Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Damian Hinds and Marcus Jones

Monday 4th February 2019 Commons Chamber

[Damian Hinds]

There are a number of interrelated issues in the subject that the hon. Lady has rightly raised and that the Children’s Commissioner was talking about today. I am, of course, concerned whenever there is off-rolling, which is not legal. These things must be done properly. I am also concerned about the extent to which we may not know how some children are being educated, and so on. That being said, there are children who are being home educated brilliantly by amazingly dedicated parents, and we have to acknowledge and respect that. As the hon. Lady will know, a review of exclusions is under way. We will report back on that in due course, as well as on some of the wider issues.

[Mr Marcus Jones (Nuneaton) (Con)]

T5. My constituency is seeing a significant and sustained improvement in key stage 2 results. Will the Minister join me in thanking the hard-working teaching staff who are responsible for this, and will he say what more we can do to ensure that all the schools in my constituency are performing well above the national average?

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Damian Hinds and Marcus Jones

Monday 17th December 2018 Commons Chamber

[Mr Marcus Jones (Nuneaton) (Con)]

6. What steps his Department is taking to increase the number of good school places in England.

[The Secretary of State for Education (Damian Hinds)]

There are 1.9 million more pupils in good or outstanding schools compared with 2010 and we are on track to create 1 million places this decade. That compares with a loss of 100,000 places in the six years up to 2010.

[Mr Marcus Jones (Nuneaton) (Con)]

A badly planned new housing development is putting enormous strain on school places in my constituency, particularly primary places. We have a new school that will open in 2019, but the funding process through the Education and Skills Funding Agency has been very elongated and bureaucratic. I would be grateful if my right hon. Friend could say how the process can be simplified, so that in future we can ensure that the supply of good new school places matches the demand in areas where there is new development.

[Damian Hinds]

I thank my hon. Friend for his support on the Lower Farm primary academy. The Department is always looking for ways to improve our processes, driving efficiency and value. That now includes the establishment of a specialist property company and the use of modern construction methods to help to build schools faster. I am very grateful to him for his helpful feedback.

Education Funding

Debate between Damian Hinds and Marcus Jones

Tuesday 13th November 2018 Commons Chamber

[Damian Hinds]

I think I should make some progress. I have given way a number of times.

As I have said before, spending on education is in a different category from the spending of other Departments. It is about investment in our skills base, about bringing on the next generation, about social mobility, and about fulfilling the potential of all children. So it is right that this Government have prioritised education spending, and that our schools are receiving record investment. The total core schools and high needs budget, which was almost £41 billion last year, will reach a record £43.5 billion by 2020. That is thanks to an additional £1.3 billion put into core schools funding in July 2017 over and above the plans set out at the previous spending review.

[Mr Marcus Jones (Nuneaton) (Con)]

One of the biggest education funding challenges for areas like Warwickshire is that the last Labour Government left office with a massive gap between funding for metropolitan areas and funding for county areas. What is my right hon. Friend doing to address that, and what will that mean for areas such as Warwickshire?

[Damian Hinds]

I am grateful to my hon. Friend for that question, and I will come on to questions about the fairer national funding formula that we have put in place.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Damian Hinds and Marcus Jones

Monday 12th November 2018 Commons Chamber

[Mr Marcus Jones (Nuneaton) (Con)]

18. What progress his Department has made on the introduction of T-levels.

[The Secretary of State for Education (Damian Hinds)]

We have made excellent progress and recently reached a significant milestone when we launched the procurement for the development of the first three T-levels for 2020. We are working closely with the selected providers that will deliver them from 2020, including several in the midlands, to make sure they have the right support in place.

[Mr Jones]

I very much welcome the introduction of T-levels. What funding and resources will be provided, particularly for facilities and other resources required to deliver T-levels successfully?

[Damian Hinds]

Over time, we are committing hundreds of millions of pounds in additional resourcing for T-levels. My hon. Friend is right to identify facilities and equipment, which is why we have committed £38 million in the first tranche of capital funding to support the initial roll-out.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Damian Hinds and Marcus Jones

Monday 19th March 2018 Commons Chamber

[Damian Hinds]

It is true that cash funding per pupil is increasing. It is also true that real-terms funding is increasing. But I could and should have been more precise that when we talk about real-terms per pupil funding, that is being maintained. The core schools budget over the next two years will rise from a little under £41 billion to £43.5 billion.

[Mr Marcus Jones (Nuneaton) (Con)]

3. What steps he is taking to improve social mobility.

--- Later in debate ---

[The Secretary of State for Education (Damian Hinds)]

Since 2010, there are 1.9 million more children in good or outstanding schools and more disadvantaged children are going on to university. Our plans to make further progress include £72 million for 12 opportunity areas and £50 million on improving early language and literacy.

[Mr Jones]

Youth unemployment in my constituency has fallen by 72% since 2010. If we are to build on that progress, will my right hon. Friend set out how we can support the schools that are underperforming, so that young people, wherever they live, have the best opportunity to make the most out of their lives?

[Damian Hinds]

My hon. Friend is right to highlight the dramatic falls in unemployment and youth unemployment. In his constituency, there have been over 7,000 apprenticeship starts since 2010. He is absolutely right that it is very important that all schools are able to share in the improvements in education outcomes, and it is very important that the support is there to do that.