Ramsay Hodgson

‘Mansion tax’ valuation appeals will flood government agency, experts warn Process will struggle to complete before surcharge is introduced in 2028

‘Mansion tax’ valuation appeals will flood government agency, experts warn on.ft.com/4iqy8Sn

The tax-efficient wheels of British government on.ft.com/49kjud8

The tax-efficient wheels of British government [FREE TO READ] You’ll never guess who’s been getting plenty of use out of the Cycle to Work scheme

Wheeler dealers.

on.ft.com/4r15HOK

vital public interest stuff from me & @ramshodgson.bsky.social

a gov figure told FT that the Cycle to Work scheme was "tax breaks to high earners buying £4,000 e-bikes for weekend rides in the Surrey Hills"

so for fun here's some charts on the £120 to £2,996 bikes being bought by gov employees

UK military top brass mix with defence executives at luxury Alpine event Details of armed forces and industry attendees at Méribel competition raise concerns about conflicts of interest

UK military top brass mix with defence executives at luxury Alpine event on.ft.com/43jIcqa

AI ‘hit squad’ set up to drive Whitehall efficiency struggles to hire top talent The Incubator for Artificial Intelligence unit spent less than half of its budget last year because of recruitment delays

AI ‘hit squad’ set up to drive Whitehall efficiency struggles to hire top talent on.ft.com/465q312

🚨My first front page exclusive for @thetimes.com after several months of investigation. Labour and 3 of its MPs accepted more than £40k in donations during the 2024 election from a convicted criminal it had expelled as a member in 2022.

Labour kicked out a violent criminal — then accepted his £40,000 Abdul Sattar Shere-Mohammod donated to the national party and three local campaigns in Hampshire after being found guilty of assault in 2022

Labour and three of its MPs accepted more than £40,000 of election campaign donations from a convicted criminal the party expelled as a member three years ago

Is it getting too hot for summer exams? With extreme weather officially the new norm, Tes explores calls to move GCSEs and A levels to a cooler time of year

Is climate change making summer exams in England unsustainable? Tes investigates calls to move GCSEs and A levels to avoid students' grades suffering because they are sweltering in exam halls

SQA to pay out over £2m in holiday pay to appointees Over 19,500 SQA appointees - including exam markers and invigilators - will receive an additional payment for holiday pay after a tribunal ruled they have ‘worker’ status

🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿 In Scotland, @sqanews.bsky.social is to pay out £2.44 million in holiday pay to thousands of appointees – including exam makers and invigilators – after an employment tribunal ruled they were 'workers' and entitled to paid leave

Summer-born children face ‘unfair’ postcode lottery in admissions Campaigners and parents call for greater consistency for families who do not want their child to start primary school almost a year younger than some of their classmates

Families who want to delay their summer-born child from starting primary school are facing an ‘unfair’ postcode lottery, with some councils refusing more than half of parents’ requests, data reveals

£1K payments for new early years staff in shortage areas Government announces welcome payments to boost recruitment alongside a campaign to attract more men into the early years workforce

The DfE has named 38 council areas where new early years staff will be eligible for £1,000 sign-on payments

Bring back teacher relocation pay to boost languages, DfE told Reinstating payments for languages teachers who move here from overseas would help to halt a ‘catastrophic’ decline in pupils studying languages, says report

Schools need more teachers to stop the decline in languages – and the government should reinstate relocation payments for languages teachers coming from overseas, says @hepi-news.bsky.social report

Exam board to be fined £350K for breaches Ofqual is set to fine WJEC – which operates under the Eduqas brand in England – for two rule breaches, including handing more than 1,500 students incorrect GCSE grades

Exam board WJEC is set to be hit with a heavy fine for breaches of exam rules, including giving 1,500 students the wrong GCSE grades

Lib Dem education spokesperson, @munirawilson.bsky.social, has called for the government to “come clean” on whether children’s data has been leaked and to explain how it will ensure a breach doesn’t happen again.

Tes asked the DfE and ICO whether the breaches involved datasets containing personal data (including special category data); whether the DfE has told those potentially affected; and whether the DfE is subject to any legal proceedings.

The DfE failed to respond and the ICO declined to comment.

New for @tesmagazine.bsky.social - the DfE has admitted it leaked the personal data of as many as 84,532 people last financial year.

The breaches are “likely to result in a risk to the rights and freedoms of individuals” including: discrimination, damage to reputation and financial loss.

DfE leaked personal data of up to 84,500 people School leaders’ union calls for full transparency over the people affected

The DfE potentially leaked the personal data of more than 84,500 people last financial year, it has admitted, sparking calls for transparency over who was affected

DfE misses its deadline for key attendance and behaviour roles Two ‘ambassadors’ who will oversee the merged attendance and behaviour hubs were due to start today, but the DfE has made no announcement

Shadow schools minister Neil O'Brien asks Phillipson why the appointment of behaviour and attendance ambassadors has been delayed, as @ramshodgson.bsky.social first revealed.

No specific answer from the education secretary:

www.tes.com/magazine/new...

‘Reprehensible’ rise in assaults and abuse against teachers Suspensions and permanent exclusions as a result of physical assaults on adults have increased sharply, DfE data shows

Exclusive: The number of assaults on adults that have led to suspensions or exclusions has more than doubled in the past 4 years, DfE data reveals

Suspensions for pupils receiving SEND support up 25.5% to 330,908. A 5.01 increase in the rate per 100 pupils…

Yorkshire and The Humber has highest number of suspensions (139,722) with highest rate in North East (18.42).

Record highs for suspensions and perm exclusions in 2023-24. Suspensions near 1 million and are up 31.6% for those eligible for free school meals (573,538 total). Exclusions above 10k for 1st time.

Suspensions for pupils with EHCPs above 100k for 1st time, up 31.7% to 101,381.

Suspensions and exclusions reach ‘shocking’ record highs in 2023-24 State school suspensions near 1 million and set a new peak as exclusions cross 10,000 threshold

The number of suspensions and exclusions reached record highs in England’s state schools in 2023-24, according to the latest DfE data

On the school meals headlines

Any DfE spokesperson or Minister saying Free School Meals are “fully funded” is lying

Schools are forced to subsidise FSM from teaching budgets

Part of the issue is, thanks to Micheal Gove who cut funding, we no longer capture the actual cost of School meal provision

DfE launches ‘phonics-inspired’ primary writing framework The primary writing framework will be revised once the final curriculum review report is published, with a final version due in the autumn

The DfE today published a new ‘phonics-inspired’ primary writing framework to give teachers tools and guidance in teaching writing

Will digital exams spell the end of handwriting in schools? Handwriting has ‘important advantages’ and must not be undermined by the rollout of digital exams, former education secretary tells MPs

Government must block the mass rollout of digital exams because it could result in handwriting disappearing from schools, says former education secretary Damian Hinds

Stephen Morgan now responding for the government.

Franklin adds: "Research by 5Rights and LSE found that EdTech products used in schools are highly invasive of children's privacy and rely on the extensive collection of children's data."

"...their rights and development needs, and despite encouraging schools to move fast and learn things while piloting these technologies… [the government] really need to address this head on."

Zöe Franklin MP (Lib) makes point that “no statutory standards currently govern Gen AI use in schools. The government's own AI Opportunities Action Plan fails to address children...