Students: Cost of Living
(Lancaster and Fleetwood) (Lab)
1. What steps he is taking to help support students with the cost
of living.
The Secretary of State for Education ()
My Department continues to work with the Office for Students to
ensure that universities support students in hardship by drawing
on the £261 million student premium.
I have been hearing from students from the University of
Lancaster and the University of Cumbria, and I share the concerns
of the organisation MillionPlus, whose report “Learning with the
lights off” highlights the difficulties that around 300,000
students are facing. Has the Secretary of State seen the report,
and will he meet me and representatives of MillionPlus to discuss
how the report’s recommendations on bringing immediate grant
support to students could be implemented by his Government?
I am afraid that I have not yet seen the report, but I will ask
my team to dig it out and give it a look over. If the hon. Lady
has specific issues that she wants to raise, I will be more than
happy to meet her. Alongside the significant funding that we are
putting into the student premium to deal with hardship in the
student body, many students who are not living in halls of
residence or other tied accommodation will benefit from the wider
cost of living package that the Government have put together.
(New Forest West) (Con)
They will no doubt be relieved on the grounds of the rate of
interest they are required to pay on their student loans, won’t
they?
I know that the rate of interest on student loans is a matter of
great interest to my right hon. Friend and his constituents. The
switch from maintenance grants to loans that are effectively
contingent upon income has been a success, in that we have seen
during this period a significant increase in the likelihood of
18-year-olds from disadvantaged backgrounds going into higher
education, but of course we constantly keep these things under
review.
Mr Speaker
We now come to the shadow Minister, .
(Warwick and Leamington)
(Lab)
I have been speaking to a lot of students in recent weeks and
they are obviously anxious about the cost of living. While
student maintenance loans have increased by just 2.3% on average,
inflation has rocketed to more than 10%, accommodation costs are
up 5%, food costs are up 14.5% and transport costs are up by
10.6%, hitting commuter students particularly hard. The result is
that students are facing an average funding gap of £439 per month
and dropping out, while the Government are facing a credibility
gap in this sector. Can the Secretary of State tell us what
students are supposed to do?
As I outlined previously, £261 million is available in this
academic year to support disadvantaged students who need
additional help. We have been working closely with the Office for
Students to make sure that universities support those who are in
hardship. It is worth pointing out that students will also
benefit from reductions to their energy costs if they are buying
from a domestic supplier, through the energy cost support package
that we are putting in place. We have, as the hon. Gentleman
said, continued to increase support for living costs over the
last few years. He will know, however, that we keep these things
under review constantly and an announcement on the uplift for
this year will be forthcoming shortly.
Mr Speaker
Question 2 has been withdrawn, so we now come to question 3.
STEM Teachers in Disadvantaged Areas
(South East Cornwall)
(Con)
3. What steps his Department is taking to attract science,
technology, engineering and mathematics teachers to work in
disadvantaged areas.
The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Education ()
As someone who was a teacher for nearly nine years in
disadvantaged areas in London and Birmingham, may I say that
teaching is one of the most rewarding jobs you can have? In
2020-21 there was an increase of more than 4,400 full-time
teachers in state-funded schools in England. This has resulted in
the largest qualified teacher stock since the school workforce
census began in 2011. We know that there is more to be done in
some areas, which is why early career maths, physics, chemistry
and computing teachers working in eligible schools with
disadvantaged pupil cohorts can now claim our tax-free levelling
up premium.
Mrs Murray
One of the key disadvantages we have in Cornwall is the
relatively high cost of housing. Cornwall is beautiful and people
want to live there, but what more can the Department do to
encourage teachers to come to Cornwall and not to other places
with cheaper housing?
My hon. Friend will understand only too well, as a former
resident of Stoke-on-Trent North, Kidsgrove and Talke, that, like
Cornwall, it too is a place of outstanding beauty. This
Government are committed to ensuring that affordable housing is
delivered, and since 2010 more than 9,000 homes have been
delivered in Cornwall. In August 2021 we announced £1 billion of
funding from our affordable homes programme, which will be used
to deliver more than 17,000 affordable homes across the
south-west. I am pleased to say that Cornwall is also an
education investment area and has 26 schools that are eligible
for the levelling up premium, including Liskeard School and
Community College in my hon. Friend’s constituency, and
specialist teachers in certain subjects in those schools can
claim up to £3,000 tax free annually. Finally, in March 2022—
Mr Speaker
Order. It is not a full lesson we are putting out, just a good
answer.
Dame (Hackney South and Shoreditch) (Lab/Co-op)
Disadvantage knows no boundaries and, likewise, we have huge
challenges in our schools in Hackney. The Government promised
that the starting salary for teachers would be £30,000. How close
are the Government to reaching that manifesto commitment?
I am delighted to tell the hon. Lady that, at the next
independent pay review, I have asked for this Government’s
manifesto commitment to a £30,000 a year starting salary to be
honoured for 2023-24.
Mr Speaker
Question 4 has been withdrawn.
Vocational Alternatives to A-levels
(Stoke-on-Trent South)
(Con)
5. What steps he is taking to ensure that students have access to
high-quality vocational alternatives to A-levels.
The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Education ()
We are reforming technical education to ensure that all post-16
students have access to technical options that support
progression and meet employers’ needs. We have introduced
T-levels, a new high-quality programme designed with employers
that will give learners the knowledge and experience needed for
skilled employment and further study, including higher education
or higher apprenticeships. We are also reviewing existing
qualifications that sit alongside A-levels and T-levels to ensure
they are high quality and lead to good outcomes for students.
