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1660761

	registered interest
	date	14/09/2023
	answering body	Department for Education
	answering dept id	60
	answering dept short name	Education
	answering dept sort name	Education
	hansard heading	Department for Education: Policy
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Education, which Minister in their Department is responsible for overseeing work on long-term strategic challenges; and how many officials in their Department (a) undertake horizon scanning work and (b) focus on delivering long-term priorities.
	tabling member constituency	Slough
	tabling member printed	Mr Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi
	uin	199621
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 26/09/2023 answer text <p>The Liaison Committee recently launched an inquiry into select committee scrutiny of strategic thinking across Whitehall. The Government will be providing written evidence to this in due course.</p><p>The Department for Education is committed to delivering long term reforms such as those outlined in: the 2022 Schools White Paper, ‘Opportunity for All’; the 2023 Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND) and Alternative Provision (AP) Improvement Plan; the 2023 publication ‘Stable Homes, Built on Love’; and the 2021 ‘Skills for Jobs’ White Paper.</p><p>Under Rishi Sunak, this Conservative Government will always look to make the right long-term decisions for the country.</p> answering member constituency Bognor Regis and Littlehampton answering member printed Nick Gibb grouped question UIN 198439 question first answered 26/09/2023 15:40:44 answering member 111 label Biography information for Nick Gibb
	tabling member	4638 label Biography information for Mr Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi

1660165

	registered interest
	date	12/09/2023
	answering body	Department for Education
	answering dept id	60
	answering dept short name	Education
	answering dept sort name	Education
	hansard heading	Department for Education: National Security
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether their Department has a Chief Risk Officer responsible for national security risks relating to the work of their Department.
	tabling member constituency	Slough
	tabling member printed	Mr Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi
	uin	199120
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 20/09/2023 answer text <p>The Government identifies and assesses risks to the nation through; the internal classified National Security Risk Assessment, and the external National Risk Register, the most recent version of which was published in August.</p><p>As set out in the UK Government Resilience Framework, each risk in the National Security Risk Assessment is owned and managed within Lead Government Departments.</p><p>Where those risks, including national security risks, relate to the work of the Department for Education they are managed through the Department’s risk management processes. This includes oversight from a Chief Risk Officer.</p><p>For example, within the Cabinet Office, risk is managed and recorded through centralised risk registers that are reported monthly to the Performance and Risk Committee and quarterly to the Executive Committee.</p> answering member constituency Bognor Regis and Littlehampton answering member printed Nick Gibb question first answered 20/09/2023 16:13:22 answering member 111 label Biography information for Nick Gibb
	tabling member	4638 label Biography information for Mr Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi

1659139

	registered interest
	date	07/09/2023
	answering body	Department for Education
	answering dept id	60
	answering dept short name	Education
	answering dept sort name	Education
	hansard heading	Department for Education: Policy
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps they are taking to help ensure that their Department (a) gives sufficient attention to long term strategic challenges, (b) does not allow current events to slow down work on long term strategic issues and (c) consistently undertakes horizon scanning.
	tabling member constituency	Slough
	tabling member printed	Mr Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi
	uin	198439
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 26/09/2023 answer text <p>The Liaison Committee recently launched an inquiry into select committee scrutiny of strategic thinking across Whitehall. The Government will be providing written evidence to this in due course.</p><p>The Department for Education is committed to delivering long term reforms such as those outlined in: the 2022 Schools White Paper, ‘Opportunity for All’; the 2023 Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND) and Alternative Provision (AP) Improvement Plan; the 2023 publication ‘Stable Homes, Built on Love’; and the 2021 ‘Skills for Jobs’ White Paper.</p><p>Under Rishi Sunak, this Conservative Government will always look to make the right long-term decisions for the country.</p> answering member constituency Bognor Regis and Littlehampton answering member printed Nick Gibb grouped question UIN 199621 question first answered 26/09/2023 15:40:44 answering member 111 label Biography information for Nick Gibb
	tabling member	4638 label Biography information for Mr Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi

