Asked by: Navendu Mishra (Labour - Stockport)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps his Department is taking to help support local authorities mitigate the impact of air pollution at schools where recorded levels are higher than WHO guideline limits.
Answered by Will Quince
The department has published guidance in the Building Bulletin 101 (BB101), which provides guidelines on indoor and outdoor air quality in new and refurbished schools: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/building-bulletin-101-ventilation-for-school-buildings. BB101 guidance promotes best practice in controlling pollutants and setting maximum standards for levels of pollutants in indoors.
Outdoor air quality is the responsibility of local authorities who should prepare air quality action plans to ensure the level of pollutants is reduced. In January 2019, the government published the Clean Air Strategy setting out plans to deal with all sources of pollution.
Asked by: Navendu Mishra (Labour - Stockport)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, when primary schools will be informed of the (a) outcome of their application to and (b) funding allocation from the PE and Sport Premium Fund.
Answered by Will Quince
My right hon. Friend, the Secretary of State for Education, announced on 25 June that the £320 million PE and sport premium will continue for the 2022/23 academic year.
The PE and sport premium is paid to all eligible schools and there is no application process. Funding allocations for individual schools will be published in September.
Asked by: Navendu Mishra (Labour - Stockport)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if his Department will make an assessment of the effectiveness of the Adult Education Budget business case processes.
Answered by Alex Burghart - Parliamentary Secretary (Cabinet Office)
In the 2019/20 and 2020/21 academic years the department lowered the Education and Skills Funding Agency (ESFA) grant funded Adult Education Budget (AEB) reconciliation threshold from 97% to 68% and 90% respectively. We also introduced an associated business case process to support ESFA grant funded providers whose curriculum plans were affected by the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic. Where approved, these business cases thereby enabled ESFA grant funded providers to cover their essential costs of delivery, where factors outside their control disrupted their recruitment plans.
The department recognises the challenges providers have faced because of the pandemic. But we also know that many providers have been able to continue to deliver successfully and have adapted the way that they teach. For the current academic year (2021/22) we plan to maintain the ESFA AEB reconciliation threshold at 97%.
Separate arrangements apply for devolved AEB which are the responsibility of the relevant Mayoral Combined Authority or Greater London Authority. This includes Stockport which is in a devolved area (Greater Manchester Combined Authority).
Asked by: Navendu Mishra (Labour - Stockport)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if his Department will take steps to close potential pay differentials between school teachers and further education lecturers.
Answered by Alex Burghart - Parliamentary Secretary (Cabinet Office)
It is for further education (FE) providers to set the terms and conditions of their staff and the department plays no role in setting FE teachers’ pay. The department has made available an extra £1.6 billion for 16-19 education in the 2024/25 financial year, compared with the 2021/22 financial year, in the latest Spending Review. This is in addition to the £291 million for 16-19 education in the 2021/22 financial year, and the £400 million that the department provided in the 2020/21 financial year.
The department will also be investing nearly £52 million in the Further Education Workforce in the 2022/23 financial year, to continue to support the FE sector with the recruitment, retention, and development of teachers. This includes tax-free bursaries worth up to £26,000 each, which are available to support FE teacher training in priority subject areas for the 2022/23 academic year.
Asked by: Navendu Mishra (Labour - Stockport)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if his Department will offer an income guarantee for colleges where student numbers were impacted by the grade inflation in last summer’s exams which led to young people staying in school sixth forms.
Answered by Alex Burghart - Parliamentary Secretary (Cabinet Office)
The Autumn Budget and Spending Review 2021 has made available an extra £1.6 billion for 16-19 education in the 2024/25 financial year, compared with the 2021/22 financial year. As part of this, significant increases were made to funding rates for the 2022/23 academic year, including:
Funding for the 2022/23 academic year is based on student numbers in 2021/22. Provisional data suggests that further education colleges, not including sixth form colleges, had in aggregate a fall of just over 1% in their 16-19 students in the 2021/22 academic year, compared with the previous year, which has had an impact on funding. However, the higher funding rates mean that despite this slight fall in student numbers, colleges will see a significant increase in funding in the 2022/23 academic year. The department expects to see only a small proportion of colleges with a reduction in funding for 16-19 students in the 2022/23 academic year, compared with the 2021/22 academic year, when allocations are published.
The department recognises that colleges are facing financial pressures from increased costs, including the extra hours for 16-19 students, which will be delivered from the 2022/23 academic year onwards. Each year, the department looks to put in place exceptional in-year growth funding, subject to affordability. This is to help providers seeing a significant increase in students. The department will be looking carefully at what can be put in place to help colleges in the 2022/23 academic year.
Where colleges are at risk of running out of funding, emergency funding is considered on a case-by-case basis. It is based on a thorough assessment of each college's circumstances and on the minimum funding needed to minimise disruption to learners.
Asked by: Navendu Mishra (Labour - Stockport)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what resources his Department is providing Stockport Council to support their delivery of SEND provision in local authority-maintained schools.
