Asked by: Dan Jarvis (Labour - Barnsley Central)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment she has made of the adequacy of provisions to ensure the safety and wellbeing of (a) Jewish and (b) Muslim students on university campuses.
Answered by Robert Halfon
It has been deeply concerning to see the rises both in antisemitism and in Islamophobia since the 7 October terrorist attacks against Israel. Universities should be welcoming and inclusive environments. Higher education providers have a responsibility to take a zero-tolerance approach to any form of racial or religious harassment. They have clear responsibilities under the Equality Act 2010 to adopt robust policies and procedures that enable them to investigate and swiftly address reports of racism.
Given the particularly severe impact on Jewish students, the Secretary of State and I wrote to all schools, colleges and universities, urging them to respond swiftly to hate-related incidents and actively reassure Jewish students that that they can study without fear of harassment or intimidation. On 5 November we published a five-point plan detailing further action to protect Jewish students in higher education, the details of the plan can be found here: https://educationhub.blog.gov.uk/2023/11/05/how-were-protecting-jewish-students-on-university-campuses/.
The department continues to engage both with Jewish and with Muslim groups, including the Union of Jewish Students and Tell MAMA, and actively monitors incidents affecting both communities. The department also welcomes the guidance produced by Universities UK, which focuses on tackling Islamophobia: https://www.universitiesuk.ac.uk/what-we-do/policy-and-research/publications/tackling-islamophobia-and-anti-muslim.
The department has reminded providers of their obligations under the Prevent duty, where they should be working to prevent people from being drawn into or supporting terrorism. Department officials have assessed evidence of antisemitism and racial hatred linked to incidents at English universities. There is an online "Reporting Extremism" form where members of the public can raise concerns to the Department directly. Where concerns arise, officials have reached out to relevant universities to understand what actions they have taken, including reporting issues to the police where appropriate.
Asked by: Dan Jarvis (Labour - Barnsley Central)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps she is taking to ensure that nurseries are supported with rising costs of energy; and what plans her Department have to support nurseries with business rates.
Answered by Claire Coutinho - Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero
The government recognises the impact rising energy prices can have on businesses, the voluntary sector and public sector organisations of all sizes, including all Early Years settings. The energy regulator Ofgem and the Business Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS) department are in regular contact with business groups and suppliers to understand the challenges they face and to explore ways to protect consumers and businesses.
In September 2022, the government announced unprecedented support to protect households and businesses from high energy prices. The £18 billion Energy Bill Relief Scheme is supporting millions of businesses with rising energy costs, and the Chancellor has made clear it will continue to do so from now until April.
The government has announced a freeze to the business rates multiplier in 2022/23 and 2023/24. This will support all ratepayers, including Early Years businesses, and mean bills are 6% lower than without the freeze.
Asked by: Dan Jarvis (Labour - Barnsley Central)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many (a) Full Time Equivalent and (b) total midwifery academics there were in England in each of the last 10 years; and if she will provide an age profile of that group in (i) 2013, (ii) 2018 and (iii) at the most recent point for which figures are available.
Answered by Robert Halfon
The Higher Education Statistics Agency (HESA) collects and publishes statistics on the higher education (HE) workforce in their staff record.
The staff record includes the cost centre that members of the workforce are employed in. Midwifery is not identified as a separate cost centre, so the data presented here show statistics on academic staff that fall within the nursing and allied health professions[1] cost centre, which includes midwifery academics.
HESA publish academic staff data by full-person equivalent (FPE) and full-time equivalent (FTE)[2], but do not publish all requested information for England specifically so, where available, this has been set out in the tables below. The department’s analysis has been used to supplement the published data. The latest year for which HESA have published this level of detail on cost centres is 2020/21. HESA will publish data for 2021/22 on 21 February 2023.
Table 1 shows the full published time series for the UK for FPE and FTE. Table 2 shows the corresponding time series for England, with previously unpublished FPE figures produced by DfE. Table 2 data for 2012/13 and 2013/14 could not be produced in time for inclusion. Table 3 shows the age breakdowns for 2018/19 and 2020/21 for FPE in the UK (published by HESA) and England (previously unpublished). Table 3 data for 2013/14 could not be produced in time for inclusion.
