Asked by: Barry Gardiner (Labour - Brent North)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, with reference to the National Audit Office report Condition of school buildings, published on 28 June, HC1516, which schools pose a risk to the safety of pupils and staff because of potential structural failure due to disrepair or unsafe building materials or methods.
Answered by Nick Gibb
Nothing is more important than the safety of pupils and teachers. This is why the Department has been significantly investing in transforming schools across the country. Where there are serious safety issues with a building, the Department takes immediate and swift action to ensure the safety of pupils and school staff. There are no open areas within schools or college buildings where the Department knows of an imminent risk to life.
The Department has allocated over £15 billion since 2015 for keeping school buildings safe and in good working order, including £1.8 billion committed for 2023/24. In addition, the School Rebuilding Programme will transform buildings at 500 schools, prioritising poor condition and potential safety issues.
It is the responsibility of those who run schools – academy trusts, Local Authorities, and voluntary aided school bodies – who work with their schools day to day to manage the safety and maintenance of their buildings. The Department provides support on a case by case basis if it is alerted to a serious safety issue which responsible bodies cannot manage independently.
Since March 2022, the Department has been working with responsible bodies, schools, and colleges to identify the presence of Reinforced Autoclaved Aerated Concrete (RAAC) in their buildings. Where RAAC is suspected, the Department’s professional surveyors carry out assessments to verify its presence, and if confirmed, the Department provides rapid support to schools on the advice of structural engineers. This could include funding capital works to remove any immediate risk and, where necessary, the provision of temporary buildings. Longer term remediation of RAAC is supported by capital funding provided to the sector, the Department’s rebuilding programme, and urgent capital support.
Asked by: Barry Gardiner (Labour - Brent North)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many (a) independent and (b) state schools have joined the Teachers' Pension Scheme in the last five years.
Answered by Nick Gibb
324 independent schools have left the Teachers’ Pension Scheme (TPS) between August 2019, when this information started to be compiled, and November 2022. 22 independent schools have joined the Scheme between January 2018 and November 2022.
State schools and academies cannot choose to leave the TPS. The records show that 1,008 academies have ceased to be registered as scheme employers and 4,383 new academy employers have been registered in the TPS between January 2018 and November 2022. This is a result of state schools converting to academies and some single academy trusts joining multi-academy trusts.
Asked by: Barry Gardiner (Labour - Brent North)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many (a) independent and (b) state schools have left the Teachers' Pension Scheme in the last five years.
Answered by Nick Gibb
463 independent schools have left the Teachers’ Pension Scheme (TPS) between January 2018 and November 2022. 37 independent schools have joined the Scheme between January 2018 and November 2022.
State schools and academies cannot choose to leave the TPS. The records show that 814 state schools have closed and so have ceased to be registered as scheme employers since January 2018. This is largely as a result of state schools converting to academies. 79 new state schools have been registered in the TPS since January 2018.
Asked by: Barry Gardiner (Labour - Brent North)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether his Department sought advice from Government lawyers at the time of the sale of Newton Rigg in 2011 on the efficacy of a deed of release purporting to absolve the parties pursuant to that sale from liability for negligence or fraud; and whether that deed of release was deemed by Government lawyers to be (a) ultra vires, (b) void for illegality and (c) contrary to public policy.
Answered by Gillian Keegan - Secretary of State for Education
The government continues to follow the general practice of successive governments not to comment on legal advice that may or may not have been sought or received.
Asked by: Barry Gardiner (Labour - Brent North)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, for what reasons the Chief Executive of Skills Funding and the Young People’s Learning Agency agreed to execute a legal document on the sale of Newton Rigg in 2011 containing provisions purporting to absolve the parties cited in that legal document from liability for negligence or fraud; and whether that decision to execute a legal document was approved by his Department.
Answered by Gillian Keegan - Secretary of State for Education
The deed of release was agreed by the Skills Funding Agency and Young People’s Learning Agency in line with the policy on further education assets adopted by its sponsor department (Department for Business, Innovation and Skills at the time).
Asked by: Barry Gardiner (Labour - Brent North)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, for what reasons the Skills Funding Agency (SFA) agreed to change the terms of the 2010 Prospectus to require the University of Cumbria to make payments amounting to £3.4million for shared use of the Newton Rigg campus under an Occupancy Agreement; and what account was taken by the SFA when agreeing to change those terms of the original prospectus' provision for the shared use of those assets for the sum of £1 if demanded.
Answered by Gillian Keegan - Secretary of State for Education
Commercial arrangements between two independent organisations, Askham Bryan College and the University of Cumbria, were entered into by both parties. This allowed the university to continue using Newton Rigg Campus for research related activities following the transfer of further education provision to Askham Bryan College in 2011.
Asked by: Barry Gardiner (Labour - Brent North)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, for what reason the Skills Funding Agency agreed to a confidential deed of release during the 2011 sale of Newton Rigg.
Answered by Gillian Keegan - Secretary of State for Education
In line with the policy on further education assets adopted by its sponsor department at the time (the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills), the Skills Funding Agency and its predecessor (the Learning and Skills Council) only sought asset deeds when further education assets were being transferred to other types of organisations, such as higher education institutions. This was to ensure that the assets were used and retained for the benefit of further education. As the assets were transferred to Askham Bryan College, an asset deed was not required as it was an incorporated further education college whose core mission was, and remains, the delivery of further education.