Answered by Will Quince
The department is committed to ensuring that children with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) in all areas receive the support they need to realise their potential.
Following an area SEND inspection by Ofsted and the Care Quality Commission in 2018, Stockport was required to produce a Written Statement of Action (WSOA) to address five areas of significant weakness. Since then, the department has provided regular support and challenge to bring about improvements including through its expert SEND and NHS England advisors. Stockport is also one of the 55 local areas which have been invited to join the government’s £85 million Delivering Better Value programme to support local areas to achieve maximum value for money in delivering SEND provision, whilst maintaining and improving the outcomes they achieve. Further information on this programme can be accessed here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/delivering-better-outcomes-for-citizens-practical-steps-for-unlocking-public-value.
High needs funding, specifically for supporting children with more complex SEND, will increase by £1 billion in the 2022/23 financial year, bringing the overall total funding to £9.1 billion. SEND provision is funded through a combination of mainstream schools’ core funding and the high needs funding, both allocated to local authorities through the Dedicated Schools Grant (DSG). Authorities have discretion in how this funding is allocated, subject to regulations and conditions of the grant. In the 2022/23 financial year, mainstream schools in Stockport are attracting £210.5 million and the local authority is receiving £42.8 million for high needs, with the latter representing a 12.7% per head increase compared to the authority’s 2021/22 financial year high needs funding allocation.
The department is also investing £2.6 billion between 2022 and 2025 to deliver new places and improve existing provision for pupils with SEND or who require alternative provision. This funding represents a significant, transformational investment in new high needs provision and will help deliver tens of thousands of new places.
Asked by: Navendu Mishra (Labour - Stockport)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if he will intervene to ensure supply teachers employed by agencies and umbrella companies are (a) paid the same rate as those employed directly by a school or local authority and (b) able to access to the Teachers' Pension Scheme.
Answered by Robin Walker
Most supply teacher salaries are paid by supply agencies, and schools can negotiate fees with these agencies. The department trusts schools to agree a fair price for teachers. Supply teachers can register with multiple agencies to find the best pay and conditions to meet their own circumstances.
Agency Worker Regulations provides that all workers on assignments that exceed 12 weeks are paid on equal terms as permanent staff after the 12th week.
The Teachers’ Pensions Regulations provide for supply teachers participating in the Teachers’ Pension Scheme (TPS) where they are employed by a scheme employer. These are local authorities, academies, and further education colleges.
Where supply teachers are self-employed or employed by a supply agency and their services are provided under a ‘contract for services’, it is not possible for them to participate in the TPS as there is no organisation to undertake the employer role which includes remitting contributions to the scheme.
Asked by: Navendu Mishra (Labour - Stockport)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if he will ask local authorities to show flexibility with regard to the clearance of uncleared adults within homes with in-place fostered children, to enable foster families to accommodate Ukrainian families including adults.
Answered by Will Quince
The decision to become a host family should involve everyone living in the household including children, whose views, wishes and feeling should be taken into account. There will be additional considerations when the household includes children in foster care.
Foster carers are required to give written notice to their fostering provider when there is a change in the composition of the household. We would expect foster carers to contact their fostering service provider and the local authority/authorities for any children already living in their care when considering applying to the Homes for Ukraine Scheme (where the local authority is not their fostering service provider).
If a foster carer has capacity to take additional children, we encourage fostering agencies to explore with them what support the foster carer can provide, including to unaccompanied asylum-seeking children already in the country and those who continue to arrive.
Local authorities are responsible for safeguarding all children that they look after according to existing guidance and the statutory framework. The department expects them to work together with fostering agencies where there is a change to the fostering household composition to ensure that children that they look after are safeguarded.
Asked by: Navendu Mishra (Labour - Stockport)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether local authority fosters carers will be eligible to host Ukrainian (a) groups and (b) individuals under the Homes for Ukraine scheme.
Answered by Will Quince
Any household can come forward to the ‘Homes for Ukraine’ scheme. The decision to become a host family should involve everyone living in the household, including children, whose views, wishes and feeling should be taken into account. There will be additional considerations when the household includes children in foster care.
Foster carers are required to give written notice to their fostering provider when there is a change in the composition of the household. The department would expect foster carers to contact their fostering service provider and the local authority/authorities for any children already living in their care when considering applying to the ‘Homes for Ukraine’ scheme (where the local authority is not their fostering service provider).
If a foster carer has capacity to take additional children, the department encourages them to approach their local authority about what support they can provide, including to unaccompanied asylum-seeking children already in the country and those who continue to arrive.
Asked by: Navendu Mishra (Labour - Stockport)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what plans he has to support schools facing rising energy costs.
Answered by Robin Walker
The department recognises that schools face inflationary pressures, and we continue to monitor the impact of rising energy costs on schools. Cost increases should be seen in the wider context of funding and support for schools. I refer the hon. Member for Stockport to the answer I gave on 25 February 2022 to Question 125076.