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1718759

registered interest
date	16/05/2024
answering body	Department for Education
answering dept id	60
answering dept short name	Education
answering dept sort name	Education
hansard heading	Childcare
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps her Department is taking to help (a) improve the quality of and (b) increase the affordability of childcare in (i) Wandsworth and (ii) the UK.
tabling member constituency	Putney
tabling member printed	Fleur Anderson
uin	26772
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 23/05/2024 answer text <p>The department is determined to support as many families as possible with access to high-quality, affordable childcare, which is why the 2023 Spring Budget announced significant new investments to expand the free early education entitlements from April 2024.</p><p> </p><p>The department is providing over £4.1 billion by 2027/28 to fund 30 hours of free childcare per week (38 weeks per year) for working parents with children aged nine months to three years in England. This will remove one of the biggest barriers to parents working by vastly increasing the amount of free childcare that working families can access. This is set to save working families using the fully-funded 30 hours up to £6,900 per year from when the child is nine months old until they are five years old by September next year.</p><p> </p><p>Already, over 200,000 two year olds are now confirmed to have places for 15 hours a week of free childcare, as part of the largest ever expansion of childcare in England. The take up nationwide for the validation codes already stands at 87.8%.</p><p>Funding will be key to delivering the existing and expanded childcare entitlements, so the department has substantially uplifted the hourly rate paid to local authorities to increase hourly rates paid to childcare providers. In 2024/25 alone, the department expects to provide over £1.7 billion to support local authorities and providers deliver the expansion to the early years entitlements. This is on top of over £400 million additional funding to deliver a significant uplift to the hourly rate paid to local authorities for the entitlements. The rates for the new entitlements have been independently confirmed by the Institute for Fiscal Studies to be well above market rates. For 2024/25, the department’s hourly funding rates for Wandsworth are: £15.21 for under twos, £11.17 for two year olds and £7.72 for three to four year olds.</p><p> </p><p>Furthermore, to ensure local authorities are fully supported in delivering the new entitlements, the department is funding local authorities an additional four weeks in 2024/25, at an estimated cost of £120 million, for the under twos working parent entitlement starting in September 2024.</p><p> </p><p>The quality of early years provision is a priority for the department. Evidence shows that high-quality early childhood education and care has a positive impact on children’s outcomes in the short and long term, particularly for the most disadvantaged children. Additionally, the department has invested up to £180 million in providing an early years education recovery package of workforce training, qualifications and support and guidance for the early years sector. This includes:</p><ul><li>Additional places for early years initial teacher training.</li><li>New level 3 qualifications criteria for early years educators to ensure higher-quality training and better care for children, which will come into effect from September 2024.</li></ul><p> </p><p>In addition to the expanded entitlements, the government has also taken action to support parents on Universal Credit with childcare costs upfront when they need it, rather than in arrears. The department has increased support for these parents by increasing the childcare cost maximum amounts to £950 for one child and £1629 for two children.</p><p> </p><p>Tax-Free Childcare remains available for working parents of children aged 0 to 11, or up to 17 for eligible disabled children. This can save parents up to £2,000 per year, or up to £4,000 for eligible children with disabilities and has the same income criteria as 30 hours free childcare.</p> answering member constituency Wantage answering member printed David Johnston question first answered 23/05/2024 16:52:02 answering member 4761 label Biography information for David Johnston
tabling member	4788 label Biography information for Fleur Anderson

1718760

registered interest
date	16/05/2024
answering body	Department for Education
answering dept id	60
answering dept short name	Education
answering dept sort name	Education
hansard heading	Sixth Form Education: Finance
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many funded enrolments there were on each of the courses for 16 to 19 year olds that will have funding withdrawn after 1 August 2024 in each financial year since 2021-22.
tabling member constituency	Feltham and Heston
tabling member printed	Seema Malhotra
uin	26685
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 21/05/2024 answer text <p>The exact information requested is not published. Data on the number of enrolments in the 2020/21 academic year, funded through 16 to 19 study programmes on each of the qualifications that will be defunded from 1 August 2024, is published here: <a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/qualifications-that-overlap-with-t-levels" target="_blank">https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/qualifications-that-overlap-with-t-levels</a>.</p><p> </p><p> </p> answering member constituency Thornbury and Yate answering member printed Luke Hall question first answered 21/05/2024 16:03:20 answering member 4450 label Biography information for Luke Hall
tabling member	4253 label Biography information for Seema Malhotra

