The responsibility for managing asbestos in a building rests with the ‘dutyholder’ and there may be multiple dutyholders. Under the Control of Asbestos Regulations 2012, a dutyholder includes persons that have maintenance and repair obligations in respect of non-domestic premises, control of any part of the premises, or means of access or egress.

Education legislation does not contain any express powers to make it mandatory for schools in England to respond to data collection surveys regarding the presence and management of asbestos on their premises. However, all state-funded schools and academies in England, and their respective responsible bodies, were expected to complete the Asbestos Management Assurance Process (AMAP) survey.

Although the AMAP is a voluntary survey, over 88% of schools have responded. The department is continuing to work with schools that have not yet responded, to encourage them to do so.

It has not proved possible to respond to this question in the time available before Prorogation. Ministers will correspond directly with the Member.

It has not proved possible to respond to this question in the time available before Prorogation. Ministers will correspond directly with the Member.

It has not proved possible to respond to this question in the time available before Prorogation. Ministers will correspond directly with the Member.

It has not proved possible to respond to this question in the time available before Prorogation. Ministers will correspond directly with the Member.

The department has not conducted an assessment of the relationship between the proportion of disadvantaged pupils attending a school and its likelihood of being rated by Ofsted as good or outstanding.

Schools are allocated additional funding, in the form of the pupil premium, for pupils on roll who are classed as disadvantaged. Pupils are classed as disadvantaged through having been registered for free school meals at any point in the last 6 years, being looked after or having left care through adoption or other specified routes. Schools have flexibility over the ways in which they use this funding to improve the attainment and other outcomes of their disadvantaged pupils and these can include measures to improve the quality of teaching received by those pupils. Ofsted will also consider how leaders and governors spend the pupil premium, their rationale and the intended impact, as part of school inspection.

No announcement on school funding was planned for the week commencing 15 July.

At the 2015 Spending Review the government set out planned spending on education up to 2019-20. Spending plans beyond 2019-20 will be set at the next Spending Review, and we cannot pre-empt these decisions.

An increasing proportion of schools and colleges have an individual who leads on mental health as part of their role. In 2018, 82% of schools and 91% of further education colleges had a mental health lead.

The department is supporting the uptake of senior mental health lead roles by providing training. Subject to contract procurement, this training will be available from June 2020 and available to all state-funded schools and colleges by 2025. The precise level of commitment to complete training will be determined during the development of the training, shaped by the needs of senior leads.

Training will be prioritised in the first instance within schools and colleges selected to work with Mental Health Support Teams, which were chosen as part of the commitments made by the government in its response to ‘Transforming Children and Young People’s Mental Health: A Green Paper’, attached. It will then be offered to all other schools and colleges nationally, with precise plans for geographical rollout to be developed once a training provider has been recruited.

For schools in England, this is a matter for Her Majesty’s Chief Inspector, Amanda Spielman. I have asked her to write to the noble Lord Browne of Belmont directly and a copy of her reply will be placed in the Libraries of both Houses.

For schools in Wales, education is a devolved matter. It is for the National Assembly to decide on policy for schools in Wales.

The department collected data on the nationality and country of birth of pupils via the school census for 2 years between autumn 2016 and summer 2018. The data was collected for the purposes of internal educational research, to help the department ensure that all children, wherever they are from, have the best possible education.

The department has so far published 2 (annual) high-level summaries of the pupil nationality, country of birth and proficiency in English data, which have been attached:

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/pupil-nationality-country-of-birth-and-proficiency-in-english.

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/pupil-nationality-country-of-birth-and-proficiency-in-english-2018.

This data has not been shared externally with third parties, including other government departments.

As stated in the recent Children in Need review, the government will be taking forward changes to the School Admissions Code, to ensure that all children, especially the most vulnerable, can access a school place as quickly as possible.

As part of these changes, the government will also implement the changes previously announced by my right hon. Friend, the Minister for School Standards, to ensure that children who were previously in care outside of England receive highest priority for admission into a school in England.

All changes will be subject to the full statutory process, including a public consultation, which will be launched in the autumn.

Every child in this country, whatever their background, should have the opportunity to get a world class education, giving them knowledge and skills that set them up for life. This includes children with special educational needs and disabilities. To help achieve this ambition, the department has opened 34 new special free schools through the free schools programme, with a further 91 approved to open in the future.

The department’s experience of opening special free schools has shown that the commitment from local authorities is important so that new schools compliment the local education offer and are a close match for what families need. That is why in the recent round, we asked local authorities to set out their case for why a new special free school would benefit their area, including how the new school would help them manage their high needs budget.

This process does not replace the free school presumption process and does not replace a local authority’s duty to secure sufficient appropriate education for children and young people.

