Asked by: Adam Jogee (Labour - Newcastle-under-Lyme)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what the average staff to student ratio was in secondary schools in (a) Newcastle-under-Lyme and (b) Staffordshire in each year since 2010.
Answered by Catherine McKinnell - Minister of State (Education)
Information on the school workforce, including the pupil to adult and pupil to teacher ratios at national, regional, local authority and individual school level, is published in the ‘School Workforce in England’ statistical publication here: https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/find-statistics/school-workforce-in-england.
In the 2023/24 academic year, which is the latest data available, the ratio of pupils to teachers (qualified and unqualified) was 16:8 in state-funded secondary schools in England, the same as the previous year.
The attached table provides the pupil to adult ratio and the pupil to teacher ratio for state-funded secondary schools in Newcastle-under-Lyme constituency, Staffordshire local authority and England for the 2010/11 to 2023/24 academic years.
Asked by: Adam Jogee (Labour - Newcastle-under-Lyme)
Question
To ask the Minister for Women and Equalities, whether she has made an assessment of the potential impact of closing the gender pay gap on women who (a) live, (b) learn and (c) work in Newcastle-under-Lyme constituency.
Answered by Anneliese Dodds - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
According to the most recent ONS assessment, the median gender pay gap for all UK employees is 13.1% in April 2024. We are committed to going further and faster to close the gender pay gap. There are a number of measures within our landmark Employment Rights Bill which will support us in this ambition, and which will have a positive impact on women across the country.
In relation to my Hon. Friend’s constituency, the most recent ONS assessment states that the median gender pay gap for all employees who live in the constituency in April 2024 is 9.4%, down from 19.8 last year*, and significantly lower than the national figure.
*ONS recommend comparing GPG figures over the longer term. ONS publish GPG data back to 1997 however, the home parliamentary constituency table was published later. Given the small number of people in any parliamentary constituency included in the GPG calculations, ONS also produces a rating of the quality of this data. 2004 was the earliest that Newcastle-under-Lyme's GPG data was published and considered of "reasonable quality."
Asked by: Adam Jogee (Labour - Newcastle-under-Lyme)
Question
To ask the Minister for Women and Equalities, whether she has made a recent assessment of the potential merits of a cross-Government strategy to close the gender pay gap.
Answered by Anneliese Dodds - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
According to the most recent ONS assessment, the median gender pay gap for all UK employees is 13.1% in April 2024. We are committed to going further and faster to close the gender pay gap. There are a number of measures within our landmark Employment Rights Bill which will support us in this ambition, and which will have a positive impact on women across the country.
In relation to my Hon. Friend’s constituency, the most recent ONS assessment states that the median gender pay gap for all employees who live in the constituency in April 2024 is 9.4%, down from 19.8 last year*, and significantly lower than the national figure.
*ONS recommend comparing GPG figures over the longer term. ONS publish GPG data back to 1997 however, the home parliamentary constituency table was published later. Given the small number of people in any parliamentary constituency included in the GPG calculations, ONS also produces a rating of the quality of this data. 2004 was the earliest that Newcastle-under-Lyme's GPG data was published and considered of "reasonable quality."
Asked by: Adam Jogee (Labour - Newcastle-under-Lyme)
Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:
To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, if he will make an assessment of the potential impact of science and innovation on job creation in Newcastle-under-Lyme.
Answered by Feryal Clark - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
Science and innovation are vital to our mission to kickstart economic growth and create jobs in every part of the country.
For example, Research England invested £5 million into the HyDEX programme, which Keele University leads on behalf of the Midlands-based Energy Research Accelerator. This is helping build a Midlands hydrogen economy by working with established national businesses and accelerating local SMEs’ work.
Through the Strength in Places Fund, UKRI invested £18.3 million in the “Midlands Advanced Ceramics for Industry 4.0” programme led by Staffordshire company Lucideon. This led the Applied Materials Research, Innovation, & Commercialisation Company to be established.
Asked by: Adam Jogee (Labour - Newcastle-under-Lyme)
Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:
To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, what recent discussions he has had with Cabinet colleagues on the role of science and innovation in the defence sector.
Answered by Feryal Clark - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
Cutting-edge science, innovation and technology are central to modern defence and UK national security. DSIT is working closely with MOD to input into its Strategic Defence Review, to help MOD leverage the strengths of the UK S&T ecosystem to achieve its ambitions. This includes investments in future research breakthroughs and innovation to grow our technology sector, which also supports future defence needs. DSIT’s teams regularly engage with cross-Government colleagues including Defence on the opportunities and risks of new technologies and are integrated into the relevant board structures for defence-related R&D. DSIT's Secretary of State speaks frequently to cabinet colleagues on issues of mutual importance.