Asked by: Anneliese Dodds (Labour (Co-op) - Oxford East)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many and what proportion of schools in (a) Oxford, (b) Oxfordshire, (c) the South East and (d) England are expected to offer GCSEs in (i) art and design, (ii) dance, (iii) drama, (iv) music, (v) film studies and (vi) media studies in the next five years.
Answered by Damian Hinds - Minister of State (Education)
The department does not produce future trends of the number of students taking specific qualifications, or future trends in the number of schools or colleges offering specific qualifications.
The requirement on all state-funded schools to teach a broad and balanced curriculum encompasses the arts. Alongside drama as part of the English curriculum and dance as part of the physical education curriculum, music and art and design, remain important pillars of the knowledge-rich national curriculum. This is also reflected in the reformed GCSEs and A levels in art and design, dance, drama, music, film studies and media studies which were introduced for first teaching from 2015 for A levels and from 2016 for GCSEs. The government also introduced parallel reforms to Technical Awards at level 2 to ensure these were high-quality and fit-for-purpose.
Examining recent trends over the past five years, between 2019 and 2023, around half of pupils at Key Stage 4 have taken at least one approved arts qualification, which includes GCSEs set out above and Technical Awards.
The department has committed over £714 million of funding between 2016 and 2022 in a diverse portfolio of music and arts education programmes to ensure all children, whatever their background, have access to a high quality education in music and arts. Over and above school core funding, the department will continue to invest around £115 million per year in cultural education up to 2025.
Asked by: Anneliese Dodds (Labour (Co-op) - Oxford East)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if she will make an assessment of future trends in the level of student uptake for GCSE level (a) art and design, (b) dance, (c) drama, (d) music, (e) film studies and (f) media studies in (i) Oxford, (ii) Oxfordshire, (iii) the South East and (iv) England.
Answered by Damian Hinds - Minister of State (Education)
The department does not produce future trends of the number of students taking specific qualifications, or future trends in the number of schools or colleges offering specific qualifications.
The requirement on all state-funded schools to teach a broad and balanced curriculum encompasses the arts. Alongside drama as part of the English curriculum and dance as part of the physical education curriculum, music and art and design, remain important pillars of the knowledge-rich national curriculum. This is also reflected in the reformed GCSEs and A levels in art and design, dance, drama, music, film studies and media studies which were introduced for first teaching from 2015 for A levels and from 2016 for GCSEs. The government also introduced parallel reforms to Technical Awards at level 2 to ensure these were high-quality and fit-for-purpose.
Examining recent trends over the past five years, between 2019 and 2023, around half of pupils at Key Stage 4 have taken at least one approved arts qualification, which includes GCSEs set out above and Technical Awards.
The department has committed over £714 million of funding between 2016 and 2022 in a diverse portfolio of music and arts education programmes to ensure all children, whatever their background, have access to a high quality education in music and arts. Over and above school core funding, the department will continue to invest around £115 million per year in cultural education up to 2025.
Asked by: Daniel Zeichner (Labour - Cambridge)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether her Department is taking steps to support local partnerships between schools and youth organisations to support educational enrichment work in schools.
Answered by Damian Hinds - Minister of State (Education)
Enrichment programmes encompass a wide range of activities, including sports, art, drama, outdoor experiences, debating, volunteering, business, tech or cooking. These activities can have a significant positive impact on young people, including on their academic progress and wellbeing and the department is committed to ensuring young people have access to high quality extra curricular opportunities.
Schools are best placed to understand and meet the specific needs of their pupils, and have flexibility to decide what range of extra curricular activities to offer. However, the department does support a range of initiatives to expand access to high quality extra curricular activities through schools, such as working with the Department for Culture, Media and Sport to offer the Duke of Edinburgh’s Award to all state secondary schools in England.
The Shared Outcomes Fund was originally set up in 2019 to incentivise departments to work collaboratively across challenging policy areas to deliver better value for citizens. In the Third Round of HM Treasury’s Shared Outcomes Fund the Department for Education and the Department for Culture, Media and Sport was were awarded a total of £3.4 million for the delivery of the Enrichment Partnerships Pilot (EPP), more information is available at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/shared-outcomes-fund-round-three. The EPP aims to improve the enrichment offer of up to 200 secondary schools in Education Investment Areas, testing whether greater coordination locally can enhance school enrichment offers, develop local partnerships and promote greater collaboration between schools on extra curricular activities.
