Asked by: Lord Beith (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what representations they have received about the registration process administered by the Office for Students following the denial of registration to Spurgeon's College in respect of financial sustainability; and what plans they have, if any, to review that process.
Answered by Baroness Berridge
The department is unable to comment on individual cases related to the Office for Students (OfS) registration. The department supports the OfS as an effective independent regulator in its aim of safeguarding a fair market for students of all backgrounds to undertake higher education. Neither the department nor our ministers can intervene in judicial reviews of the decisions of the OfS.
Asked by: Lord Beith (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government in which education authority areas in England new secondary or high schools have been built under the Priority Schools Building Programme on (1) existing sites, and (2) new sites.
Answered by Lord Nash
The £4.4 billion Priority School Building Programme is rebuilding or refurbishing those school buildings in the very worst condition across the country. There are two phases of the programme covering a total of 537 schools.
Under the first phase of the programme, building work is being undertaken at 260 schools. Of these, 177 schools have already opened in their new and refurbished buildings. This includes 98 secondary schools in 57 local authorities and all are on existing sites.
The vast majority of schools within the first phase of the programme will be delivered by the end of 2017, two years earlier than originally planned.
Asked by: Lord Beith (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what targets have been set for the release of her Department's material to the National Archives; what progress has been made in meeting those targets; and how many staff in her Department are engaged in reviewing records for that purpose.
Answered by Nick Gibb
The Department for Education is currently meeting its targets to release two years’ worth of records every year from 2013 until 2022. This follows the transitional timetable for moving from a 30-year to a 20-year rule for the release of education records to the National Archives. Information on progress is published every spring and autumn, and is available on the National Archives website at:
www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/about/record-transfer-report.htm
There are three staff who review records, all of whom also perform other duties.