Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Emma Hardy and Damian Hinds

Monday 29th January 2024 Commons Chamber

[Damian Hinds]

I would be happy to follow up the matter of the private finance initiative contract at that college, and perhaps have some discussions with my right hon. Friend the Minister for Skills, Apprenticeships and Higher Education.

[Emma Hardy (Kingston upon Hull West and Hessle) (Lab)]

T1. If she will make a statement on her departmental responsibilities.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Emma Hardy and Damian Hinds

Monday 11th December 2023 Commons Chamber

[Damian Hinds]

I join my hon. Friend in thanking and paying tribute to all the staff, children and families at Bramhall High Street. She is a great advocate for them. Schools and colleges will be offered either capital grants to fund refurbishment or permanently remove RAAC, or rebuilding projects where they are needed.

[Emma Hardy (Kingston upon Hull West and Hessle) (Lab)]

Last week, the Government published an update of the list of schools with RAAC. Will the Minister confirm that the Department is seeking to cross-check its list of schools affected by RAAC with the BBC, because it remains the case that the BBC journalists have more of a grip on this crisis than the Government?

[Damian Hinds]

We have a lot of people working on this and rightly so, including making sure that all the surveys get done. We have also committed to being transparent, which is why we publish regular updates to the list. We continue to work at pace to try to resolve the problems as quickly as possible for the good of the children.

Timpson Review of School Exclusion

Debate between Emma Hardy and Damian Hinds

Tuesday 7th May 2019 Commons Chamber

[Damian Hinds]

Yes, my hon. Friend is absolutely right. The relationship between families and schools is absolutely at the heart of education. Of course we want those relationships to be as strong as they can and for people on both sides to keep on working at them for the good of the child.

[Emma Hardy (Kingston upon Hull West and Hessle) (Lab)]

One of the things in the report that I found particularly concerning was the talk of the children at multiple risk—at risk not just because they have special educational needs and disability but because they have SEND, they are from an ethnic minority background, and they are from a disadvantaged background. I fear that where we talk about the problem of exclusion, there could be a perverse incentive for schools to increase off-rolling and, even worse, to refuse to admit children with these characteristics in the first place. What powers can the Government give to local authorities to compel schools to accept children with these characteristics and to readmit children who have been off-rolled?

[Damian Hinds]

Of course, schools must have fair admissions policies, and that is absolutely right. It is also right that we at the Department for Education and local authorities, working together, need to make sure that the support is there for schools to be able to do their very best for the children concerned. The hon. Lady has my continued commitment to that.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Emma Hardy and Damian Hinds

Monday 29th April 2019 Commons Chamber

[Emma Hardy (Kingston upon Hull West and Hessle) (Lab)]

When the Timpson review finally passes the editing process at the Department for Education, will it include an analysis of whether a lack of funding for pastoral and family-support staff is driving exclusions?

[Damian Hinds]

The hon. Lady will not have too long to wait for Edward’s report and our response to it. When it comes, she will find that it is a comprehensive and thorough piece of work. We have been looking carefully at all the relevant aspects to make sure that we can guarantee that, as was said earlier, when somebody is excluded, it is not only the end of something, but the start of something positive and new. We support schools’ being able to make such decisions, which remain an important part of behaviour management in schools.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Emma Hardy and Damian Hinds

Monday 11th March 2019 Commons Chamber

[Emma Hardy (Kingston upon Hull West and Hessle) (Lab)]

Surely it is impossible to raise standards in schools when 15.93% of children with special educational needs and disabilities are excluded, compared with 3.6% of children without special educational needs. What is the Minister doing to address this stark difference in exclusions?

[Damian Hinds]

Of course it is a matter of concern that some groups are more likely to be excluded than others, particularly when it comes to children with special educational needs, who deserve and must have our particular attention. The hon. Lady will know that there is an ongoing review by Edward Timpson, the former schools Minister, and we expect to hear back on that quite soon.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Emma Hardy and Damian Hinds

Monday 17th December 2018 Commons Chamber

[Damian Hinds]

I thank my hon. Friend for his support on the Lower Farm primary academy. The Department is always looking for ways to improve our processes, driving efficiency and value. That now includes the establishment of a specialist property company and the use of modern construction methods to help to build schools faster. I am very grateful to him for his helpful feedback.

[Emma Hardy (Kingston upon Hull West and Hessle) (Lab)]

I am deeply concerned that schools are using isolation rooms as a form of unregistered exclusion for pupils for extended periods of time, thereby severely harming their education. What assessment has the Secretary of State made of how good the education is that is received by the children forced into using them?

[Damian Hinds]

We think it is up to headteachers, within the rules, to set the behaviour policy in their schools. They have to set it out clearly in their behaviour policy, on which there are clear guidelines.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Emma Hardy and Damian Hinds

Monday 29th January 2018 Commons Chamber

[Damian Hinds]

My hon. Friend has been consistent in campaigning on this issue for a number of years, and I will of course be happy to meet him to discuss his comments.

[Emma Hardy (Kingston upon Hull West and Hessle) (Lab)]

The desperate rush to convert schools into academies does not appear to be matched by any rush to ensure adequate financial oversight and value for money. Will the Secretary of State please investigate why the academy trust United Learning received £150,000 to support Sedgehill School in south London, despite the school remaining maintained and United Learning not even becoming its sponsor?