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1716087

registered interest
date	07/05/2024
answering body	Department for Education
answering dept id	60
answering dept short name	Education
answering dept sort name	Education
hansard heading	Education: Coventry
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 tackle educational disadvantage in (a) Coventry North East constituency and (b) Coventry.
tabling member constituency	Coventry North East
tabling member printed	Colleen Fletcher
uin	24940
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 14/05/2024 answer text <p>Raising attainment for all pupils, especially disadvantaged pupils, is at the heart of this government’s agenda. Evidence shows that pupils with additional needs are more likely to fall behind and need extra support to reach their full potential.</p><p>The department has consistently taken a range of steps to give priority support and deliver programmes that help disadvantaged pupils, including improving the quality of teaching and curriculum resources, strengthening the school system, and providing targeted support where needed.</p><p> </p><p>The Pupil Premium, worth over £2.9 billion in 2024/25 continues to support schools to improve educational outcomes for disadvantaged pupils.</p><p> </p><p>Coventry local authority is a designated Education Investment Area, for which the department has published Trust Development Statements, which can be found here: <a href="https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/1159211/West_Midlands_Trust_Development_Statements_v2.pdf" target="_blank">https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/1159211/West_Midlands_Trust_Development_Statements_v2.pdf</a>.</p><p> </p><p>The Trust Development Statement for Coventry outlines the department's vision to reduce the attainment gap between disadvantaged and non-disadvantaged pupils across all education phases. In order to raise education standards across Coventry, the department welcomes proposals from high-quality Multi Academy Trusts with experience in supporting communities with higher rates of deprivation.</p><p> </p><p>Schools and trusts can also receive up to 15 days of support from a system leader through the department's Trust and School Improvement Offer. Colleagues within the department work closely with Coventry City Council to identify schools and trusts that may benefit this support.</p> answering member constituency East Hampshire answering member printed Damian Hinds question first answered 14/05/2024 14:44:19 answering member 3969 label Biography information for Damian Hinds
tabling member	4378 label Biography information for Colleen Fletcher

1665346

registered interest
date	17/10/2023
answering body	Department for Education
answering dept id	60
answering dept short name	Education
answering dept sort name	Education
hansard heading	Reading: Boys
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 encourage boys to read more books.
tabling member constituency	Coventry North East
tabling member printed	Colleen Fletcher
uin	202997
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 26/10/2023 answer text <p>It has not proved possible to respond to the hon. Member in the time available before Prorogation.</p> answering member constituency Bognor Regis and Littlehampton answering member printed Nick Gibb question first answered 26/10/2023 11:17:01 answering member 111 label Biography information for Nick Gibb
tabling member	4378 label Biography information for Colleen Fletcher

1644255

registered interest
date	13/06/2023
answering body	Department for Education
answering dept id	60
answering dept short name	Education
answering dept sort name	Education
hansard heading	Teachers: Coventry
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 improve the (a) recruitment and (b) retention of teachers in (i) Coventry North East constituency and (ii) Coventry.
tabling member constituency	Coventry North East
tabling member printed	Colleen Fletcher
uin	189366
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 19/06/2023 answer text <p>The latest School Workforce Census, which was published on 8 June 2023, shows the number of teachers remains high, with 468,400 full time equivalent (FTE) teachers working in state funded schools across the country. This is over 27,000 more than in 2010. In November 2022, when the latest available data was collected, there were 3,284 FTE teachers in state funded schools in Coventry. This is an increase of 3.2% from the year previous when there were 3,182 FTE teachers in state funded schools in Coventry and an increase of 6.3% since 2010 when the school workforce census began when there were 3,090 FTE teachers in state funded schools in Coventry. Over this period, the number of schools in Coventry included in the school workforce census has ranged between 112 to 120. School Workforce Census data can be found online at: <a href="https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/find-statistics/school-workforce-in-england" target="_blank">https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/find-statistics/school-workforce-in-england</a>.</p><p>The Department’s reforms are aimed at increasing teacher recruitment and ensuring teachers across England stay in the profession.</p><p>The Department announced a financial incentives package worth up to £181 million for those starting initial teacher training (ITT) 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.</p><p>The Department provides a Levelling Up Premium worth up to £3,000 annually 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 (EIAs). The Department provides the highest payments to teachers in eligible schools in EIAs. Coventry is an EIA. There are seven schools in the Coventry North East constituency eligible for the Levelling Up Premium and 26 schools in the Coventry Local Authority. The eligibility criteria and list of eligible schools is available at: <a href="https://www.gov.uk/guidance/levelling-up-premium-payments-for-teachers" target="_blank">https://www.gov.uk/guidance/levelling-up-premium-payments-for-teachers</a>.</p><p>The Department has also 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 across all areas, the Department has worked with the education sector and published a range of resources to help address staff workload and wellbeing. This includes the workload reduction toolkit, which can be found here: <a href="https://www.gov.uk/guidance/school-workload-reduction-toolkit" target="_blank">https://www.gov.uk/guidance/school-workload-reduction-toolkit</a> and the Education Staff Wellbeing Charter, which can be found here: <a href="https://www.gov.uk/guidance/education-staff-wellbeing-charter" target="_blank">https://www.gov.uk/guidance/education-staff-wellbeing-charter</a>. More than 2,600 schools have signed up to the Charter so far.</p> answering member constituency Bognor Regis and Littlehampton answering member printed Nick Gibb question first answered 19/06/2023 15:21:26 answering member 111 label Biography information for Nick Gibb
tabling member	4378 label Biography information for Colleen Fletcher

