Asked by: Justin Madders (Labour - Ellesmere Port and Neston)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether she plans to use the conservation education expertise of (a) Chester Zoo and (b) other zoos on the implementation of the Sustainability and Climate Change Strategy.
Answered by Nick Gibb
In developing the Sustainability and Climate Change Strategy, the Department engaged with a wide range of expert groups and organisations including Chester Zoo. The Department also sought the views of young people through a Youth Panel which included a member of the Chester Zoo Youth Board.
Chester Zoo are also working with Manchester Metropolitan University and the Natural History Museum in the delivery of the National Education Nature Park, which is one of the Department’s key strategic initiatives.
Asked by: Justin Madders (Labour - Ellesmere Port and Neston)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what plans she has to embed conservation and biodiversity issues within the school curriculum.
Answered by Nick Gibb
Topics related to climate change and sustainability already feature in the National Curriculum.
A Natural History GCSE will be introduced in 2025. Pupils will explore organisms and environments in more depth, gain knowledge and practical experience of fieldwork and develop a greater understanding of conservation.
The National Education Nature Park will provide educational opportunities for pupils to take part in citizen science and biodiversity monitoring. It will increase opportunities for all children and young people to spend time in nature, learn more about it and become actively involved in the improvement of their local environment.
Asked by: Earl of Leicester (Conservative - Excepted Hereditary)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to teach school children about the countryside and British farming.
Answered by Baroness Barran - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
There are opportunities within the geography and science curriculums to teach about the countryside, farming and agriculture, and how important the latter are to food production. These do not feature as stand-alone topics in the National Curriculum. The National Curriculum is a framework designed to give teachers the freedom and flexibility to cover particular topics in greater depth if they wish, and this could include teaching about the countryside and farming.
As part of the department’s Sustainability and Climate Change Strategy, our National Education Nature Park initiative will also give children and young people the opportunity to learn about and connect with nature.
By 2025 we aim to introduce a natural history GCSE, giving young people a further opportunity to engage with and develop a deeper knowledge and understanding of the natural world. In studying this GCSE, young people will explore organisms and environments in more depth, gain knowledge and practical experience of fieldwork and develop a greater understanding of conservation.
Asked by: Stuart Anderson (Conservative - Wolverhampton South West)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what recent discussions he has had with the Secretary of State for Education on ensuring conservation education is taught in schools in England.
Answered by Rebecca Pow - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
I recently met with DfE's Minister Walker to discuss the importance of increasing children's connection and access to nature and to expand educational opportunities to support green skills and jobs. Defra and DfE worked closely on the Sustainability and Climate Change Strategy which was published on Thursday 21 April. The strategy includes the following commitments where conservation education will play a key role in delivery:
1. A commitment from DfE to increase opportunities for all children and young people to spend time in nature, learn more about it, and get involved in improving their local environment.
2. A commitment to build on the investment into the Children and Nature Programme by engaging with Defra on more research into outdoor learning and how to help schools deliver it. DfE also commit to embedding the learning from the Children and Nature Programme into their two new initiatives - the National Education Nature Park and the Climate Leaders Award. By 2030, they anticipate that participation in the National Education Nature Park, and increased opportunities to connect with nature, will increase the number of young people who become data scientists, ecologists and biologists.
3. A goal to introduce a new natural history GCSE by 2025, which will include developing a deeper understanding of conservation. This will be accompanied by a pathway of learning for children up to GCSE level so that they have the knowledge and skills to undertake the GCSE. This includes a new Primary Science Model Curriculum with an emphasis on nature. This will raise the profile of education on nature and climate change and help to ensure that young people have the right skills to progress into a career in green jobs if they choose to do so.
4. The Strategy recognises the 25 Year Environment Plan as a driver of green jobs and skills needs alongside the Net Zero Strategy and sets out the natural environment training on offer. DfE have also committed to working with Defra to help develop this offer where gaps are identified through the Green Jobs Delivery Group.
Asked by: Lord Knight of Weymouth (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask Her Majesty's Government whether (1) the causes of climate change, and (2) actions that can benefit and decrease any negative impact on the natural environment, are taught in schools in England.
Answered by Baroness Berridge
It is vital that young people are taught about climate change. For this reason, related topics are included throughout both the science and geography curricula and GCSEs. In primary science and geography, pupils are given a firm foundation for the further study of the environment in secondary school. For example, in primary science, pupils are taught about how environments can change as a result of human actions. They will learn about animals’ habitats, including that changes to the environment may pose dangers to living things. In primary geography, pupils will be taught about seasonal and daily weather patterns, climate zones and human geography, including land use, economic activity and the distribution of natural resources.
In secondary science, pupils are taught about the production of carbon dioxide by human activity and the effect this has on the climate. This is expanded on in GCSE science where pupils will consider the evidence for additional anthropogenic causes of climate change. In secondary geography, pupils will look at how human and physical processes interact to influence and change landscapes, environments and the climate. As part of GCSE geography, pupils will look at the causes, consequences of, and responses to extreme weather conditions and natural weather hazards. In 2017, the department also introduced a new environmental science A level. This will enable pupils to study topics that will support their understanding of climate change and how it can be tackled.
School and teachers can go beyond the topics set out in the national curriculum, or do more in-depth teaching of these topic areas, if they so wish.
Asked by: Lucy Powell (Labour (Co-op) - Manchester Central)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, which government departments' executive agencies and non-departmental public bodies are participating in the next generation Civil Service human resources programme; what the basis is for cost-sharing arrangements for set-up and running costs of that programme; and what human resources functions that programme undertakes.