Table 1: Full-person equivalent and Full-time equivalent number of nursing and allied health professions academics there were in the UK in each of the last 10 years.
Academic Year | Cost Centre[3] | FPE[4] | FTE[5] |
2011/12 | Nursing & paramedical studies | 9,010 | 7,570 |
2012/13 | Nursing & allied health professions | 9,055 | 7,575 |
2013/14 | Nursing & allied health professions | 9,460 | 7,795 |
2014/15 | Nursing & allied health professions | 9,545 | 7,755 |
2015/16 | Nursing & allied health professions | 9,805 | 7,930 |
2016/17 | Nursing & allied health professions | 10,030 | 8,125 |
2017/18 | Nursing & allied health professions | 10,535 | 8,435 |
2018/19 | Nursing & allied health professions | 11,100 | 8,785 |
2019/20 | Nursing & allied health professions | 11,445 | 9,015 |
2020/21 | Nursing & allied health professions | 11,725 | 9,460 |
Source:
Table 2: Full-person equivalent and Full-time equivalent number of nursing and allied health professions academics there were in England over the last 10 years where available.
Academic Year | Cost Centre3 | FPE4 | FTE5 |
2011/12 | Nursing & paramedical studies | 7,450 | 6,235 |
2012/13 | Nursing & allied health professions | unavailable | 6,175 |
2013/14 | Nursing & allied health professions | unavailable | 6,390 |
2014/15 | Nursing & allied health professions | 7,870 | 6,375 |
2015/16 | Nursing & allied health professions | 8,105 | 6,510 |
2016/17 | Nursing & allied health professions | 8,395 | 6,705 |
2017/18 | Nursing & allied health professions | 8,725 | 6,895 |
2018/19 | Nursing & allied health professions | 9,085 | 7,070 |
2019/20 | Nursing & allied health professions | 9,435 | 7,310 |
2020/21 | Nursing & allied health professions | 9,615 | 7,690 |
Source:
2 DfE analysis of the HESA Staff record.
Table 3: UK and England age breakdowns of total nursing and allied health professions academics in the years 2018/19 and 2020/21 (most recent).
| UK | England | ||
Age range | 2020/21 | 2018/19 | 2020/21 | 2018/19 |
25 and under | 135 | 140 | 105 | 120 |
26-30 | 540 | 485 | 445 | 385 |
31-35 | 1,020 | 890 | 835 | 710 |
36-40 | 1,410 | 1,225 | 1,165 | 1,005 |
41-45 | 1,630 | 1,505 | 1,345 | 1,230 |
46-50 | 1,875 | 1,860 | 1,510 | 1,500 |
51-55 | 2,120 | 2,160 | 1,735 | 1,780 |
56-60 | 1,890 | 1,850 | 1,550 | 1,525 |
61-65 | 825 | 760 | 675 | 635 |
66 and over | 280 | 230 | 250 | 200 |
Source:
1https://www.hesa.ac.uk/data-and-analysis/staff/table-21.
2 https://www.hesa.ac.uk/data-and-analysis/publications#staff-higher-education.
3DfE analysis of the HESA Staff record.
[1] HESA changed cost centre groupings in 2012/13: for the academic year 2011/12, the relevant cost centre grouping is nursing and paramedical studies.
[2] FPE relates to the proportion of a person's time allocated to different activities, so total FPE is not a simple headcount (for example, a person working across cost centres would have a fractional FPE assigned to each). FTE relates to the proportion of working hours that a person has been contracted to work in different activities (so a part-time staff member would have lower FTEs for each activity than a than full-time staff member). See HESA for a full explanation here: https://www.hesa.ac.uk/collection/c20025/fte_vs_fpe.
[3] Cost centre is a financial concept which groups staff members to specific related cost centres. They relate to where the resources (staff) deployed to teach the student are located.
[4] Counts are based on full-person-equivalents. Individuals can hold more than one contract with a provider and each contract may involve more than one activity. Figures have been rounded to the nearest 5, in line with HESA rounding conventions. Numbers may not sum due to rounding.
