Asked by: Alex Chalk (Conservative - Cheltenham)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what plans his department has to review the (a) Education and Skills Funding Agency and (b) Teachers' Pay grant in relation to increased staff ratios required for schools (i) operating a High Need C&I centre and (ii) with high numbers of pupils with an education and health care plan.
Answered by Nick Gibb
On behalf of the Secretary of State for Education, the Education and Skills Funding Agency has responsibility to administer funding to deliver education and skills, from early years through to adulthood.
In 2018, the teachers’ pay grant was introduced to support schools to implement the 2018 teacher pay award. In 2019, the teachers’ pay grant was increased to support schools to implement the 2019 teacher pay award. It is allocated to schools on a per pupil basis, taking into account their phase and geographical area. In 2020-21, the teachers’ pay grant will be worth over £500 million to schools and local authorities.
In respect of pupils with education, health and care plans, local authorities are responsible for covering the costs of additional provision above the first £6,000. Local authorities retain the flexibility to provide extra funding to schools, based on the schools’ individual needs and where there is a strong local rationale for doing so.
Asked by: Alex Chalk (Conservative - Cheltenham)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps the Government is taking to crack down on the use of essay mill cheating services amongst students.
Answered by Sam Gyimah
Cheating is unacceptable. It undermines the reputation of the sector, and devalues the hard work of those succeeding on their own merit. We are currently focussing on non-legislative options, but remain open to the future need for legislation, and will continue to investigate all options available. We should only legislate where it is absolutely necessary – the government’s preferred approach is to tackle this issue through a sector-led initiative – which is why the department has worked with Quality Assurance Agency (QAA), Universities UK and the National Union of Students to publish guidance last October, for all UK Universities on how best to tackle contract cheating.
Time is needed to fully evaluate the effectiveness of the new guidance and this is underway. The QAA is running a series of seminars to evaluate how the sector is using the guidance.
Through the Higher Education and Research Act (2017), we have given the Office for Students the power to take action if higher education providers are found to be, in any way, complicit in cheating. This includes imposing fines or ultimately de-registration, the highest possible punishment. I expect Vice Chancellors to play their part by adopting robust anti plagiarism and cheating policies which exclude students who use essay mills and by tackling the advertising of these services in their institutions.
I welcome the swift action YouTube took to remove videos containing adverts promoting the EduBirdie essay-writing service, in response to the recent 'BBC Trending' investigation on academic cheating, in which I made it very clear that YouTube had a moral responsibility to take action.
Asked by: Alex Chalk (Conservative - Cheltenham)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps the Government is taking to discourage the use of single use plastics in schools.
Answered by Nadhim Zahawi
The Government’s Twenty Five Year Environment Plan sets out our ambition to eliminate all avoidable plastic waste. This requires action across all stakeholders including producers and consumers. The government will work to remove all consumer single use plastics from the central government estate offices.
The School Food Standards require that drinking water must be supplied free of charge at all times to school pupils, and we are aware that many schools encourage pupils to use reusable bottles.
As part of the science curriculum, children are taught about the scientific concepts that relate to the environment. At key stage 2, pupils should explore examples of the human impact on environments, which can include the negative impact of litter. At present, around 75% of schools in England are members of the Eco-Schools programme. We would like to increase participation in this programme overall and are working actively on anti-littering awareness, including participating in litter picks.
Asked by: Alex Chalk (Conservative - Cheltenham)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what financial aid is available to prospective postgraduate students from Northern Ireland who have previously lived and studied in England but are not eligible for a loan from the Student Loans Company as they are classified as not normally resident in this country.
Answered by Lord Johnson of Marylebone
This Government has a long-term commitment to enhancing support for postgraduate study. Increasing the supply of individuals with high-level skills and knowledge boosts earnings, stimulates innovation, and contributes to making the UK more globally competitive. That is why, from Academic Year 2016/17, the Government introduced a postgraduate master’s loan scheme to help remove the financial barrier often faced by those wishing to step up to achieving a master’s level qualification.
Higher education in the UK is a devolved matter, and England, Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales each operate their own system of student support for home-domiciled students. The Department for the Economy in Northern Ireland has announced plans to introduce postgraduate tuition fee loans for Northern Ireland students from the beginning of Academic Year 2017/18.
Prospective postgraduate students from all parts of the UK are potentially eligible for Professional and Career Development Loans (PCDLs). PCDLs are government-subsidised bank loans that are offered to contribute to the costs of a variety of courses and training that help with career development. Eligible courses include a large range of postgraduate courses and, in recent years, around seven in ten recipients of PCDLs have been those participating in postgraduate study
Asked by: Alex Chalk (Conservative - Cheltenham)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what progress the Government has made on providing additional funding to support sport and exercise in primary schools from the soft drinks levy.
