Asked by: Anne Marie Morris (Conservative - Newton Abbot)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether her Department has written to university vice-chancellors to request that they cap the number of medical school places on offer; and if her Department will take steps to work with the Department of Health and Social Care to help raise the cap on new medical students in England.
Answered by Robert Halfon
Medical and dental school places are capped to ensure teaching, learning and assessment standards are maintained as well as ensuring there are enough high quality placements for each student.
The number of places available to study medicine and dentistry is regulated by the government. The Department for Health and Social Care, in consultation with Health Education England, is responsible for the setting of medical and dentistry caps.
The cap on medical school places was temporarily lifted during the COVID-19 pandemic in both the 2020/21 and 2021/22 academic years. There will not be fewer government-funded places in 2023 as a result.
I have written a letter to higher education Vice-Chancellors which referenced the cap on medical and dental school places and reminded them to remain within their five-year rolling medical and dentistry intake targets.
Health Education England recently announced financial support for the new medical apprenticeship to increase numbers of doctors where they are needed most. This will make careers in medicine more accessible and will provide an alternative route into medicine to help deliver a diverse and sustainable workforce. There is now a complete apprentice pathway from entry to postgraduate advanced clinical practice.
The government has committed to publishing a Long-Term Workforce Plan this year and this will include independently verified projections for the number of doctors, nurses and other professionals that will be needed in 5, 10 and 15 years’ time, taking full account of improvements in retention and productivity. This plan will help ensure that we have the right numbers of staff, with the right skills to transform and deliver high quality services fit for the future.
The department will continue to work with the Department for Health and Social Care to monitor current arrangements.
Asked by: Anne Marie Morris (Conservative - Newton Abbot)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what the highest performing schools are for apprenticeship starts for level 3 qualified 18-year-olds from the latest available data held by her Department; and if she will make a statement.
Answered by Robert Halfon
The department recognises that destination measures may have been affected by the broader impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic, including school and college closures during 2020 and 2021 and alternative grading arrangements.
The department publishes destinations after 16 to 18 study of level 3 students from schools and colleges in England. The figures show sustained destinations, where activity has taken place for at least six contiguous months in the destination year, rather than starts.
The latest data shows the activity of students deemed to have reached the end of 16 to 18 study in 2020, and their activity in the following academic year. This data can be found here: https://content.explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/api/releases/02e037c5-601f-4900-def8-08da96ef9e97/files/779e3c8d-8300-4fc1-cfbd-08daa212051a.
School data can be accessed via the Find school and college performance website, available at: https://www.gov.uk/school-performance-tables.
Asked by: Anne Marie Morris (Conservative - Newton Abbot)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, with reference to the forecast on 13 July 2022 by Devon County Council of a Dedicated Schools Grant overspend of £32.1 million, what assessment he has made of the impact this will have on that council's ability to improve (a) provision and (b) outcomes for pupils with SEND.
Answered by Kelly Tolhurst
Local authorities are statutorily responsible for meeting the special educational needs of the children and young people in their area. In doing so, they must take responsibility for the effective and sustainable management of their high needs systems and associated spending. Overspends on local authorities’ high needs blocks are for local authorities to manage, and they do not affect an authority’s duty to carry out its statutory responsibilities.
In 2021, Devon was invited to participate in the Safety Valve intervention programme for local authorities with the very highest dedicated schools grant (DSG) deficits. The Safety Valve programme is not a cost cutting exercise, it is focused on improving performance of local high needs systems and ensuring this is achieved in a sustainable way. The programme requires the local authorities involved to develop substantial plans for reform to their high needs systems to rapidly place them on a sustainable footing. If the local authorities produce DSG management plans that create lasting sustainability and are effective for children and young people, the department will provide financial support to the authority, to assist in the elimination of its DSG deficit, so long as the authority delivers on its plans.
Devon took part in the programme in 2021, and negotiations are not yet concluded. The local authority is developing plans to improve both the high needs system and its financial management. Their focus on improving outcomes for children and young people should be supported by plans to reach a more sustainable position and reduce its overspend.
Asked by: Anne Marie Morris (Conservative - Newton Abbot)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, when his Department will issue information to local councils about how the Ukrainian refugee education funding will work.
Answered by Robin Walker
We continue to work across government to ensure we are supporting all families and children arriving in the UK from Ukraine. The government has set out the funding tariffs for those arriving on the ‘Homes for Ukraine’ scheme, as below.
The funding will be on a per pupil basis for the three phases of education at the following annual rates:
The department is currently working at pace to develop the methodology and mechanism for the allocation of this education funding for children and young people and will write to local authorities once this work is completed.
Further details on funding for this scheme, including the conditions, is available at https://www.gov.uk/guidance/homes-for-ukraine-guidance-for-councils.
Asked by: Anne Marie Morris (Conservative - Newton Abbot)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, for what reason Devon was not selected as one of the 55 Education Investment Areas despite ranking within the top 55 areas with the lowest Standardised KS2 and KS4 composite measure.