[5] Staff full-time equivalent (FTE) is defined by the contract(s) of employment and is proportioned to each activity's cost centre.
Asked by: Dan Jarvis (Labour - Barnsley Central)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if she will make an assessment of the potential merits of providing financial support to Ukrainian nationals who are in the UK under the Homes for Ukraine scheme, are continuing to study remotely for qualifications at Ukrainian education institutions and who are unable to access either universal credit or UK student loans because they are students at institutions outside the UK.
Answered by Robert Halfon
It is important to maintain parity of treatment for all students in higher education (HE), whether they are a domestic student or an international student studying remotely with an oversees education provider.
Student finance is available only for eligible students studying a course provided predominantly in the UK by a UK HE provider. In England, domestic students studying via distance learning are, in general, not eligible to receive student loans to cover maintenance costs. This is also the case for Ukrainian students in England, who are studying via distance learning.
To support those who are granted leave under the Homes for Ukraine scheme and have enrolled at UK universities, we have extended access to HE student support, home fee status, tuition fee caps, advanced learner loans and 19+ funding allocations. This ensures Ukrainians who have been affected by the war in Ukraine can access support on the same basis as those within other protection-based categories, such as refugees.
The government remains committed to supporting universities in Ukraine who are striving to maintain the education of their students under extremely challenging conditions. This includes through the provision of online distance learning for students enrolled at Ukrainian universities who now live in another country, including in the UK. This also includes those studying through the UK twinning programme of which the government announced funding to support in June 2022. The programme provides financial support to Ukrainian universities by establishing partnerships with those in the UK.
If a Ukrainian student decides to undertake a Ukrainian university course from the UK, the department encourages students to speak with their education provider in Ukraine to understand what support is available for them to continue their studies. They should also speak to their university about the intensity of study they are offering, as this may impact their ability to access government support, through Universal Credit, whilst in the UK.
Asked by: Dan Jarvis (Labour - Barnsley Central)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether she has had recent discussions with the Chancellor of the Exchequer on the potential feasibility of raising the Minimum Fostering Allowance in line with inflation.
Answered by Claire Coutinho - Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero
The national minimum allowance (NMA) is uprated annually, with the next update to come into effect in April 2023. As part of the process of uprating, the department will discuss with HM Treasury as required.
The Fostering Services: National Minimum Standards, issued by the department under the Care Standards Act 2000 (CSA), set out the expectations that are placed on foster parents and their agencies. The department is clear that no one should be ‘out of pocket’ because of their fostering role and we expect all foster parents to receive at least the NMA plus any agreed expenses to cover the full cost of caring for each child placed with them (Standard 28).
Asked by: Dan Jarvis (Labour - Barnsley Central)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether he has made an estimate of the affordability of childcare provision in Barnsley Central.
Answered by Claire Coutinho - Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero
The department is committed to improving the cost, choice, and availability of childcare. We continue to look at ways to make childcare more affordable and to encourage families to use the government-funded support they are entitled to.
The department collects data on the main characteristics of childcare and early years provision in England, and fees data can be broken down to local authority level. Barnsley Central, which falls under Barnsley local authority, shows latest data on the average hourly fee band for childcare to be £4.75 for two-year-old children and £4.75 for three and four-year-old children.
Asked by: Dan Jarvis (Labour - Barnsley Central)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how much was spent in Barnsley Central through the National Tutoring Programme in each month since it was launched.
Answered by Nick Gibb
The Department does not hold information on Tuition Partners or Academic Mentors in the required format at constituency level for the 2021/22 academic year.
School-led tutoring grant allocations by school and local authority for the 2021/22 academic year have been published. These can be found here: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/1071234/School_Led_Funding_Publication_File_flat_values_v1.ods.
Payment information relating to school-led tutoring for the 2021/22 academic year will be published by the Education Schools and Funding Agency once the reconciliation process has been completed for that period.
National Tutoring Programme grant allocations for the 2022/23 academic year have been published. These are available here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/national-tutoring-programme-ntp-allocations-for-2022-to-2023-academic-year.
