New Education Secretary continues focus on Opportunity Areas
The new Education Secretary, Damian Hinds MP, today released a statement on the Department’s social mobility policies.
The announcement shows continuity with the priorities of his predecessor, with an ongoing focus on the 12 Opportunity Areas and financial support for successful MATs.
No mention was made of any expansion of grammar schools, a policy the Prime Minister has previously suggested was about increasing social mobility. There have been suggestions that Justine Greening, the previous Education Secretary, fell out of favour with Number 10 due to her lack of enthusiasm about a return to grammars, ultimately leading to her resignation from the Cabinet last week.
The measures announced today include:
- The publication of delivery plans for the second round of Opportunity Areas (Bradford, Doncaster, Fenland and East Cambridgeshire, Hastings, Ipswich and Stoke-on-Trent).
- That all Opportunity Areas would benefit from a share of the £22 million Essential Life Skills programme aimed at helping young people in these areas develop life skills in resilience, wellbeing and employability. This had already been announced by Justine Greening in October 2017.
- More than £45million will be awarded to successful multi-academy trusts from the pre-existing Multi-Academy Trust Development and Improvement Fund. More than £30million of this will be targeted to around 300 academy trusts in areas facing the greatest challenges across England.
- 75 projects will share £25million from the latest round of the Strategic School Improvement Fund (SSIF) to provide more support for schools, many of which will increase pupils’ literacy and numeracy skills. Designated teaching schools, multi-academy trusts and local authorities are eligible to apply.