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1658547

	registered interest
	date	06/09/2023
	answering body	Department for Education
	answering dept id	60
	answering dept short name	Education
	answering dept sort name	Education
	hansard heading	Teachers: Sick Leave and Vacancies
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps she is taking to reduce (a) permanent vacancies and (b) sickness absences among teachers.
	tabling member constituency	Strangford
	tabling member printed	Jim Shannon
	uin	198045
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 15/09/2023 answer text <p>Education is a devolved matter, and this response outlines relevant information for England only.</p><p> </p><p>Recent data shows that there are now over 468,000 full time equivalent (FTE) teachers in state funded schools in England, which is an increase of 27,000 (6%) since 2010. This makes it the highest number of FTE teachers on record since the School Workforce Census began in 2010.</p><p> </p><p>The Department is taking action to increase teacher recruitment and retention and reduce vacancies. The Department accepted, in full, the School Teachers’ Review Body’s recommendations for the 2023/24 pay award for teachers and head teachers, resulting in a pay award of 6.5%. This is the highest pay award for teachers in over thirty years. The Department has put in place tax free bursaries worth £27,000 and tax free scholarships worth £29,000 , to encourage talented trainees in key subjects such as mathematics, physics, chemistry and computing to apply to teacher training.</p><p> </p><p>Additionally, the Department supports schools and trusts with their recruitment through Teaching Vacancies. The Department’s free vacancy listing service for state funded schools in England can be found here: <a href="https://teaching-vacancies.service.gov.uk/" target="_blank">https://teaching-vacancies.service.gov.uk/</a>.</p><p> </p><p>Staff wellbeing is a crucial element of our commitment to recruit and retain more teachers. The Department has published a range of resources to help schools address teacher workload issues, prioritise staff wellbeing and support schools to introduce flexible working practices.</p><p> </p><p>The Department has worked in partnership with the education sector and mental health experts to develop the Education Staff Wellbeing Charter which can be found here: <a href="https://www.gov.uk/guidance/education-staff-wellbeing-charter" target="_blank">https://www.gov.uk/guidance/education-staff-wellbeing-charter</a>. Building on a successful pilot, the Department is also funding the charity, Education Support, to provide professional supervision and counselling to school and college head teachers . Over 1000 head teachers have benefitted from this support so far and the Department recently announced the expansion of the programme, by doubling places for this year. School and college leaders can find support by visiting Education Support's website, which is available at: <a href="https://www.educationsupport.org.uk/get-help/help-for-your-staff/wellbeing-services/school-and-fe-leaders-service/" target="_blank">https://www.educationsupport.org.uk/get-help/help-for-your-staff/wellbeing-services/school-and-fe-leaders-service/</a>.</p><p> </p><p>The Department does not provide guidance on teachers’ sick leave. For most teachers, sick leave entitlements are set out in the Burgundy Book national agreement. This is an agreement on conditions of service between Unions and Local Authorities, facilitated by the Local Government Association, which the Department has no jurisdiction or input into. The vast majority of Local Authorities follow the terms of the Burgundy Book scheme, which is incorporated into their teachers’ contracts of employment.</p><p> </p><p>All schools must ensure that they oversee the health and welfare of their staff and should have a clear sickness absence management policy. Governing bodies may find it helpful to refer to Acas’s Managing Absence guidance, available at: <a href="https://www.acas.org.uk/creating-absence-policies" target="_blank">https://www.acas.org.uk/creating-absence-policies</a>.</p><p> </p><p>The Health and Safety Executive also provides extensive advice on managing sickness absence and returning to work, which includes a toolkit to help with absence management, which can be found here: <a href="https://www.hse.gov.uk/sicknessabsence/" target="_blank">https://www.hse.gov.uk/sicknessabsence/</a>.</p> answering member constituency Bognor Regis and Littlehampton answering member printed Nick Gibb question first answered 15/09/2023 13:14:49 answering member 111 label Biography information for Nick Gibb
	tabling member	4131 label Biography information for Jim Shannon

