Live Education Questions House of Commons

join me later. First it has

questions to the Education

Secretary, Damian Hinds.

We are committed we must tell

children in need to achieve their

full potential. On Friday we

launched the Children in Need

review, which will develop the

evidence we can understand what

makes a difference to these

children's educational outcomes and

what works to improve those outcomes

in practice.

I strongly welcomed the

review that was. Will he commit to

using the considerable data at his

disposal to highlight those areas

and those children who bucked the

trend so we can learn from their

example?

My honourable friend has

been a champion of Children in Need

and the review is intended to

establish best practice, it builds

on work we already doing with our

partners in practice local

authorities which I announced in the

expansion last week.

Since 2010 the

number of children on the child

protection register is up 83% whilst

we have seen the number of people in

care at its highest since 1985. Does

the Minister think the cuts in

children's services since 2010 are

the reason for this? If not to what

does he ascribe these terrible

outcomes for the most probable

children in our society?

Local

authorities have an increasing their

investment in children's services, I

visited Hackney and Wigan and

Doncaster. My impression is the real

differentiator is leadership, which

is why we are investing £2 million

with the local government

Association to look at leadership

and the parliament in practice

programme.

Early intervention is

critical to preventing children

ending up as in need so why is the

funding stop to the excellent sure

start and home start projects?

Local

authorities do different things

differently. I visited Stafford, and

in Stafford and in Newcastle they

have actually improved their

outcomes for children in Need by

reaching out to those families

rather than investing in bricks and

mortar. There are different ways of

dealing with this, local authorities

to this best.

Research on his own

department's figures showed children

are ten times more likely to be on a

child protection plan if they live

in a deprived area. Before the end

of this Parliament it is estimated

child poverty will reach five

million and the funding gap in

statutory services will reach £2

billion. The Minister has said that

strong leadership rather than extra

funding is the key, so can he

explain how strong leadership will

end this crisis?

Spending in local

government is 200 billion on all

services including children's

services. We do see leadership as a

driver of better outcomes for those

children which is why we are making

that investment, including the 15

million that we announced for 8

million more partners in practice,

which are helping local authorities

that are struggling. For example

Leeds is how ginkgo clears.

The new

national funding formula means

funding will finally be distributed

based on the needs and

characteristics of every school in

the country, supported by in

additional £1.3 billion, meaning we

will maintain funding in real terms

for the next two years.

22 of the 24 maintained schools in

my constituency will be losing in

real terms taking account of

inflation. Many of these are schools

with high levels of deprivation, how

can the Secretary of State justify

this?

Mr Speaker of course the

formula does quite rightly take

account of deprivation in the way

that she mentions, and in the Bishop

Auckland constituency if the funding

formula work implemented in full,

based on the 2017-18 funding data,

it would increase by 1.9%.

In every

single school I have visited across

Bradford since becoming an MP, the

head has raised with me major

concerns about funding. Can the

Minister confirmed despite the £1.3

billion announced by his predecessor

last July, school funding will still

have fallen in real terms by 2020

for the first time in a generation?

No, Mr Speaker. In the Bradford

South constituency, on the same

basis that I just answered to the

honourable lady from Bishop

Auckland, if formula that was

invented in full, it would involve

an increase of 1.6% of £1.3 million,

and across the system per-pupil real

terms funding is being maintained.

The cost of advertising for teachers

and the cost of supply teachers

especially to agencies is putting

strain on school funding and

budgets. What action is the

government taking to ensure more

money is going to the front line of

education and less on the

bureaucracy and costs.

My right

honourable friend makes a very good

point about one of the cost

pressures schools have been facing

that is why we are working on seeing

what we can do to help on bringing

down recruitment costs, specifically

on supply teachers that she

mentioned, developing a new

framework to that act.

Schools in my

constituency work on the principle

of the national funding formula

which will see an increase in

funding. I wonder if my right

honourable friend would agree to

meet with me and representatives of

primary and secondary schools to

ensure that we get this implemented

in the right way.

Mr Speaker, he is

correct that the Clement Ric and of

the national funding formula is a

very important step forward and I am

always happy to beat my noble

friend.

Taking into account the

rising cost pressures on school

whether temporary and agency staff

or pressures on salaries means that

every school virtually in my

constituency is going to face real

terms cuts to their funding by 2020.

Isn't that the truth of the

government plasma policy or does the

Secretary of State education thinks

he knows more about school budgets

than headteachers?

Across the system

over the next two years, the total

core schools funding budget will be

going up from just under £41 billion

this year to 43 and a half billion.

Of course there had been cost

pressures on schools, I don't know

that for a moment, one of the

reasons we are taking that step that

I outlined to help with those cost

pressures. Across the system

per-pupil real terms funding is

being maintained.

