Topical Questions

Oral Answers to Questions — Education – in the House of Commons at 12:00 am on 6 November 2017.

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Photo of Paul Williams Paul Williams Labour, Stockton South 12:00, 6 November 2017

If she will make a statement on her departmental responsibilities.

Photo of Justine Greening Justine Greening Minister for Women and Equalities, The Secretary of State for Education

In October, I had the pleasure to go back to Rotherham to visit my former school, which is now called Oakwood High School. It was absolutely inspiring to meet the students there now, as I was many years ago. I also helped to launch the new DFE-supported Institute for Teaching in Manchester, which will help to drive up standards and produce excellent teachers. Recently, we had the flexible working summit at the DFE to ensure that teaching is a profession for the modern workplace, thereby helping to drive recruitment and retention.

Photo of Paul Williams Paul Williams Labour, Stockton South

A survey published today by the Sixth Form Colleges Association shows that funding cuts have caused one third of providers to drop courses in STEM subjects. We know that colleges are also dropping vocational qualifications. Does the Secretary of State agree that this month’s Budget must provide increased funds for colleges and sixth forms so that all forms of 16-to-19 education are on an equal footing for funding?

Photo of Justine Greening Justine Greening Minister for Women and Equalities, The Secretary of State for Education

I am, of course, always bidding for additional funding for education across the board, including technical education. The hon. Gentleman will welcome the fact that maths is now the most popular A-level.

Photo of Robert Jenrick Robert Jenrick Conservative, Newark

Will the Secretary of State join me in celebrating the opening of Newark’s free school? This first new school in the town for a generation aims to reverse the poor standards of education in Newark. It is a brilliant example of how Conservative party policy is transforming the lives of young people in my constituency.

Photo of Justine Greening Justine Greening Minister for Women and Equalities, The Secretary of State for Education

Indeed, and there are now almost 400 free schools. I very much congratulate the Nova Education Trust on opening the Suthers School. I know that, as the chair of the governors, my hon. Friend will ensure that that school provides young people in his constituency with an excellent education.

Photo of Sarah Jones Sarah Jones Labour, Croydon Central

Two years ago, the Government promised legal action on the exorbitant costs of school uniforms. When will the Secretary of State keep that promise?

Photo of Justine Greening Justine Greening Minister for Women and Equalities, The Secretary of State for Education

We have given clear guidance to schools that uniforms need to be affordable, but the hon. Lady is absolutely right that this is an important issue. It is certainly a cost that many parents worry about, and I assure her that making further progress to address it is on our agenda.

Photo of Tom Pursglove Tom Pursglove Conservative, Corby

New housing developments in my constituency are coming on stream quickly, but the necessary infrastructure, including school places, must be in place to support that growth. Can my right hon. Friend assure me that the new funding formula will help to address this issue and ensure that such infrastructure is in place?

Photo of Justine Greening Justine Greening Minister for Women and Equalities, The Secretary of State for Education

Under the new formula, money will follow the child and it will be flexed if they have additional needs. Of course, we work hand in hand with local authorities to make sure that basic need capital funding is available to ensure that we keep up with the need for school places. As I said, there have been 735,000 new school places since 2010. This Government are planning ahead and will continue to do so.

Photo of Wera Hobhouse Wera Hobhouse Liberal Democrat Spokesperson (Housing, Communities and Local Government)

It has been brought to my attention that some academy trusts are increasingly encouraging parents whose children have challenging behaviour to home educate them to avoid those children being excluded. However, the parents are very poorly supported with respect to home education. Is the Secretary of State aware of this trend and is she inclined to do something about it?

Photo of Justine Greening Justine Greening Minister for Women and Equalities, The Secretary of State for Education

The hon. Lady will welcome the fact that when we recently published the results of the race disparity audit, a key part of the launch was the announcement of a review of exclusions, because we want to make sure that they are dealt with effectively by schools. That sits alongside announcements on improving the quality of alternative provision.

Photo of Michael Tomlinson Michael Tomlinson Conservative, Mid Dorset and North Poole

What steps are being taken to include marriage in relationships education?

Photo of Justine Greening Justine Greening Minister for Women and Equalities, The Secretary of State for Education

This is exceptionally important. At the heart of this is the fact that we are trying to help young people to understand how commitments and relationships are very much at the core of a balanced life that enables people to be successful more generally. That is why we are looking to update the guidance, alongside the fact that the world in which young people are becoming adults is, frankly, now a much more difficult one. There are all sorts of challenges, not only in communities but, critically, online, so there are lots of reasons to do this.

