Asked by: Nadia Whittome (Labour - Nottingham East)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, pursuant to the Answer of 20 March to Question 38689 on Racial Discrimination: Palestinians, if she will hold discussions with Educate against Hate on developing resources to tackle anti-Palestinian racism.
Answered by Catherine McKinnell - Minister of State (Education)
This government is committed to ensuring that teachers, parents, and young people are equipped with the guidance and resources designed to develop critical thinking, logical reasoning, and empathy, to build resilience to, and reject hateful narratives.
The department’s Educate Against Hate website hosts quality-assured resources to help teachers and school leaders teach students about extremism, conflict, spotting misinformation and disinformation, online safety, and our shared fundamental British values.
Following the events of 7 October 2023, a blog containing practical advice for discussing ongoing conflicts was published on the Educate Against Hate website. The blog signposts relevant resources from reputable organisations that can support schools to teach about this sensitive topic in a balanced way, avoiding antisemitic, anti-Muslim and/or other discriminatory narratives.
Educate Against Hate provides a range of resources and guides to support teachers and education practitioners in confidently facilitating conversations around the ongoing Israel-Palestine conflict. The resources are wide ranging and address why it is important to discuss this topic, how to navigate the news and social media, and how to support young people who may be directly affected by the conflict. All guidance and teaching resources hosted on Educate Against Hate are drawn from reputable organisations.
There are also practical resources designed to be used in classrooms, that focus on Palestine and Israel and cover the history of the conflict. They challenge students and learners to examine a range of sources such as images, maps and documentation to debate and discuss different perspectives in a polite and respectful way, and in the controlled environment of a classroom, before they reach their own views on the topic.
Asked by: Nadia Whittome (Labour - Nottingham East)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what recent progress she has made on reducing school class sizes in (a) the East Midlands and (b) Nottingham East constituency.
Answered by Catherine McKinnell - Minister of State (Education)
The average class size for state-funded primary schools in the East Midlands is 26.3 pupils, which is below the national average of 26.6 pupils, and 26.7 for Nottingham East, which is a fraction higher than the national average. The average class size for state-funded secondary schools in the East Midlands is 22.4 pupils, which is equal to the national average, and 23 for Nottingham East, which is just above the national average of 22.4.
Legislation limits the size of an infant class to 30 pupils per school teacher. An infant class is one in which the majority of children will reach the age of five, six, or seven during the school year, which includes reception, year 1 and year 2.
There is no statutory limit on the size of classes for older children (pupils aged eight and over), and it is up to schools to decide how to organise classes based on local needs and circumstances to ensure all children can be supported to achieve and thrive.
Asked by: Nadia Whittome (Labour - Nottingham East)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps she is taking to expand the availability of evening school classes for (a) plumbing, (b) bricklaying, (c) electrical work and (d) other building trades in Nottinghamshire.
Answered by Janet Daby - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
Skills are crucial to this government’s mission to grow the economy under our Plan for Change and deliver our commitment to build 1.5 million homes across this Parliament.
On 23 March, my right hon. Friend, the Chancellor of the Exchequer, announced measures to address skills shortages in the construction sector. This package commits over £600 million over the Parliament to deliver up to 60,000 skilled construction workers. This includes additional funding to deliver more construction courses, skills bootcamps, foundation apprenticeships, to support industry placements and to deliver 10 new Technical Excellence Colleges. The department will continue to work with post-16 skills providers on their plans to meet local, regional and national skills priorities in construction.
Furthermore, as part of the government’s devolution agenda, from August 2025 the East Midlands Combined Authority will be responsible for administering and delivering their Adult Skills Fund (ASF), allowing them to make best use of the ASF to meet their local needs, including in construction.
Asked by: Nadia Whittome (Labour - Nottingham East)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether her Department has made an assessment of the potential merits of creating a new funding stream for students who have been educated in registered alternative provision to continue in that setting after the age of 16.
Answered by Catherine McKinnell - Minister of State (Education)
The statutory duty on local authorities to provide alternative provision applies to children of compulsory school age. If any alternative provision schools would like to offer post-16 placements, they should approach the department to discuss this. Funded post-16 education has a variety of different provider types which deliver different provision, relevant to the different aspirations and needs of post-16 students. In addition, 16-19 study programmes should be tailored to meet the individual needs of the young person.
Asked by: Nadia Whittome (Labour - Nottingham East)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps she is taking to help tackle anti-Palestinian racism in (a) schools and (b) universities.
Answered by Catherine McKinnell - Minister of State (Education)
There is no place for racism in our education system or anywhere else in society. Students, regardless of their background, should be able to study in a safe and supportive environment that allows them to thrive.
The Equality Act 2010 enshrines in law that all public sector bodies, including schools and higher education institutions, must not discriminate against a student because of their protected characteristics. All educational institutions have a responsibility to take a zero-tolerance approach to any racism towards students and staff. They have clear responsibilities under the Equality Act 2010 to adopt robust policies and procedures that enable them to investigate and address reports of racism swiftly. The department has published guidance for schools on how to comply with their duties. This guidance is accessible at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/equality-act-2010-advice-for-schools.
Schools should actively promote the fundamental British values of democracy, the rule of law, individual liberty and mutual respect and tolerance for those of different faiths and beliefs. Actively promoting these values means challenging opinions or behaviours in school that are contrary to fundamental British values. Schools should further tolerance and harmony between different cultural traditions by enabling students to acquire an appreciation of and respect for their own and other cultures. Promotion of these values plays an important role in preparing our children and young people for life in a modern and diverse Britain. Ofsted inspects how schools and colleges develop their pupils' understanding of these values. The Educate Against Hate website features more than 150 free resources to help pupils, teachers and parents tackle sensitive topics with students, including in relation to discrimination and hatred.
