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1713330

registered interest
date	23/04/2024
answering body	Department for Education
answering dept id	60
answering dept short name	Education
answering dept sort name	Education
hansard heading	Schools: Buildings
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 adequacy of school building conditions.
tabling member constituency	Washington and Sunderland West
tabling member printed	Mrs Sharon Hodgson
uin	902520
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 29/04/2024 answer text <p>The government has compiled one of the largest and most comprehensive surveys of school building condition in Europe. The Condition Data Collection (CDC) programme is the first of its kind to help us understand the condition of the school estate, and target funding to where it is most needed. This programme ran from 2017 to 2019 and visited over 22,000 schools. The key findings from the first CDC programme is available at: <a href="https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/989912/Condition_of_School_Buildings_Survey_CDC1_-_key_findings_report.pdf" target="_blank">https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/989912/Condition_of_School_Buildings_Survey_CDC1_-_key_findings_report.pdf</a>.</p><p> </p><p>A follow up programme, known as Condition Data Collection 2, is underway and has already visited over half of the government funded school and college estate in England. The programme is due to be completed by 2026.</p><p> </p><p>It is the responsibility of those who run schools – such as academy trusts and local authorities – who work with their schools day to day to manage maintenance and to alert the department if there is a serious concern with a building that cannot be managed independently. The department supports them by providing capital funding, delivering major rebuilding programmes and offering guidance and support.</p><p> </p><p>The department has allocated over £17 billion since 2015 for improving the condition of schools, including £1.8 billion announced for 2024/25. In addition, the School Rebuilding Programme is transforming buildings at over 500 schools across England.</p> answering member constituency East Hampshire answering member printed Damian Hinds question first answered 29/04/2024 16:23:35 answering member 3969 label Biography information for Damian Hinds
tabling member	1521 label Biography information for Mrs Sharon Hodgson

1695337

registered interest
date	12/03/2024
answering body	Department for Education
answering dept id	60
answering dept short name	Education
answering dept sort name	Education
hansard heading	Free School Meals
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 20 March 2023 to Question 165185 on Free School Meals, what the complex data, systems, financial and legal implications are of a government-led rollout of automatic enrolment for all eligible children.
tabling member constituency	Washington and Sunderland West
tabling member printed	Mrs Sharon Hodgson
uin	18079
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 19/03/2024 answer text <p>​​​As previously communicated, the department has looked at auto-enrolment and considers there to be merit in local authorities exploring initiatives to maximise take up and to better understand the barriers that prevent such take up, whilst also ensuring adherence to legal and data protection constraints, which still remain an important consideration. These include constraints around data-sharing, as well as the need for families to make a claim for free school meals to be eligible under the current process.</p><p> </p><p>The department continues to engage with key stakeholders in this area, noting the methods currently being trialled across a number of local authorities to increase and maximise take up.</p><p> </p> answering member constituency East Hampshire answering member printed Damian Hinds question first answered 19/03/2024 16:40:02 answering member 3969 label Biography information for Damian Hinds
tabling member	1521 label Biography information for Mrs Sharon Hodgson

1693943

registered interest
date	05/03/2024
answering body	Department for Education
answering dept id	60
answering dept short name	Education
answering dept sort name	Education
hansard heading	Free School Meals
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 20 March 2023 to Question 165185 on Free School Meals, whether any complex data, systems, financial and legal implications are still a barrier to the rollout of auto-enrolment.
tabling member constituency	Washington and Sunderland West
tabling member printed	Mrs Sharon Hodgson
uin	17089
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 11/03/2024 answer text <p>Maximising the take up of free school meals is important in ensuring that as many eligible children as possible benefit from a healthy and nutritious meal. The department aims to make it as simple as possible for schools and local authorities to determine eligibility.</p><p>To support this, an Eligibility Checking System has been provided to make the checking process as quick and straightforward as possible for schools and local authorities.</p><p>The department has looked at auto-enrolment and considers there to be merit in local authorities exploring initiatives to maximise take up and to better understand the barriers that prevent such take up, whilst ensuring adherence to legal and data protection constraints, which still remains an important consideration.</p> answering member constituency East Hampshire answering member printed Damian Hinds question first answered 11/03/2024 12:12:32 answering member 3969 label Biography information for Damian Hinds
tabling member	1521 label Biography information for Mrs Sharon Hodgson

