Asked by: Catherine McKinnell (Labour - Newcastle upon Tyne North)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what recent estimate she has made of the total cost to the public purse of (a) repairing, (b) refurbishing and (c) rebuilding school buildings in the North East.
Answered by Damian Hinds - Minister of State (Education)
Well-maintained, safe school buildings are a priority for the department to support a high-quality education for all children. The department has allocated over £15 billion since 2015 for keeping schools safe and operational, including £1.8 billion in the 2023/24 financial year. In addition, the School Rebuilding Programme is transforming poor condition buildings at over 500 schools.
It is the responsibility of those who run schools, such as academy trusts, local authorities and voluntary-aided school bodies, to manage the safety and maintenance of their schools based on local knowledge of their estates. They decide how to use annual funding provided, or when to apply to central programmes. Where there are serious issues with buildings that cannot be managed independently, the department provides additional support on a case-by-case basis.
This government introduced the Condition Data Collection (CDC), the first ever comprehensive survey of the school estate and one of the largest data collection programmes of its kind in Europe. The department’s evidence-led approach, following the James Review of Capital in 2011, has enabled the department to use consistent data on the condition of the school estate to inform capital allocations and funding policy. This means that the department targets more funding to where it is needed most, with schools in relatively poorer condition attracting more funding for their responsible body.
Almost all government funded schools in England were visited as part of the Condition Data Collection 1 (CDC1) programme between 2017 and 2019. Surveyors and engineers assessed the condition of multiple components of the schools' buildings and land within twelve primary building elements using an A-D rating. Key findings, including regional breakdowns, from the CDC1 can be found in the report, ‘Condition of School Buildings Survey – Key Findings’, which is available at: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/60af7cbbe90e071b54214c82/Condition_of_School_Buildings_Survey_CDC1_-_key_findings_report.pdf.
Significant capital investment has been provided since the CDC1 was carried out, and Condition Data Collection 2 (CDC2) is now in progress to provide updated information and will be completed by 2026. Early indications from the CDC2 data collection to date, and feedback from responsible bodies, showed that in almost every case where a D grade component was identified in the CDC1 report, it has since been addressed.
The list of schools that have been awarded a place on the School Rebuilding Programme can be found here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/school-rebuilding-programme-schools-in-the-programme.
Funding for capital programmes up to the 2024/25 financial year comes from the department’s overall £19 billion capital budget set at the 2021 Spending Review. Capital budgets beyond 2024/25 will be determined through a Spending Review, in the normal way.
Asked by: Catherine McKinnell (Labour - Newcastle upon Tyne North)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what recent estimate she has made of the total cost to the public purse of (a) repairing, (b) refurbishing and (c) rebuilding school buildings in the East.
Answered by Damian Hinds - Minister of State (Education)
Well-maintained, safe school buildings are a priority for the department to support a high-quality education for all children. The department has allocated over £15 billion since 2015 for keeping schools safe and operational, including £1.8 billion in the 2023/24 financial year. In addition, the School Rebuilding Programme is transforming poor condition buildings at over 500 schools.
It is the responsibility of those who run schools, such as academy trusts, local authorities and voluntary-aided school bodies, to manage the safety and maintenance of their schools based on local knowledge of their estates. They decide how to use annual funding provided, or when to apply to central programmes. Where there are serious issues with buildings that cannot be managed independently, the department provides additional support on a case-by-case basis.
This government introduced the Condition Data Collection (CDC), the first ever comprehensive survey of the school estate and one of the largest data collection programmes of its kind in Europe. The department’s evidence-led approach, following the James Review of Capital in 2011, has enabled the department to use consistent data on the condition of the school estate to inform capital allocations and funding policy. This means that the department targets more funding to where it is needed most, with schools in relatively poorer condition attracting more funding for their responsible body.
