Asked by: Harriet Harman (Labour - Camberwell and Peckham)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, with reference her comments on BBC Radio 4’s Today Programme in relation to her Department’s consultation on the new Relationships, Sex and Heath Education guidance on 16th May 2024, what information her Department holds on the number of schools at which alleged inappropriate content on gender identity is being taught.
Answered by Damian Hinds - Minister of State (Education)
The department does not systematically collect information on what is taught by schools. The department has made it clear in the draft Relationships, Sex and Heath Education (RSHE) guidance that schools have to ensure that parents are aware of what their children are being taught, which provides the basis for most issues to be resolved locally.
The department’s draft guidance is very clear that schools should teach the facts about equality and the protected characteristics, including gender reassignment, but they should not include contested theory on gender identity in their teaching.
This cautious approach is in line with the draft guidance for schools and colleges on gender questioning pupils, which the department consulted on recently, and the recommendations from the Cass Review.
Asked by: Harriet Harman (Labour - Camberwell and Peckham)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, with reference to her comments on BBC Radio 4’s Today Programme in relation to on her Department’s consultation on the new Relationships, Sex and Heath Education guidance on 16th May 2024, if she will publish the names of the schools at which the alleged inappropriate content she has seen on gender identity has been taught.
Answered by Damian Hinds - Minister of State (Education)
The department does not systematically collect information on what is taught by schools. The department has made it clear in the draft Relationships, Sex and Heath Education (RSHE) guidance that schools have to ensure that parents are aware of what their children are being taught, which provides the basis for most issues to be resolved locally.
The department’s draft guidance is very clear that schools should teach the facts about equality and the protected characteristics, including gender reassignment, but they should not include contested theory on gender identity in their teaching.
This cautious approach is in line with the draft guidance for schools and colleges on gender questioning pupils, which the department consulted on recently, and the recommendations from the Cass Review.
Asked by: Harriet Harman (Labour - Camberwell and Peckham)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment her Department has made of the potential merits of introducing automatic enrolment in free school meals for eligible children.
Answered by Nick Gibb
The Department wants to make sure as many eligible pupils as possible are claiming free school meals (FSM). Since 2010, the number of children receiving a free meal at school has increased by more than two million, thanks to the introduction of universal infant free school meals, plus generous protections put in place as benefit recipients move across to Universal Credit. Over a third of pupils in England now receive FSM in schools, compared with one in six in 2010.
FSM take-up was estimated to be 89% according to benefits data from His Majesty’s Revenue and Customs and December 2012/January 2013 census data. The relevant publication can be found here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/pupils-not-claiming-free-school-meals-2013.
The Department has not made a formal assessment of the number of pupils who would become eligible for FSM through automatic enrolment. The Department provides an Eligibility Checking System to make the checking process as quick and straightforward as possible for schools and Local Authorities. The Department has also developed a model registration form to help schools encourage parents to sign up for FSM and provided guidance to Jobcentre Plus advisers so that they can make Universal Credit recipients aware that they may also be entitled to wider benefits, including FSM.
The Department has previously had discussions with the Department for Work and Pensions about auto-enrolment functionality, but there are complex data, systems, financial and legal implications to such a change.
Asked by: Harriet Harman (Labour - Camberwell and Peckham)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what discussions her Department has had with the Department for Work and Pensions on introducing automatic enrolment for free school meals for eligible children.
Answered by Nick Gibb
The Department wants to make sure as many eligible pupils as possible are claiming free school meals (FSM). Since 2010, the number of children receiving a free meal at school has increased by more than two million, thanks to the introduction of universal infant free school meals, plus generous protections put in place as benefit recipients move across to Universal Credit. Over a third of pupils in England now receive FSM in schools, compared with one in six in 2010.
FSM take-up was estimated to be 89% according to benefits data from His Majesty’s Revenue and Customs and December 2012/January 2013 census data. The relevant publication can be found here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/pupils-not-claiming-free-school-meals-2013.
The Department has not made a formal assessment of the number of pupils who would become eligible for FSM through automatic enrolment. The Department provides an Eligibility Checking System to make the checking process as quick and straightforward as possible for schools and Local Authorities. The Department has also developed a model registration form to help schools encourage parents to sign up for FSM and provided guidance to Jobcentre Plus advisers so that they can make Universal Credit recipients aware that they may also be entitled to wider benefits, including FSM.
The Department has previously had discussions with the Department for Work and Pensions about auto-enrolment functionality, but there are complex data, systems, financial and legal implications to such a change.
Asked by: Harriet Harman (Labour - Camberwell and Peckham)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what estimate her Department has made of the number of pupils nationally who are eligible for, but are not claiming, free school meals.
Answered by Nick Gibb
The Department wants to make sure as many eligible pupils as possible are claiming free school meals (FSM). Since 2010, the number of children receiving a free meal at school has increased by more than two million, thanks to the introduction of universal infant free school meals, plus generous protections put in place as benefit recipients move across to Universal Credit. Over a third of pupils in England now receive FSM in schools, compared with one in six in 2010.
FSM take-up was estimated to be 89% according to benefits data from His Majesty’s Revenue and Customs and December 2012/January 2013 census data. The relevant publication can be found here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/pupils-not-claiming-free-school-meals-2013.
The Department has not made a formal assessment of the number of pupils who would become eligible for FSM through automatic enrolment. The Department provides an Eligibility Checking System to make the checking process as quick and straightforward as possible for schools and Local Authorities. The Department has also developed a model registration form to help schools encourage parents to sign up for FSM and provided guidance to Jobcentre Plus advisers so that they can make Universal Credit recipients aware that they may also be entitled to wider benefits, including FSM.
