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Written Question
Schools: Coronavirus
Thursday 29th October 2020

Asked by: Lord Adonis (Labour - Life peer)

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask Her Majesty's Government how many state schools in England were closed to physical attendance by pupils because of COVID-19 at any point during the week of 12 October.

Answered by Baroness Berridge

The table attached gives the number of state-funded schools[1] who responded to the daily education settings status survey, and the total number that indicated that they were closed for COVID-19 related reasons during each day of the week of 12 October.

[1] State-funded schools include primary, middle, secondary, all-through, special and alternative provision settings.


Written Question
Schools: Inspections
Thursday 29th October 2020

Asked by: Lord Adonis (Labour - Life peer)

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask Her Majesty's Government what plans they have to recommence Ofsted inspections of schools.

Answered by Baroness Berridge

Routine inspections will remain suspended for the autumn term. During the autumn term, however, inspectors will visit a sample of schools to discuss how they are managing the return to education of all their pupils. The intention is for Ofsted to resume routine school inspections from January 2021, with this date being kept under review.


Written Question
Bath University: Pay
Tuesday 12th December 2017

Asked by: Lord Adonis (Labour - Life peer)

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask Her Majesty's Government whether Ministers and the Higher Education Funding Council for England plan to investigate the decision-making process at the University of Bath which led to an "exit package" being paid to the Vice-Chancellor; what was the total value of that package; and whether they consider this was consistent with the proper and efficient use of public funds.

Answered by Viscount Younger of Leckie - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Work and Pensions)

The government expects the Higher Education Funding Council for England (HEFCE) to look into issues related to value for money with regard to English higher education institutions. HEFCE has investigated the governance process at the University of Bath which led to the Vice-Chancellor being awarded their most recent salary increase. On the 20 November 2017 it published a report, containing recommendations relating to that governance process. The university has agreed to respond to those recommendations by 15 December 2017.

Separately, the university’s governing body has agreed the retirement arrangements for the Vice-Chancellor. The university issued a press release on 28 November, confirming the details of the exit package.

We understand that HEFCE is currently considering whether it should investigate the governance processes concerned with the Vice-Chancellor’s retirement.

The government’s determination to ensure that students and the taxpayer receive value for money from the higher education sector underpin the reforms we are making through the Higher Education and Research Act 2017. The Office for Students (OfS) will become the regulator for the sector in 2018. The OfS has a statutory duty to have regard to the need to promote value for money in the provision of higher education by English higher education providers.


Written Question
Office for Students: Business Interests
Tuesday 12th December 2017

Asked by: Lord Adonis (Labour - Life peer)

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask Her Majesty's Government which members of the board of the Office for Students are (1) employed by, and (2) in receipt of remuneration from, a university in England; and what was the total amount of that remuneration in the 2016–17 tax year.

Answered by Viscount Younger of Leckie - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Work and Pensions)

The Board for the Office for Students (OfS) currently exists in shadow form and will be legally constituted on 1 January 2018. The Board will be constituted with a mixture of executive and non-executive members that reflect the skills and experiences specified in Schedule 1 of the Higher Education and Research Act (2017). This includes a need for the Secretary of State to have explicit regard when appointing members for them to have experience of providing higher education on behalf of English higher education providers.

In recognition of this, two of the members of the OfS shadow board are currently employed by a university in England. Professor Steve West, is employed and remunerated by the University of the West of England and David Palfreyman, is employed and remunerated by a college of the University of Oxford. Both are also currently members of the Higher Education Funding Council for England’s (HEFCE) board and have been appointed onto the OfS Board to maintain continuity and manage a smooth transition to the new regulatory regime.

As is common amongst regulators, including HEFCE, we will expect the OfS to operate an internal governance code, once established, that provides a clear declaration of the interests of members and ensures that individuals recuse themselves from any Board discussion where there is the potential for a conflict of interest. The declaration of interests of public appointees does not include the amount of remuneration from employment beyond the remuneration they receive from the public body of which they are members.


Written Question
Universities: Pay
Monday 11th December 2017

Asked by: Lord Adonis (Labour - Life peer)

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask Her Majesty's Government, in respect of the duty of the Chief Executive of the Higher Education Funding Council for England to safeguard the efficient use of public funds, what assessment they have made of the value for money of salaries paid to vice-chancellors.

Answered by Viscount Younger of Leckie - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Work and Pensions)

The government is determined to ensure that students and taxpayers can be confident that they get a good deal from higher education (HE).

Over recent years, the government has become increasingly concerned about the level of remuneration for senior staff in the HE sector. It has asked the Higher Education Funding Council for England to look at this issue using its regulatory powers, which has resulted in updated guidance to the sector on senior pay and greater transparency in relation to vice-chancellor salaries.

Holding universities to account for value for money has been a key objective of the HE reforms, enacted in the Higher Education and Research Act, and it continues to guide the government’s work as the Office for Students (OfS) is launched.