Answered by Lord Maude of Horsham
The Next Generation HR programme started in 2010 and has delivered significant savings - in 2010 annual spend on HR in the Civil Service was £524million, in 2014 annual spend was £257.5 million.
Services provided cover the range of human resources activity, including learning, employee policy, recruitment and organisational design and Departments share the full cost of the core services provided. Those services that are volume related (such as bulk recruitment) are paid for on the basis of usage. More information is available onhttps://www.gov.uk/government/organisations/civil-service-human-resources-profession/about
The list below details those organisations who take services from the shared expert services created as part of the Next Generation HR Programme.
Attorney General's departments
Attorney General's Office
Crown Prosecution Service Inspectorate
Treasury Solicitor
Crown Prosecution Service
Serious Fraud Office
Business, Innovation and Skills
Companies House
Insolvency Service
Land Registry
Met Office
National Measurement Office
Ordnance Survey
Skills Funding Agency
UK Intellectual Property Office
UK Space Agency
Capital for Enterprise
Technology Strategy Board
UK Commission for Employment and Skills
Advisory Conciliation and Arbitration Service
Office of Gas and Electricity Market
Cabinet Office
Government Procurement Service
Government in Parliament
Charity Commission
Department for Communities and Local Government
Planning Inspectorate
Queen Elizabeth II Conference Centre
Homes and Community Agency
Leasehold Advisory Service
West Northamptonshire Development Corporation
Competition & Markets Authority
Department for Culture Media and Sport
Royal Parks
National Portrait Gallery
Sports Grounds Safety Authority
Ministry of Defence
Defence Science and Technology Laboratory
Defence Support Group
UK Hydrographic Office
Department for Education
Education Funding Agency
National College for Teaching and Leadership
Standards & Testing Agency
Department of Energy and Climate Change
Committee on Climate Change
Nuclear Decommissioning Authority
Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
Animal Health and Veterinary Laboratories Agency
Centre for Environment Fisheries and Aquaculture Science
Food and Environment Research Agency
Rural Payments Agency
Veterinary Medicines Directorate
Consumer Council for Water
Joint Nature Conservation Committee
Marine Management Organisation
National Forest Company
Natural England
Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew
Gangmasters Licensing Authority
The Sea fish Industry Authority
The Water Services Regulation Authority (OFWAT)
Office of Her Majesty’s Chief Inspector of Education and Training in Wales (Estyn)
Export Credits Guarantee Department
Food Standards Agency
Foreign and Commonwealth Office
FCO Services
Locally Engaged staff
Overseas Territories
Wilton Park Executive Agency
Great Britain in China (GBCC)
Department of Health
Medicines and Healthcare Products Regulatory Agency
Public Health England
Human Tissue Authority
Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority
Health and Social Care Information Centre
HM Revenue and Customs
Valuation Office
HM Treasury
Office for Budget Responsibility
Chancellor's other departments
Debt Management Office
Government Actuary's Department
National Savings and Investments
Home Office
Identity & Passport Service
National Fraud Authority
Disclosure and Barring Service
Equality and Human Rights Commission
Office of Immigration Services Commissioner (OISC)
Department for International Development
Ministry of Justice
Her Majesty's Courts and Tribunals Service
National Offender Management Service
Legal Aid Agency
The Office of the Public Guardian
Criminal Cases Review Commission
Criminal Injuries Compensation Authority
Family Justice Council
HM Inspectorate of Prisons
HM Inspectorate of Probation
Independent Advisory Council on Deaths in Custody
Independent Monitoring Boards
Judicial Appointments and Conduct Ombudsman
Commission for Judicial Appointments
Judicial Office of England and Wales
Lancashire Probation Trust
Law Commission
Legal Services Ombudsman
Legal Services Board
Legal Services Consumer Panel
Office for Judicial Complaints
Office for the Accountant General
Official Solicitor
Parole Board
Prisons and Probation Ombudsman
Youth Justice Board for England and Wales
The National Archive
Northern Ireland Office
Office for Standards in Education (OFSTED)
Office of Qualifications and Examinations Regulation (OFQUAL)
Scotland Office (incl. Office of the Advocate General for Scotland)
Security Community
Department for Transport
Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency
Driving Standards Agency
Highways Agency
Maritime and Coastguard Agency
Vehicle Certification Agency
Vehicle and Operator Services Agency
British Transport Police Authority
High Speed 2 Ltd
Northern Lighthouse Board
Passenger Focus (Rail Passengers' Council)
Office of Rail Regulation (ORR)
UK Statistics Authority
UK Supreme Court
Wales Office
Department for Work and Pensions
Independent Living Fund
National Employment Savings Trust Corporation
Office of the Pensions Ombudsman
The Pensions Advisory Service Ltd
The Pensions Regulator
Health and Safety Executive
Scottish Government
Accountant in Bankruptcy
Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal
Disclosure Scotland
Education Scotland
Registers of Scotland
Scottish Housing Regulator
Student Awards Agency
Transport Scotland
Highlands and Islands Enterprise
Scottish Legal Complaints Commission
Scottish Public Pensions Agency
National Records of Scotland
Crofting Commission
Architecture and Design Scotland
The Scottish Funding Council for Further and Higher Education
Welsh Government
House of Lords Administration
Independent Parliamentary Standards Authority
National Assembly for Wales
National Audit Office