This includes paying for the cost of entering their child for examinations. Some local authorities may provide financial or other assistance to home-educating families for public examinations, but this is discretionary.</p><p>In 2021, in light of the impact of the COVID-19 outbreak, GCSE grades were determined by teachers (Teacher Assessed Grades). To support centres with the additional requirements of assessing private candidates in 2021, the department provided an exceptional grant to centres of £200 per private candidate entry. This funding aimed to avoid these additional costs being passed on to private candidates, so that they could access qualifications at a similar cost to a normal exam year.</p><p> </p> answering member constituency Worcester answering member printed Mr Robin Walker question first answered 22/09/2021 16:31:39 answering member 4091 label Biography information for Mr Robin Walker
tabling member	4006 label Biography information for Dr Matthew Offord

1355374

registered interest
date	14/09/2021
answering body	Department for Education
answering dept id	60
answering dept short name	Education
answering dept sort name	Education
hansard heading	Schools: York
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what estimate he has made of the number of senior mental health leads that have been trained in York from the £9.5 million fund announced on 10 May 2021; and at which schools those posts are based.
tabling member constituency	York Central
tabling member printed	Rachael Maskell
uin	49193
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 20/09/2021 answer text <p>Schools and colleges in the City of York will be able to apply for a grant to pay for Department for Education quality assured senior mental health lead training from this autumn term.</p><p>The government is providing £9.5 million in grants this financial year, allowing up to 7,800 school and college senior leaders in England to attend training, providing the knowledge and skills to implement a whole school or college approach to mental health in their setting. This is part of the government’s commitment to offer senior mental health lead training to all state schools and colleges by 2025.</p><p>More information on this can be found here: <a href="https://www.gov.uk/guidance/senior-mental-health-lead-training#which-staff-can-get-the-training" target="_blank">https://www.gov.uk/guidance/senior-mental-health-lead-training#which-staff-can-get-the-training</a>.</p> answering member constituency Colchester answering member printed Will Quince question first answered 20/09/2021 16:13:18 answering member 4423 label Biography information for Will Quince
tabling member	4471 label Biography information for Rachael Maskell

1355400

registered interest
date	14/09/2021
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, if he will conduct a review of the Apprenticeship Levy focused on what further potential flexibility for businesses can be introduced into the scheme.
tabling member constituency	Wycombe
tabling member printed	Mr Steve Baker
uin	49109
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 22/09/2021 answer text <p>In response to employer feedback, we are continuing to improve apprenticeships, making them more flexible for employers and making it easier for employers to make greater use of their levy funds.</p><p>The department is making it easier for large employers to transfer levy funds to support new starts in small businesses, or in a certain sector or region. On 13 September 2021, we launched a new online service to allow levy paying employers to advertise funding pledges, enabling a much wider range of businesses to browse and apply for available funds.</p><p>In addition, the department is making apprenticeships more flexible so that they better meet the needs of employers in all sectors. We are encouraging greater use of innovative apprenticeship training models, such as the front-loading of off-the-job training so apprentices can be productive from day one in the workplace. We are also developing accelerated apprenticeships so that apprentices with substantial prior learning from other skills programmes, such as traineeships and T Levels, can complete an apprenticeship more quickly.</p><p>In August, the department launched a new £7 million flexi-job apprenticeship fund to support greater use of apprenticeships in sectors, such as creative and construction, where flexible working practices are commonplace. Flexi-job apprenticeships will enable apprentices to move between different host employers in a sector or region as they complete the training requirements for their apprenticeship.</p><p>The department currently has no plans to review the apprenticeship levy and what funds can be spent on.</p> answering member constituency Chippenham answering member printed Michelle Donelan question first answered 22/09/2021 15:37:35 answering member 4530 label Biography information for Michelle Donelan
tabling member	4064 label Biography information for Mr Steve Baker