1718813

registered interest
date	16/05/2024
answering body	Department for Education
answering dept id	60
answering dept short name	Education
answering dept sort name	Education
hansard heading	Nurseries: Leeds
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if she will have discussions with the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities on making funding available to Leeds City Council to ensure the continuation of Little Owls nursery provision.
tabling member constituency	Leeds North East
tabling member printed	Fabian Hamilton
uin	26664
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 21/05/2024 answer text <p>The department funds local authorities to deliver the early years entitlements. Local authorities are then responsible for funding early years providers at a local level, setting individual provider funding rates in consultation with their providers and schools forum, and fund providers using their local funding formula.</p><p> </p><p>Local authorities receive their government funding via the early years block of the Dedicated Schools Grant. For 2024/25, Leeds local authority’s indicative allocation for delivering the early years entitlements is £96,966,731, which has increased from £63,075,651.</p><p> </p><p>The department maintain a regular dialogue with local authorities, who are responsible for ensuring that the provision of childcare is sufficient to meet the requirements of parents in their area. Leeds City Council has not informed the department of any current sufficiency issues in its area.</p> answering member constituency Wantage answering member printed David Johnston question first answered 21/05/2024 16:44:58 answering member 4761 label Biography information for David Johnston
tabling member	415 label Biography information for Fabian Hamilton

1718863

registered interest
date	16/05/2024
answering body	Department for Education
answering dept id	60
answering dept short name	Education
answering dept sort name	Education
hansard heading	Personal, Social, Health and Economic Education
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether the Statutory Guidance on Relationships Education, Relationships and Sex Education and Health Education will include (a) variations in sex characteristics and (b) intersex.
tabling member constituency	Coventry North West
tabling member printed	Taiwo Owatemi
uin	26764
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 23/05/2024 answer text <p>Compulsory Relationships, Sex and Health Education (RSHE) should help pupils to understand that society consists of a diverse range of people. The department is currently consulting on updated RSHE guidance, with a view to finalising it later in the year. The consultation runs until 11 July 2024 and can be found at: <a href="https://consult.education.gov.uk/rshe-team/review-of-the-rshe-statutory-guidance/" target="_blank">https://consult.education.gov.uk/rshe-team/review-of-the-rshe-statutory-guidance/</a>.</p><p>The draft guidance includes a requirement that pupils should be taught about equality and the law relating to the protected characteristics by the end of their secondary education. The guidance is also clear that pupils should be taught the importance of respecting others, even when they are very different from them.</p><p> </p> answering member constituency East Hampshire answering member printed Damian Hinds question first answered 23/05/2024 14:11:21 answering member 3969 label Biography information for Damian Hinds
tabling member	4779 label Biography information for Taiwo Owatemi

1718868

registered interest
date	16/05/2024
answering body	Department for Education
answering dept id	60
answering dept short name	Education
answering dept sort name	Education
hansard heading	Schools: North East
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment she has made of trends in the level of funding for schools in (a) Newcastle upon Tyne Central constituency, (b) Newcastle upon Tyne and (c) the North East since 2010.
tabling member constituency	Newcastle upon Tyne Central
tabling member printed	Chi Onwurah
uin	26683
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 21/05/2024 answer text <p>This government is committed to providing a world class education system for all children and has invested significantly in education to achieve that.</p><p> </p><p>Including the additional funding for teachers’ pay and pensions, funding for both mainstream schools and high needs nationally is £2.9 billion higher in 2024/25, compared to 2023/24. The overall core school budget will total £60.7 billion in 2024/25, the highest ever level in real terms per pupil. This means school funding is set to have risen by £11 billion by 2024/25, compared to 2021/22.</p><p> </p><p>The department cannot provide funding comparisons for the Newcastle upon Tyne Central constituency, Newcastle upon Tyne, or the North East back to 2010, as comparable data is not available. However, at national level, school funding will be 5.5% higher in real terms per pupil in 2024/25 compared to 2010/11 when using the GDP deflator measure of inflation which is based on independent Office for National Statistics and Office for Budget Responsibility data, the routine measure of public spending. The additional 2024/25 pensions funding is provided on top of that.</p><p> </p><p>Mainstream schools in Newcastle upon Tyne Central Constituency are attracting an extra £3.8 million in 2024/25 compared to 2023/24 through the schools national funding formula (NFF), an increase of 2.2% per pupil in their pupil-led funding. As a result, schools in the Newcastle upon Tyne Central Constituency will attract over £89.9 million, based on the schools NFF. Constituency figures are based on an aggregation of school-level allocations through the NFF.</p><p> </p><p>Through the Dedicated Schools Grant (DSG), Newcastle upon Tyne local authority is receiving an extra £7.1 million for mainstream schools in 2024/25 compared to 2023/24, taking total school funding to over £228.7 million. This represents an increase of 2.1% per pupil compared to 2023/24 and an increase of 15.1% per pupil compared to 2021/22 (excluding growth funding).</p><p> </p><p>Through the DSG, the North East is receiving an extra £45.7 million for mainstream schools in 2024/25 compared to 2023/24, taking total school funding to over £2.0 billion. This represents an increase of 2.1% per pupil compared to 2023/24 and an increase of 14.8% per pupil compared to 2021/22 (excluding growth funding).</p><p> </p><p>All schools will receive additional funding through the Teachers’ Pay Additional Grant and Teachers' Pension Employer Contribution Grant 2024 in the 2024/25 financial year.</p><p> </p><p>The precise funding that individual schools in Newcastle upon Tyne Central constituency, Newcastle upon Tyne and the North East will receive year-on-year will depend on each school’s unique circumstances, and the decisions that local authorities have made about how to deploy funding. The national funding formula is designed to fund each school according to its relative needs and is updated annually to reflect how those needs change over time.</p> answering member constituency East Hampshire answering member printed Damian Hinds question first answered 21/05/2024 15:02:30 answering member 3969 label Biography information for Damian Hinds
tabling member	4124 label Biography information for Chi Onwurah