The government has also invested £289 million to support the expansion of wraparound childcare for primary school children in England. Schools’ enrichment and extra curricular offers may interact with, complement and support the delivery of wraparound childcare provision. The department is supporting and encouraging schools to continue to offer enrichment and extra curricular activities and to consider how these activities can be delivered in a way that supports working parents. This may include working with local private providers who can support schools to deliver activities in a regular and reliable way.
Asked by: Nick Gibb (Conservative - Bognor Regis and Littlehampton)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many pupils were entered for GCSE qualifications in (a) English Literature, (b) French, (c) Spanish, (d) German, (e) Italian, (f) History, (g) Geography, (h) Art & Design, (i) Music, (j) Drama, (k) Religious Education, (l) Combined Science, (m) Chemistry, (n) Physics, (o) Biology, (p) Computer Science in each year from 2008 to 2023.
Answered by Damian Hinds - Minister of State (Education)
The number of GCSE entries by pupils at the end of key stage 4 in the requested subjects can be found in the attached spreadsheet.
Asked by: Marquess of Lothian (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask His Majesty's Government what action they are taking to minimise reputational damage to the UK’s Armed Forces capability, following recent issues regarding the material state of the Royal Navy’s aircraft carriers.
Answered by Earl of Minto - Minister of State (Ministry of Defence)
The recent issue on HMS Queen Elizabeth was identified during pre-sailing checks and is corrosion on a coupling on the starboard shaft caused through general wear and tear. It is not the same issue experienced by HMS Prince of Wales in 2022. It is not uncommon to have maintenance issues with state-of-the-art ships which contain complex engineering and technology. HMS Queen Elizabeth is a decade old and has thousands of miles under her hull, conducting operations around the world.
As a replacement, HMS Prince of Wales was able to deploy to take part in Operation Steadfast Defender in seven days, which is a huge undertaking. This ability to rapidly deploy another carrier to an urgent task underlines the importance of having two aircraft carriers, providing flexibility and the ability to project power around the world.
The Royal Navy continues to meet its operational commitments at home and abroad.
Asked by: Andrew Rosindell (Conservative - Romford)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, if he will make an assessment of the potential merits of issuing free portraits of His Majesty King Charles III to registered charities.
Answered by Alex Burghart - Parliamentary Secretary (Cabinet Office)
The Government does not have any plans to make an assessment of the potential merits of offering a free portrait of The King to registered charities.
The UK Government launched an Official Portrait scheme in November 2023 to enable certain Public Authorities across the UK to apply for a free, framed official portrait of His Majesty The King for display in their buildings.
The scheme is ongoing and is due for completion by mid year 2024. His Majesty’s accession has marked the beginning of a new reign and the UK Government considers it is right that public authorities, as part of the fabric of our nation, have the opportunity to commemorate this moment, strengthen civil pride and reflect the new era in our history.
Local authorities, court buildings, schools, police forces and fire and rescue services are among the public institutions across England, Wales, Scotland, and Northern Ireland, to be offered the new official photographic portrait of His Majesty, funded by the Government.
The scheme’s second phase will be open for applications from Town, Parish, City and Community Councils across UK and MoD sponsored Cadets from the 12th February.
A portrait will be available for purchase in due course for those not eligible for this scheme and details will be communicated at the time.
Asked by: Julie Elliott (Labour - Sunderland Central)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, if she will make an assessment of the potential impact of Multi-Sports Grassroots Facilities programme projects 2023-24 on the (a) engagement and (b) participation of women and girls in sport.
Answered by Stuart Andrew - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Culture, Media and Sport)
Sport and physical activity are incredibly important for our physical and mental health and this government is committed to ensuring that everyone is able to play sport and be active, including women and girls.
As part of our more than £300 million investment in multi-sport grassroots facilities, our delivery partners assess all potential projects against their ability to deliver increased participation of under-represented groups - including women and girls, ethnic minority communities and people from lower socio-economic backgrounds. Any project receiving over £25,000 in England must also have an equal access women and girls plan in place.
