Asked by: Justin Madders (Labour - Ellesmere Port and Neston)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, where the post of Director of Freedom of Speech in the Office for Students was advertised; who was involved in recruitment decisions for that post; and how many people applied for that post.
Answered by Claire Coutinho - Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero
The role of Director of Freedom of Speech and Academic Freedom was advertised on the Times Higher Education website.
Officials at the department managed the recruitment process. The essential and desirable criteria against which applicants were assessed were included in the job advert, which can be sent to any members interested. The department received 16 applications for the role.
An interview panel was chaired by Hannah Sheehan (Director of Higher Education Quality in the department) and joined by Lord Wharton of Yarm (Chair of the Office for Students) and Robert Colvile (Director of the Centre for Policy Studies), who joined as an independent panellist.
The Director was appointed by my right hon. Friend, the Secretary of State for Education, in the same way that other board members of the Office for Students are appointed under the Higher Education and Research Act 2017.
Asked by: Justin Madders (Labour - Ellesmere Port and Neston)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if she will publish the criteria used by the Office for Students to assess the suitability of candidates for its new Director for Freedom of Speech and Academic Freedom post.
Answered by Claire Coutinho - Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero
The role of Director of Freedom of Speech and Academic Freedom was advertised on the Times Higher Education website.
Officials at the department managed the recruitment process. The essential and desirable criteria against which applicants were assessed were included in the job advert, which can be sent to any members interested. The department received 16 applications for the role.
An interview panel was chaired by Hannah Sheehan (Director of Higher Education Quality in the department) and joined by Lord Wharton of Yarm (Chair of the Office for Students) and Robert Colvile (Director of the Centre for Policy Studies), who joined as an independent panellist.
The Director was appointed by my right hon. Friend, the Secretary of State for Education, in the same way that other board members of the Office for Students are appointed under the Higher Education and Research Act 2017.
Asked by: Justin Madders (Labour - Ellesmere Port and Neston)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether her Department has had recent discussions with schools on their ability to support pupils experiencing mental health difficulties.
Answered by Claire Coutinho - Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero
The department is helping schools and colleges to develop effective approaches to promote and support mental wellbeing, including through offering funded senior mental health lead training to all state schools and colleges by 2025. Many schools and colleges have prioritised pupil and student wellbeing since COVID-19, and increased school budgets and recovery funding can be used to support wellbeing.
The department is also increasing the number of Mental Health Support Teams (MHSTs) working with schools and colleges from 287 in 2022 to 400 in 2023, covering around 35% of pupils in England. Around 500 MHSTs are planned to be up and running in 2024.
Understanding the experience of education staff promoting and supporting the mental wellbeing of children and young people is an integral part of how we have developed and are providing support to schools and colleges. The department has regular engagement with representative bodies including discussion on mental wellbeing. We also gather insight through school and college panels and other experience surveys, and visits, along with other specific engagement with the education sector. In the latest school and college panel survey in November 2022, 73% of school teachers that responded felt they knew how to help pupils with mental health issues access support offered by their school.
Insight directly from schools and colleges has been critical to informing the roll-out of MHSTs in partnership with the NHS. User research with schools and colleges has also shaped our offer of senior mental health lead training. The department is continuing to engage schools and colleges to understand what further support would help them to effectively meet the needs of children and young people. Officials work closely with our Mental Health and Wellbeing Partnership Group of national education stakeholders to shape further support.
Asked by: Justin Madders (Labour - Ellesmere Port and Neston)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, pursuant to the Answer of 3 March 2023 to Question 155153 on the Minimum Wage, what the total value of the contracts with the firms named in the list amount to.
Answered by Nick Gibb
The total contract value for the contracts referenced in the answer to Question 155153 on the minimum wage, is currently £118,151.32.
Details of Government contracts above £10,000 are published on Contracts Finder, which can be found here: https://www.contractsfinder.service.gov.uk/Search.
Asked by: Justin Madders (Labour - Ellesmere Port and Neston)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, when the School Sport and Activity Action Plan will be published.
Answered by Nick Gibb
I refer the hon. Member for Ellesmere Port and Nelson to the answer I gave on 19 January 2023 to Question 122259.
Asked by: Justin Madders (Labour - Ellesmere Port and Neston)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether her Department has contracted work to a business named in round 18 of the National Minimum Wage Naming Scheme in the last 3 years.
