The recommendations in that Committee on Standards in Public Life report are primarily a matter for the House of Commons, and are currently being considered by the House.

In relation to the single recommendation on future outside interests of elected representatives, I would note that it is already the case that the press and public may ask questions of candidates on their intended outside interests if elected. And, indeed, such scrutiny is taking place in the current Parliamentary by-elections.

The government will invest an extra £400 million in 16-19 education in 2020-21. This is an increase of 7% in overall 16-19 funding and the biggest year-on-year increase since 2010, with funding increasing faster for 16-19 than in 5-16 schooling. This will ensure that we are building the skills that our country needs to thrive in the future. As part of this, the base rate of funding for all types of providers, including both colleges and sixth forms, will be increased by 4.7% in academic year 2020/21, from £4,000 to £4,188 per student.

The department expects that all schools will meet the School Food Standards in a no-deal scenario. Our standards ensure that schools meals are healthy and nutritious, and restrict the amount of fat, sugar and salt that can be served during the school day.

The UK has a high level of food security built upon a diverse range of sources, including strong domestic production and imports from other countries. This will continue to be the case whether we leave the EU with or without a deal. The government is working in partnership with food suppliers to ensure this continues.

Our guidance for schools in relation to this matter is published on GOV.UK at:

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/eu-exit-no-deal-preparations-for-schools-in-england/eu-exit-no-deal-preparations-for-schools-in-england.

It has not proved possible to respond to the hon. Member in the time available before Prorogation.

It has not proved possible to respond to the hon. Member in the time available before Prorogation.

It has not proved possible to respond to the hon. Member in the time available before Prorogation.

It has not proved possible to respond to the hon. Member in the time available before Prorogation.

The government is determined to ensure disadvantaged students are supported in their post-16 education. The national funding formula for 16-19-year olds and the funding through the Adult Education Budget both include a disadvantage uplift. This provides extra funding for disadvantaged students and learners, specifically for those with low prior attainment, or those who live in the most disadvantaged areas.

The government teaching grant funding to the higher education (HE) sector includes 3 student premium allocations that support: full-time students deemed to be at risk of discontinuing their studies; part-time students; and disabled students. All HE providers in the approved (fee cap) category of the Office for Students register are eligible to receive these student premium allocations, including further education college’s offering HE.

I refer the hon. Member to the answers given by my hon. Friend, the former Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Education (Nadhim Zahawi) on 20 June 2019 to Question 265464.

The government has no plans to change the tax status of independent schools.

The government has agreed a joint understanding with the Independent Schools Council to encourage more independent schools to work in partnership with state-funded schools across 4 key areas: governance, teaching, curriculum and targeted school improvement. It also encourages independent schools to offer a greater number of full bursary places, targeted at children from disadvantaged backgrounds.

The childcare market is primarily a private sector market, so the number of childcare places will reflect how the market responds to parental demand and changes in the child population. As such, the number of places is monitored by Ofsted and not by the government. However, the government has invested in a number of capital programmes.

As part of the School Nurseries Capital Fund, the department recently allocated nearly £24 million for 69 successful projects across every region of England. This will help to create new school-based nursery places in disadvantaged areas so more children can access high-quality early education.

The department has supported the growth and creation of additional nursery places to deliver the 30 hours entitlement. In 2016, the department ran a £100 million early years capital bid round. Local authorities, in partnership with providers, were invited to submit bids. The department announced that over 350 projects across 123 local authorities were successful in this bid round.

The free schools that have opened since 2017 have created over 650 full-time equivalent nursery places, with plans for over 100 full-time equivalent more places in the future. Since 1 June 2017, 3 new local authority maintained schools have opened with nursery provision.

On 31 March 2019, there were 1.3 million childcare places offered by providers on the Ofsted Early Years Register.

On 25 July 2019, Bright Tribe Trust and Adventure Learning Academies Trust filed their acocunts for the financial year to 31 August 2018.

As of 31 July, there were 6463.50 full-time equivalent civil servants in the Department for Education.

Members of staff across the department work on EU Exit issues across a range of policy areas as required. In addition to a central co-ordinating team, EU exit work is embedded and prioritised as necessary across the department’s policy responsibilities. It is therefore not possible to give an accurate figure specifically for work on no deal EU exit issues.

The government recognises the importance of digital skills to employability and participation in society. To help tackle digital exclusion, from 2020, we will fully fund adults with no or low digital skills to undertake new improved digital qualifications free of charge. These will be based on new national standards which set out the digital skills people need to get on in life and work.

In the interim, we will continue to support the provision of basic digital skills training for adults in colleges and community learning settings through the Adult Education Budget and other programmes.

With regard to requesting leave for training or study, an employee can request time off if they have worked for their employer for at least 26 weeks, if the training will support them in their job role, and if the organisation they work for has at least 250 staff.

The department is keen to make the system easier to navigate for young people considering taking technical and vocational routes and has therefore conducted extensive research with over 2,000 young people, colleges and career advisers. While the research indicated that young people would value a central source of information as they make decisions about their next steps, it did not show that they found the application process itself challenging.

As a result, the department is focusing first on ensuring young people have the right information on all of their options, including on technical education and apprenticeships. The department is redeveloping the National Careers Service website, including the post-16 course directory, and our careers strategy sets out our plans for improving the careers provision that young people receive in school or college.

The department is still considering the feasibility and practicality of a centralised portal for further education and will make final decisions on this in the context of wider reforms to technical qualifications.

The allocations to local authorities to support the development of community play facilities as part of the 2008 national play strategy can be found in the Children’s Services Local Authority Circular LAC Ref: 3112080004, which can be found at the following link: https://webarchive.nationalarchives.gov.uk/20090810183123/http://www.dcsf.gov.uk/play/.