Almost all government funded schools in England were visited as part of the Condition Data Collection 1 (CDC1) programme between 2017 and 2019. Surveyors and engineers assessed the condition of multiple components of the schools' buildings and land within twelve primary building elements using an A-D rating. Key findings, including regional breakdowns, from the CDC1 can be found in the report, ‘Condition of School Buildings Survey – Key Findings’, which is available at: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/60af7cbbe90e071b54214c82/Condition_of_School_Buildings_Survey_CDC1_-_key_findings_report.pdf.
Significant capital investment has been provided since the CDC1 was carried out, and Condition Data Collection 2 (CDC2) is now in progress to provide updated information and will be completed by 2026. Early indications from the CDC2 data collection to date, and feedback from responsible bodies, showed that in almost every case where a D grade component was identified in the CDC1 report, it has since been addressed.
The list of schools that have been awarded a place on the School Rebuilding Programme can be found here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/school-rebuilding-programme-schools-in-the-programme.
Funding for capital programmes up to the 2024/25 financial year comes from the department’s overall £19 billion capital budget set at the 2021 Spending Review. Capital budgets beyond 2024/25 will be determined through a Spending Review, in the normal way.
Asked by: Catherine McKinnell (Labour - Newcastle upon Tyne North)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what recent estimate she has made of the total cost to the public purse of (a) repairing, (b) refurbishing and (c) rebuilding school buildings in the East Midlands.
Answered by Damian Hinds - Minister of State (Education)
Well-maintained, safe school buildings are a priority for the department to support a high-quality education for all children. The department has allocated over £15 billion since 2015 for keeping schools safe and operational, including £1.8 billion in the 2023/24 financial year. In addition, the School Rebuilding Programme is transforming poor condition buildings at over 500 schools.
It is the responsibility of those who run schools, such as academy trusts, local authorities and voluntary-aided school bodies, to manage the safety and maintenance of their schools based on local knowledge of their estates. They decide how to use annual funding provided, or when to apply to central programmes. Where there are serious issues with buildings that cannot be managed independently, the department provides additional support on a case-by-case basis.
This government introduced the Condition Data Collection (CDC), the first ever comprehensive survey of the school estate and one of the largest data collection programmes of its kind in Europe. The department’s evidence-led approach, following the James Review of Capital in 2011, has enabled the department to use consistent data on the condition of the school estate to inform capital allocations and funding policy. This means that the department targets more funding to where it is needed most, with schools in relatively poorer condition attracting more funding for their responsible body.
Almost all government funded schools in England were visited as part of the Condition Data Collection 1 (CDC1) programme between 2017 and 2019. Surveyors and engineers assessed the condition of multiple components of the schools' buildings and land within twelve primary building elements using an A-D rating. Key findings, including regional breakdowns, from the CDC1 can be found in the report, ‘Condition of School Buildings Survey – Key Findings’, which is available at: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/60af7cbbe90e071b54214c82/Condition_of_School_Buildings_Survey_CDC1_-_key_findings_report.pdf.
Significant capital investment has been provided since the CDC1 was carried out, and Condition Data Collection 2 (CDC2) is now in progress to provide updated information and will be completed by 2026. Early indications from the CDC2 data collection to date, and feedback from responsible bodies, showed that in almost every case where a D grade component was identified in the CDC1 report, it has since been addressed.
The list of schools that have been awarded a place on the School Rebuilding Programme can be found here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/school-rebuilding-programme-schools-in-the-programme.
Funding for capital programmes up to the 2024/25 financial year comes from the department’s overall £19 billion capital budget set at the 2021 Spending Review. Capital budgets beyond 2024/25 will be determined through a Spending Review, in the normal way.
Asked by: Tobias Ellwood (Conservative - Bournemouth East)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps she is taking to increase childcare provision in (a) Bournemouth East constituency and (b) the South West.
Answered by David Johnston - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
Under Section 6 of the Childcare Act 2006, local authorities are responsible for ensuring that the provision of childcare is sufficient to meet the requirements of parents in their area. Part B of the early education and childcare statutory guidance for local authorities highlights that local authorities are required to report annually to elected council members on how they are meeting their duty to secure sufficient childcare, and to make this report available and accessible to parents.
