Asked by: Angela Eagle (Labour - Wallasey)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment he has made of the effect of the national funding formula for schools on levels of socio-economic inequality in (a) Wallasey, (b) Wirral, (c) Merseyside and (d) the North West.
Answered by Nick Gibb
The National Funding Formula commits extra funding for pupils with additional needs, based on levels of deprivation, low prior attainment, English as an additional language and mobility. This is because evidence shows that pupils with these characteristics are more likely to fall behind, and need extra support to reach their full potential. In 2020-21, £6.3 billion will be allocated in the National Funding Formula for 5-16-year olds with additional needs in England. Areas with high levels of additional needs will attract more funding.
Next year, primary schools and secondary schools in Wallasey will, on average, attract £4,328 and £5,813 per pupil respectively. This reflects a 4.1% increase in per pupil funding when compared to this year.
In Wirral, primary and secondary schools will, on average, attract £4,146 and £5,439 per pupil respectively next year. This reflects a 3.9% increase in per pupil funding compared to this year.
For the local authorities that make up the Merseyside area (Knowsley, Liverpool, St Helens, Sefton and Wirral), this totals to a cash increase of £43.6 million in additional schools funding when compared to last year, which is a 4.3% increase in their total cash funding.
For the North West region, primary and secondary schools will, on average, attract £4,281 and £5,459 per pupil respectively. This reflects a 4.0% increase in per pupil funding compared to last year.
Asked by: Angela Eagle (Labour - Wallasey)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many nursery places were available in Wallasey in each of the last 10 years.
Answered by Nick Gibb
This is a matter for Her Majesty’s Chief Inspector, Amanda Spielman. I have asked her to write to you and a copy of her reply will be placed in the Libraries of both Houses.
Asked by: Angela Eagle (Labour - Wallasey)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what estimate he has made of the average per-hour cost of childcare (a) in a nursery and (b) with a childminder in (i) Wallasey, (ii) Liverpool city region and (iii) the North West in each year since 2015.
Answered by Nick Gibb
The Government published data on the cost of delivering childcare in the North West of England for 2015 and 2018. The average hourly costs of delivery, with the respective publications from which the data is sourced, are:
| 2015[1] | 2018[2] | 2018[3] | ||
| 2-year-olds | 3- and 4-year-olds | All ages | 2 year-olds | 3- and 4-year-olds |
All Settings | £3.70 (n=16) | £3.28 (n=19) | £3.16 (n=184) | £3.88 (n=8) | £4.02 (n=11) |
The Government does not hold data relating specifically to the Wallasey constituency or Liverpool City Region.
[1] Table 16 of ‘SEED: The cost and funding of early education’ and is available at the following link: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/586235/SEED_-_The_cost_and_funding_of_early_education_-_RR552.pdf.
[2] Table 17 of ‘Providers’ finances: Evidence from the Survey of Childcare and Early Years Providers 2018’ and is available at the following link: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/795332/Frontier_-_SCEYP_2018_Finance_Report_v2.pdf.
[3] Figure 8 (2-year-olds) and figure 19 (3- and 4-year-olds) of ‘Early Years Provider Costs Research’ and is available at the following link: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/early-years-providers-cost-study-2018. Average hourly costs are based on different collection methodologies and from different sources, so comparability is limited.
Figures in brackets indicate base sizes. Bases sizes under 50 cases should be treated with caution.
“All settings” is defined as private, voluntary, nursery class, maintained nursery schools, /children’s centre and childminder
“North West of England” is defined according to regional definition which can be found here:
Asked by: Angela Eagle (Labour - Wallasey)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps he is taking to increase the numbers of teachers in (a) the North West, (b) Merseyside, (c) Wirral and (d) Wallasey.