1644256

registered interest
date	13/06/2023
answering body	Department for Education
answering dept id	60
answering dept short name	Education
answering dept sort name	Education
hansard heading	Childcare: Coventry
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 ensure the availability of high-quality childcare in (a) Coventry North East constituency and (b) Coventry.
tabling member constituency	Coventry North East
tabling member printed	Colleen Fletcher
uin	189367
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 19/06/2023 answer text <p>The department is determined to support as many families as possible with access to high-quality and affordable childcare. The Spring Budget 2023 announced significant new investments to expand the free early education entitlements from 2024/25, together with uplifts in 2023/24 and 2024/25 for the existing entitlement offers.</p><p>Eligible working parents in England will be able to access 30 hours of childcare per week, for 38 weeks of the year, from when their child is 9 months old to when they start school.</p><p>The government is committed to ensuring that every child in an early years setting, regardless of their background or any additional needs they may have, receives high-quality education and care.</p><p>Access to high-quality childcare ensures children and families can fulfil their potential, helping children to learn in their earliest years, and supporting a functioning economy by enabling parents to work.</p><p>The department knows that children are accessing high-quality childcare because as of August 2022, 96% of providers on the Early Years Register were rated Good or Outstanding, up from 74% in 2012.</p><p>Under Section 6 of the Childcare Act 2006, local authorities are responsible for ensuring that the provision of childcare is sufficient to meet the requirements of parents in their area. Part B of the early education and childcare statutory guidance for local authorities highlights that local authorities are required to report annually to elected council members on how they are meeting their duty to secure sufficient childcare, and to make this report available and accessible to parents.</p><p>The department has regular contact with each local authority in England about their sufficiency of childcare and any issues they are facing.</p> answering member constituency East Surrey answering member printed Claire Coutinho question first answered 19/06/2023 13:46:51 answering member 4806 label Biography information for Claire Coutinho
tabling member	4378 label Biography information for Colleen Fletcher

