Asked by: Lord Watson of Invergowrie (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask His Majesty's Government who in law will be the publisher of Oak National Academy publications when it becomes a non-departmental public body.
Answered by Baroness Barran - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
Building on its success in the COVID-19 pandemic, Oak National Academy was established as an arm’s length body on 1 September 2022, working independently of government and collaboratively with the sector. It works with teachers across the country, giving them and their pupils access to high-quality digital curriculum resources which are free, optional, and adaptable.
As an arm’s length body, Oak National Academy will procure resources, own the intellectual property of those resources and make them available online.
Asked by: Lord Watson of Invergowrie (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask His Majesty's Government when they last conducted a review on the operation of section 571 of the Education Act 1996.
Answered by Baroness Barran - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
The department has not conducted or published a formal review of Section 571 of the Education Act 1996.
The department endeavours to provide guidance to the sector, where necessary, in a timely and efficient manner. A collection of the department’s statutory guidance is available at: https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/statutory-guidance-schools.
Asked by: Lord Watson of Invergowrie (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask His Majesty's Government how many 18 to 24 year olds started a course at (1) Level 4, and (2) Level 5, in (a) 2019, and (b) 2022.
Answered by Baroness Barran - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
The department publishes an overview of participation and achievements in learning at National Qualifications Framework (NQF) levels 4 to 8 at further education (FE) providers and higher education (HE) providers in its annual statistical release ‘Higher-Level Learners in England’. The latest release for the 2020/21 academic year can be found here: https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/find-statistics/higher-level-learners-in-england/2020-21#dataBlock-a5a1ee87-ec4e-44ee-776a-08da3e21c130-tables. The statistical release includes counts of entrants across different types of higher-level learning, including apprenticeships and Office for Students (OfS) recognised HE.
The specific age range requested is not available in the statistical release. The tables below show the number of entrants to NQF level 4 and 5 learning who were aged 18 to 24 in the academic years 2019/20 and 2020/21. (Student age is taken as the age as at 31 August of the reporting period). The statistics are disaggregated by the type of higher-level learning undertaken and figures are rounded to the nearest 5, in line with Higher Education Statistics Agency rounding conventions.
English-domiciled higher-level entrants to NQF level 4 learning aged 18 to 24 at English providers in 2019/20 and 2020/21
Type of Study | 2019/20 | 2020/21 |
OfS Recognised HE | 9,125 | 8,355 |
Apprenticeship | 10,435 | 10,780 |
Institutional credit in Higher Education Providers | 1,250 | 1,340 |
Other Higher Level | 3,705 | 3,285 |
Level 4 total | 24,520 | 23,765 |
English-domiciled higher-level entrants to NQF level 5 learning aged 18 to 24 at English providers in 2019/20 and 2020/21
Type of Study | 2019/20 | 2020/21 |
OfS Recognised HE | 16,450 | 17,730 |
Apprenticeship | 3,070 | 2,735 |
Institutional credit in Higher Education Providers | 230 | 265 |
Other Higher Level | 895 | 760 |
Level 5 total | 20,645 | 21,485 |
Statistics for the academic year 2021/22 will be published in Spring 2023 and statistics for 2022/23 will be published in Spring 2024.
Asked by: Lord Watson of Invergowrie (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask His Majesty's Government when they will issue their response to the Independent Review of Children's Social Care, published in May.
Answered by Baroness Barran - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
The department is working up an ambitious and detailed implementation strategy in response to the Independent Review of Children's Social Care which we will publish early in 2023.
Asked by: Lord Watson of Invergowrie (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask His Majesty's Government how many children were eligible for Pupil Premium in (1) 2020–21, (2) 2021–22, and (3) the current academic year.
Answered by Baroness Barran - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
The overall pupil premium eligibility figures for each of the last three academic years are 2,161,075 in 2022/23, 2,086,736 in 2021/22, and 2,031,666 in 2020/21. Further information on the number of pupil premium eligible pupils in England, including allocations for financial years 2020/21, 2021/22 and 2022/23 are available at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/pupil-premium-allocations-and-conditions-of-grant-2020-to-2021, https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/pupil-premium-allocations-and-conditions-of-grant-2021-to-2022, and https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/pupil-premium-allocations-and-conditions-of-grant-2022-to-2023.
Information in these links shows the total number of pupil premium eligible pupils broken down by the different strands of eligibility. The total number of pupil premium eligible pupils can specifically be found in the ‘School Type’, ‘Local Authority’ and ‘Parliamentary Constituency’ sheets of the relevant allocations file.
Asked by: Lord Watson of Invergowrie (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask His Majesty's Government whether funding for school libraries is ring-fenced; and if not, what support they will make available to schools to ensure that pupils can continue to have high-quality reading experiences.
Answered by Baroness Barran - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
The department believes that all pupils deserve to be taught a knowledge-rich curriculum that promotes the extensive reading of books and other kinds of texts, both in and out of school. School libraries complement public libraries in allowing pupils to do this. It is for head teachers to decide how best to manage their budgets, including investment in resources such as library provision. This funding is not ringfenced and can include funding book corners, school libraries and librarians.
Overall, core schools funding, including funding for both mainstream schools and high needs, is increasing by £4 billion in the 2022/23 financial year compared to the previous year.