Answered by Nick Gibb
Ensuring the whole country has a strong teaching profession is a top priority for the Government. Last year the Department launched the first ever integrated strategy to recruit and retain more teachers. The strategy includes the biggest teaching reform in a generation, the Early Career Framework (ECF). The ECF provides new teachers with the solid foundations for a successful career in teaching, backed by £130 million a year in funding when fully rolled out in 2021. The Department has also committed to plans to raise starting salaries for new teachers to £30,000 by 2022-23, putting teaching on a par with other top graduate professions.
Beyond this, we are delivering some targeted initiatives that will benefit the North West, Merseyside, and Wirral. Schools in Greater Manchester will benefit from early roll out of the ECF in September 2020, with access to improved support for their early career teachers, including high-quality training.
The Department is also piloting a number of financial incentives. Teachers’ Student Loan Reimbursement is being offered to languages and science teachers in 7 local authorities throughout the North West identified as having high need for teachers, including 3 in Merseyside. Additionally, the Department is offering mathematics, chemistry, physics and languages early-career retention payments with additional uplifts for teachers in 11 local authorities throughout the North West, including 4 in Merseyside.
The Department has made available over £20 million of scholarships funding in 2017-19 to support teachers and leaders in Category 5 and 6 areas to take up a reformed National Professional Qualifications, doubling our initial intended investment. There are 15 category 5 or 6 local authority districts throughout the North West, and 6 in Merseyside including Wirral. The aim of the investment is to retain good teachers in these areas and support their professional development.
In addition to this, the Department has set aside £30 million in tailored support for schools struggling with teacher recruitment and retention. This support is designed to help schools improve existing plans, join national programmes, build local partnerships or fund new initiatives. Throughout the North West, 36 schools have received support as part of this programme, including 2 schools in Merseyside.
Asked by: Angela Eagle (Labour - Wallasey)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what the mean funding is per pupil for SEND provision in (a) Wallasey constituency, (b) Merseyside and (c) the North West in each of the last 10 years.
Answered by Michelle Donelan - Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology
Funding for pupils with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) is drawn from the Dedicated Schools Grant (DSG).
Local authorities are required to provide sufficient funds, from the schools block of the DSG, to enable mainstream schools to meet the cost of additional support for pupils with SEND, up to the value of £6,000.
When the costs of additional support required for a pupil with SEND exceed £6,000, the local authority should also allocate additional top-up funding to cover the excess costs. This top-up funding, and funding for special schools comes from the local authority’s high needs block on the DSG.
In 2013, the schools and high needs blocks within the DSG were created. As the DSG includes other budgets such as the early years budget, the department is unable to provide comparable figures before the creation of the blocks within the DSG in 2013-14.
Schools and high needs funding allocations for 2013-14 to 2019-20 are as follows. The department does not hold funding information for SEND support at a constituency level, or for Merseyside. We do not use the level of children and young people with SEND to determine the rate of funding for an area. As funding for children and young people with SEND is drawn from both the schools and high needs blocks, and there is not a ringfenced amount within the schools block for children and young people with SEND, we are unable to give an average figure.
In Wirral:
Year | Schools funding amount | High needs funding amount |
2013-14 | £188.0 million | £32.3 million |
2014-15 | £187.5 million | £33.6 million |
2015-16 | £191.3 million | £34.0 million |
2016-17 | £192.7 million | £33.7 million |
2017-18 | £195.9 million | £35.1 million |
2018-19 | £198.7 million | £35.8 million* |
2019-20 | £202.9 million | £36.9 million* |
In the North West:
Year | Schools funding amount | High needs funding amount |
2013-14 | £4,174.5 million | £674.2 million |
2014-15 | £4,190.6 million | £709.1 million |
2015-16 | £4,339.6 million | £719.2 million |
2016-17 | £4,398.7 million | £726.1 million |
2017-18 | £4,513.8 million | £751.5 million |
2018-19 | £4,590.1 million | £787.1 million* |
2019-20 | £4,703.5 million | £810.3 million* |
* In December 2018, the department allocated an additional £250 million of high needs funding across 2018-19 and 2019-20, in recognition of funding pressures. This additional funding is included within the final totals displayed.
