Asked by: Darren Paffey (Labour - Southampton Itchen)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether she is taking steps to reduce the cost to local authorities of home-to-school transport.
Answered by Catherine McKinnell - Minister of State (Education)
The department’s home-to-school travel policy aims to make sure no child is prevented from accessing education by a lack of transport. Local authorities must arrange free home-to-school travel for children of compulsory school age who attend their nearest school and would not be able to walk there because of the distance, their special educational needs, disability or mobility problem, or because the route is unsafe. There are extended rights to free home-to-school travel for children from low-income families, aimed at helping them exercise school choice.
The department knows that local authorities’ spending on home-to-school travel has increased sharply in recent years, particularly for children with special educational needs and disabilities. This is largely due to increases in the number of children with education, health and care plans and the number of those children who have to travel long distances to a school that can meet their needs.
The department is committed to improving inclusivity and expertise in mainstream schools so fewer children need to travel long distances to a school that can meet their needs. This will reduce home-to-school travel costs for local authorities over time.
Asked by: Darren Paffey (Labour - Southampton Itchen)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether she has made an assessment of the potential (a) funding and (b) capital investment implications for her policies of trends in the number of 16-year olds entering further education in Southampton Itchen constituency.
Answered by Janet Daby - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
Funding for the number of 16 year olds entering further education in Southampton Itchen constituency is part of the 16 to 19 funding allocations, which uses student numbers from the previous year as a basis for the calculation. To support providers that have exceptional increases in the number of students, compared to their allocation, the department announced in year growth funding ahead of the GCSE results on 22 August. Details of the funding are available here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/16-to-19-funding-in-year-growth-for-2024-to-2025/16-to-19-funding-in-year-growth-for-2024-to-2025.
Capital investment to support the demographic increase in 16 to 19 learners has been available through the Post-16 Capacity Fund, which provides funding to schools and colleges. This includes projects by Itchen Sixth Form College to ensure enough capital capacity in schools and colleges to accommodate the additional learners. It has made available £238 million in capital funding since 2021.
All future funding commitments are subject to the Spending Review.
Asked by: Darren Paffey (Labour - Southampton Itchen)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether she plans to take steps to reduce pay differentials between (a) school teachers and (b) college lecturers.
Answered by Janet Daby - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
The government does not set or recommend pay in further education (FE). This remains the responsibility of individual colleges who are free to implement pay arrangements in line with their local needs.
The department recognises the vital role that FE teachers play in developing the skills needed to drive our missions to improve opportunity and economic growth. That is why we are investing around £600 million in FE across the 2024/25 and 2025/26 financial years, including extending retention payments of up to £6,000 after tax to eligible early career FE teachers in key subject areas. The department also continues to support recruitment and retention with teacher training bursaries worth up to £30,000 tax-free in certain key subject areas, and provides support for industry professionals to enter the teaching workforce through the Taking Teaching Further programme.
My right hon. Friend, the Chancellor of the Exchequer has announced a Budget on 30 October to be followed by a multi-year Spending Review in the spring of next year. Decisions about future post-16 funding and capital programmes will be subject to the outcomes of these fiscal events.
Asked by: Darren Paffey (Labour - Southampton Itchen)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps she plans to take to help improve the outcomes for care-experienced children and young people in Southampton.
Answered by Janet Daby - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
Reforming children’s social care is critical to giving all our children and young people the start in life they deserve. The government is committed to working in partnership with local government to support children in care across all settings, and to improve outcomes for care leavers.
The King’s Speech set out the government’s plans to introduce a Children’s Wellbeing Bill, which will help raise standards for children in care and ensure that every child can thrive in a safe, loving home as part of the government’s commitment to deliver high and rising standards in education for children and young people in England. The Bill is expected to be introduced within the first session of Parliament and will be a crucial step in breaking down barriers to opportunity for children and young people.