1653790

	registered interest
	date	18/07/2023
	answering body	Department for Education
	answering dept id	60
	answering dept short name	Education
	answering dept sort name	Education
	hansard heading	STEM Subjects: Women
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if she will make an assessment of the potential merits of providing additional funding for women and girls from lower advantaged backgrounds to study STEM subjects.
	tabling member constituency	Strangford
	tabling member printed	Jim Shannon
	uin	194706
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 26/07/2023 answer text <p>The Department is committed to ensuring that anyone, regardless of their background or where they live, can pursue an education in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) subjects. The Department funds a number of diversity and inclusion programmes to increase women and girls’ participation in STEM courses and careers.</p><p>In schools, girls’ participation in STEM is already increasing. Girls made up 44% of all STEM entries at A level in 2022 and 51% of all science entries at A level in 2022. Since 2010, there has been a 35% increase in the number of STEM A level entries from girls in England.<sup><sup>[1]</sup></sup> The Department is boosting the take up of STEM subjects by delivering the Prime Minister’s ambition of ensuring all pupils in England study mathematics to 18.</p><p>The Department funds a number of programmes to inspire pupils, including girls, to take STEM subjects and support their engagement. This includes tailored mathematics support for students and teachers through the Advanced Mathematics Support Programme and an Inclusion in Schools project to increase the uptake of A level physics from pupils in underrepresented groups, including girls.</p><p>The Department’s programmes also include £100 million for the National Centre for Computing Education to increase participation in computer science at GCSE and A level, including funding for research on gender balance in computing, the results of which will inform a gender insights programme to support schools’ awareness of barriers to girls’ engagement with computing and help them improve take up of computer science qualifications. Other programmes include a national research trial on improving gender balance for physics, the results of which will be published in 2024, and the STEM Ambassadors programme, which inspires young people from underrepresented backgrounds to engage with STEM subjects. Approximately 45% of ambassadors are women and 15% are from minority ethnic backgrounds, providing young people with a variety of role models.</p><p>The Department aims to maximise opportunities for participation in STEM at every level of education. STEM apprenticeship starts by women and girls continue to increase year on year, with 14,110 starts in 2021/22, up 23.3% from 2020/21 (11,440 starts). <br> <br> The Department supports women and girls’ participation in STEM apprenticeships through the Apprenticeships Diversity Champions Network. The Department is also establishing a network of 21 Institutes of Technology (IoTs) to help close skills gaps in STEM sectors. One aim of IoTs is increasing participation from underrepresented groups at the local level.</p><p>The Department is working with the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology on new postgraduate Artificial Intelligence (AI) and data science conversion courses to boost skills and diversity in AI jobs. In the programme’s first year, 76% of scholarships were awarded to women, 45% to black students, and 24% to students with disabilities. 2,000 additional scholarships are available to be delivered between 2023 and 2025.</p><p>[1] House of Commons Science, Innovation and Technology Committee (2023), Diversity and inclusion in STEM: Government Response to the Committee’s Fifth Report, p. 8: <a href="https://committees.parliament.uk/committee/135/science-innovation-and-technology-committee/publications/" target="_blank">https://committees.parliament.uk/committee/135/science-innovation-and-technology-committee/publications/</a>.</p> answering member constituency Bognor Regis and Littlehampton answering member printed Nick Gibb question first answered 26/07/2023 09:46:16 answering member 111 label Biography information for Nick Gibb
	tabling member	4131 label Biography information for Jim Shannon

1647643

	registered interest
	date	26/06/2023
	answering body	Department for Education
	answering dept id	60
	answering dept short name	Education
	answering dept sort name	Education
	hansard heading	Children: Personal Names
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether she has made an assessment of the potential impact of allowing children to change their names and pronouns in primary school on their psychological health.
	tabling member constituency	Strangford
	tabling member printed	Jim Shannon
	uin	191061
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 04/07/2023 answer text <p>Education is a devolved matter, and the response outlines the information for England only.</p><p>The Department appreciates that gender is a complex and sensitive issue, which is why we are working with my right hon. Friend, the Minister for Women and Equalities, to develop guidance to support schools and colleges in relation to gender questioning children.</p><p>In developing the draft guidance, the Department has considered the interim report on the independent review of gender identity services for children and young people (the Cass Review), which is available at: <a href="https://cass.independent-review.uk/publications/interim-report/" target="_blank">https://cass.independent-review.uk/publications/interim-report/</a>.</p><p>The interim report states that social transition is not a neutral act and neither is doing nothing, and makes the point that it may have significant effects on children and young people, in terms of their psychological functioning. The report is also clear that better information is needed about outcomes.</p><p>The Department will publish the draft guidance for schools and colleges, for public consultation, in the coming weeks.</p><p> </p><p> </p> answering member constituency Bognor Regis and Littlehampton answering member printed Nick Gibb question first answered 04/07/2023 16:41:11 answering member 111 label Biography information for Nick Gibb
	tabling member	4131 label Biography information for Jim Shannon