We have some fantastic creative and manufacturing industries in
Stoke-on-Trent, but many of these industries say to me that they
often struggle to fill certain vacancies. Will my hon. Friend
look at what more we can do to help to incentivise vocational
skills to get our economy growing?
I know this is of great importance to my hon. Friend. Many
different sectors face skills needs and challenges, which is why
we are investing in skills through T-levels, apprenticeships,
skills boot camps and free courses for jobs, giving people of all
ages the opportunity to obtain the skills that industries like
and that support economic growth.
(Bristol East) (Lab)
There is potentially a huge number of good green jobs for young
people to go into, such as retrofitting homes, installing heat
pumps and restoring wetlands, but many young people do not know
these jobs exist, let alone the pathways to get into them. What
are the Government doing to open their eyes to these
opportunities?
I thank the hon. Lady for her important question. I am proud of
the Government’s record of investing in green jobs through
T-levels, apprenticeships, higher technical qualifications and
boot camps. Never before have there been so many opportunities to
engage with green industries. We are also working closely with
these industries to make sure they are at the heart of what we
do.
Mr Speaker
I call the shadow Minister, .
(Chesterfield) (Lab)
The most popular high-quality vocational qualifications currently
offered at level 3 are BTECs. Last week, the Education Committee
heard evidence about the 6,500 level 3 students and 7,500 level 2
students whose results were delayed this year. The right hon.
Member for Harlow () rightly criticised the
failure to reveal the number of students affected at the time and
all the uncertainty that caused. When did the Minister first know
how many students had not received their results? Why did she not
insist that the number be made public?
As the hon. Gentleman knows, I am a strong proponent of BTECs,
having been a BTEC girl myself. The Department informed us, and
we acted on that straightaway. I will have to get back to him
with the exact date. Looking at the whole landscape, I assure him
that it has been simplified and that, most importantly, these
courses lead to good outcomes for students, ensuring they have a
bright future.
Mr Speaker
Question 6 has been withdrawn.
Educational Underachievement of Black Children
(Hackney North and Stoke
Newington) (Lab)
7. Whether he is taking steps to tackle educational
underachievement of black children.
The Secretary of State for Education ()
We are focused on raising educational standards for all pupils,
irrespective of their ethnicity.
Ms Abbott
The Government will be aware that, although many ethnic minority
groups have narrowed the gap with white pupils, and in some cases
overtaken them, some groups continue to underachieve,
particularly black Caribbean boys. At a time when there are so
many skills shortages, what is the Secretary of State doing to
ensure all our pupils achieve their potential?
I am pleased to say that the right hon. Lady is right and a
number of minority groups now outperform the average, not least
the largest group of the black community, those who would
identify themselves as black African, who outperform the average
in a number of ways. She is right, however, that there is
underperformance by a number of black Caribbean pupils, mainly
boys, and I certainly undertake to her to try to investigate why.
However, I am sure she would agree that although external factors
such as disadvantage can influence educational outcomes, the
standard of the school and of the teaching that those pupils
receive can often overcome many of those barriers. If she has not
already done so, I urge her to visit the Michaela Community
School in Wembley, which I visited two weeks ago and which is
seeing extraordinary results from a very mixed and diverse
community, in a very challenged part of London.
Mr Speaker
I call the Chair of the Select Committee, .
(Harlow) (Con)
One key reason for underachievement—of all pupils, including
pupils from different ethnic minorities—is the absence of
children from school. At the start of term this September, there
was just 93.5% attendance in all schools, which means that
children lost up to an estimated 17.6 million hours of learning.
At the start of school term, we would expect to see higher rates
of attendance, of about 98%. I know that the Department has
appointed 13 attendance advisers, but we have 1.7 million absent
children and 100,000-plus so-called “ghost children”. What is my
right hon. Friend doing to get those children back into school,
so that the 1.7 million persistently absent children are safely
returned to the classroom?
The Chairman of the Select Committee is absolutely right to push
hard on this issue because it is vital to the future of not only
those children, but their families. He is right that following
the pandemic we have seen a reduction in attendance. One silver
lining coming out of the pandemic was the fact that we now have
real-time attendance data for a majority of schools—we are
working to complete that for all—which allows us to focus in our
efforts on driving attendance in those schools. Given my previous
job at the Home Office, I am particularly keen that police,
schools and local education authorities should work closely
together to make sure that those children who are not at school
and are not findable at home are found somewhere out in the
community and brought back.
Mr Speaker
You are meant to work through the Chair, Secretary of State. If
you could do so, it would be very helpful, because at least then
I could hear you as well.
Cost of Living: Additional Support for School Pupils and HE
Students
(Edinburgh North and Leith)
(SNP)
8. What recent discussions he has had with his counterparts in
the devolved Administrations on the potential merits of providing
additional support for school pupils and higher education
students in the context of increases in the cost of living.
The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Education ()
In September 2022, the Secretary of State for Education held
introductory meetings with his counterparts in Scotland, Wales
and Northern Ireland. That produced wide-ranging discussions,
including on cost of living issues. Education is devolved, so
additional support in this regard would be the responsibility of
the devolved Governments in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland.
The Government’s lead adviser on food issues, Henry Dimbleby, has
condemned the Minister’s response to the national food strategy,
warning that it could mean more children go hungry. Just
yesterday, the headteacher of a multi-academy trust reported that
children are breaking down and crying because of hunger. In
Scotland, all children in primary 1 to 5 receive free school
meals and from 14 November all eligible children up to the age of
16 will be receiving the Scottish child payment of £25 per week.
As this cost of living crisis deepens, when will this Government
match the actions of the Scottish Government to support children
in most need?