Between November 2020 and June 2022, over 2 million tuition courses were started. The Government has committed more than £1 billion to support tutoring over the academic years from 2020/21 to 2023/24, during which the Department aims to offer up to six million tutoring courses.
Asked by: Dan Jarvis (Labour - Barnsley Central)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what recent conversations he has had with Ministerial colleagues in the (a) Department for Transport and (b) Treasury on the potential impact on educational attainment of students if school bus services are cancelled due to school funding not matching inflation.
Answered by Kelly Tolhurst
Regular attendance at school is vital for children’s education, wellbeing, and long-term development. The department’s priority is to reduce overall school absence and maximise the number of children who regularly attend school.
The department’s home to school transport policy aims to ensure no child is unable to access education because of a lack of transport. Local authorities have a statutory duty to provide free home to school transport for all children of compulsory school age who attend their nearest school and cannot walk there due to distance, route safety, or as a result of special educational needs, disability or mobility problems. There are additional rights to free transport for low-income families aimed at helping them exercise school choice.
Most central government funding for home to school transport is provided through the Local Government Finance Settlement (LGFS) administered by the Department for Levelling up, Housing and Communities. The LGFS is making available £54.1 billion in the 2022/23 financial year, an increase of up to £3.7 billion on 2021/22. This is the largest cash-terms increase in grant funding provided through the settlement in the past 10 years. The funding is largely un-ringfenced, in recognition that councils are best placed to allocate funding based on their local communities’ needs, priorities and statutory duties.
The department also provides grant funding to local authorities as a contribution towards the cost of extended rights transport, £43.3 million in 2022/23, with the latest inflation rates at the time used to calculate funding.
The department recognises that inflation forecasts are higher than they were when the Autumn Budget Spending Review 2021 settlement was announced. How that interacts with the finances of local government is not straightforward. However, as not all areas of expenditure will be sensitive to inflation and local authorities may have multi-year contracts, cushioning them from this year’s inflationary increases. The department recognises that local authorities are delivering children’s services in a challenging environment and are grateful for all they are doing to support children and families.
Officials regularly meet colleagues from other departments to discuss cost of living pressures, and the department continues to work with the sector to understand the impact of inflationary increases on delivery of services.
Asked by: Dan Jarvis (Labour - Barnsley Central)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what recent discussions he has had with the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions on the (a) feasibility of extending the free school meal scheme to all (i) primary school aged (ii) secondary school aged students whose parents are in receipt of Universal Credit, and (b) the potential impact on educational attainment.
Answered by Kelly Tolhurst
The department continues to monitor the rising cost of living whilst working with other government departments, including the Department for Work and Pensions, on support surrounding this issue. The department will continue to keep free school meal (FSM) eligibility under review to ensure that these meals are supporting those who most need them. In setting a threshold, the government believes that the current level, which enables children to benefit from FSM, while remaining affordable and deliverable for schools, is the right one.
The latest published statistics show that around 1.9 million pupils are claiming FSM. This equates to 22.5% of all pupils, up from 20.8% in 2021. Together with a further 1.25 million infants supported through the Universal Infant Free School Meal policy, the greatest ever proportion of school children, 37.5%, are now provided with FSM.
The department has no current plans to conduct our own assessment of the effects of FSM on educational attainment, but we are aware of independent research in this area, such as that from the University of Essex, funded by the Nuffield Foundation, and will note its findings.
Asked by: Dan Jarvis (Labour - Barnsley Central)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many children in (a) Barnsley Metropolitan Borough Council area and (b) England are (i) eligible for and (ii) in receipt of free school meals.
Answered by Will Quince
The department publishes the number of pupils eligible for free school meals in the ‘Schools, Pupils and their characteristics’ national statistics publication, which is available at: https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/find-statistics/school-pupils-and-their-characteristics.
The following link provides the number of pupils eligible for free school meals, and the number of pupils who were eligible and took a free school meal at census day, 20 January 2022, for Barnsley and England: https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/data-tables/permalink/8c29da0a-7a98-4107-9302-0328ee25a40e.