Select committee: Education Committee
Recommendation 12
First Report - The forgotten: how White working-class pupils have been let down, and how to change it
Published 22 Jun 2021
Paragraph 66
Addressed to Department for Education
Education Committee Left behind white pupils from disadvantaged backgrounds All items in this report Report on parliament.uk ↗ Inquiry on parliament.uk ↗
Recommendation (the committee's words)
We were disappointed that the Department is investing another £18 million in a policy which is reaching limited numbers of pupils and seems to be generating little return on investment. We urge the Department to set out a clear methodology to define what the programme’s success criteria are. These should emphasise that the funding is not to be spent on “convene-itis” and discussion, but should go to frontline services, using statistics to micro-target struggling communities, with explicit targets for: i) Improving support for families, through targeting Family Hubs to deprived communities and closing the early years attainment gap ii) Focussing resource to schools that most need it, through a better measure of disadvantage and funding that is micro-targeted to areas of need iii) Channelling funding to schools that struggle to recruit and retain the best staff, through more local teacher training initiatives iv) Ensuring all pupils get the best careers advice, particularly in areas where varied career options are less visible.
From: Education Committee, First Report - The forgotten: how White working-class pupils have been let down, and how to change it (HC 85), paragraph 66, 22 June 2021
Government response
The government responded to the whole report on 4 November 2021 (deadline 22 August 2021).
Summary written by Accountability Index from the government's response. It is not the government's own words.The government states that it agrees with the report's overriding ambition and "largely accept[s] the majority of the recommendations", while not fully accepting some because it considers its existing or planned policies "better formulated".
- On statistics, it recognises that Free School Meals eligibility is "an imperfect measure of disadvantage" and says it will "commit to investigating where further regional breakdowns can feasibly be added", noting disclosure risks and user needs.
- On teaching about "white privilege", it says schools "should not teach contested theories and opinions as fact" and that it has "already begun working with the sector to develop guidance".
- On skills tax credits and changes to the apprenticeship levy, it says it does not believe credits are "necessary" and does "not agree with the Committee that changes are needed to the apprenticeship levy".
- On free schools and early years funding, it says future free school approvals "will be considered as part of the Spending Review" and that early years funding "will be considered at the forthcoming Spending Review".