We have provided £1.9 million of funding in free school meals and
more than £2 billion in pupil premium. We are there to support
disadvantaged students, which is why we are reforming education
to give them a good start in life. Perhaps the hon. Lady and her
counterparts in the devolved nations could learn from what we are
doing here in England.
Mr Speaker
I call the SNP spokesperson, .
(Glasgow North West)
(SNP)
But of course £1.9 million is not even going to touch the scale
of the problem that we have here. Recent research from PwC found
that for every pound invested in free school meals there was a
return of £1.71 in savings to the state. Given that many families
have moved beyond “just about managing” into “just about
surviving”, when will this Government match the Scottish
Government’s commitment to universal free school meals for
primary children and the transformational Scottish child payment?
(Surrey Heath) (Con)
That was our idea.
As the former Education Secretary rightly says, it was our idea.
Let us look at the funding that we are giving Scotland. The
devolved Administrations are well funded to deliver their
devolved responsibilities. They have had block grant funding of
an average of £41 billion a year. The Government have also
extended free school meals to more children than any other
Government over the past half a century. We remain committed to
supporting the most disadvantaged children.
EBacc Subjects and Modern Foreign Languages at GCSE
(Worcester) (Con)
9. If he will take steps to encourage the take up of EBacc
subjects and modern foreign languages at GCSE level.
The Minister for Schools and Childhood ()
The Government remain committed to improving uptake of Ebacc
subjects, specifically languages. Building on our modern foreign
language pedagogy pilot, we will establish a national network of
language hubs from autumn 2023. We are also expanding the
successful Mandarin excellence programme, as well as exploring an
Arabic language programme.
Mr Walker
The Ebacc pioneered by my right hon. Friend the Member for Surrey
Heath () has been highly successful in
driving uptake of mathematics, sciences and humanities, but there
is much further to go in reaching our targets in modern foreign
languages. What progress have Ministers made on the development
of an Arabic language programme for schools and on ensuring that
more pupils have the chance to study world languages?
My hon. Friend raises an important question about the
availability of more world languages, which are important for our
young people because the United Kingdom operates in a global
market. I can confirm that we are exploring an Arabic language
programme, which will aim to build on the existing infrastructure
of Arabic teaching. Our language hubs programme will also
increase support for home, heritage and community languages.
Teacher Recruitment and Retention
(Manchester, Withington)
(Lab)
11. What steps his Department is taking to improve the
recruitment and retention of teachers.
The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Education ()
The Department is committed to attracting and retaining the
highly skilled teachers we need by investing £181 million in this
year’s recruitment cycle, including training bursaries and
scholarships worth up to £29,000. We are also delivering 500,000
training opportunities, reforming teacher training and delivering
on this Government’s manifesto commitment of £30,000-a-year
starting salaries.
That sounds very rosy, but teacher vacancies have gone up 240%
since 2011. According to the latest National Education Union
poll, 44% of England’s state school teachers plan to quit by
2027—22% of them in the next two years. Things are particularly
difficult because experienced teachers—who may have 20 years’
experience—are leaving the profession. What steps is the Minister
taking to address pay, stress and an unmanageable workload, which
are driving the most experienced teachers out of the profession?
I thank the hon. Gentleman for that great question, because being
a teacher is so important and positive, and it is a shame that he
used his opportunity to be a bit negative about the profession.
As we try to recruit and retain staff, we need people to talk up
what a great profession this is to work in. [Interruption.] I am
being shouted down by Opposition Members, but there is not a
single year of teaching among them—I have nine years’ experience
and I get shouted down for simply being someone who worked on the
shop floor. The lessons should be learned from the past.
However, let me tell the hon. Gentleman what we are doing. We are
making sure that we have the £30,000-a-year starting salary,
which is amazingly competitive with the private sector. We are
going to have the £181 million in scholarships and grants,
including £29,000 in physics, for example. And we are going to
make sure that we tackle retention and workload through the
Department’s workload toolkit, which has so far reduced workload
on average by about five hours.
(Portsmouth South) (Lab)
Wow! This Government have no ambition for our children’s futures:
soaring numbers of council schools are in deficit, the attainment
gap is at a decade high and the Schools Bill has been ripped up.
However, the recruitment and retention of secondary school
teachers—not just Prime Ministers—is in crisis. Estimates based
on DFE data suggest that the Government are set to fall 34
percentage points below their recruitment target. Will the
Minister explain what specific action he will take to stop the
rot and fix his own Government’s failure on this issue?
I am glad the hon. Gentleman has been let out of detention by the
Standards Commissioner for the very naughty letter he sent only
recently regarding me. However, let me be very clear that the
hon. Gentleman is making a point—
Mr Speaker
Order. Let me just say that we want better taste in the House.
The Minister is no longer on the Back Benches, so his rhetoric
needs to be that of a Minister. I know he has that standing and
capability. Come on, Minister!
Mr Speaker, I am making the point very clearly. The hon.
Gentleman has an opportunity to stand at the Dispatch Box and
talk up the teaching professions, talk up our schools, and talk
up our reforms since 2010-11, which have seen the attainment gap
narrowed—that was until, of course, the global pandemic, which
has affected every single sector of our economy. Sadly, things
have not gone in a way that we would have liked, but we are
putting in the effort through the national tutoring programme,
the £1.3 billion recovery premium, and the £650 million catch-up
premium. That is an awful lot of money going into the system. We
are also making sure that teachers are of a high quality, and,
most importantly, that they have high-quality mentoring, an
initial teaching training round and an early career framework,
which give them the support that they need.
College-Employer Collaboration
(Leigh) (Con)
12. What steps his Department is taking to facilitate
collaboration between colleges and employers.
