Asked by: Stephen Morgan (Labour - Portsmouth South)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many applicants to supply teaching agencies have received a successful Disclosure and Barring Service check in each of the last six months.
Answered by Robin Walker
We are extremely grateful to all the teachers who are responding to our call to return temporarily to the classroom to support our schools whilst cases of the COVID-19 Omicron variant continue to rise.
We are in close contact with supply agencies to monitor the interest they receive to help schools during this time. However, supply agencies are private employment businesses operating independently of the department. Therefore, the department is not able to provide data on the numbers of supply teachers or which agencies they are working with. The department does not hold the information requested regarding pre-employment checks since the Disclosure and Barring Service is a non-departmental public body of the Home Office.
Asked by: Stephen Morgan (Labour - Portsmouth South)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many applicants to supply teaching agencies have applied for a Disclosure and Barring Service check in each of the last six months.
Answered by Robin Walker
We are extremely grateful to all the teachers who are responding to our call to return temporarily to the classroom to support our schools whilst cases of the COVID-19 Omicron variant continue to rise.
We are in close contact with supply agencies to monitor the interest they receive to help schools during this time. However, supply agencies are private employment businesses operating independently of the department. Therefore, the department is not able to provide data on the numbers of supply teachers or which agencies they are working with. The department does not hold the information requested regarding pre-employment checks since the Disclosure and Barring Service is a non-departmental public body of the Home Office.
Asked by: Stephen Morgan (Labour - Portsmouth South)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many people have signed up to a supply teaching agency in response to his appeal of 16 December 2021 to date.
Answered by Robin Walker
We are extremely grateful to all the teachers who are responding to our call to return temporarily to the classroom to support our schools whilst cases of the COVID-19 Omicron variant continue to rise.
We are in close contact with supply agencies to monitor the interest they receive to help schools during this time. However, supply agencies are private employment businesses operating independently of the department. Therefore, the department is not able to provide data on the numbers of supply teachers or which agencies they are working with. The department does not hold the information requested regarding pre-employment checks since the Disclosure and Barring Service is a non-departmental public body of the Home Office.
Asked by: Jim Shannon (Democratic Unionist Party - Strangford)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what information his Department holds on the number of incidents of teachers having relations with students in each of the last three years.
Answered by Robin Walker
Education is a devolved matter, and the response will outline the information for England only. English law is clear that it is an offence for a person who is in a position of trust and is over the age of 18 to engage in a sexual relationship with a person under the age of 18. Such activity is also likely to lead to barring by the Disclosure and Barring Service and, where the individual is a teacher, prohibition by Teaching Regulation Agency (TRA). The TRA, an executive agency of the Department for Education, operates the teacher misconduct arrangements on behalf of the Secretary of State as regulator of the teaching profession in England. The TRA considers allegations of the most serious cases of misconduct to decide whether a teacher should be prohibited from teaching work in England.
Teachers are expected to demonstrate consistently high standards of personal and professional conduct within and outside school, which includes observing proper boundaries appropriate to a teacher’s professional position. Whilst we do not hold the data requested, we do hold data, shown in the table below, on the number of teachers prohibited from the teaching profession for sexual misconduct in England. This data includes cases involving children and/or adults, as well as students.
| 2018-19 | 2019-20 | 2020-21 |
Total Prohibited for Sexual Misconduct in England | 7 | 8 | 6 |
Asked by: Sharon Hodgson (Labour - Washington and Sunderland West)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment he has made of the potential effect of delays in DBS checks on staffing levels in the school meals industry.
Answered by Will Quince
We spend around £600 million per year ensuring 1.3 million infants enjoy a free, healthy and nutritious meal at lunchtime following the introduction of the Universal Infant Free School Meal (UIFSM) policy in 2014. All children in reception, year 1 and year 2 in England’s state-funded schools are entitled to receive a free meal. This is in addition to the 1.7 million children in receipt of benefits related free school meals.
The funding of UIFSM is allocated via a grant to schools, funded at a rate of £2.34 per meal. This grant was last increased for the 2020/21 academic year and covers the cost of raw materials as well as other fixed costs associated with providing the meals. It is for individual schools to decide how to allocate their budgets in order to provide these meals.
The Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) is currently experiencing a significant demand for its services as organisations start to recruit staff following lockdown, for example during September and October it saw an increase of over 20% in demand for standard and enhanced checks. However, the DBS continues to deliver its services in line with its Published Service Standards which are available at: https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/dbs-dataset-1-disclosure-progress-information-disclosed-and-update-service-subscriptions. Despite increased demand largely driven by COVID-19 responses and the gig economy, particularly online shopping and food delivery, the DBS has consistently exceeded its operational targets.
