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Written Question
Teaching Methods
Monday 25th March 2024

Asked by: Rachael Maskell (Labour (Co-op) - York Central)

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether she has made an assessment of the potential merits of using nurture teaching methods in classrooms.

Answered by Damian Hinds - Minister of State (Education)

Every state-funded school must offer a broad and balanced curriculum which supports every child to fulfil their potential. The department encourages schools to deliver this using effective and evidence-based teaching practices, drawing on resources such as the Education Endowment Foundation’s Teaching and Learning Toolkit.

The department does not endorse any one approach to behaviour management over another and it trusts school leaders to develop policies which reflect their school’s individual needs. The department’s ‘Behaviour in Schools’ guidance focuses on helping schools to establish calm, safe and supportive environments by creating positive cultures which work for everyone.


Written Question
Music: Education
Monday 25th March 2024

Asked by: Barbara Keeley (Labour - Worsley and Eccles South)

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many times the national plan for music education monitoring board has met since it was established; and on how many occasions a Minister attended a meeting of the board.

Answered by Damian Hinds - Minister of State (Education)

The National Plan for Music Education Monitoring Board has met three times since the announcement of the Board in June 2023. The second meeting was attended by the former Minister of State for Schools. The terms of reference of the Board are published on GOV.UK and there are no plans to publish the minutes of these meetings. The ‘National plan for music education monitoring board terms of reference’ can be found here: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/1162481/National_plan_for_music_education_monitoring_board_terms_of_reference_-_June_2023.pdf.


Written Question
Music: Education
Monday 25th March 2024

Asked by: Barbara Keeley (Labour - Worsley and Eccles South)

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether her Department plans to publish minutes for the meetings of the national plan for music education monitoring board.

Answered by Damian Hinds - Minister of State (Education)

The National Plan for Music Education Monitoring Board has met three times since the announcement of the Board in June 2023. The second meeting was attended by the former Minister of State for Schools. The terms of reference of the Board are published on GOV.UK and there are no plans to publish the minutes of these meetings. The ‘National plan for music education monitoring board terms of reference’ can be found here: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/1162481/National_plan_for_music_education_monitoring_board_terms_of_reference_-_June_2023.pdf.


Written Question
Teachers: Workplace Pensions
Monday 25th March 2024

Asked by: Barbara Keeley (Labour - Worsley and Eccles South)

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if she will make an estimate of the potential impact of ending funding for employers' contributions to the teachers' pension scheme for music teachers employed by music hubs unattached to schools on costs to the public purse.

Answered by Damian Hinds - Minister of State (Education)

In March 2024, the department announced an additional £1.1 billion in the 2024/25 financial year to support schools and local authorities with the increased Teachers’ Pension Scheme employer contribution rate. This additional funding will be distributed in 2024/25 via the new teachers’ pension employer contribution grant (TPECG) 2024.

The department is providing additional funding through the TPECG 2024 to local authorities in respect of teachers categorised as centrally employed on the schools’ workforce census 2023. The department expects local authority-based Music Hub teachers to be recorded on the schools’ workforce census, and so to be in scope for this grant.

The department has also committed to providing funding to cover the increase in employer contribution rates for existing non-local authority hubs for the current academic year, until August 2024, and officials are working to agree the precise amount. Further details, including funding rates and allocations, will be provided soon.


Written Question
Special Educational Needs
Monday 25th March 2024

Asked by: Rachael Maskell (Labour (Co-op) - York Central)

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps she is taking to ensure that local authorities are more involved in the delivery of (a) education and (b) health services for children with SEND.

Answered by David Johnston - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)

Local authorities already have existing statutory responsibilities to develop, publish and review the special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) local offer, to ensure that the range of provision and services available in their local area are sufficient and well suited to the needs of children with SEND.

In the SEND and Alternative Provision (AP) Improvement Plan, the department have committed to establishing new local SEND and AP partnerships, convened by the local authority, that will bring together local partners to strategically plan and commission support for children and young people with SEND and AP. SEND and AP partnerships are a collaborative network of individuals, including health commissioners and education providers, who are working together to strategically plan SEND services. They will be underpinned by strengthened accountabilities and improved use of data for all those responsible for local delivery.

Moreover, the department has established a steering group to oversee a joint Department for Education and Department of Health and Social Care approach to SEND workforce planning. This feeds into the National SEND and AP Implementation Board and aims to be complete by 2025. The work will build on the NHS Long Term Workforce Plan published in June 2023, which sets out the steps the NHS and its partners need to take to deliver an NHS workforce that meets the changing needs of the population over the next 15 years.

The Improvement Plan also committed to the Change Programme which was launched in September 2023, and is testing key SEND and AP reforms with 32 local authorities in each of the 9 regions. The department, working with its Delivery Partner, Reaching Excellence and Ambition for all Children (REACh), are providing these local authorities with ‘boots on the ground’ support for the testing of these reforms. We are also running a live feedback loop that is providing early insights into how the reforms and supporting documents are working and identifying required changes.