The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Education ()
Local skills improvement plans place employers at the heart of
local school systems, facilitating more dynamic working
arrangements between employers and training providers to make
technical education more responsive to employers’ needs in the
area. All areas in England now have a designated employer
representative body in place to lead on devising their plans.
Does my hon. Friend agree that institutions such as Wigan and
Leigh College which work with employers to create bespoke
qualifications that lead directly into in-demand work are an
excellent blueprint for other educational institutions to follow?
I know that my hon. Friend is a real advocate for colleges in his
area and I thank him for his question. Local skills improvement
plans will forge stronger and more dynamic partnerships between
employers and providers that will enable training to be more
responsive to local skills needs. The relationship between Wigan
and Leigh College and local employers aligns closely with the
aims of this improved collaboration. It is a great example of how
stakeholders can work together to meet local skills needs and
help people to get good jobs. I would be delighted to visit my
hon. Friend’s constituency to see its great work in progress.
(Huddersfield)
(Lab/Co-op)
I do not know whether the Minister was able to go to the
Association of Colleges reception recently, but it was a very
good way of meeting all the college leaders. Does she agree that
there must be more joined-up thinking and activity between
colleges, schools and universities? We were talking about green
skills. There seems to be no curriculum at 16 that meshes with
that at 18 and 21. I ask her please to talk to colleges and get
something moving.
I was at a reception for our Love Our Colleges campaign. I am a
true advocate on this matter and one thing I am passionate about
is the parity of esteem between vocational and technical
qualifications and academic qualifications. I ask Members please
to put their trust in us as a Government, because we are fully
behind all sectors and we are continuing a dialogue between
colleges, schools and universities. As I have said, there have
never been more options open to young people, and I am completely
proud of our record in government.
Mr Speaker
Questions 13 and 14 have been withdrawn.
Freedom of Speech in Universities
(Northampton South) (Con)
15. What steps his Department is taking to protect freedom of
speech in universities.
The Secretary of State for Education ()
This Government are committed to the protection of freedom of
speech and academic freedom in universities. The Higher Education
(Freedom of Speech) Bill will strengthen existing freedom of
speech duties and introduce clear consequences for breaches as
well as a duty on universities and colleges to promote the
importance of freedom of speech and academic freedom.
How my right hon. Friend and his team address the concerns of
many that mandating university students and staff to complete
training in contested theory such as unconscious bias, like the
Radcliffe Department of Medicine’s implicit bias course or the
University of Kent’s Expect Respect course, is worrisome,
especially given recent data from the King’s College “The state
of free speech” report on the increasing reluctance of students
to engage in challenging debate.
I know my hon. Friend recognises that universities and colleges
are independent organisations. None the less, I share his
concerns that where opinions, beliefs or theories that are
contested are presented, they should not be presented to young
minds alone. The context in which they are created, and indeed
the arguments for and against, should be presented to young
people. Indeed, it is the duty of those who are tasked with the
education of young minds to give the widest possible sense of
perspective on all these issues.
Computer Numerical Control Operation: Training
(South West Bedfordshire)
(Con)
16. Whether he is taking steps with Cabinet colleagues to ensure
greater access in education to training in computer numerical
control operation.
The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Education ()
We are investing in programmes that support science, technology
and digital skills so that learners of all ages—including my
young son, who is up in the Public Gallery supporting mummy
today—are equipped to fulfil careers in the likes of computer
numerical control operation. We are delivering on that objective
through our skills reform programme, which is putting employers
at the heart of our skills system.
We need around 1 million more engineers in this country, and
among those we need computer numerical control operators, who can
earn around £50,000 on the shopfloor. I have engineering
businesses in my constituency that are desperate for them. Can we
please get on top of ensuring that we have a talent pipeline so
that people are well paid and those engineering businesses can
flourish?
I understand that things are uncertain, as my hon. Friend’s two
colleges are merging at the moment, but the level 3 engineering
technician apprenticeships provide CNC content and there are more
than 140 providers of that training, including three with
national coverage. I would also like to look at our T-levels to
ensure that we have some of that content in there too.
Rising Costs: Support for Schools
(Warrington North)
(Lab)
17. What plans he has to help support schools with rising costs.
The Secretary of State for Education ()
The Government are committed to supporting schools. That is why
we are investing significantly in education, with a £4 billion
increase in the core schools budget this financial year, which
will help schools facing the challenges of inflation brought
about by global events.
Schools across my constituency face extraordinary financial
pressures, particularly in special educational needs settings
where costs per pupil are higher, and in older schools where the
Government’s failure to invest in the schools estate means higher
costs for heating and repairs. With inflation running out of
control, which is an effective 10% cut in real terms to this
year’s budgets, senior management teams are desperately worried
that they will not be able to balance the books, especially with
higher demand for things such as breakfast clubs as parents feel
the pinch. Can the Secretary of State please inform us what
representations he has made to the Treasury to address the crisis
in education funding?
Notwithstanding the significant increase in the schools budget
last year, we are monitoring the impact of those global
inflationary forces on schools across the whole country. We are
in constant conversation with leadership, unions and headteachers
about their finances. Perhaps the hon. Lady does not know this,
but we acted immediately when it became clear that schools would
be severely impacted by the rise in energy costs, to ensure that
they were included in the energy bill relief scheme. We continue
to have dynamic conversations with Treasury colleagues on the
importance of school funding.
School Budgets and Costs to Parents
(Enfield, Southgate)
(Lab)
18. What recent assessment his Department has made of the impact
of inflation on (a) school budgets and (b) the cost to parents
associated with school.
