Asked by: Mike Amesbury (Labour - Weaver Vale)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what plans he has to publish a deaf-specific national standard as part of the planned national SEND and AP implementation strategy.
Answered by Kelly Tolhurst
In March 2022, the department published the Special Educational Needs and Disability (SEND) and Alternative Provision (AP) Green Paper and the Schools White Paper, which set out plans to ensure every child can reach their full potential.
The Green Paper aims to drive national consistency in how needs are assessed, identified, and met across education, health, and care through the introduction of national standards. The department is considering the different options for developing these standards and we will continue to work with a variety of stakeholders as we develop our options.
The Green Paper consultation closed on 22 July 2022 and the department is currently analysing the responses. The department will publish a national SEND and AP implementation strategy in due course, setting out our response to the consultation and the next steps for developing national standards.
Asked by: Mike Amesbury (Labour - Weaver Vale)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps his Department is taking to address schools which maintain a single supplier relationship with no competitive tendering for school uniform items.
Answered by Jonathan Gullis
In November last year, the Department published statutory guidance on the cost of school uniforms after supporting the private members bill, the Education (Guidance about Costs of School Uniforms) Act 2021. The guidance, which came into effect this September, requires schools to ensure that their uniform is affordable and secures best value for money for parents.
The Department expects governing boards to now be compliant with the statutory guidance on the cost of school uniforms. The exceptions to this would be where this would breach a pre-existing agreement or where a competitive tender to set up a new uniform contract is required.
Any concerns about a school’s uniform policy should be raised with the school in the first instance, including via the school’s published complaints procedure where necessary.
If the school’s published complaints process has concluded with an unsatisfactory outcome, a complaint should be raised with the Department: https://www.gov.uk/complain-about-school/state-schools.
Once a complaint is raised formally with the Department, having already been through the school’s complaints process, the Department will contact the school and then consider whether its uniform policy meets current education legislation. The Department can also consider whether the school’s complaints procedure meets the requirements for complaints processes.
Asked by: Mike Amesbury (Labour - Weaver Vale)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps his Department will take when a school disregards the recent statutory guidance to keep branded items and logos to a minimum on school uniforms.
Answered by Jonathan Gullis
In November last year, the Department published statutory guidance on the cost of school uniforms after supporting the private members bill, the Education (Guidance about Costs of School Uniforms) Act 2021. The guidance, which came into effect this September, requires schools to ensure that their uniform is affordable and secures best value for money for parents.
The Department expects governing boards to now be compliant with the statutory guidance on the cost of school uniforms. The exceptions to this would be where this would breach a pre-existing agreement or where a competitive tender to set up a new uniform contract is required.
Any concerns about a school’s uniform policy should be raised with the school in the first instance, including via the school’s published complaints procedure where necessary.
If the school’s published complaints process has concluded with an unsatisfactory outcome, a complaint should be raised with the Department: https://www.gov.uk/complain-about-school/state-schools.
Once a complaint is raised formally with the Department, having already been through the school’s complaints process, the Department will contact the school and then consider whether its uniform policy meets current education legislation. The Department can also consider whether the school’s complaints procedure meets the requirements for complaints processes.
Asked by: Mike Amesbury (Labour - Weaver Vale)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps his Department is taking with (a) Cabinet colleagues and (b) stakeholders on decreasing energy costs in schools.
Answered by Jonathan Gullis
A new Energy Bill Relief Scheme was announced on Wednesday 21 September 2022 by the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy. This will reduce how much schools need to spend on their energy and give schools greater certainty over their budgets over the winter months.
Any school which has signed a fixed energy contract since April 2022 will be eligible for support if, at the time they signed their contact, wholesale prices for the next six months were expected to be higher than the Government supported price of £211/MWh for electricity, and £75/MWh for gas.
For example, a school which uses 10 MWh of electricity and 22 MWh of gas a month and signed a fixed contract giving them a current monthly energy bill of about £10,000, would receive support based on the difference between expected wholesale prices when they signed their contract and the Government supported price. For a contract signed in July 2022, this could be worth £240/MWh for electricity and £70/MWh for gas, meaning the school receives a discount of £4,000 per month, reducing their original bill by 40%.
Support will also be available to schools on variable, deemed and other contracts. There will be a review in three months’ time to determine how the scheme should best be targeted beyond this period to focus support on vulnerable sectors.
The details of the scheme can be found here: https://www.gov.uk/guidance/energy-bill-relief-scheme-help-for-businesses-and-other-non-domestic-customers.
The Department has spoken to a range of organisations representing head teachers and directly to head teachers themselves. Discussions have included issues around the cost of energy in schools and build on the regular engagement the Department has with stakeholders.
Schools can benefit from our Schools Resource Management offer, which includes the Get Help Buying for Schools Service, which provides specialist support, advice, and guidance for schools around their procurement activity.
