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1472263

	registered interest
	date	21/06/2022
	answering body	Department for Education
	answering dept id	60
	answering dept short name	Education
	answering dept sort name	Education
	hansard heading	Pupils: Attendance
	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 potential impact of the Schools Bill on how Special Educational Needs will be taken into account when monitoring school attendance.
	tabling member constituency	York Outer
	tabling member printed	Julian Sturdy
	uin	22418
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 29/06/2022 answer text <p>Regular attendance at school is vital for children’s education, wellbeing, and long-term development. School attendance is mandatory, and parents have a duty, under Section 7 of the Education Act 1996 to ensure that their child of compulsory age (5-16) receives an efficient full-time education either by attendance at school or otherwise.</p><p>The department appreciates that barriers to attendance are wide and complex, particularly for pupils with Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND). Addressing these requires strong relationships and close working between families, schools, local authorities, and other relevant local services. This is the intention of the attendance clauses in the Schools Bill.</p><p> </p><p>The Bill will put the department’s new attendance guidance ‘Working together to improve school attendance’ onto a statutory footing. This will ensure greater consistency in the attendance support offered to pupils and families, regardless of where in the country they live, and emphasises the importance of providing attendance support in an earlier and more targeted way to respond to pupils’ individual needs.</p><p> </p><p>The new guidance makes it clear that schools should develop and maintain a whole school culture that promotes the benefits of attendance, whilst recognising the interplay between attendance and wider school improvement efforts, such as strategies on mental health, wellbeing, and SEND. Schools will be expected to have sensitive conversations with pupils about their needs and work with families to develop specific support approaches for pupils with SEND. This includes establishing strategies for removing in-school barriers to attendance, ensuring attendance data of this group of pupils is regularly monitored to spot patterns and provide support earlier, including ensuring joined-up pastoral care is in place and referring pupils to support from other services and partners where necessary.</p><p> </p><p>These expectations, alongside the expectations placed on academy trust boards, governing bodies, and local authorities to work in conjunction with school staff to provide joined-up support for all pupils and families, will ensure that pupils with SEND are supported to attend school regularly.</p><p> </p><p>Alongside the new expectations in the Schools Bill, the department is currently consulting on proposed changes we want to make to the SEND and alternative provision (AP) system in England.</p><p> </p><p>The Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND) and Alternative Provision (AP) Green Paper, which is open for public consultation until 22 July 2022, sets out the department’s proposals for a system that offers children and young people the opportunity to thrive, with access to the right support, in the right place, and at the right time.</p><p> </p> answering member constituency Worcester answering member printed Mr Robin Walker question first answered 29/06/2022 10:58:42 answering member 4091 label Biography information for Mr Robin Walker
	tabling member	4079 label Biography information for Julian Sturdy

1353291

	registered interest
	date	07/09/2021
	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, what guidance he is providing to schools to ensure levels of covid-19 infection do not increase as pupils return to classrooms in the autumn 2021 term; and what the guidance is on the use of face coverings in classrooms.
	tabling member constituency	York Central
	tabling member printed	Rachael Maskell
	uin	44385
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 20/09/2021 answer text <p>The government has made it a national priority to minimise disruption to education so that nurseries, schools and colleges should continue to operate as normally as possible during the COVID-19 outbreak. That is why bubbles are no longer recommended, children no longer need to self-isolate if identified as a contact of a positive case, schools are no longer expected to undertake contact tracing, and those 12 and over are being offered the COVID-19 vaccine. As per the department’s guidance, schools should keep good hygiene measures in place, keep spaces well ventilated and follow public health advice on testing, self-isolation and managing confirmed cases.</p><p>Operational guidance for nurseries, schools and colleges provides further detail on the testing, ventilation and hygiene measures that should be in place from the start of the autumn term to manage transmission of COVID-19 on a day-to-day basis. The contingency framework includes the additional measures that should be included in their contingency plans in case they are advised to take extra steps because of a spike in infections, such as increasing testing and face coverings.</p><p>The department has worked with Public Health England to develop the new thresholds outlined in the contingency framework. These are designed to help nurseries, schools and colleges identify when it might be sensible to seek public health advice. It is advised to take extra action if the number of positive cases substantially increases. Where thresholds are reached, nurseries, schools and colleges should consider reinforcing the measures they already have in place and may consider seeking further public health advice, if concerned.</p><p>Face coverings are no longer recommended in nurseries, schools and colleges but it is expected and recommended that these are worn when travelling on public or dedicated transport. The department’s guidance does not create any legal obligations on pupils, students and staff. Nurseries, schools and colleges should continue to conduct risk assessments for their particular circumstances and take appropriate action in line with the control measures.</p> answering member constituency Worcester answering member printed Mr Robin Walker question first answered 20/09/2021 16:53:54 answering member 4091 label Biography information for Mr Robin Walker
	tabling member	4471 label Biography information for Rachael Maskell