1355402

registered interest
date	14/09/2021
answering body	Department for Education
answering dept id	60
answering dept short name	Education
answering dept sort name	Education
hansard heading	Arts: Higher Education
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 the (a) level of reduction in funding for Higher Education arts subjects in England and (b) potential effect of that change in funding on the future (i) accessibility and (ii) viability of cultural and creative sectors.
tabling member constituency	Barnsley Central
tabling member printed	Dan Jarvis
uin	49146
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 20/09/2021 answer text <p>In January 2021, the former Secretary of State for Education (Gavin Williamson), my right hon. Friend for South Staffordshire, asked the Office for Students (OfS) to reform the Strategic Priorities Grant for the 2021-22 academic year[1].</p><p>The OfS consulted on the proposals and has recently published its conclusions. Following careful consideration of the issues raised in consultation responses, the former Secretary of State for Education issued Terms and Conditions of funding to the OfS (in relation to London Weighting and high-cost subject funding) to ensure the government’s priorities for the grant were implemented this year.</p><p>For the 2021-22 academic year, the high-cost subject funding rate for arts and music courses has been set at £121.50 – this is equivalent to a reduction of around 1% in combined funding (on a per-student basis) from a £9,250 tuition fee and OfS grant funding compared to 2020-21. Total funding for high-cost subjects, such as medicine and engineering, is 12% higher than last year, an increase of £81 million[2].</p><p>The government continues to value performing arts and creative subjects. High quality provision in a range of subjects is critical for our workforce and our public services, as well as being intellectually rewarding and culturally enriching for those studying them and wider society.</p><p>As part of the same reform programme, we asked the OfS to invest an additional £10 million in our world-leading specialist providers, many of which specialise in arts provision. We want to ensure that such providers receive additional support, and that grant funding is used effectively to support students, including those with an interest in the cultural and creative sectors.</p><p>The government supports the arts throughout the education system. For example, the government has invested nearly £620 million during 2016-21 in a diverse portfolio of music and cultural education programmes to ensure all school children, whatever their background, have access to a high-quality education in music and arts[3].</p><p>[1] <a href="https://www.officeforstudents.org.uk/media/a3814453-4c28-404a-bf76-490183867d9a/rt-hon-gavin-williamson-cbe-mp-t-grant-ofs-chair-smb.pdf" target="_blank">https://www.officeforstudents.org.uk/media/a3814453-4c28-404a-bf76-490183867d9a/rt-hon-gavin-williamson-cbe-mp-t-grant-ofs-chair-smb.pdf</a>.</p><p>[2] <a href="https://www.officeforstudents.org.uk/media/b2eaeeb4-7fed-4eda-9868-a4671f170129/recurrent-funding-2021-22.pdf" target="_blank">https://www.officeforstudents.org.uk/media/b2eaeeb4-7fed-4eda-9868-a4671f170129/recurrent-funding-2021-22.pdf</a> Table 2: Recurrent grant budgets for academic year 2021-22 (£ millions).</p><p>[3] <a href="https://questions-statements.parliament.uk/written-questions/detail/2021-09-06/43435" target="_blank">https://questions-statements.parliament.uk/written-questions/detail/2021-09-06/43435</a>.</p> answering member constituency Chippenham answering member printed Michelle Donelan question first answered 20/09/2021 12:06:29 answering member 4530 label Biography information for Michelle Donelan
tabling member	4243 label Biography information for Dan Jarvis

