To match an exact phrase, use quotation marks around the search term. eg. "Parliamentary Estate". Use "OR" or "AND" as link words to form more complex queries.


Keep yourself up-to-date with the latest developments by exploring our subscription options to receive notifications direct to your inbox

Written Question
Schools: Bromley
Wednesday 6th March 2024

Asked by: Bob Stewart (Conservative - Beckenham)

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps her Department is taking with Bromley Council to provide additional school places in the north-west of the borough.

Answered by Damian Hinds

The statutory duty to provide sufficient school places sits with local authorities. The department provides capital funding through the Basic Need grant to support local authorities to provide school places, based on their own pupil forecasts and school capacity data. Local authorities can use this funding to provide places in new schools or through expansions of existing schools and can work with any school in their local area, including academies and free schools. Bromley has received just over £80 million to support the provision of new school places needed between 2011 and 2022. Bromley has not been allocated funding in subsequent allocations because its data indicates need for mainstream places up to September 2026 had already been funded in previous years.


Written Question
Schools: Coronavirus
Friday 11th September 2020

Asked by: Bob Stewart (Conservative - Beckenham)

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what guidance he has issued to schools in the event that a single child in a year group tests positive for covid-19.

Answered by Nick Gibb

The actions that schools should take in the event that a child tests positive for COVID-19 are outlined within the GOV.UK guidance for full opening and can be found at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/actions-for-schools-during-the-coronavirus-outbreak/guidance-for-full-opening-schools#section-1-public-health-advice-to-minimise-coronavirus-covid-19-risks.

This guidance states that schools must take swift action when they become aware that someone who has attended has tested positive for COVID-19, and contact their local health protection team. This team will also contact schools directly if they become aware that someone who has tested positive for COVID-19 attended the school.

The health protection team will carry out a rapid risk assessment to confirm who has been in close contact with the person during the period that they were infectious. They will work with schools in this situation to guide them through the actions they need to take. Based on the advice from the health protection team, schools must send home those people who have been in close contact with the person who has tested positive, advising them to self-isolate for 14 days since they were last in close contact.


Written Question
Children: Day Care
Tuesday 2nd February 2016

Asked by: Bob Stewart (Conservative - Beckenham)

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what progress she has made in Beckenham on implementing the Government's proposal for 30 hours' free child care for working parents.

Answered by Sam Gyimah

We have made substantial progress towards implementing the offer of 30 hours of free childcare to working parents of three- and four-year-olds. At the Autumn Statement, the Chancellor announced a significant increase in funding to support the policy, which means that by 2019-20 we will be spending over £1billion extra per year on the free childcare entitlements for two-, three- and four-year-olds.

The Childcare Bill, which provides the legal framework for the extended entitlement, has completed its Commons stages and Lords Consideration will take place on 2 February. We have announced that parents will be able to check their eligibility for both the working parents’ childcare offer and Tax-Free Childcare through a joint online system, making it easier for working parents to access Government childcare support.


Written Question
Academies
Tuesday 2nd February 2016

Asked by: Bob Stewart (Conservative - Beckenham)

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if she will list in descending order the proportion of schools in each local authority in England which have converted to academies.

Answered by Edward Timpson

The information requested is shown in the table below:

