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Written Question
University Technical Colleges: Coronavirus
Tuesday 12th May 2020

Asked by: Karl McCartney (Conservative - Lincoln)

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment he has made of how the specialisms taught at University Technical Colleges can support the (a) skills needs of employers and (b) UK’s economic recovery after the covid-19 outbreak.

Answered by Gillian Keegan - Secretary of State for Education

University Technical Colleges (UTCs) are well positioned to support the skills needs of local economies, placing employers at the heart of designing their specialist curriculum, mostly in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) subjects such as engineering and digital technologies. There are over 500 employers involved in the 48 open UTCs, including leading names such as JCB, Network Rail, Toyota, Siemens and the Royal Navy, helping to create 30,000 opportunities for young people to train as the engineers, technicians and scientists of the future.

UTCs will continue to play a role in building the skills capabilities the country needs now and in the future following COVID-19. An immediate focus for UTCs will be to help this year’s leavers use and build on their technical skills through becoming apprentices, as well as other paths to employment including progression to universities, or going straight into technical jobs.

Our latest guidance for schools and other educational settings is set out below:

https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/coronavirus-covid-19-guidance-for-schools-and-other-educational-settings.

These are rapidly developing circumstances; we continue to keep the situation under review and will keep Parliament updated accordingly.


Written Question
Pre-school Education: Teachers
Monday 20th February 2017

Asked by: Karl McCartney (Conservative - Lincoln)

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps she is taking to increase the number of applications from (a) male and (b) female applicants to early years teacher training programmes.

Answered by Caroline Dinenage

The Department will be publishing a workforce strategy in due course, which will seek to remove the barriers to attracting, retaining and developing staff.

The strategy will include a focus on what Government can do to help grow the graduate workforce.


Written Question
Primary Education: Admissions
Monday 16th January 2017

Asked by: Karl McCartney (Conservative - Lincoln)

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, when she plans to announce plans for primary school on-entry assessment in 2017; and if the assessment will give the different stages of brain development experienced by boys and girls during early years.

Answered by Nick Gibb

The Secretary of State’s written ministerial statement to Parliament of 19 October set out that, while we intend to consult on the best starting point to measure the progress that children make at primary school, no new types of statutory assessment will be introduced in primary schools prior to the 2018-2019 academic year. We have also confirmed that the Early Years Foundation Stage Profile will remain in place for the 2016-2017 and 2017-2018 academic years.


Written Question
Pre-school Education: Males
Monday 9th January 2017

Asked by: Karl McCartney (Conservative - Lincoln)

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what proportion of early years' practitioners are male.

Answered by Caroline Dinenage

The most recent data held by the Department shows that from 2008 – 2013, the proportion of male staff in the early years workforce has consistently remained at 2% (Childcare Provider Survey, 2013).

The Department will be publishing a workforce strategy in 2017, which will seek to remove the barriers to attracting, retaining and developing staff.


Written Question
Department for Education: Brexit
Monday 12th September 2016

Asked by: Karl McCartney (Conservative - Lincoln)

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps her Department has taken to prepare for the UK to leave the EU since 23 June 2016; and what further such steps her Department plans to take in the remainder of 2016.

Answered by Caroline Dinenage

The Department for Exiting the European Union has responsibility for overseeing preparations for the withdrawal of the UK from the EU and conducting these withdrawal negotiations in support of the Prime Minister. In doing this it is working very closely with other government departments, including the Department for Education, and a wide range of other interested parties.


Written Question
Schools: Admissions
Wednesday 11th May 2016

Asked by: Karl McCartney (Conservative - Lincoln)

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what modelling her Department has undertaken on the demand for school places in each year from 2016 to 2030.

Answered by Edward Timpson

Supporting local authorities in their responsibility to ensure sufficient school places remains one of this Government’s top priorities. Pupil forecasts based on ONS population projections, which include migration, have been published up to 2024.

Local authorities are responsible for ensuring that there are sufficient school places to meet that need, and for determining precisely how many new places are needed in their area. We allocate funding for new school places to local authorities based on their own projections of local pupil numbers. These projections reflect all drivers of increased pupil numbers: rising birth rates, housing development and migration from within the UK and overseas. Any increase in need for places should be reflected in the local authority’s final basic need allocation – there is no shortfall between the number of places we fund and the number of places local authorities say they will need to create.

