Asked by: Damian Hinds (Conservative - East Hampshire)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment she has made of the potential implications for her policies of levels of demand in schools for free school meals.
Answered by Stephen Morgan - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
Under existing programmes, the department provides free school meals (FSM) to around 2.1 million disadvantaged pupils in schools, just under 1.3 million infants through Universal Infant Free School Meals (UIFSM), and over 90,000 low-income students in further education (FE). More than £1.5 billion is allocated in support of these programmes.
Schools are funded for benefits-related FSM at £490 per eligible pupil per year as a factor value within the national funding formula. Total funding driven by the FSM factor in 2024/25 is £917 million.
UIFSM and FE free meals are funded through a direct grant to schools and colleges. The current per meal rate is £2.53 in the 2024/25 academic year. Final funding rates for UIFSM in 2024/25 will be confirmed in due course.
As with all government programmes the department will keep its approach to FSM, including levels of demand and funding to deliver this, under continued review.
Asked by: Damian Hinds (Conservative - East Hampshire)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what plans she has for the funding rates for free school meals.
Answered by Stephen Morgan - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
Under existing programmes, the department provides free school meals (FSM) to around 2.1 million disadvantaged pupils in schools, just under 1.3 million infants through Universal Infant Free School Meals (UIFSM), and over 90,000 low-income students in further education (FE). More than £1.5 billion is allocated in support of these programmes.
Schools are funded for benefits-related FSM at £490 per eligible pupil per year as a factor value within the national funding formula. Total funding driven by the FSM factor in 2024/25 is £917 million.
UIFSM and FE free meals are funded through a direct grant to schools and colleges. The current per meal rate is £2.53 in the 2024/25 academic year. Final funding rates for UIFSM in 2024/25 will be confirmed in due course.
As with all government programmes the department will keep its approach to FSM, including levels of demand and funding to deliver this, under continued review.
Asked by: Damian Hinds (Conservative - East Hampshire)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment she has made of the potential impact on recruitment and retention of excluding teaching staff at non-academised sixth-form colleges from the recent pay award in financial year 2024-25.
Answered by Catherine McKinnell - Minister of State (Education)
The recent pay award for the 2024/25 financial year was for school teachers only. The government does not set or recommend pay in further education (FE).
This government recognises the vital role that FE teachers and providers play in equipping learners with the opportunities and skills that they need to succeed in their education and will consider workforce sufficiency and what this might mean for FE funding in future years.
The Autumn Budget 2024 set out the government’s commitment to skills, by providing an additional £300 million revenue funding for FE to ensure young people are developing the skills this country needs. The department will set out in due course how this funding will be distributed.
Asked by: Damian Hinds (Conservative - East Hampshire)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, with reference to paragraph 4.10 of the Autumn Budget 2024, for what reason the launch date of the Lifelong Learning Entitlement has been revised.
Answered by Janet Daby - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
The government is committed to delivering the Lifelong Learning Entitlement (LLE), expanding access to high quality, flexible education and training for adults throughout their working lives, helping businesses to fill skills gaps and kickstart economic growth.
The LLE will now launch in the 2026/27 academic year for learners studying courses starting on or after 1 January 2027, including full courses, modules and Higher Technical Qualifications.
This is in order to:
Asked by: Damian Hinds (Conservative - East Hampshire)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment she has made of the potential impact of changes to employer national insurance contributions on SEND cost pressures.
Answered by Catherine McKinnell - Minister of State (Education)
At Budget, HM Treasury confirmed that all public sector organisations will be funded for the increase in employer contributions to national insurance in 2025/26. This will include funding for schools.
The department anticipates providing this funding to schools, including with regard to special educational needs and disabilities, funding for special schools, and alternative provision. This will be through an additional grant in 2025/26. The department will provide more information on this, including funding rates and allocations, as soon as practicable.
