argyrotsipi/train-dataset huggingface dataset:
Tax Credits (Free School Meals) — House of Commons, 2015-10-26
Topic: Education
Questions: What assessment she has made of the effect of the Government's proposed changes to tax credits on the number of children accessing free school meals; What assessment she has made of the effect of the Government's proposed changes to tax credits on the number of children accessing free school meals.
Samuel Phillip Gyimah (Conservative, Centre-right): My hon. Friend makes an important point that was also highlighted by the Minister for Skills. In countries such as Greece that did not take grown-up, difficult decisions, teachers’ pay has been cut by 30% and thousands of schools have closed. This Government are taking the right decisions for the country.
Tax Credits (Free School Meals) — House of Commons, 2015-10-26
Topic: Education
Questions: What assessment she has made of the effect of the Government's proposed changes to tax credits on the number of children accessing free school meals; What assessment she has made of the effect of the Government's proposed changes to tax credits on the number of children accessing free school meals.
Samuel Phillip Gyimah (Conservative, Centre-right): I am glad that the hon. Lady has brought up a policy that we in this Government introduced, and I am proud of the take-up and quality of school meals for all children. In our manifesto we committed to continuing with that—we are going through the spending review, but our manifesto commitments remain.
Tax Credits (Free School Meals) — House of Commons, 2015-10-26
Topic: Education
Questions: What assessment she has made of the effect of the Government's proposed changes to tax credits on the number of children accessing free school meals; What assessment she has made of the effect of the Government's proposed changes to tax credits on the number of children accessing free school meals.
Samuel Phillip Gyimah (Conservative, Centre-right): It is worth making it absolutely clear that whatever the position of tax credits for the United Kingdom, eligibility for free school meals in Scotland is a matter for the Scottish Government. I would rather that SNP Members did not try to scaremonger about what will happen in the rest of the United Kingdom, and instead made clear what they will do as a result of these changes.
Tax Credits (Free School Meals) — House of Commons, 2015-10-26
Topic: Macroeconomics
Questions: What assessment she has made of the effect of the Government's proposed changes to tax credits on the number of children accessing free school meals; What assessment she has made of the effect of the Government's proposed changes to tax credits on the number of children accessing free school meals.
Samuel Phillip Gyimah (Conservative, Centre-right): I am not sure that the hon. Lady listened to my answer, but she makes the point about tax credits in general. Tax credits are a matter for the United Kingdom. This House has voted on tax credits three times and each time the motion has been passed. As for the implications for free school meals, as I said, that is a matter for the Scottish Government.
Safeguarding Policies — House of Commons, 2015-10-26
Topic: Education
Anthony Edward Timpson (Conservative, Centre-right): When carrying out their duties to safeguard and promote the welfare of children, schools must have regard to the statutory guidance we have issued, "Keeping children safe in education", which includes ensuring an effective child protection policy, together with appropriate safeguarding responses to children going missing from education and procedures for handling allegations of peer-to-peer abuse.
Safeguarding Policies — House of Commons, 2015-10-26
Topic: Education
Anthony Edward Timpson (Conservative, Centre-right): Where there is a specific safeguarding incident that either a governor or parent wants to raise, they should contact their local authority’s children’s services safeguarding team; where there are concerns about safeguarding processes at a school, they should be raised through the school complaints process; and if the safeguarding processes at the local authority are causing concern, they should be raised with Ofsted. In law, it is the local safeguarding children’s board that is responsible for developing and scrutinising local procedures and arrangements, but I am sure my hon. Friend will also know that the National Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children has an excellent helpline to enable parents who have concerns about safeguarding in their school to raise them directly.
Safeguarding Policies — House of Commons, 2015-10-26
Topic: Education
Anthony Edward Timpson (Conservative, Centre-right): I know how assiduous the hon. Lady has been in pursuing these matters, and it is good to hear of that initiative in her constituency from Stockport academy. I would like to learn more—as, I am sure, would the Department—about how it has achieved that, so that that best practice might be spread more widely. I am happy to discuss that with her further.
Safeguarding Policies — House of Commons, 2015-10-26
Topic: Education
Anthony Edward Timpson (Conservative, Centre-right): There are no current decisions to be made about whether to review that particular measure. As the hon. Lady knows, there were some widespread changes made during the last Parliament—they were predominantly led by the Home Office, but the Department for Education was kept closely involved. We feel that we have a robust system in place, but more important is making sure that the people who are delivering the services have the best practice, skills and knowledge at their disposal, because where things go wrong, it tends to be through basic practice failures, rather than systems.
Sixth-form Colleges (VAT) — House of Commons, 2015-10-26
Topic: Macroeconomics
Nicholas Edward Coleridge Boles (Conservative, Centre-right): My hon. Friend knows that we can have lots of discussions about this issue, as he and I have done, but ultimately the decisions are made by the Chancellor, and we all await those with bated breath.
Sixth-form Colleges (VAT) — House of Commons, 2015-10-26
Topic: Education
Robert John Blackman (Conservative, Centre-right): I am sure my hon. Friend agrees that academies, schools and sixth-form colleges should receive equal treatment in respect of VAT. Does he therefore agree that it is grossly unfair that, per institution, the average sixth-form college is out of pocket by £314,000? That is hardly equal treatment.
Sixth-form Colleges (VAT) — House of Commons, 2015-10-26
Topic: Education
Nicholas Edward Coleridge Boles (Conservative, Centre-right): I entirely understand those arguments and have some sympathy with them, but I would point out to my hon. Friend that sixth-form colleges, like further education colleges, also have the freedom to borrow, which many of them have taken advantage of. That is not a freedom that is available to other schools, so there are swings and roundabouts.
Sixth-form Colleges (VAT) — House of Commons, 2015-10-26
Topic: Education
Nicholas Edward Coleridge Boles (Conservative, Centre-right): I certainly agree with the hon. Gentleman that there are remarkable sixth-form colleges achieving extraordinary things, and I want to support them as best we can. As he knows, one option we are keen to explore is whether some sixth-form colleges might want to link up with groups of schools and multi-academy trusts in order to be stronger themselves and to provide more of their great education to more people.
Secondary School Pupils (Kettering) — House of Commons, 2015-10-26
Topic: Education
Philip Thomas Hollobone (Conservative, Centre-right): Per pupil funding in Northamptonshire is £317 less than the English average, yet the rate of house building in Kettering and Northamptonshire over the next 10 or 15 years is among the highest in the country. When the Minister gets around to introducing a fairer funding formula for schools, will he ensure an extra boost for areas that are growing quicker than everywhere else?
School Attendance — House of Commons, 2015-10-26
Topic: Education
Nicolas John Gibb (Conservative, Centre-right): Reducing absence from school is a top priority for this Government, and good attendance is clearly linked to attainment. There are 200,000 fewer pupils regularly missing school compared with when we began our reforms in 2010, but we need to do more to ensure that all children, regardless of their background or where they come from, are attending school regularly, because even short absences can damage a child’s education and life chances.
School Attendance — House of Commons, 2015-10-26
Topic: Education
Sheryll Murray (Conservative, Centre-right): I recently visited the Caradon alternative provision academy in Liskeard, in my constituency. It provides education for young people who have been permanently excluded or are in intervention programmes, and it is achieving fantastic results. Will my hon. Friend join me in congratulating the academy and consider visiting to see the fantastic work it does?
School Attendance — House of Commons, 2015-10-26
Topic: Education
Nicolas John Gibb (Conservative, Centre-right): My hon. Friend is right. Every child, regardless of background or the problems they face, deserves the opportunity to develop their knowledge, skills and values to prepare them for life in modern Britain. Alternative provision academies, such as Caradon, play a crucial role in ensuring that pupils who cannot currently be educated in a mainstream school continue to receive a good education. I would be delighted to visit the school with her and to congratulate the staff at the academy on their achievements and professionalism.
School Attendance — House of Commons, 2015-10-26
Topic: Education
Stewart Jackson (Conservative, Centre-right): Poor attendance, as well as extremely poor educational attainment, is a feature of the most recent Ofsted inspection at the Voyager academy in Walton, Peterborough, which is managed by the Comberton academy trust. May I encourage the Minister and the Secretary of State to use their powers to intervene on this first wave academy to replace Comberton with a much more suitable academy trust for the benefit of pupils in my constituency and beyond?
School Attendance — House of Commons, 2015-10-26
Topic: Education
Nicolas John Gibb (Conservative, Centre-right): We take very seriously the performance of multi-academy trusts and the trustees’ oversight of academies, and the regional school commissioners will be looking at my hon. Friend’s case, as they do all issues of poor performance by academies within multi-academy trusts.
Mental Health Services — House of Commons, 2015-10-26
Topic: Education
Samuel Phillip Gyimah (Conservative, Centre-right): Good mental health and attainment are different sides of the same coin, which is why the Secretary of State appointed me as the first Education Minister with responsibility for mental health in schools. We are taking a number of steps, working with partners, to improve the mental health of young people.