1355420

registered interest
date	14/09/2021
answering body	Department for Education
answering dept id	60
answering dept short name	Education
answering dept sort name	Education
hansard heading	National Tutoring Programme
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps he is taking to ensure timely approval of tutoring organisations for the National Tutoring Programme in the context of 16 of those organisations having not yet been approved.
tabling member constituency	Hornsey and Wood Green
tabling member printed	Catherine West
uin	49227
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 24/09/2021 answer text <p>Our delivery partner, Randstad, has approved 38 Tuition Partners to provide high-quality, subsidised tuition to schools in the current academic year: <a href="https://nationaltutoring.org.uk/tuition-partners/approved-tuition-partners/" target="_blank">https://nationaltutoring.org.uk/tuition-partners/approved-tuition-partners/</a>. These organisations were recruited via an open competition to meet the necessary quality standards.</p><p>The programme ensures that additional support has been allocated to regions with the largest numbers of disadvantaged pupils and in regions where access to tutoring has historically been lower. This will cover all the locations across the UK geographically.</p><p>Schools can access high-quality tutoring from an approved list of tutoring providers known as tuition partners. Each tuition partner has been robustly assessed and has passed a set of quality, safeguarding and evaluation standards. Tuition partners offer a range of subjects and provide targeted support for pupils in small group or one-to-one sessions. This offers additional tutoring capacity to schools, especially where this is scarce. It is a flexible service for schools and its selection of providers can tailor their expertise to support pupil needs.</p> answering member constituency Worcester answering member printed Mr Robin Walker question first answered 24/09/2021 14:05:32 answering member 4091 label Biography information for Mr Robin Walker
tabling member	4523 label Biography information for Catherine West

1355448

registered interest
date	14/09/2021
answering body	Department for Education
answering dept id	60
answering dept short name	Education
answering dept sort name	Education
hansard heading	Schools: Ventilation
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 ventilation in schools to inhibit the spread of covid-19.
tabling member constituency	Wycombe
tabling member printed	Mr Steve Baker
uin	49114
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 20/09/2021 answer text <p>On 21 August, the department announced that carbon dioxide monitors will be provided to all state-funded nurseries, schools, and colleges from September. Backed by a £25 million government investment, the new monitors will enable staff to act quickly where ventilation is poor and provide reassurance that existing ventilation measures are working.</p><p>The programme will provide nurseries, schools, and colleges with sufficient monitors to take representative readings from across the indoor spaces in their estate, assessing all spaces in a relatively short space of time. On 6 September, the department also provided new information to settings on how to use CO2 monitors to better manage ventilation.</p><p>The department has committed to supplying around 300,000 carbon dioxide monitors across England in the Autumn term. From 6 September, the department started to despatch carbon dioxide monitors to special schools and alternative provision, who have been prioritised to receive their full allocation given their higher-than-average numbers of vulnerable pupils.</p><p>The government has also launched a trial of air purifiers in 30 schools in Bradford, which is designed to assess the technology in schools and whether they could reduce the risk of transmission.</p> answering member constituency Worcester answering member printed Mr Robin Walker question first answered 20/09/2021 16:15:45 answering member 4091 label Biography information for Mr Robin Walker
tabling member	4064 label Biography information for Mr Steve Baker

1355460

registered interest
date	14/09/2021
answering body	Department for Education
answering dept id	60
answering dept short name	Education
answering dept sort name	Education
hansard heading	Teachers: Training
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Education, with reference to the Initial teacher training market review report, published in July 2021, what assessment he has made of the potential impact of the proposals set out in that report on the numbers of trainee teachers being trained on university-run courses.
tabling member constituency	Ealing Central and Acton
tabling member printed	Dr Rupa Huq
uin	49220
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 20/09/2021 answer text <p>The review focused on producing recommendations aimed at increasing the quality, consistency and coherence of Initial Teacher Training for trainee teachers. Ensuring there are sufficient teachers in the subjects that schools require is one of the priorities of the review and the department will proceed carefully to ensure this is maintained. We intend to respond to the report and its recommendations this autumn.</p><p>The department has engaged widely with stakeholders and sought opinions through the consultation to help us understand any potential impact of the proposals on the numbers of trainee teachers. If the recommendations are accepted, the department’s priority during the transition period to any new configuration will be ensuring that the capacity continues to offer enough training places to meet the continuing teacher supply needs across the whole education system. The department expects any future landscape to consist of a diverse range of provision and partnerships, including higher education institutions and school-based providers, as it does now.</p> answering member constituency Worcester answering member printed Mr Robin Walker question first answered 20/09/2021 15:32:59 answering member 4091 label Biography information for Mr Robin Walker
tabling member	4511 label Biography information for Dr Rupa Huq

