Asked by: Alice Macdonald (Labour (Co-op) - Norwich North)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what estimate she has made of the number of people aged between 16 and 24 years old that are not in education, employment or training in (a) Norwich North constituency and (b) Norfolk.
Answered by Janet Daby - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
The department publishes statistics on 16-24-year-olds that are not in education, employment or training (NEET) for England in the Labour Force Survey (LFS). The most recent dataset is available here: https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/find-statistics/neet-statistics-annual-brief/2024.
The number of 16–24-year-olds estimated as NEET in England at the end of 2024 is estimated to be 837,000, approximately 13.6% of the population in that demographic group. These estimates are not available at lower-level geographies due to limitations with sample sizes.
However, local authorities are required to encourage, enable or assist young people’s participation in education or training and return management information for young people aged 16 and 17. This data is published here: https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/find-statistics/participation-in-education-training-and-neet-age-16-to-17-by-local-authority/2024-25.
It shows that of the 19,635 young people aged 16 and 17 who were known to Norfolk local authority at the end of 2024 (average of December 2024, January 2025 and February 2025), 1,141 were NEET or their activity was not known. These statistics are published as transparency data so some caution should be taken if using these figures.
In addition, 16-18 destination measures are published by parliamentary constituency. These official statistics show the percentage of pupils who did not sustain education, apprenticeships or employment for a 6-month period during the year following compulsory activity. This can be used as a proxy for NEET at age 18, for those who were participating in compulsory education at 17. The latest publication includes destinations in 2022/23 by Parliamentary constituency boundaries at that time. Data can be found here for Norwich North Parliamentary constituency: https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/data-tables/permalink/a5a0cfd5-4d3d-47da-1dee-08ddc13e16b8.
Asked by: Alice Macdonald (Labour (Co-op) - Norwich North)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what guidance the Government provides to local authorities on the inspection of school ceilings.
Answered by Stephen Morgan - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
Responsibility for keeping buildings safe and well-maintained lies with responsible bodies, such as local authorities and academy trusts, along with their schools. The department supports them by providing capital funding, delivering major rebuilding programmes and offering guidance and support.
The department provides good estate management for schools (GEMS), which is a manual and toolkit to support responsible bodies and schools with their estate management. The guidance can be found at the following link: https://www.gov.uk/guidance/good-estate-management-for-schools.
The guidance contains a range of information that can help organisations to manage their school estate, including strategic estate management, maintenance and health and safety compliance. This includes guidance on carrying out condition surveys and how to procure professional services, which can be found here: https://www.gov.uk/guidance/good-estate-management-for-schools/understanding-land-and-buildings#assessing-the-condition-of-your-estate and here: https://www.gov.uk/guidance/good-estate-management-for-schools/planning-and-organising-your-estate-resources#buying-goods-works-and-services.