Asked by: Nick Gibb (Conservative - Bognor Regis and Littlehampton)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what current contracts (a) his Department and (b) each of his Department's executive agencies or non-departmental public bodies hold with the Educational Testing Service or any of that organisation's subsidiaries.
Answered by Dan Rogerson
Neither Core Defra, nor its Executive Agencies or Non-Departmental public bodies hold any contracts with the Educational Testing Service or any of its subsidiaries.
Asked by: Nick Gibb (Conservative - Bognor Regis and Littlehampton)
Question to the Northern Ireland Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, what current contracts (a) her Department and (b) each of her Department's non-departmental public bodies hold with the Educational Testing Service or any of that organisation's subsidiaries.
Answered by Theresa Villiers
My Department currently holds no contracts with the Educational Testing Service or any of that organisation's subsidiaries.
My Department has two executive Non-Departmental Public Bodies; the Northern Ireland Human Rights Commission and the Parades Commission for Northern Ireland. As these bodies are independent of Government, the hon Member may wish to write directly to them on this operational matter. Contact details are provided below:
Northern Ireland Human Rights Commission
Contact: information@nihrc.org
Parades Commission for Northern Ireland
Contact: Info@paradescommission.org
Asked by: Nick Gibb (Conservative - Bognor Regis and Littlehampton)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what current contracts (a) his Department and (b) each of his Department's executive agencies or non-departmental public bodies hold with the Educational Testing Service or any of that organisation's subsidiaries.
Answered by Stephen Hammond
The department has no current contracts with Educational Testing Services or its subsidiaries.
Asked by: Nick Gibb (Conservative - Bognor Regis and Littlehampton)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many prisoners released on temporary licence from Ford Open Prison failed to return in each of the last five years.
Answered by Jeremy Wright
The following table shows the number of releases on temporary licence and failures to return recorded at HMP Ford since 2008. Data on failures to return is unavailable before 2009 and centrally held data on temporary releases is unavailable for 2009 and 2010 when a new prison database system was introduced.
Data on temporary release failures for 2013 will be published later this year:
HMP Ford: Release on temporary licence and failures to return
2008 | 2009 | 2010 | 2011 | 2012 | |
Failures to return | - | 10 | 12 | 18 | 28 |
Temporary releases | 21,145 | - | - | 24,606 | 33,381 |
Failures on ROTL remain very rare, consistently accounting for less that one tenth of one per cent of all releases, but they are taken seriously. In March, we announced a range of measures to strengthen the existing temporary release provisions to ensure that the right balance is always struck between facilitating resettlement and protecting the public. Under our plans, there will be a more consistent, tougher approach to dealing with ROTL failures and, in the Criminal Justice and Courts Bill, we are seeking to increase the maximum penalty for failing to return from ROTL from six months' to two years' imprisonment.
Asked by: Nick Gibb (Conservative - Bognor Regis and Littlehampton)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many absconders there were from Ford Open Prison in 2013-14.
Answered by Jeremy Wright
The number of absconds from HMP Ford during 2012/13 were the lowest on record. Abscond figures for 2013/14 are due to be published on 31 July 2014 as part of the Prison Performance Digest.
Figures for the number of absconds, by prison, since 1995 are provided in the Prison Digest contained in the Prison and Probation Trusts Performance Statistics. This can be found at:
Asked by: Nick Gibb (Conservative - Bognor Regis and Littlehampton)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what the waiting time is for new routine referrals to Ophthalmology in each NHS hospital trust area.
Answered by Dan Poulter
Information on the median average waiting time for patients waiting to start consultant-led ophthalmology treatment for all National Health Service trusts and NHS foundation trusts in England is shown in the following table.
Latest data for February 2014 shows that the median average waiting time for patients waiting to start consultant-led ophthalmology treatment in the Western Sussex Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust is 8.6 weeks.