1679367

registered interest
date	05/01/2024
answering body	Department for Education
answering dept id	60
answering dept short name	Education
answering dept sort name	Education
hansard heading	Schools: Concrete
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 the potential impact of RAAC in schools on the coursework results of those studying creative subjects at (a) GCSE, (b) A-level and (c) T-level.
tabling member constituency	Washington and Sunderland West
tabling member printed	Mrs Sharon Hodgson
uin	7869
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 10/01/2024 answer text <p>The safety of staff and pupils is paramount, and the department has been working at pace with schools to identify RAAC and support them to minimise disruption to pupils’ education.</p><p> </p><p>The department is working closely with affected schools to ensure the best possible education for pupils and taking every step possible to remove any obstacles to learning through mitigations including temporary accommodation where this is needed and in some instances use of specialist facilities in off-site accommodation.</p><p> </p><p>Alongside Ofqual, the department has worked with awarding organisations to help facilitate discussions with affected schools. The department has asked awarding organisations to be as flexible as possible in agreeing longer extensions for coursework and non-examined assessment, including for creative subjects, so that schools have as much time as possible to complete this important part of pupils' learning and qualifications.</p><p> </p><p>If schools and colleges are experiencing difficulties in delivering particular GCSE, A level or T Level assessments, due to certain facilities being out of use due to RAAC or have any concerns about exams and assessments themselves being disrupted, they should speak to the relevant awarding organisation. Only the relevant awarding organisation will be able to confirm what can be done in any specific context and the specific options available.</p> answering member constituency East Hampshire answering member printed Damian Hinds grouped question UIN 7870 question first answered 10/01/2024 12:10:39 answering member 3969 label Biography information for Damian Hinds
tabling member	1521 label Biography information for Mrs Sharon Hodgson

1679368

registered interest
date	05/01/2024
answering body	Department for Education
answering dept id	60
answering dept short name	Education
answering dept sort name	Education
hansard heading	Schools: Concrete
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what discussions she has had with Ofqual on the inclusion of the impact of RAAC in schools in mitigating circumstances guidelines.
tabling member constituency	Washington and Sunderland West
tabling member printed	Mrs Sharon Hodgson
uin	7870
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 10/01/2024 answer text <p>The safety of staff and pupils is paramount, and the department has been working at pace with schools to identify RAAC and support them to minimise disruption to pupils’ education.</p><p> </p><p>The department is working closely with affected schools to ensure the best possible education for pupils and taking every step possible to remove any obstacles to learning through mitigations including temporary accommodation where this is needed and in some instances use of specialist facilities in off-site accommodation.</p><p> </p><p>Alongside Ofqual, the department has worked with awarding organisations to help facilitate discussions with affected schools. The department has asked awarding organisations to be as flexible as possible in agreeing longer extensions for coursework and non-examined assessment, including for creative subjects, so that schools have as much time as possible to complete this important part of pupils' learning and qualifications.</p><p> </p><p>If schools and colleges are experiencing difficulties in delivering particular GCSE, A level or T Level assessments, due to certain facilities being out of use due to RAAC or have any concerns about exams and assessments themselves being disrupted, they should speak to the relevant awarding organisation. Only the relevant awarding organisation will be able to confirm what can be done in any specific context and the specific options available.</p> answering member constituency East Hampshire answering member printed Damian Hinds grouped question UIN 7869 question first answered 10/01/2024 12:10:39 answering member 3969 label Biography information for Damian Hinds
tabling member	1521 label Biography information for Mrs Sharon Hodgson