We have already committed to invest £7 billion on school places, which along with our investment in 500 new free schools we expect to deliver 600,000 new places by 2021. We have also protected the schools budget so that as pupil numbers increase, so will the amount of money in our schools. Revenue allocations to local authorities are calculated by reference to pupil numbers and do not differentiate on the basis of immigration from other EEA member states or countries from outside the EEA.


Written Question
Schools: Immigrants
Wednesday 11th May 2016

Asked by: Karl McCartney (Conservative - Lincoln)

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment her Department has made of the effect of immigration from (a) EEA member countries and (b) countries from outside the EEA on the level of demand for school places in each year from 2016 to 2030.

Answered by Edward Timpson

Supporting local authorities in their responsibility to ensure sufficient school places remains one of this Government’s top priorities. Pupil forecasts based on ONS population projections, which include migration, have been published up to 2024.

Local authorities are responsible for ensuring that there are sufficient school places to meet that need, and for determining precisely how many new places are needed in their area. We allocate funding for new school places to local authorities based on their own projections of local pupil numbers. These projections reflect all drivers of increased pupil numbers: rising birth rates, housing development and migration from within the UK and overseas. Any increase in need for places should be reflected in the local authority’s final basic need allocation – there is no shortfall between the number of places we fund and the number of places local authorities say they will need to create.

We have already committed to invest £7 billion on school places, which along with our investment in 500 new free schools we expect to deliver 600,000 new places by 2021. We have also protected the schools budget so that as pupil numbers increase, so will the amount of money in our schools. Revenue allocations to local authorities are calculated by reference to pupil numbers and do not differentiate on the basis of immigration from other EEA member states or countries from outside the EEA.


Written Question
Schools: Immigrants
Wednesday 11th May 2016

Asked by: Karl McCartney (Conservative - Lincoln)

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether her Department's risk register assesses risks to (a) the provision of education places and (b) changes in the level of the cost of providing education which result from immigration from (i) other EEA member states and (ii) countries from outside the EEA; and if she will make a statement.

Answered by Edward Timpson

Supporting local authorities in their responsibility to ensure sufficient school places remains one of this Government’s top priorities. Pupil forecasts based on ONS population projections, which include migration, have been published up to 2024.

Local authorities are responsible for ensuring that there are sufficient school places to meet that need, and for determining precisely how many new places are needed in their area. We allocate funding for new school places to local authorities based on their own projections of local pupil numbers. These projections reflect all drivers of increased pupil numbers: rising birth rates, housing development and migration from within the UK and overseas. Any increase in need for places should be reflected in the local authority’s final basic need allocation – there is no shortfall between the number of places we fund and the number of places local authorities say they will need to create.

We have already committed to invest £7 billion on school places, which along with our investment in 500 new free schools we expect to deliver 600,000 new places by 2021. We have also protected the schools budget so that as pupil numbers increase, so will the amount of money in our schools. Revenue allocations to local authorities are calculated by reference to pupil numbers and do not differentiate on the basis of immigration from other EEA member states or countries from outside the EEA.


Written Question
Children: Social Services
Tuesday 10th May 2016

Asked by: Karl McCartney (Conservative - Lincoln)

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment her Department has made of the effect of immigration from (a) EEA member states and (b) states from outside the EEA on the level of demand for children's services in each year from 2016 to 2030.

Answered by Edward Timpson

The Department uses population projections published by the Office for National Statistics, which include migration, to plan for future demand on children’s services.


Written Question
Classroom Assistants: English Language
Monday 9th May 2016

Asked by: Karl McCartney (Conservative - Lincoln)

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many teaching assistants who speak a language other than English to a native level of proficiency have a specific responsibility to provide support to pupils whose first language is not English.

Answered by Nick Gibb

The Department does not hold data on languages spoken by Teaching Assistants.

The deployment of Teaching Assistants, including any responsibilities for supporting pupils whose first language is not English, is a matter for schools to decide.