Monthly Referral to Treatment (RTT) waiting times for incomplete pathways in ophthalmology, February 2014
Provider Name | Average (Median) Waiting Time (In Weeks) |
Aintree University Hospital NHS Foundation Trust | 4.7 |
Airedale NHS Foundation Trust | 4.1 |
Ashford And St Peter's Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust | 4.9 |
Barts Health NHS Trust | 6.2 |
Bedford Hospital NHS Trust | 6.0 |
Blackpool Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust | 7.3 |
Bolton NHS Foundation Trust | 5.5 |
Bradford Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust | 4.9 |
Brighton And Sussex University Hospitals NHS Trust | 5.7 |
Buckinghamshire Healthcare NHS Trust | 10.2 |
Burton Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust | 5.7 |
Calderdale And Huddersfield NHS Foundation Trust | 4.9 |
Cambridge University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust | 5.2 |
Central Manchester University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust | 5.3 |
Chelsea And Westminster Hospital NHS Foundation Trust | 5.1 |
Chesterfield Royal Hospital NHS Foundation Trust | 6.5 |
City Hospitals Sunderland NHS Foundation Trust | 5.1 |
Colchester Hospital University NHS Foundation Trust | 4.7 |
Countess Of Chester Hospital NHS Foundation Trust | 6.4 |
County Durham And Darlington NHS Foundation Trust | 6.8 |
Coventry And Warwickshire Partnership NHS Trust | 4.4 |
Croydon Health Services NHS Trust | 4.9 |
Derbyshire Community Health Services NHS Trust | 5.3 |
Doncaster And Bassetlaw Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust | 5.0 |
Dorset County Hospital NHS Foundation Trust | 6.9 |
Dorset Healthcare University NHS Foundation Trust | 8.8 |
East And North Hertfordshire NHS Trust | 4.5 |
East Cheshire NHS Trust | 6.1 |
East Kent Hospitals University NHS Foundation Trust | 4.9 |
East Lancashire Hospitals NHS Trust | 4.2 |
East Sussex Healthcare NHS Trust | 6.0 |
Epsom And St Helier University Hospitals NHS Trust | 4.9 |
Frimley Park Hospital NHS Foundation Trust | 6.5 |
George Eliot Hospital NHS Trust | 2.7 |
Gloucestershire Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust | 4.3 |
Great Western Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust | 7.5 |
Guy's And St Thomas' NHS Foundation Trust | 4.2 |
Hampshire Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust | 5.7 |
Harrogate And District NHS Foundation Trust | 5.5 |
Heart Of England NHS Foundation Trust | 5.3 |
Hinchingbrooke Health Care NHS Trust | 3.6 |
Homerton University Hospital NHS Foundation Trust | 3.0 |
Hull And East Yorkshire Hospitals NHS Trust | 5.5 |
Imperial College Healthcare NHS Trust | 5.1 |
Isle Of Wight NHS Trust | 5.5 |
James Paget University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust | 4.8 |
Kettering General Hospital NHS Foundation Trust | 5.7 |
King's College Hospital NHS Foundation Trust | 6.1 |
Kingston Hospital NHS Foundation Trust | 4.6 |
Lancashire Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust | 5.0 |
Leeds Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust | 4.8 |
Lewisham And Greenwich NHS Trust | 5.1 |
Luton And Dunstable University Hospital NHS Foundation Trust | 5.1 |
Maidstone And Tunbridge Wells NHS Trust | 6.3 |
Mid Cheshire Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust | 5.6 |
Mid Essex Hospital Services NHS Trust | 5.7 |
Mid Staffordshire NHS Foundation Trust | 4.7 |
Mid Yorkshire Hospitals NHS Trust | 5.4 |
Milton Keynes Hospital NHS Foundation Trust | 4.0 |
Moorfields Eye Hospital NHS Foundation Trust | 5.7 |
Norfolk And Norwich University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust | 6.4 |
North Cumbria University Hospitals NHS Trust | 7.2 |
North Middlesex University Hospital NHS Trust | 6.0 |
North West London Hospitals NHS Trust | 3.8 |
