Live Education Questions House of Commons

Good afternoon and welcome to BBC

Parliament's live coverage of the

Commons. In an hour, the first of

three urgent questions granted by

this because. The veteran Tory, Sir

Bill Cash will be asking a question

about Government policy on Brexit.

The Brexit Minister will reply 4pm.

Labour ask about recent Taliban

attacks in Afghanistan. And then

Labour backbencher Diana Johnson

will be asking for an update into

the enquiry -- on the enquiry into

contaminated blood. The rest of the

day will be spent on the Armed

Forces flexible working bill. Don't

forget to join me for a round-up of

the day in both houses of

parliament. First, questions to the

newly appointed Education Secretary,

Damian Hines.

Thank you, Mr Speaker.

With permission, I would answer this

question with question ten. We have

agreed that we will continue to

benefit from EU programmes till the

end of the current budget plan. We

have reached an agreement on

citizens' rights allowing citizens

to live as now, helping provide

certainty to current staff.

Thank

you, Mr Speaker, the Secretary of

State will be aware of the comments

made by Professor Andrea Noland when

she told the Scottish affairs

committee then Brexit would have a

significant impact on the higher

education sector in Scotland. Does

the Minister understand the concerns

and agree with the convener of

universities Scotland?

Of course,

people working in the university

sector in Scotland, as throughout

the UK, will be thinking about the

future in what will be a time of

some change. It will remain the case

that the United Kingdom has an

exceptionally strong message to get

the world in terms of the strength

of our institutions, the

attractiveness of coming here to

study and partnering with our

institutions on research.

Scotland's

universities have so far been

awarded almost 400 million Horizon

2020, and a 11% share of funding

secured by all UK institutions.

Given its huge importance, when will

the Government tell universities how

they plan to square the funding

circle after the current programme

finishes?

These are important

matters and I know... I think it is

important we have a guaranteed till

the end of the Horizon 2020

programme. What happens in future

will be a matter for us to agree

with the other nations.

May I

congratulate my honourable friend on

his new position. As my honourable

friend had a chance to read the

report published today about the

problems of snobbery between higher

education and technical education?

Does he agree with me that

universities need to do a lot more

to embrace technical education

students, apprenticeships, and

financial incentives should go to

those universities that are

encouraging apprenticeships?

I

confess that the report has not yet

been read by me, but I look forward

to reading it when I have time to do

so with proper attention. What my

right honourable friend pensions,

and he has consistently campaigned

on this, it is so important we do

not have a wall between the academic

and the technical and vocational.

Degree apprenticeships are a great

opportunity for more people to

benefit from certain types of

education and to make sure we widen

participation.

Will my right

honourable friend join me in

welcoming a record number of

students into our university system

again this year?

He is correct that

the United Kingdom remains an

exceptionally attractive destination

for international students, with

numbers of non-EU international

students at a record high, and we

want that to continue, of course.

What conversations has the Minister

had with the Home Secretary about

the contribution made by

international students and staff in

our British universities, and about

their classification in immigration

statistics?

I make the point that I

totally recognise the value of the

higher education sector to our

country. The migration advisory

committee will be looking at the

question of international students

as well as that of migration in

general so that we can consider

those things fully.

Since the

introduction of Horizon 2020, Welsh

universities have received over 83

million euros in funding from the

programme, enabling participation in

over 2000 collaborations. Could he

confirm whether the Government

intends to negotiate successor

programmes so that universities in

Wales can continue to benefit from

and contribute to such programmes?

Horizon 2020 has worked very well

for UK universities and we have the

second highest number of

participants in those programmes of

any EU state. In the future, it will

be absolutely vital that we continue

to work cooperatively with our near

neighbours on many things, including

the University research.

Can I

welcome the Secretary of State and

his team to their place. He will no

doubt be aware of the challenges of

getting young people, especially

girls, into certain careers. Does he

agree that the UK immigration policy

for prospective academic and

research staff from the EU should

not be restrictive?

I alluded a

moment or two ago to the migration

advisory committee and the work they

will be doing. This country has

always been clear that we want to be

attractive and welcome the brightest

and the best. We have a very

successful but also very

international and outward looking

education sector, which I anticipate

continuing.

The Royal Society of

Edinburgh, in their evidence to the

migration committee, stated that the

UK risks undermining the Scottish

Government's efforts in developing

into rest and uptake of Stem

subjects if restrictive immigration

policies are put in place. So what

discussions as he had in this area

with the Home Secretary and with

university principals to commit to

looking at a tailored immigration

policy for Scotland?

As I say, we

will of course be looking at all

aspects of this, both with regard to

students and academics, and indeed

more widely, the migration advisory

committee is looking at immigration

and the role it plays in different

sectors of the economy. We continue

to discuss with our neighbours what

will happen in the future. The

universities minister will be

speaking with EU science ministers

later this week, and scissors in the

interest of everyone that we work

for the good of the UK to make sure

we have such a highly successful

education system.

