National Funding Formula: Schools/High Needs

Debate between Diana Johnson and Justine Greening

Wednesday 14th December 2016 Commons Chamber

[Justine Greening]

We are at the beginning of a 14-week consultation, and it is important that everybody looks at the formula we are proposing. I think that it strikes the right balance, and I hope that it can command the broad support of the House.

[Diana Johnson (Kingston upon Hull North) (Lab)]

I represent the 19th most disadvantaged constituency in the country—the Secretary of State spoke about disadvantage and deprivation—but can she tell parents and schools in my constituency whether they will receive more funding under this proposed formula or less?

[Justine Greening]

The hon. Lady can look at the details for her own constituency once all the data are published, but I hope she will reflect on what I said earlier: we have designed the formula to ensure that the funding follows children from disadvantaged backgrounds. Indeed, we did not just consider the formal deprivation factors that many local authorities have; some local authorities, where virtually all the children are from deprived backgrounds, do not necessarily have a formal factor that reflects that, but nevertheless we tried to capture the hidden funding flowing through to help deprived children as part of the deprived factor.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Diana Johnson and Justine Greening

Monday 14th November 2016 Commons Chamber

[Diana Johnson (Kingston upon Hull North) (Lab)]

T10. The Secretary of State has talked about the fair funding formula she wishes to introduce. Analysis by the National Union of Teachers says the Government’s proposals will mean that Hull schools will lose £13 million and 370 jobs by 2020. Is that correct: yes or no?

[Justine Greening]

No, it is not, and indeed we have not set out the second stage of the consultation, so there are no figures to base that analysis on.

Schools that work for Everyone

Debate between Diana Johnson and Justine Greening

Monday 12th September 2016 Commons Chamber

[Justine Greening]

I do, and I have been very clear today that, as part of the consultation, we understand that we need to work with local communities. This is about more choice; it is not about dictating which schools people should have locally.

[Diana Johnson (Kingston upon Hull North) (Lab)]

May I press the Secretary of State on STEM—science, technology, engineering and maths—subjects? With the Humber becoming the UK’s energy estuary, thousands of new jobs will depend on people having scientific and vocational qualifications and good apprenticeships. If we are really serious about schools that work for everyone—we already have academies, we are getting a universal technical college and we have free schools—would it not be much better to concentrate on making them work best for our children, rather than introduce grammar schools, which are for a bygone age and not for this century?

[Justine Greening]

I will say two things in response. First, we have seen significant improvements in children’s attainment in maths and English over recent years, and we are introducing a more stretching curriculum for GCSEs. Set against that, some of the schools that are delivering best for children in achieving attainment in STEM subjects are themselves grammars, so it makes sense to look at how we can give parents in other parts of the country more choice to send their child to a local grammar.

Syria Crisis: UK Response

Debate between Diana Johnson and Justine Greening

Monday 8th February 2016 Commons Chamber

[Justine Greening]

My hon. Friend will be aware that there is already a substantial number of refugees in Turkey— 2 million in total. The plan is really about helping Turkey to continue to provide the food, water, shelter, education and, more latterly, jobs programmes that enable refugees to cope with the circumstances they find themselves in.

[Diana Johnson (Kingston upon Hull North) (Lab)]

If Syria is to have a stable and peaceful future, women and girls will have a part to play in it. Will the Secretary of State say why there was no mention of the role of women in the Syrian stabilisation paper that was published last week?

[Justine Greening]

I fully agree with the hon. Lady that women have a key role to play not only in the rebuilding of Syria in time, but in the peace talks that need to happen in advance. She will know that, alongside all the work we have done to help children affected by this crisis, we have focused on women as well. We know that in humanitarian emergencies, women and girls—adolescent girls, in particular—are often the most vulnerable people, so we have worked very hard to make sure that the risks they face are managed. I would be happy to write to her about some of our plans to make sure that women stay at the centre of our thoughts in the international response to the Syria crisis.

Ebola: Sierra Leone

Debate between Diana Johnson and Justine Greening

Tuesday 19th January 2016 Commons Chamber

[Justine Greening]

I strongly agree with my hon. Friend. We are playing that role already and will continue to do so. Much of it is pushed forward by our Department of Health and its very close working relationship with the WHO. It is vital we fix some of the underlying problems that led to Ebola taking hold in the first place. Essentially, this means strengthening the health system on the ground and having a better international responder system to deal with crises when they inevitably emerge around the world.

[Diana Johnson (Kingston upon Hull North) (Lab)]

Further to the Secretary of State’s comments about supporting Sierra Leone, Hull is very proud to have been twinned with Freetown for over 35 years. There have been many reciprocal visits, especially by teachers. In the light of what has happened recently, is the Department considering what more it can do to strengthen such reciprocal visits to ensure that support, especially for education, is given to that country?

[Justine Greening]

I will take the hon. Lady’s ideas and thoughts away and respond to her following the urgent question today. She is right to highlight education. One of the key issues we now face and are working on is getting children, in particular girls who may have been out of school, back into school. We have to ensure they go back to school, and that is not always easy. There are a number of orphans as a result of the Ebola crisis, too. Education matters not just in terms of broader public health but of schooling for children, many of whom were out of school for a year. I will reflect on the point she makes about the important links between her local community and Freetown.

Humanitarian Aid: Refugees in Greece and the Balkans

Debate between Diana Johnson and Justine Greening

Tuesday 3rd November 2015 Commons Chamber

[Justine Greening]

The Minister responsible for the overall relocation scheme is in the Chamber—[Interruption.] I apologise. He was in the Chamber earlier, and I have no doubt that he will be watching these questions. We have been clear that we will update the House, but we will not be giving a day-to-day running commentary.

[Diana Johnson (Kingston upon Hull North) (Lab)]

I also want to ask about the vulnerable persons relocation scheme, and I am disappointed that the Minister has left the Chamber. I was at a meeting on Friday in Hull, and I was told that four local authorities in Yorkshire are keen to take in Syrian refugees under the scheme and had reached a funding agreement with the Home Office. A few days later, however, they received a letter stating that the funding had been reduced by two thirds, which means that those local authorities are not in a position to take in the Syrian refugees who we all want to bring to this country. Will the Minister write to me and explain why the Home Office did that, and say what effect that will have on the 1,000 refugees who we are expecting here by Christmas?

[Justine Greening]

I will follow up that issue with the Home Office and ask Ministers to respond to the hon. Lady with more details.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Diana Johnson and Justine Greening

Wednesday 8th July 2015 Commons Chamber

[Justine Greening]

The hon. Gentleman is quite right to raise that issue. As I have just said, the UK has already increased our investment. In fact, at the UN General Assembly last year, I held a pledge meeting to get international partners to fund more of the educational needs in both Lebanon and Jordan specifically. That raised $344 million at the time, but, as he set out, this is an ongoing requirement and the international community must step up to fund it.

[Diana Johnson (Kingston upon Hull North) (Lab)]

2. What progress she has made on her strategy for private sector development in developing countries.

[The Secretary of State for International Development (Justine Greening)]

The Department for International Development’s private sector work has helped to mobilise £4 billion of investment, and we are expanding this work. We need to recognise that the private sector can often deliver development in ways that Governments and donors cannot. In fact, our development finance institution, CDC, reported last week that CDC-backed businesses directly and indirectly helped to create nearly 1.3 million jobs in 2014 alone.

[Diana Johnson]

I thank the Secretary of State for that answer. A recent Independent Commission for Aid Impact report on DFID’s private sector development stated:

“We found it impossible to identify how much DFID actually spends on PSD.”

Will the Secretary of State clarify how the £1.8 billion allocated for 2015-16 will actually be spent?