The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Education ()
The Department is working closely with stakeholders to monitor
cost pressures on schools. Our generous 2021 spending review
package is supporting schools with a £4 billion increase to core
schools funding in this financial year alone and we are
protecting schools through the energy bill relief scheme,
although schools and trusts remain responsible for setting their
own budgets. The Government are also assisting families directly:
as well as the energy price guarantee for households, we are
providing more than £37 billion to help households in the
greatest need, thanks to our new Prime Minister.
Data from a National Association of Headteachers survey shows
that 90% of schools expect to run out of money by the end of the
next school year. I have spoken to headteachers who say that
while school debt is escalating, demands on schools continue to
increase, and the energy crisis is only one element of the
funding crisis in education. Can the Minister tell me how the
Government expect schools in my constituency to deliver standards
and provide additional support when they cannot afford to
survive?
As I said in my earlier answer, we have £7 billion until 2024-25
through the spending review. There is the £5 billion in catch-up
to maintain standards and ensure that disadvantaged pupils in
particular get high-quality support, particularly in tutoring, so
that they can catch up on their lost learning, because we know
the pandemic had a detrimental impact. There is also the
Education (Guidance about Costs of School Uniforms) Act 2021,
which was introduced by a Labour Member, which the Government
adopted and sent out as guidance to make sure that the overall
cost of uniform comes down. We are taking this all very
seriously, and I am more than happy to meet the hon. Gentleman
and headteachers in his local area to hear from them directly and
see what other support we can give.
School Places: Pupils with Special Educational Needs and
Disabilities
(Blyth Valley) (Con)
21. What steps his Department is taking to increase the number of
school places for pupils with special educational needs and
disabilities.
The Minister for Schools and Childhood ()
We are making a transformational investment to support children
and young people with special educational needs and disabilities,
investing £2.6 billion between 2022 and 2025. That investment
will deliver new places and improve existing provision for
children and young people with SEND or those who require
alternative provision, as well as establishing up to 60 new
special and AP free schools.
Over the last few months, I have been working closely with
schools in some of the most deprived areas of Blyth Valley.
Although schools are doing an amazing job, there is a need for
increased special educational needs provision to support the most
vulnerable young people. While a new special educational needs
school is to be built in Blyth Valley, progress is slow, and I
feel that more could be done to address the situation. Will my
hon. Friend please meet me to see how we can progress this
matter?
I share my hon. Friend’s commitment to improving special
educational needs provision in Northumberland, particularly in
his constituency. The Department is working closely with
stakeholders to develop a sustainable solution. The opening of
the new free special school has encountered several challenges,
but we expect to deliver the school places in the 2023 academic
year. As part of our investment in school places for children and
young people with SEND, Northumberland is receiving £3.7 million
from the fund between 2022 and 2024. I will happily meet my hon.
Friend to discuss the matter.
(Batley and Spen) (Lab)
I recently held a roundtable of headteachers in my constituency.
We talked for almost two hours but, sadly, very little of the
conversation was about teaching. Instead, we discussed serious
issues around recruitment and retention of staff; inadequate
funding and severe pressures on budgets; online safety; mental
health—theirs and the children’s—and SEND pressures. What are the
Government doing to ensure that all schools have the resources
they need to provide pupils with special educational needs and
disabilities with the support they need while also being able to
maintain high-quality teaching and manage the huge range of other
pressures that they face?
As I mentioned, we are investing £2.6 billion over the next three
years in new spaces for SEND and alternative provision. We have
also implemented £1.4 billion in high-needs provision capital
allocations for local authorities, and £9.1 billion—an increase
of 13%—in high-needs funding. The hon. Lady will know that we
launched the Green Paper on SEND and AP back in March. We are
currently looking at the responses and we hope to respond by the
end of the year.
Mr Speaker
I call the shadow Minister.
(Dulwich and West Norwood)
(Lab)
I welcome the Minister to her place. She inherits the
Government’s SEND review, which has caused widespread concern
among parents of children with SEND that the Government are
seeking simply to reduce expenditure and erode the rights of
parents and children to access the support they need. As the
Chancellor trawls for departmental cuts to pay for the
Government’s reckless economic experiment, can the Minister
confirm that the SEND review will not be used as an excuse to
erode further the resources that children with special
educational needs and disabilities rely on?
I can confirm that the SEND and AP Green Paper—the SEND
review—was not and is not an opportunity for us to reduce the
support that children with special educational needs require in
this country. As I have already outlined, we have increased our
high-needs funding by 13% to £9.1 billion, and we have also
designed a package to support the delivery of any of our reforms.
That is a £70 million programme that will test and refine
measures in order to ensure that children get the support and
education they need, and that parents feel that they have a
choice in the matter and are well supported.
Topical Questions
(North Ayrshire and Arran)
(SNP)
T1. If he will make a statement on his departmental
responsibilities.
The Secretary of State for Education ()
This week we are celebrating National Care Leavers Week. As we
celebrate the many success stories, we must also keep working to
identify and stamp out any and all abuse. I was therefore shocked
and saddened as I started to read the report of the independent
inquiry into child sexual abuse last week. The scale of abuse and
exploitation suffered is horrifying. The courage of those who
came forward will help improve services to protect children. The
inquiry was established by the Government seven years ago. Since
then we have taken action to make sure that children are better
protected, and I am determined to continue to improve children’s
social care so that every child has a safe and loving childhood.
My right hon. Friend the Home Secretary will make a statement on
the matter shortly.
