Asked by: Robert Halfon (Conservative - Harlow)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many people are enrolled on a T Level qualification in Harlow constituency.
Answered by Andrea Jenkyns
There were 106 students funded for T Levels in the 2021/22 academic year at Harlow College, the only provider offering T Levels in the constituency in 2021. The department has not published any figures for T Level student numbers in the 2022/23 academic year. We would expect to publish figures at institution level in spring 2023.
Asked by: Robert Halfon (Conservative - Harlow)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many people have completed a T Level qualification in Harlow constituency as of 13 October 2022.
Answered by Andrea Jenkyns
T Levels are a two year programme and were first taught in a modest number of providers from September 2020. No T Levels were delivered in Harlow constituency in 2020 and so no students there have yet completed a T Level.
Harlow College has been offering T Levels in the constituency since 2021 and the first students will complete their course in 2023.
Asked by: Robert Halfon (Conservative - Harlow)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if he will make an assessment of the potential implications for his policies of the conclusions of the Education Select Committee on the availability of industry placements to support T Level qualifications.
Answered by Andrea Jenkyns
The department will consider any recommendations that come out of the Education Select Committee’s review. We will continue to listen to key stakeholders to ensure high-quality industry placements can be delivered, in all subjects, throughout England.
The department has invested more than £200 million over the past 4 years to help T Level providers build their capacity for placements and develop relationships with local employers. We have put in place bespoke support for both providers and employers which includes direct, hands-on support. We also have a T Level Ambassador Network that is continuing to recruit T Level advocates across key industries to inspire engagement in the T Level programme.
Asked by: Robert Halfon (Conservative - Harlow)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what estimate he has made of the number of schools and colleges in England fitted with reinforced autoclaved aerated concrete.
Answered by Jonathan Gullis
The Department has sent a questionnaire on reinforced autoclaved aerated concrete (RAAC) to all responsible bodies, asking them to complete the information on RAAC for all their schools. The questionnaire asks whether RAAC is present in any buildings on their school estates, and how responsible bodies are managing it. The purpose of the questionnaire is to allow the Department to better understand the prevalence of RAAC across the school estate and ensure the correct support is in place to meet the responsible bodies’ needs. The questionnaire has been sent to responsible bodies of schools and does not include colleges.
The questionnaire remains open. At present, the Department only has partial data and is not yet able to provide an estimate of the number of schools fitted with RAAC.
Depending upon the survey uptake in the next 6 months, an initial estimate may be issued in April 2023.
The Department has also previously issued guidance on identifying and managing RAAC, which it will be updating later this year.
Asked by: Robert Halfon (Conservative - Harlow)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what recent estimate his Department has made of the number of school children that do not have a personal laptop or tablet.
Answered by Robin Walker
Since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, the department has delivered over 1.95 million laptops and tablets to schools, trusts, local authorities, and further education providers for disadvantaged children and young people. This is part of a £520 million government investment to support access to remote education and online social care services.
The laptops and tablets distributed through the department are owned by schools, trusts, local authorities, or further education providers who can lend these to children and young people who need them the most. These laptops and tablets are an injection of support on top of an estimated 2.9 million already owned by schools before the start of the COVID-19 pandemic. These devices are intended to give schools the flexibility to provide remote education support and can continue to be used in the longer term either in the classroom or from home.
Asked by: Robert Halfon (Conservative - Harlow)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how much grant funding has been allocated to the National Union for Students over the past five years.
Answered by Michelle Donelan - Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology
The department has not made any grant payments to the National Union for Students over the last five years.
Asked by: Robert Halfon (Conservative - Harlow)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, with reference to the upcoming SEND Review and Green Paper, what assessment he has made of the potential merits of revising the Initial Teacher Training framework to ensure that all teachers are equipped to teach children with (a) speech, language and communication needs and (b) other special educational needs.
Answered by Robin Walker
Since September 2020, all courses offered by initial teacher training (ITT) providers have been aligned to a mandatory core content framework (CCF), which was published in November 2019. The framework sets out a minimum entitlement for all trainee teachers.
Evidence shows that teacher quality is the most important factor within schools in improving outcomes for all children, particularly those from a disadvantaged background, or for those with additional needs. The CCF is therefore key to the government’s plans to improve school standards for all.