Asked by: Barry Gardiner (Labour - Brent North)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, for what reason the Cumbria Area Review published in 2017, omitted Newton Rigg from the lists and tables of Further Education and Sixth Form Colleges in the county; and what plans he has for the future of Newton Rigg.
Answered by Gillian Keegan - Secretary of State for Education
Newton Rigg Campus is part of Askham Bryan College Corporation, has no separate legal identity and was therefore out of scope of the Cumbria area based review. As the campus is part of Askham Bryan College, they were included in the wave 4; York, North Yorkshire, East Riding and Hull area-based review, which commenced in September 2016. This approach was consistent with the broad principles of area-based reviews in that colleges should be formal members of only one area review steering group.
The Further Education Commissioner and Education and Skills Funding Agency (ESFA) carried out a comprehensive analysis of local provision needs for Newton Rigg and the surrounding area in 2020. The core objective of this analysis was to establish if there was a need for college provision within the general vicinity of the Newton Rigg campus. It considered the location of neighbouring further education (FE) colleges in relation to travel-to-learn options and identified that most enrolments could be accommodated at other statutory FE institutions.
In total, 286 16 to 18 year old students were enrolled onto land-based further education courses at Newton Rigg, of which 70 were in residential accommodation. Where gaps in provision were identified, specifically agricultural provision, alternative arrangements for the next academic year have been agreed with Myerscough College, in partnership with Ullswater Community College, to ensure continuity of delivery of this provision in the Penrith area after Newton Rigg closes.
If further evidence of gaps in provision are highlighted as a result of the closure of Newton Rigg in support of local authorities’ statutory duty to secure provision in an area, the ESFA will consider requests to fill a gap in provision. Where this cannot be met through negotiation with good existing providers the requirements are put out to tender through open competition.
Asked by: Barry Gardiner (Labour - Brent North)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps the Skills Funding Agency took to ensure that the proposed transfer of Newton Rigg assets to Askham Bryan College in 2011 complied with Cabinet Office guidelines for the disposal of public assets, and specifically the appointment of a manager to supervise the contract.
Answered by Gillian Keegan - Secretary of State for Education
Newton Rigg is not a public asset, having previously been acquired by the University of Cumbria from the University of Central Lancashire and then transferred to Askham Bryan College in 2011. The transfer of Newton Rigg was therefore not subject to Cabinet Office guidelines.
However, following the decision by the University of Cumbria in 2010 to cease delivering the provision of further education funded by the Skills Funding Agency (SFA) and the Young People’s Learning Agency, the SFA led on an open and competitive procurement process, in accordance with Part B of Schedule 3 of the Public Contracts Regulations 2006, to secure an alternative provider or providers for the delivery of arts provision in Carlisle and predominately land-based provision at Newton Rigg. As a result of this competition, the funding for students studying further education at the University’s Brampton Road building was transferred to Carlisle College, and the funding for students studying further education at Newton Rigg, together with the relevant further education assets owned by the University of Cumbria at Newton Rigg, were transferred to Askham Bryan College. The procurement was subject to a review by Cabinet Office in 2011 and its findings are available here: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/61795/MYSTERY-SHOPPER-CASE-PUBLICATION-JULY-2012.pdf.
The Education and Skills Funding Agency and its predecessor organisations assign individual case managers to each further education provider who hold funding agreements and contracts to deliver publicly funded education and training. Case managers are then responsible for managing the relationship between government and individual further education providers.
Asked by: Barry Gardiner (Labour - Brent North)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether he has plans to update data held by his Department on the number of children that qualify for free school meals to ensure that pupil premium grant funding reflects the increase in the number of children whose families are eligible for that funding as a result of the economic consequences of the covid-19 outbreak.
Answered by Nick Gibb
The January 2021 census will be used to determine pupil premium eligibility for alternative provision and pupil referral units for the financial year 2021-22. Pupil premium eligibility for mainstream and special schools will be based on the October 2020 census.
As part of the October census, schools are required to submit information on free school meals (FSM) eligibility for all of their pupils. The move to using the October census for the pupil premium should not affect the information submitted by schools as part of the census. The only circumstance in which amendments can be made to the October census is if there is an error in the numbers. We look into such cases on a case by case basis when they are reported to us.
Pupil premium will continue to be based on “Ever6 FSM”, whereby all pupils eligible for free school meals at the time of the October census, or at any point in the previous 6 years, will attract pupil premium funding. Per pupil funding rates will be the same as in 2020-21. As a result, we expect a typical school to see an increase in pupil premium funding from 2020-21 to 2021-22 as more children have become eligible for free school meals as a result of the impact of the COVID-19 outbreak, and for total pupil premium funding to increase from £2.4 billion in 2020-21 to more than £2.5 billion in 2021-22. In addition to this, the Government announced a further £300 million for a one-off Recovery Premium which will be allocated to schools based on the same methodology as the pupil premium. In this way, schools with more disadvantaged pupils will receive larger amounts.
The Department will confirm pupil premium allocations for the financial year 2021-22 in June 2021. This will provide the public with information on the specific amounts that regions, local authorities, and schools are receiving through the pupil premium for 2021-22.
The Department publishes information on pupil premium allocations and the number of pupils eligible annually. The most recent publicly available figures can be found via this link: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/pupil-premium-allocations-and-conditions-of-grant-2020-to-2021.