Laurence Turner
Labour - Birmingham Northfield
5,389 (14.3%) majority - 2024 General ElectionFirst elected: 4th July 2024
1 APPG membership (as of 2 Jan 2025)
Archives and HistoryDivision Voting information
Laurence Turner voted No - against a party majority and against the House
One of 147 Labour No votes vs 234 Labour Aye votes
Tally: Ayes - 330 Noes - 275
Debates during the 2024 Parliament
Speeches made during Parliamentary debates are recorded in Hansard. For ease of browsing we have grouped debates into individual, departmental and legislative categories.
Sparring Partners
Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade)
(11 debate interactions)
Department Debates
(71 debate contributions)
(7 debate contributions)
(7 debate contributions)
(6 debate contributions)
Legislation Debates
(16,463 words contributed)
(1,648 words contributed)
(48 words contributed)
Birmingham Northfield Petitions
e-Petitions are administered by Parliament and allow members of the public to express support for a particular issue.
If an e-petition reaches 10,000 signatures the Government will issue a written response.
If an e-petition reaches 100,000 signatures the petition becomes eligible for a Parliamentary debate (usually Monday 4.30pm in Westminster Hall).
of 210,700 signatures (0.19%)
of 59,202 signatures (0.17%)
of 85,499 signatures (0.16%)
of 210,700 signatures (0.19%)
of 155,161 signatures (0.14%)
of 148,006 signatures (0.09%)
Latest EDMs signed by Laurence Turner
Commons initiatives
These initiatives were driven by Laurence Turner, and are more likely to reflect personal policy preferences.
MPs who are act as Ministers or Shadow Ministers are generally restricted from performing Commons initiatives other than Urgent Questions.
Laurence Turner has not been granted any Urgent Questions
1 Adjournment Debate led by Laurence Turner
Laurence Turner has not introduced any legislation before Parliament
1 Bill co-sponsored by Laurence Turner
Theft of Tools of Trade (Sentencing) Bill 2024-26
Sponsor - Amanda Martin (Lab)
Latest 50 Written Questions
(View all written questions)2 Other Department Questions
The Government is committed to commencing the socio-economic duty in the Equality Act 2010. The duty will require public bodies, when making strategic decisions, to consider actively how their decisions might help to reduce the inequalities associated with socio-economic disadvantage.
We will work closely with public authorities and civil society in order to ensure effective implementation of the duty and will provide an update on our work in due course.
Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
It is difficult to provide an accurate figure for the cost of administering an Early Day Motion as staff in the Table Office and the Procedural Publishing Unit who process EDMs have a wide range of other responsibilities and time spent exclusively on EDMs is not recorded.
We are able to provide a broad estimate based on staff time alone, but it should be noted that this takes no account of other fixed costs such as office accommodation and, notably, the cost of developing and maintaining the digital systems used to process EDMs.
The Table Office estimates that processing an EDM takes about five minutes of staff time if it is submitted electronically, 10 minutes if submitted by email and 15 minutes if submitted in hard copy.
The approximate staff costs (based on 2023 payscales) for processing EDMs by the Table Office are:
Submission method | Table Office staff cost |
Electronically (via MemberHub) | £2.70 |
By email | £4.10 |
Hard copy | £5.50 |
Although the Table Office does not record how many signatures it adds to EDMs through hard copy signatures and by email each day, we estimate that it takes approximately one minute to add each signature (at a staff cost of approximately £0.27). In 2023, there was an average of 11 signatures for each EDM.
After EDMs have been processed by the Table Office, they are published by the Procedural Publishing Unit. This involves downloading script, moving the information into a template, checking the content and publishing to the website. The process costs approximately £6.90 in staff time. The additional time for publishing each EDM is low – i.e. the cost is likely to be very similar whenever more than one EDM is published in a day. In 2023, on average eight EDMs were published on every sitting day. The average cost for publishing each EDM to the website was therefore £0.86.
