Schools and all childcare providers are closed, except for a limited number of children - children who are vulnerable and children whose parents are critical to the COVID-19 response and cannot be safely cared for at home.

In his speech of 20 March 2020, my right hon. Friend, the Chancellor of the Exchequer announced a range of measures to support businesses, including:

• the coronavirus job retention scheme for employees who are not working but kept on payroll – the Government will contribute 80% of a worker’s wages of up to £2,500, backdated to 1 March 2020;
• the Business Interruption Loan Scheme will now be interest-free for 12 months rather than 6 months; and
• VAT payments for next quarter will be deferred – they will not need to be paid until March 2021.

Supporting vulnerable children is a priority at this time. On Wednesday 18 March, my right hon. Friends, the Prime Minister and the Secretary of State for Education announced that schools would remain open for vulnerable children, alongside the children of critical workers. Vulnerable children include those who have a social worker and those with education, health and care (EHC) plans.

We know that for many children who have a social worker, being in school can be a protective factor helping to keep them safe from harm. There is an expectation that vulnerable children who have a social worker will attend school, so long as they do not have underlying health conditions that put them at severe risk.

Guidance for schools on supporting vulnerable children at this time is available here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/coronavirus-covid-19-guidance-on-vulnerable-children-and-young-people.

We recognise that local authorities and other safeguarding partners are under increased pressure during this period and are considering all options to ensure that they can continue to keep children safe. HM Treasury has created a £5 billion emergency response fund, which includes £1.6 billion of additional funding to help local authorities address any pressures they are facing in response the Covid-19 pandemic across all service areas, including children’s social care. Through the Coronavirus Act, we are seeking powers to bring additional social workers onto the register of social workers held by the regulator, Social Work England, to give local authorities flexibility to meet the challenges of dealing with Covid-19.

Schools will be able to provide meals or vouchers for supermarkets or local shops. The total value of vouchers offered to each eligible child per week will exceed the rate paid to schools for free school meals. The department recognises that these families will not be buying food in bulk and may therefore incur higher costs. These can be sent directly to families who are either self-isolating at home or whose schools are closed on government advice.

Full guidance for schools is available at the link below: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/covid-19-free-school-meals-guidance/covid-19-free-school-meals-guidance-for-schools.

All schools applying to the Selective School Expansion Fund were required to give pupils eligible for the pupil premium second priority (after the mandatory priority for looked after and previously looked after children) in their oversubscription criteria.

As with all oversubscription criteria, the actual number admitted will depend on the number that apply to the school and reach the school’s academic entry requirements. Schools were required to demonstrate, through their fair access and partnership plans, the outreach work they will undertake to support disadvantaged pupil’s access their schools.

As of 28 November 2018, 31% of primary schools are academies and free schools across all local authorities. This figure is 74% for secondary schools.

Table 1: Number and proportion of primary and secondary academies.

A breakdown of information by local authority is available in the attached document.

These are matters for Her Majesty’s Chief Inspector, Amanda Spielman. I have asked her to write to the hon. Member and a copy of her reply will be placed in the Libraries of both Houses.

These are matters for Her Majesty’s Chief Inspector, Amanda Spielman. I have asked her to write to the hon. Member and a copy of her reply will be placed in the Libraries of both Houses.

These are matters for Her Majesty’s Chief Inspector, Amanda Spielman. I have asked her to write to the hon. Member and a copy of her reply will be placed in the Libraries of both Houses.

These are matters for Her Majesty’s Chief Inspector, Amanda Spielman. I have asked her to write to the hon. Member and a copy of her reply will be placed in the Libraries of both Houses.

On 31 October 2018, there were 176 local authority maintained schools that had received an inadequate Ofsted judgement at their most recent inspection.

To date, 154 of these schools have been issued with an academy order to convert to academy status as the result of an inadequate Ofsted judgement. The remaining 22 schools are yet to have an academy order issued.

Of these 154 schools, 65 are not currently matched with a sponsor. The table below provides a breakdown of these 65 schools by the length of time that has elapsed since their Ofsted inspection date.

In cases where schools in receipt of an academy order remain unmatched to an academy sponsor, the school will be supported in other ways. This can include a preferred sponsor providing interim support, support provided by the local authority or another sponsor, or a teaching school alliance.