1354492

	registered interest
	date	10/09/2021
	answering body	Department for Education
	answering dept id	60
	answering dept short name	Education
	answering dept sort name	Education
	hansard heading	Education: York
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what estimate has has made of the number (a) secondary and (b) primary school-aged children who were not enrolled for education in a school or home setting in York in (i) September 2019 and (ii) September 2021.
	tabling member constituency	York Central
	tabling member printed	Rachael Maskell
	uin	46998
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 20/09/2021 answer text <p>The department does not collect numbers of children missing education; this information is held by local authorities.</p><p>Local authorities have a duty to make arrangements to enable them to establish, as far as it is possible to do so, the identities of children in their area who are of compulsory school age but are not registered pupils at a school and are not receiving suitable education otherwise than at a school.</p><p>The department remains committed to a registration system for children not in school. Further details on a proposed registration system will be in the government response to the children not in school consultation, which we intend to publish in the coming months.</p> answering member constituency Worcester answering member printed Mr Robin Walker question first answered 20/09/2021 15:36:13 answering member 4091 label Biography information for Mr Robin Walker
	tabling member	4471 label Biography information for Rachael Maskell

1354590

	registered interest
	date	10/09/2021
	answering body	Department for Education
	answering dept id	60
	answering dept short name	Education
	answering dept sort name	Education
	hansard heading	Children: Broadband and ICT
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what recent estimate he has made of how many and what proportion of (a) primary and (b) secondary school children have access to (i) IT equipment and (ii) broadband (A) in York and (B) nationally.
	tabling member constituency	York Central
	tabling member printed	Rachael Maskell
	uin	47004
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 20/09/2021 answer text <p>Ofcom runs an annual survey which publishes data on children’s access to technology, available here: <a href="https://www.ofcom.org.uk/research-and-data/media-literacy-research/childrens" target="_blank">https://www.ofcom.org.uk/research-and-data/media-literacy-research/childrens</a>. This data informed the Department for Education’s COVID-19 response through the Get Help with Technology programme.</p><p>The department has invested over £400 million to support access to remote education and online social care. Over 1.35 million laptops and tablets have been distributed to schools, colleges, academy trusts and local authorities, supporting disadvantaged children and young people who would not otherwise have access to a digital device.</p><p>The department has provided support for over 110,000 families to get online through uplifts in mobile data and 4G wireless routers. This included partnering with the UK’s leading mobile operators to provide free data to help over 33,000 disadvantaged children get online and delivering over 77,000 4G wireless routers for pupils without connection at home.</p><p>The department has recently announced new funding to support schools and colleges in providing internet access for disadvantaged pupils whose face-to-face education is disrupted during the autumn term. We have continued to enable ordering of 4G wireless routers for pupils without internet access.</p><p>The department supports the role of the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) in leading digital inclusion across government. We are working closely with DCMS to improve broadband connections in schools. DCMS has powers to address some affordability issues for some telecoms services.</p><p> </p> answering member constituency Worcester answering member printed Mr Robin Walker grouped question UIN 47005 47006 question first answered 20/09/2021 16:27:39 answering member 4091 label Biography information for Mr Robin Walker
	tabling member	4471 label Biography information for Rachael Maskell