Proportion of state-funded schools that are academies

As of 01/01/2016

By Local Authority in England

Number of state-funded schools 1

Number of academies 2

% of state-funded schools that are academies

North East Lincolnshire

61

48

79%

Bournemouth

41

32

78%

Bromley

100

71

71%

Darlington

40

28

70%

Torbay

42

28

67%

Thurrock

53

34

64%

Rutland

22

14

64%

Kingston upon Hull City of

95

56

59%

Slough

48

25

52%

Leicestershire

283

146

52%

Poole

41

21

51%

Middlesbrough

55

28

51%

Blackpool

42

21

50%

Bexley

79

39

49%

Nottingham

100

49

49%

Wakefield

139

67

48%

Swindon

81

38

47%

Medway

103

48

47%

Cornwall

278

128

46%

Northamptonshire

312

141

45%

Croydon

119

52

44%

Bristol City of

140

58

41%

Stoke-on-Trent

93

38

41%

Barnsley

90

36

40%

Rotherham

118

45

38%

Hillingdon

98

37

38%

Central Bedfordshire

134

49

37%

Lincolnshire

356

127

36%

Sutton

60

21

35%

Sheffield

173

59

34%

Bedford

77

26

34%

Oxfordshire

286

95

33%

Essex

555

182

33%

Redcar and Cleveland

58

19

33%

Cheshire East

153

50

33%

Plymouth

96

31

32%

Birmingham

420

135

32%

Sunderland

109

35

32%

Kent

583

182

31%

North Lincolnshire

81

25

31%

Stockton-on-Tees

78

24

31%

Doncaster

125

38

30%

Wiltshire

237

71

30%

Southampton

74

22

30%

Herefordshire

99

29

29%

Waltham Forest

76

22

29%

Warwickshire

237

68

29%

Portsmouth

63

18

29%

Dorset

172

49

28%

Calderdale

102

29

28%

Cambridgeshire

250

71

28%

Southend-on-Sea

53

15

28%

Havering

82

23

28%

Wolverhampton

105

29

28%

Hammersmith and Fulham

58

16

28%

Windsor and Maidenhead

63

17

27%

Coventry

119

32

27%

Somerset

264

69

26%

Manchester

177

46

26%

Solihull

82

21

26%

Kingston upon Thames

51

13

25%

Peterborough

75

19

25%

Sandwell

119

30

25%

Gloucestershire

303

76

25%

Nottinghamshire

338

84

25%

Walsall

113

28

25%

Westminster

57

14

25%

Suffolk

325

79

24%

Norfolk

420

102

24%

Harrow

58

14

24%

Worcestershire

241

58

24%

Devon

363

87

24%

Bath and North East Somerset

80

19

24%

Hartlepool

38

9

24%

Surrey

389

90

23%

Trafford

93

21

23%

East Sussex

192

43

22%

Brent

81

18

22%

Reading

54

12

22%

Staffordshire

397

88

22%

Milton Keynes

108

23

21%

Oldham

104

22

21%

Southwark

101

21

21%

Hounslow

77

16

21%

Kensington and Chelsea

35

7

20%

North Somerset

76

15

20%

Haringey

84

16

19%

Luton

65

12

18%

Buckinghamshire

233

43

18%

West Sussex

282

52

18%

Barnet

120

22

18%

South Gloucestershire

115

21

18%

Hertfordshire

519

89

17%

Tameside

96

16

17%

Bradford

206

34

17%

Dudley

107

17

16%

Derby

96

15

16%

Blackburn with Darwen

72

11

15%

Shropshire

153

23

15%

Cumbria

316

47

15%

Wandsworth

81

12

15%

Leeds

274

40

15%

Halton

62

9

15%

Wirral

124

18

15%

Kirklees

180

26

14%

Richmond upon Thames

57

8

14%

Telford and Wrekin

73

10

14%

Gateshead

84

11

13%

Hackney

77

10

13%

Lambeth

85

11

13%

Newcastle upon Tyne

96

12

13%

Cheshire West and Chester

161

20

12%

Wigan

129

16

12%

Bolton

126

15

12%

South Tyneside

59

7

12%

Isle of Wight

51

6

12%

Redbridge

78

9

12%

Wokingham

65

7

11%

Durham

261

27

10%

Northumberland

174

18

10%

Salford

99

10

10%

West Berkshire

80

8

10%

Newham

91

9

10%

Knowsley

61

6

10%

Sefton

102

10

10%

Liverpool

165

16

10%

York

62

6

10%

Greenwich

83

8

10%

Leicester

110

10

9%

Merton

56

5

9%

Hampshire

530

47

9%

Barking and Dagenham

59

5

8%

East Riding of Yorkshire

145

12

8%

Warrington

86

7

8%

Derbyshire

408

32

8%

Ealing

90

7

8%

Stockport

106

8

8%

Enfield

95

7

7%

North Yorkshire

369

27

7%

Rochdale

86

6

7%

Islington

65

4

6%

St. Helens

68

4

6%

Bracknell Forest

39

2

5%

Bury

81

4

5%

Lancashire

608

29

5%

Lewisham

86

4

5%

Brighton and Hove

70

3

4%

Tower Hamlets

96

4

4%

North Tyneside

77

3

4%

Camden

62

2

3%

City of London

1

0

0%

Isles Of Scilly

1

0

0%

Total

21,516

5,096

24%

1. Includes LA maintained schools, academies, free schools, studio schools, university technical colleges, city technology colleges and state-funded special schools, pupil referral units and alternative provision.

2. Includes converter academies and sponsored academies.



Written Question
Schools: Admissions
Thursday 4th December 2014

Asked by: Bob Stewart (Conservative - Beckenham)

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps she is taking to ease the pressure of rising birth rates on schools.

Answered by David Laws

Local authorities are responsible for planning and securing sufficient school places in their area. Supporting local authorities to create school places where they are needed most is one of the Department for Education’s main priorities. That is why we have committed £5 billion in capital funding between 2011 and 2015 to help local authorities to create new school places. In addition we have announced an additional £2.35 billion in capital funding to help create new school places that will be needed by September 2017.

This support has already enabled local authorities to create 260,000 additional pupil places between May 2010 and May 2013, including 212,000 primary places, with more in the pipeline for September 2015. We have also stripped out bureaucracy to make it easier for schools to expand to offer more places, if they so wish.