Asked by: Lord Norton of Louth (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask His Majesty's Government who in the Department for Education is responsible for ensuring that senior civil servants in the Department comply with section 3(6) of the Constitutional Reform and Governance Act 2010, as embodied in the Civil Service Code; and what steps they have taken to monitor and ensure compliance with the provision in the past two years.
Answered by Baroness Barran - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
The department’s Leadership Team is responsible for setting standards within the department. Individual line managers are responsible for ensuring that staff are adhering to the Civil Service Code on a day-to-day basis.
Information about the Civil Service Code is shared regularly with employees, including in employee contracts and induction material. Clear processes are in place to enable anyone to report a breach of the Code. In the latest staff survey, 100% of Senior Civil Servants confirmed they are aware of and understand the Code.
Asked by: Lord Norton of Louth (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask Her Majesty's Government how many teachers there are in secondary schools in England who are qualified citizenship education teachers.
Answered by Lord Agnew of Oulton
In November 2016 there were 4,800 teachers in state funded secondary schools teaching citizenship. Of these we estimate that 8.7% had a relevant post A level qualification in the subject. A relevant post A level qualification is defined as a first degree or higher, BEd degree, PGCE, Certificate of Education or any other qualification at National Qualifications Framework level 4 or above in either citizenship, international relations, international, EU or UK politics or polictical theory.
There are also 10.6% of citizenship teachers with post A level qualification in history that prepare teachers well for teaching British citizenship.
The source of this information is the annual school workforce census. The census collects the post A level qualifications of teachers and the curriculum taught by teachers for around 75% of secondary schools. As the return is incomplete and the number of citizenship teachers is fairly small there is some uncertainty around the proportion provided and therefore we estimate there may be a margin of error of plus or minus 3.2%.
Information on post A level qualifications held by teachers, in the subject they teach, is published in Table 12 of the school workforce in England statistical publication. This is attached and available at the following link:
https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/school-workforce-in-england-november-2016.
The data for November 2017 is expected to be published in June 2018.
Asked by: Lord Norton of Louth (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what practical steps they are taking to ensure that citizenship education in secondary schools is treated on a par with other subjects in the national curriculum.
Answered by Lord Agnew of Oulton
Citizenship has a strong position in secondary schools, where it is part of the national curriculum in both key stages 3 and 4. It is one of only six compulsory subjects to be included in the key stage 4 curriculum. Citizenship education can also support schools to deliver their duties regarding the spiritual, moral, social and culture development of pupils, and promoting fundamental British values.
The recent report published by the Lords Select Committee on Citizenship and Civic Engagement, ‘The Ties that Bind: Civic Engagement in the 21st Century’ made a number of recommendations regarding the quality and status of citizenship education in schools. We are currently considering these recommendations and will respond fully in due course.