Asked by: Lord Storey (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask Her Majesty's Government whether they have set an upper limit for the annual salary of CEOs of multi-academy trusts; and if so, what.
Answered by Lord Agnew of Oulton
It is essential that we have the best people to lead our schools to raise standards. The responsibilities of school leaders have changed significantly in recent years, with many now running several academies in a multi-academy trust.
Academy trusts are free to set their own salaries for staff and the Department would expect this to reflect the size and complexity of the trust, as they must deliver value for money.
The 2017 Academies Financial Handbook, attached, emphasises that decisions about levels of executive pay must follow a robust evidence-based process and are reflective of the individual’s role and responsibilities.
Trusts must disclose senior staff pay annually in their audited accounts. The academies’ sector annual report and accounts we have published means there is now more information available than ever about academy trusts’ finances. The Education and Skills Funding Agency follow up where non-compliance is identified. Disclosure must include:
The number of employees earning more than £60k, set out in £10k bands.
Names of all trustees who received remuneration in each band, and the amounts they received. This will consist of the salaries of the principal in a single academy trust and the chief executive in a multi academy trust, unless in the exceptional case they have chosen not to be a trustee.
Payments by academy trusts to their trustees must be disclosed in the trust’s annual accounts. These are independently audited and published for transparency. The disclosures will comprise payments to those staff who are also trustees, paid in their capacity as staff not as trustees. In addition, Charity Commission approval would be required if an academy trust wished to pay an individual for acting as trustee.
Asked by: Ben Lake (Plaid Cymru - Ceredigion)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what discussions he has had with the Secretary of State for Education on educational providers not using information about spent criminal records to deny access to courses for young people.
Answered by Phillip Lee
The Justice Select Committee published its report on the disclosure of youth criminal records on 27 October 2017. Government will look carefully at its recommendations and will publish a response in due course. This process will include discussion with the Department for Education where relevant.
Asked by: Laura Smith (Labour - Crewe and Nantwich)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what discussions she has had with the Home Secretary on ensuring that DBS checks for volunteers and governors who volunteer at multiple schools remain valid across all schools.
Answered by Robert Goodwill
My Rt hon. Friend, the Secretary of State for Education has not had discussions with my Rt hon. Friend, the Home Secretary about DBS checks for school volunteers, including governors. Department officials maintain regular contact with the Home Office and the Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) and are involved in key discussions on policy development.
Statutory safeguarding guidance ‘Keeping children safe in education’, available at https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/keeping-children-safe-in-education--2, explains the circumstances in which schools are required to obtain DBS checks for staff, governors and volunteers. Where a person moves between roles in schools or between schools, provided the ‘level’ of DBS check required for each role is identical, there is nothing to prevent a school from accepting previously issued certificates. It is for schools to decide whether to accept a previously issued DBS certificate.
DBS offer an online Update Service that reduces the need for individuals who subscribe to the service to apply for multiple checks to work with different organisations. Where the individual consents, a school can use the service to carry out a free online check to confirm if the information released on the DBS certificate is up-to-date. This helps shorten the time taken by employers to decide on suitability. DBS checks and subscription to the Update Service are free for those in unpaid roles.
Asked by: Darren Jones (Labour - Bristol North West)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether her Department conducted a privacy impact assessment about the collection of data on pregnancy, health and mental health for the Alternative Provision Census 2018.
Answered by Nick Gibb
Where a child of compulsory school age would not receive suitable education because of illness, exclusion or any other reason, local authorities have a duty to provide suitable ‘alternative provision’ (AP). Although the AP provider understands the reason for the child’s placement, as does the responsible local authority, nationally very little is known about these AP placements and the children who need them. This is fundamental to understanding the effectiveness of the AP system to better target policy interventions and improve the quality of education provided to these children.
Conducting a privacy impact assessment is not a legal requirement of the Data Protection Act. The changes to the AP census relate to information already required (and held) by local authorities during the process of commissioning placements in AP and do not require the collection of any additional information by local authorities or AP providers from the individuals. The AP census is a long-standing data collection with established protocols and processes in place for the handling, collection and disclosure of individual level information. As the AP census already collects a range of characteristic information about individuals, these additional items of information (about the same individuals) do not present any new privacy risks over and above those already present so a formal privacy impact assessment was not completed.
