Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Sarah Teather and Andrew Bridgen

Monday 21st November 2011 Commons Chamber

[Sarah Teather]

Obviously, I have not seen the right hon. Gentleman’s letter to the Secretary of State, but I would be happy for either me or a colleague to come to see the specific issues in his constituency. I recognise the challenges of having a transient population and ensuring that all those families are claiming their benefits and are registered for free school meals. The Department is beginning a series of work to encourage schools to make sure that all families are signed up to free school meals.

[Andrew Bridgen (North West Leicestershire) (Con)]

I very much welcome the introduction of the pupil premium, but is the whole system not completely reliant on the schools correctly identifying and registering pupils who are eligible for free school meals? How successful does the Minister believe schools are in identifying these vulnerable pupils?

[Sarah Teather]

It varies according to area. We know that there is some tail-off at secondary school level, which is one of the reasons why our funding consultation touched on whether or not to introduce measures, including “ever” free school meals. That was about picking up children for the pupil premium who had previously been on free school meals, because there is some drop-off as they move from one area to the next. As I said, we are beginning some work to encourage parents to sign up. Not all parents want to sign up for the lunch, but they may well be keen to sign up if they know that their school will get extra money.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Sarah Teather and Andrew Bridgen

Monday 7th February 2011 Commons Chamber

[Sarah Teather]

The right hon. Gentleman is right to be proud of the Sure Start children’s centres, which are an excellent programme. That is precisely why the Government have made sure that the money is there in the early intervention grant, and why we have built on that by providing extra money for health visitors, through the Department of Health, and more money for things such as the family-nurse partnerships, which we know work on the ground and are often delivered through children’s centres. I believe that localism is the right way forward. Good local councils are thinking creatively about, for example, how to ensure that they can cluster their centres and merge their back offices, and how to prioritise outcomes for children—it is outcomes that matter.

[Andrew Bridgen (North West Leicestershire) (Con)]

Does my hon. Friend envisage opening up the assets of these underused children’s centres to community groups to expand the big society?

[Sarah Teather]

In some areas, local authorities are very good at making full use of the assets, which are often fantastic buildings, but in other areas they are not as good. I hope that providing the flexible fund will mean that local authorities start to think more creatively about how they can join services together and perhaps provide support for older children. By providing that kind of flexibility we enable local authorities to make the right decisions for their areas.