1354593

	registered interest
	date	10/09/2021
	answering body	Department for Education
	answering dept id	60
	answering dept short name	Education
	answering dept sort name	Education
	hansard heading	Pupils: ICT and Internet
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what recent estimate he has made of the proportion of (a) primary school and (b) secondary school pupils who have access to (a) IT and (b) internet outside of school.
	tabling member constituency	York Central
	tabling member printed	Rachael Maskell
	uin	47005
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 20/09/2021 answer text <p>Ofcom runs an annual survey which publishes data on children’s access to technology, available here: <a href="https://www.ofcom.org.uk/research-and-data/media-literacy-research/childrens" target="_blank">https://www.ofcom.org.uk/research-and-data/media-literacy-research/childrens</a>. This data informed the Department for Education’s COVID-19 response through the Get Help with Technology programme.</p><p>The department has invested over £400 million to support access to remote education and online social care. Over 1.35 million laptops and tablets have been distributed to schools, colleges, academy trusts and local authorities, supporting disadvantaged children and young people who would not otherwise have access to a digital device.</p><p>The department has provided support for over 110,000 families to get online through uplifts in mobile data and 4G wireless routers. This included partnering with the UK’s leading mobile operators to provide free data to help over 33,000 disadvantaged children get online and delivering over 77,000 4G wireless routers for pupils without connection at home.</p><p>The department has recently announced new funding to support schools and colleges in providing internet access for disadvantaged pupils whose face-to-face education is disrupted during the autumn term. We have continued to enable ordering of 4G wireless routers for pupils without internet access.</p><p>The department supports the role of the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) in leading digital inclusion across government. We are working closely with DCMS to improve broadband connections in schools. DCMS has powers to address some affordability issues for some telecoms services.</p><p> </p> answering member constituency Worcester answering member printed Mr Robin Walker grouped question UIN 47004 47006 question first answered 20/09/2021 16:27:39 answering member 4091 label Biography information for Mr Robin Walker
	tabling member	4471 label Biography information for Rachael Maskell

1354596

	registered interest
	date	10/09/2021
	answering body	Department for Education
	answering dept id	60
	answering dept short name	Education
	answering dept sort name	Education
	hansard heading	Pupils: ICT and Internet
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if he take steps to ensure that all pupils at (a) primary and (b) secondary school have access (i) home IT equipment and (ii) an internet connection.
	tabling member constituency	York Central
	tabling member printed	Rachael Maskell
	uin	47006
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 20/09/2021 answer text <p>Ofcom runs an annual survey which publishes data on children’s access to technology, available here: <a href="https://www.ofcom.org.uk/research-and-data/media-literacy-research/childrens" target="_blank">https://www.ofcom.org.uk/research-and-data/media-literacy-research/childrens</a>. This data informed the Department for Education’s COVID-19 response through the Get Help with Technology programme.</p><p>The department has invested over £400 million to support access to remote education and online social care. Over 1.35 million laptops and tablets have been distributed to schools, colleges, academy trusts and local authorities, supporting disadvantaged children and young people who would not otherwise have access to a digital device.</p><p>The department has provided support for over 110,000 families to get online through uplifts in mobile data and 4G wireless routers. This included partnering with the UK’s leading mobile operators to provide free data to help over 33,000 disadvantaged children get online and delivering over 77,000 4G wireless routers for pupils without connection at home.</p><p>The department has recently announced new funding to support schools and colleges in providing internet access for disadvantaged pupils whose face-to-face education is disrupted during the autumn term. We have continued to enable ordering of 4G wireless routers for pupils without internet access.</p><p>The department supports the role of the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) in leading digital inclusion across government. We are working closely with DCMS to improve broadband connections in schools. DCMS has powers to address some affordability issues for some telecoms services.</p><p> </p> answering member constituency Worcester answering member printed Mr Robin Walker grouped question UIN 47004 47005 question first answered 20/09/2021 16:27:39 answering member 4091 label Biography information for Mr Robin Walker
	tabling member	4471 label Biography information for Rachael Maskell

