Asked by: David Burrowes (Conservative - Enfield, Southgate)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps her Department is taking to support plans for development of the site and premises of St Andrew the Apostle Greek Orthodox Free School.
Answered by Edward Timpson
We are taking every step we can, in partnership with the London Borough of Barnet, the Greater London Authority and the owners of the school’s current site in North London Business Park to allow it to remain there permanently.
Asked by: David Burrowes (Conservative - Enfield, Southgate)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, pursuant to the Answer of 10 June 2015 to Question 842, with which organisations she has met in connection with ensuring that awarding organisations are liaising effectively with Ofqual; and what further steps her Department has taken to safeguard the future of modern languages at GCSE and A-level in subjects (a) Turkish, (b) Greek, (c) Gujarati, (d) Modern Hebrew, (e) Panjabi, (f) Polish, (g) Bengali and (h) other community languages.
Answered by Nick Gibb
The Department for Education is in discussion with awarding organisations and Ofqual to consider how best to enable as wide a range of languages as possible to be maintained at GCSE and A level, including those languages listed in the question. We are committed to securing the future of community language qualifications. I will make a further announcement in due course, explaining our proposed approach.
The Secretary of State and I have held meetings with diplomats and officials who have made representations to the department.
Asked by: David Burrowes (Conservative - Enfield, Southgate)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, pursuant to the Answer of 10 June 2015 to Question 842, what the timescale is, and what methodology is being used for, the consultation on the future of modern languages teaching.
Answered by Nick Gibb
The Department for Education is in discussion with awarding organisations and Ofqual to consider how best to enable as wide a range of languages as possible to be maintained at GCSE and A level, including those languages listed in the question. We are committed to securing the future of community language qualifications. I will make a further announcement in due course, explaining our proposed approach.
The Secretary of State and I have held meetings with diplomats and officials who have made representations to the department.
Asked by: David Burrowes (Conservative - Enfield, Southgate)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, pursuant to the Answer of 10 June 2015 to Question 842, what steps her Department is taking to ensure (a) the availability at GCSE and A-level of (i) Turkish, (ii) Greek, (iii) Gujarati, (iv) Modern Hebrew, (v) Punjabi, (vi) Polish, (vii) Bengali and (viii) other community languages and (b) effective liaison between awarding organisations and Ofqual on the provision of GCSEs and A-levels in those languages.
Answered by Nick Gibb
The Department for Education is in discussion with awarding organisations and Ofqual to consider how best to enable as wide a range of languages as possible to be maintained at GCSE and A level, including those languages listed in the question. We are committed to securing the future of community language qualifications. I will make a further announcement in due course, explaining our proposed approach.
Asked by: David Burrowes (Conservative - Enfield, Southgate)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment her Department has made of the effect of recent changes introduced to improve safeguarding of children who go missing from care on the number of children who go missing from (a) care, (b) placements outside the local authority boundaries and (c) distant placements; and if she will make a statement.
Answered by Edward Timpson
Statutory guidance on missing children was revised in January 2014 and can be found online here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/children-who-run-away-or-go-missing-from-home-or-care.
It is not possible to draw conclusions about the impact of the changes in guidance on the number of children missing from care as many factors contribute to this. However, we are working, with support from local authorities, to better understand their responses to missing children and the effect of recent changes. All local authorities must now inform the Department for Education about all incidences of children going missing from care as part of their annual statistical return to the department on looked after children. This, along with more accurate figures on the number of children missing from care available in September 2015, will inform future policy on missing children.
Asked by: David Burrowes (Conservative - Enfield, Southgate)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment her Department has made of the effect of the introduction of the category of distant placements for looked-after children on the number placed more than 20 miles from their last known address (a) in children's homes and (b) with foster carers; and if she will make a statement.
Answered by Edward Timpson
Data is collected on the distance of placements from home for looked after children. Data for 2014 is published in table A6 of the annual Children looked after in England, including adoption statistical first release. This can be found online here: www.gov.uk/government/statistics/children-looked-after-in-england-including-adoption--2
It is not possible to attribute the change in the number of children placed more than 20 miles from their home area to the introduction of the category of distant placements as a number of factors will affect decisions on where to place children, including their specific needs.
Asked by: David Burrowes (Conservative - Enfield, Southgate)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what her policy is on the future of A-levels and GCSEs for (a) Turkish, (b) Greek, (c) Gujarati, (d) Modern Hebrew, (e) Panjabi, (f) Polish, (g) Bengali and (h) other community languages; and if she will outline steps that will be taken in pursuit of that policy.
Answered by Nick Gibb
The Department for Education is currently considering what further support and encouragement can be provided to awarding organisations to enable as wide a range of languages as possible to be maintained at GCSE and A level.
The government has been clear that it wants to see all pupils provided with the opportunity to take a core set of academic subjects, including modern foreign languages. The number of pupils entering for a modern language GCSE has increased by 20% since 2010 due to the introduction of the English Baccalaureate. There are considerable benefits to learning a second language and the government is keen to see the range of languages at GCSE and A level preserved. To this end, the Secretary of State wrote to exam boards during the pre-election period in April to express her concern about their decision to stop awarding qualifications in some languages. She asked awarding organisations to work with Ofqual on the future of these qualifications and committed, if there is no further action, to launching a consultation on how best to secure the future of these qualifications.
Asked by: David Burrowes (Conservative - Enfield, Southgate)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, with reference to the Prime Minister's press release of 18 August 2014, what steps she is taking to assess the impact of her Department's policies on the family.
Answered by Edward Timpson
The Department for Education has developed comprehensive internal guidance on the Family Test and its application. The Department is confident in the approach it has taken to provide guidance and support to staff in applying the Family Test to new policies.