Northampton General Hospital NHS Trust | 4.2 |
Northern Devon Healthcare NHS Trust | 5.5 |
Northern Lincolnshire And Goole NHS Foundation Trust | 5.4 |
Nottingham University Hospitals NHS Trust | 5.3 |
Oxford University Hospitals NHS Trust | 8.5 |
Pennine Acute Hospitals NHS Trust | 5.4 |
Peterborough And Stamford Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust | 5.4 |
Plymouth Hospitals NHS Trust | 5.8 |
Poole Hospital NHS Foundation Trust | 5.7 |
Portsmouth Hospitals NHS Trust | 5.6 |
Queen Victoria Hospital NHS Foundation Trust | 8.8 |
Royal Berkshire NHS Foundation Trust | 6.7 |
Royal Cornwall Hospitals NHS Trust | 5.5 |
Royal Devon And Exeter NHS Foundation Trust | 4.8 |
Royal Free London NHS Foundation Trust | 6.8 |
Royal Liverpool And Broadgreen University Hospitals NHS Trust | 4.6 |
Royal Surrey County Hospital NHS Foundation Trust | 5.9 |
Royal United Hospital Bath NHS Trust | 5.2 |
Salisbury NHS Foundation Trust | 4.0 |
Sandwell And West Birmingham Hospitals NHS Trust | 4.5 |
Sheffield Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust | 5.6 |
Sherwood Forest Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust | 5.6 |
Shrewsbury And Telford Hospital NHS Trust | 10.4 |
South Devon Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust | 4.2 |
South Tees Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust | 6.3 |
South Tyneside NHS Foundation Trust | 6.8 |
South Warwickshire NHS Foundation Trust | 5.8 |
Southend University Hospital NHS Foundation Trust | 5.4 |
Southern Health NHS Foundation Trust | 4.4 |
Southport And Ormskirk Hospital NHS Trust | 3.5 |
St George's Healthcare NHS Trust | 7.0 |
St Helens And Knowsley Hospitals NHS Trust | 4.7 |
Stockport NHS Foundation Trust | 6.7 |
Surrey And Sussex Healthcare NHS Trust | 6.2 |
Taunton And Somerset NHS Foundation Trust | 8.3 |
The Dudley Group NHS Foundation Trust | 5.8 |
The Hillingdon Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust | 4.1 |
The Newcastle Upon Tyne Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust | 4.7 |
The Princess Alexandra Hospital NHS Trust | 5.4 |
The Queen Elizabeth Hospital, King's Lynn, NHS Foundation Trust | 3.2 |
The Rotherham NHS Foundation Trust | 2.1 |
The Royal Bournemouth And Christchurch Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust | 5.2 |
The Royal Wolverhampton NHS Trust | 4.5 |
United Lincolnshire Hospitals NHS Trust | 6.2 |
University College London Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust | 5.9 |
University Hospital Of North Staffordshire NHS Trust | 4.8 |
University Hospital Southampton NHS Foundation Trust | 5.6 |
University Hospitals Birmingham NHS Foundation Trust | 5.3 |
University Hospitals Bristol NHS Foundation Trust | 5.3 |
University Hospitals Coventry And Warwickshire NHS Trust | 5.2 |
University Hospitals Of Leicester NHS Trust | 5.8 |
University Hospitals Of Morecambe Bay NHS Foundation Trust | 5.2 |
Walsall Healthcare NHS Trust | 5.5 |
Warrington And Halton Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust | 3.4 |
West Hertfordshire Hospitals NHS Trust | 10.8 |
West Suffolk NHS Foundation Trust | 3.1 |
Western Sussex Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust | 8.6 |
Weston Area Health NHS Trust | 5.6 |
Wirral University Teaching Hospital NHS Foundation Trust | 6.0 |
Worcestershire Acute Hospitals NHS Trust | 4.7 |
Worcestershire Health And Care NHS Trust | 4.2 |
Wrightington, Wigan And Leigh NHS Foundation Trust | 4.0 |
Wye Valley NHS Trust | 5.6 |
Yeovil District Hospital NHS Foundation Trust | 3.0 |
York Teaching Hospital NHS Foundation Trust | 5.4 |
Notes:
1. Median waiting times are calculated from aggregate data, rather than patient level data, and therefore are only estimates of the position on average waits.
