Asked by: Peter Gibson (Conservative - Darlington)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what recent assessment he has made of the adequacy in the levels of funding for local authorities Children’s Services.
Answered by Will Quince
Local authorities set their own children’s services budget from their core spending power, based on local need, priorities and their statutory responsibilities.
In the 2022/23 financial year, local authorities have access to £54.1 billion core spending power to deliver their services, including for children and young people. This is £3.7 billion more than in the 2021/22 financial year.
As part of this, the government has boosted the social care grant, increasing it by £636 million, and bringing it to a total of around £2.35 billion in the 2022/23 financial year. Local authorities will have access to a one-off Services Grant in 2022/23, which is worth over £800 million and can be used for all services, including children’s social care.
Asked by: Peter Gibson (Conservative - Darlington)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps his Department is taking to tackle rising levels of antisemitism on university campuses.
Answered by Michelle Donelan - Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology
The government is clear that antisemitism is abhorrent and we expect higher education (HE) providers to be at the forefront of tackling the challenge of it.
We have pushed for several years for greater action from HE providers to address antisemitism. We have encouraged HE providers to adopt the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance (IHRA) definition of antisemitism to give clarity of what constitutes antisemitic behaviour. This will enable providers to better understand and recognise incidences of antisemitism and take action to address them.
In October 2020, the former Secretary of State for Education, my right hon. Friend for South Staffordshire, wrote to all HE providers urging adoption of the IHRA definition, stating that we would consider further action if HE providers did not adopt. The former Secretary of State for Education also sent a follow-up letter in May 2021, reinforcing the government's expectation that providers adopt the IHRA definition, stressing the even greater importance of doing so considering increased numbers of antisemitic incidents recorded as a result of the conflict in the Middle East.
In response to this, on 10 November 2021, the Office for Students published a list of HE providers who have adopted the definition. I am pleased to report good progress in the last year: an increase from around 30 to over 200 providers having adopted. This includes the vast majority of universities. I will continue to urge all HE providers to adopt the IHRA definition of antisemitism
Adoption of the IHRA definition is only a first step towards ridding HE of antisemitism. While the government considers that adoption of the definition is crucial, it is not enough on its own. As my right hon. Friend, the Secretary of State for Education, has previously announced publicly, we are leading a summit later this month specifically focused on tackling antisemitism in HE. This event will include key stakeholders from the sector to examine what more can be done to make Jewish students and staff feel safe on campus.
Asked by: Peter Gibson (Conservative - Darlington)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many electronic devices to support remote learning have been distributed to each educational institution in Darlington during the covid-19 outbreak.
Answered by Nick Gibb
The Government is investing over £400 million to support access to remote education and online social care services securing 1.3 million laptops and tablets for disadvantaged children and young people, 920,000 of which were delivered to schools, trusts, local authorities and further education providers by 1 February.
As of 1 February, 543 devices have been delivered directly to Darlington Local Authority. Devices have also been allocated to academy trusts that include schools in Darlington, which are not included in this figure.
More information on the number of devices delivered to schools, trusts and local authorities can be viewed here: https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/find-statistics/laptops-and-tablets-data/2021-week-5.
The number of devices allocated is based on recent data on the number of free school meal eligible pupils at the school. On 12 January, the Department announced a further 300,000 devices will be provided nationally over the course of this term.