1579798

registered interest
date	23/01/2023
answering body	Department for Education
answering dept id	60
answering dept short name	Education
answering dept sort name	Education
hansard heading	Teachers: Labour Turnover and Recruitment
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 improve the recruitment and retention of teachers in (a) Coventry North East constituency, (b) Coventry, (c) the West Midlands and (d) England.
tabling member constituency	Coventry North East
tabling member printed	Colleen Fletcher
uin	129940
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 26/01/2023 answer text <p>The number of teachers remains high, with over 465,500 full time equivalent (FTE) teachers working in state funded schools across the country. This is over 24,000 more than in 2010. There are over 52,000 FTE teachers in the West Midlands, an increase of almost 1,300 since 2010. There are just under 3,200 in Coventry, an increase of almost 100 since 2010.</p><p>The Department announced a £181 million financial incentives package for those starting initial teacher training (ITT) 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>The Department provides a Levelling Up Premium worth up to £3,000 annually 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 (EIAs). The Department provides the highest payments to teachers in eligible schools in EIAs. In the West Midlands, Coventry and four other Local Authorities are EIAs. There are seven schools in the Coventry North East constituency eligible for the Levelling Up Premium, as well as 27 schools in the Coventry area, and over 200 schools in the West Midlands. The eligibility criteria and list of eligible schools is available on GOV.UK: <a href="https://www.gov.uk/guidance/levelling-up-premium-payments-for-teachers" target="_blank">https://www.gov.uk/guidance/levelling-up-premium-payments-for-teachers</a>.</p><p>The Department has recently raised starting salaries outside London by 8.9% to £28,000 and remains committed to the Department’s ambition of delivering £30,000 starting salaries to attract talented people to teaching.</p><p>In autumn 2021, the Department launched the ‘Apply for teacher training’ digital service. This enables a more streamlined, user friendly application route to attract and train teachers.</p><p>The Department will deliver 500,000 teacher training and development opportunities by the end of 2024, giving all teachers and school leaders access to world class, evidence based training and professional development at every stage of their career.</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 school leaders 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 is committed to taking a whole school approach to mental health and wellbeing, and to ensuring that staff wellbeing policy is integrated within schools’ culture. 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. More than 2,400 schools have signed up to the Charter since it was launched in November 2021. The Department has also published the workload reduction toolkit, developed alongside school leadership staff to help reduce workload, and resources to support schools to implement effective flexible working practices. Additionally, before the COVID-19 pandemic, average teacher and headteacher working hours reduced by five hours per week over the previous three years, as found by the Teacher Workload Survey in 2019.</p> answering member constituency Bognor Regis and Littlehampton answering member printed Nick Gibb question first answered 26/01/2023 13:27:13 answering member 111 label Biography information for Nick Gibb
tabling member	4378 label Biography information for Colleen Fletcher

1579799

registered interest
date	23/01/2023
answering body	Department for Education
answering dept id	60
answering dept short name	Education
answering dept sort name	Education
hansard heading	Students: Cost of Living
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 support students in (a) Coventry, (b) the West Midlands and (c) England with the rising cost of living.
tabling member constituency	Coventry North East
tabling member printed	Colleen Fletcher
uin	129941
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 27/01/2023 answer text <p>The government reviews the support provided to cover students’ living costs on an annual basis.</p><p>The government recognises the additional cost of living pressures that have arisen this year which have impacted students.</p><p>On 11 January 2023, the department announced a one-off reallocation of funding to add £15 million to this year's student premium to support additional hardship requests. There is now £276 million of student premium funding available this academic year to support disadvantaged students. This extra funding will complement the help universities are providing through their own bursary, scholarship and hardship support schemes. The department works with the Office for Students (OfS) to ensure universities support students using both hardship funds and drawing on the student premium.</p><p>Many universities in the West Midlands area, including but not limited to, Coventry University, the University of Wolverhampton, the University of Birmingham and Birmingham City University have allocated money to hardship, scholarship and bursary funds to support students, and have detail available about these funds on their websites.</p><p>We have continued to increase maximum loans and grants each year with a 2.3% increase for the current 2022/23 academic year and a further 2.8% increase for 2023/24.</p><p>Loans that support with students’ living costs are a contribution towards their living costs while attending university, with the highest levels of support targeted at students who need it the most, such as students from low-income families. Students who have been awarded a loan for living costs for the 2022/23 academic year that is lower than the maximum, and whose household income for the tax year 2022-23 has dropped by at least 15% compared to the income provided for their original assessment, can apply for their entitlement to be reassessed.</p><p>All households will save on their energy bills through the Energy Price Guarantee and the £400 Energy Bills Support Scheme discount. Students who buy their energy from a domestic supplier are eligible for the energy bills discount. The Energy Prices Act passed on 25 October 2022 includes the provision which requires landlords to pass any benefits they receive from energy price support onto end users, as appropriate. Further details of the requirements under this Act are set out in the legislation.</p><p>The Energy Bill Relief Scheme will provide a price reduction to ensure that all businesses and other non-domestic customers are protected from high energy bills this winter, including universities and private purpose-built student accommodation providers.</p><p> </p> answering member constituency Harlow answering member printed Robert Halfon question first answered 27/01/2023 13:37:30 answering member 3985 label Biography information for Robert Halfon
tabling member	4378 label Biography information for Colleen Fletcher