The Department has previously had discussions with the Department for Work and Pensions about auto-enrolment functionality, but there are complex data, systems, financial and legal implications to such a change.
Asked by: Harriet Harman (Labour - Camberwell and Peckham)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, with reference to the National Food Strategy Report, published in July 2021, what progress her Department has made on implementing that report’s recommendation on finding a viable mechanism for automatic enrolment in free school meals.
Answered by Nick Gibb
The Department wants to make sure as many eligible pupils as possible are claiming free school meals (FSM). Since 2010, the number of children receiving a free meal at school has increased by more than two million, thanks to the introduction of universal infant free school meals, plus generous protections put in place as benefit recipients move across to Universal Credit. Over a third of pupils in England now receive FSM in schools, compared with one in six in 2010.
FSM take-up was estimated to be 89% according to benefits data from His Majesty’s Revenue and Customs and December 2012/January 2013 census data. The relevant publication can be found here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/pupils-not-claiming-free-school-meals-2013.
The Department has not made a formal assessment of the number of pupils who would become eligible for FSM through automatic enrolment. The Department provides an Eligibility Checking System to make the checking process as quick and straightforward as possible for schools and Local Authorities. The Department has also developed a model registration form to help schools encourage parents to sign up for FSM and provided guidance to Jobcentre Plus advisers so that they can make Universal Credit recipients aware that they may also be entitled to wider benefits, including FSM.
The Department has previously had discussions with the Department for Work and Pensions about auto-enrolment functionality, but there are complex data, systems, financial and legal implications to such a change.
Asked by: Harriet Harman (Labour - Camberwell and Peckham)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many additional pupils in England would receive free school meals in the event that automatic enrolment was introduced.
Answered by Nick Gibb
The Department wants to make sure as many eligible pupils as possible are claiming free school meals (FSM). Since 2010, the number of children receiving a free meal at school has increased by more than two million, thanks to the introduction of universal infant free school meals, plus generous protections put in place as benefit recipients move across to Universal Credit. Over a third of pupils in England now receive FSM in schools, compared with one in six in 2010.
FSM take-up was estimated to be 89% according to benefits data from His Majesty’s Revenue and Customs and December 2012/January 2013 census data. The relevant publication can be found here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/pupils-not-claiming-free-school-meals-2013.
The Department has not made a formal assessment of the number of pupils who would become eligible for FSM through automatic enrolment. The Department provides an Eligibility Checking System to make the checking process as quick and straightforward as possible for schools and Local Authorities. The Department has also developed a model registration form to help schools encourage parents to sign up for FSM and provided guidance to Jobcentre Plus advisers so that they can make Universal Credit recipients aware that they may also be entitled to wider benefits, including FSM.
The Department has previously had discussions with the Department for Work and Pensions about auto-enrolment functionality, but there are complex data, systems, financial and legal implications to such a change.
Asked by: Harriet Harman (Labour - Camberwell and Peckham)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, with reference to the finding of Impact on Urban Health Cost in its report Investing in Children’s Future: A Cost Benefit Analysis of Free School Meal Provision Expansion that provision of free school meals to all primary school students would generate £41.3bn in direct benefits to schools, families and the NHS and a further £58.2bn in benefit to the wider economy, if he will make it his policy to expand eligibility for free school meals to all primary school students.
Answered by Nick Gibb
The Department continues to monitor the consequences of the rising cost of living and is working with other Government Departments in providing support. The Department will continue to keep free school meal (FSM) eligibility under review, ensuring that these meals are supporting those who most need them. In setting a threshold, the Department believes that the current level, which enables children to benefit from FSM, while remaining affordable and deliverable for schools, is the right one.
The latest published statistics show that around 1.9 million pupils are claiming FSM. This equates to 22.5% of all pupils, up from 20.8% in 2021. Together with a further 1.25 million infants supported through the Universal Infant Free School Meal policy, 37.5% of school children are now provided with FSM.
Asked by: Harriet Harman (Labour - Camberwell and Peckham)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, with reference to analysis by the Child Poverty Action Group published on 1 September 2022, what assessment he has made of the implications for his policies of that analysis's findings on the proportion of children living in poverty in London who are not eligible for free school meals; and whether he plans to take steps to reduce that proportion.
Answered by Nick Gibb
The Department continues to monitor the consequences of the rising cost of living and is working with other Government Departments in providing support. The Department will continue to keep free school meal (FSM) eligibility under review, ensuring that these meals are supporting those who most need them. In setting a threshold, the Department believes that the current level, which enables children to benefit from FSM, while remaining affordable and deliverable for schools, is the right one.
The latest published statistics show that around 1.9 million pupils are claiming FSM. This equates to 22.5% of all pupils, up from 20.8% in 2021. Together with a further 1.25 million infants supported through the Universal Infant Free School Meal policy, 37.5% of school children are now provided with FSM.
Asked by: Harriet Harman (Labour - Camberwell and Peckham)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment he has made of the potential merits of (a) funding free school meals for all primary school children and (b) raising the earnings threshold for Free School Meals to £20,000 per year before benefits.
Answered by Nick Gibb
The Department continues to monitor the consequences of the rising cost of living and is working with other Government Departments in providing support. The Department will continue to keep free school meal (FSM) eligibility under review, ensuring that these meals are supporting those who most need them. In setting a threshold, the Department believes that the current level, which enables children to benefit from FSM, while remaining affordable and deliverable for schools, is the right one.
The latest published statistics show that around 1.9 million pupils are claiming FSM. This equates to 22.5% of all pupils, up from 20.8% in 2021. Together with a further 1.25 million infants supported through the Universal Infant Free School Meal policy, 37.5% of school children are now provided with FSM.