Asked by: Ian Byrne (Labour - Liverpool West Derby)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, with reference to Autumn Statement 2022 and the announcement of an additional £2.3 billion of funding for education in 2023 and 2024, how that funding will be distributed; and whether schools in areas of higher deprivation will receive proportionately larger sums of funding.
Answered by Nick Gibb
Overall core schools funding, including funding for both mainstream and high needs schools, will increase by £2.3 billion in both 2023/24 and 2024/25. After adjusting budgets down to take account of the removal of the compensation for employer costs of the Health and Social Care Levy, this brings the core schools budget to a total of £58.8 billion in 2024/25. This is £2 billion greater than published in the 2021 Spending Review.
The Department will set out plans for the allocation of the additional funding announced at the 2022 Autumn Statement shortly. Additional funding will be available to both Local Authority maintained schools and academies, and to Local Authorities, from April 2023.
Asked by: Ian Byrne (Labour - Liverpool West Derby)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, to ask the Secretary of State for Education, with reference to Autumn Statement 2022 and the announcement of an additional £2.3 billion of funding for education in 2023 and 2024, whether that funding will be (a) ringfenced for specific uses or (b) available for schools to spend on staff salaries.
Answered by Nick Gibb
Overall core schools funding, including funding for both mainstream and high needs schools, will increase by £2.3 billion in both 2023/24 and 2024/25. After adjusting budgets down to take account of the removal of the compensation for employer costs of the Health and Social Care Levy, this brings the core schools budget to a total of £58.8 billion in 2024/25. This is £2 billion greater than published in the 2021 Spending Review.
The Department will set out plans for the allocation of the additional funding announced at the 2022 Autumn Statement shortly. Additional funding will be available to both Local Authority maintained schools and academies, and to Local Authorities, from April 2023.
Asked by: Ian Byrne (Labour - Liverpool West Derby)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, with reference to Autumn Statement 2022 and the announcement of an additional £2.3 billion of funding for education in 2023 and 2024, whether that funding will be (a) ringfenced for specific uses or (b) available for schools to distribute in line with their priorities.
Answered by Nick Gibb
Overall core schools funding, including funding for both mainstream and high needs schools, will increase by £2.3 billion in both 2023/24 and 2024/25. After adjusting budgets down to take account of the removal of the compensation for employer costs of the Health and Social Care Levy, this brings the core schools budget to a total of £58.8 billion in 2024/25. This is £2 billion greater than published in the 2021 Spending Review.
The Department will set out plans for the allocation of the additional funding announced at the 2022 Autumn Statement shortly. Additional funding will be available to both Local Authority maintained schools and academies, and to Local Authorities, from April 2023.
Asked by: Ian Byrne (Labour - Liverpool West Derby)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, with reference to Autumn Statement 2022 and the announcement of an additional £2.3 billion of funding for education in 2023 and 2024, when she plans for that funding to become available to schools.
Answered by Nick Gibb
Overall core schools funding, including funding for both mainstream and high needs schools, will increase by £2.3 billion in both 2023/24 and 2024/25. After adjusting budgets down to take account of the removal of the compensation for employer costs of the Health and Social Care Levy, this brings the core schools budget to a total of £58.8 billion in 2024/25. This is £2 billion greater than published in the 2021 Spending Review.
The Department will set out plans for the allocation of the additional funding announced at the 2022 Autumn Statement shortly. Additional funding will be available to both Local Authority maintained schools and academies, and to Local Authorities, from April 2023.
Asked by: Ian Byrne (Labour - Liverpool West Derby)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if he will make an assessment of (a) the adequacy of the eligibility criteria for and (b) the potential merits of providing universal free school meals in advance of the start of the 2023-24 academic year.
Answered by Kelly Tolhurst
The department continues to monitor the rising cost of living and its impact on free school meals (FSM), whilst working with other government departments on support surrounding this issue.
The department believes it is right that provision is aimed at supporting the most disadvantaged, and those out of work or on the lowest incomes. We do not have any plans to extend universal provision, but we will continue to keep FSM eligibility under review to ensure that these are supporting those who most need them.
In setting a threshold, the government believes that the current level, which enables children to benefit from FSM while these remain affordable and deliverable for schools, is the right one.
Additionally, the government is providing over £200 million per year for the next three years to provide healthy food in the holidays via the department’s holiday activities and food programme, which provides breakfast clubs in thousands of schools. The department is as also delivering the School Fruit and Vegetable scheme, along with wider government schemes such as Healthy Start vouchers.
Asked by: Ian Byrne (Labour - Liverpool West Derby)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, with reference to analysis by Child Poverty Action Group, published in June 2022, what assessment he has made of the potential implications for his policies of the finding that 800,000 were children living in poverty who were not eligible for free school meals.
Answered by Kelly Tolhurst
The department continues to monitor the rising cost of living and its impact on free school meals (FSM), whilst working with other government departments on support surrounding this issue.
The department believes it is right that provision is aimed at supporting the most disadvantaged, and those out of work or on the lowest incomes. We do not have any plans to extend universal provision, but we will continue to keep FSM eligibility under review to ensure that these are supporting those who most need them.
In setting a threshold, the government believes that the current level, which enables children to benefit from FSM while these remain affordable and deliverable for schools, is the right one.
Additionally, the government is providing over £200 million per year for the next three years to provide healthy food in the holidays via the department’s holiday activities and food programme, which provides breakfast clubs in thousands of schools. The department is as also delivering the School Fruit and Vegetable scheme, along with wider government schemes such as Healthy Start vouchers.
Asked by: Ian Byrne (Labour - Liverpool West Derby)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if he will make an assessment of the implications for his policies of the roll out of universal free school meals in Wales.
