Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Nick Gibb and Alan Brown

Monday 27th February 2023 Commons Chamber

[Nick Gibb]

My hon. Friend is absolutely right. Early identification of any special educational need or support requirement is critical to improving the outcomes for children and young people with special educational needs and disabilities, including those with dyslexia. We already have a number of measures to help teachers do that, including the phonics screening check and statutory assessments at the end of key stages 1 and 2.

[Alan Brown (Kilmarnock and Loudoun) (SNP)]

Hungry children cannot learn, which affects their reading standards and their chances in life, and there is a clear link between undernourishment and lower academic attainment. The Scottish Government have committed to free school meals for all primary school children. Is it not time for the UK Government to consider doing the same thing?

[Nick Gibb]

Of course, it was this Government who introduced the universal infant free school meal, which means that 1.25 million children in infant schools are receiving a free school meal. We have increased from 1.7 million to 1.9 million the number of children eligible for free school meals, so thanks to this Government something like a third of children today are receiving a nutritious meal at lunchtime in our schools.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Nick Gibb and Alan Brown

Monday 25th June 2018 Commons Chamber

[Nick Gibb]

Our national funding formula is a much fairer way of allocating funding, and it also supports small rural schools, particularly in areas such as West Oxfordshire, by providing a lump sum of £110,000 for every school and by targeting funding to small and remote schools through the sparsity factor. That provides up to an additional £65,000 for small rural secondary schools and £25,000 for primaries.

[Alan Brown (Kilmarnock and Loudoun) (SNP)]

T8. The Centre for Global Higher Education has identified that EU academics fill gaps in subjects such as science, technology, engineering and maths where there are insufficient numbers of UK-qualified academics. With Brexit fast approaching, how are the Government going to maintain staffing levels, let alone magically increase the number of UK-qualified academics?

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Nick Gibb and Alan Brown

Monday 4th July 2016 Commons Chamber

[Mr Gibb]

Ah, so there is my shadow, sitting on the Back Benches. He is very welcome. I wish he were sitting on the Front Bench and not there. However, in answer to his question, we are currently considering the STRB report, and we will publish it shortly, together with the Government’s response.

[Alan Brown (Kilmarnock and Loudoun) (SNP)]

24. It is likely that academies in better-off areas will be able to access more funding and therefore pay higher salaries and attract the best teachers. What will that do for staff morale in academies in poorer areas? How will they be able to attract the teachers needed to close the attainment gap?

[Mr Gibb]

Academies’ funding rates are the same as those for the area in which they are situated. My right hon. Friend the Secretary of State will say something shortly about the national fair funding formula, which we hope will make funding across the country fairer.