If there is significant basic need in an area, the local authority should decide whether a free school presumption competition is needed and if so, they must seek proposals to establish a free school through the presumption process.

The department is investing up to £26 million in a breakfast club programme, using funds from Soft Drinks Industry Levy revenues. This money will kick start or improve breakfast clubs in over 1,700 schools. The focus of these clubs has been to target the most disadvantaged areas of the country including the Department for Education’s opportunity areas to help make sure every child gets the best start in life.

A contract was awarded to Family Action in March 2018 and will run until March 2020. Family Action, in partnership with Magic Breakfast, have both been named as the leading charities responsible for running the breakfast club programme. Family Action are distributing the appropriate funding to participating schools who meet the eligibility criteria. Family Action has confirmed that they have reached their recruitment target of 1,775 schools.

We monitor management information from the programme on an ongoing basis and will also review the effectiveness of the programme fully once the programme concludes including the number of children attending. In March 2019, Family Action indicated that by the start of the summer term over 250,000 children would be benefiting from the programme.

To ensure local authorities comply fully with their obligations under the Children and Families Act (2014), including on education, health and care plans, we introduced new local area special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) inspections by Ofsted and the Care Quality Commission in 2016. All local areas will be inspected by 2021. These inspections do not give a pass/fail judgement. They instead identify areas of strength and where improvement is required, including asking an area to produce a Written Statement of Action if there are significant concerns. Where we have concerns with a local area’s performance, we work with partners, including NHS England, to support and challenge the area to improve.

The inspection reports have proved a catalyst for local change, both where Written Statements of Action have been required and where they have not. Local authorities and their health partners have embraced the process and used inspection findings to prioritise areas for improvement.

In terms of ensuring schools are inclusive, the Children and Families Act (2014) reinforced the presumption of mainstream education for children with SEND. The attached SEND Code of Practice provides detailed guidance to schools about how to support children with SEND. The new Ofsted common inspection framework, introduced from September 2019, emphasises the need for leaders to offer high-quality, inclusive education and training to all.

We launched a call for evidence on how the special educational needs funding system operates in May 2019 to help us understand how the current available funding is distributed, and what improvements to the financial arrangements could be made in future.

The government has not made a specific assessment of the impact of the length of school break times on obesity, academic performance or children’s social lives. Schools have the autonomy to make decisions about the structure and duration of their school day to suit their own circumstances. However, the department is clear that pupils should be given an appropriate break and expects school leaders to make sure this happens.

The government recognises the importance of physical activity in schools to improve physical and mental wellbeing and support attainment. That is why our Childhood Obesity strategy reflects the Chief Medical Officer’s guidelines that primary age children should get at least 60 minutes of moderate to vigorous physical activity a day and the aim that 30 minutes of that should be during the school day.

Attainment in up to 3 non-GCSE qualifications from the department’s approved list may count towards a pupil’s Progress 8 score. A full list of qualifications that count in key stage 4 performance tables is attached to this answer.

Also attached is an analysis, published by the department in March 2019, that provides an overview of pupil entries into non-GCSE qualifications at key stage 4 and how this varies by pupil characteristics.

All School Resource Management Advisers (SRMAs) go through an accreditation process, delivered by the Institute of School Business Leadership. This accreditation process was developed in partnership with the department. This process requires all potential SRMAs to demonstrate a detailed understanding of integrated curriculum and financial planning and to demonstrate the expertise and confidence required to advise trusts on good resource management.

Each SRMA is contracted to one of 9 supplier organisations. These supplier organisations are responsible for the day-to-day management of SRMAs, and as individual employers, the terms of their employment.

A list of the supplier organisations is available attached and at: https://www.gov.uk/government/news/esfa-extends-schools-resource-management-adviser-pilot.

This government wants pupils to be healthy and well nourished. We encourage a healthy balanced diet and healthy life choices through school funding, legislation and guidance. The attached School Food Standards provide the legislative framework to ensure schools provide children with healthy food and drink options.

On 18 August 2016, the government published its plan for action (attached) to significantly reduce childhood obesity by supporting healthier choices.

One of the commitments in the plan was to update the School Food Standards. The School Food Standards regulate the food and drink provided at both lunchtime and at other times of the school day, including, for example, breakfast clubs, tuck shops, mid-morning break, vending machines and after school clubs. The standards severely restrict foods high in fat, salt and sugar, as well as low quality reformed or reconstituted foods. They ensure that pupils always have healthy options for their school lunch.

We are working with Public Health England to update the regulations. This will focus on reducing sugar consumption and will be supported by detailed guidance to caterers and schools. More detail will follow shortly.