The Government also recently announced £25 million for the Lionesses Futures Fund - topped up with £5 million additional investment from the FA - specifically to deliver up to 30 state of the art 3G artificial pitches across the country with gold-standard provision for women and girls. Reserved peak-time slots, women and girls only evenings and priority booking for women and girls’ teams will be used to drive up opportunities to get into sport. There will also be dedicated women’s changing rooms and shower facilities and accessible toilets.
We are conducting a programme wide impact evaluation. This will measure the extent to which the programme has delivered increases in participation among women and girls so that these interventions can be applied more widely if successful.
Asked by: Jim Shannon (Democratic Unionist Party - Strangford)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, whether she has had discussions with the Secretary of State for Education on encouraging young women to play football in school.
Answered by Stuart Andrew - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Culture, Media and Sport)
The Government is committed to supporting women and girls’ sport at every opportunity. In our new Sport Strategy ‘Get Active’, we set an ambitious target of getting 1 million more active children and 1.25 million more active women by 2030.
We have had discussions with DfE at ministerial level on how we can continue to collectively make good progress on school sport. Our cross-government School Sport and Activity Action Plan provides the blueprint for how school sport should be delivered across the country. This includes over £600 million of investment and a clear ambition that all schools should deliver 2hrs of quality PE and equal access to sport for girls and boys, including football. The Department for Education is currently working to publish new non-statutory guidance on Physical Education before the end of March 2024 to help improve delivery.
In 2022, the Government commissioned Karen Carney to lead an independent Review of domestic women’s football. Her recommendations set out a bold vision for the women’s game. On 4 December 2023, the Government responded to the Review of Women’s Football, agreeing that all ten major recommendations should be implemented. The recommendations include a commitment to the delivery of equal access to school sport for girls and we will be convening an implementation group, which will be responsible for ensuring mutual accountability for the delivery of each recommendation.
Outside of school, we are investing over £300 million in grassroots football and multi-sport facilities across the UK by 2025 which will further support women and girls accessing football. The new £30 million Lioness Futures fund will deliver approximately 30 new state of the art 3G pitches at sites supporting women’s and girls’ teams across England.
Asked by: Lord Sikka (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government to provide a list of government departments that use Fujitsu designed software; and whether any operating errors have been reported.
Answered by Baroness Neville-Rolfe - Minister of State (Cabinet Office)
The Cabinet Office does not hold a central register of software being used across Government.
The Central Digital and Data Office (CDDO), in the Cabinet Office, is responsible for supporting departments to build and operate modern, state of the art, highly responsive and cost effective technology that meets the needs of our end users and delivers the cross-government digital strategy.
CDDO operates a delegated assurance process which reviews proposed projects for value for money as well as alignment to standards and policies. Once projects are approved, contracts are awarded by individual departments. Projects meeting specific criteria are also reviewed by CDDO experts. Details of central government contracts where the contract value is above £12,000 are published on Contracts Finder: https://www.contractsfinder.service.gov.uk/Search
Asked by: Matt Vickers (Conservative - Stockton South)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what steps she is taking to increase participation of young girls in competitive sports (a) at and (b) outside school.
Answered by Stuart Andrew - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Culture, Media and Sport)
The Government is committed to supporting women and girls’ sport at every opportunity including pushing for greater participation across all sports, at every level. In our new Sport Strategy ‘Get Active’, we set an ambitious target of getting 1 million more active children and 1.25 million more active women by 2030.
We are determined to maximise the potential of women’s sport in the future so we can sustain that pipeline of talent and expand it. We are investing over £600 million in school sport across the next two academic years todrive up the quality of physical education and ensure girls have equal access to opportunities to play sport.
The School Games programme offers children the opportunity to take part in competitions in over 40 sports at local and regional level, including inclusive, modified versions of the sports. In the 2022/23 academic year, the country-wide network of 450 School Games Organisers provided over 2.2 million opportunities for children to take part. The introduction of new equality criteria to the School Games Mark encourages and recognises schools providing equal access to girls and boys.
Outside of school, we are investing over £300 million in grassroots football and multi-sport facilities across the UK by 2025 which will further support women and girls accessing sport. The new £30 million Lioness Futures fund will deliver approximately 30 new state of the art 3G pitches at sites supporting women’s and girls’ teams across England. Projects in England will need to have a clear women and girls plan to receive this funding and will be monitored regularly to ensure the objectives are met.