1644662

	registered interest
	date	14/06/2023
	answering body	Department for Education
	answering dept id	60
	answering dept short name	Education
	answering dept sort name	Education
	hansard heading	Children: Sunscreens
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment she has made of the potential merits of providing free sunscreen products in schools for children.
	tabling member constituency	Strangford
	tabling member printed	Jim Shannon
	uin	189562
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 22/06/2023 answer text <p>Education is a devolved matter, and the response outlines the information for England only.</p><p>The Department has not made a recent assessment of the potential merits of providing free sunscreen products in schools for pupils.</p><p>School staff have a duty to look after the pupils in their care. Schools are best placed to determine what measures are practicable to minimise any known risks arising from outdoor activities that take place in sunny weather, including exposure to the sun during school breaks.</p><p>The Department expects schools to take sensible decisions when temperatures are high and where pupils could be outside for longer periods of time.</p><p>The Department also expects schools to engage with parents and pupils on what precautions are acceptable and what measures the school is prepared to undertake. This would include discussions on how schools adhere to advice from the Department of Health and Social Care, including whether staff are prepared to administer sunscreen to younger pupils, whether pupils are allowed to carry their own sunscreen or, alternatively, whether pupils can cover up and wear sun hats or sunglasses.</p><p>Parents should raise any concerns directly with a school, which can then advise further on local policies.</p><p> </p><p> </p> answering member constituency Bognor Regis and Littlehampton answering member printed Nick Gibb question first answered 22/06/2023 16:29:29 answering member 111 label Biography information for Nick Gibb
	tabling member	4131 label Biography information for Jim Shannon

1644030

	registered interest
	date	13/06/2023
	answering body	Department for Education
	answering dept id	60
	answering dept short name	Education
	answering dept sort name	Education
	hansard heading	Schools: Electronic Cigarettes
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether he has had recent discussions with the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care on vaping in schools.
	tabling member constituency	Strangford
	tabling member printed	Jim Shannon
	uin	189193
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 29/06/2023 answer text <p>Education is a devolved matter, and the response outlines the information for England only.</p><p>The Government is concerned about an increase in pupils vaping, particularly the use of of illicit vapes containing lead getting into the hands of pupils. Plans have therefore been announced to reduce youth vaping. There will be increased education and dedicated school police liaison officers to keep illegal vapes out of schools, and rules around the sale of nicotine free vapes and fines for shops selling illicit vapes will be reviewed.</p><p>Officials in the Department have engaged with officials in the Department of Health and Social Care to discuss vaping as part of health education, which includes content on drugs, alcohol and tobacco.</p><p>The Department has brought forward the review of the Relationships, Sex and Health Education statutory guidance, which commenced in March 2023.</p><p>The Department expects new draft statutory guidance to be published for consultation in the autumn, with a view to it coming into force in 2024.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p> answering member constituency Bognor Regis and Littlehampton answering member printed Nick Gibb question first answered 29/06/2023 18:23:40 answering member 111 label Biography information for Nick Gibb
	tabling member	4131 label Biography information for Jim Shannon

