Asked by: John Hayes (Conservative - South Holland and The Deepings)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, pursuant to the Answer of 19 September 2023 to Question 198597 on Pupils: Transgender People, what external bodies she has met in the preparation of guidance on transgender pupils in schools.
Answered by Nick Gibb
The Department engages with external bodies on a regular basis, and a number of these conversations have related to the guidance that the Department is developing for schools and colleges on gender questioning pupils. The Department will be undertaking a full public consultation on the draft guidance prior to publication, and will continue to engage with a range of stakeholders throughout this process.
Asked by: John Hayes (Conservative - South Holland and The Deepings)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what discussions she has had with the Equality and Human Rights Commission on her Department's planned guidance for schools on transgender issues.
Answered by Nick Gibb
The Department has engaged with a number of stakeholders in relation to developing the guidance for schools and colleges on gender questioning children.
The Department will be undertaking a full public consultation on the draft guidance prior to publication and will continue to engage with a range of stakeholders throughout this process.
It is vital that the guidance published gives clarity for schools and colleges, and reassurance for parents. The Department is taking the necessary time to ensure that it reflects the best possible advice before publishing the draft.
Asked by: John Hayes (Conservative - South Holland and The Deepings)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, with which organisations (a) she and (b) her officials have held discussions on the preparation of guidance on transgender pupils in schools.
Answered by Nick Gibb
The Department engages with external bodies on a regular basis and a number of these conversations have related to the guidance the Department is developing for schools and colleges on gender questioning children. The Department will be undertaking a full public consultation on the draft guidance prior to finalisation, and will continue to engage with a range of stakeholders throughout this process.
Asked by: John Hayes (Conservative - South Holland and The Deepings)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps she is taking to improve careers advice in schools in rural areas.
Answered by Robert Halfon
Careers guidance is the first rung on the ladder of opportunity, setting individuals on the path to success and allowing talent to flourish. The department is spending over £18.8 million to support the full rollout of Careers Hubs across England, so that every secondary school and college can be part of a Careers Hub. The Careers Hubs Network (CHN), delivered by the Careers and Enterprise Company (CEC), is a tried and tested model for partnership and collaboration in careers education.
As of April 2023, coverage of the CHN has been expanded to cover over 90% (4,621) of schools and colleges. Our ambition is to go further still and for 95% of schools and colleges, including in rural areas, to be part of a Careers Hub by August 2024.
Cornerstone Employers are also a key part of our careers offer. The CEC has built a network of around 400 Cornerstone Employers across the country, including rural areas, who support clusters of secondary schools and colleges. They provide strong local leadership in the area and drive the delivery of encounters for pupils.
Asked by: John Hayes (Conservative - South Holland and The Deepings)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether (a) Ministers and (b) officials in her Department have met representatives of Drag Queen Story Hour UK since 2019.
Answered by Nick Gibb
The Department does not have a record of any meetings between Drag Queen Story Hour UK and Ministers, or officials working on curriculum and extra-curricular provision.
Asked by: John Hayes (Conservative - South Holland and The Deepings)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps her Department is taking to improve careers advice on options for vocational learning.
Answered by Nick Gibb
The Department has put in place measures to help young people make informed choices about their next step in education or training.
All secondary school pupils have opportunities to access information and advice on technical options, including apprenticeships, T Levels and higher technical qualifications. Schools are required by law to provide at least six opportunities for providers of technical education and apprenticeships to speak to all pupils during school years 8 to 13. This legislation came into force on 1 January 2023 and the Department published updated statutory guidance on careers and provider access, which set out what schools need to do to comply.
Through the apprenticeship, support and knowledge (ASK) programme, which is supported by £3.2 million of funding in the 2023/24 financial year, the Department is continuing to provide information, advice and guidance on apprenticeships, T Levels and other technical education routes. ASK has engaged with over 600,000 young people, over 2,200 schools and nearly 80 further education colleges in the 2022/23 academic year.
The Government’s ‘Get the Jump: Skills for Life’ online campaign brings together the different education and training pathways open to young people post 16 and post 18. It helps to raise awareness of technical education options, supports informed choice and signposts users to a new page on the National Careers Service website that brings all the options together for the first time.
Asked by: John Hayes (Conservative - South Holland and The Deepings)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what meetings her Department has held with representatives from Stonewall since 2020.
Answered by Nick Gibb
The Department does not hold this information centrally. Officials and ministers from the Department have met with a broad range of stakeholders during this time. Details of meetings between ministers/senior officials and external organisations at the Department are available at: https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/dfe-ministers-quarterly-returns and: https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/dfe-business-expenses-and-hospitality-for-senior-officials.
Asked by: John Hayes (Conservative - South Holland and The Deepings)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether she has had discussions with the NIA Academy on its obligations under section 9 of the Equality Act 2010.
Answered by Nick Gibb
The Secretary of State has asked the Regional Director to speak to Haringey Council and Haringey Education Partnership about their work with the Northampton International Academy (NIA). They confirmed the initiative was set up to address large and longstanding differences in attainment between black heritage students and white British students in Haringey. Whilst the initiative is targeted towards black heritage students, it is open to pupils of all ethnicities. They also confirmed that the programme does not introduce pupils to critical race theory.
The Department’s guidance to schools on political impartiality is clear. Schools must remain politically impartial and should be mindful of the need not to promote partisan political views to pupils.
As an out of school setting, the NIA Academy is not regulated under education or childcare law. This means that the Department does not set the admissions framework for these settings, and so the Department has not contacted the organisation directly.
Asked by: John Hayes (Conservative - South Holland and The Deepings)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether she has held recent discussions with Haringey Council on the NIA Academy.
Answered by Nick Gibb
The Secretary of State has asked the Regional Director to speak to Haringey Council and Haringey Education Partnership about their work with the Northampton International Academy (NIA). They confirmed the initiative was set up to address large and longstanding differences in attainment between black heritage students and white British students in Haringey. Whilst the initiative is targeted towards black heritage students, it is open to pupils of all ethnicities. They also confirmed that the programme does not introduce pupils to critical race theory.
The Department’s guidance to schools on political impartiality is clear. Schools must remain politically impartial and should be mindful of the need not to promote partisan political views to pupils.
As an out of school setting, the NIA Academy is not regulated under education or childcare law. This means that the Department does not set the admissions framework for these settings, and so the Department has not contacted the organisation directly.
Asked by: John Hayes (Conservative - South Holland and The Deepings)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if she will make an assessment of the implications for her policies of the number of external providers teaching critical race theory in schools.
Answered by Nick Gibb
Political issues relating to racial and social justice can be taught in a balanced and factual manner, just as pupils are often taught a range of different views on other topics, but schools should not teach contested theories and opinions as fact.
The Department is aware that there has been increasing focus on political impartiality in schools over the last few years. This has been challenging for head teachers, teachers and staff, given a lack of clarity regarding what the legal duties in this area really mean. That is why the Department has published clear and comprehensive guidance to help those working with and in schools to better understand legal duties on political impartiality. A link to the guidance can be found here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/political-impartiality-in-schools.
As with other aspects of the curriculum, schools have flexibility over how they deliver these subjects. It is important that schools take full responsibility for ensuring lessons and materials are age appropriate, suitable, and politically impartial, particularly when using materials produced by external organisations. When teaching, schools should consider the age of pupils and their religious and cultural backgrounds.
Schools are ultimately responsible for making sure the resources they use are suitable for their pupils. The Department’s guidance includes advice to help schools make good choices.