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1506522

registered interest
date	20/09/2022
answering body	Department for Education
answering dept id	60
answering dept short name	Education
answering dept sort name	Education
hansard heading	Social Workers: Agency Workers
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if he will take steps to reduce the number of agency social workers working in the care system.
tabling member constituency	York Central
tabling member printed	Rachael Maskell
uin	51794
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 28/09/2022 answer text <p>The department invests over £50 million each year on recruiting and developing child and family social workers to ensure the workforce continues to have the capacity, skills, and knowledge to support and protect vulnerable children.</p><p>However, as the Independent Review of Children’s Social Care set out, social worker recruitment, retention, and quality across the country are not consistently at the levels they need to be.</p><p>The department is currently considering the review’s recommendations which includes ideas such as regional staff banks, national pay scales, and memoranda of understanding to help reduce the cost and use of agency social work.</p><p>The department will publish the children’s social care implementation strategy in due course.</p><p> </p><p> </p> answering member constituency Rochester and Strood answering member printed Kelly Tolhurst question first answered 28/09/2022 11:30:05 answering member 4487 label Biography information for Kelly Tolhurst
tabling member	4471 label Biography information for Rachael Maskell

1506540

registered interest
date	20/09/2022
answering body	Department for Education
answering dept id	60
answering dept short name	Education
answering dept sort name	Education
hansard heading	Oak National Academy: Competition
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 impact of the establishment of Oak National Academy as a public body on the operation of the wider market for commercial educational resources.
tabling member constituency	Houghton and Sunderland South
tabling member printed	Bridget Phillipson
uin	51614
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 28/09/2022 answer text <p>As an integral part of the process to set up Oak National Academy as an arm’s length body, the department produced a business case which included an assessment of potential market impact. This business case will be published shortly. Monitoring market impact will be a priority throughout Oak National Academy’s lifetime and will be factored into the body’s ongoing evaluation and two-year review.</p> answering member constituency Rochester and Strood answering member printed Kelly Tolhurst question first answered 28/09/2022 10:51:29 answering member 4487 label Biography information for Kelly Tolhurst
tabling member	4046 label Biography information for Bridget Phillipson

1506541

registered interest
date	20/09/2022
answering body	Department for Education
answering dept id	60
answering dept short name	Education
answering dept sort name	Education
hansard heading	Oak National Academy: Finance
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what budget his Department has allocated to Oak National Academy in the financial year 2022-2023; how that money will be spent in the remainder of the financial year; and if he will make a statement.
tabling member constituency	Houghton and Sunderland South
tabling member printed	Bridget Phillipson
uin	51615
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 28/09/2022 answer text <p>A total of £9.8 million has been budgeted for Oak National Academy in the financial year 2022/2023.</p><p>Oak National Academy will continue to work with teachers across the country, giving them and their pupils access to high-quality digital curriculum resources which are free, optional, and adaptable. These optional resources will be available across the UK, helping teachers deliver a high-quality curriculum.</p><p>Oak will begin a procurement of full curriculum packages this autumn. Based on sector feedback and in line with the government’s strategic priorities, the first group of six subjects will be: English, maths, science, history, geography and music. Oak’s intention is to have some limited, new resources available in September 2023, with most of Oak’s existing resources maintained on the platform in the interim. Full curriculum packages in the first group of subjects will be available by September 2024.</p><p>A portion of the £9.8 million of funding was allocated through the Grant Funding Agreement which enabled Oak National Academy to maintain its activity prior to becoming a non-departmental public body.</p> answering member constituency Rochester and Strood answering member printed Kelly Tolhurst question first answered 28/09/2022 16:43:16 answering member 4487 label Biography information for Kelly Tolhurst
tabling member	4046 label Biography information for Bridget Phillipson

