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997546

registered interest
date	30/10/2018
answering body	Department for Education
answering dept id	60
answering dept short name	Education
answering dept sort name	Education
hansard heading	Religion: Curriculum
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether he has received representations on the exclusion of Christianity from the religious studies syllabus; and if he will make a statement.
tabling member constituency	Strangford
tabling member printed	Jim Shannon
uin	185597
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 07/11/2018 answer text <p>No representation has been received on the exclusion of Christianity from religious education curriculum or the GCSE in religious studies.</p><p> </p><p>Teaching about Christianity is a mandatory element of religious education. All state funded schools in England are required to teach religious education from age 5. This must ‘reflect that the religious traditions of Great Britain are in the main Christian whilst taking account of the teaching and practices of the other principal religions represented in Great Britain.’</p><p> </p><p>The government sets the content specification for Religious Studies GCSEs which requires students to demonstrate knowledge and understanding of the fact that the religious traditions of Great Britain are, in the main, Christian. Further information on GCSE subject content can be found at <a href="http://www.gov.uk/government/publications/gcse-religious-studies" target="_blank">www.gov.uk/government/publications/gcse-religious-studies</a>.</p> answering member constituency Bognor Regis and Littlehampton answering member printed Nick Gibb question first answered 07/11/2018 13:05:06 answering member 111 label Biography information for Nick Gibb
tabling member	4131 label Biography information for Jim Shannon

931781

registered interest
date	27/06/2018
answering body	Department for Education
answering dept id	60
answering dept short name	Education
answering dept sort name	Education
hansard heading	Universities: Scholarships
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what discussions he has had with representatives of universities on ensuring that (a) scholarships are made available and (b) those scholarships are all taken up; and if he will make a statement.
tabling member constituency	Strangford
tabling member printed	Jim Shannon
uin	158245
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 06/07/2018 answer text <p>Providers of higher education are autonomous institutions, and whether to offer scholarships is a matter for each individual provider to decide.</p><p> </p><p>Where providers use scholarships and other forms of financial support to help widen access, we have said in our guidance to the Office for Students (OfS), that we expect such financial support to be backed up by evidence that shows the investment is proportionate to the contribution it is expected to make towards widening access. Any provider wishing to charge higher fees has to have an access and participation plan agreed with the OfS, setting out the measures and expenditure it intends to make to widen the access and success of disadvantaged students in higher education.</p> answering member constituency East Surrey answering member printed Mr Sam Gyimah question first answered 06/07/2018 14:35:29 answering member 3980 label Biography information for Mr Sam Gyimah previous answer version 68143 answering member constituency East Surrey answering member printed Mr Sam Gyimah answering member 3980 label Biography information for Mr Sam Gyimah
tabling member	4131 label Biography information for Jim Shannon

926867

registered interest
date	19/06/2018
answering body	Department for Education
answering dept id	60
answering dept short name	Education
answering dept sort name	Education
hansard heading	Students: Loans
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assistance his Department gives to people just above the threshold for repayment of their student loans.
tabling member constituency	Strangford
tabling member printed	Jim Shannon
uin	155286
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 27/06/2018 answer text <p>Borrowers earning just above the repayment threshold will make relatively small repayments as the repayment amount is based on paying 9% (for Plan 1 and Plan 2 loans) or 6% (for Post-graduate loans) of income above the repayment threshold. The repayment thresholds are currently £18,330 for Plan 1 loans, £25,000 for Plan 2 loans, £21,000 post graduate loans. For example a borrower with a Plan 2 loan with an income of £26,000 a year, will pay £90 per year (or £7.50 per month). Borrowers earning below the repayment threshold pay nothing at all.</p> answering member constituency East Surrey answering member printed Mr Sam Gyimah question first answered 27/06/2018 13:55:52 answering member 3980 label Biography information for Mr Sam Gyimah
tabling member	4131 label Biography information for Jim Shannon

