Asked by: Neil Shastri-Hurst (Conservative - Solihull West and Shirley)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment her Department has made of mandating CitizenAID training within the national curriculum.
Answered by Catherine McKinnell - Minister of State (Education)
All state-funded schools are required to teach about first aid as part of the statutory health education set out within the relationships, sex and health education (RSHE) statutory guidance. Independent schools are required to cover health education as part of their responsibility to provide personal, social, health and economic education.
The statutory guidance includes basic first aid for primary school children. For example, dealing with common injuries, such as head injuries. Pupils in secondary schools will be taught further first aid. For example, how to administer CPR and the purpose of defibrillators.
Schools also have the autonomy to decide how they teach first aid and which resources to use, so schools are free to incorporate citizenAID’s materials into their lessons if they choose to.
The department is currently reviewing the statutory RSHE curriculum, which includes considering whether any additional content is needed, including first aid and life-saving skills.
Asked by: Neil Shastri-Hurst (Conservative - Solihull West and Shirley)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether her Department has made a recent assessment of the potential impact of the application of VAT on independent school fees on the number of independent school closures in the (a) 2024-25 and (b) 2025-26 financial years.
Answered by Stephen Morgan - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
Approximately 50 mainstream private schools close each year. There are a range of reasons for closure, including financial viability and action taken by the department where schools are not meeting standards. We expect the number of private school closures to remain relatively low, and be influenced by various factors, not just the VAT policy.
The government is aware there may be a temporary increase in the schools closure rate over the normal rate during the few years after implementation of the VAT policy. It is estimated that this may be broadly equivalent to 100 schools in total closing over the next 3 years, in addition to the normal levels of turnover, after which closures would return to historic norms. The government has conducted a thorough and detailed analysis of this policy’s impacts and published a Tax Impact and Information Note (TIIN), which can be found here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/vat-on-private-school-fees/ac8c20ce-4824-462d-b206-26a567724643#summary-of-impacts.
Historically, there has been significant turnover within the sector. Since 2000, average fees in the sector have increased by 75% in real terms, while pupil numbers have remained stable, as have total school numbers.
Local authorities routinely support parents who need a state-funded school place, including where private schools have closed. The department works with local authorities to support place planning and ensure there is capacity in the state-funded sector to meet demand. Parents can seek places in other private schools or find a state-funded place through their local authority.
Asked by: Neil Shastri-Hurst (Conservative - Solihull West and Shirley)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what estimate she has made of the value of charity given to (a) state schools and (b) local communities by independent schools in each of the last five years.
Answered by Stephen Morgan - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
The department does not collect data about the value of charity given to state schools and local communities by private schools. Therefore, my right hon. Friend, the Secretary of State for Education has not made an estimate of its value in each of the last five years.
The Independent Schools Council, which represents over 1,400 private schools belonging to an association, publishes an annual report which sets out the support private schools give to schools in the state sector through partnership working and bursaries.