1506542

registered interest
date	20/09/2022
answering body	Department for Education
answering dept id	60
answering dept short name	Education
answering dept sort name	Education
hansard heading	Schools: Finance
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what recent discussions he has had with school leaders on the adequacy of levels of school budgets in autumn 2022.
tabling member constituency	Houghton and Sunderland South
tabling member printed	Bridget Phillipson
uin	51616
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 17/10/2022 answer text <p>The Department continues to speak to a range of organisations representing Head Teachers and directly to Head Teachers themselves. Discussions have included school funding and build on the regular engagement the Department has already had.</p><p>Overall, core schools funding, including funding for both mainstream and high needs schools, is increasing by £4 billion in 2022/23 financial year compared to 2021/22. This brings the total core schools budget to £53.8 billion. This means the total funding allocated to schools and high needs seeing a 7% cash terms per pupil increase in the 2022/23 financial year compared to the previous financial year.</p><p>On 21 September 2022, the Government set out how businesses and public sector organisations, including schools, will be supported by the Energy Bill Relief Scheme. This will reduce how much schools need to spend on their energy, and give schools greater certainty over their budgets over the winter months.</p><p>Any school which has signed a fixed energy contract since April 2022 will be eligible for support if, at the time they signed their contact, wholesale prices for the next six months were expected to be higher than the Government-supported price of £211/MWh for electricity, and £75/MWh for gas.</p><p>For example, a school which uses 10 MWh of electricity and 22 MWh of gas a month and signed a fixed contract giving them a current monthly energy bill of about £10,000, would receive support based on the difference between expected wholesale prices when they signed their contract and the Government-supported price. For a contract signed in July 2022, this could be worth £240/MWh for electricity and £70/MWh for gas, meaning the school receives a discount of £4,000 per month, reducing their original bill by 40%.</p><p>Support will also be available to schools on variable, deemed and other contracts.</p><p>The details of the scheme can be found here: <a href="https://www.gov.uk/guidance/energy-bill-relief-scheme-help-for-businesses-and-other-non-domestic-customers" target="_blank">https://www.gov.uk/guidance/energy-bill-relief-scheme-help-for-businesses-and-other-non-domestic-customers</a>.</p><p> </p> answering member constituency Stoke-on-Trent North answering member printed Jonathan Gullis question first answered 17/10/2022 16:35:34 answering member 4814 label Biography information for Jonathan Gullis
tabling member	4046 label Biography information for Bridget Phillipson

1506544

registered interest
date	20/09/2022
answering body	Department for Education
answering dept id	60
answering dept short name	Education
answering dept sort name	Education
hansard heading	Free School Meals: Finance
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Education, when his Department last made an assessment of the real terms value of the money allocated per meal for children on (a) universal infant and (b) other free school meals; and if he will make a statement.
tabling member constituency	Houghton and Sunderland South
tabling member printed	Bridget Phillipson
uin	51618
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 28/09/2022 answer text <p>At the point of any spending review, value is considered when decisions are made on any changes to meal rates. Other features such as inflation and the changing cost of living are also factors taken into account.</p><p>Core schools funding has increased, including the ‘Free School Meals factor’, in the National Funding Formula (NFF) having increased to £470 per eligible pupil this year. In recognition of cost pressures, after the NFF rates were set, we provided additional core funding through a schools supplementary grant. As a result, mainstream schools funding is increasing by £2.5 billion in 2022/23, compared to last year.</p><p>Following extensive consultation when the national funding formula (NFF) was first introduced, schools attracted £440 per pupil in FSM funding in 2018/19 and 2019/20. Since then, the per pupil rate for FSM has increased in line with inflation forecasts in every year.</p><p>Ordinarily the new funding rates take effect from the start of the academic year, however, we recognise that schools are under cost pressures and some suppliers may have been forced to increase prices already. That is why we have backdated the increase to start from April 2022.</p><p> </p> answering member constituency Rochester and Strood answering member printed Kelly Tolhurst question first answered 28/09/2022 10:56:18 answering member 4487 label Biography information for Kelly Tolhurst
tabling member	4046 label Biography information for Bridget Phillipson