With your

permission, I would like to answer

this question with question 22. In

2013, we published a new primary

school curriculum that significantly

raised expectations in English and

maths and which promoted the use of

phonics in the teaching of reading.

In 2012, we introduced the phonics

cheque for six-year-olds. A 2016

study showed nine-year-olds in

England showing the highest ever

scores, moving England up from joint

tenth the joint eighth out of 50

countries worldwide.

I am grateful

for that answer. Thanks to some

tough decisions by the Minister for

schools and sheer hard work by our

teachers, reading standards are the

highest for a generation, but sadly,

disadvantaged children still lag

behind. What is the Minister and his

department doing to address that?

The survey links strong performance

with good results in the test. We

are now focusing on strengthening

the maths, reading and writing

elements of the early years

foundation stage to help prepare

children for year one of primary

school. The attainment gap has

closed by 10.5% at Key stage two. We

want to go further and close the gap

altogether.

I do regular phonics

practice with my children, which is

the Minister has said, is helping

children get better at reading. But

there doesn't seem to be the same

focus on practising core maths

skills in primary schools. Could my

right honourable friend advise what

he is doing to improve Martin

primary School, especially the

learning of times tables?

My

honourable friend is absolutely

right to emphasise... And thank you,

by the way, for making sure how

children learn their phonics. She is

absolutely right to emphasise the

importance of children knowing there

are times tables by heart up to 12

times 12 by the end of year for

regulators. That is why we are

introducing an on-screen

multiplication tables checked for

all pupils at the end of year four

of primary school. The prize is to

have all pupils leaving primary

school is fluent in their

multiplication tables, ensuring they

have the essential foundation for

success in mathematics at secondary

school.

The reality is that children

can only improve their literacy and

humorously if they are in school. In

North East Lincolnshire, children

lost nearly 3500 days of education

last year alone. What will the

Government make sure -- what role

the Government do to make sure that

more children in my area don't lose

out juju exclusion?

It is important

we change the definition of

persistent absence from 15% to 10%.

We will increase the fines that will

be applied to parents who don't send

their children to school regularly.

The Minister for school standards

will have seen independent research

showing that Harrow is the best

place to send your children to

school. Perhaps the Minister will

come to my borough to see what is

working in terms of literacy and

numerous it. If he does, he will

meet headteachers very concerned

about cuts to their budgets as a

result of a lack of sufficient

funding from the Government. What is

the Minister going to do about that?

Can I congratulate all the teachers

and pupils in Harrow for receiving

that accolade. Can I say about

school funding, we are spending

record amounts on school funding -

£41 billion this year. No Government

has spent that much on our schools

in our history, and it will rise to

44.2 billion next year.

The Minister

will know that only 1% of children

moving from mainstream to

alternative provision during their

GCSE years achieved good GCSEs

including English and maths. What

more can be done to support this

important group of students?

We seem

to have gone from Harrow to rugby.

But it doesn't mean that others

can't take part. And we are focused,

predominantly, on the state sector.

Minister of State...

My honourable friend raises a valid

point. These are honourable children

attending these schools. We have

commissioned new research into the

relationship with alternative

provisions to see what we can do to

raise standards.

The situation in

Wirral is that we have fine teachers

but insufficient government

resources. I want all the schools in

my constituency, Mr Speaker, when it

comes to literacy and numeracy to be

good or outstanding. In the case of

one the rapidly improving school,

Bedlington high school, there seems

to be an administrative delay

getting in the way of teaching and

learning and the resources for that.

But the minister meet with me so we

can bring our leadership to stop the

red tape getting in the way of

children's learning.

We do want all

schools to be good or outstanding.

We want parents to be confident that

the local school is a good score

that will provide a high standard of

education. That is why today I am

pleased there are 1.9 million more

pupils in good or outstanding

schools banned the work in 2010.

I'll be happy to meet the honourable

lady.

What the school minister join

me in congratulating Greenfield

School. Prior to becoming an academy

it was one of the most challenged

schools in Kettering with progress

levels below average.

I am happy to

congratulate the school in his

constituency. I just signed a letter

congratulating the headteacher on

the achievements.

Key stage two

statistics have shown that the

attainment gap between children on

school meals and their peers has

widened. At least the last secretary

of state talk the talk on social

mobility. Is it not clear that the

government does not walk the walk?

The honourable gentleman is not

correct. The attainment gap at Key

stage two has closed by 10.5%. We

have seen a significant increase in

the proportion achieving the

expected standard in English and

maths rising to 61%. These are

significantly more demanding tests

than in previous years. We are

producing a cohort of primary school

leavers who are far better equipped

in maths and English, ready for the

demands of secondary school.