1643580

	registered interest
	date	12/06/2023
	answering body	Department for Education
	answering dept id	60
	answering dept short name	Education
	answering dept sort name	Education
	hansard heading	Education: Equal Pay
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what estimate she has made of the gender pay gap in the education sector.
	tabling member constituency	Strangford
	tabling member printed	Jim Shannon
	uin	188882
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 20/06/2023 answer text <p>The Department monitors reporting of the gender pay gap in schools and works with the Government Equalities Office and the Equalities and Human Rights Commission to ensure schools comply with the reporting requirement.</p><p>Schools and colleges are responsible for implementing actions to reduce their gender pay gap. The Department expects schools and colleges, like all employers, to give due consideration to their obligations under the Equality Act 2010 and the way their employment practices affect different sections of their communities and staff at different stages of their careers.</p><p>The Department is committed to ensuring that the pay system for teachers is free from discrimination. To support schools in making appropriate pay decisions, the Department published guidance, drafted in partnership with the teaching unions, on handling equalities matters in the context of teachers pay. The Government is not responsible for and plays no role in setting or making recommendations about teacher pay in colleges. It is for individual colleges to set the pay of their staff.</p><p>The latest Office for National Statistics Annual Survey of Hours and Earnings 2022 data shows that the median pay gap in the UK between full time male and female 'teaching and education professionals' has fallen significantly over recent years from 7.2% in 2021 to 5.1% in 2022. 'Teaching and education professionals' includes teaching staff across early years, schools, further education, and higher education.</p><p>It is important to note universities, as autonomous institutions, are responsible for setting their own pay and conditions. Provisional data published by the Universities and Colleges Employers Association suggest the gender pay gap data for higher education has decreased from 20.7% in 2011/12 to 13.7% in 2021/22.</p> answering member constituency Bognor Regis and Littlehampton answering member printed Nick Gibb question first answered 20/06/2023 14:45:55 answering member 111 label Biography information for Nick Gibb
	tabling member	4131 label Biography information for Jim Shannon

1640176

	registered interest
	date	24/05/2023
	answering body	Department for Education
	answering dept id	60
	answering dept short name	Education
	answering dept sort name	Education
	hansard heading	Schools: Religious Freedom
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps she is taking to help promote awareness of freedom of religion and belief in schools.
	tabling member constituency	Strangford
	tabling member printed	Jim Shannon
	uin	186797
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 08/06/2023 answer text <p>Education is a devolved matter, and the response outlines the information for England only.</p><p>All schools in England must offer a curriculum that is balanced and broad and that promotes the spiritual, moral, cultural, mental, and physical development of pupils.</p><p>Pupils should be taught about different societies and how different groups have contributed to the development of Britain. This can include the experiences and voices of people from all backgrounds. The curriculum offers many opportunities for schools to do this, notably through citizenship education and relationships, sex and health education.</p><p>Within the citizenship curriculum, pupils should be taught about the diverse national, regional, religious and ethnic identities in the United Kingdom, and the need for mutual respect and understanding.</p><p>In delivering the curriculum, schools should be aware of their duties relating to political impartiality as set out under the Education Act 1996. Schools must ensure that, where political issues are discussed in the classroom, they are presented in a balanced way.</p><p>Schools also have a duty to promote the fundamental British values, including the mutual respect and tolerance of those with different faiths and beliefs. Developing and deepening pupils’ understanding of these values is part of the Ofsted inspection framework, alongside expectations that schools develop responsible and active citizens and promote an inclusive environment that meets the needs of all pupils, irrespective of their characteristics.</p> answering member constituency Bognor Regis and Littlehampton answering member printed Nick Gibb question first answered 08/06/2023 15:44:09 answering member 111 label Biography information for Nick Gibb
	tabling member	4131 label Biography information for Jim Shannon

1639577

	registered interest
	date	23/05/2023
	answering body	Department for Education
	answering dept id	60
	answering dept short name	Education
	answering dept sort name	Education
	hansard heading	Primary Education: Artificial Intelligence
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if she will make an assessment of the potential impact of artificial intelligence on the education of children in primary schools.
	tabling member constituency	Strangford
	tabling member printed	Jim Shannon
	uin	186350
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 01/06/2023 answer text <p>Artificial intelligence (AI) has the potential to transform society. The effective use of technology can help to improve outcomes and we are exploring how AI can support teaching, as well as addressing its risks.</p><p>The Department has published a policy paper which sets out our position on the use of generative AI in the education sector. The paper outlines the potential effects of generative AI on the education sector including the opportunities for reducing teacher workload, risks to assessment and steps the education sector should take to protect pupil data, as well as resources, staff and pupils.</p><p>The Department is also convening experts to work with the education sector to share and identify best practice and opportunities to improve education and reduce workload.</p><p>The Department will keep our programme of measures under review to ensure we identify the best ways to address the risks and opportunities AI presents, including continuing to establish a strong evidence base for technology in education.</p> answering member constituency Bognor Regis and Littlehampton answering member printed Nick Gibb question first answered 01/06/2023 15:51:05 answering member 111 label Biography information for Nick Gibb
	tabling member	4131 label Biography information for Jim Shannon

