All posts tagged: scrap

Success! Plan to scrap cap on faith school selection halted

Success! Plan to scrap cap on faith school selection halted

Published by skeptic

The National Secular Society has welcomed the Government’s announcement that it has abandoned plans to scrap the 50% cap on faith based admissions at free schools, after the plans faced heavy opposition. The proposals were introduced by the previous Government last year following intensive lobbying from religious groups. The National Secular Society strongly opposed the plans, and urged then Prime Minister Rishi Sunak to retain the cap. The results of a consultation on the proposals were published last week, with 66% of respondents strongly disagreeing or disagreeing with the changes. Under the 50% cap, new academies and free schools with a religious character in England may only select up to 50% of pupils based on religion when they are oversubscribed. Removing the cap would enable these schools to select 100% of children based on their parents’ religion if oversubscribed. The Department for Education said it “will not be moving forward with these proposals at this time” and has “committed to remove barriers to opportunity and raise school standards”. But it added it will “will continue …

DfE abandons plan to scrap free school faith admissions cap

DfE abandons plan to scrap free school faith admissions cap

Published by skeptic

The previous Conservative government consulted on the proposals last year The previous Conservative government consulted on the proposals last year More from this theme Recent articles The government has abandoned a plan to abolish a rule capping the proportion of pupils oversubscribed free schools can select based on faith at 50 per cent. The previous Conservative government consulted on the proposals last year. They also included a plan to remove the block on new faith special schools. But an update posted by the Department for Education today states government “will not be moving forward with these proposals at this time and will continue to keep these policy areas under review”. They said they had received 3,668 consultation responses. Sixty-six per cent “disagreed or strongly disagreed with both proposals”.   DfE focusing on schools bill reforms A spokesperson said for the department said: “Our focus is on introducing reforms through the children’s wellbeing and schools bill which is now underway. The changes introduced in the bill will remove barriers to opportunity and raise school standards.” The cap …

Funding cut may force trusts to scrap expansion plans

Funding cut may force trusts to scrap expansion plans

Published by skeptic

More from this theme Recent articles Academy trusts have been left up to £100,000 out of pocket following the government’s sudden decision to scrap capacity funding – with fears expansion bids could be stopped in their tracks.  Leaders revealed that the move to scrap the latest round of trust capacity funding (TCaF) has left them having to absorb six-figure costs and wondering “where trusts sit” in the education landscape.  The Department for Education also axed the trust establishment and growth (TEG) fund and academy conversion payments – but said it had no plans to end any other expansion grants.  Lucia Glynn Consultant Lucia Glynn said: “With the loss of that funding, it’s almost as if a rug has been pulled from under everyone because conversations [about growth] that will have been going on for a year, 18 months… may no longer be able to be fulfilled.”  The TCaF provides cash to help MATs develop their capacity and take on underperforming schools, particularly in education investment areas. But many trusts pay for the improvements before receiving …

Cross-party group of MPs back move to scrap bishops’ bench

Cross-party group of MPs back move to scrap bishops’ bench

Published by skeptic

A group of MPs from across the political spectrum has announced their support for an initiative to abolish the bishops’ bench. Last week, Conservative MP Gavin Williamson tabled an amendment to the Government’s hereditary peers bill which would remove what he described as the “injustice” of the House of Lords seats automatically granted to 26 Church of England bishops. Thirteen further MPs have now publicly stated their support for the amendment to the bill, including former shadow chancellor John McDonnell and Labour MP Graham Stringer. The bill is intended to remove hereditary peers: members of the House of Lords who inherit the right to a seat. The National Secular Society wrote to the Government earlier this year urging it to include the removal of the bishops’ bench in its programme of House of Lords reform. It argued the bishops’ bench is “at least as archaic, elitist, unfair and indefensible” as the seats given to hereditary peers. The NSS, which is working with Williamson to build support for the amendment, is encouraging the public to write …

The two-child welfare limit: why won’t Labour scrap the cap? – podcast | News

The two-child welfare limit: why won’t Labour scrap the cap? – podcast | News

Published by skeptic

The two-child welfare limit was introduced by the Conservative government in 2017, limiting support for families on universal credit with three or more children. According to many experts, since then it has been the single biggest policy keeping UK children in poverty. Helen Pidd visits the home of Janet Arinaitwe, a mother of three, who describes what the limit has meant for her family. Still, as explained by Tom Clark, contributing editor at Prospect magazine, the Labour government may keep the policy for now anyway. Photograph: Gareth Fuller/PA Support The Guardian The Guardian is editorially independent. And we want to keep our journalism open and accessible to all. But we increasingly need our readers to fund our work. Support The Guardian Source link

Scrap Tory plans for faith schools, NSS urges Government

Scrap Tory plans for faith schools, NSS urges Government

Published by skeptic

The National Secular Society has urged the new Government to abandon plans for more discriminatory faith schools and faith-based special schools. The NSS has written to Secretary of State for Education Bridget Phillipson asking for assurances that plans by the previous government to remove restrictions on religious selection in state funded faith schools “will not be progressed under a Labour government”. Earlier this year the Conservative government launched a consultation on removing the ‘50% cap’ rule on pupil admissions at state-funded faith schools in England. Under the 50% cap, new academies and free schools with a religious character may only select up to 50% of pupils based on religion when they are oversubscribed. Removing the cap would enable these schools to select 100% of children based on their parents’ religion if oversubscribed. Voluntary aided faith schools are already permitted to select 100% of their admissions on the basis of religion. The NSS said removing the cap would be “unfair and unjust”, because it would lead to children being blocked from attending nearby schools funded by …

Trump promised to scrap climate laws if US oil bosses donated bn – report | Donald Trump

Trump promised to scrap climate laws if US oil bosses donated $1bn – report | Donald Trump

Published by skeptic

Donald Trump dangled a brazen “deal” in front of some of the top US oil bosses last month, proposing that they give him $1bn for his White House re-election campaign and vowing that once back in office he would instantly tear up Joe Biden’s environmental regulations and prevent any new ones, according to a bombshell new report. According to the Washington Post, the former US president made his jaw-dropping pitch, which the paper described as “remarkably blunt and transactional”, at a dinner at his Mar-a-Lago home and club. In front of more than 20 executives, including from Chevron, Exxon and Occidental Petroleum, he promised to increase oil drilling in the Gulf of Mexico, remove hurdles to drilling in the Alaskan Arctic, and reverse new rules designed to cut car pollution. He would also overturn the Biden administration’s decision in January to pause new natural gas export permits which have been denounced as “climate bombs”. “You’ll get it on the first day,” Trump said, according to the Post, citing an unnamed dinner attendee. Trump’s exhortation to …

Ofsted to scrap subject deep dives for ungraded inspections

Ofsted to scrap subject deep dives for ungraded inspections

Published by skeptic

More from this theme Recent articles Ofsted will scrap subject deep dives during ungraded inspections from September, its chief inspector has announced. Sir Martyn Oliver said it “isn’t right” or “helpful to try to cram all the detail of a full, graded inspection into an ungraded one” and instead wants these inspections to feel “more like monitoring visits”.  The change means 40 per cent of school inspections – about 3,000 – planned for next year will no longer have deep dives. The change was made after feedback from small primary schools which felt the methodology was “particularly challenging”.  Schools previously rated ‘good’ or ‘outstanding’ receive ungraded inspections, which can be upgraded to full inspections if inspectors identify concerns that may lead to their grade being changed. Subject deep dives were introduced in Amanda Spielman’s 2019 inspection framework, and were aimed at supporting an increased focus on the quality of what is taught in schools. But they were criticised by leaders, particularly for their impact on small primary schools. Ofsted said in a press release that …

‘An absolute disgrace’: decision to scrap FA Cup replays met with fury | FA Cup

‘An absolute disgrace’: decision to scrap FA Cup replays met with fury | FA Cup

Published by skeptic

New changes to the format of the FA Cup, including an end to replays and the final being played during the league season, have been met with strong criticism with the decision-making process described as an “absolute disgrace”. Replays are to be dropped from the first round onwards from next season and the final moved to the penultimate weekend of the Premier League campaign, as part of a deal agreed between the FA and Premier League. Mark Bullingham, the FA’s chief executive, said the agreement would secure “a strong format for the future” for a trophy that continues to generate the majority of the FA’s income. The Premier League is understood to have argued that change was necessary due to the expansion of European fixtures from next season. For smaller clubs that traditionally stood to benefit from replays, however, this perspective has not been shared. Mark Palios, a former chief executive of the FA and executive chair of League Two side Tranmere Rovers, was strongly critical of the changes. “The process is an absolute disgrace, …

‘Reprehensible retreat’: fury as Scottish ministers scrap carbon emissions pledge | Greenhouse gas emissions

‘Reprehensible retreat’: fury as Scottish ministers scrap carbon emissions pledge | Greenhouse gas emissions

Published by skeptic

Climate campaigners have accused Scottish ministers of being “inept” and “short-termist” after they scrapped Scotland’s target to cut carbon emissions by 75% by 2030. Màiri McAllan, the Scottish net zero secretary, confirmed her government had abandoned that target and would also drop legally binding annual targets on reducing carbon emissions, after damning criticism from a UK advisory committee. In what opposition politicians labelled a “humiliating” climbdown, McAllan said Scotland would instead follow the lead of the UK and Welsh governments by adopting five-yearly “carbon budgets” aimed at meeting its zero emissions target date of 2045. McAllan told MSPs this decision had been heavily influenced by the UK Climate Change Committee, which said last month the 2030 target was “no longer credible” because of inadequate action on home heating, transport, farming and nature restoration by Scottish ministers. She said the 2030 target had always been stretching, and claimed the new approach was simply a pragmatic response, acknowledging the huge scale of the task that involved “minor legislative amendments”. Màiri McAllan (right), with the Green party’s Lorna …