In 2023, the average daily cost for printing paper copies of all EDMs tabled on each sitting day was £43.
Therefore, the average cost of administering an EDM submitted electronically in 2023 is estimated to be £11.90, which as noted above does not include certain fixed costs or expenditure on digital systems.
The government funds the Chartered Trading Standards Institute (CTSI) to deliver the UK International Consumer Centre. The funding agreement for the current financial year is £456,000. This figure is reviewed annually and agreed with the CTSI each year alongside an agreement over what is to be delivered. The Centre provides information, advice and
assistance to consumers in the UK who are experiencing difficulties resolving disputes with traders based outside the UK.
Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade)
Unincorporated employers’ associations are able to maintain a political fund in accordance with the Trade Union and Labour Relations (Consolidation) Act 1992. None currently maintain a political fund.
Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade)
The Flexible Working Taskforce met on fourteen occasions between 2018 and 2022.
The dates of these meetings were:
29 March 2018; 09 May 2018; 11 July 2018; 12 September 2018; 16 November 2018; 16 January 2019; 27 March 2019; 02 July 2019; 22 September 2020; 14 April 2021; 27 April 2021; 07 July 2021; 13 October 2021; 07 February 2022.
The Government is committed to regular engagement with stakeholders on the topic of flexible working and other related issues.
Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade)
The Flexible Working Taskforce met once in 2023, on April 24th. The government has continued to engage with stakeholders on a regular basis to discuss flexible working and related issues.
Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade)
The Flexible Working Taskforce last met on 26 Jan 2024. It was comprised of business groups, charities and trade unions and was co-chaired by the Chartered Institute for Professional Development (CIPD) and the government. It met at regular intervals between 2018 and 2024.
The Government is committed to engaging with a wide range of stakeholders to ensure that policy works for businesses, workers, and the wider economy. That is why we continue to meet with stakeholders on a regular basis to discuss flexible working and related issues.
Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade)
The publication of Impact Assessments for the Employment Rights Bill meets our requirements under the Better Regulation Framework to provide analysis of the impacts on businesses, households, and the wider economy. This is important to support ministerial decision making, enable parliamentary scrutiny and ensure transparency.
The Department for Business and Trade (DBT) does not routinely collate information on the specific departmental cost of producing impact assessments. Information on civil servants employed by DBT and payroll data are available at: DBT’s headcount and payroll data for March 2024 - GOV.UK
Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade)
To inform any future decisions on fireworks policy I intend to engage with businesses, consumer groups and charities shortly after the fireworks season to gather evidence on the issues and impacts with fireworks. Officials regularly meet and correspond with charities to listen to and understand their views.
The Government has recently launched an awareness campaign on the Gov.uk and are working closely with some animal and veteran charities to help amplify their campaign messages.
Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade)
To inform any future decisions on fireworks policy I intend to engage with businesses, consumer groups and charities shortly after the fireworks season to gather evidence on the issues and impacts with fireworks. Officials regularly meet and correspond with charities to listen to and understand their views.
The Government has recently launched an awareness campaign on the Gov.uk and are working closely with some animal and veteran charities to help amplify their campaign messages.
Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade)
There are currently no plans to undertake a new Workplace Employee Relations Study (WERS). The survey methodology is challenging to replicate as it relies on sampling via the employer which is harder to obtain due to increased privacy concerns in recent years.
WERS was co-sponsored by the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills, Acas, the Economic and Social Research Council, the UK Commission for Employment and Skills and the National Institute of Economic and Social Research.
The Department undertook the Management and Wellbeing Practices Survey in 2018/19 which provides evidence on employment relations and management practices in British workplaces.
Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade)
The Government's manifesto committed to overhaul the local audit system to provide high quality, timely assurance to taxpayers. On 30 July, Jim McMahon, the Minister of State for Local Government and English Devolution, outlined to Parliament immediate actions to address the local audit backlog in England. Longer-term, he committed to reviewing the evidence (including external review recommendations) and to update the House this autumn.