Answered by Edward Timpson
We want all pupils to be healthy and active. That is why through the primary PE and sport premium, the Government has invested over £600million of ring-fenced funding to primary schools to improve PE and sport since 2013.
But we know there is more to do, which is why I am pleased that revenue from the soft drinks industry levy will be used to double the primary PE and sport premium to £320million a year from September 2017, enabling schools to further improve the quality and breadth of PE and sport that they offer.
We continue to work with the sector to determine how the funding should be allocated and further details will be announced in due course.
Asked by: Alex Chalk (Conservative - Cheltenham)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what progress the Government has made on providing additional funding to expand breakfast clubs provision in schools from September 2017 from the soft drinks levy.
Answered by Edward Timpson
Work is ongoing to design the new programme, which will be ready for September 2017. Further details will be announced in due course.
Asked by: Alex Chalk (Conservative - Cheltenham)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what the process is to access the additional funding to extend secondary school hours with the inclusion of additional sports and physical education from the soft drinks industry levy.
Answered by Edward Timpson
The previous chancellor announced his intention that funding from the sugar levy would help up to 25% of secondary schools provide a longer school day, to include a range of activities including sport. The Department is currently determining the details of how the funding will be allocated. We will provide further details in due course so that schools have sufficient time to apply for the funding and implement their plans.
Asked by: Alex Chalk (Conservative - Cheltenham)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what progress the Government has made on providing additional funding to enable the extension of secondary school hours with the inclusion of additional sports and physical education from the soft drinks levy.
Answered by Edward Timpson
The previous chancellor announced his intention that funding from the sugar levy would help up to 25% of secondary schools provide a longer school day, to include a range of activities including sport. The Department is currently determining the details of how the funding will be allocated. We will provide further details in due course so that schools have sufficient time to apply for the funding and implement their plans.
Asked by: Alex Chalk (Conservative - Cheltenham)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps her Department is taking to educate parents and teachers of primary school-age children on the potentially damaging effect of social media on child and adolescent mental health.
Answered by Edward Timpson
Children and young people’s mental health is a priority for the Department and we recognise the importance of supporting parents and schools to help children use social media safely.
To provide information to parents who are concerned about mental health the Department funded MindEd to set up a new site, MindEd for Families, which was launched earlier this year (http://minded.e-lfh.org.uk/families/index.html). This provides free on-line advice on a range of mental health issues affecting children and young people and includes a section on social media. Teachers can also find advice and training on mental health issues from the main MindEd site, which was funded by the Department of Health (https://www.minded.org.uk/). We are also continuing to provide funding to the YoungMinds parents helpline, a national service providing free, confidential online and telephony support, information and advice, to any parent/carer concerned with the emotional problems, behaviour or mental health of a child or young person up to the age of 25.
One of the risks to mental health from social media use is cyberbullying. The Department has produced guidance for parents and teachers on cyberbullying, which can be found online at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/preventing-and-tackling-bullying. These contain advice and signpost further sources of detailed information and support – including for talking to children about social media use. We have also recently announced £4.4 million in funding for 10 projects to tackle bullying in schools. One of these is developing an online approach for reporting bullying to schools, including cyberbullying on social media.
To reflect the importance of keeping children safe online, e-safety is covered at all key stages in the computing curriculum. Children are taught: how to use technology safely and respectfully; how to keep personal information private; and where to go for help and support when they have concerns about content or contact on the internet, or other online technologies. Schools are also able to teach pupils about the use of social media and to learn strategies for keeping physically and emotionally safe, including safety online, as part of their Personal, Social, Health and Economic (PSHE) education programme of study.
The Department has issued statutory guidance ‘Keeping children safe in education’, which flags the potential safeguarding issues that school staff should be aware of, including online safety. The guidance clearly sets out the role all school staff have in safeguarding children and the actions staff should take if they have a concern about a child. As part of their induction all school staff should be provided safeguarding training, which should be regularly updated.
Asked by: Alex Chalk (Conservative - Cheltenham)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether the Government plans to consider extending the transitional funding for maintained nurseries to include children's centres providing early years education as part of the Early Years National Funding Formula review.
Answered by Caroline Dinenage
The £55 million additional funding for maintained nursery schools for at least two years will provide them with stability while they explore how to become more sustainable in the longer term. We plan to consult the sector on the future of nursery schools in further detail, including what happens after this two year period, in due course.
Children’s centres are funded through the Business Rates Retention Scheme and local authorities have the freedom to decide what services are appropriate to meet local needs. Our early years funding proposals, on which we recently consulted, are designed to maximise the funding that goes to the front-line, including children’s centres where they provide early education. We will issue our response later in the autumn.