1657753

	registered interest
	date	04/09/2023
	answering body	Department for Education
	answering dept id	60
	answering dept short name	Education
	answering dept sort name	Education
	hansard heading	Schools: Slough
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether any schools in Slough use reinforced autoclaved aerated concrete.
	tabling member constituency	Slough
	tabling member printed	Mr Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi
	uin	197491
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 18/09/2023 answer text <p>Departments have been asked to report on the current picture of suspected and confirmed RAAC in their estates as soon as possible. This will be updated on a regular basis as new buildings are identified and surveying and remediation are carried out.</p><p>The Government published lists of education settings confirmed as having RAAC on Wednesday 6 September, and committed to providing further updates.</p> answering member constituency Bognor Regis and Littlehampton answering member printed Nick Gibb grouped question UIN 195929 196299 197171 197318 197343 197368 197477 197479 197554 197577 197614 197925 question first answered 18/09/2023 20:01:29 answering member 111 label Biography information for Nick Gibb
	tabling member	4638 label Biography information for Mr Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi

1657754

	registered interest
	date	04/09/2023
	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, how many schools in England do not make use of reinforced autoclaved aerated concrete.
	tabling member constituency	Slough
	tabling member printed	Mr Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi
	uin	197492
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 18/09/2023 answer text <p>Nothing is more important than the safety of children and staff. It has always been the case that where we are made aware of a building that may pose an immediate risk, the Department takes immediate action.</p><p>It is the responsibility of those who run schools – academy trusts, Local Authorities, and voluntary-aided school bodies – who work with their schools on a day-to-day basis, to manage the safety and maintenance of their schools and to alert us if there is a concern with a building.</p><p>The Department has acted decisively and proactively to tackle this issue. This Government has taken more proactive action on RAAC than any other in the UK. The Department issued comprehensive guidance in 2018, and subsequent years, to all responsible bodies highlighting the potential risks associated with RAAC and supporting them to identify this within their buildings, as well as to take appropriate steps in meeting their obligations to keep buildings safe. The most recent guidance is available at: <a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/reinforced-autoclaved-aerated-concrete-estates-guidance" target="_blank">https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/reinforced-autoclaved-aerated-concrete-estates-guidance</a>.</p><p>There are over 22,000 schools and colleges in England, and the vast majority are unaffected. A significant proportion of the estate was built outside the period where RAAC was used, with around one third of the estate built since 2001, therefore, the Department has focused efforts on buildings built in the post-war decades.</p><p>The Department issued a questionnaire in March 2022, asking responsible bodies to inform the Department of any suspected RAAC identified in their estates. Responsible bodies have submitted questionnaires for over 98% of schools with blocks built in the target era, of which there are 14,900. We are pressing all remaining schools to get checks completed, to determine which schools require surveys.</p><p>The Department is contacting responsible bodies to help them respond to this request and to advise on what needs to be done, so that they can establish whether they believe they have RAAC. This work will continue until we have a response for all target era schools.</p><p>Schools and colleges where RAAC is suspected are being fast tracked for surveying, which is used to confirm whether RAAC is actually present. All schools and colleges that have already told us they suspect they might have RAAC will be surveyed within a matter of weeks, in many cases in a matter of days.</p><p>All schools where RAAC is confirmed are provided with a dedicated caseworker to support them and help implement a mitigation plan and minimise the disruption to children’s learning.</p><p>Across Government, Departments have been asked to report on the current picture of suspected and confirmed RAAC in their estates as soon as possible. This will be updated on a regular basis as new buildings are identified and surveying and remediation are carried out. The Department for Education published lists of education settings confirmed as having RAAC on Wednesday 6 September, and committed to providing further updates.</p><p>Schools will contact parents where RAAC is identified and inform them of any impacts on their child. The vast majority of schools are unaffected. Any parents that are unsure if their child’s school is affected should contact their school directly.</p><p>While some short term disruption is inevitable, all available measures will be taken to minimise disruption to pupil learning and ensure that pupils continue to receive face-to-face teaching. Where there is any disturbance to face-to-face education, schools will prioritise attendance for vulnerable children and young people and children of key workers. The guidance published by the Department in August also includes guidance on provision for pupils with SEND and sets out expectations that schools continue to provide free school meals to eligible pupils.</p><p>The Department will fund emergency mitigation work needed to make buildings safe, including installing alternative classroom space where necessary. Where schools and colleges need additional help with revenue costs, like transport to locations or temporarily renting a local hall or office, the department will provide that support for all reasonable requests. The Department will also fund longer term refurbishment projects, or rebuilding projects where these are needed, to rectify the RAAC issue in the long term.</p><p>All previously confirmed Schol Rebuilding Programme projects announced in 2021 and 2022 will continue to go ahead. A full list of confirmed projects can be found here: <a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/school-rebuilding-programme-schools-in-the-programme" target="_blank">https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/school-rebuilding-programme-schools-in-the-programme</a>.</p><p>Further information on RAAC in education settings is available on the Education Hub: <a href="https://educationhub.blog.gov.uk/2023/09/06/new-guidance-on-raac-in-education-settings/" target="_blank">https://educationhub.blog.gov.uk/2023/09/06/new-guidance-on-raac-in-education-settings/</a><a href="https://educationhub.blog.gov.uk/2023/09/04/new-guidance-on-raac-in-education-settings/" target="_blank">.</a></p><p> </p> answering member constituency Bognor Regis and Littlehampton answering member printed Nick Gibb grouped question UIN 195297 195298 195299 197045 197366 197369 197478 197557 197558 197559 197603 197613 197809 197863 197864 197870 197920 197971 197972 197973 197974 198246 198247 198255 198384 198393 198465 198466 198467 198572 198573 198575 199083 199254 199665 199666 199670 question first answered 18/09/2023 20:03:32 answering member 111 label Biography information for Nick Gibb
	tabling member	4638 label Biography information for Mr Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi

1657766

	registered interest
	date	04/09/2023
	answering body	Department for Education
	answering dept id	60
	answering dept short name	Education
	answering dept sort name	Education
	hansard heading	Pupils: Absenteeism
	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 reduce the number of children who regularly miss school.
	tabling member constituency	Slough
	tabling member printed	Mr Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi
	uin	197496
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 12/09/2023 answer text <p>This Government understands how important school attendance is for children’s education, wellbeing and life chances. The Department’s approach to tackling this issue is a cross cutting support-first attendance strategy.</p><p>The Department published stronger expectations of schools, trusts, governing bodies and Local Authorities in the ‘Working together to improve school attendance’ guidance. Schools are now expected to publish an attendance policy, appoint an attendance champion, and use data to identify, and then support, pupils at risk of becoming persistently absent. The Department deployed 10 expert attendance advisers to work with 155 Local Authorities and trusts to review practices, develop plans to improve and meet expectations set out in the guidance. To help identify children at risk of persistent absence and to enable early intervention, the Department established a timelier flow of pupil level attendance data through the daily attendance data collection. The ‘Working together to improve school attendance’ guidance can be found here: <a href="https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/1099677/Working_together_to_improve_school_attendance.pdf#:~:text=Some%20pupils%20find%20it%20harder%20than%20others%20to,together%20to%20put%20the%20right%20support%20in%20place" target="_blank">https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/1099677/Working_together_to_improve_school_attendance.pdf#:~:text=Some%20pupils%20find%20it%20harder%20than%20others%20to,together%20to%20put%20the%20right%20support%20in%20place</a>.</p><p>The launch of the £2.32 million attendance mentor pilot aims to deliver intensive one-to-one support to a group of persistently and severely absent pupils. The findings from this pilot should enable schools, trusts, and Local Authorities to address persistent and severe absence more effectively. The Department also recently launched new attendance hubs with 10 lead schools sharing their effective practice on attendance with up to 600 partner schools, reaching hundreds of thousands of pupils. This is alongside intensive support to Children in Need through Virtual Schools Heads.</p><p>The Secretary of State and I co-chair the ‘Attendance Action Alliance’ of national system leaders to work to remove barriers to attendance and reduce absence through pledges. This is in addition to the £5 billion that has been made available for education recovery, helping pupils to recover from the disruption of the COVID-19 pandemic. This funding includes up to £1.5 billion on tutoring and nearly £2 billion of direct funding to schools, so they can deliver evidence based interventions based on pupil needs.</p><p> </p><p> </p> answering member constituency Bognor Regis and Littlehampton answering member printed Nick Gibb question first answered 12/09/2023 11:06:55 answering member 111 label Biography information for Nick Gibb
	tabling member	4638 label Biography information for Mr Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi

1651904

	registered interest
	date	11/07/2023
	answering body	Department for Education
	answering dept id	60
	answering dept short name	Education
	answering dept sort name	Education
	hansard heading	Department for Education: Dahua Technology and Hikvision
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether their Department has purchased products manufactured by (a) Hikvision and (b) Dahua in the last three years.
	tabling member constituency	Slough
	tabling member printed	Mr Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi
	uin	193428
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 19/07/2023 answer text <p>As has been the case under successive administrations, it is not Government policy to comment on the Government’s security arrangements. This includes any specific details regarding the make and model of security systems, which are withheld on national security grounds.</p><p>Each Department is responsible for their own procurement decisions. However, I would refer the Hon. member to the Written Ministerial Statement made by the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster on 24 November 2022, which set out that Departments had been instructed to disconnect surveillance equipment from core departmental networks where it is subject to the National Intelligence Law of China.</p> answering member constituency Bognor Regis and Littlehampton answering member printed Nick Gibb question first answered 19/07/2023 16:51:09 answering member 111 label Biography information for Nick Gibb
	tabling member	4638 label Biography information for Mr Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi

1649763

	registered interest
	date	03/07/2023
	answering body	Department for Education
	answering dept id	60
	answering dept short name	Education
	answering dept sort name	Education
	hansard heading	Department for Education: Surveillance
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Education, with reference to the Written Ministerial Statement of 24 November 2022 on Security Update on Surveillance Equipment, WMS 386, whether they have (a) ceased deployment of visual surveillance systems produced by companies subject to the National Intelligence Law of the People’s Republic of China onto sensitive sites, (b) ensured no such equipment is connected to their departmental core network, (c) considered whether there are sites outside the definition of sensitive sites to which they would wish to extend risk mitigation and (d) put in place any additional controls or taken any further steps.
	tabling member constituency	Slough
	tabling member printed	Mr Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi
	uin	192168
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 11/07/2023 answer text <p>On 24 November 2022, the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster published a Written Ministerial Statement noting that Departments had been instructed to take a series of actions relating to surveillance equipment subject to the National Intelligence Law of the People’s Republic of China. The Department has been implementing this policy along with other protective security controls.</p><p>At Report Stage of the Procurement Bill the Government committed that, within six months of Royal Assent, the Government will set out the timeline for the removal of surveillance equipment supplied by companies subject to the National Intelligence Law of China from sensitive sites. The Department will be providing information to the Cabinet Office to support this commitment. It is a longstanding Government policy that specific security arrangements regarding Government estates are withheld on security grounds.</p> answering member constituency Bognor Regis and Littlehampton answering member printed Nick Gibb question first answered 11/07/2023 12:29:41 answering member 111 label Biography information for Nick Gibb
	tabling member	4638 label Biography information for Mr Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi

1608053

	registered interest
	date	27/03/2023
	answering body	Department for Education
	answering dept id	60
	answering dept short name	Education
	answering dept sort name	Education
	hansard heading	Teachers
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps is she taking to increase teacher (a) recruitment and (b) retention.
	tabling member constituency	Slough
	tabling member printed	Mr Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi
	uin	174411
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 04/04/2023 answer text <p>As at the last school workforce census (November 2021, published in June 2022), the number of teachers remains high, with over 465,500 full time equivalent teachers working in state funded schools across the country. This is over 24,000 more than in 2010.</p><p>The Department’s reforms are aimed at increasing teacher recruitment and at ensuring teachers across England stay and thrive in the profession. The Department announced a £181 million financial incentives package for those starting initial teacher training in the 2023/24 academic year. The Department is providing bursaries worth up to £27,000 and scholarships worth up to £29,000 to encourage trainees to apply to train in key secondary subjects such as mathematics, physics, chemistry, and computing. The Department has expanded the offer to international trainees in physics and languages.</p><p>Additionally, the Department provides a Levelling Up Premium worth up to £3,000 for mathematics, physics, chemistry, and computing teachers in the first five years of their careers who work in disadvantaged schools nationally, including within Education Investment Areas.</p><p>The Department has recently raised starting salaries outside London by 8.9% to £28,000 and remains committed to the Government’s ambition of delivering £30,000 starting salaries to attract talented people to teaching.</p><p>To support retention in the first few years of teaching, the Department has rolled out the Early Career Framework nationally, providing the foundations for a successful career in teaching. This is backed by over £130 million a year in funding.</p><p>The Department has also launched a new and updated suite of National Professional Qualifications for teachers and headteachers at all levels, from those who want to develop expertise in high-quality teaching practice to those leading multiple schools across trusts.</p><p>The Department has published a range of resources to help address staff workload and wellbeing. This includes the Education Staff Wellbeing Charter, which the Department is encouraging schools to sign up to as a shared commitment to promote staff wellbeing. The Department has also published the workload reduction toolkit, developed alongside headteachers to help reduce workload, and resources to support schools to implement effective flexible working practices.</p><p> </p><p> </p> answering member constituency Bognor Regis and Littlehampton answering member printed Nick Gibb question first answered 04/04/2023 13:16:01 answering member 111 label Biography information for Nick Gibb
	tabling member	4638 label Biography information for Mr Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi

1608054

	registered interest
	date	27/03/2023
	answering body	Department for Education
	answering dept id	60
	answering dept short name	Education
	answering dept sort name	Education
	hansard heading	Pupils: Absenteeism
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether she has a target for reducing the number of pupils who are severely absent from school.
	tabling member constituency	Slough
	tabling member printed	Mr Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi
	uin	174412
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 04/04/2023 answer text <p>Regular school attendance is vital for pupils’ educational attainment, wellbeing, and wider development. For those pupils most at risk of harm, it is also an important safeguarding factor.</p><p>Most absence from school is accounted for by illness. Pupils who miss more than 50% of possible school sessions in a school year are considered to be severely absent. In the 2021/22 academic year, the severe absence rate was 1.7%.</p><p>As part of the drive to improve school attendance, the Department published the ‘Working together to improve school attendance’ guidance last year, which makes clear the importance of addressing the barriers to attendance through strong, multi agency working at school, multi academy trust, and Local Authority level. This includes a specific focus on identifying and supporting those pupils most at risk of persistent and severe absence from school to tackle absence early and put plans in place to improve attendance.</p><p>Schools and Local Authorities should agree a joint approach to supporting severely absent pupils, recognising that their needs are often more complex, and they are more likely to need support from a number of agencies locally.</p><p>The statutory guidance ‘Working Together to Safeguard Children (2018)’ emphasises that safeguarding is the responsibility of all professionals who work with children. Where a professional has concerns about a child, they should make an immediate referral to Local Authority children’s social care. It is the responsibility of Local Authority children’s services to assess children’s risk of harm. The latest data from 2021/22, shows that domestic abuse remains one of the most common factors identified in Children's Social Care Assessments.</p><p>While there have been no specific discussions with my right hon. Friend, the Home Secretary, on severe absence, the Home Office and the Department for Education have regular discussions on areas of joint interest. This includes the Support, Attend, Fulfil, Exceed (SAFE) taskforces in mainstream schools and the Alternative Provision Specialist Taskforces, which involve specialist support for children disengaged from education to improve their attendance and reduce their involvement in serious violence. The Secretary of State for Education chairs an Attendance Action Alliance of leaders of key frontline services that support families. Members from education, health, justice, the third sector, and parent organisations meet regularly and have collectively committed to use their roles and organisations to undertake activities to improve attendance and tackle persistent absence from school.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p> answering member constituency Bognor Regis and Littlehampton answering member printed Nick Gibb grouped question UIN 174413 174414 question first answered 04/04/2023 12:50:52 answering member 111 label Biography information for Nick Gibb
	tabling member	4638 label Biography information for Mr Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi