Asked by: Layla Moran (Liberal Democrat - Oxford West and Abingdon)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what recent estimate she has made of when the review of post-16 education funding will be completed; and what her planned timescale is for responding to that review.
Answered by Janet Daby - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
This government is determined to ensure all young people have high quality education and training pathways post-16. To help secure this, my right hon. Friend, the Secretary of State for Education, announced that the department would pause and review the defunding of qualifications in July 2024. The department will conclude and communicate the outcomes of this internal review of post-16 qualifications, before Christmas 2024.
The focused review announced in July is already underway and the department is working as quickly as possible to provide certainty to the sector. The review will look at the defunding lists that have been published and communicate any changes. Colleges will be able to reflect the outcomes of the review in their planning and marketing materials in the new year so that students can make the best decisions about their futures.
There are many qualifications not subject to defunding and which provide certainty and continuity to the sector. These include A levels, T Levels, and alternative qualifications in subjects and routes not affected by defunding.
Asked by: Layla Moran (Liberal Democrat - Oxford West and Abingdon)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, when she plans to announce funding arrangements for post-16 vocational education for after 2025.
Answered by Janet Daby - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
This government is determined to ensure all young people have high quality education and training pathways post-16. To help secure this, my right hon. Friend, the Secretary of State for Education, announced that the department would pause and review the defunding of qualifications in July 2024. The department will conclude and communicate the outcomes of this internal review of post-16 qualifications, before Christmas 2024.
The focused review announced in July is already underway and the department is working as quickly as possible to provide certainty to the sector. The review will look at the defunding lists that have been published and communicate any changes. Colleges will be able to reflect the outcomes of the review in their planning and marketing materials in the new year so that students can make the best decisions about their futures.
There are many qualifications not subject to defunding and which provide certainty and continuity to the sector. These include A levels, T Levels, and alternative qualifications in subjects and routes not affected by defunding.
Asked by: John Hayes (Conservative - South Holland and The Deepings)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what the real-term funding per pupil in (a) primary and (b) secondary schools in South Holland and the Deepings constituency was in each financial year since 2010.
Answered by Catherine McKinnell - Minister of State (Education)
Local authorities receive their core funding for schools through the dedicated schools grant (DSG). Local authorities are then responsible for designing a local formula, within certain parameters, to distribute the funding that they receive from the department to schools in their area. This local formula is used to determine funding for both the maintained schools and academies in each area.
As the DSG is allocated at local authority level, DSG allocations are not available broken down to the level of individual constituencies. The individual allocations that schools within South Holland and The Deepings constituency receive are determined, each year, by the local funding formula set by Lincolnshire local authority.
The table below provides the cash per pupil funding levels from 2018/19 to 2024/25 for Lincolnshire local authority. The department cannot provide comparable funding data back to 2010, due to the changes in the funding system since that time. In particular, funding for schools was only identified separately from funding for high needs or early years in 2013, and funding for central school services provided by local authorities was split out from the schools block funding in 2018/2019.
The figures below represent the core funding schools receive through the schools block of the DSG. All the figures in the table exclude growth and premises funding. They also do not include additional funding that schools have received for pay and pensions or other funding streams such as the pupil premium.
DSG Schools Block Per Pupil Funding: Lincolnshire Local Authority | ||
Year | Primary per pupil funding | Secondary per pupil funding |
2018/19 | £3,811 | £4,933 |
2019/20 | £3,914 | £5,069 |
2020/21 | £4,184 | £5,279 |
2021/22 | £4,570 | £5,724 |
2022/23 | £4,735 | £5,899 |
2023/24 | £4,993 | £6,216 |
2024/25 | £5,278 | £6,552 |
Asked by: Layla Moran (Liberal Democrat - Oxford West and Abingdon)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, with reference to the Written Statement of 25 July 2024 on Technical Qualifications Reform update, HCWS22, what steps her Department is taking to help support education providers to plan for the provision of post-16 vocational education beyond the 2024-25 academic year.
Answered by Janet Daby - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
This government is determined to ensure all young people have high quality education and training pathways post-16. To help secure this, my right hon. Friend, the Secretary of State for Education, announced that the department would pause and review the defunding of qualifications in July 2024. The department will conclude and communicate the outcomes of this internal review of post-16 qualifications, before Christmas 2024.
The focused review announced in July is already underway and the department is working as quickly as possible to provide certainty to the sector. The review will look at the defunding lists that have been published and communicate any changes. Colleges will be able to reflect the outcomes of the review in their planning and marketing materials in the new year so that students can make the best decisions about their futures.
There are many qualifications not subject to defunding and which provide certainty and continuity to the sector. These include A levels, T Levels, and alternative qualifications in subjects and routes not affected by defunding.
Asked by: Victoria Collins (Liberal Democrat - Harpenden and Berkhamsted)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment she made of the implications for her policies of the document entitled General Election 2024: NSPCC priorities for manifestos and programmes for government, published in May 2024.
Answered by Janet Daby - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
Nothing is more important than keeping children safe and the government is committed to protecting children experiencing, or at risk of experiencing, significant harm as well as tackling the underlying factors driving this. The department is interested in all reports, evidence and recommendations which can help it drive forward better outcomes for children and young people, and to that end, regularly engages the NSPCC and stakeholders across the children and families sector.
Asked by: Victoria Collins (Liberal Democrat - Harpenden and Berkhamsted)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment her Department has made of the effectiveness of the rate of fines for parents and carers taking their children out of school during term times on encouraging school attendance.
Answered by Stephen Morgan - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
Tackling absence is at the heart of the government’s mission to break down barriers to opportunity. The government understands that reasons for absence are varied, which is why updated statutory attendance guidance sets out that schools, trusts and local authorities should always work together with other local partners to understand the barriers to attendance and establish strategies for removing them.
The government’s support-first approach is the right one. Penalty notices should only be used in cases where support is not appropriate, such as in cases of holidays taken in term-time, or where support has already been provided and has not been engaged with or has not worked.
Information about the rates of fixed penalty notices is published here: https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/find-statistics/parental-responsibility-measures.
Asked by: Angus MacDonald (Liberal Democrat - Inverness, Skye and West Ross-shire)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment she has made of the prevalence of outstanding student loan balances increasing despite repayments being made as a result of high interest charges; and whether her Department is taking steps to review student loan interest rates to ensure excessive financial burdens are not imposed on borrowers.
Answered by Janet Daby - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
As education is a devolved issue, the following response outlines the student finance system in England only.
Interest rates on student loans do not affect monthly repayments made by borrowers. Repayments are based on earnings above the applicable repayment threshold, not on amount borrowed or the rate of interest. As such, some borrowers will see their balance increasing at certain times despite making regular repayments to their student loan.
Student loans have very different terms and conditions to commercial loans. Unlike commercial unsecured personal loans, student loans are available to all eligible students regardless of their background or financial history. Student loans also carry significant protections for borrowers. For instance, monthly repayments are based only on earnings, and if a borrower’s income drops, so does the amount they repay. If income is below the relevant repayment threshold or a borrower is not earning, they do not have to make repayments at all. Any outstanding debt, including interest accrued, is written off after the loan term ends (or in case of death or disability) at no detriment to the borrower. The government is not aware of any commercial loans that offer such protections.
Asked by: John Glen (Conservative - Salisbury)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what the (a) pay band, (b) salary and (c) responsibilities are of Mr Tom Crick in his role as Senior Advisor to her Department's Curriculum and Assessment Review; whether that role was open to external candidates; and on what basis he was appointed as a civil servant rather than a special adviser.
Answered by Janet Daby - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
The role of the Senior Adviser to the Curriculum and Assessment Review is to support the Review Group and its Chair, Professor Becky Francis, in their engagement with the education sector to develop proposals on how best to refresh the curriculum to ensure it is cutting edge, fit for purpose and meeting the needs of children and young people to support their future life and work.
The role was a direct appointment to the civil service to a grade below the Senior Civil Service for a fixed term and with no line management responsibilities.
Making a direct appointment ensured appointment at pace with someone with a unique combination of skills including a strong connection to the sector and alignment with the anticipated time period of the review. As a civil servant, the role is embedded within departmental line management and wider policies, for example the Civil Service Code.
Asked by: Lord Taylor of Warwick (Non-affiliated - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to ensure that universities remain and do not close down despite financial difficulties.
Answered by Baroness Smith of Malvern - Minister of State (Education)
The department is committed to creating a secure future for our world-leading universities so they can deliver for students, taxpayers, workers and the economy. The government has already started reviewing options to deliver a more robust higher education (HE) sector but it will take time to get it right.
Sir David Behan has been appointed as interim Chair of the Office for Students (OfS) to oversee the important work of refocusing their role to concentrate on key priorities, including prioritising the financial stability of the HE sector.
However, the government recognises the immediate financial strain that some providers are under and is working closely with the OfS to monitor any risks and to ensure students' best interests are protected.
Ultimately, HE providers are independent from the government and therefore it is their responsibility to ensure they have a sustainable business model.
Asked by: Andrew Cooper (Labour - Mid Cheshire)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what proportion of children of secondary school age who were not attending school in Mid Cheshire constituency in the past five years had (a) previously been identified in the SEN Support category and (b) an education, health and care plan.
Answered by Stephen Morgan - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
The requested information is not held centrally.
The department collects data on children missing education (compulsory school aged children not registered at school or otherwise receiving suitable education) from local authorities on a voluntary basis. The latest figures can be found here: https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/find-statistics/children-missing-education.
The data are collected at aggregate level, so it is not possible to identify children missing education (CME) by both year group and special educational need (SEN) status. In autumn 2023/24 8% of all CME had an additional requirement of SEN support, while 6% of CME had an education, health and care plan. This compares with 13% and 4% respectively for the overall school population (in January 2023). CME data are not available at constituency level.
The Children’s Wellbeing Bill will legislate for local authority registers of children not in school. This will include a duty on parents to provide the necessary information for these registers if their child is eligible, which would improve the accuracy of data and ensure that fewer children slip under the radar when they are not in school.