1579803

registered interest
date	23/01/2023
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 she is taking to help ensure childcare is (a) accessible and (b) affordable for parents in (i) Coventry North East constituency, (ii) Coventry, (iii) the West Midlands and (iv) England.
tabling member constituency	Coventry North East
tabling member printed	Colleen Fletcher
uin	129945
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 26/01/2023 answer text <p>The department remains committed to improving the cost, choice, and availability of childcare, and we are continuing to look at ways to make childcare more affordable and flexible for parents. In England, we have spent over £3.5 billion in each of the past three years on our early education entitlements to support families with the cost of childcare. This government-funded childcare support has benefited thousands of parents.</p><p>In July 2022, the department announced measures to increase the take-up of childcare support to ensure that families can access government support to save money on their childcare bills. This included our Childcare Choices communications campaign to ensure every parent knows about the government funded support they are eligible for. This information is available here: <a href="https://www.childcarechoices.gov.uk" target="_blank">https://www.childcarechoices.gov.uk</a>.</p><p>The department continues to engage with sector stakeholders and local authorities to monitor dynamics within local markets, parents’ access to the government’s entitlements, the childcare they require and the sustainability of the sector. We also continue to monitor the sufficiency of childcare. The key measure of sufficiency is whether the supply of available places is sufficient to meet the requirements of parents and children. Ofsted data currently shows that the number of places offered by providers on the Early Years Register has remained broadly stable at 1.3 million places since August 2015.</p><p>Under Section 6 of the Childcare Act 2006, local authorities are responsible for ensuring that the provision of childcare is sufficient to meet the requirements of parents in their area. The department has regular contact with each local authority in England and if a local authority raises concerns about sufficiency issues, we will support them with any specific requirements. At present, most local authorities, including Coventry City Council, which contains the constituency of Coventry North East, report that they are fulfilling their duty to ensure sufficient childcare. This is also the case in the West Midlands area.</p> answering member constituency East Surrey answering member printed Claire Coutinho question first answered 26/01/2023 17:21:40 answering member 4806 label Biography information for Claire Coutinho
tabling member	4378 label Biography information for Colleen Fletcher

1540164

registered interest
date	07/11/2022
answering body	Department for Education
answering dept id	60
answering dept short name	Education
answering dept sort name	Education
hansard heading	Free School Meals: Cost of Living
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what recent assessment she has made of the impact of rising food prices and increased inflation on the ability of (a) primary and (b) secondary schools to provide free school meals; and what plans she has to review the rate paid to schools to provide free school meals to help schools mitigate the effects of the rising cost of living.
tabling member constituency	Coventry North East
tabling member printed	Colleen Fletcher
uin	80728
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 14/11/2022 answer text <p>Schools pay for the provision of Free School Meals (FSM) from their core funding allocations. Overall, 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. This is a 7% increase in cash terms per pupil.</p><p>The core allocations that schools attract through the National Funding Formula (NFF) include funding in respect of Free School Meals. This is intended to broadly reflect the costs schools face in providing school meals. Following extensive consultation when the NFF was first introduced, schools attracted £440 per pupil through Free School Meals in 2018/19 and 2019/20. Each year, we set the NFF factor values to be used in the forthcoming funding year. Since the introduction of the NFF, the per pupil FSM rate has increased in line with forecast inflation in every year, as measured by the latest GDP deflator at the time.</p><p>The FSM factor is worth £470 per eligible pupil in 2022/23. This will increase to £480 in 2023/24. The factor values for each year are published on GOV.UK at: <a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/national-funding-formula-for-schools-and-high-needs" target="_blank">https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/national-funding-formula-for-schools-and-high-needs</a>. In reviewing future FSM rates, many factors will be taken into consideration, including cost of living pressures and inflation.</p><p>The Department also spends around £600 million on Universal Infant Free School Meals each year. The per meal rate has been increased from £2.34 to £2.41, and backdated to 1 April 2022, in recognition of increased costs.</p><p>The Department continues to keep FSM eligibility under review to ensure that these meals are supporting those who most need them.</p> answering member constituency Bognor Regis and Littlehampton answering member printed Nick Gibb question first answered 14/11/2022 15:23:21 answering member 111 label Biography information for Nick Gibb
tabling member	4378 label Biography information for Colleen Fletcher