2. Median waiting times are not calculated for organisations (and treatment functions) with less than 50 pathways in the month.
3. The following trusts did not submit any RTT incomplete pathway data for February 2014:
- Barnet and Chase Farm Hospitals NHS Trust;
- Barking, Havering & Redbridge NHS Trust;
- Derby Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust;
- Tameside Hospital NHS Foundation Trust;
- The Whittington Hospital NHS Trust; and
- Ipswich Hospital NHS Trust.
Asked by: Nick Gibb (Conservative - Bognor Regis and Littlehampton)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what the waiting time is for a routine new referral to Ophthalmology in the Western Sussex Hospitals Trust area; and if he will make a statement.
Answered by Dan Poulter
Information on the median average waiting time for patients waiting to start consultant-led ophthalmology treatment for all National Health Service trusts and NHS foundation trusts in England is shown in the following table.
Latest data for February 2014 shows that the median average waiting time for patients waiting to start consultant-led ophthalmology treatment in the Western Sussex Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust is 8.6 weeks.
Monthly Referral to Treatment (RTT) waiting times for incomplete pathways in ophthalmology, February 2014
Provider Name | Average (Median) Waiting Time (In Weeks) |
Aintree University Hospital NHS Foundation Trust | 4.7 |
Airedale NHS Foundation Trust | 4.1 |
Ashford And St Peter's Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust | 4.9 |
Barts Health NHS Trust | 6.2 |
Bedford Hospital NHS Trust | 6.0 |
Blackpool Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust | 7.3 |
Bolton NHS Foundation Trust | 5.5 |
Bradford Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust | 4.9 |
Brighton And Sussex University Hospitals NHS Trust | 5.7 |
Buckinghamshire Healthcare NHS Trust | 10.2 |
Burton Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust | 5.7 |
Calderdale And Huddersfield NHS Foundation Trust | 4.9 |
Cambridge University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust | 5.2 |
Central Manchester University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust | 5.3 |
Chelsea And Westminster Hospital NHS Foundation Trust | 5.1 |
Chesterfield Royal Hospital NHS Foundation Trust | 6.5 |
City Hospitals Sunderland NHS Foundation Trust | 5.1 |
Colchester Hospital University NHS Foundation Trust | 4.7 |
Countess Of Chester Hospital NHS Foundation Trust | 6.4 |
County Durham And Darlington NHS Foundation Trust | 6.8 |
Coventry And Warwickshire Partnership NHS Trust | 4.4 |
Croydon Health Services NHS Trust | 4.9 |
Derbyshire Community Health Services NHS Trust | 5.3 |
Doncaster And Bassetlaw Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust | 5.0 |
Dorset County Hospital NHS Foundation Trust | 6.9 |
Dorset Healthcare University NHS Foundation Trust | 8.8 |
East And North Hertfordshire NHS Trust | 4.5 |
East Cheshire NHS Trust | 6.1 |
East Kent Hospitals University NHS Foundation Trust | 4.9 |
East Lancashire Hospitals NHS Trust | 4.2 |
East Sussex Healthcare NHS Trust | 6.0 |
Epsom And St Helier University Hospitals NHS Trust | 4.9 |
Frimley Park Hospital NHS Foundation Trust | 6.5 |
George Eliot Hospital NHS Trust | 2.7 |
Gloucestershire Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust | 4.3 |
Great Western Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust | 7.5 |
Guy's And St Thomas' NHS Foundation Trust | 4.2 |
Hampshire Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust | 5.7 |
Harrogate And District NHS Foundation Trust | 5.5 |
Heart Of England NHS Foundation Trust | 5.3 |
Hinchingbrooke Health Care NHS Trust | 3.6 |
Homerton University Hospital NHS Foundation Trust | 3.0 |
Hull And East Yorkshire Hospitals NHS Trust | 5.5 |
Imperial College Healthcare NHS Trust | 5.1 |
Isle Of Wight NHS Trust | 5.5 |