1506220

registered interest
date	08/09/2022
answering body	Department for Education
answering dept id	60
answering dept short name	Education
answering dept sort name	Education
hansard heading	Schools: Energy
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 that schools are not substantially impacted by rising energy prices.
tabling member constituency	Southport
tabling member printed	Damien Moore
uin	49761
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 27/09/2022 answer text <p>Schools will benefit from the Energy Bill Relief Scheme, which will run until at least 31 March 2023. This will reduce how much schools need to spend on their energy and give schools greater certainty over their budgets during the winter months.</p><p>Any school which has signed a fixed energy contract since April 2022 will be eligible for support if, at the time they signed their contact, wholesale prices for the next 6 months were expected to be higher than the Government supported price of £211/MWh for electricity, and £75/MWh for gas.</p><p>For example, a school which uses 10 MWh of electricity and 22 MWh of gas a month and signed a fixed contract giving them a current monthly energy bill of about £10,000, would receive support based on the difference between expected wholesale prices when they signed their contract and the Government supported price. For a contract signed in July 2022, this could be worth £240/MWh for electricity and £70/MWh for gas, meaning the school receives a discount of £4,000 per month, reducing their original bill by 40%.</p><p>Support will also be available to schools on variable, deemed and other contracts.</p><p>There will be a review in 3 months time to determine how the scheme should best be targeted beyond this period to focus support on vulnerable sectors.</p><p>The details of the scheme can be found here: <a href="https://www.gov.uk/guidance/energy-bill-relief-scheme-help-for-businesses-and-other-non-domestic-customers" target="_blank">https://www.gov.uk/guidance/energy-bill-relief-scheme-help-for-businesses-and-other-non-domestic-customers</a>.</p><p>The Government is also providing schools with the largest cash boost in a decade. Following the 2021 Spending Review, core schools funding (including funding for both mainstream schools and high needs) is increasing by £4 billion in 2022/23 compared to the previous year.</p><p>The Department knows that schools are facing higher costs and that these costs impact schools differently depending on their circumstance. The Department will continue to monitor these pressures and support schools in managing them, through our range of school resource management tools. Where schools are in serious financial difficulty, they should contact their local authority or the Education and Skills Funding Agency.</p><p> </p> answering member constituency Stoke-on-Trent North answering member printed Jonathan Gullis question first answered 27/09/2022 09:02:03 answering member 4814 label Biography information for Jonathan Gullis
tabling member	4669 label Biography information for Damien Moore

1506221

registered interest
date	08/09/2022
answering body	Department for Education
answering dept id	60
answering dept short name	Education
answering dept sort name	Education
hansard heading	Shipping: Qualifications
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 increase the uptake in maritime qualifications in schools and colleges.
tabling member constituency	Southport
tabling member printed	Damien Moore
uin	49762
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 22/09/2022 answer text <p>Provision is already available for both those under 16 in a school setting seeking to understand more about the industry, and for post-16 students studying at level 2 and 3, who may be seeking to undertake a qualification to progress into an apprenticeship or into employment and wish to take a qualification which will involve a work-based setting.</p><p>There are around 40 qualifications focusing on aspects of maritime studies approved for funding for young people and adults, some of which are available only to adults. Others are available to those of school age or in further education. There are 12 apprenticeship standards in this sector approved for delivery, including Maritime Mechanical and Electrical Mechanic, Marine Surveyor, and Seafarer.</p><p>The Careers &amp; Enterprise Company is supporting schools and colleges to embed best practice in the delivery of careers information, advice, and guidance, so young people are aware of the full range of training and careers available to them and have access to a broad range of employers and workplaces, including those in the maritime sector. This will be delivered through the national roll-out of Career Hubs, Careers Leaders training, and the Enterprise Adviser Network.</p><p>The department has established the UK Shipbuilding Skills Taskforce (UKSST). This group is made up of representatives from across industry, trade unions, and training providers. It will look to address skills barriers in the sector by utilising and catalysing existing skills provisions. As part of this, existing provision will be reviewed to see how it can best meet the present skills demand and future needs. UKSST’s work will be driven by the needs of stakeholders from across the sector.</p> answering member constituency Morley and Outwood answering member printed Andrea Jenkyns question first answered 22/09/2022 12:03:47 answering member 4490 label Biography information for Dame Andrea Jenkyns
tabling member	4669 label Biography information for Damien Moore

