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982526

registered interest
date	08/10/2018
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	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps his Department is taking to improve financial transparancy in academy trusts.
tabling member constituency	Leeds North West
tabling member printed	Alex Sobel
uin	176650
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 11/10/2018 answer text <p>The department requires a high level of transparency of academy trusts. All academy trusts must have an annual independent audit of their annual accounts by a registered statutory auditor and academy trusts must be open and transparent and publish their accounts. This is not a requirement of local authority maintained schools.</p><p> </p><p>Academy trusts must prepare annual accounts. This provides considerably more information than other schools and provides a far higher level of public scrutiny than is required of local authority schools. Their financial performance is instead summarised within the authorities’ accounts. In addition, academy trusts are audited externally to international auditing standards, again this is not required of local authority schools.</p><p> </p><p>The department also publishes the ‘Consolidated Annual Report and Accounts’, based on returns from all academies in England. The reports are available for public scrutiny at GOV.UK. The most recent report covering 2015/16 is available at:</p><p><a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/academies-consolidated-annual-report-and-accounts-2015-to-2016" target="_blank">https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/academies-consolidated-annual-report-and-accounts-2015-to-2016</a>. We aim to publish the report for 2016/17 in October.</p> answering member constituency Stratford-on-Avon answering member printed Nadhim Zahawi question first answered 11/10/2018 16:38:25 answering member 4113 label Biography information for Nadhim Zahawi
tabling member	4658 label Biography information for Alex Sobel

982528

registered interest
date	08/10/2018
answering body	Department for Education
answering dept id	60
answering dept short name	Education
answering dept sort name	Education
hansard heading	Academies: Construction
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps his Department is taking to monitor and evaluate the work done by contractors on academy schools for quality assurance purposes.
tabling member constituency	Leeds North West
tabling member printed	Alex Sobel
uin	176651
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 11/10/2018 answer text <p>For capital projects delivered by the Department for Education, there is a structured process, with proven integrity, for ensuring that projects are procured and designed in accordance with the user’s operational needs. Contractors are also obliged to demonstrate how their designs meet the prescribed Output Specification. Independent Technical Advisers further give assurance by certifying that milestones are completed prior to payments being made to the contractors. In addition there is an agreed strategy of Post Occupancy Evaluation, to check user satisfaction and build quality at new or refurbished schools, once they are in use. Every school completed by the department is also subject to a Building Performance Evaluation, which includes energy and operational effectiveness assessment. For works delivered by academy trusts or other responsible bodies outside of the department’s programmes the contracting party will be responsible for ensuring contractor performance.</p><p> </p> answering member constituency Stratford-on-Avon answering member printed Nadhim Zahawi question first answered 11/10/2018 16:40:23 answering member 4113 label Biography information for Nadhim Zahawi
tabling member	4658 label Biography information for Alex Sobel

982529

registered interest
date	08/10/2018
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	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Education, with reference to the BBC Panorama investigation entitled Profits before Pupils? broadcast on 13th September 2018, whether his Department plans to review financial governance in academies.
tabling member constituency	Leeds North West
tabling member printed	Alex Sobel
uin	176652
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 16/10/2018 answer text <p>Academy trusts have primary responsibility for their own financial affairs and the department’s relationship with them is based on the principle of self-governance, founded on a clear framework communicated and regulated by the Education and Skills Funding Agency (ESFA), through trusts’ funding agreement and the Academies Financial Handbook. If academy trusts are governed well and in accordance with the framework then the Secretary of State’s interaction with them will be limited. If not, then intervention may be required.</p><p> </p><p>Academy trusts must implement the right financial procedures including internal checks of compliance. They must have an audit committee, or equivalent, to manage their risks and oversee checks of systems of control. They must take ownership of balancing their budget and send a copy to the ESFA in advance of each year.</p><p> </p><p>These requirements are strengthened by external scrutiny – academy trusts’ annual accounts must be reviewed by an independent auditor. This makes oversight more independent and more transparent than for local authority schools who are not required to prepare individual statutory accounts – their financial performance is instead summarised within the authorities’ accounts.</p><p> </p><p>We are not, however, complacent and are continually looking to develop and strengthen our approach. The Academies Financial Handbook is strengthened annually to enhance the accountability and governance framework. The department published a new edition in June 2018 and the main changes were:</p><ul><li>Executive pay – even more focus on the board’s responsibility for ensuring decisions about senior leaders’ pay are proportionate, justifiable and clearly documented.</li><li>Related party transactions (RPTs) – embedding a new requirement for trusts to report all RPTs to the ESFA in advance and to seek approval for those over £20,000.</li><li>Management accounts – emphasising a rigorous approach to setting and monitoring financial plans, including board engagement.</li><li>Audit findings – being clear that trusts must respond in an appropriate and timely manner to advice from auditors, taking opportunities to strengthen their systems.</li></ul> answering member constituency Stratford-on-Avon answering member printed Nadhim Zahawi question first answered 16/10/2018 09:28:57 answering member 4113 label Biography information for Nadhim Zahawi
tabling member	4658 label Biography information for Alex Sobel

