Asked by: Gareth Thomas (Labour (Co-op) - Harrow West)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if she will hold discussions with exam boards on introducing a GCSE in Romanian.
Answered by Georgia Gould - Minister of State (Education)
Decisions about which languages to offer at GCSE in England are taken by four independent awarding organisations – AQA, OCR, Pearson Edexcel and WJEC – rather than by central government. These organisations have the freedom to create a Somali and/or Romanian GCSE based on the subject content for modern foreign languages set by the department. This decision would be informed by several factors, including the level of demand from schools and the proportion of the population in the UK speaking the language.
Asked by: Gareth Thomas (Labour (Co-op) - Harrow West)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if she will hold discussions with exam boards on introducing a GCSE in Somali.
Answered by Georgia Gould - Minister of State (Education)
Decisions about which languages to offer at GCSE in England are taken by four independent awarding organisations – AQA, OCR, Pearson Edexcel and WJEC – rather than by central government. These organisations have the freedom to create a Somali and/or Romanian GCSE based on the subject content for modern foreign languages set by the department. This decision would be informed by several factors, including the level of demand from schools and the proportion of the population in the UK speaking the language.
Asked by: Gareth Thomas (Labour (Co-op) - Harrow West)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether she will make an estimate of how many education employers offer their employees the opportunity to join a credit union via payroll deduction.
Answered by Georgia Gould - Minister of State (Education)
The department does not hold this information.
Asked by: Gareth Thomas (Labour (Co-op) - Harrow West)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether British students will be able to take part in the Erasmus+ exchange programme by January 2027.
Answered by Josh MacAlister - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
As set out at the UK-EU Summit in May, the UK agreed to work towards association to the Erasmus+ programme on mutually agreed financial terms.
Negotiations are ongoing, and the timelines for any association are subject to ongoing discussion. We are open to associating to Erasmus+ for 2027 in principle, but only if we can reach agreement on financial terms, which should ensure a fair balance as regards the contributions of and benefits to the UK.
Asked by: Gareth Thomas (Labour (Co-op) - Harrow West)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, when sixth form colleges will be able to access the £375m of capital expansion funding earmarked in the Industrial Strategy.
Answered by Josh MacAlister - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
We know that the 16 to 19 population has been increasing in some parts of England and that extra capacity has been needed in post-16 places in some areas.
The post-16 Capacity Fund has already invested £282 million between 2021 to 2025 for additional capacity and we will be investing a further £375 million between 2026/27 and 2029/30 to provide additional places.
We will make announcements in due course and provide further information about the delivery of the £375 million capital funding secured for the post-16 sector.
Asked by: Gareth Thomas (Labour (Co-op) - Harrow West)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if she will take steps to ensure that young people are taught about co-operatives as part of the national curriculum.
Answered by Georgia Gould - Minister of State (Education)
A high quality citizenship education helps to provide pupils with the knowledge, skills and understanding to prepare them to play a full and active part in society. The citizenship curriculum is compulsory within the national curriculum at secondary and primary schools can choose to teach citizenship at key stages 1 and 2, following the non-statutory framework for citizenship.
Pupils should be taught about the roles played by public institutions and voluntary groups in society, which could include co-operatives, and the ways in which citizens work together to improve their communities.
The independent Curriculum and Assessment Review is seeking to deliver a curriculum that ensures children and young people leave compulsory education ready for life and work, building the knowledge, skills and attributes young people need to thrive. The Review’s final report and recommendations will be published shortly with the government’s response.
Asked by: Gareth Thomas (Labour (Co-op) - Harrow West)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what estimate her Department has made of how many schools who have incurred a financial cost to manage asbestos on their premises in the last 12 months.
Answered by Damian Hinds
Safe and well-maintained school buildings are a priority for the department. The department has allocated over £15 billion to improve the condition of schools since 2015, including £1.8 billion this financial year. This funding is informed by consistent data on the condition of the estate.
The department expects responsible bodies, including local authorities, governing bodies and academy trusts, to have robust plans in place to manage any asbestos in school buildings effectively in line with their legal duties.