917339

registered interest
date	05/06/2018
answering body	Department for Education
answering dept id	60
answering dept short name	Education
answering dept sort name	Education
hansard heading	Pupils: Obesity
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what guidance his Department has given schools on carrying out obesity checks on pupils.
tabling member constituency	Strangford
tabling member printed	Jim Shannon
uin	150129
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 13/06/2018 answer text <p>Schools are a vital part of the government’s plans to tackle childhood obesity, and the department encourages a healthy, balanced diet and healthy life choices through school funding, legislation and guidance.</p><p> </p><p>The Department for Education does not provide guidance to schools on the specific issue of carrying out obesity checks on pupils. However, Public Health England publishes resources to support families (Change4Life), schools (Our Healthy Year) and health professionals to address childhood obesity.</p><p> </p><p>The School Food Standards provide the legislative framework to ensure schools provide children with healthy food and drink options. We have recently doubled the Primary PE and Sport Premium to £320 million a year from the 2017-18 academic year. We have also established a £100 million healthy pupils capital fund to facilitate an improvement in children’s physical and mental health by increasing and improving access to and use of relevant facilities, such as kitchens, dining facilities, changing rooms and sports facilities. We are also investing up to £26 million to kick-start or improve breakfast club provision in over 1,700 schools.</p> answering member constituency Stratford-on-Avon answering member printed Nadhim Zahawi question first answered 13/06/2018 16:27:11 answering member 4113 label Biography information for Nadhim Zahawi
tabling member	4131 label Biography information for Jim Shannon

850108

registered interest
date	26/02/2018
answering body	Department for Education
answering dept id	60
answering dept short name	Education
answering dept sort name	Education
hansard heading	Religion: Education
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 ensure there is an adequate number of religious education teachers.
tabling member constituency	Strangford
tabling member printed	Jim Shannon
uin	129676
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 06/03/2018 answer text <p>Teacher numbers are at an all-time high; there are over 457,000 FTE teachers in state-funded schools throughout England. There are 15,500 secondary phase religious education (RE) teachers, and this number has remained broadly stable since 2010.</p><p> </p><p>We recruited 405 trainee RE teachers in 2017/18. To recruit even more RE teachers, we are continuing to offer a generous bursary of up to £9,000 for RE trainee teachers. There are also School Direct salaried places for RE trainees, where trainees can receive a salary during their training year.</p> answering member constituency Bognor Regis and Littlehampton answering member printed Nick Gibb question first answered 06/03/2018 17:50:16 answering member 111 label Biography information for Nick Gibb
tabling member	4131 label Biography information for Jim Shannon

805971

registered interest
date	13/12/2017
answering body	Department for Education
answering dept id	60
answering dept short name	Education
answering dept sort name	Education
hansard heading	Construction: Skilled Workers
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what strategy his Department has in place to ensure sufficient skills for the housing construction programme.
tabling member constituency	Strangford
tabling member printed	Jim Shannon
uin	119181
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 22/12/2017 answer text <p>Plans to improve construction skills were set out in the recent Industrial Strategy White Paper. In particular, we will be making the Construction Industry Training Board more effective and accountable, and will be putting in place support for construction skills as part of the National Retraining Scheme, using additional funding announced in the Budget.</p><p> </p><p>The government also announced ambitious plans to increase homebuilding, with a target of 300,000 homes a year in England by 2025. The department is working with employers and others to make sure there are enough people with the right skills to deliver these plans.</p> answering member constituency Guildford answering member printed Anne Milton question first answered 22/12/2017 10:51:31 answering member 1523 label Biography information for Anne Milton
tabling member	4131 label Biography information for Jim Shannon

805973

registered interest
date	13/12/2017
answering body	Department for Education
answering dept id	60
answering dept short name	Education
answering dept sort name	Education
hansard heading	Overseas Students: Loans
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 prevent foreign students from not repaying outstanding loans in respect of private university fees.
tabling member constituency	Strangford
tabling member printed	Jim Shannon
uin	119183
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 19/12/2017 answer text <p>An eligible student qualifies for financial support in connection with a designated course subject to and in accordance with these the Education (Student Support) Regulations 2011 (as amended). To meet the requirements for support, a student should have settled status or a recognised connection with the United Kingdom: <a href="http://www.legislation.gov.uk/uksi/2011/1986/regulation/4/made" target="_blank">http://www.legislation.gov.uk/uksi/2011/1986/regulation/4/made</a>.</p><p> </p><p>The Student Loans Company (SLC) has arrangements in place to collect repayments from borrowers who move away from the UK and establishes a repayment schedule based on the borrower’s income and provides information on the methods of repayment available.</p><p> </p><p>If borrowers based overseas fail to remain in contact with the SLC, the SLC will set up a fixed repayment schedule and place those borrowers in arrears. Borrowers with post-2012 loans who have not remained in contact with the SLC are charged the maximum interest rate of RPI+3% until they get back in touch. Further action, including legal action, can then be taken to secure recovery.</p><p>The department published a Joint Repayment Strategy in February 2016, which sets out how action will be taken to trace borrowers and act to recover loans where avoidance or evasion is identified. This publication can be found on the government’s website.</p> answering member constituency Orpington answering member printed Joseph Johnson question first answered 19/12/2017 20:16:19 answering member 4039 label Biography information for Lord Johnson of Marylebone
tabling member	4131 label Biography information for Jim Shannon