Answered by Nick Gibb
The Department contracted with two businesses that were named in round 18 of the National Minimum Wage Naming Scheme, one in each of the past two years.
Details of Government contracts above £10,000 are published on Contracts Finder at: https://www.contractsfinder.service.gov.uk/Search.
Asked by: Justin Madders (Labour - Ellesmere Port and Neston)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether she plans to use the conservation education expertise of (a) Chester Zoo and (b) other zoos on the implementation of the Sustainability and Climate Change Strategy.
Answered by Nick Gibb
In developing the Sustainability and Climate Change Strategy, the Department engaged with a wide range of expert groups and organisations including Chester Zoo. The Department also sought the views of young people through a Youth Panel which included a member of the Chester Zoo Youth Board.
Chester Zoo are also working with Manchester Metropolitan University and the Natural History Museum in the delivery of the National Education Nature Park, which is one of the Department’s key strategic initiatives.
Asked by: Justin Madders (Labour - Ellesmere Port and Neston)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what plans she has to embed conservation and biodiversity issues within the school curriculum.
Answered by Nick Gibb
Topics related to climate change and sustainability already feature in the National Curriculum.
A Natural History GCSE will be introduced in 2025. Pupils will explore organisms and environments in more depth, gain knowledge and practical experience of fieldwork and develop a greater understanding of conservation.
The National Education Nature Park will provide educational opportunities for pupils to take part in citizen science and biodiversity monitoring. It will increase opportunities for all children and young people to spend time in nature, learn more about it and become actively involved in the improvement of their local environment.
Asked by: Justin Madders (Labour - Ellesmere Port and Neston)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if she will make an assessment of the potential impact of (a) pay rises for staff and (b) increases in energy costs without additional funding on the financial viability of schools for children with special educational needs.
Answered by Nick Gibb
The Government has been taking careful account of the effect of pay awards for teachers and other staff, energy costs, and other inflationary pressures on school budgets. My right hon. Friend, the Chancellor of the Exchequer’s Autumn Statement last November announced £2 billion in additional funding for schools.
Taking the Dedicated Schools Grant allocations and the additional funding announced in the Autumn Statement together, core schools funding (which includes funding for both mainstream schools and special schools) is increasing by £3.5 billion in 2023/24, compared to 2022/23. The core schools budget will total £57.3 billion in 2023/24 and £58.8 billion in 2024/25.
The Institute of Fiscal Studies have said that this additional funding will fully cover expected increases in school costs up to 2024 and will take spending per pupil back to at least 2010 levels in real terms. This means 2024/25 will be the highest ever level of spending on schools in real terms per pupil.
The additional funding following the Autumn Statement will be allocated to mainstream schools through the new Mainstream Schools Additional Grant (MSAG) in 2023/24, which will be on top of schools’ core funding allocations. A typical primary school with 200 pupils will receive approximately £35,000 in additional funding through the MSAG, and a typical secondary school with 900 pupils approximately £200,000.
The Autumn Statement funding will also mean that special schools will receive increases in funding of 3.4%, similar to the average level of increase for mainstream schools, through their local authority. Schools will have flexibility over how they use the additional funding to support their pupils. It will help schools to manage higher costs, including pay awards and higher energy bills.
With regard to energy costs, a new energy scheme for businesses, charities, and the public sector was also confirmed on 9 January, ahead of the current Energy Bill Relief Scheme ending in March. The new scheme will mean all eligible UK businesses and other non-domestic energy users, including schools, will receive a discount on high energy bills until 31 March 2024. This is on top of the additional investment in core schools funding announced in the Autumn Statement.
The Department knows that every school’s circumstances are different, and where schools are in serious financial difficulty, they should contact their Local Authority in the case of maintained schools or the Education and Skills Funding Agency if they are an academy.
Asked by: Justin Madders (Labour - Ellesmere Port and Neston)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, when she plans to publish the Government's response to the Independent Review of Children’s Social Care.
Answered by Claire Coutinho - Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero
On 2 February 2023, the department published ‘Stable Homes, Built on Love’, the response to the Independent Review of Children’s Social Care. This can be found at: https://www.gov.uk/government/consultations/childrens-social-care-stable-homes-built-on-love.