The department holds regular meetings with the Department for the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs and other school food stakeholders, including the Local Authority Caterers Association, the representative body for school caterers, as well as food industry representatives covering a variety of issues.
Asked by: Sharon Hodgson (Labour - Washington and Sunderland West)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether he has investigated the (a) time taken for DBS checks and (b) effect that is having on staff availability in the school meals sector.
Answered by Will Quince
We spend around £600 million per year ensuring 1.3 million infants enjoy a free, healthy and nutritious meal at lunchtime following the introduction of the Universal Infant Free School Meal (UIFSM) policy in 2014. All children in reception, year 1 and year 2 in England’s state-funded schools are entitled to receive a free meal. This is in addition to the 1.7 million children in receipt of benefits related free school meals.
The funding of UIFSM is allocated via a grant to schools, funded at a rate of £2.34 per meal. This grant was last increased for the 2020/21 academic year and covers the cost of raw materials as well as other fixed costs associated with providing the meals. It is for individual schools to decide how to allocate their budgets in order to provide these meals.
The Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) is currently experiencing a significant demand for its services as organisations start to recruit staff following lockdown, for example during September and October it saw an increase of over 20% in demand for standard and enhanced checks. However, the DBS continues to deliver its services in line with its Published Service Standards which are available at: https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/dbs-dataset-1-disclosure-progress-information-disclosed-and-update-service-subscriptions. Despite increased demand largely driven by COVID-19 responses and the gig economy, particularly online shopping and food delivery, the DBS has consistently exceeded its operational targets.
The department holds regular meetings with the Department for the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs and other school food stakeholders, including the Local Authority Caterers Association, the representative body for school caterers, as well as food industry representatives covering a variety of issues.
Asked by: Sharon Hodgson (Labour - Washington and Sunderland West)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether he has made an assessment of the impact of not increasing the cost of universal infants free school meals on the (a) quality of the meals provided and (b) ability for the industry to retain and recruit staff.
Answered by Will Quince
We spend around £600 million per year ensuring 1.3 million infants enjoy a free, healthy and nutritious meal at lunchtime following the introduction of the Universal Infant Free School Meal (UIFSM) policy in 2014. All children in reception, year 1 and year 2 in England’s state-funded schools are entitled to receive a free meal. This is in addition to the 1.7 million children in receipt of benefits related free school meals.
The funding of UIFSM is allocated via a grant to schools, funded at a rate of £2.34 per meal. This grant was last increased for the 2020/21 academic year and covers the cost of raw materials as well as other fixed costs associated with providing the meals. It is for individual schools to decide how to allocate their budgets in order to provide these meals.
The Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) is currently experiencing a significant demand for its services as organisations start to recruit staff following lockdown, for example during September and October it saw an increase of over 20% in demand for standard and enhanced checks. However, the DBS continues to deliver its services in line with its Published Service Standards which are available at: https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/dbs-dataset-1-disclosure-progress-information-disclosed-and-update-service-subscriptions. Despite increased demand largely driven by COVID-19 responses and the gig economy, particularly online shopping and food delivery, the DBS has consistently exceeded its operational targets.
The department holds regular meetings with the Department for the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs and other school food stakeholders, including the Local Authority Caterers Association, the representative body for school caterers, as well as food industry representatives covering a variety of issues.
Asked by: Sharon Hodgson (Labour - Washington and Sunderland West)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether he has had discussions with the Chancellor of the Exchequer on increasing funding for universal free school meals for infants in the next Spending Review.
Answered by Will Quince
We spend around £600 million per year ensuring 1.3 million infants enjoy a free, healthy and nutritious meal at lunchtime following the introduction of the Universal Infant Free School Meal (UIFSM) policy in 2014. All children in reception, year 1 and year 2 in England’s state-funded schools are entitled to receive a free meal. This is in addition to the 1.7 million children in receipt of benefits related free school meals.
The funding of UIFSM is allocated via a grant to schools, funded at a rate of £2.34 per meal. This grant was last increased for the 2020/21 academic year and covers the cost of raw materials as well as other fixed costs associated with providing the meals. It is for individual schools to decide how to allocate their budgets in order to provide these meals.
The Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) is currently experiencing a significant demand for its services as organisations start to recruit staff following lockdown, for example during September and October it saw an increase of over 20% in demand for standard and enhanced checks. However, the DBS continues to deliver its services in line with its Published Service Standards which are available at: https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/dbs-dataset-1-disclosure-progress-information-disclosed-and-update-service-subscriptions. Despite increased demand largely driven by COVID-19 responses and the gig economy, particularly online shopping and food delivery, the DBS has consistently exceeded its operational targets.