Photo of Emma Hardy Emma Hardy Labour, Kingston upon Hull West and Hessle

I recently met headteachers across Hull who told me that one way to mitigate the real- terms cuts in school funding would be to auto-enrol all pupils who are eligible for pupil premium when their family receives benefits. Will the Secretary of State please explore how the Department for Work and Pensions can share data with the Department for Education to make that auto-enrolment happen, so that schools in Hull and other deprived areas of England and Wales receive the additional funding that they so desperately need?

Photo of Justine Greening Justine Greening Minister for Women and Equalities, The Secretary of State for Education

I take the hon. Lady’s point. It is important that we work with schools—and indeed parents —to ensure that they get all the benefits and support to which they are entitled. I assure her that work is under way to ensure that children and schools are not underfunded, and are receiving what they should receive.

Photo of Jacob Rees-Mogg Jacob Rees-Mogg Conservative, North East Somerset

Page 50 of the Conservative party manifesto says:

“We will replace the unfair and ineffective inclusivity rules that prevent the establishment of new Roman Catholic schools”.

It did not promise an interminable review. When will my right hon. Friend implement Conservative policy?

Photo of Justine Greening Justine Greening Minister for Women and Equalities, The Secretary of State for Education

I am not sure whether my hon. Friend responded to that review, but we certainly had a number of responses. We are looking through them carefully and I will update the House in due course.

Photo of Martyn Day Martyn Day Scottish National Party, Linlithgow and East Falkirk

Universities were shocked when a member of the Government took it upon himself to write to them seeking details of the professionals teaching Brexit-related courses. Is the Secretary of State comfortable with that sort of McCarthyite behaviour? If not, what will she do about it?

Photo of Henry Smith Henry Smith Conservative, Crawley

Under the new national funding formula, west Sussex schools are set to have a funding increase of 10.7%. However, the county has been historically one of the lowest funded. Are there any other measures that can be brought forward to ensure that that historical underfunding is righted?

Photo of Justine Greening Justine Greening Minister for Women and Equalities, The Secretary of State for Education

As my hon. Friend says, the national funding formula aims to address the inequity that has been baked into our funding system for many, many years. That sits alongside the pupil premium investment and the work that increasingly takes place in our schools to make sure that they operate in a way that maximises the educational impact that they get for every single pound. That means a focus on efficiency.

Photo of Kevin Brennan Kevin Brennan Shadow Minister (Digital, Culture, Media and Sport) (Arts and Heritage)

When I used to mark A-level economics scripts, a key aspect of getting a higher grade was knowing the difference between a real-term increase and a cash increase. Why does the Secretary of State choose to set such a bad example to our students by deliberately muddying those two concepts?

Photo of Justine Greening Justine Greening Minister for Women and Equalities, The Secretary of State for Education

The hon. Gentleman might have marked those exams, but I ended up getting a first-class economics degree at university—[Hon. Members: “Ooh!”] I can tell him that the difference between what we are proposing under the national formula is the fact that under our approach, schools will get a cash increase, but under Labour’s approach, they would have had their cash absolutely frozen. [Interruption.]

Photo of Wendy Morton Wendy Morton Conservative, Aldridge-Brownhills

Ryders Hayes Primary School in my constituency recently opened a new teacher training facility—it is in a fantastic wood cabin. What are Ministers doing to promote teacher training opportunities and to encourage more participation?

Photo of Nick Gibb Nick Gibb Minister of State (Education)

I congratulate the school in my hon. Friend’s constituency. More than half of teachers are trained through school-led systems, which means that schools have more control over the quality of the training that their teachers receive, and that schools can look for graduates and undergraduates to join their staff in the most effective way.

Photo of Nicholas Dakin Nicholas Dakin Opposition Whip (Commons)

The Support Our Sixth-formers funding impact assessment, which was published today, shows general sixth-form education under real strain. Bearing in mind that each sixth former is funded at £4,500, compared with £5,700 for a pupil aged between 11 to 16, will the Secretary of State take the opportunity of the Budget to use last year’s underspend and uplift funding by £200 for each student aged 16 to 18?

Photo of Justine Greening Justine Greening Minister for Women and Equalities, The Secretary of State for Education

We have maintained that rate across the course of this spending review. It is probably not for me to pre-empt what will be in the Budget.