Ministry of State. We are consulting

on the proposals in our green paper

on children and young people's

mental health. It was published last

month and supported by over £300

million of funding. There are plans

to train mental health leads in

schools. Schools will also

receive... I am so sorry, Mr

Speaker. That is anticipating the

next question. Can I said that with

your permission, Mr Speaker, I would

like to take this question with

question 12. Schools can teach about

dodgy BT issues within the

curriculum and they must comply with

the equality act. -- LBGT issues.

Relationship education and sex

education is compulsory and we are

speaking to stake holders about this

to make sure that they are adequate

and age-appropriate.

With the change

in leadership at the Department of

the new Secretary of State, or the

Department, is the view that issues

regarding the...

Young people need

to learn that there are different

types of relationships and that RSC

should meet the needs of all young

people.

Can the Minister provide

detail on how schools will be

assessed to make sure they are

including these lessons and what Ben

Trott will be used to measure this?

These are the issues that we are

engaging in with subject experts.

There was a wide call for evidence

from teachers, pupils and parents.

There will be a full debate on this

in the house one week dropped the

regulations.

There was no general

guidance regarding rights are met by

children with C and D.

I think the

honourable lady is thinking of a

matter of great importance with

which the relationship to the

current question is not clear.

A

number of things have been done

regarding restructuring money and

mergers of institutions. We've

appointed seven national leaders of

further education and the work of

the FT commissioner has had a vital

role. That work has also been

extended.

I'm grateful to the

Minister for her answer. East Coast

College is doing great work to

provide social mobility and

productivity, but it needs to be

properly funded. What steps are

being taken to make sure colleges

can deliver a high quality rounded

curriculum.

Funding is important

which is why I mention those

figures. The strategic College

improvement fund is important.

Lowestoft and Great Yarmouth merged

to form is close college, a more

financially viable institution. We

are putting 500 million a year in

the technical education to increase

the hours of learning for those on

technical routes. £20 million to

help teachers prepare for that. I am

aware that this is a complex sector

delivering a wide range of courses

in quite difficult financial

circumstances.

Too long.

Then I

thank her for her efforts on behalf

of Exeter College which was not

granted the contract by the learning

and skills funding agency to provide

apprenticeships through small firms.

I would like to continue with those

efforts, working with officials from

her department and agency because if

it is not rectified it will do

serious damage to the provision of

apprenticeships in Exeter and Exeter

College which is one of the top

performing colleges in the country.

I praise my officials who continue

to work with individual members to

make sure these problems are ironed

out.

Does my right honourable friend

agree with me that the input of

businesses is key to delivering

high-quality further and technical

dedication?

He is absolutely right.

Further education colleges are

critical in drawing together

businesses from the local area and

along with local authorities they

can have a significant impact on the

education and training that young

people get.

Wakefield College opened

its implants schools and renovations

-- innovation Centre last year which

will help entrepreneurs start their

own business. However, the

collaborative programme is up in the

air because of her department's lack

of input.

She is right to praise the

work of Wakefield College. Colleges

like that are real examples of what

can be achieved. I appreciate the

importance of outreach work. I'm

happy to discuss it further with her

at any time.

With the Minister agree

that sixth form colleges are an

extremely valuable part of our

education system making that great

link between education and

employment? But the Minister kindly

meet with me to discover whether in

a tertiary review funding may be

lowered to age 16 instead of

starting at age 18.

I'm always happy

to meet with my honourable friend.

Sixth form colleges do an excellent

job. I was recently at a conference

for six on colleges and I will do

everything I can to support them.

21% less, that is what the student

gets, 16-19, compared to 11-16. The

tertiary review needs to start with

tertiary education at 16-19. Can the

Minister confirm that it will be

included in the review?

The review

is under discussion but as the

honourable gentleman knows I I have

my tin hat out my battle dress on. I

will always campaign for those young

people who don't go to university.

How can the Minister to confidently

when the whole record on further

education is a mess. Five sector

leaders are calling for a levy

briefing. Will she get a grip on it

and will she make sure that she does

not claim that those concerned

running FE down? Her party is split

on AG and FE politics.

I reject the

honourable gentleman's suggestion

that this is a mess. For the first

time a government has really got to

grips with this. I will be running a

training session for members from

all political parties and I suggest

the honourable gentleman comes

along. It is very easy to get

apprentices if you don't care about

the quality, but I do care about the

quality. It's really important we

raise the quality, raise the number

and make sure young people have the

skills they need for the future.

Jamie Stone. Number five, Mr

Speaker. The proportion of children

taking a language has increased. In

December we outlined plans to

improve language teaching in

England.

I also welcome the

Secretary of State to his place.

I've listened to the answer with

great interest. North of the border

Scotland's economic prosperity will

be dependent on young people having

the best of language skills. Will

the Secretary of State and his

department be good enough to share

the best practice with the Scottish

Government so that we can... Who

will share information with the

Scottish Government.