The CCF is based on the best peer-reviewed evidence about what works and is designed to emphasis the importance of high quality teaching. The framework therefore deliberately does not detail approaches specific to particular needs, but what makes the most effective teaching. The department expects ITT providers and their partners to continue to tailor their curricula to the needs of their trainees and the children in the schools where they train and will work, which may include pupils with specific speech, language and communication needs.
Additionally, courses must continue to be designed so that trainee teachers can demonstrate that they meet the Teachers’ Standards at the end of their course, including standard 5, which is clear that teachers must have an understanding of the needs of all pupils, including those with special educational needs.
In July 2021 we published the government response to the ITT Review which set out new quality requirements for all ITT from September 2024 and the government's aim to ensure that all trainee teachers experience consistently high-quality ITT that incorporates the ITT Core Content Framework in full.
This week, the department published the Special Educational Needs and Disabilities and Alternative Provision Green Paper for full public consultation. These proposals set out a system that offers children and young people the opportunity to thrive, with access to the right support, in the right place, and at the right time, so they can fulfil their potential and lead happy, healthy and productive adult lives.
Asked by: Robert Halfon (Conservative - Harlow)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how the £1 billion allocated to schools as part of the Recovery Premium will be spent to help children’s speech and language.
Answered by Will Quince
The £300 million Recovery Premium for this academic year is additional funding to help schools deliver evidence-based approaches to support education recovery. In October 2021, as part of our broader Spending Review settlement, we announced an extension to the Recovery Premium, worth £1 billion for the 2022/23 and 2023/24 academic years.
Recovery Premium eligibility builds on that of pupil premium, but school leaders have flexibility to use the funding to support any pupil where a need is identified, including those with speech and language difficulties.
Schools are expected to spend their Recovery Premium, alongside their pupil premium, in line with the Education Endowment Foundation’s recommendation to fund activities that support high quality teaching, provide targeted academic support, and address non-academic barriers to success in school, such as attendance, behaviour, and social and emotional support.
Schools should therefore use their funding to assess and address immediate needs, such as those relating to speech and language difficulties, as well as longer-term strategic improvements, such as boosting the quality of oracy teaching.
We are also investing up to £180 million of recovery support in the early years sector, with new programmes focusing on key areas such as speech and language development for the youngest children. This includes:
The NELI programme includes training for staff on identifying speech and language difficulties, and is proven to help children make around 3 months of additional progress.
Asked by: Robert Halfon (Conservative - Harlow)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment he has made of how the Recovery Premium benefit children with a speech and language difficulty or whose development in speaking and understanding language has been adversely affected as a result of the covid-19 outbreak and associated schools closures.
Answered by Will Quince
The £300 million Recovery Premium for this academic year is additional funding to help schools deliver evidence-based approaches to support education recovery. In October 2021, as part of our broader Spending Review settlement, we announced an extension to the Recovery Premium, worth £1 billion for the 2022/23 and 2023/24 academic years.
Recovery Premium eligibility builds on that of pupil premium, but school leaders have flexibility to use the funding to support any pupil where a need is identified, including those with speech and language difficulties.
Schools are expected to spend their Recovery Premium, alongside their pupil premium, in line with the Education Endowment Foundation’s recommendation to fund activities that support high quality teaching, provide targeted academic support, and address non-academic barriers to success in school, such as attendance, behaviour, and social and emotional support.
Schools should therefore use their funding to assess and address immediate needs, such as those relating to speech and language difficulties, as well as longer-term strategic improvements, such as boosting the quality of oracy teaching.
We are also investing up to £180 million of recovery support in the early years sector, with new programmes focusing on key areas such as speech and language development for the youngest children. This includes:
The NELI programme includes training for staff on identifying speech and language difficulties, and is proven to help children make around 3 months of additional progress.
Asked by: Robert Halfon (Conservative - Harlow)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment he has made of the potential impact of the Health and Social Care Bill proposals on joint working between local authorities, the police and health authorities on safeguarding children.
Answered by Will Quince
Safeguarding children requires strong multi-agency arrangements. This statutory duty is equally shared between local authorities, health and police. The department is working closely with the Department of Health and Social Care, the Home Office and key sector stakeholders to ensure that safeguarding remains a priority under the Health and Social Care Bill. We are also working to assure that the needs of children and young people stay central to decision-making within these new multi-agency arrangements.