982581

registered interest
date	08/10/2018
answering body	Department for Education
answering dept id	60
answering dept short name	Education
answering dept sort name	Education
hansard heading	Pupils: Hearing Impairment
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Education, pursuant to the Answer of 11 September 2018 to Question 169059 on Pupils: Hearing Impairment, what proportion of that funding has been made available to the recruitment and retention of Teachers of the Deaf.
tabling member constituency	Birkenhead
tabling member printed	Frank Field
uin	175975
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 16/10/2018 answer text <p>The funding made available through the new Department for Education contracts covers a wide range of activity designed to support the education workforce, support families, and support local authorities and their partners. Within this, £3.4 million has been provided for the special educational needs and disability (SEND) Schools’ Workforce contract, a strand of which is a study to understand the supply, demand and drivers for SEND continuing professional development (CPD). Also included is an exercise to map access to CPD and an analysis of the gaps in training and resources available to schools. The aim of the contract is to ensure that all teachers are equipped to respond to the needs of their pupils, including those with hearing impairment.</p><p> </p><p>Supporting teachers of pupils with sensory impairment is part of the contract, but direct funding for Teachers of the Deaf is not included in this activity and the department does not fund the training of Teachers of the Deaf. It is up to local authorities to work with the schools in their area to identify the nature of specialist support services they commission according to the needs of schools in their authority. The SEND Code of Practice makes clear that all local authorities are required to publish a local offer, which sets out information about provision they expect to be available for children and young people with SEND in their area. The local offer must include relevant regional and national specialist provision, such as provision for children and young people with low-incidence and more complex special educational needs (SEN).</p><p> </p><p>Under the SEND Schools’ Workforce contract, eight regional hubs will be created, consisting of a Regional and Deputy Regional SEND Leader in each region. Their role is to identify and bring together local SEND networks and to support school improvement, including condition specific networks. As part of that work, they will make links with the SEND leads in local authorities and will use those discussions to identify weaknesses and priorities for school improvement in the area.</p><p> </p><p>Our work with the whole school SEND programme will help us understand the gaps in training and resources available to schools to support pupils with SEND, including the needs of mainstream schools to support pupils with hearing impairments. As we review the conclusions of that analysis, we will also consider the information received from the National Deaf Children’s Society on trends in the recruitment of Teachers of the Deaf.</p><p> </p><p>The department is reviewing recruitment and retention data to understand whether special schools and alternative providers are facing teacher shortages and how this compares to mainstream teaching as part of a wider focus on teacher recruitment and retention.</p><p> </p> answering member constituency Stratford-on-Avon answering member printed Nadhim Zahawi grouped question UIN 175976 175977 question first answered 16/10/2018 10:45:10 answering member 4113 label Biography information for Nadhim Zahawi
tabling member	478 label Biography information for Lord Field of Birkenhead

