PARLIAMENTARY WRITTEN QUESTION
Armed Forces: Children (1 November 2016)

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, on what dates he met (a) Ministers and (b) officials of the Department for Education to discuss academic support for children of military personnel.

Asked by:
Dr Andrew Murrison (Conservative)

The Department for Education (DfE) has made a significant contribution to the Armed Forces Covenant, co-ordinated through the Cabinet Office-chaired Covenant Reference Group, which has been attended by both Ministry of Defence (MOD) and DfE Ministers. The DfE has provided £22 million through the Service Pupil Premium to support over 73,000 children from Service families in state schools in England. At official level the MOD works closely and routinely with DfE (and Devolved equivalents) to ensure that Service pupils suffer no disadvantage in comparison with their non-Service peers.

DfE conducted a thorough analysis of the educational attainment of Service pupils at state schools in England in 2010, and levels of attainment continue to be monitored through joint working between the DfE and the MOD's Directorate, Children and Young People. The Service Children in State Schools Network provides vital support and advice for state schools in England, and both the DfE and the MOD sit on the Executive Board. In addition DfE have a permanent seat on the MOD's Children and Young People Board, which is currently chaired by Lieutenant General James Bashall.

For full details of the close working relationship that the MOD and the DfE have on this issue, I refer the hon. Member to the MOD's written evidence to the House of Commons Defence Committee Inquiry 'The Armed Forces Covenant in Action? Part 3: Educating the children of Service personnel':

http://www.publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm201314/cmselect/cmdfence/586/58602.htm

Answered by:
Lord Lancaster of Kimbolton (Conservative)
8 November 2016