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444477

registered interest
date	13/01/2016
answering body	Department for Education
answering dept id	60
answering dept short name	Education
answering dept sort name	Education
hansard heading	Primary Education: Rural Areas
house id	2
legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
question text	To ask Her Majesty’s Government how children in small rural primary schools can fully access the National Curriculum.
tabling member printed	Lord Storey
uin	HL5028
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 27/01/2016 answer text <p>The government believes that all children should have an excellent education, regardless of where they live. Maintained schools are required to teach the national curriculum as part of their duty to provide pupils with a broad and balanced school curriculum.</p><br /><p>The government’s view is that schools, including small rural schools, are best placed to decide how best children are taught the curriculum, and which resources meet their needs and to secure these accordingly.</p> answering member printed Lord Nash question first answered 27/01/2016 17:20:53 answering member 4270 label Biography information for Lord Nash
tabling member	4238 label Biography information for Lord Storey

444478

registered interest
date	13/01/2016
answering body	Department for Education
answering dept id	60
answering dept short name	Education
answering dept sort name	Education
hansard heading	Schools: Rural Areas
house id	2
legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
question text	To ask Her Majesty’s Government what support they are able to provide to schools in rural areas with attached swimming pools where the age weighted pupil unit is not sufficient to support the operation of such facilities.
tabling member printed	Lord Storey
uin	HL5029
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 27/01/2016 answer text <p>The Department distributes revenue funding to local authorities through the Dedicated Schools Grant. Each local authority receives a fixed level of schools revenue funding per pupil. The local authority is then responsible for designing a local funding formula, in consultation with its schools forum, which must include an age-weight pupil unit (per pupil funding attracted by each pupil at a school) of at least £2,000 per pupil for primary schools, and £3,000 for secondary schools. In consultation with its school forum, the local authority has the flexibility to set rates higher than these minimum levels. There are two further optional factors that are particularly relevant for rural schools: the lump sum and the sparsity factor. It is for individual schools to manage their budgets within the total provided to them, determined by the local formula.</p><p>The Department publishes all local authorities’ funding formulae on GOV.UK.</p><br /> answering member printed Lord Nash question first answered 27/01/2016 17:21:54 answering member 4270 label Biography information for Lord Nash
tabling member	4238 label Biography information for Lord Storey

436033

registered interest
date	08/12/2015
answering body	Department for Education
answering dept id	60
answering dept short name	Education
answering dept sort name	Education
hansard heading	Schools: Audit
house id	2
legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
question text	To ask Her Majesty’s Government what are the legal requirements for auditing school budgets in local authority schools.
tabling member printed	Lord Storey
uin	HL4329
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 21/12/2015 answer text <p>The Scheme for Financing Schools statutory guidance requires local authorities to set out the financial relationship between them and the schools they maintain. The scheme contains a provision which places schools within an internal audit regime determined by the authority, and the authority’s external audit regime.</p><br /> answering member printed Lord Nash question first answered 21/12/2015 16:57:41 answering member 4270 label Biography information for Lord Nash
tabling member	4238 label Biography information for Lord Storey

436034

registered interest
date	08/12/2015
answering body	Department for Education
answering dept id	60
answering dept short name	Education
answering dept sort name	Education
hansard heading	Schools: Finance
house id	2
legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
question text	To ask Her Majesty’s Government what role local authorities and school governors have in agreeing annual school budgets.
tabling member printed	Lord Storey
uin	HL4330
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 15/12/2015 answer text <p>Maintained schools receive a delegated budget from their local authority. Local authorities are required to maintain a scheme for financing schools that sets out the framework for the financial relationship between them and the schools they maintain. This requires that the school’s formal annual budget plan must be approved by the governors. This approval is undertaken on the basis that the budget is being used for the purposes of the school.</p><br /><p>Under the scheme for financing schools, a local authority’s responsibilities are to review schools’ budget plans; to carry out high level monitoring of school budgets; to agree a deficit reduction programme with schools in deficit; to challenge excess surplus balances held by schools without good reason; to intervene in schools for which there are financial concerns.</p> answering member printed Lord Nash question first answered 15/12/2015 13:39:03 answering member 4270 label Biography information for Lord Nash
tabling member	4238 label Biography information for Lord Storey