982582

registered interest
date	08/10/2018
answering body	Department for Education
answering dept id	60
answering dept short name	Education
answering dept sort name	Education
hansard heading	Special Educational Needs: Hearing Impairment
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Education, pursuant to the Answer of 11 September 2018 to Question 169059 on Pupils: Hearing Impairment, whether the new SEND regional leads have been tasked with engaging with local authority specialist education services for deaf children.
tabling member constituency	Birkenhead
tabling member printed	Frank Field
uin	175976
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 16/10/2018 answer text <p>The funding made available through the new Department for Education contracts covers a wide range of activity designed to support the education workforce, support families, and support local authorities and their partners. Within this, £3.4 million has been provided for the special educational needs and disability (SEND) Schools’ Workforce contract, a strand of which is a study to understand the supply, demand and drivers for SEND continuing professional development (CPD). Also included is an exercise to map access to CPD and an analysis of the gaps in training and resources available to schools. The aim of the contract is to ensure that all teachers are equipped to respond to the needs of their pupils, including those with hearing impairment.</p><p> </p><p>Supporting teachers of pupils with sensory impairment is part of the contract, but direct funding for Teachers of the Deaf is not included in this activity and the department does not fund the training of Teachers of the Deaf. It is up to local authorities to work with the schools in their area to identify the nature of specialist support services they commission according to the needs of schools in their authority. The SEND Code of Practice makes clear that all local authorities are required to publish a local offer, which sets out information about provision they expect to be available for children and young people with SEND in their area. The local offer must include relevant regional and national specialist provision, such as provision for children and young people with low-incidence and more complex special educational needs (SEN).</p><p> </p><p>Under the SEND Schools’ Workforce contract, eight regional hubs will be created, consisting of a Regional and Deputy Regional SEND Leader in each region. Their role is to identify and bring together local SEND networks and to support school improvement, including condition specific networks. As part of that work, they will make links with the SEND leads in local authorities and will use those discussions to identify weaknesses and priorities for school improvement in the area.</p><p> </p><p>Our work with the whole school SEND programme will help us understand the gaps in training and resources available to schools to support pupils with SEND, including the needs of mainstream schools to support pupils with hearing impairments. As we review the conclusions of that analysis, we will also consider the information received from the National Deaf Children’s Society on trends in the recruitment of Teachers of the Deaf.</p><p> </p><p>The department is reviewing recruitment and retention data to understand whether special schools and alternative providers are facing teacher shortages and how this compares to mainstream teaching as part of a wider focus on teacher recruitment and retention.</p><p> </p> answering member constituency Stratford-on-Avon answering member printed Nadhim Zahawi grouped question UIN 175975 175977 question first answered 16/10/2018 10:45:10 answering member 4113 label Biography information for Nadhim Zahawi
tabling member	478 label Biography information for Lord Field of Birkenhead

982583

registered interest
date	08/10/2018
answering body	Department for Education
answering dept id	60
answering dept short name	Education
answering dept sort name	Education
hansard heading	Pupils: Hearing Impairment
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps his Department is taking to monitor the adequacy of the number of Teachers of the Deaf.
tabling member constituency	Birkenhead
tabling member printed	Frank Field
uin	175977
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 16/10/2018 answer text <p>The funding made available through the new Department for Education contracts covers a wide range of activity designed to support the education workforce, support families, and support local authorities and their partners. Within this, £3.4 million has been provided for the special educational needs and disability (SEND) Schools’ Workforce contract, a strand of which is a study to understand the supply, demand and drivers for SEND continuing professional development (CPD). Also included is an exercise to map access to CPD and an analysis of the gaps in training and resources available to schools. The aim of the contract is to ensure that all teachers are equipped to respond to the needs of their pupils, including those with hearing impairment.</p><p> </p><p>Supporting teachers of pupils with sensory impairment is part of the contract, but direct funding for Teachers of the Deaf is not included in this activity and the department does not fund the training of Teachers of the Deaf. It is up to local authorities to work with the schools in their area to identify the nature of specialist support services they commission according to the needs of schools in their authority. The SEND Code of Practice makes clear that all local authorities are required to publish a local offer, which sets out information about provision they expect to be available for children and young people with SEND in their area. The local offer must include relevant regional and national specialist provision, such as provision for children and young people with low-incidence and more complex special educational needs (SEN).</p><p> </p><p>Under the SEND Schools’ Workforce contract, eight regional hubs will be created, consisting of a Regional and Deputy Regional SEND Leader in each region. Their role is to identify and bring together local SEND networks and to support school improvement, including condition specific networks. As part of that work, they will make links with the SEND leads in local authorities and will use those discussions to identify weaknesses and priorities for school improvement in the area.</p><p> </p><p>Our work with the whole school SEND programme will help us understand the gaps in training and resources available to schools to support pupils with SEND, including the needs of mainstream schools to support pupils with hearing impairments. As we review the conclusions of that analysis, we will also consider the information received from the National Deaf Children’s Society on trends in the recruitment of Teachers of the Deaf.</p><p> </p><p>The department is reviewing recruitment and retention data to understand whether special schools and alternative providers are facing teacher shortages and how this compares to mainstream teaching as part of a wider focus on teacher recruitment and retention.</p><p> </p> answering member constituency Stratford-on-Avon answering member printed Nadhim Zahawi grouped question UIN 175975 175976 question first answered 16/10/2018 10:45:10 answering member 4113 label Biography information for Nadhim Zahawi
tabling member	478 label Biography information for Lord Field of Birkenhead

