Asked by: Lord Hay of Ballyore (Democratic Unionist Party - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask His Majesty's Government what recent steps they have taken to improve the quality and accessibility of social care services for children.
Answered by Baroness Barran - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
On 2 February 2023 the department published ‘Stable Homes, Built on Love’, an implementation strategy and consultation, setting out plans to reform children’s social care. This strategy sets out how we will help families overcome challenges, keep children safe, and make sure children in care have stable loving homes, long-term loving relationships, and opportunities for a good life.
As of 1 April 2023, there are 153 local authorities responsible for ensuring and overseeing the effective delivery of social care services for children. Since the introduction of our Improvement and Intervention programme in 2017, which aimed to reduce the number of local authorities rated Inadequate by Ofsted, the number of Inadequate local authorities has dropped from 20% to 8.5%, and the number of Good and Outstanding local authorities has risen from 36% to 59%. This programme specifically offers support to areas with early signs of failure and intervenes when failure has already taken place.
Over the next two years, through ‘Stable Homes, Built on Love’, the department will address urgent issues in children’s social care, and lay the foundations for wider-reaching reform across the whole system.
Asked by: Lord Hay of Ballyore (Democratic Unionist Party - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the impact of Ofsted ratings on the ability of a school to (1) attract, and (2) recruit, teaching staff.
Answered by Baroness Berridge
The department does not hold data to assess the impact of Ofsted ratings on the ability of a school to attract and recruit teachers. However, the number of teachers remains high, with over 453,000 working in schools across the country, which is over 12,000 more than in 2010. This academic year (2020/21), we have provisionally recruited over 41,000 new trainee teachers – 23% more than last year (2019/20). The proportion of schools now rated by Ofsted as Good or Outstanding has also risen from 68% in 2010 to 86% in 2020.
We are moving forward with implementation of the Teacher Recruitment and Retention Strategy which the government published in January 2019. This includes commitments to reduce teacher workload, improve continuing professional development, and provide greater opportunities for flexible working.
Whilst delivering on these commitments will support all schools, we recognise that some schools and local areas face greater challenges with recruitment and retention than others. To supplement the national strategy, we are delivering targeted programmes to support recruitment and retention in challenging areas, including funding a range of regionally targeted initiatives.
The government is also committed to supporting leadership development for schools in challenging contexts so that all pupils receive equal access to excellent teaching. Over £40 million of scholarships funding has been made available between 2017 and 2020 to support teachers and leaders in the areas of the greatest need to take up a National Professional Qualification (NPQ). This funding has successfully supported many more people to access NPQ courses than originally intended, including those in some of our most challenging schools.
Asked by: Lord Hay of Ballyore (Democratic Unionist Party - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what recent steps they have taken to raise educational standards in schools across the United Kingdom.
Answered by Baroness Berridge
Education is a devolved matter, and the response will outline the education reforms for England.
Since 2010, this government has been committed to raising educational standards in all schools across the country to ensure that all young people leave school with the knowledge, qualifications, and skills they need to succeed in life. The proportion of schools now rated by Ofsted as Good or Outstanding has risen from 68% in 2010 to 86% in 2020.
We know that the COVID-19 outbreak poses great challenges to the education system. That is why in June 2020, the Department announced a £1 billion catch-up package, which includes £350 million for the National Tutoring Programme. This will increase access to high-quality tuition for the most disadvantaged young people, helping to accelerate their academic progress and tackle the attainment gap between them and their peers. More recently, in February 2021, we committed a further £700 million of funding for the 2021/22 academic year. This package includes a new one off £302 million Recovery Premium for state primary and secondary schools, building on the Pupil Premium, to further support pupils who need it. The devolved administrations are receiving additional funding through the Barnett formula in the usual way. This funding enables the devolved administrations to deliver support where programmes do not apply across the whole of the UK.
Asked by: Lord Hay of Ballyore (Democratic Unionist Party - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government what actions they are taking to promote equal pay for women in the workplace.
Answered by Baroness Williams of Trafford - Captain of the Honourable Corps of Gentlemen-at-Arms (HM Household) (Chief Whip, House of Lords)
Unequal pay for equal work is unlawful, and it has been for over 40 years. We have made changes that require employment tribunals to order any employer who loses an equal pay case to carry out an equal pay audit.
Asked by: Lord Hay of Ballyore (Democratic Unionist Party - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government what plans they have to recruit more good graduates into teaching and to improve the skills of current teachers.
Answered by Lord Nash
We are committed to recruiting high-quality graduates into teaching. We have seen an increase over the last five years in the proportion of new entrants who hold a first or upper second class degree, rising from 61% in 2009/10 to 73% in 2014/15.
For 2015/16, we have increased the postgraduate bursary from £20,000 to £25,000 for trainees with a first class degree training to teach mathematics, physics, computing, chemistry and modern foreign languages. Prestigious scholarship awards, of £25,000, are also available to outstanding graduates with a first or upper second class degree in mathematics, physics, chemistry or computing. We have supported the expansion of Teach First, which brings the highest quality graduates into challenging schools, by more than doubling the number of participants since 2010 and widening coverage of the programme to schools across England.
We also recognise the importance of teachers being able to develop and improve their practice throughout their careers. Improvement in teaching is most effective when it is led by the best teachers and the most successful schools, and when it is based on evidence. That is why we promote opportunities for teachers to learn from others and for schools to support other schools, for example through the growing Teaching Schools network. The government also remains committed to offering support to emerging plans for a profession-led College of Teaching to increase the status of the profession and take the lead in developing truly outstanding professional development and evidence-informed practice.