Asked by: Justin Madders (Labour - Ellesmere Port and Neston)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many protected disclosures were made by staff in her Department in each of the last three years for which figures are available; how many such disclosures were found to be valid; how many staff alleged detriment as a result of making such a disclosure; and how many staff who (a) made such a disclosure and (b) alleged detriment as a result of a disclosure subsequently left the employment of the Department.
Answered by Robert Goodwill
The Department has received the following numbers of protected disclosures in the last three years.
Year | Number of protected disclosures |
2014 | 4 |
2015 | 3 |
2016 | 4 |
None of the above disclosures were found to be valid. All the disclosures were made anonymously. There are no records of any alleged detriment as a result of a disclosure or whether these employees have subsequently left the department.
Asked by: Lord Austin of Dudley (Non-affiliated - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many applications to open new free schools have been rejected on the grounds an individual applying has (a) been involved in illegal activities, (b) a criminal conviction and (c) been investigated or found guilty of misrepresentation, as per the Section 1 suitability and declaration form, in each year since 2010.
Answered by Edward Timpson
Our rigorous processes are designed to ensure that only people who are capable of providing pupils with a good education are allowed to open new schools. We assess applications to establish free schools against published criteria and take into account a range of contextual information. As set out in How to apply to set up a free school: guidance published at https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/opening-a-free-school, the department carries out a range of checks on those proposing to set up and run free schools before and after they open. These include due diligence checks, credit checks and enhanced Disclosure and Barring Service checks and may include police and other checks necessary to ensure the suitability of people to be part of the free school programme. The results of these due diligence checks are taken into account when we make decisions about which applications to reject, but have not on their own led to a rejection decision.
Asked by: Lord Soames of Fletching (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, which contracts his Department has awarded to Capita in the last five years.
Answered by Harriett Baldwin
Details of contracts that the Ministry of Defence (MOD) has awarded to Capita in the last five years are in the table below. This information includes MOD call-offs from wider Government framework agreements, such as those for the provision of interim personnel and training, but excludes contracts awarded by MOD Trading Funds and miscellaneous payments.
I am withholding the details of two contracts as disclosure would, or would be likely to, prejudice the capability, effectiveness or security of the Armed Forces.
Contract Number | Contract Title |
HQLF2/1739 | RECRUITING PARTNERING CONTRACT |
CTLBC/1992 | EXTERNAL STRATEGIC SUPPORT FOR SUBMARINE ENTERPRISE PROCUREMENT PROGRAMME |
CROC002760 | PROJECT MANAGEMENT SERVICES FOR RITC PROJECT |
DCNS/151 | THEATRE NETWORK AND SERVICE MANAGEMENT CAPABILITY MANAGED SERVICE |
HOCS/CM7/00016 | MOD ACCESS TO THE GOVERNMENT PROCUREMENT SERVICE FRAMEWORK AGREEMENT FOR THE PROVISION OF TEMPORARY EMPLOYEES - INTERIM PROFESSIONALS |
JFC/CM10/00016 | DELIVER MILITARY ENGLISH LANGUAGE TRAINING TO UK SPONSORED INTERNATIONAL MILITARY PERSONNEL AND CIVILIAN OFFICIALS |
JFC/CM10/00015 | DELIVERY OF FOREIGN LANGUAGE COURSES FOR DEFENCE CENTRE FOR LANGUAGES AND CULTURE |
DIOSBM0001 | STRATEGIC BUSINESS PARTNER FOR DEFENCE INFRASTRUCTURE ORGANISTION |