982602

registered interest
date	08/10/2018
answering body	Department for Education
answering dept id	60
answering dept short name	Education
answering dept sort name	Education
hansard heading	Breakfast Clubs: Nottinghamshire
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if he will provide a list of the organisations in Nottinghamshire that have been allocated funding for breakfast or lunch clubs over school holiday periods in each of the last five years.
tabling member constituency	Mansfield
tabling member printed	Ben Bradley
uin	176661
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 11/10/2018 answer text <p>Earlier this year, we announced a programme of research and pilots to explore ways of supporting children from disadvantaged families to access free enrichment activities and healthy food during school holidays.</p><p>This summer we awarded £2 million to seven organisations that supported programmes of free food and activities for disadvantaged children around the country. We have not published a list of the individual clubs and locations. However, a number of clubs were operating in Nottinghamshire as part of the 2018 pilot programme. They operated in the following locations: Bingham Children’s Centre and the Lifespring Church in New Ollerton.</p><p>We will use the data and the information gathered during the 2018 pilots to help shape our plans for 2019, which will be announced later this year.</p> answering member constituency Stratford-on-Avon answering member printed Nadhim Zahawi question first answered 11/10/2018 16:52:57 answering member 4113 label Biography information for Nadhim Zahawi
tabling member	4663 label Biography information for Ben Bradley

982611

registered interest
date	08/10/2018
answering body	Department for Education
answering dept id	60
answering dept short name	Education
answering dept sort name	Education
hansard heading	Children: Day Care
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if he will make an assessment of the potential merits of allocating unused monies from the free 15 hours childcare offer for disadvantaged two-year-olds, to develop an intensive programme of home visiting focused on improving school readiness.
tabling member constituency	Birkenhead
tabling member printed	Frank Field
uin	175979
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 11/10/2018 answer text <p>Local authorities must fund childcare providers to deliver all the early years entitlements. Central government funds local authorities for the cost of delivering the entitlement for two-year-olds and the entitlements for three- and four-year-olds through the Dedicated Support Grant (DSG), based on take-up according to an annual census. It is the responsibility of local authorities to spend that funding according to the DSG conditions of grant.</p><p> </p><p>We agree that the home learning environment is hugely important and that is why the Secretary of State for Education has set an ambition to halve by 2028 the number of children that finish their reception year still without the early communication and reading skills they need to thrive. This will mean supporting parents to help their child’s early language development, and contributions across society; with businesses, the media, the voluntary sector, and our tech industry forming a coalition to help take this work forward. This will commence with a summit this autumn.</p><p> </p><p> </p> answering member constituency Stratford-on-Avon answering member printed Nadhim Zahawi question first answered 11/10/2018 16:47:46 answering member 4113 label Biography information for Nadhim Zahawi
tabling member	478 label Biography information for Lord Field of Birkenhead

982719

registered interest
date	08/10/2018
answering body	Department for Education
answering dept id	60
answering dept short name	Education
answering dept sort name	Education
hansard heading	Pupils: Arthritis
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps he is taking to ensure that schools are offering adequate help and support for children with juvenile idiopathic arthritis.
tabling member constituency	Stroud
tabling member printed	Dr David Drew
uin	175891
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 16/10/2018 answer text <p>It is important that children with medical conditions, such as juvenile idiopathic arthritis, are supported to receive a full education. Under Section 100 of the Children and Families Act 2014, governing boards are required to make arrangements to support pupils with medical conditions and to have regard to statutory guidance.</p><p>The guidance is available at <a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/supporting-pupils-at-school-with-medical-conditions--3" target="_blank">https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/supporting-pupils-at-school-with-medical-conditions--3</a>, and covers a range of areas including the preparation and implementation of school policies for supporting pupils with medical conditions, the use of individual healthcare plans, staff training, medicines administration, roles and responsibilities, consulting with parents and collaborative working with healthcare professionals. It was developed with a range of stakeholders including the Health Conditions in Schools Alliance (HSA), school leaders, academy organisations, unions, young people and their parents, and Department of Health and Social Care officials and is based on good practice in schools.</p><p>We continue to work with organisations such as the HSA to help raise further awareness of the duty on schools.</p> answering member constituency Stratford-on-Avon answering member printed Nadhim Zahawi question first answered 16/10/2018 10:37:25 answering member 4113 label Biography information for Nadhim Zahawi
tabling member	252 label Biography information for Dr David Drew

982739

registered interest
date	08/10/2018
answering body	Department for Education
answering dept id	60
answering dept short name	Education
answering dept sort name	Education
hansard heading	Adoption Support Fund
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what his plans are for the Adoption Support Fund over the next five years.
tabling member constituency	South Shields
tabling member printed	Mrs Emma Lewell-Buck
uin	176315
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 16/10/2018 answer text <p>The Adoption Support Fund is guaranteed until March 2020. Plans for the fund beyond 2020 will be considered as part of the government spending review process.</p> answering member constituency Stratford-on-Avon answering member printed Nadhim Zahawi question first answered 16/10/2018 14:22:15 answering member 4113 label Biography information for Nadhim Zahawi
tabling member	4277 label Biography information for Mrs Emma Lewell-Buck