In the government’s 2023 Spring Budget, my right hon. Friend, the Chancellor of the Exchequer, announced transformative reforms to childcare for parents, children and the economy. By the 2027/28 financial year, this government expects to be spending in excess of £8 billion every year on free hours and early education, helping families with pre-school children with their childcare costs. This represents the single biggest investment in childcare in England ever and is set to save working families using the full 30 funded hours up to £6,500 per year from when their child is nine months until they are five years old by September 2025.
Funding will be key to delivering the existing and expanded childcare entitlements. The department has substantially uplifted the hourly rate paid to local authorities to increase hourly rates paid to childcare providers. In the 2024/25 financial year, the department is investing over £400 million additional funding to deliver a significant uplift to hourly rates, building on the £204 million of additional funding paid in September.
To support the sector further to deliver the expansion of childcare support, the government is confirming that the hourly rate that providers are paid to deliver the free hours offers will increase in line with the metric used in the Spring Budget 2023. This reflects that workforce costs are the most significant costs for childcare providers and represents an additional £500 million of investment over financial years 2025/26 and 2026/27.
Alongside increasing funding rates, the government is allocating £100 million in capital funding to local authorities in the 2023/24 financial year to support the expansion of childcare places for eligible working parents and to increase the supply of wraparound care in primary schools. The funding is anticipated to deliver thousands of new places across the country.
Following the department’s consultation on changes to the early years foundation stage framework, the department has introduced flexibilities that aim to make things easier for providers, as well as continuing to explore how the department can support the sector to deliver the additional places that will be required.
The department is ensuring a phased implementation of the expansion to the 30 hours offer to allow the market to develop the necessary capacity. On 2 February 2024, the department launched ‘Do something big, Work with small children’, a new national recruitment campaign to support the recruitment and retention of talented staff to support the expansion of the 30 hours offer. This campaign will raise the profile of the sector, support the recruitment of talented staff, and recognise the lifelong impact those working in early years and childcare have on children and their families.
The department is also continuing to monitor the sufficiency of childcare places across the sector. The department’s childcare and early years provider survey shows that both the number of places available and the workforce has increased since 2022.
The department has regular contact with each local authority in England about their sufficiency of childcare and any issues they are facing.
Where local authorities report sufficiency challenges, the department discusses what action the local authority is taking to address those issues and, where needed, supports the local authority with any specific requirements through the department’s childcare sufficiency support contract.
Asked by: Lord Bishop of St Albans (Bishops - Bishops)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the impact on the peregrine falcon population in England of the theft of peregrine falcon eggs for sale of chicks to the Middle East.
Answered by Lord Benyon - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
Defra has not made any assessment of the impact of peregrine falcon egg theft on the peregrine population.
The Government does, however, take all wildlife crime seriously, including the theft of wild bird eggs, which is an offence under the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981.
In 2022 Defra more than doubled its funding of the National Wildlife Crime Unit from a total of £495,000 over the three previous years to £1.2 million for the three-year period of 2022-25 to target wildlife crime priorities, in particular crimes against birds of prey, which is a national wildlife crime priority.
Defra supports the work of the Bird of Prey Crime Priority Delivery Group, and that of the CITES Priority Delivery Groups, which bring together police, government and stakeholders from conservation organisations to tackle this type of persecution. In addition, we are providing funding to Science and Advice for Scottish Agriculture (SASA) to develop DNA forensic analysis for the police and other organisations investigating crimes against peregrine falcons.
Additionally, the UK is an active member of the Intergovernmental Task Force on the Illegal Killing, Taking and Trade of Migratory Birds in the Mediterranean (MIKT). The MIKT facilitates international cooperation to tackle bird crime, including the illegal persecution and taking of raptors.