There have been four Secretaries of State for Education in the
last year, and nine out of 10 schools in England say that they
will run out of money this year. The dogs in the street know that
the Government are so unstable as to be unfit for purpose. Does
today’s Secretary of State for Education agree with me and the
hon. Member for Christchurch ( ) that the new Prime
Minister will face an “ungovernable” and “riven” Tory party and
that a general election is the only answer, otherwise things will
go from very bad to much worse?
Mr Speaker
What does that have to do with education? I do not think it has
anything to do with education, so let us go to .
(Carshalton and Wallington)
(Con)
T2. Carshalton and Wallington parents are still coming to
my surgeries in huge numbers because the Lib Dem-run Sutton
Council is refusing their child an education, health and care
plan or is issuing an inappropriate one. Department for Education
data shows that it is the highest rejecter of children across the
country, with nearly half of all children being rejected for an
EHCP. Can my hon. Friend update me on the progress of the SEND
review, so that no child is left fighting for an education?
The Minister for Schools and Childhood ()
I am sorry to hear of the issues that my hon. Friend’s
constituents have been having and the distress that that is
causing for those families. In March, the Government published
the SEND and alternative provision Green Paper, which sets out a
number of the proposals, including on the education, health and
care plans. Those proposals aim to improve the experience and
outcomes for those with SEND. The consultation has closed and we
plan to publish an improvement plan later in the year.
Mr Speaker
We now come to shadow Secretary of State, .
(Houghton and Sunderland
South) (Lab)
I begin by welcoming the fourth Education Secretary in the last
four months to his place. For the time being, he has the best job
in Government. In May, internal Department documents described
some school buildings as a “risk to life”. After the
Conservatives crashed our economy, does he believe that there
should be further cuts to school capital budgets?
I thank the hon. Lady for her welcome. She is absolutely right
that this is the best job in Whitehall and, indeed, the most
important Department, given that we hold the future of the
country literally in our hands. She is right that the
comprehensive survey of school premises that the Department
undertook revealed some alarming problems, and we are working
closely with local education authorities, multi-academy trusts
and others to try to rectify those. She will know that we have
invested significant amounts of money in the school rebuilding
programme. We continue to have conversations with the Treasury
about how we may be able to do more.
As a result of the Conservatives crashing our economy, school
leaders are now warning that they will be forced to cut back on
equipment, sport and the very staff who enable all our children
to achieve and thrive. Last month, I set out Labour’s fully
funded, fully costed commitments to end tax breaks for private
schools and to invest in breakfast clubs for every child in every
primary school in England. If the Secretary of State genuinely
believes in delivering a great state education for all our
children, why does he not adopt Labour’s plans?
As the hon. Lady will know, we already have breakfast clubs in a
number of schools across the country, which are targeted at where
they are most needed. Our approach to such issues is to do
exactly that: to look for vulnerabilities and the areas that
require assistance and then to target funding accordingly. At the
start of our hopefully long relationship across the Dispatch Box,
I hope that as well as doing her job of challenging the
Government to do ever better, she will recognise some of the
significant achievements in education over the last decade, not
least the fact that 87% of our schools are now good or
outstanding and that we stand at our highest ever level in the
international league tables for literacy.
(Erewash) (Con)
T7. Despite years of extensive planning and hard work, the
leadership team at Brackenfield SEND School in my constituency
continue to be frustrated in their efforts to secure post-16
designation for the school. That means that students leave at the
end of year 11 without the opportunity to undertake further
education to prepare them for adulthood. Will my hon. Friend
urgently investigate that matter with Derbyshire County Council
to ensure that post-16 education is commissioned at Brackenfield
without further delay?
I do sympathise with Brackenfield School’s predicament.
Supporting children and young people with SEND to live fulfilling
lives is of paramount importance. The local authority is
responsible for deciding on the age range at a maintained school,
but I share my hon. Friend’s concerns, and I will investigate
what is going on.
Mr Speaker
I call the SNP spokesperson.
(Glasgow North West)
(SNP)
The head of the Russell Group has said that the window for the UK
to associate to Horizon Europe is “closing fast” and that
“failure to move forward with UK association would be bad news
for research.”
What assurance can the Secretary of State give researchers that
funding is imminent and that research will be protected at all
costs?
Mr Speaker, as I am sure you will have heard from other
Ministers, we recognise that science and technology is critical
to our future economy, and much of that originates from research
within universities and other research bodies. We have made a
huge commitment financially to research across the whole of the
UK, and that will persist. We are dead keen to join the Horizon
programme, but the hon. Member’s question is better directed at
our European friends.
(Rutland and Melton)
(Con)
T8. When I visit schools in my constituency, it is
often—quite rightly—to discuss climate change, and I am so proud
of the passionate and smart young people across Rutland, Melton,
the Vale and Harborough villages. However, I am concerned by the
anti-dairy, anti-meat and, frankly, anti-farmer narrative I am
starting to see, where students and children of farmers feel they
are being silenced and cannot speak out in support of their
families, who feed our country.
As a rural Member myself, I am very alarmed to hear my hon.
Friend’s stories. She is right that we should be encouraging
schools to educate children about where food comes from, and
indeed about the very high standards that UK farmers have
produced, not least in animal husbandry, but I have to say that
there is a way to intrigue children and make them curious about
some of the challenges to climate change brought about by
farming. I read recently about an additive made from seaweed that
we can add to dairy cows’ feed that reduces the amount of methane
they produce. I gather it is in operation very effectively in
Australia and being looked at in this country.
(Stretford and Urmston)
(Lab)
T3. About 20,000 primary school children in 76 primary
schools in Trafford benefit from the primary schools sport
premium. This is especially important after covid, which we know
has had a more detrimental impact on the physical agility and
participation of the poorest children. Will the Government commit
to extending that premium beyond this academic year?