HOCSCM8/00013 | THE PROCUREMENT OF EXTERNAL EXECUTIVE SEARCH SUPPORT TO ASSIST THE SINGLE SOURCE REGULATIONS OFFICE CHAIR (SSRO) WITH THE RECRUITMENT OF THE SSRO |
JFC/CM10/00029 | ADVANCED COMMAND AND STAFF COURSE MODULE DESIGN AND DEVELOPMENT |
JFC/CM10/00021 | ONLINE LANGUAGE SUPPORT TOOL |
HOCS2A/00011 | THE PROVISION OF A DEFENCE INFORMATION INFRASTRUCTURE MARITIME DEPLOYED INSTRUCTOR TRAINING COURSE |
HOCS2A/00019 | SUCCESSOR TRAINING RESOURCE ESTIMATE UPDATE |
HOCS2A/00010 | WINDOWS SERVER 2012 TRAINING FOR DEFENCE SCHOOL OF COMMUNICATION AND INFORMATION SERVICES |
HOCS2A/00002 | PROVISION OF ARMED FORCES SUBSTANCE MISUSE EDUCATION PROGRAMME |
JFC9A/00002 | CHARTERED INSTITUTE OF PROCUREMENT AND SUPPLY TRAINING NEEDS ANALYSIS |
PCAT18/15 | THE PROVISION OF AN ANALYTICAL REPORT AND TO DELIVER BLENDED LEARNING SERVICES IN SUPPORT OF BLENDED LEARNING INITIATIVE. |
ACT/04406 | SCOPING STUDY TO DEVELOP ELEARNING PACKAGE FOR DEFENCE TRAINING, RAF ST MAWGAN |
HOCS2A/00013 | THE PROVISION OF PARAMEDIC TRAINING FOR RAF HIGH WYCOMBE |
JFC9A/00005 | DEFENCE LEARNING PORTAL COURSEWARE ANALYSIS AND REMEDY |
FLEET/00424 | USE AN ENABLING FRAMEWORK TO INITIATE CREATE AND DEVELOP A REVISED APPROACH TO ENGINEER OFFICER TRAINING |
FLEET/00430 | PROVISION OF AN 11 WEEK CARPENTRY TRAINING COURSE FOR 7 PERSONNEL |
DES/HR/FM/B | RECRUITMENT SUPPORT |
JFC9A/00007 | ROYAL COLLEGE OF DEFENCE STUDIES CONTRACTED SENIOR DIRECTING STAFF |
MATSTRAT/00004 | RECRUITMENT SUPPORT |
JFC7B/00002 | ENABLING CONTRACT FOR THE PROVISON OF MEDICAL EXAMINATIONS FOR THE ARMED FORCES CAREERS OFFICE |
ARMYHQ4/00049 | DEFENCE SCHOOL OF COMMUNICATIONS AND INFORMATION SYSTEMS (CISM) - ROYAL SIGNALS CISM TRAINING REVIEW |
RM1568/DCNS229 | INFORMATION APPRENTICESHIP SCHEME |
FLEET/00425 | TRAINING NEEDS ANALYSIS |
JFC9B/00001 | DEFENCE LEARNING PORTAL COURSEWARE CONTINUATION UPDATE |
PCAT015/16 | HEALTH AND SAFETY ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION & SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPEMENT SERVICES & TRAINING. |
HOCS2A/00016 | PROVISION OF A TRAINING NEEDS ANALYSIS INTO THE MAINTAINER TRAINING REQUIREMENTS FOR THE QUEEN ELIZABETH CLASS INTEGRATED NAVIGATION AND BRIDGE SYSTEM |
HOCS2B/00005 | DESIGN AND PROVISION OF COMMERCIAL GRADUATE SCHEME ASSESSMENT CENTRES |
PCAT010/16 | REVIEW OF ROYAL LOGISTIC CORPS OFFICER TRAINING |
PCAT 005/16 | CYBER PROTECTION TEAM TRAINING |
TSSP/074 | DEVELOPMENT OF TRAINING NEEDS ANALYSIS FOR JOINT FIRES SYNTHETIC TRAINING |
JFC7A/00014 | ANALYSIS AND DETAILED DESIGN OF A JOINT MEDICAL EMPLOYMENT STANDARD TRAINING PACKAGE |
FLEET/00533 | PROVISION OF 1 1-WEEK CARPENTRY COURSE FOR SIX STUDENTS |
JFC9/00001 | PROVISION OF MOD LANGUAGE EXAM BOARD CONTRACT |
PCAT012/16 | PROVISION OF FORENSIC MEDICAL EXAMINER TRAINING |
FLEET/00521 | THE PROVISION OF LECTURES AND PRESENTATIONS ON RESETTLEMENT INCLUDING EMPLOYMENT AND FINANCIAL AWARENESS TO SERVICE PERSONNEL. |
JFC6C/00005 | PROVISION OF SIMULATED MEDIA. |
STECHCOM/110 | DELIVERY AND RE-DESIGN OF OPEN SOURCE INTELLIGENCE PRACTITIONER TRAINING |
PCAT013/16 | PROVISION OF SCALE AND READINESS REVIEW |
PCAT009/16 | PROVISION OF EVENT TRAINING |
PCAT016/16 | AMMUNITION TECHNICAL OFFICERS COURSE REDESIGN SUPPORT |
FLEET/00536 | PROVISION OF BA (HONOURS) IN SOCIAL WORK (ENGLAND) LEVEL 3 WITH THE OPEN UNIVERSITY |
FLEET/00535 | PROVISION OF BA (HONOURS) IN SOCIAL WORK (ENGLAND) STAGE 2 AND 3 WITH THE OPEN UNIVERSITY |
FLEET/00537 | TO PROVIDE ACCREDITATION FOR A BACHELOR OF MUSIC (HONS) OR MASTERS LEVEL DEGREE |
CB/JFC3/017 | PROVISION OF COUNTER INTELLIGENCE AND SECURITY INSTRUCTORS. |
Since January 2011, central Government Departments have been required to publish information about the contracts they award on Contracts Finder:
https://www.gov.uk/contracts-finder.