Written Question
Schools: Bullying
Monday 25th March 2024

Asked by: Baroness Sherlock (Labour - Life peer)

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask His Majesty's Government what data they collect on the religious identity of children who are bullied in schools.

Answered by Baroness Barran - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)

The department does not hold information on the religious identity of children that are bullied in schools.

The ‘National behaviour survey’ publishes data on a number of behaviour related topics, including bullying. The latest report, based on data from 2021/22, stated that 3% of those surveyed, who said they had been bullied, said it was due to their religion or belief. The ‘National behaviour survey’ can be found here: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/64809defb32b9e0012a963ce/National_Behaviour_Survey_academic_year_2021_to_22_report.pdf.

The department is providing over £3 million of funding, between 10 August 2021 and 31 March 2024, to five anti-bullying organisations to support schools to tackle bullying. This includes projects targeting bullying of particular groups, such as those who are victims of hate-related bullying.


Written Question
Languages: GCE A-level
Monday 25th March 2024

Asked by: Conor McGinn (Independent - St Helens North)

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many and what proportion of schools in (a) St Helens North constituency and (b) the North West she expects to offer A-Levels in modern foreign languages in the next five years.

Answered by Damian Hinds - Minister of State (Education)

The department does not produce projections of future trends of the number of students taking specific qualifications or future trends in the number of schools or colleges offering specific qualifications.

The department recognises the importance of the study of languages in Britain and is taking steps to increase the number of pupils studying languages at GCSE level and beyond. This is particularly important given that languages became non-mandatory at GCSE in 2004. The recently launched Language Hubs programme is comprised of 15 lead hub schools from across England, including a hub based in the North West. The lead hub schools will work with other schools in their areas to improve standards of language teaching, in line with recommendations of the Teaching Schools Council’s 2016 ‘Modern Foreign Languages Pedagogy Review’.

Managed by the National Consortium for Languages Education, the programme provides high-quality teacher Continuing Professional Development and includes improving transition from key stage 2 to key stage 3, increasing opportunities among disadvantaged pupils to study languages, and increasing the access to home, heritage, and community languages.


Written Question
Higher Education (Freedom of Speech) Act 2023
Monday 25th March 2024

Asked by: Lord Skidelsky (Crossbench - Life peer)

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask His Majesty's Government when they plan to bring into force all the provisions of the Higher Education (Freedom of Speech) Act of 2023, including the statutory tort contained in section 4, that have not yet come into effect.

Answered by Baroness Barran - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)

The remaining provisions of the Higher Education (Freedom of Speech) Act 2023 will come into force in two phases. The main provisions of the Act, including the statutory tort contained in section 4, free speech duties on higher education providers, constituent institutions and students' unions, and the new complaints scheme will come into force on 1 August 2024.

The second phase involves provisions relating to new conditions of registration on providers and monitoring of overseas funding. These will come into force on 1 September 2025. This information was published by the Office for Students on 13 September 2023, see: https://www.officeforstudents.org.uk/advice-and-guidance/quality-and-standards/freedom-of-speech/changes-to-regulation/.

The department will lay the necessary secondary legislation to bring the Act’s provisions into force by those dates.


Written Question
Schools: Buildings
Monday 25th March 2024

Asked by: Catherine McKinnell (Labour - Newcastle upon Tyne North)

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if she will have discussions with (a) responsible bodies and (b) local authorities on their school estate management capability.

Answered by Damian Hinds - Minister of State (Education)

Responsibility for keeping buildings safe and well-maintained lies with schools and their responsible bodies, such as local authorities, academy trusts and voluntary-aided bodies. The department supports these bodies by providing capital funding, delivering major rebuilding programmes, and offering guidance and support.

Ministers have regular conversations with schools and their responsible bodies about school buildings and the management of their estates. Departmental officials also have regular conversations about estate management capability with organisations representing responsible bodies, as well as school estate management professionals with day-to-day experience managing their school estates to develop and improve the support the department offers.

The department regularly reminds responsible bodies of their legal duty to keep their buildings safe and maintain them in good order. Last year, the department updated the Academy Trust Handbook, adding a requirement for accounting officers to confirm that they are managing their estates in line with their existing responsibilities, as well as signposting to further guidance.

The department provides guidance, tools and support to help schools and responsible bodies effectively manage their school buildings and keep them safe, including the good estate management for schools (GEMS) guidance, which is available at: https://www.gov.uk/guidance/good-estate-management-for-schools. In addition, the Capital Advisers Programme is providing direct support to help academy trusts improve their estate management, by offering best practice recommendations from experienced technical advisers, in line with GEMS.


Written Question
Schools: Governing Bodies
Monday 25th March 2024

Asked by: Mike Amesbury (Labour - Weaver Vale)

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment she has made of the effectiveness of measures available to school governing bodies to investigate complaints.

Answered by Damian Hinds - Minister of State (Education)

In academy trusts, trust boards must ensure there is a procedure to deal with complaints from parents and carers and other individuals to meet their legal duties. In maintained schools, governing bodies must establish procedures to deal with all complaints about the school and any community facilities or services it provides, unless alternate statutory procedures apply as outlined in Section 29(1) of the Education Act 2002.