While we welcome

the changes to the national funding

formula and additional money there

are still a huge gap in schools in

West Sussex and the way they are

funded in Greater London, in

particular special schools are not

included in the funding formula, so

that an average 200 Playschool in

West Sussex will receive something

like £800,000 less than a school in

Reading or 2 million less than a

school in London. When his heat

going to address this anomaly?

It is

not supposed to be that they have

the same amount of money following

them, it is important the formula

recognises the difference in the

composition of pupil make-ups, we

were talking a moment or two about

the privation. Of course other

members of additional need that the

two reflected.

May I first started

by congratulating the lady from

North London who has won this year's

global teacher prize this weekend. I

know that the whole house will agree

with her on the power of arts to

change unpeopled's lives. Mr

Speaker, in the Chancellor's springs

statement last week, he said that

school budgets are increasing

per-pupil in real terms, and that

every school will receive a cash

increase. Does the Secretary of

State agree with the Chancellor?

First let me join with the

honourable lady in her

congratulations to Andrea Zachariah

who for this outstanding achievement

that she has made. It is a

particularly striking individual

attainment but also I think it is a

reflection of the incredibly

inspirational role that teachers

everywhere player. In terms of

funding, we have been discussing

this at some length, the fact is

that across the system the per-pupil

real terms funding is being

maintained. Of course local

authorities for the next couple of

years will play a role in allocating

that money to make sure the final

result reflects the cost...

Mr

Speaker, I am glad that he accepts

that part because the UK Statistics

Authority last week refused to both

of those claims and the Secretary of

State had to retract what he said at

our last Question Time. Last week,

he said that the mere repetition of

a full set does not turn it into the

truth. So will he now apologise for

misleading the house, and make clear

the truth? There is no increase and

school budgets may face cuts of up

to 1.5% per-pupil?

Order, before we

proceed further I must say to the

Shadow Secretary of State, any

accusation of misleading the house

must be accompanied by inadvertent.

Inadvertently misleading the house.

Mr Speaker, it is true that cash

funding per pupil is increasing, it

is also true that real terms funding

is increasing, but I could and

should have been more precise. When

you talk about real terms per-pupil

funding, that is being maintained.

The core schools budget over the

next two years will rise to a little

under £41 billion to 43.5.

Question

number three.

Thank you Mr Speaker,

since 2010 there are 1.9 million,

sorry, Mr Speaker, with permission,

I would seek to answer this question

with numbers eight and 16, my

apologies. Since 2010 there are 1.9

million more children in good or

outstanding schools and more

disadvantaged children are going on

to university. Our plans to make

further progress include £72 million

at 12 opportunity areas and £52

million for approving early language

and literacy.

Youth and implement in

my constituency has fallen by 72%

since 2010. If we are to build on

that progress, can my right

honourable friend set out how we can

support schools that are

underperforming so that young

people, wherever they live, have the

best opportunity? And in his

constituency there have been over

7000 apprenticeship starts since

2010. He is right that it is very

important all schools are able to

share in the preventive education

outcomes and very important the

support is there to do that.

Breakfast is the most important meal

of the day and I strongly welcome

the money to support breakfast

clubs. Wiltshire is not a deprived

county but it does have some areas

of deprivation, how will they be

helped?

The definition of areas of

deprivation will include the

opportunity areas I mentioned but

also other areas according to the

index methodology, and I can't say

the top of my head what the

implication is for Chippenham but I

will be happy to stay in touch with

my honourable friend.

Since 2013 the

national literacy trust has run a

great campaign in Middlesbrough,

will my honourable friend join me in

congratulating the efforts of this

group.

Indeed, improving literacy is

vital to improving our social

mobility and our plans for a

national centre of excellence will

help with this and I'm happy to pay

tribute to the fantastic work done

by the national literacy trust in

Middlesbrough.

Three years ago I

launched the Liverpool to Oxbridge

collaboratively support students in

schools in my constituency, the most

academic students, to give them the

option of applying to Oxford or

Cambridge, can I ask the government

what they are doing to support areas

especially those with high economic

need like Liverpool to aim high for

all of their young people?

This goes

to the heart of the office for fair

access and what the office for

students will do but also it is

important universities continue to

redouble their efforts especially

selective universities to make sure

they are reaching out and tapping

into the range of talents on offer

throughout our country.

If the

Secretary of State is serious about

improving access to top universities

for students from the two

backgrounds why is he not doing more

to act on the findings of the report

which urged the government to do

more to provide high warranty

independent careers advice to 13 and

14 years old? -- high quality.

She

is like to highlight high quality

careers advice, this goes for

vocational routes and academic roots

and that is why we are putting so

much focus on it.

The Secretary of

State must understand if we are to

achieve social mobility our schools

have to be well funded and Durham

county council because of funding

cuts is closing a school, the only

school in a disadvantaged village in

my constituency. The young people

there feel undervalued as will be

community, so what can the Secretary

of State do to make sure the school

stays open and those children are

given a chance in life?