Just as in

England we have looked across the

world for the best practice in

various subjects. We are happy to

share with others and I am very keen

to work collaboratively with the

Scottish Government so we can both

see what we can learn from each

other.

Do you not agree

with me, what the secretary of state

not agree with me that Germany is a

very important language to learn

because only does it give you the

grammatical structures that you

would otherwise learn with Latin,

which we very rarely do in our

schools nowadays. It's easy to speak

German with a convincing accent if

you are British.

Order, order! Can I

just remind ministers that there is

no obligation to provide

multi-sentence replies. There is no

prohibition on a single sentence

reply. Some people think they are

quite desirable.

Secretary of State.

I don't quite know where to go after

that, but he makes an interesting

point regarding the value of

languages.

We are suitably impressed

when 80% of children in EU member

states learn a second language in

primary school. What will the

Minister do to make sure children in

the UK don't fall behind?

It starts

with an international outlook. It's

about encouraging more teachers to

come here to teach foreign

languages.

The number of entries for

GCSE Mandarin has increased. Will be

secretary of state continued to

support that and other landlord is

spoken in the bar's fastest-growing

economies?

Fifth the Mandarin programme is very

much in focus at the Department for

Education.

By 2019-20 we will be

spending the...

A recent survey by

the preschool learning Alliance

finds that one fifth of nurseries

don't think they will be financially

viable in a year. Will the Minister

commit to reviewing the funding

rates before more places rated good

and outstanding by Ofsted

close-down?

Can I thank the

honourable member for the question.

The Government has always been clear

that providers can choose whether to

offer the 30 hours and what pattern

of days and hours they offer.

Evaluation indicated that a higher

proportion of providers were able

and willing to offer 30 hours and

there were no indications that there

was a financial barrier to that.

May

I welcome to the men -- welcome the

Minister to his place. The

Government promised 33 hours of

childcare for all working parents of

3-4 -year-olds. Yet it has been

revealed that only a third of

providers can offer the hour is

completely free. Four in ten don't

think they will be all bull -- able

to offer the scheme next year. It

will only work of minute -- it will

not work if the ministers go ahead

with the real terms cuts to funding.

Will he rethink the Scouts? Pay

providers fairly and keep the

promises made the families?

We've

seen no significant issues with

parents actually gaining places with

providers for 30 hours, and of

course, we keep monitoring the

situation but there are no

significant issues. The numbers are

very promising at the moment.

Question seven, Mr Speaker.

Since

2010, the number of open academies

and free schools has increased to

almost seven and a half thousand.

The number of primary schools

converting to academies has grown

significantly, and as of the first

of the year, there were 4592.

Thank

you, Mr Speaker. One local authority

has more than 25% shares. It has

been converting primary schools in

my area since September. And the

Secretary of State clarify the

Government position on local

Government control of

multi-authority Academy trusts?

We

limit local authority representation

on Academy trust boards to help

maintain the independence of

academies while ensuring boards can

benefit from the right mix of skills

and experience. I am happy to meet

with my honourable friend to discuss

his concerns.

Can I welcome the new

Secretary of State to his position.

I wonder since taking up opposite

the hazard a chance to read and

reflect upon a letter which the

cross-party education select

committee wrote to the Minister

following our evidence hearing from

the Minister and the National

schools commissioner about what we

feel is a lack of oversight and

accountability, and critically, a

lack of transparency, when it comes

to the oversight of multi-Academy

trusts?

We have a framework in

place. Academies have been a

fundamental part of the improvements

we have seen in schools. The

multi-Academy trusts in turn are a

fundamental part of making sure good

practice can be spread more widely

across the system. We have good

practice guidance which is

published. There are audited

accounts and various processes.

Ultimately, the Secretary of State

is accountable to Parliament for the

performance of the schools system.

Will my right honourable friend, in

promoting multi-Academy trusts, also

show the role which secondary

schools can have in leading the

primary schools that become part of

those trusts? That will be very

important for people attending

primary schools and then going to

that secondary school in due course.

My right honourable friend makes a

very important point. The different

phases of education can share a

great deal of expertise.

Mr Speaker,

all this focus on structures is

taking us away from the real issue -

even Tory Party donors this weekend

and Academy chain heads are talking

about real terms cut the funding,

which is what I am seeing in my

constituency. Will this Government

please face up to the real crisis,

the real terms cut in schools

funding?

There is more money going

into our schools in this country

than ever before in their history of

the country. We know that in real

terms, per pupil, across the system,

it is increasing. With the national

funding for mark-up -- funding

formula, they will see a cash

increase.

Question eight.

Michael

policies, we continue to monitor the

pupil premium for effectiveness and

value for money through the

educational endowment foundation. We

seek to make sure that schools are

confident in using this evidence.