Safe Transport on School Trips — House of Commons, 2015-10-26
Topic: Education
Nicolas John Gibb (Conservative, Centre-right): Nothing is more important in education than the safety of young people at school and on school trips. We have worked with the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills, the Foreign Office and the Health and Safety Executive to revise our health and safety advice to provide further guidance on risk assessment and safety standards for school trips, and for trips abroad the Department recommends that tour operators and schools organising their own trips should follow British standard 8848, which provides a rigorous framework for risk assessment.
Safe Transport on School Trips — House of Commons, 2015-10-26
Topic: Transportation
Nicolas John Gibb (Conservative, Centre-right): I would be happy to meet the campaign, and I know that the hon. Lady has campaigned effectively on the issue of school trip safety for school pupils, particularly, as she said, on long-distance school trips and whether coach drivers are given sufficient time for sleep. As I said, British standard 8848 provides useful and important guidance on the risks of driver fatigue, and we recommend that schools and tour operators follow it. I would be happy to discuss these issues further with the hon. Lady and her constituent.
Topical Questions — House of Commons, 2015-10-26
Topic: Education
Nicky Morgan (Conservative, Centre-right): Since the last time the House met for Education questions, thousands of students across the country have taken key stage 1 and key stage 2 tests, GCSEs, AS-levels and A-levels. I congratulate them all—and I am sure that all hon. Members, including the new shadow Education Secretary, would want to do so—on their results and thank the teachers and families who supported them. It is one year since the workload challenge was launched, and I would like to thank all those involved in our three working groups, which are making excellent progress on marking, lesson planning, resources and data management. I am determined to work with the profession to tackle these issues.
Topical Questions — House of Commons, 2015-10-26
Topic: Education
Nicky Morgan (Conservative, Centre-right): The hon. Lady will be aware of the earlier questions asked about the state of school funding and funding for education. She will know that it is essential for schools to be properly funded and that those countries that have not brought their economies under control have sacked thousands of teachers and closed thousands of schools. She will also be aware that, because of the rise in the income tax threshold since 2010, 12 million women pay less income tax and 2 million women pay no income tax at all. We are also offering help to hard-working people with council tax freezes, fuel duty freezes and additional help with childcare.
Topical Questions — House of Commons, 2015-10-26
Topic: Education
Questions: I support all those who have called for a fairer funding formula, but I would like to develop the argument a little further. Outstanding schools in my constituency, such as Bottisham Village college, do not do well on the funding formula at present, and as a result they are all the more reliant on grants for capital expenditure. Will the Secretary of State consider whether historic underfunding ought to be one of the factors taken into account for capital expenditure grant applications
Samuel Phillip Gyimah (Conservative, Centre-right): All local authorities receive capital funding for schools, including for school places and conditions. Cambridgeshire has been allocated almost £160 million in capital allocations between 2011 and 2018. It is important that capital funding is targeted on the school areas that need it most. Academies can also bid for the condition improvement fund. Bottisham’s application to the fund was assessed in relation to other expansion bids. Although I understand my hon. Friend’s point for capital to be considered as part of the revenue funding formula, she must realise that capital is part of what is done on a needs basis, which is different from how revenue is allocated.
Topical Questions — House of Commons, 2015-10-26
Topic: Social Welfare
Questions: I support all those who have called for a fairer funding formula, but I would like to develop the argument a little further. Outstanding schools in my constituency, such as Bottisham Village college, do not do well on the funding formula at present, and as a result they are all the more reliant on grants for capital expenditure. Will the Secretary of State consider whether historic underfunding ought to be one of the factors taken into account for capital expenditure grant applications
Nicky Morgan (Conservative, Centre-right): I would believe in the hon. Lady’s concern a little bit more if her party’s peers had not voted against the Childcare Bill last week, delaying the introduction of both the Bill and the new scheme.
Topical Questions — House of Commons, 2015-10-26
Topic: Macroeconomics
Questions: I support all those who have called for a fairer funding formula, but I would like to develop the argument a little further. Outstanding schools in my constituency, such as Bottisham Village college, do not do well on the funding formula at present, and as a result they are all the more reliant on grants for capital expenditure. Will the Secretary of State consider whether historic underfunding ought to be one of the factors taken into account for capital expenditure grant applications
Nicky Morgan (Conservative, Centre-right): What I would say to the hon. Lady is that the reason funding in all areas of Government is so tight is the fact that we are dealing with the economic legacy left by the hon. Lady’s own party. If she were so interested in this, she would have allowed her peers to support the Bill If the hon. Lady wants to—[Interruption.]
