Asked by: Harriet Harman (Labour - Camberwell and Peckham)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if she will extend the number of courses covered by the exemption to the Equivalent Level Qualification rules to include full-time undergraduate STEM courses.
Answered by Lord Johnson of Marylebone
Access to fee and maintenance loans from the Student Loan Company (SLC) is currently restricted for students wishing to study qualifications that are at an equivalent or lower level to those which they already hold. These are known as Equivalent or Lower Qualifications (ELQ). There are exemptions to these restrictions, including from 2017/18 for all part-time STEM degree courses (which had been eligible for fee support only).
Full-time STEM student numbers increased between 2003 and 2015, in some cases dramatically (notably in Biological Sciences by 87%, Maths by 78% and Physical Sciences by 77%). Across most STEM subjects, levels of sustained employment have also grown either in line with the average or above the average, and average earnings have increased by well above the 11% graduate average. Evidence suggests the last round of Government capital funding for STEM higher education has led to increases in provision.
We will be carefully monitoring the impact of lifting the ELQ exemption for part-time STEM courses in the context of our assessments of higher education STEM and demand overall.
Asked by: Harriet Harman (Labour - Camberwell and Peckham)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how much funding has been made available to the London Borough of Southwark for early years provision for three and four-year olds in each of the last seven years; and how much funding is being made available to the London Borough of Southwark for early years provision for three and four-year olds under her Department's new early years national funding formula in each of the next three years.
Answered by Robert Goodwill
The early years funding allocation for three and four year olds for Southwark local authority can be found here for the following financial years:
2013-14: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/dedicated-schools-grant-2013-to-2014
2014-15: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/dedicated-schools-grant-2014-to-2015
2015-16: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/dedicated-schools-grant-dsg-2015-to-2016
2016-17 (provisional allocation): https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/dedicated-schools-grant-dsg-2016-to-2017
2017-18 – First year under Early Years National Funding Formula (initial allocation): https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/dedicated-schools-grant-dsg-2017-to-2018
Prior to 2013-14, early years’ local authority funding allocations were not separately identified within the Dedicated Schools Grant (DSG). Instead, they were part of the total DSG allocated to each local authority. Early years allocations prior to 2013-14 are not therefore available.
Funding allocations for 2018-19 and 2019-20 will be announced in due course.
Asked by: Harriet Harman (Labour - Camberwell and Peckham)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many council-maintained nursery places for three and four-year-olds there have been in the London Borough of Southwark in each of the last seven years; and how many local authority maintained nursery places will be available for three and four-year-olds in the London Borough of Southwark under her Department's new early years national funding formula in each of the next three years.
Answered by Robert Goodwill
The department does not hold data on the number of council-maintained nursery places for three and four-year-olds there have been in the London Borough of Southwark in each of the last seven years.
The department does have data showing the number of three and four-year-olds in Southwark taking up their entitlement to funded early learning in a nursery as recorded in January 2017 is available in table 2LA in the main tables at: https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/education-provision-children-under-5-years-of-age-january-2017.
The data from 2010 to 2016 can be found in the Provision for children under 5 years of age in England tables at: https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/statistics-childcare-and-early-years.
Local authorities have a statutory duty to provide the required number of places to meet parental demand for the free entitlements for two, three and four-year-olds. Local authorities will be working with providers to ensure that there are enough places to meet parental demand in the next three years.
Asked by: Harriet Harman (Labour - Camberwell and Peckham)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, when the last fire safety inspections were undertaken in student accommodation blocks in (a) the London Borough of Southwark and (b) London.
Answered by Nick Gibb
The Department does not hold information on fire inspections for any student accommodation blocks. In line with the cross-Government action following the tragic Grenfell Tower fire, the Department has written to all Higher Education Funding Councils For England (HEFCE)-funded Higher Education Institutions and Alternative Providers of Higher Education to identify any student accommodation buildings that may require further investigation. We have requested that institutions flag any concerns immediately. We are also engaging with the sector directly and via key sector bodies including Universities UK and Guild HE.
Asked by: Harriet Harman (Labour - Camberwell and Peckham)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many Sure Start centres have closed in London in each of the last six years; and in which boroughs those centres were located.
