Asked by: David Simpson (Democratic Unionist Party - Upper Bann)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps his Department is taking so that classes are not overcrowded and children get the attention they need in the classroom.
Answered by Nick Gibb
In 2018, overall, there were 340 fewer schools that were at or over capacity compared with 2010.
Delivering new school places is a top priority for the Government. The Department has committed £7 billion to deliver new school places between 2015 and 2021, on top of investment in the free schools programme. 921,000 additional school places were created between May 2010 and May 2018 and one million places are on track to be created this decade (2010 to 2020), the largest increase in school capacity for at least two generations.
Asked by: David Simpson (Democratic Unionist Party - Upper Bann)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether he plans to increase funding for special educational needs.
Answered by Nadhim Zahawi
The funding of children with special educational needs (SEN) is a devolved issue.
In December 2018, the government announced that it would allocate an additional £250 million in revenue funding for pupils with complex SEN across England, across the financial years 2018-19 and 2019-20. The allocation to each local authority can be found at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/high-needs-funding-arrangements-2019-to-2020.
We will also, of course, be making a strong case in the next spending review to ensure that the high needs budget provides the funds for schools to make the right provision for children and young people with special educational needs and disabilities.
Asked by: David Simpson (Democratic Unionist Party - Upper Bann)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether he plan to introduce first aid to the national curriculum.
Answered by Nick Gibb
The Government wants all young people to be happy, healthy and safe; equipping them for adult life and to make a positive contribution to society. That is why we are making Relationships Education compulsory for all primary pupils, and Relationships and Sex Education compulsory for all secondary pupils from September 2020.
The updated draft guidance sets out that as part of health education, primary school pupils will be taught how to make a clear and efficient call to the emergency services and basic first aid, for example dealing with common injuries including head injuries. Secondary school pupils will build on the primary level knowledge. They will be taught how to administer CPR at an appropriate age, what a defibrillator is and when it should be used. The updated draft guidance can be accessed via the following link: https://www.gov.uk/government/consultations/relationships-and-sex-education-and-health-education.
Asked by: David Simpson (Democratic Unionist Party - Upper Bann)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether his Department has plans to allocate funding from the public purse to the procurement of defibrillators by schools.
Answered by Nadhim Zahawi
Automated External Defibrillators (AEDs) are currently available for schools and other education providers in the UK to purchase through the NHS Supply Chain at a reduced cost. These arrangements are available to all UK schools, including academies and independent schools, sixth-form colleges, further education institutions and early years settings (including holiday and out-of-school providers).
There is no legal requirement for schools to purchase an AED, but the government encourages them to do so as part of their first aid equipment.
The government has produced guidance for schools on buying, installing and using an AED, which can be viewed at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/automated-external-defibrillators-aeds-in-schools.
Asked by: David Simpson (Democratic Unionist Party - Upper Bann)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many university scholarships for the full value of tuition fees were awarded in the last two years in each constituent part of the UK.
Answered by Chris Skidmore
The information requested is not held centrally.
Asked by: David Simpson (Democratic Unionist Party - Upper Bann)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps is his Department taking to increase student accommodation on campus for universities located in rural areas.
Answered by Chris Skidmore
Higher education providers are autonomous bodies, independent from government; government plays no direct role in the provision of student residential accommodation. Each institution will be best placed to identify the needs of their particular student body.
The Unistats website provides information about all university courses and includes links to individual websites with details of the student accommodation available at a higher education provider.
I recently called on rogue private landlords to stop exploiting students and face justice when they are failing tenants – especially when they leave students living in squalid conditions. New milestone regulations came into force on 20 March, which give students and renters across the country greater protections and rights if there are serious defects in accommodation.
Asked by: David Simpson (Democratic Unionist Party - Upper Bann)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether his Department provides financial support to schools for student counselling following incidents of a tragic nature.
Answered by Nick Gibb
Schools need to respond to tragic incidents, which vary widely in nature. The Department’s Mental Health and Behaviour guidance includes links to sources of information and support, including on bereavement and other traumatic events. This includes MindEd, which provides online advice and training on mental health for all professionals working with children and young people. Where children need more specialist support, it is important that other services work together with schools to provide the right support. The NHS Long Term Plan sets out how specialist mental health support will be increased including through to access crisis care 24 hours a day by 2023/24, and support for at least an additional 345,000 children and young people who will be able to access support via NHS funded mental health services, including mental health support teams linked to schools and colleges.