In universities, the Office for Students (OfS) is introducing a new condition of registration for preventing, addressing and investigating incidents of harassment with effect from 1 August 2025. The government is working with the OfS and sector bodies to help providers prepare to implement the new measures. The condition will enable the OfS to do more to ensure that universities are taking appropriate and timely action to prevent and tackle harassment of all kinds, including anti-Palestinian racism.
Asked by: Nadia Whittome (Labour - Nottingham East)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps she is taking to support further education colleges to invest in low-carbon (a) technology and (b) infrastructure.
Answered by Janet Daby - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
Ensuring that every young person has a pathway through further and higher education and into employment is a key pillar of the government’s opportunity and growth missions. The department wants to build a world class further education (FE) system which delivers for the whole nation and supports these missions. A key part of this is ensuring colleges are fit for the future, with better facilities and good quality, sustainable buildings.
At the Autumn Budget 2024, the department announced £950 million of skills capital funding for 2025/26, including £300 million of new funding to support FE colleges to maintain, improve and ensure suitability of their estate. It will be for colleges to decide how to prioritise funding in line with guidance which the department will publish. However, spend could include investment in low-carbon infrastructure in line with the Further Education Generic Design Brief and Technical Annexes, which can be found here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/employers-requirements-for-college-projects-part-a-and-part-b.
As part of the FE Capital Transformation Programme, which is a six-year programme investing more than £1.5 billion to upgrade the FE college estate, the department is working in partnership with sixteen colleges to address some of the worst condition sites in the country. These schemes are being built to the above specifications. One of these projects is the Ashington Campus of Northumberland College, which is a Gen-Zero development, designed to be ultra-low carbon in both construction and operation.
FE colleges are also able to apply to the Public Sector Decarbonisation Scheme, administered by the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero. A number of FE colleges have benefitted from this scheme to invest in measures to achieve net zero in operation at some or all of their sites.
Future investment will depend on the outcomes of the spending review which will be announced later this year.
Asked by: Nadia Whittome (Labour - Nottingham East)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if her Department will make an assessment of the potential impact of supporting the expansion of (a) local authority supply pools and (b) not-for-profit supply provision on (i) supply teachers and (ii) schools.
Answered by Catherine McKinnell - Minister of State (Education)
Supply teachers perform a valuable role and the department is grateful for their important contribution to schools across the country.
Schools and local authorities are responsible for the recruitment of their supply teachers. Local authority supply pools are one of the approaches to providing supply teachers and local authorities have the autonomy to decide whether to operate these supply teacher pools.
Supply teachers employed directly by a state-maintained school or local authority must be paid in accordance with the statutory arrangements for teachers laid down in the School Teachers’ Pay and Conditions Document.
The department, in conjunction with the Crown Commercial Service, has established the agency supply deal, which supports schools in obtaining value for money when hiring agency supply teachers and other temporary school staff. Details of this can be found at: https://www.gov.uk/guidance/deal-for-schools-hiring-supply-teachers-and-agency-workers.
Asked by: Nadia Whittome (Labour - Nottingham East)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment she has made of the (a) impact of the proposed pay rise for teachers on school budgets and (b) potential merits of providing additional funding to cover such a pay rise.
Answered by Catherine McKinnell - Minister of State (Education)
On 10 December 2024, the department published its written evidence to the School Teachers’ Review Body, to inform their recommendations for school teachers’ pay in the next academic year. This included a proposed pay award of 2.8% for teachers for the 2025/26 academic year. In the context of the challenging national economic picture, a 2.8% award would be appropriate, ensuring teachers’ pay remains competitive and continues to reflect the vital contribution they make to children’s life chances.
The whole public sector, including schools, is being expected to drive better value from existing budgets to help rebuild public services. Schools will be expected to fund the 2025 pay award from the additional investment provided at the Budget, alongside their existing funds. The department will support schools to use their funding as efficiently as possible with a suite of new productivity initiatives. The department will soon publish a national affordability estimate for schools in the School Cost Technical Note. This estimate will be equivalent to the position of an average school.
Final decisions on the teacher’s pay award for 2025/26 will be made following recommendations from the independent pay review body process, which is on-going. The government will consider its response to the Pay Review Body’s recommendations with regard to the overall financial position. The written evidence sets out the department’s expectations about what schools will want to consider in their budget plans.
Asked by: Nadia Whittome (Labour - Nottingham East)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether the increase to employers' National Insurance contributions will be covered in full for schools.
Answered by Catherine McKinnell - Minister of State (Education)
The government has agreed that public sector employers will receive compensation in recognition of the increase in their National Insurance contributions (NICs). That compensation will be additional to the £2.3 billion increase to the core schools budget for the 2025/26 financial year announced at the Autumn Budget 2024. Due to timing constraints, it will be provided as a separate grant, alongside the dedicated schools grant, in 2025/26. Further arrangements for this will be shared with schools as soon as is practicable.
Asked by: Nadia Whittome (Labour - Nottingham East)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what plans she has for the holiday activities and food programme.
Answered by Stephen Morgan - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
The future of the Holiday Activities and Food programme beyond 31 March 2025 is subject to decisions flowing from this autumn’s government Spending Review. The outcome of this process will be communicated in due course.