Wiltshire teachers continually

stressed the concerns that many

parents fear the stigma of

registering for free school meals,

meaning there kids don't get pupil

premium. Will the Minister make the

link to ensure that all children who

need the additional funding do get

a?

Let me be clear, we should not

allow any stigma to get in the way

of parents seeking the best for

their children. We will continue to

highlight effective practice from

those schools that have really made

a great effort to get children

register for free school meals and

make sure that actually we share

that practice with all schools and

local authorities.

Can I share the

opinion of the honourable member for

Chippenham that in rural areas there

is still stigma, and people will not

put their children forward for free

school meals and therefore as a

matter of fact for the pupil

premium. Will he look again at the

criteria to make sure these children

are not losing out?

We wanted to

make it that way we want to make it

as simple as possible for schools

and local authorities to determine

eligibility. We are exploring

opportunities to make the system

more efficient.

Puma will -- it is

used more effectively in some

schools than in others. Can the

Minister tell the How is what plans

the department has the get Ofsted to

look more closely at usage and drive

forward best practice across our

schools? -- tell the House.

The

education foundation is looking at

this seriously.

Pupil premium Islam

act to support children from

disadvantaged backgrounds and to

address poor attainment, yet is the

Minister as concerned as I am that

the northern powerhouses reported to

have identified that aren't about

this debris is a growing north -

south divide that is impacting

attainment too?

Everything we are

about is narrowing the gap.

Thank

you, Mr Speaker. Can I again welcome

the new Secretary of State to his

place. I wonder if he could join me

in getting a copy of the

Conservative manifesto from the

library? It is filed under political

fiction, Mr Speaker, where he will

note is a pledge to protect funding

for the pupil premium. But instead,

it's been cut by over £100 million

in real terms this spending period.

So will he now act to keep that

promise?

I would confirm that the

figures are the same figures.

Number

11.

Thank you, Mr Speaker. The year

of engineering this year is a

campaign to rose the profile of jobs

in engineering for all young people.

There Rover 980 partners who have

signed up to be part of it,

including workshops, toolkits for

use in schools and...

The Minister

was seeking to group this with

question 15. Ministers seem a tad

kebab your -- discombobulated this

afternoon.

If I may, with your

permission, take questions 11 and 15

together.

Students in my

constituency came first in the UK

National Robotics competition and

represented their country in

Washington. Would my honourable

friend agree that this is exactly

the kind of initiative that gets

people interested in Stem subjects

and will encourage them to take them

up as careers?

The competition must

be the subject of young people's

dreams. I would indeed congratulate

colleagues and state that £406

million in the autumn budget was put

aside to improve skills, including a

maths premium for 16-19 -year-olds,

but also driving up interest in

engineering.

I'm an engineer, and I

started as an apprentice. It is the

year of engineering, but the

industry is facing a shortfall of

20,000 places. Does the Minister

agree that apprenticeships are a

good, cost-effective way to study

engineering, and if so, can she tell

me what the Government is doing to

promote them?

They are an excellent

way to study engineering, and I

would point her to the degree

apprenticeships, postgraduate it's

in technical -- postgraduates in

digital technology and John Moore's

unliveable. We put money aside to

help with the development of

apprenticeships, a brilliant way for

young people to get skills.

Engineering is a fantastic career,

as I know very well, but because

there are so few women engineers,

just 8%, it is much harder for girls

in particular to see engineering

role models. Can the Minister tell

me who, specifically, is responsible

for getting more engineers into

schools to share their experience,

and more schools in the engineering

companies? And how is their success

being measured?

As I can say to the

honourable lady, 980 partners have

signed up. The honourable member for

South Basildon and Easter is the

Government envoy during this year of

engineering. It is critical, we're

putting real money... We are putting

real money into improving the

teaching of maths for 16-19

-year-olds. As I said earlier, it is

important to use colleges and local

authorities to get engineers into

schools to teach children about the

prospects that exist. I join Jo

point to the gender pay gap, which

they will see is large in

engineering. There is opportunity

out there.

It is estimated the UK

will require 1.8 million additional

engineers by 2025. The Scottish

Government has published a stem

education and training strategy.

Well the Secretary of State do

something similarly concrete to

encourage girls into engineering?

There was a lot of concrete work

happening, going back to the

apprenticeship levy. Engineering

companies are putting money aside

into an account. Employers want

engineers and will employ them,

particularly those doing degree

apprenticeships.

Number 13, Mr

Speaker.

It is clearly incredibly

important that autistic children are

well supported in their education.

We have funded the autism education

trust since 2012 to deliver training

to education staff in early years,

school and further education.

I

thank the Minister by his reply, and

we look forward to welcoming the

Secretary of State on Wednesday when

the HP GG for autism launches its

report. Will he commit to

implementing the report's

recommendations to improve the

educational experience for children

with autism in this country?

I

wholeheartedly welcome the report. I

know the Secretary of State is

visiting on Wednesday, and I look

forward to meeting with her and

discussing the report fully with

colleagues.