The department holds regular meetings with the Department for the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs and other school food stakeholders, including the Local Authority Caterers Association, the representative body for school caterers, as well as food industry representatives covering a variety of issues.
Asked by: Lord Lexden (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what plans they have, if any, to give schools in the Crown Dependencies access to the Department for Education's Barred List Checking Service Sign-in portal.
Answered by Baroness Berridge
The regulations that are used to determine the eligibility for access to the Department for Education's Barred List Checking Service apply to England only.
The School Staffing (England) Regulations 2009 are for maintained schools and can be accessed here: https://www.legislation.gov.uk/uksi/2009/2680/regulation/24/made.
The Education (Independent School Standards) Regulations 2014 are for academies, free schools and alternative provision academies, and can be accessed here: https://www.legislation.gov.uk/uksi/2014/3283/pdfs/uksi_20143283_en.pdf.
The Non-Maintained Special Schools (England) Regulations 2015 and The Further Education (Providers of Education) (England) Regulations 2006 can be accessed here: https://www.legislation.gov.uk/uksi/2015/728/contents/made and https://www.legislation.gov.uk/uksi/2006/3199/contents/made.
The Department has no plans to give schools in the Crown Dependencies access to the replacement service for Teacher’s Pension Online, the Children’s Barred List Status Check. Teacher’s Pensions Online hosted the standalone barred list check service until 31 March 2021. The replacement service transferred to the Teaching Regulation Agency on 1 April 2021. Schools in the Crown Dependencies should contact the Disclosure and Barring Service directly to obtain an Enhanced plus Barred List information check for those employed in regulated activity.
Asked by: Dan Jarvis (Labour - Barnsley Central)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment his Department has made of the potential merits of (a) schools, (b) further education providers and (c) universities recording and publishing the number of sexual abuse cases experienced by students for the safety of female students.
Answered by Vicky Ford
Any form of harassment, violence or sexual assault is abhorrent and unacceptable anywhere in society, including in our schools, colleges and universities, which should be safe and inclusive environments.
There is already a strong and clear framework in place for schools and colleges, which sets out what they should be doing in terms of recording and reporting (to the police and children's social care, as required) in sexual abuse cases.
This is set out in ‘Keeping children safe in education’ (KCSIE), which is the statutory guidance to which all schools and colleges must have regard to when carrying out their duties to safeguard and promote the welfare of children. The guidance can be found here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/keeping-children-safe-in-education--2. It sets out a framework for information recording, collection and sharing. This includes, amongst other things, that all concerns, discussions and decisions made, and the reasons for those decisions, should be recorded in writing and that staff should speak to their Designated Safeguarding Lead if they have any doubts about this requirement.
To further support schools and colleges, we have published departmental advice on what sexual violence and sexual harassment between children in schools and colleges looks like, how to prevent it, how to respond to reports of it, and on how to support victims. This information can be found here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/sexual-violence-and-sexual-harassment-between-children-in-schools-and-colleges.
We regularly consult on KCSIE to see where we might be able to strengthen it. Our latest consultation was launched on 10 December 2020 and closed on 4 March 2021. At the same time, we also sought views on revisions to the stand-alone advice on sexual violence and sexual harassment between children in schools and colleges. We are now analysing those responses and revised guidance is expected to come into force in September 2021.
Higher Education (HE) providers are autonomous, and have clear responsibilities, including under the Equality Act 2010, and should have robust policies and procedures in place to comply with the law, and to investigate and swiftly address reports of sexual misconduct.
The government already urges university leaders to ensure a zero-tolerance approach to all harassment and sexual misconduct and improve the systems for reporting incidents. The government also urges HE providers to collect comprehensive accurate data on harassment incidents, and continue to break down barriers to reporting, in spite of the potential for this to lead to initial spikes in reported instances.
The Universities UK ‘Changing the Culture' framework 2016 report made a number of recommendations on tackling harassment and hate crime on campus, including on improving reporting rates and mechanisms for disclosure in HE providers. These included that relevant internal and external support should be signposted, and that reporting procedures should be centralised, accessible, and allow for anonymity if preferred, as well as enabling accurate data to be captured to determine the scale of a problem and track year on-year trends. The report can be found here: https://www.universitiesuk.ac.uk/policy-and-analysis/reports/Documents/2016/changing-the-culture.pdf.
The Office for Students has recently made a statement on next steps for tackling harassment and hate crime in higher education, including plans for publication of its statement of expectations on harassment and hate crime. This is available at: https://www.officeforstudents.org.uk/advice-and-guidance/student-wellbeing-and-protection/prevent-and-address-harassment-and-sexual-misconduct/statement-of-expectations/.