Asked by: Damian Hinds (Conservative - East Hampshire)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if she will adjust childcare hourly funding rates to reflect changes to employer NICs.
Answered by Stephen Morgan - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
As announced at Budget, the department expects to provide £8.1 billion for early years entitlements in 2025/26, which is around a 30% increase compared to 2024/25, as we continue to rollout the expansion of the entitlements to eligible working parents of children aged from nine months. The department is looking at what changes announced in the Budget will mean for the early years sector and will announce more details as soon as possible. The Employment Allowance will be worth up to £10,500 for eligible providers, meaning smaller providers may pay no National Insurance at all in 2025/26. We are working at pace to publish funding rates for 2025/26, as we know how important this is for local authorities and providers.
Asked by: Damian Hinds (Conservative - East Hampshire)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment she has made of the potential impact of changes to employer national insurance contributions on each sector for which her Department has responsibility.
Answered by Janet Daby - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
My right hon. Friend, the Chancellor of the Exchequer, made an announcement at Budget on 30 October 2024 setting out changes to Employer National Insurance Contributions policy. Alongside this, she has decided to provide funding to the public sector to support them with the additional associated cost.
Given the impacts of this policy change will need to be worked through in further detail, this additional support is not reflected in departmental spending review settlements immediately.
HM Treasury will confirm funding allocations by department as part of setting baselines and planning assumptions for phase 2 of the spending review.
Asked by: Damian Hinds (Conservative - East Hampshire)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, with reference to the policy paper entitled Applying VAT to private school fees, published on 30 October 2024, if she will make an estimate of potential increases in the number of pupils in secondary state education in each of the next five financial years, broken down by each local authority; and if she will make an assessment of the potential impact of those increases on levels of available state secondary school education places in those local authority areas.
Answered by Stephen Morgan - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
The government predicts that there will be 37,000 fewer pupils in the private education sector in the UK as a result of the VAT on private schools fees policy, which takes effect from January 2025. This represents around 6% of the current private school population. It is anticipated that 35,000 of these pupils will move into UK state schools in the long-term steady state, with the remainder composed of international pupils who do not move into the UK state system, and domestic pupils moving into homeschooling.
This increase in the state sector represents less than 0.5% of total UK state school pupils, of which there are over 9 million. The number expected to move before the end of the 2024/25 academic year is around 3,000. The government’s estimate of the number of pupils leaving private schools is within the Institute for Fiscal Studies’ estimated range of 20,000 to 40,000 and is also significantly lower than some other public estimates.
The government expects many of these moves to take place at natural transition points, such as from primary to secondary school, or at the beginning of exam courses. The impact on the state education system as a whole is therefore expected to be very small. The government expects the associated revenue costs of pupils entering the state sector to steadily increase to a peak of around £0.3 billion after several years.
Differences in local circumstances will mean that the impacts of this policy will vary between parts of the UK. The number of pupils that would have attended private schools seeking state-funded places will vary and this will interact with other local place pressures. Local authorities and schools already have processes in place to support pupils moving between schools, and children move between the private sector and the state-funded sector every year. Local authorities will consider pressures following the removal of the VAT exemption on school fees alongside other pressures as part of the normal place planning cycle. This is business as usual. The department will be monitoring demand and capacity using our normal processes and working with local authorities to meet any pressures.
Although the department does not hold information for private schools, data on the numbers of pupils in private schools is collected through the annual school census. The latest data can be found here: https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/find-statistics/school-pupils-and-their-characteristics#dataBlock-53cdc8f7-fc56-4c64-a79d-ccf5047b7616-tables.
Asked by: Damian Hinds (Conservative - East Hampshire)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, with reference to HMRC's policy paper entitled Applying VAT to private school fees, published on 30 October 2024, whether she has had discussions with the Chancellor of the Exchequer on the potential range of the number of children leaving independent schools; and what estimate she has made of the maximum likely number.