The draft Audit Reform and Corporate Governance Bill will tackle bad financial reporting through a strengthened regulator. It will uphold standards and independent scrutiny of companies' accounts, supporting investment and economic security.
Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade)
Small businesses are essential to our economic success.
This Government is committed to take action on late payments to ensure small businesses and the self-employed are paid on time. The practice of cash retentions can create problems for contractors in the construction supply chain, due to late and non-payment. Any policy solution must be a sustainable one that works for the industry.
Minister of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
DESNZ and its agencies do not hold any information on contracts with BFS Group Limited and its subsidiary companies.
Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
Yes, I will be happy to publish this information. The information will take time to research and collate. I will place the information you have requested in the Libraries of the House as soon as it is available.
Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
We are committed to Sizewell C. New nuclear will play an important role in the Government’s vision for achieving energy independence, lowering consumers’ bills, and securing thousands of good, skilled jobs.
The Sizewell C project has recently received its Nuclear Site Licence and commenced its Development Consent Order. Work continues at pace to secure a final investment decision.
The Government will continue to update the House as project development continues.
Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
2 Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport Questions
(View all Laurence Turner's DCMS questions)All Government Awarded contracts are published on Contracts Finder (for awarded contracts above £12,000) and Find a Tender services for above threshold contracts.
Details can be found at https://www.gov.uk/contracts-finder and https://www.find-tender.service.gov.uk/Search.
Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Culture, Media and Sport)
DCMS officials have met with Birmingham City Council officers to ensure that they are aware of their responsibilities to provide a ‘comprehensive and efficient’ library service across the area as required by the Public Libraries and Museums Act 1964, and to advise on superintendence processes.
However, the development of options for future library service provision in Birmingham is the responsibility of the Council.
Minister of State (Department for Culture, Media and Sport)
Information on the school workforce is published in the ‘School workforce in England’ statistical publication, which is available here: https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/find-statistics/school-workforce-in-england.
The attached table provides the full-time equivalent median average salary for newly qualified teachers in academy schools, free schools, local authority maintained schools and all state-funded schools in England, as at November 2023.
Minister of State (Education)
Information on the school workforce is published in the ‘School workforce in England’ statistical publication, which is available here: https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/find-statistics/school-workforce-in-england.
The attached table provides the full-time equivalent median average salary for classroom teachers and all teachers in academy schools, free schools, local authority maintained schools and all state-funded schools in England, as at November 2023.
Minister of State (Education)
Information on the school workforce is published in the ‘School Workforce in England’ statistical publication, which is available here: https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/find-statistics/school-workforce-in-england.
The attached table provides the pay ranges reported for teacher contracts broken down by school type in the November 2023 school workforce census, which is the latest data available.
Minister of State (Education)
Statutory teacher assessment of science is undertaken annually at the end of key stage 2 for all pupils in the relevant cohort. Between 2014 and 2020, biennial national science sampling tests were used to supplement this teacher assessment data, with a nationally representative sample of key stage 2 pupils participating in these tests to monitor the performance and attainment in science at national level.
The science sampling test scheduled to take place in 2020 was cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic and, due to resource pressures on the department, the previous government decided not to recommence science sampling thereafter. The ongoing Curriculum and Assessment Review is considering the current assessment system and will make its recommendations later in the year.
Minister of State (Education)
Between January 2022 and April 2023, the department provided over 9,000 air cleaning units to over 1,300 education and childcare settings that had been identified with poor ventilation.
Four air cleaning units were provided to education settings in the Birmingham Northfield constituency, 269 units were provided to education settings in the Birmingham City Council area and 996 units were provided to education settings in the West Midlands. In total, 8,848 air cleaning units were delivered to education settings in England. These figures do not include units provided to early years settings.
The department has published guidance on how to use CO2 monitors and air cleaning units, which can be accessed here: https://www.gov.uk/guidance/using-co-monitors-and-air-cleaning-units-in-education-and-care-settings.
Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
The department regularly reviews its guidance to ensure that it aligns with best practice and industry standards, to deliver high-quality school environments.
Between January 2022 and April 2023, the department provided over 9,000 air cleaning units to over 1,300 settings that had been identified with poor ventilation. The department has published guidance on how to use CO2 monitors and air cleaning units, which can be accessed here: https://www.gov.uk/guidance/using-co-monitors-and-air-cleaning-units-in-education-and-care-settings.
The department also publishes non-statutory guidance on indoor and outdoor air quality in ‘Building Bulletin 101: Guidelines on ventilation, thermal comfort and indoor air quality in schools’ (BB101), which can be found here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/building-bulletin-101-ventilation-for-school-buildings.
Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
The department regularly reviews its guidance to ensure that it aligns with best practice and industry standards, to deliver high-quality school environments.
Between January 2022 and April 2023, the department provided over 9,000 air cleaning units to over 1,300 settings that had been identified with poor ventilation. The department has published guidance on how to use CO2 monitors and air cleaning units, which can be accessed here: https://www.gov.uk/guidance/using-co-monitors-and-air-cleaning-units-in-education-and-care-settings.
The department also publishes non-statutory guidance on indoor and outdoor air quality in ‘Building Bulletin 101: Guidelines on ventilation, thermal comfort and indoor air quality in schools’ (BB101), which can be found here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/building-bulletin-101-ventilation-for-school-buildings.
Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
The information requested can be found in the attached table.
Minister of State (Education)
Information on the school workforce is published in the ‘School Workforce in England’ statistical publication here: https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/find-statistics/school-workforce-in-england.
The school workforce census does not collect figures on zero-hour contracts and does not directly identify term time-only contracts. In November 2023, the latest information available, there were 71,000 school support staff contracts for between 37 and 40 weeks, the likely duration of term time-only contracts, in state-funded schools in England. This equates to 13% of support staff contracts where a duration was reported.
Support staff may have more than one contract, so individuals may be counted more than once.
Minister of State (Education)
Information on the school workforce is published in the ‘School workforce in England’ statistical publication, which can be found here: https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/find-statistics/school-workforce-in-england.
The attached table provides the average salary for all full-time general teaching assistants, higher level teaching assistants and all teaching assistants in local authority maintained schools, academy schools and free schools in England, as at November each year.
Support staff may have more than one contract, therefore individuals may be counted more than once.
School support staff play a vital role in children’s education and development. The department values and recognises the professionalism of the entire school workforce and will address recruitment and retention challenges by reinstating the School Support Staff Negotiating Body.
This body will be tasked with establishing a national terms and conditions handbook, training and progression routes, ensuring that schools can recruit and retain the staff needed to deliver high quality, inclusive education.
Minister of State (Education)
Information on the school workforce is published in the ‘School Workforce in England’ statistical publication here: https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/find-statistics/school-workforce-in-england.
The attached table provides the pay ranges reported for support staff post contracts broken down by school type in the November 2023 school workforce census, which is the latest data available.
Support staff may have more than one contract, therefore individuals may be counted more than once.
School support staff play a vital role in children’s education and development. The department values and recognises the professionalism of the entire school workforce and will address recruitment and retention challenges by reinstating the School Support Staff Negotiating Body.
This Body will be tasked with establishing a national terms and conditions handbook, training and progression routes, thereby ensuring that schools can recruit and retain the staff needed to deliver high-quality, inclusive education.
Minister of State (Education)
The alternative provision specialist taskforces (APST) programme has placed multi-professional teams, including youth workers, family workers and speech and language therapists, within alternative provision (AP) in 22 areas in England. The objective of the APST is to holistically respond to the needs of children requiring AP, which includes some of the country’s most disadvantaged children, to address the multiple barriers preventing them engaging in education, achieving and thriving and being safe.
The department is sharing learning on APST to benefit areas outside of the pilot which may wish to adopt the approach, to strengthen provision for children within AP or on the cusp of permanent exclusion. This information can be accessed here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/alternative-provision-specialist-taskforces-apst.