436035

registered interest
date	08/12/2015
answering body	Department for Education
answering dept id	60
answering dept short name	Education
answering dept sort name	Education
hansard heading	Academies: Finance
house id	2
legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
question text	To ask Her Majesty’s Government what steps an academy school is legally required to take if it has a budget deficit.
tabling member printed	Lord Storey
uin	HL4331
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 21/12/2015 answer text <p>An academy trust is required by its funding agreement with the Secretary of State to balance its budget from each academy financial year to the next. Where the board of trustees of an academy is formally proposing to set a deficit budget for the current financial year, which it is unable to address after unspent funds from previous years are taken into account, it must notify the Education Funding Agency (EFA) within 14 days.</p><br /><p>The EFA may issue a trust with a Financial Notice to Improve (FNtI) in cases of a deficit or projected deficit, setting out the actions it requires the trust to take. The trust must comply with all the terms of the FNtI which would include a requirement to implement a recovery plan to secure financial stability.</p><br /> answering member printed Lord Nash question first answered 21/12/2015 16:55:50 answering member 4270 label Biography information for Lord Nash
tabling member	4238 label Biography information for Lord Storey

436036

registered interest
date	08/12/2015
answering body	Department for Education
answering dept id	60
answering dept short name	Education
answering dept sort name	Education
hansard heading	Maintained Schools: Finance
house id	2
legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
question text	To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether governors of maintained schools are allowed to agree a budget deficit.
tabling member printed	Lord Storey
uin	HL4332
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 14/12/2015 answer text <p>Governors are responsible for agreeing the budget of a school under the arrangements set out in their Local Authority’s Scheme for Financing Schools, which may preclude any planning for deficits; or it may allow schools to plan for deficits only in certain approved circumstances.</p><br /> answering member printed Lord Nash question first answered 14/12/2015 14:48:25 answering member 4270 label Biography information for Lord Nash attachment 1 file name Scheme_for_Financing_Schools_August_2015_published.pdf title Scheme for Financing Schools
tabling member	4238 label Biography information for Lord Storey

436038

registered interest
date	08/12/2015
answering body	Department for Education
answering dept id	60
answering dept short name	Education
answering dept sort name	Education
hansard heading	European Union: Education
house id	2
legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
question text	To ask Her Majesty’s Government, in the light of Article 2, section 1(b)(xiv) of EU Regulation 235/2014 and the Council of Europe Charter on Education for Democratic Citizenship and Human Rights Education, what action they have taken, and what action they plan to take, ahead of the EU Referendum to ensure that (1) active and engaging European and EU citizenship education is integrated into every primary and secondary school's curriculum, and (2) training for specialist citizenship teachers is included in initial teacher education, and in teachers' continuing professional development.
tabling member printed	Lord Storey
uin	HL4334
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 21/12/2015 answer text <p>Schools are aware of their duties regarding impartiality and treatment of political issues. Sections 406 and 407 of the Education Act 1996 require maintained schools to prevent political indoctrination and secure the balanced treatment of political issues. The new national curriculum includes an improved programme of study for citizenship education at key stages 3 and 4, which is organised around core knowledge and democracy, government and how laws are made and upheld. Pupils are also taught about local, regional, and international governance, and about the United Kingdom’s relations with the rest of Europe, the Commonwealth, the United Nations, and the wider world.</p><p>The Government does not prescribe initial teacher training (ITT) content. However, all ITT courses must ensure that trainee teachers can meet the Teachers’ Standards. This sets clear expectations and defines the minimum level of practice expected of teachers in England. The standards require all teachers and trainees to have secure knowledge of relevant subject and curriculum areas and demonstrate a critical understanding of developments in them. Ofsted inspects the quality of ITT against the Teachers’ Standards and no trainee can be recommended for qualified teacher status (QTS) until they have met the Standards in full at the appropriate level. Schools and headteachers are best placed to determine which development activities will be most beneficial for their schools and we expect them to lead on the development of their teachers.</p> answering member printed Lord Nash question first answered 21/12/2015 16:56:55 answering member 4270 label Biography information for Lord Nash
tabling member	4238 label Biography information for Lord Storey