I totally

acknowledge that it can be very

unsettling and upsetting when a

school closes like that and I will

be happy to discuss the particular

case but it remains the case that

across the system we are holding the

core schools budget constant in real

purpose pupil terms.

I share the

welcome for the Magic breakfast and

school breakfast funding, and in

addition to the money, will he

encourage partner schools to share

best practice to tackle social

mobility challenges?

I pay tribute

to my honourable friend and the work

he has done over an extended period

of time in terms of breakfast

especially with his magic breakfast

connection and I share his desire to

make sure that best practice is

shared across borders.

Scottish

students on the most deprived

backgrounds are supported by a

comprehensive financial package

including free tuition and

bursaries, resulting in Scotland

having the lowest university dropout

rate in the entire UK, would be

Secretary of State gave

consideration to mirroring the

support giving to Scottish students

including abolishing the

extortionate student fees in

England?

The important thing to note

is that with our University

financing system there are more

young people than ever before able

to go to university and more people

from disadvantaged backgrounds being

able to go to university and

universities are properly funded and

there is no cap on ambition.

Social

mobility has improved when families

have access to sure start and

children's centres yet in a damning

report the National Audit Office and

feel that the government has cut

spending on sure start by 50% in

real terms since 2010 and we are

still waiting for the long overdue

consultation into the future of

children's centres so can the

minister tell us whether he believes

these cuts are good for social

mobility and on what date he will

publish the consultation?

The

honourable lady is correct in

identifying the importance of early

years in terms of child development

and social mobility and narrowing

the gap and that is one of the

reasons why we are putting so much

effort and more money into early

years and childcare including for

example the extension of eligibility

for the two-year old offer which

last week she was voting against

bizarrely.

Question number four.

Thank you. I will answer question

four and 11 together, with your

permission. We are using all sorts

of adverts and social media, the

latest phase of marketing begins at

the end of January and through this

month, and National Apprenticeship

Week with hundreds of events

throughout the country spreading the

message, and there is a legal duty

for schools to allow technical

education providers which was

introduced in January.

She knows

that Newcastle and a number of other

good colleges which provide

excellent apprenticeships have not

been awarded funding under the

normal levy apprenticeship scheme,

she has worked hard to find a way to

this, can I ask for an update to

make sure that those colleges are

able to continue to provide these

apprenticeships in vital areas like

construction and engineering because

otherwise there will be a desert in

those areas for apprenticeships?

I

know my honourable friend is a

strong supporter of colleges in his

area but as in any procuring some

bidders were on six full but we have

extended contracts to some providers

to give employers apprentices

stability, and the main thing is

they can still provide

apprenticeships to normal levy

payers.

In 2009, there were 280,000

apprenticeships and in 2016 there

were 495,000, so we are moving in

the right direction, what more can

the government do to improve the

status of apprenticeships in school

bearing in mind most children come

to -- most teachers come through a

university route.

Yes, my honourable

friend is right, status is crucial

to increase the value that people

place on apprenticeships so having

imply is involved in the design of

the new standards right up to degree

level and making sure there is the

orthodox training and they last for

a minimum of 12 months is about

raising the status and currency of

apprenticeship qualifications and I

make no apology for making sure that

we actually increase the quality of

apprenticeships and not just the

numbers, it is about the quality.

One of the key ways of promoting

apprenticeships is to make sure that

we maintain a broad curriculum at

our schools and this is one of the

key themes at the conference last

week. The CBI president said

children were missing out on being

able -- being made to memorise

facts.

We have one of the best

curricula in the world, no doubt

about it, and what is absolutely

crucial to the success of any

technical education programme, and

that includes apprenticeships, is a

solid foundation in school and from

then people can use it as a

springboard into other careers

including their apprenticeships.

Knowledge of and access to

apprenticeships relies on a gardens

in schools, what is the government

doing to make sure that every young

person has an entire to want to

high-quality advice and guidance and

it stops being a rather dubious

offer across the patch as it is at

the moment?

My honourable friend is

absolutely right about this, good

careers guidance and I'm sure he has

read the Carizza strategy we

launched at the end of last year. --

career. It has a spine running to

the whole thing. The legal duty on

schools to enable technical

education providers to come in as

part of that, the careers and

enterprise company are doing

fantastic work around the country

and honourable members in this place

have a role to play by going into

schools and pointing out the

opportunities that exist.

Would my

honourable friend agree that

apprenticeships are vital to

maintain and enhance our sovereign

defence manufacturing capability and

are a key driver of social mobility

especially in areas like mine.

I

completely agree with my honourable

friend, they are a wonderful

opportunity and indeed an important

part of the apprenticeships we have.