Asked by: Stephen Morgan (Labour - Portsmouth South)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps she is taking to increase the number of primary school children meeting expected standards in maths.
Answered by Damian Hinds - Minister of State (Education)
Since 2010, the department has overseen a transformation in the way mathematics is taught in schools, based on the best available international evidence. Reform of the mathematics curriculum and testing system was accompanied by the introduction of a national network of 40 Maths Hubs in 2014 and overseen by the National Centre of Excellence in Teaching Mathematics, to help local schools improve the quality of their teaching.
Maths Hubs deliver our Teaching for Mastery programme, which is bringing teaching practice from high performing East Asian jurisdictions to primary and secondary schools across England. The programme aims to reach 75% of primary schools by 2025. Maths Hubs also run the Mastering Number programme which helps children in the first years of primary school master the basics of arithmetic, including number bonds and times tables.
The percentage of pupils meeting the key stage 2 expected standard in mathematics in the 2022/23 academic year was 73%, up from 71% in 2021/22. Pre-pandemic, England achieved its highest ever mathematics score in the 2019 Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study international test for year 5 pupils. Although the study was affected by the pandemic, analysis of the Programme for International Student Assessment 2022 results for 15 year olds showed that England had risen in the rankings, from seventeenth for mathematics in 2018, to eleventh. Ofsted recently found a “resounding, positive shift in primary mathematics education”.
All eligible year 4 pupils in England are required to take the Multiplication Table Check, which is an on screen assessment testing pupils' ability to fluently recall their knowledge of multiplication tables up to 12x12. 29% of eligible children scored full marks in 2023, up from 27% in 2022, and the average attainment score in 2023 was 20.2, up from 19.8 in 2022.
The department has introduced a new national professional qualification (NPQ) in Leading Primary Mathematics (LPM) to help schools provide pupils with the foundational mathematics knowledge and skills they need for future attainment and employment. The NPQ LPM enables teachers and leaders to draw upon the best available evidence on how to teach mathematics to primary pupils. The NPQ is aimed at those who already have a secure understanding of mastery approaches and will build their leadership capability to enable them to improve mastery teaching of mathematics across a school.
Asked by: Emma Hardy (Labour - Kingston upon Hull West and Hessle)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, if he will publish a breakdown of spending from the flood and coastal erosion risk management investment programme by the (a) number, (b) type and (c) location of flood defences completed.
Answered by Robbie Moore - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Each year the Environment Agency produces a summary of flood and coastal erosion risk management work carried out by risk management authorities in England. This is required under Section 18 of the Flood and Water Management Act 2010. When the current FCERM investment programme ends, after March 2027, the Environment Agency will publish a report with a breakdown of spending, similar to the report published in 2022 after the 2015-2021 investment programme.
We are in the third year of the current 6-year £5.2 billion Flood and Coastal Erosion Risk Management (FCERM) investment programme. At the end of March 2023, the Environment Agency estimated that approximately £1.5 billion of this funding has been invested with over 200 flood risk schemes completed and almost 60,000 properties better protected. Below is a breakdown of spending by region for the current investment programme.
ONS Region | 2021 to 2023 expenditure (£ millions) | 2021 to 2023 Properties better protected |
East Midlands | 148 | 9,620 |
East of England | 153 | 5,730 |
London | 67 | 9,730 |
North East | 29 | 240 |
North West | 203 | 6,570 |
South East | 246 | 17,490 |
South West | 191 | 4,240 |
West Midlands | 72 | 2,790 |
Yorkshire & Humber | 244 | 2,940 |
Nationally led projects | 144 | 0 |
Total | 1,496 | 59,350 |
The breakdown of the types of schemes delivered within the first two years is as follows:
Main Rivers/Sea | 140 |
Coastal Erosion | 8 |
Surface Water | 66 |
Asked by: Simon Fell (Conservative - Barrow and Furness)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what performance measures his Department uses to measure the success of transitional accommodation for prison leavers.