When my own county

Derbyshire is about to cut almost £3

million from children's services,

including almost 400,000 from

special and disability services to

support children, schools are

already struggling. How will these

cuts help, and how will the

Government ensure that support for

special needs children is improved?

No local authority needs to cut

those services. We are investing 9

billion in children's services. Like

Hackney, they see it as a priority.

There is no reason for her local

authority to do that.

Thank you very

much, Mr Speaker. I would also like

to welcome the Minister to his

place. The healthy pupils fund was

designed to help pupils with a range

of health needs. The department

promised to protect that fund in

full, yet they have cut it, leaving

a gap of 200 million between income

from the sugar levy and their

spending commitments. Can the

Minister explain why he is content

to see funding in this area slashed,

and will he guarantee there will be

no more cuts to come?

Is not only is

the money from the sugar levy, we're

giving over and above that to make

sure students are healthy.

Schools have always been subject to

inspection, by Her Majesty 's

inspectors and from 1992 by Ofsted,

since 2010 we have simplified

inspection, reducing graded judgment

from 27 to just four, freed best

schools from routine inspection and

introduced lighter touch inspections

for good schools.

We face a teacher

retention crisis in this country,

one head in Oxford recently

described to me, after a devastating

Oxford

Ofsted inspection that she

and her staff felt criminalised.

What is being done to change the

culture of fear changed by

inspection, that has been identified

as one of the biggest burdens on

teachers. I have identified a range

of drivers, including accountability

and perceived pressures, we took

steps to address this, in the 2017

action plan, including the

dedication to reducing...

And by

training inspectors and monitoring

reports. The Winter 2016 teacher

voice on the bus survey shows that

39% of head teachers had used advice

from Ofsted to change practice to

reduce unnecessary

workload.

£100,000 has been spent just last

year on recruitment alone, when will

the government end rip-off agency

fees, or introduce its own portal to

better link available teachers and

recruiting schools.

Working to

introduce a free website to enable

schools to recruit teachers through

their website.

All children must be

kept safe, we take tough

intervention action when any council

fails in its duty.

William rigged.

As the case in Rotherham shows, the

introduction of high-quality

leadership is of course part of the

answer, but will my honourable

friend in his portfolio take on

board the portfolio suggestion of

this port committee -- select

committee, and give guidance when

suggested intervention.

Many

government professionals provide

support and guidance that works

within the authority existing

structure, in the most serious

structures, -- cases, independent

commission will provide that, and

the ultimate reprimand is putting

them in trust.

We cannot afford to

have failing children services but

how far do ministers on the benches

opposite recognised the massively

increased demand on children

services in Britain, seems like

sexual exploitation of young people,

as well as a whole range of

difficulties caused by poverty in

the home. What does that mean in

terms of commitment of funding?

I

have been to see both Hackney and

Doncaster, in Hackney's case, a

turnaround in 2006 and Doncaster,

over the last two years, it is about

leadership, and better quality --

that equality of outcome depends

upon not just the leaders at the top

of the social workers at the front

line being able to feel confident in

the service they provide.

The

honourable gentleman's sedentary

chuntering would constitute a book

in itself, and it may sell rather

well(!)

LAUGHTER

Secretary of State. This government

is committing to providing a

world-class education for all young

people, raising attainment and

narrowing the gap between the

affluent and the disadvantage,

working with dedicated teachers and

professionals throughout education

and beyond, and must continue to

raise standards, from early years

through to further and higher

education and ensure the right care

and support are always there for

society's honourable children. I

will work to make sure that the

education system offers opportunity

to everyone in every phase and every

place, the successes are clear, 1.9

million more children in good or

outstanding schools and latest

figures showing the attainment gap

narrowed by 10% but there is more to

do, to spread opportunity,

particularly in areas of the country

is Dorothy left behind.

I recently

visited Ashmore Parc Nursery School

in my constituency which provides

outstanding education as to 60% of

nursery schools across the country.

Unfortunately, the future of their

funding is in doubt, will the

Secretary of State guarantee their

sustainable funding beyond 2020?

Secretary of State.

I join with the

honourable lady in paying tribute to

that local nursery and I would point

out this government is spending more

on childcare and early years than

any previous government, not only

with the 30 hours commitment but the

extra provision for disadvantaged

two-year-olds and the work that has

been done on the hourly rate as

well.

Figures out today show a

worrying rise in the number of hate

crimes in schools, does this not

underline the fact that organisation

like the Holocaust education trust

have a vital role to play, in

stamping out these boring attitude?

-- these are borrowed -- abhorrent

attitude.

Every young person should

learn about the Holocaust, before

never again comes never forget, I

commend the work done on the

Holocaust education trust and

others.