The APST pilot is jointly funded by the department and the government Shared Outcomes Fund until March 2025. Departmental officials will continue to support pilot areas, including Birmingham, on planning for March 2025 onward.
Minister of State (Education)
The department publishes information on the destinations of pupils from state-funded mainstream schools in the year following completion of key stage 4, which shows the numbers and percentages of pupils continuing to a sustained education, employment or apprenticeship destination in England.
The tables in the links below contain the data requested.
Data pertaining to England can be accessed here: https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/data-tables/permalink/0b20e9b5-2fef-47b9-7106-08dd0ae16946.
Data pertaining to Birmingham and the West Midlands can be accessed here: https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/data-tables/permalink/775f4fb7-7c15-495d-f93a-08dd0adc50ad.
Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
The department publishes information on the percentage of level 3 pupils continuing to a sustained education or training destination at level 4 or higher, such as degrees, higher apprenticeships and higher national diplomas.
The data in the links below contain the data requested.
Data pertaining to England can be accessed here: https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/data-tables/permalink/7eb58822-e8ec-4240-f93b-08dd0adc50ad.
Data pertaining to Birmingham and West Midlands can be accessed here: https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/data-tables/permalink/dd7c6d4b-5aff-4639-f93f-08dd0adc50ad.
The data provided is for state-funded mainstream schools and state-funded mainstream colleges. Special educational needs (SEN) status is only recorded for students leaving schools. Students in colleges are recorded as learners with learning difficulties and disabilities. The definitions differ from SEN recorded by schools and so the data is therefore presented separately to the data for SEN. Breakdowns by education health and care plan and SEN support are not readily available in the progression to higher education or training data so only “identified SEN” and “no identified SEN” have been provided.
Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
School support staff are an essential part of the school workforce, and the department recognises that they are crucial to ensuring we give children the best possible life chances.
That is why the reinstatement of the School Support Staff Negotiating Body (SSSNB) is a priority for this government. The department has recently set out plans to reinstate the SSSNB through the Employment Rights Bill, introduced in parliament on 10 October 2024. This is currently at the Committee Stage in the House of Commons. The SSSNB will have a remit to negotiate pay and terms and conditions, and to advise on training and career progression for school support staff in state-funded schools in England. The Body will be composed of representatives of employers, representatives of support staff, representatives of my right hon. Friend, the Secretary of State for Education and an Independent Chairperson.
The department is also continuing to engage with the recognised support staff trade unions and other stakeholders, including on the design of the SSSNB.
The SSSNB will play an important role in supporting the department’s work to drive high and rising standards in education and ensuring we give all children the best possible life chances.
Minister of State (Education)
Information on the school workforce is published in the ‘School Workforce in England’ statistical publication, which can be found here: https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/find-statistics/school-workforce-in-england.
The attached table provides the pay ranges reported for support staff post contracts in the November 2023 school workforce census, which is the latest data available.
Support staff may have more than one contract, therefore individuals may be counted more than once.
School support staff play a vital role in children’s education and development. The department values and recognises the professionalism of the entire school workforce and will address recruitment and retention challenges by reinstating the School Support Staff Negotiating Body.
This body will be tasked with establishing a national terms and conditions handbook, training and progression routes, ensuring that schools can recruit and retain the staff needed to deliver high quality, inclusive education.
Minister of State (Education)
Green Meadow Primary School is in group 2 of the School Rebuilding Programme. Projects in group 2 are expected to commence with planning and feasibility work from April 2025.
King Edward VI Balaam Wood Academy is in group 3 and is currently expected to commence with planning and feasibility work no earlier than April 2027.
Specific start dates will be communicated to the schools at least a month in advance of the projects starting.
Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
The Standards and Testing Agency received an allegation of maladministration from King Edwards VI Balaam Wood Academy on 10 September. It is currently carrying out an investigation in line with its standard procedures. The outcome of the investigation will be communicated to the headteacher of King Edwards VI Balaam Wood Academy once it is complete. The Standards and Testing Agency will respond as quickly as it can.