1355461

registered interest
date	14/09/2021
answering body	Department for Education
answering dept id	60
answering dept short name	Education
answering dept sort name	Education
hansard heading	Children: Disadvantaged
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 tackle educational inequalities for disadvantaged white boys, following the report of the Commission on Race and Ethnic Disparity published in April 2021 and the Education Select Committee Report entitled The forgotten: how White working-class pupils have been let down, and how to change it, published in June 2021.
tabling member constituency	Mansfield
tabling member printed	Ben Bradley
uin	49257
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 27/09/2021 answer text <p>The Commission on Race and Ethnic Disparities was launched to conduct a detailed, data-led examination of inequality across the entire population, and to set out a positive agenda for change. We thank Dr Tony Sewell and each of the commissioners for generously giving their time to lead this important piece of work. It is now right that the government considers their recommendations in detail and assesses the implications for future government policy. The government remains fully committed to building a fairer Britain and taking the action needed to address disparities wherever they exist.</p><p>We also thank the Education Select Committee for its report and have been considering its findings and recommendations carefully. We will publish the government’s response to the report in due course.</p><p>The government is committed to levelling up across the UK and is funding particularly disadvantaged areas through the National Funding Formula, Pupil Premium and our Schools Capital programmes.</p> answering member constituency Worcester answering member printed Mr Robin Walker question first answered 27/09/2021 14:01:57 answering member 4091 label Biography information for Mr Robin Walker
tabling member	4663 label Biography information for Ben Bradley

1355536

registered interest
date	14/09/2021
answering body	Department for Education
answering dept id	60
answering dept short name	Education
answering dept sort name	Education
hansard heading	Schools: Coronavirus
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Education, for what reasons schools continue to be required to complete the daily Educational Setting Status form; and for what purpose these data collected are used..
tabling member constituency	Bath
tabling member printed	Wera Hobhouse
uin	49230
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 22/09/2021 answer text <p>Information gathered through the educational setting status form is used by the department to monitor attendance in schools, and across government to model the effects of the COVID-19 outbreak. This allows the department to provide support in developing policies to help schools manage, and ensure our ability to target educational recovery support.</p><p>The department is grateful to schools for providing this information. Following the removal of the advice to teach pupils in bubbles, the department has announced that from the beginning of October 2021 schools will only be asked to complete the educational setting status form once a week. This will be kept under review and, should the national situation require, daily reporting may be reinstated.</p> answering member constituency Worcester answering member printed Mr Robin Walker question first answered 22/09/2021 16:27:47 answering member 4091 label Biography information for Mr Robin Walker
tabling member	4602 label Biography information for Wera Hobhouse

1355552

registered interest
date	14/09/2021
answering body	Department for Education
answering dept id	60
answering dept short name	Education
answering dept sort name	Education
hansard heading	Students: Finance
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what progress the Government has made on introducing a Takaful-based university fee funding structure.
tabling member constituency	Newcastle upon Tyne Central
tabling member printed	Chi Onwurah
uin	49129
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 21/09/2021 answer text <p>The government has been considering an Alternative Student Finance product carefully alongside wider reforms to the higher education system and will provide an update alongside the conclusion to the Review of Post-18 Education and Funding. The interim conclusion of the Review of Post-18 Education and Funding was published on 21 January 2021, and we will conclude the Review in full at a future date.</p><p> </p> answering member constituency Chippenham answering member printed Michelle Donelan question first answered 21/09/2021 14:57:07 answering member 4530 label Biography information for Michelle Donelan
tabling member	4124 label Biography information for Chi Onwurah