The Secretary of State's

predecessor this morning admitted

they were wrong to abolish

maintenance grants, that student

finance system is regressive,

variable fees will punish the

poorest, and their review is to kick

the issue into the long grass rather

than take decisions. Apart from

that, she is very supportive(!) but

she is right, isn't she.

We have a

system of higher education finance

in this country which means we have

unprecedented levels of

disadvantaged people going to

university, it means the

universities are properly funded. In

October the Prime Minister said that

we would be taking quick action with

raising the threshold for repayment

and freezing the top fees for next

academic year, I think it is also

right that we have looked at all

aspects of value for money for young

people and indeed other people going

through university and the

alternative to university such as

taking a degree apprenticeship as we

were talking about earlier.

What

consideration is being given by

ministers to implement the

government's commitment to ending

the faith -based admissions cap for

free schools?

I thank my honourable

friend for the important question, I

value greatly the contribution that

church and faith schools make to the

education system, they are

consistently Henry high performing

popular schools, every child

deserves a good school place, that

is why school that work for everyone

set out consultation to enable a

wider group of providers including

the Catholic Church to set up new

schools and I am carefully

considering the proposals...

Under

the government's current Universal

Credit plans, 1 million children in

poverty in working families are

expecting to no longer to be in

title to free school meals including

2800 in Sunderland, will the

Minister comment on why his

department does not take this

opportunity to ensure that all

children in poverty, including those

in low paid working families receive

a free school meals?

Quite simply,

the proposals will involve more

children being eligible for free

school meals than under the previous

system, we have a short-term

arrangement, very early days of

Universal Credit, which was

different, but we estimate 50,000

children more will be eligible for

free school milk than on the old

system. INAUDIBLE

Thank you very much, Mr Speaker,

what is the department doing to help

children with special educational

needs, in their pathway through to

adult hood, and where appropriate,

into the workforce?

Minister.

We

have introduced supportive

internship programme for young

people, which is having a

significant impact in supporting

young people into work.

Thank you,

Mr Speaker. Educational institutions

in my slab constituency lost more

than £1.3 million in the first last

three financial years, as a result

of the decision to redirect the

underspend in the 16 to 19 education

budget, away from sick form

students. Can the Secretary of State

confirm if the review of funding of

tertiary education promised by the

Prime Minister will investigate this

underspend and look at returning it

to schools and colleges?

Minister of

State.

We will look into the precise

issue raised, but I should point out

to him, we are spending records

numbers of money, both five to 16

and beyond.

£41 billion on school

funding this year, rising next year

and 34.5 billion the year after, you

can only provide the sums of money

if you have a strong economy

providing tax revenues to fund

public services, which we will not

have if we have a Labour government.

My constituency of Sittingbourne and

Sheppey, has one of the highest

numbers of children with special

educational needs, in Kent, will the

Minister join with me therefore in

welcoming the news that inspire a

free school which will cater for 168

young people with autism disorder

will in my constituency, and will he

also join with me in congratulating

local people who campaign for many

years for such a school and the

academies trust that has taken up

the bat -- baton to deliver the

school.

I congratulate everyone who

has set up that school, and to the

trust which will oversee the

development of the new school.

In

the aftermath of the Grenfell Tower

fire, our bereaved community needs

its local education services more

than ever. I was pleased to see that

the proposed merger between

Kensington and Chelsea College and

West London college has been

thwarted, and an overdue

consultation is to be opened. Will

the Secretary of State act to secure

the financial future of a community

led college, along with a diverse

and locally representative board, if

that is what the consultation

requests?

I was delighted to meet

with campaigners along with my right

honourable colleague, from DC LG,

and I would congratulate the FDA

Commissioner for stepping in. --

DCLG. -- FE. I know that he is

anxious to keep closely in touch

with the honourable member opposite

to make sure we get the right

solution for this precious college,

this valuable resource, which has

been around for many years.

Schools

in South Gloucestershire have

welcomed the special division fund,

providing targeted support for

peoples with SEN D, can new plans be

out like to continue that plan

beyond 2018, so it can continue to

provide this exceptional provision.

215 million of capital funding over

and above the basic funding has been

allocated to do that for mainstream

and special schools. Schools in the

most deprived areas of Bath are

losing between 25 and £75,000 under

the new funding deal. What should be

cut in those schools? Teaching posts

or mental health services?

No school

will see a cut in funding in

2018/19, every single school in the

country will see an increase in

funding of at least half a percent,

those schools that have been

historically underfunded in previous

Labour governments will see

significant rises in school funding.

My constituent, was head of an

outstanding primary trust in Bath

and North East Somerset, in 2015 she

resigned following bullying on

social media which resulted in false

accusations investigated by the

national college of teaching and

leadership and were dismissed, in

January, 2017, she took the new T2

court and successfully won her case

against defamation. But -- NUT. Two

month later they were able to refer

it again. How is it right that

teachers lives can be made a misery

by repeated malicious referrals,

particularly by those that have a

vested interest.