The OfS has a statutory duty to promote value for money in the sector. The government will ask the OfS to use its powers to take action to protect value for money for students and taxpayers in the future.


Written Question
Universities: Pay
Monday 11th December 2017

Asked by: Lord Adonis (Labour - Life peer)

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask Her Majesty's Government whether the Chief Executive of the Higher Education Funding Council for England has raised with (1) Ministers, and (2) the Permanent Secretaries, at (a) the Department for Education, and (b) the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, any concerns about poor value for money in public spending caused by excessive salaries for vice-chancellors and other senior administrators in England’s universities.

Answered by Viscount Younger of Leckie - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Work and Pensions)

The Chief Executive of the Higher Education Funding Council for England meets regularly with officials and with the Minister of State for Universities, Science, Research and Innovation who is a Minister at both the Department for Education, and the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS).

They discuss a range of issues relating to the delivery of value for money in our higher education sector, which has included issues related to senior pay as well as issues related to teaching, research and others aspects of the activities of higher education providers.

The Chief Executive met the Permanent Secretary of the Department for Education in November 2016 and senior pay was not discussed. She has not met the Permanent Secretary for BEIS.


Written Question
Office for Students: Business Interests
Monday 11th December 2017

Asked by: Lord Adonis (Labour - Life peer)

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask Her Majesty's Government whether the contract of the Chief Executive of the Office for Students forbids her from accepting remuneration for employment from a university in England after her term of office.

Answered by Viscount Younger of Leckie - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Work and Pensions)

The Office for Students currently exists in shadow form and will be legally constituted on 1 January 2018. In appointing the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) her current interests were disclosed and discussed in terms of how they affect her tenure as CEO. In making public appointments it is not usual practice to determine the future employment of public appointees.


Written Question
Office for Students: Business Interests
Monday 11th December 2017

Asked by: Lord Adonis (Labour - Life peer)

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask Her Majesty's Government whether the contract of the Chair of the Office for Students forbids him from accepting remuneration or employment from a university in England after his term of office.

Answered by Viscount Younger of Leckie - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Work and Pensions)

The Office for Students currently exists in shadow form and will be legally constituted on 1 January 2018. In appointing the Chair his current interests were disclosed and discussed in terms of how they affect his tenure as Chair. He attended a Pre-Appointment Hearing before the Education Select Committee who endorsed his appointment. In making public appointments it is not usual practice to determine the future employment of public appointees.


Written Question
Universities: Finance
Monday 11th December 2017

Asked by: Lord Adonis (Labour - Life peer)

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask Her Majesty's Government whether the Chief Executive of the Higher Education Council for England as Accounting Officer has a duty to intervene in cases of serious abuse of funding on the part of universities.

Answered by Viscount Younger of Leckie - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Work and Pensions)

As Accounting Officer for the Higher Education Funding Council for England (HEFCE), the Chief Executive Officer has a duty to safeguard the public funds the council allocates. Through the Memorandum of Assurance and Accountability, which HEFCE has with all the institutions it funds, the council monitors universities’ management of public money. HEFCE has power, under the Further and Higher Education Act 1992, to intervene in cases of mismanagement.


Written Question
Bath University: Pay
Tuesday 5th December 2017

Asked by: Lord Adonis (Labour - Life peer)

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask Her Majesty's Government, following the report on governance surrounding senior pay at Bath University by the Higher Education Funding Council for England (HEFCE), published on 20 November, whether HEFCE intends to play a role in ensuring that Bath University implements the reforms recommended in that report; and if so, what.

Answered by Viscount Younger of Leckie - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Work and Pensions)

Under existing legislation, it is the Privy Council that has a role in approving the governing documents, and amendments to them, of publicly funded higher education providers.

Publicly funded higher education providers are expected to comply with the Committee of University Chairs’ Code, “The Higher Education Code of Governance” as part of their conditions for Higher Education Funding Council for England (HEFCE) funding (copy attachment).

As such, it is for HEFCE as the regulator to take any action necessary in response to the report. We understand that HEFCE intends to follow-up its recommendations in this report. The university has agreed to provide HEFCE with a report on progress with the recommendations in December. There is also a planned periodic HEFCE Assurance Review of the University of Bath due to take place early next year.

We are currently consulting on behalf of the new regulator, the Office for Students (OfS), on its new Regulatory Framework, due to come into force for the academic year 2019/20. Under those proposals, the OfS will be responsible for ensuring providers’ governing arrangements are appropriate, which includes requirements for providers in the approved categories to operate openly, honestly, accountably and with integrity, and publish a statement on the steps they have taken to ensure value for money for students and taxpayers.

In addition, our proposals are designed to ensure sufficient transparency around senior staff pay, by requiring providers to publish the number of staff paid more than £100,000 per annum, which for staff paid more than £150,000, should include a justification for these salaries.