Asked by: Steve Double (Conservative - St Austell and Newquay)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps he is taking to improve the (a) availability and (b) quality of university courses related to the UK's industrial critical minerals needs.
Answered by Michelle Donelan
It is one of the government’s highest priorities and an important manifesto commitment to drive up quality and standards in higher education (HE), which is a fundamental part of our levelling up agenda. We owe it to all our students, wherever they are from, that at the very least they can expect a minimum standard of excellence that is going to lead to a qualification that will improve their future prospects and help them achieve their life goals.
In order to be registered with the English HE regulator, the Office for Students (OfS), HE providers in England are required to meet a minimum set of requirements. These are designed to ensure that all students receive a high-quality academic experience, students’ interests are protected and that students’ qualifications hold their value over time. Providers must deliver successful outcomes for all their students, which are recognised and valued by employers, and/or enable further study. The government welcomes the recent OfS consultation on regulating quality and standards in HE and expects the OfS to progress rapidly to ensure that a robust and enhanced quality regime will be operational as soon as possible.
The OfS provides funding to support high-cost science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) subjects, which will include high skilled jobs in the minerals industry. Further details can be found here: https://www.officeforstudents.org.uk/advice-and-guidance/skills-and-employment/supporting-stem-subjects/.
The Strategic Priorities Grant, formerly referred to as the HE Teaching Grant, will play an important role in supporting providers and students to develop the skills and knowledge needed locally, regionally, and nationally to support the economy. My right hon. Friend, the Secretary of State for Education, has asked the OfS to reform the Grant for the 2021-22 financial year, to ensure that more of taxpayers’ money is spent on supporting HE provision which aligns with national priorities, such as healthcare, STEM and subjects meeting specific labour market needs.
The OfS will consult on these changes before final allocations for the 2021-22 financial year are confirmed.
We are also reforming higher technical education to make it more prestigious and popular so that it delivers the skills employers need. We will introduce high-quality, nationally recognised approved higher technical qualifications that meet employer needs, starting with the digital route from September 2022.
Asked by: Steve Double (Conservative - St Austell and Newquay)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether his Department has a single individual who is responsible for leading on his Department's application to the Family Test.
Answered by Michelle Donelan
Each department has a Family Test lead who is part of our Family Test Network. This network is the central forum through which we have sought input and comments on the support that departments need to help with Family Test implementation. This includes network members feeding into improvements to the existing guidance for officials in all departments on Family Test implementation.
Asked by: Steve Double (Conservative - St Austell and Newquay)
Question to the Department for Education:
What recent assessment he has made of the effect of fines for unauthorised school absence on school attendance levels.
Answered by Nick Gibb
Parents have a duty to ensure their child of compulsory school age, who is registered at school, attends regularly.
We have not formally assessed the impact of penalty notices but comparable data shows overall absence rates have remained fairly stable across recent years, following a downward trend since 2006/07 (4.7% in 2016/17, compared to 6.5% in 2006/07).
Asked by: Steve Double (Conservative - St Austell and Newquay)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what recent steps his Department has taken to ensure that information and support is provided on eating disorders for pupils in secondary schools.
Answered by Nick Gibb
To support schools the Government funds the PSHE Association to provide guidance to schools on how to teach pupils in all four key stages about mental health. The guidance includes age appropriate advice on teaching about eating disorders in secondary school.
The Government made a manifesto commitment that all pupils should learn about mental wellbeing and the mental health risks of the internet. The Department is currently conducting a thorough engagement process on the scope and content of Relationships Education and Relationships and Sex Education, and on the future status of Personal Social, Health and Economic Education. Decisions on further action to deliver the commitment will be made in the light of the outcome of the engagement process.
The Government has also funded information for school staff. MindEd is a free online portal that provides training for all adults working with children and young people about specific mental health problems. It includes specific information on eating disorders.
To improve access to specialist support for eating disorders, the Government has made available an additional £1.4 billion for children and young people’s mental health services. This includes £150 million specifically targeted at improving support for young people with eating disorders. The Government is also consulting on the green paper Transforming Children and Young People’s Mental Health Provision. It includes proposals for mental health support teams to provide more trained support for young people with mental health issues and to improve access to specialist support where it is needed.
Asked by: Steve Double (Conservative - St Austell and Newquay)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps his Department has taken to improve support for children in Cornwall with special educational and disability needs.
Answered by Nadhim Zahawi
The Children and Families Act 2014 provided significant support for children and young people with special educational needs, putting individuals and their families at the heart of the process. The transition period between the old and new systems will end in March 2018. We have put in place inspection arrangements to support local improvement, and ensure that services work effectively to identify and meet the individual’s needs. In July 2017, Ofsted and the Care Quality Commission conducted a joint inspection of the local area of Cornwall. Their report highlights many areas of good practice and a number of areas for development.
The department has provided local authorities with £252 million between 2014-15 and 2017-18 to support local authorities to embed the special educational needs and disability reforms as set out in the Children and Families Act 2014.
Asked by: Steve Double (Conservative - St Austell and Newquay)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what estimate he has made of the overall increase in funding for Cornwall’s schools as a result of the implementation of the fair funding formula.
Answered by Nick Gibb
The introduction of the national funding formula in 2018-19 will allocate funding on the basis of the specific characteristics of every school and pupil.
Allocations for 2018-19 for each local authority were confirmed on 19 December 2017 and can be found at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/dedicated-schools-grant-dsg-2018-to-2019. The allocations take into account the latest pupil numbers from the October 2017 census. For Cornwall, the national funding formula means an increase in schools funding of 1.7% per pupil in 2018-19 and 2.7% in 2019-20.
Local authorities will continue to set their own local formulae which will determine individual schools’ budgets in their areas, in 2018-19 and 2019-20, in consultation with local schools.