Asked by: Lord Watson of Invergowrie (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask Her Majesty's Government, further to Adoption UK’s Barometer Report, published in June, what steps they are taking to measure the impact of a lack of support for adopted people and their families when establishing birth family contact.
Answered by Baroness Barran - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
Local authorities have a legal duty to provide a comprehensive adoption service. This specifically includes 'Assistance, including mediation services, in relation to arrangements for contact between an adoptive child and a natural parent, natural sibling, former guardian or a related person of the adoptive child', as set out in Adoption Support Services Regulations 2005. It be found at: https://www.legislation.gov.uk/uksi/2005/691/part/2/made?view=plain. Contact arrangements should be reviewed regularly, and families should be supported with the contact arrangements before, during and after the adoption.
As set out in our 'Adoption Strategy: achieving excellence everywhere', the department is working with Regional Adoption Agencies (RAAs) to develop and trial what good practice around contact looks like, with a view to setting national standards in this area. This includes investigating what support is needed for children, birth parents, and adoptive parents. RAAs are also currently trialling a new programme called ‘Letterswap', a new digital platform to improve the current ‘Letterbox’ system. The published adoption strategy is available at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/adoption-strategy-achieving-excellence-everywhere.
Asked by: Lord Watson of Invergowrie (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the findings included in Adoption UK’s Barometer Report, published in June, which showed that only (1) 12 per cent of adopters surveyed were offered advice and training on establishing contact with birth family relatives of their adopted child, and (2) 17 per cent of adopted adults surveyed reported being given any professional support prior to establishing contact with their own birth family in childhood; and what steps they plan to take in response.
Answered by Baroness Barran - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
Local authorities have a legal duty to provide a comprehensive adoption service. This specifically includes 'Assistance, including mediation services, in relation to arrangements for contact between an adoptive child and a natural parent, natural sibling, former guardian or a related person of the adoptive child', as set out in Adoption Support Services Regulations 2005. It be found at: https://www.legislation.gov.uk/uksi/2005/691/part/2/made?view=plain. Contact arrangements should be reviewed regularly, and families should be supported with the contact arrangements before, during and after the adoption.
As set out in our 'Adoption Strategy: achieving excellence everywhere', the department is working with Regional Adoption Agencies (RAAs) to develop and trial what good practice around contact looks like, with a view to setting national standards in this area. This includes investigating what support is needed for children, birth parents, and adoptive parents. RAAs are also currently trialling a new programme called ‘Letterswap', a new digital platform to improve the current ‘Letterbox’ system. The published adoption strategy is available at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/adoption-strategy-achieving-excellence-everywhere.
Asked by: Lord Watson of Invergowrie (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the findings included in Adoption UK’s Barometer Report, published in June, which found that 85 per cent of the adopters surveyed said their adoption agency does not regularly review their child’s contact arrangements with birth relatives; and what plans they have to make such reviews mandatory.
Answered by Baroness Barran - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
Local authorities have a legal duty to provide a comprehensive adoption service. This specifically includes 'Assistance, including mediation services, in relation to arrangements for contact between an adoptive child and a natural parent, natural sibling, former guardian or a related person of the adoptive child', as set out in Adoption Support Services Regulations 2005. It be found at: https://www.legislation.gov.uk/uksi/2005/691/part/2/made?view=plain. Contact arrangements should be reviewed regularly, and families should be supported with the contact arrangements before, during and after the adoption.
As set out in our 'Adoption Strategy: achieving excellence everywhere', the department is working with Regional Adoption Agencies (RAAs) to develop and trial what good practice around contact looks like, with a view to setting national standards in this area. This includes investigating what support is needed for children, birth parents, and adoptive parents. RAAs are also currently trialling a new programme called ‘Letterswap', a new digital platform to improve the current ‘Letterbox’ system. The published adoption strategy is available at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/adoption-strategy-achieving-excellence-everywhere.
Asked by: Lord Watson of Invergowrie (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what was the total cost of converting maintained schools to academy status through sponsorship or other means from September 2010 to March 2022; and what was the average cost of converting each school to academy status during that period.
Answered by Baroness Barran - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
As of March 2022, the department has spent £495 million through our academies pre-opening grants to support schools to become academies. Average costs will vary significantly by project. The department has a range of available grants with set tariffs that contribute towards the costs to support schools to convert.
From 2010, the converter pre-opening grant has been set at £25,000 per academy.
The level of funding for sponsored pre-opening grants has varied since 2010, when the academies programme began to expand. From 2010 to 2013, the average award for sponsored academies was determined on a case-by-case basis. To ensure greater consistency and drive efficiencies, set tariffs for sponsored academies were established in 2013. Sponsored academies are now eligible for grants ranging from £70,000 to £150,000 per academy.
Cost of Sponsored and Converter Academies from 2010 to March 2022
Financial Year | Costs |
2010-11 | £67m |
2011-12 | £67m |
2012-13 | £65m |
2013-14 | £59m |
2014-15 | £48m |
2015-16 | £26m |
2016-17 | £54m |
2017-18 | £38m |
2018-19 | £30m |
2019-20 | £16m |
2020-21 | £15m |
2021-22 | £10m |
Total | £495m |