1623613

	registered interest
	date	25/04/2023
	answering body	Department for Education
	answering dept id	60
	answering dept short name	Education
	answering dept sort name	Education
	hansard heading	Prisoners: Travellers
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment she has made of the implications for her Department's policies of the recommendations of the report by the Traveller Movement entitled Disrupting the school to prison pipeline, published in July 2022.
	tabling member constituency	Strangford
	tabling member printed	Jim Shannon
	uin	182562
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 04/05/2023 answer text <p>Education is a devolved matter, and the response outlines the information for England only.</p><p>The Department recognises the issues faced by Gypsy, Roma, and Traveller pupils and how education can make a positive difference. The Department is responding to the seven recommendations in the report.</p><p>The report recommended that the Department must ensure a race equality and diversity policy is made a statutory element of the Public Sector Equality Duty (PSED) for all schools. Already the PSED requires public bodies, including maintained schools and academies, to have due regard to the need to eliminate discrimination and other conduct prohibited by the Equality Act 2010.</p><p>Schools have specific legal duties to publish information to demonstrate how they are complying with the PSED, and to prepare and publish equality objectives. Schools are also required to publish information relating to those who share a relevant protected characteristic and who are affected by their policies and practices. The Department has published guidance for schools on how to ensure they comply with their duties under the Equality Act.</p><p>The report recommended that all schools must have the ability and resources to provide assessment of Education, Health and Care (EHC) plans, when requested by a parent or guardian, including annual reviews. It also recommended Local Authorities should consider providing base level EHC plans funding to all schools.</p><p>On 2 March 2023, the Department published the Special Educational Needs and Disabilities and Alternative Provision Improvement Plan in response to the Green Paper. The Improvement Plan outlines the approach for the successful implementation of these policy reforms, including proposals for EHC plan reform. The Department will develop reformed templates and guidance to deliver a nationally consistent EHC plan process which makes greater use of digital technology, with the aim to increase consistency and the speed with which support is put in place.</p><p>The report also recommended that the Department should require all school and academy trusts to establish an On-Site Inclusion Unit (OSIU). In July 2022, the Department published updated guidance on behaviour in schools and suspension and permanent exclusion statutory guidance. The behaviour guidance makes clear some schools can choose to have pupil support units (sometimes called ‘in school units’) which should be used to provide planned pastoral support for vulnerable pupils and as a last resort measure to support pupils at risk of exclusion.</p><p>Additionally, the report recommended that expert head teacher panels should be established to provide final assessments for proposed permanent exclusions and the department should develop standardised guidance for use of in school exclusionary practices and reporting guidelines for monitoring their use.</p><p>The updated exclusion guidance is clear that, in all cases, schools should consider initial intervention to address underlying causes of disruptive behaviour which may minimise the need for permanent exclusion. Whilst a permanent exclusion may still be an appropriate sanction, schools should take account of any contributing factors.</p><p>The statutory process to review school exclusions is clear that governing boards have a role to review the decision of the head teacher to permanently exclude and if the governing board decides to uphold the permanent exclusion, the parents have the right to an Independent Review Panel.</p> answering member constituency Bognor Regis and Littlehampton answering member printed Nick Gibb question first answered 04/05/2023 14:41:40 answering member 111 label Biography information for Nick Gibb
	tabling member	4131 label Biography information for Jim Shannon

1608508

	registered interest
	date	29/03/2023
	answering body	Department for Education
	answering dept id	60
	answering dept short name	Education
	answering dept sort name	Education
	hansard heading	Gypsy Roma Traveller History Month
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether her Department is taking steps to mark Gypsy, Roma, Traveller history month in June 2023.
	tabling member constituency	Strangford
	tabling member printed	Jim Shannon
	uin	176582
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 17/04/2023 answer text <p>I refer the hon. Member for Strangford to the answer of 19 January 2023 to Question <a href="https://questions-statements.parliament.uk/written-questions/detail/2023-01-12/122193" target="_blank">122193</a>.</p> answering member constituency Bognor Regis and Littlehampton answering member printed Nick Gibb question first answered 17/04/2023 16:58:40 answering member 111 label Biography information for Nick Gibb
	tabling member	4131 label Biography information for Jim Shannon