While the Government does not routinely provide additional funding to schools to respond to specific incidents, it will look at whether adequate support is available in specific cases. In response to incidents in Manchester and at the Grenfell Tower the government provided funding to enable local authorities to provide additional support to schools, colleges and children affected. The planning of mental health support across education, health, local authorities and the voluntary sector is a critical element in the response to such major incidents, such as the terrorist events in Manchester and London.
Asked by: David Simpson (Democratic Unionist Party - Upper Bann)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps his Department is taking to help ensure that teachers feel safe from violence at their schools.
Answered by Nick Gibb
All schools should be safe environments in which staff and pupils feel happy and able to fulfil their potential. Any form of violence in schools is unacceptable and should not be tolerated. Where a violent incident constitutes a criminal offence, the school should report it to the police.
The Government is committed to ensuring that all teachers are equipped with the skills to tackle both the serious behavioural issues that compromise the safety and wellbeing of pupils or school staff. To support schools in ensuring that they remain safe and disciplined environments we have produced a range of guidance materials.
Guidance is provided to schools to help them develop behaviour policies to manage disruptive and poor behaviour within the classroom and, in doing so, reduce the likelihood of violent attacks on teachers or pupils.
This guidance material includes guidance on controlling access to school premises. This helps schools understand that it is a criminal offence for a person who is on school premises without lawful authority to cause or permit a nuisance or disturbance and the action they can take in response.
Searching, screening, confiscation guidance for schools makes clear that staff can search pupils and their possessions, where they believe a pupil is carrying a dangerous item which could endanger pupils or staff.
In addition to current guidance, the Department has worked with the Home Office, and other key stakeholders, including the police, Ofsted and the Health and Safety Executive, to produce new school security guidance. New draft guidance includes references to help schools deal with violent crime and encourages them to develop policies and culture to help reduce and address violent related incidents in schools. A public consultation on the guidance closed last month and the guidance will be published later in the year.
Asked by: David Simpson (Democratic Unionist Party - Upper Bann)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many teachers in UK schools are EU nationals.
Answered by Nick Gibb
The Department does not collect information on nationality in the school workforce census for teachers in England. In the Migration Advisory Committee’s European Economic Aarea (EEA) migration report, published in September 2018, it was estimated that there are 11,400 and 13,100 EEA-born primary and secondary school teachers, respectively, working in the UK. This accounts for 2.6% (primary) and 3.0% (secondary) of the total numbers. This compares to around 5% of the general population. The full report can be found here: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/741926/Final_EEA_report.PDF.
For the first time in the 2018-19 Initial teacher training (ITT): trainee number census, the Department published data on the nationality of ITT trainees. In academic year 2018-19, there were 28,570 postgraduate new entrants to ITT whose nationality was known. Of these, 93% were UK nationals (26,525), 5% were EEA nationals (1,405) and 2% were nationals of other countries (635). These are the same proportions as in academic years 2017-18 and 2016-17. The census results can be found here: https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/initial-teacher-training-trainee-number-census-2018-to-2019.
Asked by: David Simpson (Democratic Unionist Party - Upper Bann)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps his Department is taking to help tackle bullying in schools.
Answered by Nick Gibb
The Government has sent a clear message to schools that bullying is unacceptable and should not be tolerated.
All schools are legally required to have a behaviour policy with measures to prevent all forms of bullying. They have the freedom to develop their own anti-bullying strategies appropriate to their environment and are held to account by Ofsted.
The Department issues guidance to schools on how to prevent and respond to bullying as part of their overall behaviour policy. The guidance outlines the Government’s approach to bullying; the legal obligations and powers schools have to tackle bullying; and the principles which underpin the most effective anti-bullying strategies in schools. In our drive to tackle bad behaviour, we have strengthened teachers' powers to enforce discipline and promote good behaviour. Additionally, the Respectful School Communities tool supports schools to develop a whole-school approach which promotes respect and discipline.
The Department is also providing over £2.8 million of funding between September 2016 and March 2020, to four anti-bullying organisations to support schools to tackle bullying. This is in addition to £4 millon that the Government Equalities Office are providing, over the same period, to help schools prevent and respond to Homophobic, Biphobic and Transphobic bullying.
The new mandatory subjects of Relationships Education, Relationships and Sex Education, and Health Education, will enable schools to deliver high-quality teaching including about acceptable ways to behave, both off and online. The draft guidance sets out that pupils should know about the different types of bullying, the impact it has, the responsibility of bystanders and how to get help. The consultation closed on 7 November 2018 and we are currently analysing the responses, which will help to finalise the regulations and guidance.