Answered by Edward Argar - Minister of State (Ministry of Justice)
Prison leavers without settled accommodation are almost 50 per cent more likely to re-offend compared with those with settled accommodation: a settled place to live is a key factor in reducing re-offending, cutting crime and protecting the public.
The data collected on people leaving prison for transitional accommodation, together with data on settled accommodation three months after release, can be found at the following link: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/64c10b4e90b54500143e8375/Probation_Performance_Data_Tables_2022-23.xlsx.
HMPPS Community Accommodation Service (CAS) currently provides transitional accommodation via three tiers of support, each focused on a different cohort. CAS1 (Approved Premises) is used as a public protection resource to accommodate higher-risk offenders. CAS2 provides accommodation for medium-risk defendants on bail and prisoners eligible for release under home detention curfew. CAS3 is our ground-breaking new temporary accommodation service.
HMPPS launched CAS3 in July 2021, providing up to 12 weeks’ guaranteed accommodation on release for those leaving prison at risk of homelessness, with support to move on to settled accommodation. Initially implemented in five probation regions (Yorkshire and the Humber; North West; Greater Manchester; East of England; and Kent, Surrey and Sussex), the service was rolled out to Wales in June 2022. From April 2023, the CAS3 service was operating in all probation regions in England and Wales.
Between 2019-20 and 2022-23, the proportion of prison leavers who were homeless upon release decreased by five percentage points, from 16 per cent to 11 per cent.
By January 2023, the proportion of offenders housed on the first night of release from custody was 7.6 percentage points higher in CAS3 regions in comparison with regions where CAS3 had yet to be implemented.
Asked by: Simon Fell (Conservative - Barrow and Furness)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, whether his Department collects information on how many people who leave prison for transitional accommodation leave with settled accommodation.
Answered by Edward Argar - Minister of State (Ministry of Justice)
Prison leavers without settled accommodation are almost 50 per cent more likely to re-offend compared with those with settled accommodation: a settled place to live is a key factor in reducing re-offending, cutting crime and protecting the public.
The data collected on people leaving prison for transitional accommodation, together with data on settled accommodation three months after release, can be found at the following link: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/64c10b4e90b54500143e8375/Probation_Performance_Data_Tables_2022-23.xlsx.
HMPPS Community Accommodation Service (CAS) currently provides transitional accommodation via three tiers of support, each focused on a different cohort. CAS1 (Approved Premises) is used as a public protection resource to accommodate higher-risk offenders. CAS2 provides accommodation for medium-risk defendants on bail and prisoners eligible for release under home detention curfew. CAS3 is our ground-breaking new temporary accommodation service.
HMPPS launched CAS3 in July 2021, providing up to 12 weeks’ guaranteed accommodation on release for those leaving prison at risk of homelessness, with support to move on to settled accommodation. Initially implemented in five probation regions (Yorkshire and the Humber; North West; Greater Manchester; East of England; and Kent, Surrey and Sussex), the service was rolled out to Wales in June 2022. From April 2023, the CAS3 service was operating in all probation regions in England and Wales.
Between 2019-20 and 2022-23, the proportion of prison leavers who were homeless upon release decreased by five percentage points, from 16 per cent to 11 per cent.
By January 2023, the proportion of offenders housed on the first night of release from custody was 7.6 percentage points higher in CAS3 regions in comparison with regions where CAS3 had yet to be implemented.
Asked by: Matt Hancock (Independent - West Suffolk)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what his planned timetable is for the upgrading of Haughley and Ely rail junctions.
Answered by Huw Merriman - Minister of State (Department for Transport)
The recently announced Network North programme of investment included confirmation of government’s support for the Ely Area Capacity Enhancement (EACE) programme and the substantial benefits this will bring, including a doubling of passenger services on the Ely to Kings Lynn and Ipswich to Peterborough routes together with additional freight paths into the Port of Felixstowe.
Network Rail have developed the scheme to Outline Business Case stage; next steps will involve further investment case development and delivery planning.