1679369

registered interest
date	05/01/2024
answering body	Department for Education
answering dept id	60
answering dept short name	Education
answering dept sort name	Education
hansard heading	Schools: Concrete
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if she will make an estimate of the amount of physical learning time lost by pupils studying creative subjects in schools affected by RAAC in the last four months.
tabling member constituency	Washington and Sunderland West
tabling member printed	Mrs Sharon Hodgson
uin	7871
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 11/01/2024 answer text <p>An updated list of schools and colleges with confirmed cases of RAAC was published on 6 December, which is available at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/reinforced-autoclaved-aerated-concrete-raac-management-information.</p><p> </p><p>As of 27 November, there are 231 education settings with confirmed RAAC in some of their buildings. At the time of publication, three schools had hybrid arrangements in place, of which two are now in full time face-to-face education for all pupils and we expect the remaining school to be back in the near future. There were no education settings with confirmed RAAC where all pupils are in full-time remote learning.</p><p> </p><p>Where the presence of RAAC is confirmed, responsible bodies and schools are expected to ensure that face-to-face learning continues as a priority. The department will support them to do this through dedicated caseworker teams.</p><p> </p><p>Each school or college with confirmed RAAC is assigned dedicated support from a team of caseworkers, who work with schools and colleges to assess what support is needed and implement mitigation plans that are right for them. A bespoke plan is put in place to ensure that each school and college receives the support that suits its circumstances.</p><p> </p><p>Where some short-term disruption is inevitable, all available measures will be taken to minimise disruption to teaching and return pupils to face-to-face teaching as soon as possible.</p><p> </p><p>As all cases are different and the support each school or college receive is bespoke, identifying the number of pupils affected is not reflective of the reality for affected cases.</p> answering member constituency East Hampshire answering member printed Damian Hinds question first answered 11/01/2024 12:04:17 answering member 3969 label Biography information for Damian Hinds
tabling member	1521 label Biography information for Mrs Sharon Hodgson

1668926

registered interest
date	09/11/2023
answering body	Department for Education
answering dept id	60
answering dept short name	Education
answering dept sort name	Education
hansard heading	Family Hubs
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many new family hubs were created in each region in (a) 2022 and (b) 2023.
tabling member constituency	Washington and Sunderland West
tabling member printed	Mrs Sharon Hodgson
uin	1069
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 15/11/2023 answer text <p>The department is collecting data on the number of family hub sites within local authorities funded by the government through the Family Hubs Transformation Fund 1 and the Family Hubs &amp; Start for Life Programme and will publish a full list of family hub sites that are open in local authorities on the two programmes in due course.</p><p> </p> answering member constituency Wantage answering member printed David Johnston question first answered 15/11/2023 11:22:56 answering member 4761 label Biography information for David Johnston
tabling member	1521 label Biography information for Mrs Sharon Hodgson

1662093

registered interest
date	19/09/2023
answering body	Department for Education
answering dept id	60
answering dept short name	Education
answering dept sort name	Education
hansard heading	Childcare: Washington and Sunderland West
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 14 September 2023 to Question 198639 on Childcare, what steps her Department is taking to help ensure the adequacy of (a) trained staff, (b) safe premises and (c) registered places in Washington and Sunderland West constituency by the start of September 2025 to offer eligible children aged nine months and above to access 30 hours a week of free childcare for 38 weeks each year until the end of the term before they start at primary school.
tabling member constituency	Washington and Sunderland West
tabling member printed	Mrs Sharon Hodgson
uin	200233
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 17/10/2023 answer text <p>Having enough staff in place to deliver high-quality education and care will be key to ensuring the successful delivery of our record expansion of early years entitlements. Driving up interest in early years careers and ensuring there are enough opportunities for career development is a priority for this government.</p><p>In the government’s Spring Budget 2023, my right hon. Friend, the Chancellor of the Exchequer, announced transformative reforms to childcare for parents, children and the economy. By 2027/28, this Government will expect to be spending in excess of £8 billion every year on free hours and early education, helping working families with their childcare costs. This represents the single biggest investment in childcare in England ever.</p><p>The department is developing a range of new workforce initiatives including the launch of a new national campaign, planned for the beginning of 2024, to boost interest in the sector and support the recruitment and retention of talented staff. To increase interest in early years, we are working to remove unnecessary barriers to entering the sector as well as considering how to make early years qualifications more accessible, coordinated and relevant.</p><p>Over the summer the department launched a competition for Early Years Skills Bootcamps with a pathway to an accelerated level 3 Early Years Educator apprenticeship, and we will consider degree apprenticeship routes so everyone from junior staff to senior leaders can easily move into or indeed enhance their career in the sector. We are also working across government to boost early years career awareness by collaborating with the Department for Work and Pensions and Careers &amp; Enterprise Company to promote the importance and value of a career in early years.</p><p>Regarding safe premises, with a growing number of staff joining the sector, the safety of our youngest children remains as important as ever. All new and existing early years providers must keep children safe and promote their welfare. The Early Years Foundation Stage statutory framework sets the standards that all early years providers in England must meet to ensure that children are kept healthy and safe. More information can be found here: <a href="https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/1170108/EYFS_framework_from_September_2023.pdf" target="_blank">https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/1170108/EYFS_framework_from_September_2023.pdf</a>.</p><p>Under these requirements, all owners and managers of childcare settings have a responsibility to ensure that their premises, including overall floor space and outdoor spaces, are fit for purpose and suitable for the age of children cared for and the activities provided on the premises. All providers must also comply with the requirements of health and safety legislation, including fire safety and hygiene requirements. At all times when children are present, at least one person who has a current paediatric first aid certificate must be on the premises.</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 should 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. More information can be found here: <a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/early-education-and-childcare--2" target="_blank">https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/early-education-and-childcare--2</a>.</p><p>The Department has regular contact with each local authority in England about their sufficiency of childcare and any issues they are facing. Where local authorities report sufficiency challenges, we discuss what action the local authority is taking to address those issues and where needed support the local authority with any specific requirements through our childcare sufficiency support contract.</p> answering member constituency Wantage answering member printed David Johnston grouped question UIN 200560 200562 question first answered 17/10/2023 12:32:01 answering member 4761 label Biography information for David Johnston
tabling member	1521 label Biography information for Mrs Sharon Hodgson