1506248

registered interest
date	08/09/2022
answering body	Department for Education
answering dept id	60
answering dept short name	Education
answering dept sort name	Education
hansard heading	GCE A-level and GCSE
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment he has made of trends in the level of attainment in (a) GCSE and (b) A-Level this year in England.
tabling member constituency	Southport
tabling member printed	Damien Moore
uin	49775
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 26/09/2022 answer text <p>Ofqual have previously announced a planned and managed transition back to pre-COVID-19 pandemic grading arrangements, in recognition of the disruption that students experienced due to the COVID-19 pandemic. As such, 2022 has been described as a transition year and overall, the results have reflected the policy intention for outcomes this year to be between 2019 and 2021. This year’s results are higher than in 2019 and lower than 2021, when teacher assessed grades were used as the method of assessment.</p><p>The Joint Council for Qualifications and Ofqual have published further breakdowns of results for GCSE and A levels according to gender, centre type and by region. At a regional level, the trends are broadly stable compared to previous years, with London and the South East having the highest proportion of entries for A level and GCSEs and achieving the highest grades. In 2022, girls continue to outperform boys at all grades overall for GCSEs and A levels.</p><p>Results by other pupil characteristics, including disadvantage, are not yet available for GCSEs or A levels. The department publishes this data in as timely a way as possible. This year, improvements to processing mean it is possible bring forward the publishing of this data from January 2023 to October 2022 for GCSEs, and to November 2022 for A levels.</p> answering member constituency Rochester and Strood answering member printed Kelly Tolhurst question first answered 26/09/2022 09:05:28 answering member 4487 label Biography information for Kelly Tolhurst
tabling member	4669 label Biography information for Damien Moore

1506249

registered interest
date	08/09/2022
answering body	Department for Education
answering dept id	60
answering dept short name	Education
answering dept sort name	Education
hansard heading	Pupils: Refugees
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what recent estimate he has made of the number of Ukrainian pupils attending secondary school in (a) England, (b) the North West England region and (c) Southport constituency.
tabling member constituency	Southport
tabling member printed	Damien Moore
uin	49776
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 27/09/2022 answer text <p>The information requested is not held by the department. However, data is collected on the number of school place applications and offers made for children from outside of the UK, including children from Ukraine. More information can be found here: <a href="https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/find-statistics/school-placements-for-children-from-outside-of-the-uk" target="_blank">https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/find-statistics/school-placements-for-children-from-outside-of-the-uk</a>.</p><p>Between 1 September 2021 and 26 July 2022, there were an estimated 7,000 applications in England for secondary school places for children from Ukraine. Of these 7,000 applications, 6,200 offers of secondary school places have been made. These figures are adjusted for non-response.</p><p>In the North West, there were an estimated 500 applications for secondary school places for children from Ukraine, with 400 offers made. These figures have been adjusted for non-response.</p><p>The data is not collected by constituency, however, for Sefton Council, there were 11 applications for secondary school places, with 11 offers made. These figures are as reported by the local authority.</p> answering member constituency Rochester and Strood answering member printed Kelly Tolhurst question first answered 27/09/2022 08:30:14 answering member 4487 label Biography information for Kelly Tolhurst
tabling member	4669 label Biography information for Damien Moore

1506250

registered interest
date	08/09/2022
answering body	Department for Education
answering dept id	60
answering dept short name	Education
answering dept sort name	Education
hansard heading	Pupils: Feltham and Heston
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many schools in Feltham and Heston constituency have over 40 per cent of students in IDACI bands A to F.
tabling member constituency	Feltham and Heston
tabling member printed	Seema Malhotra
uin	49683
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 26/09/2022 answer text <p>The Department uses income deprivation affecting children index (IDACI) bands to allocate funding through the schools and high needs National Funding Formulae (NFF). We calculate IDACI bands using IDACI ranks to group Lower Layer Super Output Areas (LSOAs) into seven bands of decreasing deprivation.</p><p>The schools NFF allocates funding for pupils aged 5 to 16 in mainstream schools. The data used for the 2023/24 financial year NFF allocations show 30 schools in Feltham and Heston constituency have over 40% of students in IDACI bands A to F. There are 36 schools in Feltham and Heston in scope for the schools NFF.</p><p>Schools in Feltham and Heston attract an increase of 7.8% per pupil for their NFF pupil-led funding across two years to academic year 2023/24 compared to 2021/22.</p><p>The high needs NFF allocates funding at local authority level. As such, the Department does not hold data on IDACI bands at special and alterative provision school level.</p><p> </p><p> </p> answering member constituency Stoke-on-Trent North answering member printed Jonathan Gullis question first answered 26/09/2022 12:50:08 answering member 4814 label Biography information for Jonathan Gullis
tabling member	4253 label Biography information for Seema Malhotra