Answered by Stephen Morgan - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
The government predicts that there will be 37,000 fewer pupils in the private education sector in the UK as a result of the VAT on private schools fees policy, which takes effect from January 2025. This represents around 6% of the current private school population. It is anticipated that 35,000 of these pupils will move into UK state schools in the long-term steady state, with the remainder composed of international pupils who do not move into the UK state system, and domestic pupils moving into homeschooling.
This increase in the state sector represents less than 0.5% of total UK state school pupils, of which there are over 9 million. The number expected to move before the end of the 2024/25 academic year is around 3,000. The government’s estimate of the number of pupils leaving private schools is within the Institute for Fiscal Studies’ estimated range of 20,000 to 40,000 and is also significantly lower than some other public estimates.
The government expects many of these moves to take place at natural transition points, such as from primary to secondary school, or at the beginning of exam courses. The impact on the state education system as a whole is therefore expected to be very small. The government expects the associated revenue costs of pupils entering the state sector to steadily increase to a peak of around £0.3 billion after several years.
Differences in local circumstances will mean that the impacts of this policy will vary between parts of the UK. The number of pupils that would have attended private schools seeking state-funded places will vary and this will interact with other local place pressures. Local authorities and schools already have processes in place to support pupils moving between schools, and children move between the private sector and the state-funded sector every year. Local authorities will consider pressures following the removal of the VAT exemption on school fees alongside other pressures as part of the normal place planning cycle. This is business as usual. The department will be monitoring demand and capacity using our normal processes and working with local authorities to meet any pressures.
Although the department does not hold information for private schools, data on the numbers of pupils in private schools is collected through the annual school census. The latest data can be found here: https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/find-statistics/school-pupils-and-their-characteristics#dataBlock-53cdc8f7-fc56-4c64-a79d-ccf5047b7616-tables.
Asked by: Damian Hinds (Conservative - East Hampshire)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, with reference to the policy paper entitled Applying VAT to private school fees, published on 30 October 2024, what discussions she has had with the Chancellor of the Exchequer on the potential impact of the expected increase in the number of pupils at state schools in each (a) age group and (b) region.
Answered by Stephen Morgan - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
The government predicts that there will be 37,000 fewer pupils in the private education sector in the UK as a result of the VAT on private schools fees policy, which takes effect from January 2025. This represents around 6% of the current private school population. It is anticipated that 35,000 of these pupils will move into UK state schools in the long-term steady state, with the remainder composed of international pupils who do not move into the UK state system, and domestic pupils moving into homeschooling.
This increase in the state sector represents less than 0.5% of total UK state school pupils, of which there are over 9 million. The number expected to move before the end of the 2024/25 academic year is around 3,000. The government’s estimate of the number of pupils leaving private schools is within the Institute for Fiscal Studies’ estimated range of 20,000 to 40,000 and is also significantly lower than some other public estimates.
The government expects many of these moves to take place at natural transition points, such as from primary to secondary school, or at the beginning of exam courses. The impact on the state education system as a whole is therefore expected to be very small. The government expects the associated revenue costs of pupils entering the state sector to steadily increase to a peak of around £0.3 billion after several years.
Differences in local circumstances will mean that the impacts of this policy will vary between parts of the UK. The number of pupils that would have attended private schools seeking state-funded places will vary and this will interact with other local place pressures. Local authorities and schools already have processes in place to support pupils moving between schools, and children move between the private sector and the state-funded sector every year. Local authorities will consider pressures following the removal of the VAT exemption on school fees alongside other pressures as part of the normal place planning cycle. This is business as usual. The department will be monitoring demand and capacity using our normal processes and working with local authorities to meet any pressures.
Although the department does not hold information for private schools, data on the numbers of pupils in private schools is collected through the annual school census. The latest data can be found here: https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/find-statistics/school-pupils-and-their-characteristics#dataBlock-53cdc8f7-fc56-4c64-a79d-ccf5047b7616-tables.