The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Education ()
The hon. Lady knows that I am a huge admirer and fan of hers,
which she may not put on any election leaflets. I can tell her
that the PE and sport premium is very important to me, especially
after the fantastic victory by the Lionesses. They really set the
tone with the great work of making sure that sport, particularly
football, is more accessible no matter people’s gender, race or
anything else, so it is so important that we get this right. I am
fully committed to working with the Department of Health and
Social Care and the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and
Sport to get that premium, and I am more than happy to meet the
hon. Lady to discuss it further.
(East Hampshire) (Con)
At the end of the first full T-levels cycle, can I commend
colleges, including Alton College in my constituency, for their
work with employers? What more can be done by Ministers across
Government to encourage more employers to come forward and offer
industry placements to invest in the talent pipeline, both for
their own good and for the good of our entire economy and
society?
The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Education ()
I thank my right hon. Friend for his question, and I also thank
his college. Colleges and sixth forms have been doing amazing
work in rolling out T-levels. It is amazing, and I will just give
an example before I go on to his question—
Mr Speaker
Order. This is topicals.
Topicals—all right. On results day, I visited a local college,
and it was amazing—I wish I could bottle that enthusiasm—but my
right hon. Friend is right that the key is working with local
businesses and industries, which is why the whole programme was
designed with them in mind.
(Twickenham) (LD)
T5. One school leader told me last week that one of his
schools is preparing to offer evening meals to children whose
families are struggling to put one on the table every evening,
yet with nine out of 10 schools predicting a deficit by next
September, few can afford to be so generous. The Chancellor of
the Exchequer—assuming it is the same person next week—warns of
efficiency savings to come, so will the Education Secretary be
advising staff cuts, turning off the heating or letting pupils go
hungry?
As I said earlier, we recognise that schools are under
significant pressure, as is most of society, and we must work
together to try to get through it in good shape. We will
obviously be making representations to Treasury colleagues as we
move towards a statement on Friday, and indeed beyond, about what
those pressures are, so that the Chancellor and new Prime
Minister—hooray—can make choices within a priority framework that
reflects the priorities of the Government.
(Surrey Heath) (Con)
Ministers will be aware that at the weekend it was reported that
the school in England that has recorded the best Progress 8
score, and the best measure of how much value is added during
time in the classroom, is Michaela Community School in Wembley.
Michaela is a free school. It encourages students to study EBacc
subjects, and it is Ofsted outstanding. The Labour party opposed
the creation of free schools, opposed the EBacc, and wanted to
abolish Ofsted. What lessons can we learn from that?
My right hon. Friend puts his finger on the point exactly. He
will be pleased to know that only 10 days ago I visited Michaela
school to see exactly what goes on, having heard an awful lot
about it and indeed having watched the moving documentary about
the work done there. I confess to being rather alarmed by the
aggression that that school attracts from the wider educational
establishment, particularly on social media. Although the head of
that school is obviously very outspoken, she is outspoken because
it seems she has a cause. It was gratifying at the weekend to see
that in the Progress 8 scores she proved that she was right.
(Weaver Vale) (Lab)
Despite my private Member’s Bill, Education (Guidance about Costs
of School Uniforms), becoming law to reduce the cost of school
uniforms, far too many schools have their heads in the sand, with
logos upon logos, emblems upon emblems, and they are not
responding to the requirements of the law. What will Ministers do
about that?
I congratulate the hon. Gentleman on the passage of his Bill,
which is an important piece of legislation. Guidance is clear:
schools should be considerate when wanting their own branding,
and ensure that it is done in a fair and sustainable way for
households. If the hon. Gentleman has any examples or wishes to
meet to discuss the issue further so that guidance can be given
to schools, I would be more than happy to arrange that.
(East Worthing and Shoreham) (Con)
I refer Members to my entry in the Register of Members’ Financial
Interests. Why are adoption figures continuing to fall?
This past year adoptions have gone up, but it is on a lower
trajectory. One potential reason for that is that in 2013 a court
ruling confirmed that adoption orders should be made only when
there is no alternative provision. That has led to an increase in
special guardianships. We will obviously keep the issue under
review. The time that it is taking for children to be adopted has
reduced, and we want to ensure that no child remains in care any
longer than they need to be, and that we find supportive parents
for them.
(Battersea) (Lab)
Off-rolling is a hidden crisis happening in some of our schools,
with black schoolboys being disproportionately affected by the
practice, and many being given only a few formal hours of
teaching, if any at all. We should be outraged at that, given the
attainment gap and the disproportionate numbers of black children
who are being excluded from school. What action is the Secretary
of State taking to tackle the crisis of off-rolling, and will he
ensure that all schools that engage in that practice are
recording the numbers affected, including their ethnicity, age
and gender?
Off-rolling is totally unacceptable, and no school should be
doing that or using it as a method. Where there are unruly
children, we must also balance that carefully by ensuring that
headteachers have the power to remove them from the classroom,
because their impact has a detrimental impact on the other 29 in
the class. I am more than happy to meet the hon. Lady to look at
any examples she can provide, so that we can call out schools and
school leaders who are using that tactic inappropriately. The
Department is monitoring the issue and taking it seriously.
(Meriden) (Con)
Arden is one of the most successful schools in my constituency
and the country, despite the majority of its buildings having
been built pre-1958 and it accommodating three times as many
pupils as was originally intended. Will my hon. Friend meet me to
discuss Arden’s proposal for investment through the school
rebuilding programme so that we can support it to be the best
that it can be?