1566936

registered interest
date	16/01/2023
answering body	Department for Education
answering dept id	60
answering dept short name	Education
answering dept sort name	Education
hansard heading	National School Breakfast Programme
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 effectiveness of the National School Breakfast Club Programme.
tabling member constituency	Washington and Sunderland West
tabling member printed	Mrs Sharon Hodgson
uin	903067
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 16/01/2023 answer text <p>The Government is committed to continuing support for school breakfast clubs and the Department is investing up to £30 million between July 2021 and July 2024 to continue the national programme. This funding will support up to 2,500 schools in disadvantaged areas meaning that thousands of children from low-income families will be offered free nutritious breakfasts to better support their attainment, wellbeing and readiness to learn. The focus of the programme is to target the most disadvantaged areas of the country, including the Department’s Education Investment Areas<em>.</em></p><p>Over 2,100 schools are currently participating in the programme, and the supplier, Family Action, is continuing to recruit more schools. Family Action has estimated that 270,000 children are having a breakfast from the programme on an average school day.</p><p>Research shows the positive impact of school breakfasts. An Education Endowment Fund evaluation of the earlier Magic Breakfast programme, found that supporting schools to run a free of charge, universal breakfast club before school delivered an average of 2 months’ additional progress for pupils in Key Stage 1 with moderate to low security. Schools also saw an improvement in pupil behaviour and attendance.</p><p>It also found that pupils who attended breakfast clubs had reduced hunger and improved concertation levels in class. Additional positive impacts on pupils’ social development and the way in which they helped some pupils make wider friendship groups and become more confident were also highlighted by schools.</p> answering member constituency Bognor Regis and Littlehampton answering member printed Nick Gibb question first answered 16/01/2023 17:00:15 answering member 111 label Biography information for Nick Gibb
tabling member	1521 label Biography information for Mrs Sharon Hodgson

1225147

registered interest
date	15/07/2020
answering body	Department for Education
answering dept id	60
answering dept short name	Education
answering dept sort name	Education
hansard heading	Free School Meals: Voucher Schemes
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what estimate his Department has made of the amount of profit made by Edenred through its delivery of the free school meals voucher scheme since the start of that scheme.
tabling member constituency	Washington and Sunderland West
tabling member printed	Mrs Sharon Hodgson
uin	74468
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 20/07/2020 answer text <p>The department made an award of a contract to Edenred pursuant to Regulation 32(2)(c) Public Contracts Regulations 2015 to provide extremely urgent deliverables as part of the response to the COVID-19 outbreak. The contract was let as a direct award using the terms of an existing Crown Commercial Service framework. The department do not comment on the commercial arrangements of third parties but can confirm that we are only paying for the face value of goods delivered, which in this case is vouchers.</p> answering member constituency Chelmsford answering member printed Vicky Ford question first answered 20/07/2020 16:27:10 answering member 4674 label Biography information for Vicky Ford
tabling member	1521 label Biography information for Mrs Sharon Hodgson