Last month the schools minister

wrote to the chief executive of the

apprenticeships, a long list of

requirements, to deliver degree

apprenticeships in tentacle skills,

the chief executive said he has told

the minister they could not take on

technical skills without adequate

additional resources being

allocated, but given the Institute

is scheduled to take these as

possibilities next month, what extra

funding has the skills minister

allocated here and now to do this

question up I was with

the chief

executive of the apprenticeship and

our ago and they are increasing

their headcount substantially to

make sure they have the capacity to

deal with the new levels coming on

stream. This is a great opportunity

and I look forward to working with

the Institute of apprenticeships,

they are quite clear and they need

to tell me if they have any problems

with resourcing and we will try to

meet it.

Question number five.

Minister of State.

With your

permission I would answer this

question with question 14. Can I add

my congratulations to the winner of

the global teaching prize can I have

met Andrea, she is a passionate

teacher with a dedication to her

peoples and a love of teaching. We

published a party paper setting out

our reform to alternative provision

making sure the right children are

placed and they receive a higher

quality education with better

outcomes than is currently the case

for.

The minister will know that

alternative provision can provide at

best an opportunity for young people

to get back on track but at its

worst in some cases it is nothing

more than childminding, and he will

also know that from the perspective

of head teachers, often the cheapest

option because of pressure on

budgets, is the one they take, so

will he addressed that so there is a

incentive for schools to send young

people to alternative provision that

is frankly on suitable and of no

use?

He is absolutely right, the

GCSE outcomes for children on HP are

significantly lower than for

children outside. -- AEP. We have

also asked Ed Timpson to conduct a

review to look at which groups of

young people are being excluded for

schools especially those groups who

are disproportionately excluded from

mainstream education.

I refer

members to my register of interest,

56% of schools that responded to my

survey told me they had been forced

to cut sen de provision because of

the school budget cuts, does the

minister acknowledged that a bigger

number does not mean more money per

student and will he commit to a real

terms per-pupil fair funding form

that encourages the inclusion of sen

de pupils in our mainstream schools?

We have increased the high needs

funding from £5 billion in 2013 to

now £6 billion in 2018, that is over

£130 million compared to the

previous year, and we are spending

1.3 billion more on school funding

compared with the spending review in

2015.

Number seven, Mr speaker.

I commend the work for quite

consensual and the debate that she

secured last September. I can assure

her the department is committed to

making schools as safe as we

possibly can, which is why we are

working closely with the Home Office

to reinforce the important message

it is totally unacceptable to bring

knives into schools. Hiya knife

carrying in schools across the UK is

up 42% and yet in my constituency in

Croydon,

and I expect across the

country at least three quarters of

headteachers of had to cut staff,

special needs supervision and now

that this epidemic has infiltrated

our schools, will he admit that

school cuts are threatening our

children's safety?

You have heard

from the Secretary of State

regarding school finance, all I

would say is that the department is

working with the Home Office and of

course other stakeholders, police,

Ofsted and Health and Safety

Executive on updating our school

security guidance to make clear the

risk of carrying knives and to

provide advice on dealing with this

really important issue. It is

unacceptable to actually carry a

knife in school.

Does my honourable

friend join me in welcoming the

award from the Home Office of

£765,000 from the new anti-knife

crime community fund, some of which

will be spent delivering sessions on

knife crime awareness in schools

themselves?

I do welcome the Home

Office commitment of this and I hope

the Mayor of London will do the same

with the honourable lady schools in

Croydon.

Youth violence is up,

mental health issues among young

people is up yet the number of

qualified school nurses is down. The

evidence shows this can be part of

addressing the root causes of youth

violence, can we have qualified

school nurses in every school is one

step to tackling this issue?

The

honourable lady knows we are making

further investment to make sure

every school is able to deal with

that issue in a way that is

appropriate.

Today there are over 2000 open

sponsored academies. This involves

brokering a relationship between a

suitable academy trust and

maintained schools including

addressing any land or contractual

issues. They school without a

confirmed response is not generally

due to a lack of response all it is

because of the time taken to address

those issues.

The Minister may know

my interest in this matter stems

from the number of years it took for

his department to resolve matters at

Sedgefield school in Lewisham where

they were not able to find a sponsor

and instead have agreed a three-year

school improvement partnership

there. If they are struggling so

much to find sponsors for academies,

why is it still a central plank of

his school turnaround strategy?

Because we are not crossed the

system as a whole struggling to find

new sponsors. We have 7000 academies

now, most of which are converted

academies, which themselves are

becoming themselves the sponsor.

This is a system that is working.

Secondary sponsored academies made

the strongest improvement in 2016

despite facing the biggest

challenges competitor in the 15 the

average attainment at school for

sponsored academies improved by

almost three attainment points

compare to 1.34 maintained schools.

The academies programme is working

and is raising standards right

across the system.

Number 12, Mr

Speaker.

It is the responsibility of

parents to assure themselves of the

responsibility of any private Chuter

by checking references and asking to

see a copy of any DBS certificate.