434125

registered interest
date	03/12/2015
answering body	Department for Education
answering dept id	60
answering dept short name	Education
answering dept sort name	Education
hansard heading	Regional Schools Commissioners
house id	2
legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
question text	To ask Her Majesty’s Government what are the powers, duties and responsibilities of Regional School Commissioners.
tabling member printed	Lord Storey
uin	HL4244
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 15/12/2015 answer text <p>The eight Regional Schools Commissioners (RSCs) take decisions in the name of the Secretary of State in relation to schools and academies (including free schools, university technical colleges and studio schools). The RSCs were appointed through open competition, with successful candidates being appointed for their outstanding leadership skills and track record. The process was overseen by the Civil Service Commissioner. RSCs are line managed by the national Schools Commissioner.</p><br /><p>The responsibilities of RSCs include:</p><p>a) monitoring the performance of the academies, free schools, UTCs and studio schools in their area;</p><p>b) taking action when an academy, free school, UTC or studio school is underperforming;</p><p>c) approving the conversion of maintained schools to academies and making the decision on the sponsor for new academies in areas where the local authority has identified a need for additional school places;</p><p>d) making recommendations to ministers about free school applications and advising on whether approved free school projects are ready to open;</p><p>e) encouraging organisations to become academy sponsors or to establish free schools, approving applications to become sponsors and helping to build the capacity and capability of existing sponsors within their area;</p><p>f) approving changes to open academies, for example: changes to age ranges, mergers between academies, and changes to MAT arrangements;</p><p>g) addressing underperformance in local authority maintained schools through sponsored academy arrangements.</p> answering member printed Lord Nash grouped question UIN HL4245 HL4246 question first answered 15/12/2015 13:33:35 answering member 4270 label Biography information for Lord Nash
tabling member	4238 label Biography information for Lord Storey

434126

registered interest
date	03/12/2015
answering body	Department for Education
answering dept id	60
answering dept short name	Education
answering dept sort name	Education
hansard heading	Regional Schools Commissioners
house id	2
legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
question text	To ask Her Majesty’s Government what is the appointment process for Regional School Commissioners.
tabling member printed	Lord Storey
uin	HL4245
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 15/12/2015 answer text <p>The eight Regional Schools Commissioners (RSCs) take decisions in the name of the Secretary of State in relation to schools and academies (including free schools, university technical colleges and studio schools). The RSCs were appointed through open competition, with successful candidates being appointed for their outstanding leadership skills and track record. The process was overseen by the Civil Service Commissioner. RSCs are line managed by the national Schools Commissioner.</p><br /><p>The responsibilities of RSCs include:</p><p>a) monitoring the performance of the academies, free schools, UTCs and studio schools in their area;</p><p>b) taking action when an academy, free school, UTC or studio school is underperforming;</p><p>c) approving the conversion of maintained schools to academies and making the decision on the sponsor for new academies in areas where the local authority has identified a need for additional school places;</p><p>d) making recommendations to ministers about free school applications and advising on whether approved free school projects are ready to open;</p><p>e) encouraging organisations to become academy sponsors or to establish free schools, approving applications to become sponsors and helping to build the capacity and capability of existing sponsors within their area;</p><p>f) approving changes to open academies, for example: changes to age ranges, mergers between academies, and changes to MAT arrangements;</p><p>g) addressing underperformance in local authority maintained schools through sponsored academy arrangements.</p> answering member printed Lord Nash grouped question UIN HL4244 HL4246 question first answered 15/12/2015 13:33:35 answering member 4270 label Biography information for Lord Nash
tabling member	4238 label Biography information for Lord Storey

434127

registered interest
date	03/12/2015
answering body	Department for Education
answering dept id	60
answering dept short name	Education
answering dept sort name	Education
hansard heading	Regional Schools Commissioners
house id	2
legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
question text	To ask Her Majesty’s Government who line manages Regional School Commissioners.
tabling member printed	Lord Storey
uin	HL4246
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 15/12/2015 answer text <p>The eight Regional Schools Commissioners (RSCs) take decisions in the name of the Secretary of State in relation to schools and academies (including free schools, university technical colleges and studio schools). The RSCs were appointed through open competition, with successful candidates being appointed for their outstanding leadership skills and track record. The process was overseen by the Civil Service Commissioner. RSCs are line managed by the national Schools Commissioner.</p><br /><p>The responsibilities of RSCs include:</p><p>a) monitoring the performance of the academies, free schools, UTCs and studio schools in their area;</p><p>b) taking action when an academy, free school, UTC or studio school is underperforming;</p><p>c) approving the conversion of maintained schools to academies and making the decision on the sponsor for new academies in areas where the local authority has identified a need for additional school places;</p><p>d) making recommendations to ministers about free school applications and advising on whether approved free school projects are ready to open;</p><p>e) encouraging organisations to become academy sponsors or to establish free schools, approving applications to become sponsors and helping to build the capacity and capability of existing sponsors within their area;</p><p>f) approving changes to open academies, for example: changes to age ranges, mergers between academies, and changes to MAT arrangements;</p><p>g) addressing underperformance in local authority maintained schools through sponsored academy arrangements.</p> answering member printed Lord Nash grouped question UIN HL4244 HL4245 question first answered 15/12/2015 13:33:35 answering member 4270 label Biography information for Lord Nash
tabling member	4238 label Biography information for Lord Storey