1354599

	registered interest
	date	10/09/2021
	answering body	Department for Education
	answering dept id	60
	answering dept short name	Education
	answering dept sort name	Education
	hansard heading	Holiday Play Schemes: 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 pupils engaged with (a) academic teaching and (b) enrichment activities as part of the 2021 summer school activity programme in York.
	tabling member constituency	York Central
	tabling member printed	Rachael Maskell
	uin	47008
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 21/09/2021 answer text <p>In total, over 2,800 secondary schools in England signed up to the participate in the summer schools’ programme. This is 74% of all eligible mainstream secondary schools and it means that over 500,000 pupils will have been invited to take part. The aims were to help recover education lost as a result of the COVID-19 outbreak and to give pupils the confidence they needed to start the new academic year.</p><p>Through the £200 million made available by the government, schools have been able to fund provision based on the needs of their pupils. Summer schools needed to offer a blend of both academic and enrichment activities, although the precise proportions of each and the detail of the programme were for schools to decide.</p><p>As part of the government’s commitment to developing a long term education recovery plan, understanding the effectiveness and success of the 2021 summer schools programme is a key priority for the department. We have designed and released a research study to help us to better understand the perceived impact of summer schools on both children’s wellbeing, transition to secondary school, and academic recovery. An independent research agency will carry out the analysis and reporting of this important research for the department. Substantive figures will be available in October and a full evaluation will be published on gov.uk.</p> answering member constituency Worcester answering member printed Mr Robin Walker question first answered 21/09/2021 16:32:49 answering member 4091 label Biography information for Mr Robin Walker
	tabling member	4471 label Biography information for Rachael Maskell

1356320

	registered interest
	date	16/09/2021
	answering body	Department for Education
	answering dept id	60
	answering dept short name	Education
	answering dept sort name	Education
	hansard heading	Financial Services: Education
	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 institute financial skills education into the national curriculum; and whether he plans for that to include education about cooperatives and mutuals.
	tabling member constituency	York Central
	tabling member printed	Rachael Maskell
	uin	50714
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 23/09/2021 answer text <p>Education on financial matters helps to ensure that young people are prepared to manage their money well, make sound financial decisions and know where to seek further information when needed.</p><p>Financial education forms part of the citizenship national curriculum which can be taught at all key stages and is compulsory at key stages 3 and 4: <a href="https://www.gov.uk/national-curriculum" target="_blank">https://www.gov.uk/national-curriculum</a>. Financial education ensures that pupils are taught the functions and uses of money, the importance of personal budgeting, money management and managing financial risk. At secondary school, pupils are taught about income and expenditure, credit and debt, insurance, savings and pensions, financial products and services, and how public money is raised and spent. Schools have the freedom to ensure the curriculum meets the needs of their pupils and they may choose to teach about cooperatives and mutuals if they wish.</p><p>The department has introduced a rigorous mathematics curriculum, which provides young people with the knowledge and financial skills to make important financial decisions. In the primary mathematics curriculum, there is a strong emphasis on the essential arithmetic knowledge that pupils should be taught. This knowledge is vital, as a strong grasp of numeracy and numbers will underpin pupils’ ability to manage budgets and money, including, for example, using percentages. There is also some specific content about financial education, such as calculations with money. The secondary mathematics curriculum develops pupils’ understanding and skills in relation to more complex personal finance issues such as calculating loan repayments, interest rates and compound interest.</p><p>The department works closely with the Money and Pensions Service and other stakeholders, such as Her Majesty’s Treasury, to consider what can be discovered from other sector initiatives and whether there is scope to provide further support for the teaching of financial education in schools.</p> answering member constituency Worcester answering member printed Mr Robin Walker question first answered 23/09/2021 14:37:33 answering member 4091 label Biography information for Mr Robin Walker
	tabling member	4471 label Biography information for Rachael Maskell