Photo of Steve Double Steve Double Conservative, St Austell and Newquay

Will the Minister update the House on the progress of the introduction of the T-level in catering and hospitality? It is eagerly anticipated by the tourism and hospitality sector, and is essential for providing the skilled staff that the sector needs for the future.

Photo of Anne Milton Anne Milton Minister of State (Education), Minister for Women

T-levels are long-awaited. We are starting down that road—the first few will come online in 2020, and there will be more in 2021 and 2022. I know that there is a great deal of interest in them, particularly from that sector.

Photo of Clive Efford Clive Efford Labour, Eltham

Will the Secretary of State confirm that £1.5 billion has been taken out of school budgets since 2015, leading to a real-terms cut in per-pupil funding, which is contrary to what the Conservatives promised in their 2015 manifesto?

Photo of Justine Greening Justine Greening Minister for Women and Equalities, The Secretary of State for Education

There has never been more money flowing into our schools system. The schools budget has risen year on year. Over the next two years alone, it will rise from £41 billion a year to more than £43 billion a year.

Photo of Michelle Donelan Michelle Donelan Conservative, Chippenham

Last Friday, I held the Wiltshire festival of engineering, inspiring more than 3,000 children and involving more than 35 businesses and organisations. The Schools Minister kindly attended. The event highlighted that Wiltshire really is a hub of engineering. Will the Minister confirm that the new careers strategy will encourage a better link between schools and businesses, and prioritise sectors with severe skills shortages, such as STEM?

Photo of Nick Gibb Nick Gibb Minister of State (Education)

It was a real pleasure to join my hon. Friend at the engineering fair and I pay tribute to her for creating such a wonderful occasion. It was attended by thousands of pupils from years 6 to 9, who will be inspired to take up STEM careers. A-level maths is now the single most popular A-level choice for the fourth year in a row.

Photo of Gareth Snell Gareth Snell Labour/Co-operative, Stoke-on-Trent Central

The Secretary of State has said a lot about extra money going to schools and classrooms, but Stoke-on-Trent City Council, which is run by the Conservatives and independents, is trying to claw back £3 million of the additional £4 million, as my hon. Friend Ruth Smeeth alluded to. Will the Secretary of State meet us so that we can work together to ensure that the money destined for our classrooms and children actually gets to them?

Photo of Justine Greening Justine Greening Minister for Women and Equalities, The Secretary of State for Education

We have put in place clear rules regarding the extent to which councils are able to switch money between the key funds. There is potential for them to go beyond that, but they would need to make an exceptional case.

Photo of Kevin Foster Kevin Foster Conservative, Torbay

The Secretary of State will be aware that Paignton Community and Sports Academy does great work for my constituents and those of my hon. Friend Dr Wollaston. However, it is hampered by the fact that some of its buildings are from the 1940s. Will the Secretary of State meet me to discuss how we can deal with those old buildings?

Photo of Justine Greening Justine Greening Minister for Women and Equalities, The Secretary of State for Education

Either the Schools Minister or I will be very happy to meet my hon. Friend to discuss that.

Photo of Thelma Walker Thelma Walker Labour, Colne Valley

Some 50% of schools and colleges, including Huddersfield New College in my constituency, have dropped modern foreign language subjects from their subject choices, citing funding as a reason. What is the Minister doing to reverse this trend?

Photo of Nick Gibb Nick Gibb Minister of State (Education)

The hon. Lady raises a very real concern, which is why the EBacc is such an important performance measure for schools. There was a significant drop in the numbers studying foreign languages due to the last Labour Government’s decision to end compulsion at key stage 4. Under this Government, the percentage of individuals taking a modern foreign language has increased from 40% to 47%, but we need to go further.

Photo of Rebecca Pow Rebecca Pow Conservative, Taunton Deane

Contact with nature can provide tremendous spin-offs for schoolchildren’s mental and physical health. Will the Secretary of State indicate whether any formal assessment has been made of projects such as the Forest School project at King’s Hall in Taunton Deane? Might she be inclined to encourage green learning in schools?

Photo of Justine Greening Justine Greening Minister for Women and Equalities, The Secretary of State for Education

As well as being an economist, I am a keen gardener, so I think it is important for our children to learn about the environment around them—not just why it matters, but how to take care of it. We will talk to my hon. Friend about what more we can do.