Answered by Caroline Dinenage
As at 31 December 2016 there were 3,251 main children’s centres and sites open to families and children providing children's centre services as part of a network. Children’s centre records are maintained by local authorities and are made publicly available via the Department’s EduBase portal at: http://www.education.gov.uk/edubase/home.xhtml
Based on the information supplied by local authorities, 107 children’s centres closed in London in the six years between 2011 and 2016. A breakdown by year and local authority is given in the table below:
Year |
| Number of children’s centres closed | Breakdown by local authority |
2011 |
| 11 | Barnet (3), Camden, (2), Hackney (1), Hammersmith and Fulham (3), Haringey (2) |
2012 |
| 9 | Bromley (7), Croydon (1), Lambeth (1) |
2013 |
| 23 | Bromley (5), Camden (1), Croydon (3), Enfield (1), Havering (7), Lewisham (1), Richmond (1), Southwark (1), Wandsworth (3) |
2014 |
| 13 | Barking & Dagenham (6), Barnet (1), Croydon (1), Lewisham (1), Newham (1), Tower Hamlets (3) |
2015 |
| 39[1] | Barnet (1), Bexley (5), Camden (9), Enfield (1), Harrow (5), Lambeth (3), Lewisham (11), Newham (4) |
2016 |
| 12[2] | Hounslow (8), Newham (2), Wandsworth (2) |
Total |
| 107 |
|
[1] Two of the five children’s centres reported as closed by the London Borough of Bexley in 2015 reopened in 2016 and are currently listed as open on Edubase.
[2] The total number of closures in 2016 is based on data supplied to Edubase by local authorities as at 10 January 2017; and local authorities could report additional closures in 2016.
Asked by: Harriet Harman (Labour - Camberwell and Peckham)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if she will commence the socio-economic duty on public bodies contained within section 1 of the Equality Act 2010.
Answered by Caroline Dinenage
The Government is considering the future of the un-commenced provisions in the Equality Act.
Asked by: Harriet Harman (Labour - Camberwell and Peckham)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what women's median income as a percentage of men's was from all sources including pay, pensions, benefits and tax credits for each year from 2010 to 2016.
Answered by Caroline Dinenage
We are not able to provide the information requested. However, the Office of National Statistics (ONS) publishes the UK gender pay gap figures annually. This measure includes all basic pay before deductions for PAYE, National Insurance, pension schemes, student loan repayments and voluntary deductions, but does not include benefits or tax credits:
Year | Overall GPG |
2010 | 19.8% |
2011 | 20.2% |
2012 | 19.6% |
2013 | 19.8% |
2014 | 19.2% |
2015 | 19.3% |
2016 | 18.1% |
To close the gender pay gap, the Government is introducing mandatory reporting for large employers in Great Britain from April 2017.
Asked by: Harriet Harman (Labour - Camberwell and Peckham)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what plans she has to make more (a) early years teachers and (b) other qualified staff available in nurseries in the London Borough of Southwark.
Answered by Caroline Dinenage
A well-qualified workforce in the early years is absolutely crucial. We recognise the importance of teachers in delivering good quality early years provision and the impact that high quality childcare has on children’s outcomes.
The Government is committed to growing a high quality early years workforce across the country and we are currently developing a workforce strategy to help remove the barriers to attracting, retaining and developing excellent staff in our early years settings. We plan to publish the strategy in the new year.
Asked by: Harriet Harman (Labour - Camberwell and Peckham)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what information her Department holds on the potential financial effect of the proposed changes in the level of per pupil funding on schools in Camberwell and Peckham constituency in each year until 2020-21.
Answered by Nick Gibb
Nationally we have protected the core schools budget in real terms to the end of the current Spending Review period, enabling a per-pupil protection for the dedicated schools grant so that the money available for our schools will increase as pupil numbers rise.
The DSG allocations for Southwark in 2016-17 are found in the following table:
Southwark DSG allocations 2016-17
2016-17 Schools Block Unit of Funding (SBUF) (£) | 2016-17 Schools Block (£million) |
6,462 | 232 |
Allocations for future years will be announced in due course.
We believe that schools should be funded on a consistent and predictable basis, which is why we are committed to introducing a national funding formula. The first stage of our two part consultation closed on 17 April. We will publish our response to the first stage of our consultation on a national funding formula for schools shortly. At the same time we will put forward stage two of the consultation, exploring our detailed proposals on the design of the formula. This will include illustrative allocations for all schools and areas. After a full consultation, we will make final decisions and confirm arrangements next year.