The department follows advice from the Health and Safety Executive (HSE), which states that, as long as asbestos is in good condition, not vulnerable to damage and carefully managed, it is usually safer to manage it in situ. The department is committed to working collaboratively with HSE, as the regulator, to support schools and duty holders.
The department has not made an assessment of how many schools have incurred a financial cost to manage asbestos. Asbestos is managed by responsible bodies and schools at a local level, including determining how management is funded. The department supports them by providing guidance on the safe management of asbestos and providing access to capital funding each year. Schools are either eligible for School Condition Allocation funding to prioritise improving the condition of their schools, or they are able to bid into the Condition Improvement Fund annual bidding round, to apply for funding for specific capital projects. All schools also receive funding to spend on their capital priorities or to contribute to larger projects through an annual Devolved Formula Capital allocation. Condition funding can be used to remove asbestos when required, often as part of a wider condition project.
Where responsible bodies have serious issues with buildings that cannot be managed locally, the department provides additional support on a case-by-case basis.
Asked by: Gareth Thomas (Labour (Co-op) - Harrow West)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many complaints her Department has received about the conduct of Ofsted inspectors during school inspections in each of the last three years.
Answered by Damian Hinds
Matters concerning the pausing of school inspections and the consideration of complaints about the conduct of inspectors are for Ofsted, which is a separate non-ministerial department and independent inspectorate.
The department does not collect specific data on correspondence received that refers to the conduct of inspectors.
I have asked His Majesty’s Chief Inspector, Amanda Spielman, to write to the hon. Member, the Member for Harrow West, directly on these matters and a copy of her reply will be placed in the Libraries of both Houses.
Asked by: Gareth Thomas (Labour (Co-op) - Harrow West)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many Ofsted inspections have been paused due to headteacher distress in each of the last 3 years.
Answered by Damian Hinds
Matters concerning the pausing of school inspections and the consideration of complaints about the conduct of inspectors are for Ofsted, which is a separate non-ministerial department and independent inspectorate.
The department does not collect specific data on correspondence received that refers to the conduct of inspectors.
I have asked His Majesty’s Chief Inspector, Amanda Spielman, to write to the hon. Member, the Member for Harrow West, directly on these matters and a copy of her reply will be placed in the Libraries of both Houses.
Asked by: Gareth Thomas (Labour (Co-op) - Harrow West)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, pursuant to the Answer of 17 November 2023 to Question 22 on Schools: Asbestos, what information her Department holds on levels of asbestos in Harrow schools.
Answered by Damian Hinds
Buildings erected from 2000 have not used asbestos in their construction. Most older buildings will still have asbestos present in them, although some have undertaken asbestos removal programmes.
Asbestos ‘dutyholders’ for schools, who usually include local authorities and academy trusts, must comply with the Control of Asbestos Regulations 2012. These require dutyholders to have a robust asbestos management plan, train staff, and maintain an asbestos register detailing location, type, and condition of asbestos in their buildings.
The department takes the safety of children and those who work with them incredibly seriously, which is why we expect all local authorities, governing bodies and academy trusts to have robust plans in place to manage asbestos in school buildings effectively, in line with their legal duties.
The asbestos management assurance process (AMAP) was a survey launched by the department in March 2018 to understand the steps schools and those responsible for their estate were taking to manage asbestos.
Data published in 2019 reflecting returns from 88.4% of schools showed that 80% of schools had some asbestos present in their estate. The department can confirm that from responses captured, the position in Harrow schools suggests a slightly lower percentage than the national picture, though we continue to gather data in this area through the Condition Data Collection 2 (CDC2) programme. The 2019 AMAP report is available at: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/5f28153ed3bf7f1b17facda7/AMAP_Report_2019.pdf.
The department expects current percentages to reduce over time as schools are rebuilt or refurbished, and asbestos is removed. Information on how schools are managing asbestos is now being collected via the department’s CDC2 programme, which started in 2021 and will complete in 2026, and is expected to cover all state-funded schools.
The department follows the Health and Safety Executive’s advice that, provided asbestos-containing materials are in good condition, and unlikely to be disturbed, it is generally safest to manage them in place. Where asbestos-containing materials are likely to be disturbed by maintenance works or daily use of the building, and cannot be easily protected, schools should have them removed.