The guidance can be accessed here: https://www.gov.uk/guidance/buying-for-schools/energy.
In addition, the Department has guidance available for schools on managing their energy usage, including a range of top tips to help schools save money, reduce their energy consumption, and increase energy efficiency.
Asked by: Mike Amesbury (Labour - Weaver Vale)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if he will make it his policy to review the eligibility criteria for free school meals before the beginning of the next school year.
Answered by Will Quince
Under this government, free school meal eligibility has been extended several times and to more groups of children than any other government over the past half a century. This includes the introduction of universal infant free school meals, further education free meals, and the permanent extension of free school meals to some groups of children who have no recourse to public funds.
Under current criteria, in January 2022, 1.9 million pupils were eligible for and claiming a benefit-related free meal in school at lunch time, saving families hundreds of pounds a year per child. This equates to 22.5% of all pupils, up from 15% in 2015.
The government understands the pressures people are facing with the cost of living and is providing over £37 billion in support for the cost of living this year. This includes an extra £500 million of local support, which will be extended from this October to March 2023 to help those most in need with payments towards the rising cost of food, energy, and water bills. This brings the total amount provided through the Household Support Fund to £1.5 billion since October 2021. This is administered by local councils in England and helps those in most need with payments towards the rising cost of food, energy, and water bills.
In setting eligibility for free school meals, the government’s position remains that it is right that provision is targeted at supporting the most disadvantaged, those out of work or on the lowest income. The department will continue to keep all free school meal eligibility under review, to ensure that these meals are supporting those who most need them. Schools are responsible for the provision of school meals and may enter individual contracts with suppliers and caterers to meet this duty. The department is confident that schools will continue providing pupils with nutritious school meals, as required by the school food standards.
Asked by: Mike Amesbury (Labour - Weaver Vale)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment his Department has made of the potential effect of the cost of living crisis on levels of the number of children living in poverty who are not eligible for free schools meals.
Answered by Will Quince
Under this government, free school meal eligibility has been extended several times and to more groups of children than any other government over the past half a century. This includes the introduction of universal infant free school meals, further education free meals, and the permanent extension of free school meals to some groups of children who have no recourse to public funds.
Under current criteria, in January 2022, 1.9 million pupils were eligible for and claiming a benefit-related free meal in school at lunch time, saving families hundreds of pounds a year per child. This equates to 22.5% of all pupils, up from 15% in 2015.
The government understands the pressures people are facing with the cost of living and is providing over £37 billion in support for the cost of living this year. This includes an extra £500 million of local support, which will be extended from this October to March 2023 to help those most in need with payments towards the rising cost of food, energy, and water bills. This brings the total amount provided through the Household Support Fund to £1.5 billion since October 2021. This is administered by local councils in England and helps those in most need with payments towards the rising cost of food, energy, and water bills.
In setting eligibility for free school meals, the government’s position remains that it is right that provision is targeted at supporting the most disadvantaged, those out of work or on the lowest income. The department will continue to keep all free school meal eligibility under review, to ensure that these meals are supporting those who most need them. Schools are responsible for the provision of school meals and may enter individual contracts with suppliers and caterers to meet this duty. The department is confident that schools will continue providing pupils with nutritious school meals, as required by the school food standards.
Asked by: Mike Amesbury (Labour - Weaver Vale)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether his Department is taking steps to guarantee access to healthy meals for children living in poverty who are not eligible for free school meals.
Answered by Will Quince
Under this government, free school meal eligibility has been extended several times and to more groups of children than any other government over the past half a century. This includes the introduction of universal infant free school meals, further education free meals, and the permanent extension of free school meals to some groups of children who have no recourse to public funds.
Under current criteria, in January 2022, 1.9 million pupils were eligible for and claiming a benefit-related free meal in school at lunch time, saving families hundreds of pounds a year per child. This equates to 22.5% of all pupils, up from 15% in 2015.
The government understands the pressures people are facing with the cost of living and is providing over £37 billion in support for the cost of living this year. This includes an extra £500 million of local support, which will be extended from this October to March 2023 to help those most in need with payments towards the rising cost of food, energy, and water bills. This brings the total amount provided through the Household Support Fund to £1.5 billion since October 2021. This is administered by local councils in England and helps those in most need with payments towards the rising cost of food, energy, and water bills.
In setting eligibility for free school meals, the government’s position remains that it is right that provision is targeted at supporting the most disadvantaged, those out of work or on the lowest income. The department will continue to keep all free school meal eligibility under review, to ensure that these meals are supporting those who most need them. Schools are responsible for the provision of school meals and may enter individual contracts with suppliers and caterers to meet this duty. The department is confident that schools will continue providing pupils with nutritious school meals, as required by the school food standards.