1718881

registered interest
date	16/05/2024
answering body	Department for Education
answering dept id	60
answering dept short name	Education
answering dept sort name	Education
hansard heading	Carers
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what progress her Department has made on the implementation of the National Kinship Care Strategy.
tabling member constituency	Mid Bedfordshire
tabling member printed	Alistair Strathern
uin	26804
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 21/05/2024 answer text <p>‘Championing Kinship Care’, which was published on 15 December 2023, sets out the department’s vision for a future kinship care system and how kinship carers can be better supported, so that more children can thrive. The department is investing £20 million of funding in 2024/25 to help move towards a children’s social care system with kinship at its heart.</p><p> </p><p>The department will launch a Pathfinder programme in 2024 in up to eight local authorities to provide special guardian kinship carers, who care for previously looked after children, with a financial allowance to be paid at the same rate as foster care. This programme will be backed by an investment of £16 million in 2024/25 and the department will explore expanding eligibility to broader cohorts of kinship carers and all local authorities in the future, subject to the findings of our evaluation. The department is currently working through the criteria for the eight local authorities, and will share further information on the Pathfinder in the coming months.</p><p> </p><p>The department also announced £3.8 million in 2024/25 to expand the role of Virtual School Heads to specifically include championing the education, attendance and attainment of children in kinship care. Local authority funding allocations were published in March 2024 and the role extension will come into effect from September 2024.</p><p> </p><p>The department is also delivering a package of training and support that all kinship carers across England can access if they wish to within this Spending Review period. The department is pleased to confirm the charity Kinship as the successful training partner and that the service went live in April 2024.</p> answering member constituency Wantage answering member printed David Johnston question first answered 21/05/2024 16:45:51 answering member 4761 label Biography information for David Johnston
tabling member	5000 label Biography information for Alistair Strathern

1718882

registered interest
date	16/05/2024
answering body	Department for Education
answering dept id	60
answering dept short name	Education
answering dept sort name	Education
hansard heading	Children: Social Services
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what progress her Department has made on the implementation of the financial allowance pathfinder.
tabling member constituency	Mid Bedfordshire
tabling member printed	Alistair Strathern
uin	26805
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 21/05/2024 answer text <p>The department will launch a Pathfinder programme in 2024 in up to eight local authorities to provide special guardian kinship carers, who care for previously looked after children, with a financial allowance to be paid at the same rate as foster care. This programme will be backed by an investment of £16 million in 2024/25 and the department will explore expanding eligibility to broader cohorts of kinship carers and all local authorities in the future, subject to the findings of our evaluation. Local authority selection will take place this year. The department will also work with an evaluation partner to make sure that the programme can provide robust evidence for future rollout. The department will share further information on the Pathfinder in the coming months.</p><p> </p> answering member constituency Wantage answering member printed David Johnston question first answered 21/05/2024 16:46:40 answering member 4761 label Biography information for David Johnston
tabling member	5000 label Biography information for Alistair Strathern

