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Written Question
Department for Education: Public Appointments
Friday 28th January 2022

Asked by: Kevin Brennan (Labour - Cardiff West)

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether his Department seeks references for candidates appointed to public positions which fall under the remit of the Commissioner for Public Appointments.

Answered by Michelle Donelan - Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology

References are not routinely requested for public appointments which fall under the remit of the Commissioner for Public Appointments, as they may not always be the most appropriate, fair or open way of making an assessment of candidates.

However, the Governance Code on Public Appointments sets out that the Advisory Assessment Panel must be satisfied that all candidates can meet the Seven Principles of Public Life, adhere to the Code of Conduct for board members of public bodies and do not have any conflicts of interest which are not manageable within the context of the role.


Written Question
Members: Correspondence
Wednesday 7th July 2021

Asked by: Kevin Brennan (Labour - Cardiff West)

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many items of written correspondence from hon. Members sent to Ministers in his Department have been (a) received and (b) replied to since 1 April 2020; and how many of those responses were responded to by (i) Ministers and (ii) officials.

Answered by Nick Gibb

Between 1 April 2020 and 2 July 2021 the Department for Education recorded 22,150 items of written correspondence from MPs and 101 items from Members of the House of Lords. Of these cases all but one was responded to or will be responded to by Ministers.

As per the Cabinet Office’s guidance for handling correspondence from MPs and Members of the House of Lords, where appropriate Executive Agency or Non-Departmental Public Body Chief Executives may correspond directly. The above data does not include these cases.


Speech in Commons Chamber - Mon 01 Mar 2021
Oral Answers to Questions

Speech Link

View all Kevin Brennan (Lab - Cardiff West) contributions to the debate on: Oral Answers to Questions

Speech in Commons Chamber - Mon 01 Mar 2021
Oral Answers to Questions

Speech Link

View all Kevin Brennan (Lab - Cardiff West) contributions to the debate on: Oral Answers to Questions

Written Question
Performing Arts: Children
Monday 23rd November 2020

Asked by: Kevin Brennan (Labour - Cardiff West)

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what representations he has received from youth arts companies on bringing into line with the covid-19 regulations for boarding schools out-of-school arts activities that are run as residential courses.

Answered by Nick Gibb

The Department has been in close communication with various stakeholders, including some with connections to youth arts, since the start of the COVID-19 outbreak with respect to residential trips. We will continue this communication over the coming months.

The guidance for full opening of schools and the guidance for holiday and after school clubs, and other out-of-school settings, set out the Department’s current position in relation to educational visits. They can be found at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/actions-for-schools-during-the-coronavirus-outbreak/guidance-for-full-opening-schools and https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/protective-measures-for-holiday-or-after-school-clubs-and-other-out-of-school-settings-for-children-during-the-coronavirus-covid-19-outbreak/protective-measures-for-out-of-school-settings-during-the-coronavirus-covid-19-outbreak.

At present, schools and out-of-school settings can undertake COVID-19 secure day visits within the UK but are advised against the resumption of domestic and overseas residential educational visits. This is because, unlike boarding schools, residential settings have a transient population with different groups rotating in and out of the centre on a weekly basis. This constant change of population serves to increase the risk of COVID-19 transmission.

This decision has not been taken lightly and is taken in the context of the Government announcing new national restrictions to address rising cases of COVID-19 in England. This position will be reviewed again before the end of November 2020.


Speech in Commons Chamber - Mon 07 Sep 2020
Oral Answers to Questions

Speech Link

View all Kevin Brennan (Lab - Cardiff West) contributions to the debate on: Oral Answers to Questions

Speech in Commons Chamber - Tue 01 Sep 2020
Schools and Colleges: Qualification Results and Full Opening

Speech Link

View all Kevin Brennan (Lab - Cardiff West) contributions to the debate on: Schools and Colleges: Qualification Results and Full Opening

Written Question
Students: Wales
Thursday 4th June 2020

Asked by: Kevin Brennan (Labour - Cardiff West)

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what discussions he has had with Welsh Ministers on imposing a cap on the number of English-domiciled students studying in Wales.

Answered by Michelle Donelan - Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology

My right hon. Friend, the Secretary of State for Education, and I have regular meetings with Welsh ministers, and ministers from all the devolved administrations, about higher education issues. Meetings have included discussions on the development of student number controls policy.

Officials in the department also have regular meetings and discussions with their counterparts. Following the COVID-19 outbreak, we will continue to work closely with the devolved administrations on strengthening and stabilising the higher education system.

Student number controls for institutions in the devolved administrations only apply to the number of English-domiciled entrants who will be supported with their tuition fees through the Student Loans Company. The funding of English-domiciled students is not a devolved matter, and it is right and fair that this policy should apply consistently wherever they are studying in the UK.


Written Question
Children: Day Care
Tuesday 2nd June 2020

Asked by: Kevin Brennan (Labour - Cardiff West)

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what discussions he has had with Cabinet colleagues on ensuring that women in receipt of reduced support under the Self-Employment Income Support Scheme due to periods of maternity leave in the previous three tax years are not denied entitlement to 30 hours free child care as a result of falling below the income threshold for that entitlement.

Answered by Vicky Ford

Individuals who are in receipt of maternity benefits remain eligible for the 30 hours free childcare entitlement.

Those who are currently receiving statutory maternity pay and are intending to return to work, should apply for a 30 hours place in the usual way.

If an individual’s return to work date is delayed, or their hours affected solely due to the COVID-19 outbreak, they will remain eligible for 30 hours if their loss of income is directly due to the outbreak. For example, if they have been furloughed or are accessing the self-employment income support scheme.

The government’s guidance about Tax-Free Childcare and 30 hours free childcare during the COVID-19 outbreak is available here:
https://www.gov.uk/guidance/check-if-you-can-get-tax-free-childcare-and-30-hours-free-childcare-during-coronavirus-covid-19.



Written Question
Art and Design: GCE A-level
Tuesday 28th January 2020

Asked by: Kevin Brennan (Labour - Cardiff West)

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many students were entered for A-level art and design in (a) England and (b) each Local Education Authority area in each year since 2010.

Answered by Nick Gibb

The number of pupils entered for art and design A-Levels in England and each Local Education Authority area in each year since 2012 can be found in the table attached. The data for 2010-2012 is not currently available at a granular enough level to allow us to provide either local authority data, or local authority national aggregates, for these years.

The number of pupils entered for art and design A-Levels in England[1] has decreased over that time, but has been relatively stable over the past 3 years, with around 35,000 entries.

[1] England totals derived as per attached spreadsheet, for state funded schools only and the sum of local authority figures. Therefore, these may deviate from published, national figures.