That is a serious criminal offence

to seek to work with children after

having been barred from doing so.

Currently one in four children

receive Jewish and outside the

school and private Chuter Ishant,

self employed duties do not have to

criminal record checks. Putting

these children are at serious risk.

Therefore what is the minister doing

about this and will he meet with me

to discuss a serious case in my

constituency and why the law must

change?

I will certainly meet with

the honourable lady to discuss the

case, which she has e-mailed to us

earlier today, very happy to do so.

Mr 15 Mr Speaker.

Schools can

currently teach about LGBT issues

and must comply with the equality

act. We established a £3 billion

programme on homophobic, by phobic

and trans phobic bullying. We also

engaging with stakeholders to

include relationships and sex

education and the response to the

call of evidence will be published

shortly.

Following media reports of

one school in London censoring, it

is clear the need to be more work in

this area. Will the Minister agree

to look at the recommendations for

the time for inclusive education

campaign in Scotland and ensure all

young people include an education

that is fully LGBT inclusive?

Very

happy to look at that report, we are

consulting the content of the RSC,

we will be publishing new content

and guidelines and we have also

judges to regulations to require

schools to teach fundamental British

values in our schools.

Number 17, Mr

Speaker.

Mr Speaker, our reforms

will increase the chances of course

completion, the introduction of a

transparency duty, access and

British patient plans and the income

framework will hold universities to

account and help students make

informed choices about where to

study and get the best value for

money.

The higher education

statistics authority audit shows

that 6.2% of first-time students in

Scotland dropped out before their

second year up being not only the

joint lowest figure on record but

also the lowest in the UK. With

Scotland leading the way, when will

the Minister becoming north to

Scotland for some inspiration to

think again on their own failings on

student retention?

Scotland is of

course a beautiful country, and our

reforms here have actually lead to

more disadvantaged people going to

university than ever before. I do

agree with the honourable member

that we want access to not just be

defined as getting into university,

but we want people to be successful

at University and go on to achieve

their aspirations. That is why as

part of our reforms we are

reintroducing access and the

dissipation agreements that the new

regulator for the office to students

would be overseeing to make sure

that universities are held to

account for the success of

disadvantaged students at

university.

Could the minister

explain to parents in my

constituency who are not married

under the age of 25 but cohabit why

that household is not eligible for

an adult dependent grant but if they

were a married couple they would

both Richard Mark

it sounds like the

honourable member is referring to a

very specific issue, I would be

happy to take it up with her

afterwards.

The Minister could

always put a copy of his reply in

the library.

Does the speaker except

that -- does the

they need to have confidence about

the benefits and provisions that

will come with that and to that end

what discussions is he having with

the university colleges union and

Universities UK about resolving the

pensions dispute?

The honourable

member will be aware there was an

agreement reached between the

Universities UK and universities

colleges union last week. It was

broken by the independent arbitrator

ACAS. I am disappointed that

agreement was rejected the next day,

and I am urging both parties to get

together to talk, because this is in

the interests of students,

especially at this vital time in

their academic studies. Also what we

are looking at is the office for

students, a new regulator that has

wide-ranging powers to make sure

that universities to work to be

clear what they are going to deliver

the students, and there is no

mandate for the strikes -- strikes

to disrupt exams.

As the honourable

gentleman is where we are

undertaking a post-18 funding and

education review. I am sure he

watched the Prime Minister announced

that up in Derby a view weeks ago.

Alongside this we are also looking

at the efficiency and resilience of

the FEA sector. Woody to make sure

existing and forecast funding and

regulatory structures meet the cost

of high-quality first-class

provision. But the front bench have

made a great play in these sessions

about the importance of social

mobility and there is no greater

engine for that in communities like

Stoke-on-Trent than properly funded

and well resourced further

education, Stoke-on-Trent sixth form

College has had a freeze on its cash

terms over the last few years but

with rising costs it is a real terms

cost so what is it that this front

bench of the government have against

the colleges in my constituency?

Mr

Speaker, I would point out to the

honourable gentleman that we have

4000 for every 16 to 19-year-old, an

additional £600 for every pupil

studying maths above the baseline,

£500 million into T-Levels,

preparation into T-Levels and the

work we have done with FEA colleges,

Mr Speaker, the honourable gentleman

is shaking his head, it is true,

actually.

I don't think the Minister

should take it personally,

headshaking in the House of Commons

is not a novel phenomenon, it has

been going on for some centuries I

believe.

Thank you Mr Speaker, I am

sure in her review of FC funding she

won at the investment being made in

South Devon College in Paignton in

driving technical education but

would she agree with me that a key

part of the review will be how

Institute of technology are taken

forward, in particular another one

at South Devon College?

He is right

that Institute of technology will be

an important part of this mix. I

know that headshaking is common in

this chamber, but nonetheless, it

should not detract us from the

facts, and we are putting in

substantial amounts of money. We are

doing a review of post-18 education

but F E is an important driver of

social mobility.