Topical Questions — House of Commons, 2015-10-26
Topic: Education
Questions: I support all those who have called for a fairer funding formula, but I would like to develop the argument a little further. Outstanding schools in my constituency, such as Bottisham Village college, do not do well on the funding formula at present, and as a result they are all the more reliant on grants for capital expenditure. Will the Secretary of State consider whether historic underfunding ought to be one of the factors taken into account for capital expenditure grant applications
Nicky Morgan (Conservative, Centre-right): If the hon. Lady had wanted people to believe promises, she would not have tried to carve them on the 8-foot six-inch "Edstone" that was unveiled by the former leader of her party. What we are seeing is a dearth of thinking from the hon. Lady. So far, in her short tenure as shadow Education Secretary, we have heard negativity about teacher recruitment, about childcare and about schools. Indeed, she has attacked a school in her own constituency, Manchester Enterprise Academy, whose headteacher claimed that she had misled him over what was going to be said about the school during the debate on the Bill’s Third Reading.
Topical Questions — House of Commons, 2015-10-26
Topic: Education
Questions: I support all those who have called for a fairer funding formula, but I would like to develop the argument a little further. Outstanding schools in my constituency, such as Bottisham Village college, do not do well on the funding formula at present, and as a result they are all the more reliant on grants for capital expenditure. Will the Secretary of State consider whether historic underfunding ought to be one of the factors taken into account for capital expenditure grant applications; What plans has the Government to meet the demand for school places in Mid Derbyshire, in the light of the pressure on local authorities to allow planning permission for more housing to be built on brownfield sites?
Nicolas John Gibb (Conservative, Centre-right): Helping local authorities to secure enough school places is one of the Government’s top priorities, and basic need funding is allocated to local authorities to support the creation of new places. Derbyshire will receive £12.8 million of basic need funding between 2015 and 2018 When we came to office in 2010, we took the issue of providing more school places very seriously. We more than doubled capital spending, and we have created 445,000 new places since 2010. It is interesting to note that the Labour Government, during their last period in office, cut 207,000 places at a time when there was a baby boom.
Topical Questions — House of Commons, 2015-10-26
Topic: Social Welfare
Questions: I support all those who have called for a fairer funding formula, but I would like to develop the argument a little further. Outstanding schools in my constituency, such as Bottisham Village college, do not do well on the funding formula at present, and as a result they are all the more reliant on grants for capital expenditure. Will the Secretary of State consider whether historic underfunding ought to be one of the factors taken into account for capital expenditure grant applications; What plans has the Government to meet the demand for school places in Mid Derbyshire, in the light of the pressure on local authorities to allow planning permission for more housing to be built on brownfield sites?; Some 150,000 families with a disabled child will be affected by the cuts in child tax credit. What assessment has the Secretary of State undertaken of the effect of the cuts on the additional number of disabled children who will be plunged into poverty, and, in turn, the effect on their development and their opportunity to succeed in education?
Nicky Morgan (Conservative, Centre-right): Yet again, all that we hear is the continual rumbling, if not outpouring, of negativity from the Labour party. The hon. Lady will know that the Government are spending more on disability benefits than her own party did in government, and also that all tax changes are subjected to the normal impact assessment.
Topical Questions — House of Commons, 2015-10-26
Topic: Education
Questions: I support all those who have called for a fairer funding formula, but I would like to develop the argument a little further. Outstanding schools in my constituency, such as Bottisham Village college, do not do well on the funding formula at present, and as a result they are all the more reliant on grants for capital expenditure. Will the Secretary of State consider whether historic underfunding ought to be one of the factors taken into account for capital expenditure grant applications; What plans has the Government to meet the demand for school places in Mid Derbyshire, in the light of the pressure on local authorities to allow planning permission for more housing to be built on brownfield sites?; Some 150,000 families with a disabled child will be affected by the cuts in child tax credit. What assessment has the Secretary of State undertaken of the effect of the cuts on the additional number of disabled children who will be plunged into poverty, and, in turn, the effect on their development and their opportunity to succeed in education?; Hopefully, I will be positive and helpful. I went to both a comprehensive and a grammar school, and it seemed to me that there was much to be said for grammar schools. Would the Secretary of State like to encourage their expansion?
Nicky Morgan (Conservative, Centre-right): The Government believe very firmly in the expansion of all good and outstanding schools, regardless of what type of schools they are, because we want all children to have an excellent education regardless of birth or background.