Minister of State (Education)
School support staff play a vital role in children’s education and development. The department values and recognises the professionalism of the entire school workforce and will address recruitment and retention challenges by reinstating the School Support Staff Negotiating Body (SSSNB).
The SSSNB will be tasked with establishing a national terms and conditions handbook, training, career progression routes and fair pay rates for support staff. This reform will ensure that schools can recruit and retain the staff needed to deliver high quality, inclusive education.
The department will consider the merits of collecting information on school support staff vacancies through the school workforce census during the setup of the SSSNB.
Minister of State (Education)
Local authorities are not required to monitor the average cost of delivering education, health, and care (EHC) plans within their area. Local authorities are required to submit data on education spending, including spending relating to special educational needs and disabilities, as part of their annual returns to the department. But these returns do not cover the average cost of EHC plans.
Minister of State (Education)
The tables below provide average per-pupil funding from 2020/21 to 2024/25.
For Birmingham, the West Midlands and England, the figures represent the funding provided through the schools block of the Dedicated Schools Grant (DSG). All of the figures in table one exclude growth funding but include premises and additional funding from grants.
The DSG is allocated at local authority level, and as such the equivalent figures are not available for Birmingham Northfield constituency. The constituency level data for Birmingham Northfield is therefore instead calculated based on the notional schools national funding formula (NFF) allocations for all mainstream schools in the constituency. The figures in table two are not comparable to those in table one, not only because DSG funding cannot be aggregated down to constituency level, but also because the context of the funding figures are not the same. The figures in table two do not include the money that schools in the Birmingham Northfield constituency have received through additional grants, such as the Schools Supplementary Grant (SSG) and the Mainstream Schools Additional Grant (MSAG), therefore making the constituency-level funding appear to rise slower than that of the others presented.
Table one
Year | DSG Schools Block per-pupil funding | ||
Birmingham | West Midlands | England | |
2020-21 | £5,162 | £4,823 | £4,845 |
2021-22 | £5,518 | £5,198 | £5,228 |
2022-23 | £5,830 | £5,506 | £5,534 |
2023-24 | £6,144 | £5,815 | £5,838 |
2024-25 | £6,244 | £5,931 | £5,957 |
Table two
NFF Schools Block per-pupil funding * | |
Year | Birmingham Northfield constituency |
2020-21 | £5,429 |
2021-22 | £5,562 |
2022-23 | £5,707 |
2023-24 | £5,991 |
2024-25 | £6,304 |
* The allocations that schools within a constituency actually receive are determined by the local funding formula in their area.
Minister of State (Education)
Apprenticeship starts by parliamentary constituency are published in the Apprenticeships Statistics publication. Figures for Birmingham Northfield constituency can be found here: https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/data-tables/permalink/2abb827d-653c-4a6f-5350-08dca71310d3.
Note: Figures are based on parliamentary constituency boundaries as at July 2024.
Further information on apprenticeship starts can be found in the Apprenticeships Statistics publication, which can be accessed at: https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/find-statistics/apprenticeships.
Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
The department publishes statistics on education, health and care (EHC) plans at local authority level. This data can be found here: https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/find-statistics/education-health-and-care-plans. This includes information on children elsewhere than at school, such as those awaiting provision, in elective home education, in other arrangements, permanently excluded, and having notice to cease of their plan, as well as those Not in Education, Employment of Training (NEET). The number of children with an EHC plan who were elsewhere than at school and who were NEET in Birmingham from 2020 to 2024 can be found here: https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/data-tables/permalink/fffc2c6e-ef02-4be1-689a-08dca70c1109.
The data collection on children and young people with EHC plans does not include information on previous special educational needs (SEN) support identification.
Wider data on SEN, including information on the total number of pupils with EHC plans and SEN support at local authority level is available on GOV.UK, and can be found here: https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/find-statistics/special-educational-needs-in-england.