Last week, Hull

College group announced the loss of

231 full-time equivalent jobs. They

have told me that government changes

to funding for J ISC, and IT

services company that currently

provide free IT support for colleges

will set them back for another

£100,000, possibly resulting in even

more job losses. Will the Minister

please reverse this decision or at

least provide some transitional

funding so that F E colleges are not

hit so hard?

The changes she refers

to are important, it is about

fairness and equity. As I pointed

out there is a lot of money going

into F E colleges at the moment. But

we are looking at the efficiency and

resilience of the FEA sector is to

make sure that the forecast funding

instructions meet the cost of

high-quality first-class provision.

Question 19.

We have protected the

base rate of funding for 1619

-year-olds. Until 2020 and we will

invest £500 million extra per year

in T-Levels. I have asked my

officials to assess how far the

current funding system meets the

cost of provision in the further

education sector and will update the

house shortly.

Warrington and

they'll romp college last week

announced it intends to close the

North wish campus in my constituency

with 300 students displaced. It

cited severe financial pressures and

the government focused area -based

review. Will the Secretary of State

or the Minister agreed to meet with

me, the staff and some of the

students affected and hopefully

reverse this decision?

I am very

happy to meet with the honourable

gentleman, I should point out

because I think not everybody

understands that colleges are

independent bodies. I understand

Warrington and they'll recently took

a view that the Hertford campus was

unviable and that provisions should

be transferred to create a more

efficient offer from other sites

with lender supported travel. This

issue arises from difficulties in

recruiting learners, not budget

cuts.

A college in Rochdale achieved

some remarkable results but in a

town like Rochdale, which is more

dependent on further education and

less dependent on the university

system, will the government not

recognise this differential in

funding between further education

holds back young people who are the

most deprived, and who need that

skills training more than anybody

else?

One of the reasons we are

undertaking a post-18 review of

education and funding is to make

sure that all people, doesn't matter

where you come from or what part of

the country you live in, you should

be able to have access to

high-quality education, be that in

FC or H E.

Question one.

Thank you

Mr Speaker.

Andrea won the global teacher prize,

beating many entries from other

countries. This government is

committed to supporting all teachers

to make sure children can have a

world-class education, and we are

focusing on a flexible working and

entry routes into teaching and

Friday we launched a review to look

at what makes the difference to

educational outcomes to make sure

more children can have a better

start in life and we are also

introducing an investment of £26

million to boost breakfast clubs in

some of the most disadvantaged

areas, complementing our development

of eligibility.

In light of the

racist racist incident in one of our

schools in Bath does the minister

believe the safeguarding procedures

in our schools are strong enough and

that the Ofsted inspection regime is

adequate around safeguarding?

I was

truly shocked to read of the

incident that the the honourable

lady refers to and this must of

course have no place in our schools

and in our country, schools need to

have a policy setting out measures

to encourage good behaviour

including the prevention of

bullying. An inspector must be able

to visit a school without notice

where there are concerns.

Shrewsbury

college has an outstanding

reputation for outstanding

apprenticeship programmes but it was

not a success in the latest student

levy process, and there are huge

geographical areas that this college

caters for and the ministers and

officials need to think again.

This

is not a situation that we wanted to

be in and we are obliged to do these

procurement exercises and there were

1046 bids and over £4 billion, 700

of those bids were successful and

got a total of 490, and we have put

in transitional arrangements for

providers that were not successful,

giving stability to implies and

apprenticeships, and as I pointed

out, those providers can still

access apprenticeship funding by

delivering training directly to levy

payers through subcontracting and

two employees receiving transfers

from April.

The pensions dispute

ground universities to a halt last

week and the Secretary of State will

be aware that there is a proposal on

the table to underwrite the

universities superannuation scheme

and although this matter is

reserved, the Scottish Government

have said they will give

consideration to the proposals. With

talk of further disruption, will he

commit to doing the same?

As I

referred to you in my previous

answer the remit that was on the

table was brokered by ACAS between

both parties and in terms of the

dispute is a dispute between the

universities which are autonomous

organisations and the lecturers and

the pensions scheme is a private

pension scheme and it is one of the

largest schemes with nearly 400,000

members and over 61 billion in

assets. The cost to the taxpayer of

underwriting such a scheme could be

significant and any further

involvement from the government in

supporting this would need to be

considered very very carefully.

I

know the minister shares my concerns

about the horrific sexual

exploitation of young girls in

Telford, is the minister aware of

any national inquiry that will

specifically investigate all aspects

of current and historic cases of

child exploitation in Telford?

I do

indeed share her concerns and this

has been a terrible case and not the

first of its kind, and I will be

writing to the chair of the new

national child safeguarding review

panel to look at places where these

appalling crimes have happened, like

Rotherham and Oxfordshire and

Telford, and a port on where lessons

have been learned and practices

approved across the system -- and

report.