788568

registered interest
date	13/11/2017
answering body	Department for Education
answering dept id	60
answering dept short name	Education
answering dept sort name	Education
hansard heading	First Aid: Education
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 ensure that first aid is taught in schools.
tabling member constituency	Strangford
tabling member printed	Jim Shannon
uin	112774
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 21/11/2017 answer text <p>Schools are free to teach first aid, and many schools already choose to teach it as part of personal, social, health and economic education (PSHE), building on the relevant statutory content in the National Curriculum, such as the science programmes of study at key stages 3 and 4.</p><p> </p><p>Schools are free to draw on materials from expert organisations; for example the non-statutory programme of study produced by the PSHE Association, which encourages schools to teach young people how to recognise and follow health and safety procedures, ways of reducing risk and minimising harm in risky situations, and how to use emergency and basic first aid.</p><p> </p><p>The Children and Social Work Act provides powers for the Secretary of State to make PSHE, or elements therein, mandatory in all schools, subject to careful consideration.</p><p>We have begun an engagement process to support the development of the regulations and guidance on Relationships Education for primary schools, and Relationships and Sex Education for secondary schools, and to be able to consider carefully the future status of PSHE.</p> answering member constituency Bognor Regis and Littlehampton answering member printed Nick Gibb question first answered 21/11/2017 16:20:28 answering member 111 label Biography information for Nick Gibb
tabling member	4131 label Biography information for Jim Shannon

782721

registered interest
date	02/11/2017
answering body	Department for Education
answering dept id	60
answering dept short name	Education
answering dept sort name	Education
hansard heading	Nurseries: Labour Turnover
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 improve the recruitment and retention of staff in nurseries.
tabling member constituency	Strangford
tabling member printed	Jim Shannon
uin	111013
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 10/11/2017 answer text <p>In March, the department published an early years’ workforce strategy, the Early Years Workforce Strategy, which can be found at: <a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/early-years-workforce-strategy" target="_blank">https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/early-years-workforce-strategy</a>. This set out a number of measures to support the sector to recruit, retain and develop staff. These measures are currently being implemented. To support recruitment, for example, we consulted with the sector and as a result broadened out the English and maths qualification requirements for level 3 staff to include other suitable level 2 qualifications, including functional skills.</p><p> </p> answering member constituency Scarborough and Whitby answering member printed Mr Robert Goodwill question first answered 10/11/2017 14:35:53 answering member 1562 label Biography information for Sir Robert Goodwill
tabling member	4131 label Biography information for Jim Shannon

777780

registered interest
date	25/10/2017
answering body	Department for Education
answering dept id	60
answering dept short name	Education
answering dept sort name	Education
hansard heading	ICT: Teachers
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps the Government is taking to enhance collaboration between the (a) Network of Teaching Excellence in Computer Science and (b) other programmes in England and equivalent computing teacher support programmes in the devolved nations.
tabling member constituency	Strangford
tabling member printed	Jim Shannon
uin	109646
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 03/11/2017 answer text <p>The Network of Excellence for Computer Science Teaching is a Department funded programme which provides high-quality continuing professional development to existing teachers in England.</p><p>This programme is contracted to the British Computing Society who have members and local branches across the whole of the UK. Through its management of Computing At Schools, a network of local hubs for computing science teachers across the UK, the British Computing Society ensures that the Network of Excellence is part of a collaborative UK wide network. The Network of Excellence responds to local needs through collaboration with wider programmes such as the STEM learning centre in York, the London mayor’s digital programmes, the Raspberry Pi Foundation and Apps for Good.</p> answering member constituency Bognor Regis and Littlehampton answering member printed Nick Gibb question first answered 03/11/2017 12:55:30 answering member 111 label Biography information for Nick Gibb
tabling member	4131 label Biography information for Jim Shannon