1718883

registered interest
date	16/05/2024
answering body	Department for Education
answering dept id	60
answering dept short name	Education
answering dept sort name	Education
hansard heading	Children: Social Services
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Education, when she plans to announce the eight local authorities selected for the financial allowance pathfinder.
tabling member constituency	Mid Bedfordshire
tabling member printed	Alistair Strathern
uin	26806
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 21/05/2024 answer text <p>The department will launch a Pathfinder programme in 2024 in up to eight local authorities to provide special guardian kinship carers, who care for previously looked after children, with a financial allowance to be paid at the same rate as foster care. This programme will be backed by an investment of £16 million in 2024/25 and the department will explore expanding eligibility to broader cohorts of kinship carers and all local authorities in the future, subject to the findings of our evaluation. Local authority selection will take place this year. The department will also work with an evaluation partner to make sure the programme can provide robust evidence for future rollout. The department will share further information on the Pathfinder in the coming months.</p> answering member constituency Wantage answering member printed David Johnston question first answered 21/05/2024 16:47:24 answering member 4761 label Biography information for David Johnston
tabling member	5000 label Biography information for Alistair Strathern

1718287

registered interest
date	15/05/2024
answering body	Department for Education
answering dept id	60
answering dept short name	Education
answering dept sort name	Education
hansard heading	Veterans: Schools
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 17 April 2024 to Question 20856 on Schools: Veterans, if she will make an assessment of the potential merits of creating a training scheme for veterans to become (a) headteachers and (b) members of schools’ Senior Leadership Teams.
tabling member constituency	Birmingham, Selly Oak
tabling member printed	Steve McCabe
uin	26332
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 23/05/2024 answer text <p>Schools are best placed to decide on the development need of their staff and the leadership structure that best suits their pupils. That is why the department has given all trusts and schools the authority to make their own recruitment decisions, including for headteachers and senior leaders, using their own policies and procedures in line with Employment Law, Equality Action 2010 and Safer Recruitment Guidance to recruit appropriate individuals. More information can be found here: <a href="https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/616e92fd8fa8f529777ffc40/Staff_Advice_Handbook_Update_-_October_2021.pdf" target="_blank">https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/616e92fd8fa8f529777ffc40/Staff_Advice_Handbook_Update_-_October_2021.pdf</a></p><p>Experience at various levels of teaching is an important factor for successful leadership of schools and, as such, almost all senior leaders and headteachers have been awarded qualified teacher status (QTS) and have experience as a class teacher before progressing to senior roles within schools.</p><p>For existing teachers and senior leaders, including veterans that have changed career and are working in schools, there is a range of specialist and leadership National Profession Qualifications available to provide training and support at all levels. These provide support to a range of professionals from those who want to develop expertise in high quality teaching practice to those who aspire to be members of school leadership teams and those leading multiple schools across trusts. Interested applicants can learn more about the qualifications and eligibility for scholarship funding by visiting the following link: <a href="https://www.gov.uk/guidance/national-professional-qualification-npq-courses" target="_blank">https://www.gov.uk/guidance/national-professional-qualification-npq-courses</a>.</p> answering member constituency East Hampshire answering member printed Damian Hinds question first answered 23/05/2024 09:00:53 answering member 3969 label Biography information for Damian Hinds
tabling member	298 label Biography information for Steve McCabe

1718288

registered interest
date	15/05/2024
answering body	Department for Education
answering dept id	60
answering dept short name	Education
answering dept sort name	Education
hansard heading	Armed Forces and Veterans: Curriculum
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 17 April 2024 to Question 20856 on Schools: Veterans, if she will make an assessment of the potential merits of introducing new activities in the national curriculum on the role of the armed forces and veterans in society.
tabling member constituency	Birmingham, Selly Oak
tabling member printed	Steve McCabe
uin	26333
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 23/05/2024 answer text <p>The National Curriculum is a framework setting out the content that the department expects schools to cover in each subject. The curriculum does not set out how curriculum subjects, or topics within the subjects, should be taught. The department believes schools should be able to use their own knowledge and expertise to determine how they teach their pupils, and to make choices about what they teach. Therefore, whilst the department does not direct schools to teach about the role of the armed forces and veterans in society, schools are already free to do so in the context of citizenship within the National Curriculum at Key Stages 3 and 4, which includes important content about the British constitution, the precious liberties enjoyed by the citizens of the United Kingdom and the roles played by public institutions and citizens.</p><p> </p><p>Schools are also able to teach about these topics within other subjects. For example, the flexibility within the history curriculum means that there is the opportunity for teachers to teach about the lived experience of veterans across the spectrum of themes and eras set out in the curriculum. The role of the armed forces could also be explored through English literature where the context is right.</p><p> </p><p>The government has committed to making no changes to the curriculum for the remainder of this parliament.</p> answering member constituency East Hampshire answering member printed Damian Hinds question first answered 23/05/2024 13:48:01 answering member 3969 label Biography information for Damian Hinds
tabling member	298 label Biography information for Steve McCabe