My hon. Friend is a doughty champion for the constituency of
Meriden and indeed for the school rebuilding programme. He will
understand that I cannot comment as the bid is in and the
Department must go through a process, but I am more than happy to
arrange a meeting for him with my noble Friend , who is the Minister
responsible for this portfolio area.
(Walsall South) (Lab)
Why has the Secretary of State dropped the Schools Bill?
As the right hon. Member will know, the legislative timetable is
under review—or it was, under the previous Prime Minister. We
wait for the opinion of the new Prime Minister as to his
priorities in the months to come. We will have to wait and see
what we has to say.
(South Basildon and East
Thurrock) (Con)
As I hope the House knows, I am a passionate supporter of the
power and creativity of engineering and its ability to address
the most serious challenges that we face globally. Will my hon.
Friend agree to look at the curriculum for opportunities to
improve the teaching and understanding of engineering?
My hon. Friend will know that in March 2022 the Department
introduced the “engineers teach physics” programme to help
recruit high-quality engineers into our workforce. Because of the
pilot’s success, the programme has been extended across the
country for the 2023-24 recruitment cycle. I am more than happy
to see how much more we can do to ensure that science,
technology, engineering and maths are driven through the heart of
the curriculum, alongside EBacc, which is vital to helping to
educate everyone.
(Kingston upon Hull North)
(Lab)
I am sure that the Secretary of State is as concerned as I am
about the number of children attending school who are hungry. Has
he made any representations to the Department for Work and
Pensions about raising the £7,400 household income eligibility
threshold for free school meals?
As the right hon. Member would expect, we are in constant
conversation with not just the DWP but the Treasury about the
impact of the global fight against inflation that so many
families face. It would be wrong for me to front-run what may be
announced on Friday, but she can be assured that we constantly
put in front of colleagues the pressures on families putting kids
into schools as well as those on schools.
(Stroud) (Con)
Even the drama in this place does not match the daily drama of
the childcare juggle, so we must listen to millions of mums and
dads who are asking for affordable and flexible childcare options
in a system that is effectively not fit for purpose. Will my
right hon. Friend reassure parents and early years educators that
the Department is looking at that closely? Will he work with me
and the think-tank Onward to bring about reforms?
My hon. Friend is quite right that the childcare system—not
through anything other than an accident of increasing numbers of
ministerial initiatives—has become complicated to the extent that
there is not enough availability and it is not affordable or
flexible enough. For example, some of the payment mechanisms are
complex, not least tax-free childcare, so we have not seen the
take-up that we expected when that was introduced. We are
reviewing the entire process from end to end. She can be assured
that we are looking not just to tinker, but, hopefully—with the
blessing of the new Prime Minister—at something that will really
provide a reformed system to give her and other parents exactly
what they are looking for.
(Vauxhall)
(Lab/Co-op)
On Friday, I received an email from the acting headteacher of
Reay Primary School in my constituency. She said that
“many of our children are hungry. Our cook is providing as much
as she can but the children want more. This tells me that the
children must be missing out on food at home. We are going to
provide bread”
but the school needs more money.
I have listened to the Secretary of State answer many questions
about the cost of living crisis that parents face, but parents
and teachers cannot wait. What more can he do to address this
now?
Mr Speaker
Order. Can I say to the hon. Member for Vauxhall () that this is topicals
and other people want to get in? We are going to go over the time
now. We have got to help each other.
The hon. Lady will understand—she is a fantastic champion for her
constituents—that the current global economic state is very
serious. Inflation is not unique to this country. For example, it
is at 17% in Holland and 10.9% in Germany. We are very aware of
the pressures on households, which is why the £4 billion
front-loading in the spending review has been so important, with
the additional funding for the national tutoring programme, the
recovery premium and the catch-up premium, the £2.5 billion for
the pupil premium and the free school meals programme.
(Worcester) (Con)
Fairer funding has been a manifesto commitment for our party on
many occasions. I campaigned for it from the Back Benches and
tried to deliver it from the Front Bench. Whatever the timing of
legislation, can the Secretary of State confirm that a direct
national funding formula is a legislative priority for his
Department?
I can confirm that work is well under way on exactly that.
(York Central)
(Lab/Co-op)
The independent review of children’s social care highlighted the
cost of the failure of residential care settings—both the
financial cost and, most importantly, the cost to children of
failed care. What steps is the Secretary of State taking to
improve that care and to ensure that we move from a marketised
system to a regional system, as suggested?
As the hon. Lady is aware, we are currently evaluating the three
reports issued earlier this year, in particular the independent
review of children’s social care. I have been working flat out
since I was appointed to this role to make sure we are able to
bring forward a response to it with an implementation plan to
ensure that all young people in our care system are looked after,
but also that there are answers and options to move forward.
(South West Bedfordshire)
(Con)
Children from all over the country, quite a few of whom are in my
constituency, are being home educated by parents who,
unfortunately, cannot themselves read or write. What are we going
to do to ensure we value the education and life chances of every
single child, and do not leave home educated children behind?
It is absolutely the right of parents to decide to educate their
children at home should they so wish, but as a society we have a
duty to make sure they get exactly the kind of education that
everybody else is getting. My hon. Friend has championed the
issue in many other forums, particularly as it affects his
constituency, and I would be happy to hear his ideas on how we
may go further.
(Huddersfield)
(Lab/Co-op)
Has the Secretary of State looked at the full potential for
education of technology to improve performance in schools? Other
countries are using it in more sophisticated ways, so has he
looked at it?
We want the education sector to have access to best-in-class
technology, but schools need reliable internet to deploy it. That
is why we are spending £232 million to improve school internet
connectivity by 2025.