My noble friend

raises an important point, the

regulation of teachers is a very

important feature of the College of

teaching, I will look into the issue

raised, and I'm happy to meet with

him.

University Scotland said that

after the "Brexit" vote, Scottish

tired education sector could lose

out big-time by the Royal Society of

Edinburgh calling for the

reintroduction of a post study work

Visa, I welcome the introduction in

Glasgow and Edinburgh universities

but can you confirm it will be

rolled out across Scotland or will

Scotland be able to tailor its own

immigration policy for students?

I

thank the honourable gentleman... At

long last, Mr speaker, I thank the

honourable gentleman for that

question, as had been made clear,

earlier, there is a lot of work that

is being done on international

students, by the advisory committee,

I am happy to take the issue on

Scottish visas Pacific the and come

back to them.

Andrei Jenkins.

Physical education is a part of the

school curriculum, only last week I

visited a primary school in my

constituency, which has secured a

minibus to allow children to attend

more sporting engagement, thanks to

the initiatives that have increased

sport funding in schools.

-- Andrea

Jenkyns.

Having seen these benefits

to the policies on the ground, will

the Minister reassure the south of

the government will continue to

support sport in schools.

Honourable

friend is right, that is why we have

introduced the premium, very

important initiative, I think sport

is very important not only for

reducing obesity but for ensuring

that children are able to

concentrate in lessons.

The mention

of sport gives me a heaven sent

opportunity... To congratulate the

inimitable Roger Federer on his

latest triumph. He just gets better

and better. Dr Rupa

Visiting my old school, which

produced not me but also the

Conservative MP Angela Rumbold, my

concern is at the history A-level

syllabus, as it completely omits the

1945-51 Labour Government, asks

candidates for Conservative

strengths and weaknesses, and stops

in 1990s. By deleting labour, are

they trying to rewrite history?

The

A-level history syllabus is widely

consulted on, and the actual detail

of the content of the exam is

determined by exam boards, which are

independent so long as they conform

to the subject content, which as I

said, was widely consulted upon.

With over 30,000 cardiac arrests

taking place outside hospitals every

year, and a disgracefully low

survival rate of just 4%, it is no

surprise there is huge public

support to make sure every child is

given a half-hour lesson on

emergency life-saving skills so we

can create a generation of

life-savers. Will the Secretary of

State meet with me to talk about

making this a reality?

My honourable

friend has been consistent in

campaigning on this for a number of

years. Of course, I will be very

happy to meet with him to discuss

what he says.

The desperate rush to

convert schools into academies does

not appear to be matched by any rush

to ensure adequate financial

oversight and value for money. Will

the Secretary of State please

investigate why United learning

received £150,000 to support

Sedgefield School in London, despite

the school remaining maintained and

United learning not even becoming

its sponsor?

We trust schools to

manage their own budgets, and most

do some extremely well. We are

spending a record amount on schools,

£41 billion. Academies are required

to provide audited accounts every

year and their financial health is

closely monitored by the funding

agency. I will look at the specific

issue is raised, but United Learning

is a very successful multi Academy

trust raising academic standards in

schools, including in one in my

constituency.

I very much welcome

the steps the Government is taking

to improve the mental well-being of

school pupils, but would he agree

with me that extracurricular

activities such as sport are also

vital in promoting good mental

health and we should promote them at

every opportunity?

Mental health

among our young people is paramount

importance. The Prime Minister has

given particular attention to it,

and a green paper makes some

important indications of the way

forward. He is also right to mention

that active lives and sport also

play an important part.

Can I ask

the minister, not all children

arrive at school equal, and those

who are homeless and in temporary

accommodation have the worst set of

circumstances. A headteacher in my

constituency recently wrote about

her pupil, Jack, who has become an

absentee student since going into

temporary accommodation. What does

his department say to those

children?

We know moving into

temporary accommodation can mean

changing schools, strongly

associated with poor attainment. I

will look at the case that the

honourable lady mentions.

I

congratulate the Secretary of State

on his position, and so I don't

apportion blame for the problems at

Broadfield house in my constituency,

which has had school failure after

failure. Can I ask for a meeting to

ensure that this facility is back in

educational use for the local

community as soon as possible?

I

will of course meet my honourable

friend.

Wirral Metropolitan College

failed to secure funding for

apprenticeships this year despite a

positive Ofsted report last year.

There are colleges who have missed

out in the procurement process. Will

the Minister asked the skills

funding agency to look again at the

application from Wirral to make sure

it can continue to work with

employers to provide vital skills

training in Wirral?

We are looking

at how to ease colleges and

independent educational providers.

We had over 1000 beds, totalling

£1.1 billion, and about half of

that, there will always be places

for the disappointed, but we will be

working with those colleges to

smooth the transition and make sure

they are able to provide that

valuable training we need to make

sure young people have