James Paget University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust | 4.8 |
Kettering General Hospital NHS Foundation Trust | 5.7 |
King's College Hospital NHS Foundation Trust | 6.1 |
Kingston Hospital NHS Foundation Trust | 4.6 |
Lancashire Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust | 5.0 |
Leeds Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust | 4.8 |
Lewisham And Greenwich NHS Trust | 5.1 |
Luton And Dunstable University Hospital NHS Foundation Trust | 5.1 |
Maidstone And Tunbridge Wells NHS Trust | 6.3 |
Mid Cheshire Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust | 5.6 |
Mid Essex Hospital Services NHS Trust | 5.7 |
Mid Staffordshire NHS Foundation Trust | 4.7 |
Mid Yorkshire Hospitals NHS Trust | 5.4 |
Milton Keynes Hospital NHS Foundation Trust | 4.0 |
Moorfields Eye Hospital NHS Foundation Trust | 5.7 |
Norfolk And Norwich University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust | 6.4 |
North Cumbria University Hospitals NHS Trust | 7.2 |
North Middlesex University Hospital NHS Trust | 6.0 |
North West London Hospitals NHS Trust | 3.8 |
Northampton General Hospital NHS Trust | 4.2 |
Northern Devon Healthcare NHS Trust | 5.5 |
Northern Lincolnshire And Goole NHS Foundation Trust | 5.4 |
Nottingham University Hospitals NHS Trust | 5.3 |
Oxford University Hospitals NHS Trust | 8.5 |
Pennine Acute Hospitals NHS Trust | 5.4 |
Peterborough And Stamford Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust | 5.4 |
Plymouth Hospitals NHS Trust | 5.8 |
Poole Hospital NHS Foundation Trust | 5.7 |
Portsmouth Hospitals NHS Trust | 5.6 |
Queen Victoria Hospital NHS Foundation Trust | 8.8 |
Royal Berkshire NHS Foundation Trust | 6.7 |
Royal Cornwall Hospitals NHS Trust | 5.5 |
Royal Devon And Exeter NHS Foundation Trust | 4.8 |
Royal Free London NHS Foundation Trust | 6.8 |
Royal Liverpool And Broadgreen University Hospitals NHS Trust | 4.6 |
Royal Surrey County Hospital NHS Foundation Trust | 5.9 |
Royal United Hospital Bath NHS Trust | 5.2 |
Salisbury NHS Foundation Trust | 4.0 |
Sandwell And West Birmingham Hospitals NHS Trust | 4.5 |
Sheffield Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust | 5.6 |
Sherwood Forest Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust | 5.6 |
Shrewsbury And Telford Hospital NHS Trust | 10.4 |
South Devon Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust | 4.2 |
South Tees Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust | 6.3 |
South Tyneside NHS Foundation Trust | 6.8 |
South Warwickshire NHS Foundation Trust | 5.8 |
Southend University Hospital NHS Foundation Trust | 5.4 |
Southern Health NHS Foundation Trust | 4.4 |
Southport And Ormskirk Hospital NHS Trust | 3.5 |
St George's Healthcare NHS Trust | 7.0 |
St Helens And Knowsley Hospitals NHS Trust | 4.7 |
Stockport NHS Foundation Trust | 6.7 |
Surrey And Sussex Healthcare NHS Trust | 6.2 |
Taunton And Somerset NHS Foundation Trust | 8.3 |
The Dudley Group NHS Foundation Trust | 5.8 |
The Hillingdon Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust | 4.1 |
The Newcastle Upon Tyne Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust | 4.7 |
The Princess Alexandra Hospital NHS Trust | 5.4 |
The Queen Elizabeth Hospital, King's Lynn, NHS Foundation Trust | 3.2 |
The Rotherham NHS Foundation Trust | 2.1 |
The Royal Bournemouth And Christchurch Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust | 5.2 |
The Royal Wolverhampton NHS Trust | 4.5 |
United Lincolnshire Hospitals NHS Trust | 6.2 |
University College London Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust | 5.9 |
University Hospital Of North Staffordshire NHS Trust | 4.8 |
University Hospital Southampton NHS Foundation Trust | 5.6 |
University Hospitals Birmingham NHS Foundation Trust | 5.3 |
University Hospitals Bristol NHS Foundation Trust | 5.3 |
University Hospitals Coventry And Warwickshire NHS Trust | 5.2 |
University Hospitals Of Leicester NHS Trust | 5.8 |
University Hospitals Of Morecambe Bay NHS Foundation Trust | 5.2 |