1491035

registered interest
date	20/07/2022
answering body	Department for Education
answering dept id	60
answering dept short name	Education
answering dept sort name	Education
hansard heading	Children: Food
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what recent he has made of the impact of the rising cost of living on the level of food insecurity amongst school children in (a) Coventry North East constituency, (b) Coventry, (c) the West Midlands and (d) England; what assessment he has made of the effect of hunger on a child’s ability to learn; and what steps his Department is taking to tackle food insecurity for children and their families in those areas.
tabling member constituency	Coventry North East
tabling member printed	Colleen Fletcher
uin	40803
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 05/09/2022 answer text <p>The department has recently published data which includes free school meal (FSM) eligibility at national, regional, and local authority level. This can be found at: <a href="https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/find-statistics/school-pupils-and-their-characteristics" target="_blank">https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/find-statistics/school-pupils-and-their-characteristics</a>. The latest statistics show that 26.5% of pupils in the West Midlands are eligible for FSM and 24.8% are eligible in Coventry. The national average for England is 22.5%.</p><p>The department recognises that pupils’ health is improved and maintained by having a healthy, nourishing diet, which improves concentration and the ability to learn. The department spends over £1 billion each year on FSM, reaching around 1.9 million eligible children. It continues to supply a school meal to a further 1.25 million pupils through Universal Infant Free School Meals (UIFSM).</p><p>Core schools funding to deliver benefit-related FSM has increased. This includes the FSM factor in the national funding formula (NFF), which has increased to £470 per eligible pupil this year. After the NFF rates were set, the department provided additional core funding through a schools supplementary grant. As a result, core mainstream schools funding is increasing by £2.5 billion in 2022/23, compared to last year. The per meal rate for UIFSM has also been increased to £2.41, backdated to April 2022, in recognition of recent cost pressures.</p><p>Beyond FSM, the government funds a wide range of further provision for children at different stages, particularly aimed at encouraging healthy eating from a young age. These include Healthy Start for eligible pregnant women and children under 4, free nursery milk for all under 5-year-olds, the school fruit and vegetable scheme for all children between 4 and 6 in state-funded schools, and breakfast clubs.</p> answering member constituency Colchester answering member printed Will Quince question first answered 05/09/2022 07:51:43 answering member 4423 label Biography information for Will Quince
tabling member	4378 label Biography information for Colleen Fletcher

1490597

registered interest
date	19/07/2022
answering body	Department for Education
answering dept id	60
answering dept short name	Education
answering dept sort name	Education
hansard heading	Schools: Coventry
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether his Department has made an assessment of the impact of inflation on school budgets in (a) Coventry North East constituency and (b) Coventry.
tabling member constituency	Coventry North East
tabling member printed	Colleen Fletcher
uin	39870
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 05/09/2022 answer text <p>Cost pressures should be seen in the wider context of funding for schools. The department is delivering a £7 billion cash increase in schools and high needs funding nationally by the 2024/25 financial year, compared to the 2021/22 financial year. Increases in funding have been frontloaded, so that in the 2022/23 financial year core schools funding will increase by £4 billion compared to the 2021/22 financial year.</p><p>Coventry is attracting a further increase of £5 million for mainstream schools in the 2023/24 financial year through the schools national funding formula (NFF). This will take total school funding for the 2023/24 financial year in Coventry to £284.4 million, based on current pupil numbers. This represents an average increase of 7.5% across two years to 2023/24, compared to 2021/22. Final allocations for 2023/24 will be announced, as usual, in December.</p><p>Schools in Coventry North East are attracting an extra £1.8 million in the 2022/23 financial year through the schools NFF. On top of this funding through the NFF, schools in Coventry North East are seeing £2.9 million through the schools supplementary grant.</p><p>Schools in Coventry North East are attracting a further increase of £3.1 million in the 2023/24 financial year through the schools NFF. This will take total funding for the 2023/24 financial year for schools in Coventry North East to £106.2 million, based on current pupil numbers. This represents an increase of 7.3% per pupil for their pupil-led funding across two years to 2023/24 compared to 2021/22.</p><p>Schools’ actual allocations will be based on local authorities’ local funding formulae.</p><p> </p><p> </p> answering member constituency Colchester answering member printed Will Quince question first answered 05/09/2022 07:54:37 answering member 4423 label Biography information for Will Quince
tabling member	4378 label Biography information for Colleen Fletcher