I think it was a good thing that we were able to find hundreds of millions of pounds— £400 million—for additional capital spending in-year, on top of the £1.4 billion in capital already allocated.

An overview of the number of pupils in each local authority who, at the end of Key Stage 4 in 2018 (provisional data) were ranked in the bottom 20% nationally according to the Attainment 8^[1] measure, is shown in the attached tables. The figures are based on pupils in state funded schools, and the tables also show the numbers as a proportion of all state funded pupils in each local authority.

[1] Attainment 8 is part of the new secondary accountability system that was implemented for all schools from 2016. It measures maths (double weighted), English (double weighted), three EBacc subjects and three others (can include EBacc). Each grade achieved constitutes a point score, which is used to calculate the Attainment 8 score. More information can be found at: https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/gcse-and-equivalent-results-2017-to-2018-provisional.

These are matters for Her Majesty’s Chief Inspector, Amanda Spielman. I have asked her to write to the hon. Member and a copy of her reply will be placed in the Libraries of both Houses.

These are matters for Her Majesty’s Chief Inspector, Amanda Spielman. I have asked her to write to the hon. Member and a copy of her reply will be placed in the Libraries of both Houses.

The Department trusts schools to manage their own budgets. The vast majority of schools are operating with a cumulative surplus, with only a small percentage in cumulative deficit. An academy trust may contain a mixture of primary and secondary academies. Trusts are the legal entities responsible for academies, including their finances and are accountable at trust level.

The most recent figures show that 9% of maintained schools are in cumulative deficit, compared to 6% of academy trusts. The proportion of all schools in cumulative deficit or in trusts with a cumulative deficit was lower in 2017 than it was in 2010 (7.6% versus 9.1%). Published data for 2010 covers local authority maintained schools only, reflecting the fact that almost all schools were local authority maintained at this point.

The table shows the proportion of maintained schools and academy trusts with a cumulative deficit each year from 2014/15 to 2016/17, the latest year for which data is available:

Percentage of maintained schools and trusts in cumulative deficit

Percentage of schools in cumulative deficit or in trusts with a cumulative deficit

From October 2014 when headteacher boards (HTB) came in, until the end of the financial year 2016/17, 17% of academies that moved trust, moved to a trust linked to an HTB member.[1] This figure also includes voluntary transfers, for example, where a standalone academy voluntarily joined an existing multi-academy trust.

It should be noted that HTB members must remove themselves from discussions of, and must not provide advice on, cases where they have a conflict of interest. The department’s published terms of reference for headteacher boards sets out a clear process for such cases.[2]

[1] This only includes HTB members elected or appointed in 2014, as the current cohort were elected or appointed in September 2017, after the cut off point of the data used, March 2017.

[2] https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/624689/HTB_Terms_of_Reference.pdf.

A table is attached, giving a full breakdown by regional schools commissioner region and type of school, of schools that improved their Ofsted rating from inadequate or requires improvement (RI) to good or outstanding.

A second attached table gives a full breakdown by regional schools commissioner region and type of school, of schools whose Ofsted ratings changed from good or outstanding to inadequate or requires improvement.

A table is attached, giving a full breakdown by regional schools commissioner region and type of school, of schools that improved their Ofsted rating from inadequate or requires improvement (RI) to good or outstanding.

A second attached table gives a full breakdown by regional schools commissioner region and type of school, of schools whose Ofsted ratings changed from good or outstanding to inadequate or requires improvement.

Referring to the Ofsted statistical first release data, as at 31 December 2017, there were 1,989 schools in England rated as requiring improvement. At the same point there were 386 schools rated as inadequate.^[1]

The attached table, shows the number of schools rated requires improvement or inadequate as at 31 December 2017, broken down by region and type of school.

The majority of schools rated as requires improvement or inadequate are community schools.

Where schools are judged inadequate by Ofsted, the Department will act quickly. RSCs and the wider Department will work with schools where necessary to decide whether additional support is needed to help it improve.

[1] https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/maintained-schools-and-academies-inspections-and-outcomes-as-at-31-december-2017

The information requested is contained within individual case files and not in a centrally recorded format. The purpose of visits can be varied in nature and reflective of the broad remit of the Education and Skills Funding Agency, and is therefore not aggregated.