Last week the Secretary of

State is centred the childcare

voucher scheme but as I tried last

week the Secretary of State has

given no clarity as to what will

happen next so will he come back to

the house with an all statement and

give a meaningful vote before the

scheme now ends?

The move to this is

a HMRC Treasury area rather than the

Department for Education but we did

make clear in the debate there was

the extra time, the six months in

order to look at transitional

considerations.

Would the minister explained the

government's approach to funding in

Hertfordshire and other local areas

as there is a concern in many areas

that funding to children with

special needs is not being

ring-fenced at local level?

We have

increased high needs funding this

year, local authorities are

responsible for their high needs

budget, but I have not heard

concerns about this funding not

being used to support special

education needs but of course happy

to meet with my honourable friend

and discuss this further.

The

honourable gentleman has just been

elevated to membership of the Privy

Council and he must be deeply

grateful.

I don't think the

minister's answer on the dispute

with universities regarding pensions

is good enough. He can't sit on the

sidelines and he should be doing

something to resolve the situation

rather than going up and down and

giving lectures at the African

Conservative Party.

The government

has not been sitting on the

sidelines and we have made sure that

we have been in touch with all the

interested parties concerned and our

prime concern is the students whose

education is at stake but it is up

to the universities as employers to

negotiate with the lecturers as the

employees and there is a deal on the

table that has been brokered by ACAS

and at the heart of the dispute is

the valuation of the pension scheme

and part of that deal was an

independent evaluation of the

pension scheme in the months ahead

which is why I'm disappointed that

that deal was turned down the next

day and I urge parties to get

together and keep negotiating to

resolve this.

May I welcome the news

that up to £80 million will be

invested in helping small businesses

recruit apprentices and ask my

honourable friend how businesses

will be able to apply for this

funding.

It is very good news as my

honourable friend will be aware, the

government will pay 90% of training

costs for small businesses and we

will be announcing more details on

how the money will be distributed in

due course.

Headteachers across

Stoke-on-Trent have told all three

of the MPs that they have never felt

quite the pinch like they do now,

and the purchasing of new equipment

is being put on hold, but do listen

to the Secretary of State we are led

to believe that money is flowing in

and schools have never had it so

good, but given these statements

can't be reconciled, who does he

believe is inadvertently misleading

members of this house?

On that point

there is no actual or inadvertent

misleading of the house and it is a

fact that across the system the core

schools funding budget goes up in a

couple of years' time and beyond

that there is the national funding

formula which seeks to correct some

of the long-standing imbalances

there have been in the system and I

was pleased recently to visit Stoke

and to meet some of the outstanding

headteachers operating in his area

and I know that funding has been

tight for schools and there have

been cost pressures in the last

couple of years and we stand behind

them to see what we can do to

support them.

I believe the

announcement from Cambridge

University that they will offer

apprenticeships but is a quality

stamp of approval on this route,

does my honourable friend agreed

that is important for all children

around the country that they are

encouraged to imply and do they also

agree that the opening doors

programme that brings children to

local business are key to raising

aspirations? -- to apply.

I would

congratulate what is going on in her

local area and of course a degree

apprenticeship is a wonderful way to

earn while you learn, get a degree

and come out at the end of it with

several years of work experience and

probably be way ahead of your

contemporaries who went into a

graduate degree.

I had the privilege

of meeting the father of the King

Fellowship, his father's ambition

was to get a defibrillator in every

school because they have done work

which would benefit many people, is

this something the government would

look to supporting, a defibrillator

in every school?

We have funded a

considerable number of these in

schools and we are working with the

heart foundation as well to provide

facilities for schools to teach

first aid and life-saving skills in

schools for the pay rises

but

teachers would be welcome in my area

but there is a concern they will

have to be met by the increase in

funding that was delivered to

schools, can I asked the minister if

there are plans to find budget

outside of the existing school

funding formed of those pay rises?

The teachers pay review body is

deliberating at the moment and we

have already given our evidence as

have the other console teas, but

since the spending review, an

additional 1.3 billion has been

found for this.

We aim that every child will have a

plan in time and those who weren't

are assured that their support will

be maintained but we are on most

levels on target to deliver these

plans.

Over the weekend I raised the

issue of the passport thing of

childcare payments by

Northamptonshire County Council to

local providers and I'm very pleased

that the solution has been found and

I'm grateful to ministers for their

support and their interest but will

they join me in thanking the

children's services staff at

Northamptonshire County Council for

solving this so rapidly?

I will

certainly join him and I would like

to meet with him to look at what

other support we can provide and to

commend the director of children's

services at Northampton are doing an

excellent job in very difficult

circumstances.