In 2020-21, we will provide more than £700 million in additional high needs funding, bringing the national high needs funding total to over £7 billion. Every local authority will receive a minimum increase of 8% per head of their population aged 2-18 years old. We will provide provisional allocations to local authorities in October.
Asked by: Angela Eagle (Labour - Wallasey)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many and what proportion of children in primary schools in Wallasey constituency were eligible for free school meals in each year since 2010.
Answered by Michelle Donelan - Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology
The number of proportion of children in primary schools in Wallasey constituency who were eligible and claiming free school meals (FSM) is provided in the attached table.
Since April 2018, protections have been in place for FSM eligibility while Universal Credit is introduced nationwide. This has been the main driver in the increase in the proportion of pupils eligible for and claiming free school meals as pupils continue to become eligible but fewer pupils stop being eligible.
This data is published at national and school level in the underlying data of the annual ‘Schools, pupils and their characteristics’ statistical release. The 2019 publication is available at https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/schools-pupils-and-their-characteristics-january-2019.
Asked by: Angela Eagle (Labour - Wallasey)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many and what proportion of children in secondary schools in Wallasey eligible for free school meals went on to higher education in each year since 2010.
Answered by Michelle Donelan - Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology
The information requested by constituency level is not readily available and could only be obtained at disproportionate cost.
The Department does publish the proportion of students who entered higher education by age 19 who were eligible for free school meals at age 15 in state-funded and special schools at a local authority level. This information is available here: https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/widening-participation-in-higher-education-2018.
Asked by: Angela Eagle (Labour - Wallasey)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many apprenticeships starts there were in Wallasey constituency in each year since 2010.
Answered by Michelle Donelan - Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology
The number of apprenticeship starts in Wallasey local authority in each year since 2005/06 can be found in the table attached.
Figures for 2011/12 onwards are not directly comparable to 2010/11 or prior years as a Single Individualised Learner Record collection system was introduced in 2011/12.
More detailed breakdowns of starts in local areas, by characteristics such as age, level and sector subject area are available in the further education data library:
https://www.gov.uk/government/statistical-data-sets/fe-data-library-apprenticeships.
Asked by: Angela Eagle (Labour - Wallasey)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what recent discussions he has had with the Regional Schools Commissioner for Yorkshire and Lancashire on the closure of Emslie Morgan Academy.
Answered by Nadhim Zahawi
My right hon. Friend, the Secretary of State for Education, has not met with the Regional Schools Commissioner (RSC) for Lancashire and West Yorkshire in relation to the closure of Emslie Morgan Academy. My noble friend, the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, has however discussed the closure of Emslie Morgan Academy with the RSC and officials. The decision to close Emslie Morgan Academy was taken by the department, following the careful consideration of all available options.
Asked by: Angela Eagle (Labour - Wallasey)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how much funding was provided to schools in (a) Wallasey, (b) Merseyside and (c) the North West from the Condition Improvement Fund in each of the last five years.
Answered by Nick Gibb
The Condition Improvement Fund (CIF) is an annual bidding round to which single and smaller academy trusts and sixth-form colleges are eligible to apply for capital funding. All other schools access capital funding through the School Condition Allocation paid to their responsible body.
In the attached table, the Department has provided a regional breakdown of CIF grant awards for the last 5 years. Accurate amounts for grants funded are not known until the work is complete, so the Department is unable to disclose the total funding amount for a CIF round until all the projects in that round are complete.
The Department intends to release individual project funding amounts for all CIF rounds once complete and, to date, we have published the funding from 2015-16. Information for CIF 2016-17 onwards does not include the funding amounts. To release the funding amounts for which applicants bid to CIF while procurement or construction works are ongoing would jeopardise the negotiating position of schools and sixth-form colleges to obtain value for money for the public purse from their contractors.