Answered by Robin Walker
The methodology used to select Education Investment Areas (EIA) and Opportunity Areas (OA) is available at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/social-mobility-and-opportunity-areas.
Areas selected as EIAs are the local authorities that are either: (i) in the bottom 50 ranked local authorities on key stage 2 and key stage 4 attainment; or (ii) contain an OA or areas previously identified for additional school improvement support. Devon was ranked 55 on this list, so was not included.
Asked by: Anne Marie Morris (Conservative - Newton Abbot)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, for what reason local authorities with higher attainment outcomes designated as Opportunity Areas were chosen as Education Investment Areas ahead of local authorities with lower attainment outcomes.
Answered by Robin Walker
The methodology used to select Education Investment Areas (EIA) and Opportunity Areas (OA) is available at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/social-mobility-and-opportunity-areas.
EIAs were principally selected based on poor attainment across key stage 2 (KS2) and key stage 4 (KS4). To ensure the department’s approach to levelling up is consistent with existing policies to improve outcomes in specific places, EIAs also included any local authority which contains an existing OA or an area previously identified for additional school improvement support.
Areas selected as EIAs are the local authorities that are either: (i) in the bottom 50 ranked local authorities on KS2 and KS4 attainment; or (ii) contain an OA or areas previously identified for additional school improvement support.
Asked by: Anne Marie Morris (Conservative - Newton Abbot)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what the highest performing schools are for apprenticeship starts for level 3 qualified 18 year olds from the latest available data held by his Department; and if he will make a statement.
Answered by Alex Burghart - Shadow Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster
The Find and Compare Schools in England website shows the sustained destinations after 16 to 18 study of level 3 students from each school and college. These are sorted in order of decreasing apprenticeship destinations and is the latest performance table data available. Please note that the figures show sustained destinations, where activity has taken place for at least six contiguous months in the destination year, rather than starts. The Find and Compare Schools in England website can be found here: https://www.compare-school-performance.service.gov.uk/schools-by-type/2021?for=16to18&step=default&table=schools®ion=all-england&basedon=Student%20destinations&show=Level%203%20students%20-%20destinations%20after%2016%20to%2018&orderby=pupdest_ks5_2021.L3_APPRENPER&orderdir=asc
Asked by: Anne Marie Morris (Conservative - Newton Abbot)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if he will compensate schools for any costs incurred carrying out vaccinations for 12-15 year olds.
Answered by Robin Walker
Like all school-based vaccination programmes, the COVID-19 vaccines will be administered by healthcare staff working closely with schools and following the usual approach to school-based immunisation.
Local School Aged Immunisation Services (SAIS) will work with schools to plan for the roll-out of COVID-19 vaccinations for 12 to 15 year olds. The SAIS will be the primary provider of the vaccination programme for healthy 12 to 15 year olds and will be legally responsible for the delivery of the vaccine.
Schools will have three primary roles, which will be familiar to them from other vaccination programmes. They are to provide information to their SAIS provider on which children on their roll are eligible for the vaccine, share the information leaflet, consent form and invitation letter supplied by the SAIS team with parents and children, and provide space within school, and time away from the timetable, to enable vaccinations to take place.
The department does not expect additional resource implications for schools.
Asked by: Anne Marie Morris (Conservative - Newton Abbot)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, which Minister in his Department signed off on the selection of pilot areas for the Local Skills Improvement Plan Trailblazer pilot.
Answered by Gillian Keegan
The decision as to which local areas would become Local Skills Improvement Plan Trailblazers was made by my right hon. Friend, the Secretary of State for Education.
Asked by: Anne Marie Morris (Conservative - Newton Abbot)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if he will provide a map of school funding for England at (a) county level and (b) for each school.
Answered by Nick Gibb
The schools national funding formula (NFF) is the way the Government decides how much core funding to allocate for mainstream, state-funded schools in England.
Each year, we publish tables showing NFF funding allocations to local authorities and notional school-level allocations for the coming financial year. The latest publication was on 20 July 2020, which shows funding allocations for the 2021-22 financial year, available at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/national-funding-formula-tables-for-schools-and-high-needs-2021-to-2022.
The funding rates for local authorities determined through the NFF are multiplied by the latest pupil numbers in the autumn school census to provide final allocations to local authorities for the coming financial year, through the Dedicated Schools Grant. Final funding amounts for the 2021-22 financial year were published on 17 December 2020, available at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/dedicated-schools-grant-dsg-2021-to-2022.
It should be noted that school level figures are notional because local authorities continue to set a local formula to distribute final funding to schools in their area. The actual amounts that schools attract through local formulae are also published once a year, and 2020-21 amounts are available at: https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/find-statistics/school-funding-statistics/2020-21.
The Government will, in the coming months, put forward proposals to move to a ‘hard’ NFF in future, where schools’ budgets will be determined on the basis of the single NFF.