Based on government

statistics 63 schools in my borough

will lose funding per pupil of

around 300,000 pounds between 2015

and 2020, what happened to the

promise by the Prime Minister to

maintain pupil funding?

No school in

the country will lose funding under

the new formula and the minimum they

receive will be an extra increase,

those schools which have been

receiving more according to the

national funding formula, so no

school will lose funding, but there

have been cost pressures in recent

years but we are helping schools

deal with the cost pressures with

school efficiency advisers and

schemes which can enable schools to

marshal their resources as

efficiently as possible.

Recent

figures from Department show 4350

children were adopted in England and

that is a near 20% decline from the

peak in 2015, why are adoptions in

decline?

The government is working

with the sector through the adoption

leadership board to address the

issue of numbers to make sure their

remains are enough adopters approved

for children who are waiting.

Parents whose children use the

children's centre in Cambridge are

seeing hours at the nursery cat and

the baby room closed and parents

being encouraged to ask their

employers to amend their working

hours to cope with the reduced

hours.

The experience around the

country does not bear the honourable

gentleman's view, and the opposite

is happening where parents are

getting the places, especially on

the 30 hours a week for three and

four-year-olds which is almost at

300,000 which we announced last

week.

Last week I had the honour of

chairing in Westminster the second

annual schools debating competition

and the standard was absolutely

excellent and I want to pay tribute

to carry on Trowbridge and Sam

Phillips for their work organising

this, but what is the department

doing to encourage public speaking

and debate within the country?

May I

join him in commending his

constituents who organised this

great event and it is true that

public speaking and debating is an

important thing for developing the

rounded young person, the character

development we all want, and members

of Parliament can also play an

important role and many accident in

their own areas run their own

systems.

I am looking forward to

visiting the honourable gentleman in

his constituency very soon.

John

Cryer.

Did the abolition of the education

maintenance allowance hinder or

contribute to social mobility?

With

the alternative funding that was put

in place it was possible of course

for sixth form colleges to do other

things, to make sure that they were

attracting the full range of

students, and we are seeing more

disadvantaged youngsters going onto

university than ever before.

Mr

Speaker last week I opened the

extension to the children centre and

the week before I was hosted a

apprenticeship, both sectors are

telling me they are desperately

short of funding due to cuts. What

assessment is the government making

now of the outcome received by

children of the reduction in funding

currently happening?

Local

authorities are responsible for how

they deliver support for families

and through children centres as well

as other support and many of them

are focusing on getting support

direct to the family, rather than

investing in bricks and mortar.

Pupil premium is an important source

of funding to level the playing

field and improve social mobility. I

have asked and above questions on

these to make sure that all those

eligible to receive it and about

improving the scope of it. Does the

minister now agree with me that it

is time we have a review of pupil

premium?

Mr Speaker my honourable

friend is entirely correct that the

introduction of the pupil premium

was a really important structural

change in the way we do these things

and making sure the additional

resource in followers those pupils

who need it, in order to be able to

narrow the gap. I think it is also

right we need to keep these things

periodically under review as she

suggests.

The honourable lady is

belatedly bobbing but I am not

psychic to it helps to bobble along

as you want to be called.

Can the

Minister tell me what plans the

government has Tizzard for the 1.4

million charge and young people

affected by the decision to

discontinue the specialist contract

the speech, language and

communication needs?

We have

actually in negotiations at the

moment with TCT. And we are looking

at a whole workforce at training to

make sure we deliver better quality

outcomes for children with speech

and other disabilities.

I welcome

the news of the £26 million

investment in breakfast clubs, can

my right honourable friend confirm

how the most disadvantaged children

benefit of these, particularly in

coastal communities?

That is why we

are using the methodology we will be

to make sure this investment go

specifically to the most

disadvantaged areas where it can

make the most difference using the

Idoki methodology I mentioned

earlier.

Can a minister say when he

intends to announce the date for

issuing the criteria for the pilots

for the holiday hunger pilots that

were announced just a few weeks ago,

because Hull is chomping at the bit

to that application?

We have done

some excellent work on this and an

announcement is imminent.

Mr

Speaker, Michelle Gay Osborne had

teacher was in tears when she told

just how tough it is to be one of

the 361 schools in Birmingham

suffering real term cuts when you're

trying to give the best possible

start in life to kids and one of the

poorest and most deprived

constituencies in Britain. The

headteachers have asked to meet with

the Secretary of State personally so

that they can bring home to him just

how tough it is becoming. Will the

Secretary of State be generous and

agreed to meet with them?

As I said

earlier, across the system, real

terms per pupil funding in the core

schools budget is being maintained

that there are two things overlaid

on that, first is the application of

the National funding formula to

correct historic imbalances and of

course local authorities play a part

in reflecting local circumstances. I

acknowledge that with the cost

pressures there have been, things

have been tight in school budgets

and I will be happy, I will be happy

to meet with him and his

constituents.

Order.