Answered by Will Quince
Education, including free school meals (FSM), is a devolved matter, and the response outlines the information for England only.
The department is committed to continuing support for school food. We are investing up to £24 million to continue our national school breakfast club programme until July 2023, and over £1 billion per year in FSM provision, to provide healthy and nutritious lunches to pupils eligible for benefits-related free school meals and to all infants. This equates to 37.5% of all pupils.
The department’s priority has always been to target investment to support pupils from disadvantaged backgrounds who are most in need of support. The significant costs associated with extending FSM eligibility to all pupils would have substantial knock-on impacts for the affordability of linked provision, such as entitlement for pupil premium.
In providing both breakfasts and FSM, the department’s position remains that the current eligibility, which enables more children to benefit while remaining affordable and deliverable for schools, is the right approach in England, targeting those who need it most.
The department does not have any plans to extend provision in England, but it will continue to keep all FSM eligibility under review, to ensure that these meals are supporting those who most need them.
Asked by: Ian Byrne (Labour - Liverpool West Derby)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether his Department has made an estimate of the cost of providing universal free school breakfast and lunch for all state school pupils in England.
Answered by Will Quince
Education, including free school meals (FSM), is a devolved matter, and the response outlines the information for England only.
The department is committed to continuing support for school food. We are investing up to £24 million to continue our national school breakfast club programme until July 2023, and over £1 billion per year in FSM provision, to provide healthy and nutritious lunches to pupils eligible for benefits-related free school meals and to all infants. This equates to 37.5% of all pupils.
The department’s priority has always been to target investment to support pupils from disadvantaged backgrounds who are most in need of support. The significant costs associated with extending FSM eligibility to all pupils would have substantial knock-on impacts for the affordability of linked provision, such as entitlement for pupil premium.
In providing both breakfasts and FSM, the department’s position remains that the current eligibility, which enables more children to benefit while remaining affordable and deliverable for schools, is the right approach in England, targeting those who need it most.
The department does not have any plans to extend provision in England, but it will continue to keep all FSM eligibility under review, to ensure that these meals are supporting those who most need them.
Asked by: Ian Byrne (Labour - Liverpool West Derby)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment he has made of the potential merits of providing air filtration devices to schools to reduce the risk of airborne transmission of covid-19.
Answered by Robin Walker
If used properly, air cleaning units can help reduce airborne contaminants in a poorly ventilated space while remedial work is undertaken to permanently improve ventilation. However, it is important to note that air cleaning units cannot improve ventilation, and they should never be used as a reason to reduce ventilation or not to remediate poor ventilation in a space.
The department is providing additional, exceptional funding for air cleaning units for poorly ventilated spaces in special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) and alternative provision schools and colleges, including SEND units in mainstream schools and colleges, where quick fixes to improve ventilation are not possible. These settings are being prioritised, given the higher than average number of vulnerable pupils attending them. The purchase of 1,000 air cleaning units reflects our assessment of need in the sector based on recent feedback from SEND and alternative provider schools and colleges.
Schools and colleges that are not eligible for a department-funded unit will have access to an online ‘marketplace’, which provides a route to purchasing air cleaning units of a suitable specification and competitive price. However, we expect that in most classrooms existing ventilation will be sufficient.
Maintaining adequate ventilation ultimately remains the responsibility of individual schools and colleges. It is for them to decide on the use of affected rooms in accordance with their risk assessment procedures and obligations under health and safety law.
Schools and colleges are expected to plan and prioritise any necessary remedial works within existing budgets. For more substantial capital works, schools, colleges and those responsible for buildings have access to funding to improve the condition of buildings through different routes depending on their size and type.
The case for additional support for schools and colleges to maintain good ventilation will be kept under review as the programme continues, and as settings use the monitors to further assess their ventilation needs.
Asked by: Ian Byrne (Labour - Liverpool West Derby)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, pursuant to the Answer of 7 December 2021 to Question 86209 on Schools: Ventilation, what estimate his Department has made of the total number of air cleaning units needed for poorly ventilated teaching spaces and staff rooms in all state educational settings in England.
Answered by Robin Walker
If used properly, air cleaning units can help reduce airborne contaminants in a poorly ventilated space while remedial work is undertaken to permanently improve ventilation. However, it is important to note that air cleaning units cannot improve ventilation, and they should never be used as a reason to reduce ventilation or not to remediate poor ventilation in a space.
The department is providing additional, exceptional funding for air cleaning units for poorly ventilated spaces in special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) and alternative provision schools and colleges, including SEND units in mainstream schools and colleges, where quick fixes to improve ventilation are not possible. These settings are being prioritised, given the higher than average number of vulnerable pupils attending them. The purchase of 1,000 air cleaning units reflects our assessment of need in the sector based on recent feedback from SEND and alternative provider schools and colleges.
Schools and colleges that are not eligible for a department-funded unit will have access to an online ‘marketplace’, which provides a route to purchasing air cleaning units of a suitable specification and competitive price. However, we expect that in most classrooms existing ventilation will be sufficient.
Maintaining adequate ventilation ultimately remains the responsibility of individual schools and colleges. It is for them to decide on the use of affected rooms in accordance with their risk assessment procedures and obligations under health and safety law.
Schools and colleges are expected to plan and prioritise any necessary remedial works within existing budgets. For more substantial capital works, schools, colleges and those responsible for buildings have access to funding to improve the condition of buildings through different routes depending on their size and type.
The case for additional support for schools and colleges to maintain good ventilation will be kept under review as the programme continues, and as settings use the monitors to further assess their ventilation needs.