1357992

	registered interest
	date	23/09/2021
	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 recent steps he has taken to assess the financial position of schools in York.
	tabling member constituency	York Central
	tabling member printed	Rachael Maskell
	uin	53960
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 18/10/2021 answer text <p>The schools sector remains financially stable, with high standards of financial management and governance.</p><p>The primary responsibility for the oversight of each academy trust, including their financial position, rests with the trustees themselves. The department expects trustees to deliver strong governance, monitor the financial health of their trust and ensure every pound is well spent. The department plays an important role to build the financial capacity and the capability of academy trusts. This includes using a range of data, including audited accounts and three-year budget forecasts, to identify where there may be issues, and taking a risk-based approach, working with the sector to support and intervene proportionately on the rare occasions when needed.</p><p>Local authorities are accountable for maintained schools’ finances. The department’s role is to support local authorities in their efforts to strengthen the financial accountability and efficiency of the maintained schools sector.</p><p>The department supports both maintained schools and academies through the School Resource Management programme. This helps schools improve outcomes for pupils by offering a suite of services to support greater financial efficiency. Details are available here: <a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/schools-financial-health-and-efficiency" target="_blank">https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/schools-financial-health-and-efficiency</a>.</p><p>The department publishes individual school and academy financial data, including for all schools in York, and this is easily accessible on the schools financial benchmarking website, available here: <a href="https://schools-financial-benchmarking.service.gov.uk/" target="_blank">https://schools-financial-benchmarking.service.gov.uk/</a>.</p> answering member constituency Worcester answering member printed Mr Robin Walker question first answered 18/10/2021 12:19:40 answering member 4091 label Biography information for Mr Robin Walker
	tabling member	4471 label Biography information for Rachael Maskell

1357993

	registered interest
	date	23/09/2021
	answering body	Department for Education
	answering dept id	60
	answering dept short name	Education
	answering dept sort name	Education
	hansard heading	Schools: Buildings
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps he plans to take to review the school buildings capital fund to ensure that schools with sustained structural and building challenges can be prioritised.
	tabling member constituency	York Central
	tabling member printed	Rachael Maskell
	uin	53961
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 18/10/2021 answer text <p>The department is aware of the condition issues facing the All Saints Roman Catholic School. The former Minister for the School System, my noble Friend, Baroness Berridge, met with the hon. member for York Central, as well as representatives from the school, the Diocese of Middlesbrough and York City Council in June to discuss this matter, and a capital adviser from the department visited the school in July to understand the condition need of the school. My noble Friend, the Minister for the School System, will also write to the hon. member for York Central to cover the issues in more detail.</p><p>Overall, the department allocated £1.8 billion in funding in 2021-22 to maintain and improve school condition. Local authorities, large multi academy trusts and large voluntary-aided bodies receive a School Condition Allocation to invest in priorities across the schools for which they are responsible.</p><p>Our aim for this condition funding is to ensure that responsible bodies receive a fair share of the available budget that takes into account their relative investment needs. The funding methodology for 2021-22 has been updated with the latest data from the school Condition Data Collection, which provides a high-level assessment of the relative condition of state funded schools. We expect responsible bodies to use their own detailed condition reports and knowledge to prioritise investment across their schools to address condition issues, including structural issues.</p><p>The Diocese of Leeds and the Diocese of Middlesbrough received a combined School Condition Allocation of £3,112,383 in 2021-22 to invest in improving the condition of their schools.</p><p>All Saints Roman Catholic School also received a Devolved Formula Capital payment of £32,247 in 2021-22 to spend on their capital priorities.</p><p>Over and above condition allocations, the department has also launched a new School Rebuilding Programme with a commitment to 500 projects over the next decade and has already announced the first 100 schools. We are consulting on how we will prioritise future places on the School Rebuilding Programme, and we welcome views from those with an interest in how the condition of the school estate is maintained and funded, including bodies responsible for school buildings. The department encourages All Saints Roman Catholic School, the diocese of Middlesbrough and York City Council to take part in the consultation and share their views on the future prioritisation of projects for the programme.</p> answering member constituency Worcester answering member printed Mr Robin Walker grouped question UIN 53962 53963 question first answered 18/10/2021 16:15:04 answering member 4091 label Biography information for Mr Robin Walker
	tabling member	4471 label Biography information for Rachael Maskell