Minister of State (Education)
The full-time equivalent (FTE) of support staff has increased each year since the 2019/20 academic year, to 510,400 in 2023/24, and has now passed the previous peak of 2015/16. This is an increase of 4,800 (0.9%) since last year. This increase is mainly due to the addition of 2,400 in other support staff.
Support staff are categorised into posts of teaching assistants, administrative staff, auxiliary staff, technicians and other supporting staff, plus two new posts of school business professional and leadership non-teacher reported for the first time in 2023/24.
School business professionals include roles such as bursar, business manager, finance officer, office manager, premises manager or ICT network manager.
Data relating to the FTE of all support staff can be found here: https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/data-tables/permalink/7b0a17e8-b3ff-403e-687f-08dca70c1109.
Equivalent data relating to Birmingham’s parliamentary constituencies can be found here: https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/data-tables/permalink/0fb9acee-35f2-4607-fac3-08dca70cb6e4.
School support staff play a vital role in children’s education and development. The department values and recognises the professionalism of the entire school workforce and will address recruitment and retention challenges by reinstating the School Support Staff Negotiating Body.
This body will be tasked with establishing a national terms and conditions handbook, training and progression routes, ensuring that schools can recruit and retain the staff needed to deliver high quality, inclusive education.
Minister of State (Education)
Data on children’s centres is supplied by local authorities via the department’s Get Information about Schools database portal. This portal can be found here: https://www.get-information-schools.service.gov.uk/.
Based on the information supplied by Birmingham local authority, the attached document provides details of the name and postcode of Sure Start children’s centres that closed in Birmingham since May 2010. This is based on information supplied by Birmingham local authority as of 18 July 2024. These figures may be different to previous answers and could change again in the future, since local authorities may update the database at any time.
Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
The school, which is planned to be a 400 place, co-educational school for pupils aged 4 to 19 with Autistic Spectrum Disorders, was approved into the pre-opening stage in March 2024. Departmental officials are working closely with the local authority and the trust to agree an opening date.
Minister of State (Education)
The department aims to publish the report within the coming months, in line with existing practice.
Minister of State (Education)
3 Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs Questions
(View all Laurence Turner's Defra questions)As an independent coastal State, the UK sets total allowable catches (TACs) each year for many fish stocks through negotiations with other coastal States. UK positions in those negotiations are informed by the best available scientific advice, including advice from the International Council for the Exploration of the Sea (ICES) on achieving the maximum sustainable yield (MSY) for many stocks. The Centre for Environment, Fisheries and Aquaculture Science (Cefas) conducts annually a robust assessment of the sustainability outcomes of our negotiations, including the number of TACs which have been set in line with the scientific advice.
In those negotiations, the UK seeks to balance the fisheries objectives set out in the Fisheries Act 2020 and the Joint Fisheries Statement. We strive for outcomes that achieve greater environmental sustainability, including aiming to increase over the medium term the total number of stocks fished at MSY.
Defra will publish in early 2025 the Cefas assessment of the sustainability outcomes of the TACs negotiated by the UK this autumn.
Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Sustainability is at the heart of the UK’s approach to fisheries management. Through negotiations with other coastal States, we ensure that catch limits are set sustainably, consistent with the best scientific advice. This Government is also pleased to restart the Fisheries Management Plan (FMP) programme and is grateful for the support of the fishing sector and wider stakeholders in helping to shape these plans to secure the long-term sustainability of UK fish stocks in line with obligations under the Fisheries Act 2020 and the Joint Fisheries Statement. We are now consulting on the next 5 FMPs, these cover cockles, sprat, queen scallop, skates, rays and various other demersal species in different waters around England.
Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Published in June 2023, the Post Implementation Review of The Mandatory Use of Closed Circuit Television in Slaughterhouses (England) Regulations 2018 confirmed that the legislation has met its objectives of improving animal welfare and providing assurance that slaughterhouses are operating to high welfare standards.
Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)