In addition, Departments publish details of spend in excess of £25,000 on gov.uk:
www.gov.uk/government/publications/mod-finance-transparency-dataset
Asked by: Charlotte Leslie (Conservative - Bristol North West)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, for what reasons her Department plans to begin collecting country of birth data on children aged two to 19 from Autumn 2016; what limitations will be placed by her Department on disclosure of such information to (a) other government departments and (b) private third parties; and whether her Department plans to change its protocols or processes for handling and disclosure of confidential information when country of birth data begins to be collected.
Answered by Nick Gibb
The collection of data on the country of birth and nationality of pupils will be used to improve our understanding of the scale and impact of pupil migration on the education sector, and provide the Department with a better evidence base for future policy decision making. These new data items will provide valuable statistical information on the characteristics of these groups of children, and along with their attainment and destinations, will allow the Department to measure whether the individual pupils, or the schools they attend, face additional educational challenges.
The data will be collected solely for internal Departmental use for the analytical, statistical and research purposes described above. There are currently no plans to share the data with other government Departments and decisions on whether the Department will release any personal data to third parties are subject to a robust approval process and are based on a detailed assessment of who is requesting the data, the purpose for which it is required, the level and sensitivity of data requested and the arrangements in place to store and handle the data. Details about the process are available here: https://www.gov.uk/guidance/national-pupil-database-apply-for-a-data-extract
There are currently no plans for the Department to change the existing protocols and processes for the handling and disclosure of confidential information.
Asked by: Peter Grant (Scottish National Party - Glenrothes)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, on how many occasions her Department applied the exemption in section 38(1)(b) of the Freedom of Information Act 2000 (disclosure likely to endanger the safety of any individual) in wholly or partly refusing a freedom of information request in each of the last five years.
Answered by Nick Gibb
Section 38(1)(a) and section 38(1)(b) of the Freedom of Information Act 2000 were used by the Department for Education on the following numbers of occasions in each of the last 5 years:
Year | s38 (a) and (b) | s38(a) only | s38(b) only |
2010 | - | - | - |
2011 | 1 | - | - |
2012 | 2 | 1 | - |
2013 | - | - | - |
2014 | - | 1 | - |
2015 | 4 | - | 1 |
Asked by: Peter Grant (Scottish National Party - Glenrothes)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, on how many occasions her Department applied the exemption in section 38(1)(a) of the Freedom of Information Act 2000 (disclosure likely to endanger the physical or mental health of any individual) in wholly or partly refusing a freedom of information request in each of the last five years.
Answered by Nick Gibb
Section 38(1)(a) and section 38(1)(b) of the Freedom of Information Act 2000 were used by the Department for Education on the following numbers of occasions in each of the last 5 years:
Year | s38 (a) and (b) | s38(a) only | s38(b) only |
2010 | - | - | - |
2011 | 1 | - | - |
2012 | 2 | 1 | - |
2013 | - | - | - |
2014 | - | 1 | - |
2015 | 4 | - | 1 |