Walsall Healthcare NHS Trust | 5.5 |
Warrington And Halton Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust | 3.4 |
West Hertfordshire Hospitals NHS Trust | 10.8 |
West Suffolk NHS Foundation Trust | 3.1 |
Western Sussex Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust | 8.6 |
Weston Area Health NHS Trust | 5.6 |
Wirral University Teaching Hospital NHS Foundation Trust | 6.0 |
Worcestershire Acute Hospitals NHS Trust | 4.7 |
Worcestershire Health And Care NHS Trust | 4.2 |
Wrightington, Wigan And Leigh NHS Foundation Trust | 4.0 |
Wye Valley NHS Trust | 5.6 |
Yeovil District Hospital NHS Foundation Trust | 3.0 |
York Teaching Hospital NHS Foundation Trust | 5.4 |
Notes:
1. Median waiting times are calculated from aggregate data, rather than patient level data, and therefore are only estimates of the position on average waits.
2. Median waiting times are not calculated for organisations (and treatment functions) with less than 50 pathways in the month.
3. The following trusts did not submit any RTT incomplete pathway data for February 2014:
- Barnet and Chase Farm Hospitals NHS Trust;
- Barking, Havering & Redbridge NHS Trust;
- Derby Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust;
- Tameside Hospital NHS Foundation Trust;
- The Whittington Hospital NHS Trust; and
- Ipswich Hospital NHS Trust.
Asked by: Nick Gibb (Conservative - Bognor Regis and Littlehampton)
Question
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what the student loan default rate is for students and graduates of (a) Bristol, (b) Cambridge, (c) Durham, (d) Exeter, (e) Leeds, (f) Manchester and (g) Oxford Universities.
Answered by Lord Willetts
Information on the repayment status of student loans is available in the Student Loans Company (SLC) publication ‘Income Contingent Repayments by Repayment Cohort and Tax Year', which is availableat the following link: http://www.slc.co.uk/media/589346/slcosp012013.pdf .
Institution-specific information is not published and can only be provided at disproportionate cost.
Asked by: Nick Gibb (Conservative - Bognor Regis and Littlehampton)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, pursuant to the Answer of 8 April 2014, Official Report, column 205W, on primary education: admissions, and of 6 March 2014, Official Report, column 904W, on academies, regarding primary school admissions from nursery schools, if he will make it his policy to reject the Chief Schools Adjudicator's recommendation to issue further guidance for admission authorities and instead amend the admissions code to enable primary schools to create all-through primary schools that include the years prior to reception.
Answered by David Laws
The School Admissions Code does not prevent a school from becoming an all-through primary school for children aged 2 or 3 to age 11. It does, however, prevent schools from giving priority for reception places to children who have been admitted to the nursery class unless they can do so fairly and without disadvantaging children whose parents choose other forms of early education.
Ministers are considering the Chief Schools Adjudicator's recommendation that they issue further guidance for admission authorities so that there is fair access to schools for all children.
We take fair access very seriously but also want to explore the incentives for schools to use their expertise to enhance early years education.
Asked by: Nick Gibb (Conservative - Bognor Regis and Littlehampton)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether Ofsted's interpretation of closing the attainment gap between pupils eligible and not eligible for free school meals relates to the gap in attainment nationally or in the school being inspected.
Answered by David Laws
This question is a matter for Ofsted. I have asked Her Majesty's Chief Inspector, Sir Michael Wilshaw, to write to the hon. Member. A copy of his reply has been placed in the House Library.