Asked by: Navendu Mishra (Labour - Stockport)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, pursuant to the Answer of 19 February 2024 to Question 13342 on Special Educational Needs, what steps her Department is taking to help Stockport Council (a) increase its capacity to undertake and (b) improve the quality of its education, health and care plan assessments.
Answered by David Johnston - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
The cost of local authorities’ Education, Health and Care (EHC) needs assessment and planning function is paid from authorities’ general fund from, for example, council tax, business rates or the Revenue Support Grant provided by the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities (DLUHC). Any increase in capacity for the EHC needs assessment team must be met from the local authority’s general fund.
Stockport special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) Local Area Partnership’s Accelerated Progress Plan (APP), which has been in place since the Ofsted and Care Quality Commission (CQC) joint area SEND revisit in September 2022, includes actions to address the quality of EHC plans in the area. Department for Education officials and NHS (England) SEND advisers have been providing support, challenge and advice in monitoring the progress of the APP.
Stockport is also one of the 55 local areas which have been invited to join the government’s £85 million Delivering Better Value Programme to support local areas to achieve maximum value for money in delivering SEND provision, whilst maintaining and improving the outcomes they achieve. One of the workstreams being funded by this grant is ‘Governance and Accountability of SEN Support and EHC Needs Assessments’ through which the department is assisting Stockport to improve their EHC plan processes and the quality of plans.
The department wants to ensure that EHC needs assessments, where required, are conducted as quickly as possible, so that children and young people can access the support they need. In March 2023, the government set out its plans to reform and improve the SEND system through its SEND and alternative provision (AP) Improvement Plan. The plan commits to establishing a single national system that delivers for every child and young person with SEND so that they enjoy their childhood, achieve good outcomes and are well prepared for adulthood and employment.
In the short term, the department is working hard to improve the current EHC plan system through a range of measures to improve the SEND system. The department is investing heavily in the SEND system. Examples of the department’s investments include: improving specialist capacity by investing over £21 million to train 400 more educational psychologists from 2024, investing £2.6 billion between 2022 and 2025 to fund new special and AP places and improve existing provision (including announcing 41 new special free schools and 38 special free schools that are currently in the pipeline), investing £30 million to develop innovative approaches for short breaks for children, young people and their families over three years and investing over £7 million to fund extension of the Alternative Provision Specialist Taskforce pilot programme, (delivering now in 22 local authorities) to run until 2025.
The department is also putting in place measures to improve the SEND system in the longer term, so that where an EHC plan is needed they can be issued as quickly as possible, so that children and young people can access the support they need.
Asked by: Navendu Mishra (Labour - Stockport)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, pursuant to the Answer of 19 February 2024 to Question 13342 on Special Educational Needs, if she will allocate additional funding to Stockport Metropolitan Borough Council to help increase its capacity to conduct education health and care plan assessments.
Answered by David Johnston - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
The cost of local authorities’ Education, Health and Care (EHC) needs assessment and planning function is paid from authorities’ general fund from, for example, council tax, business rates or the Revenue Support Grant provided by the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities (DLUHC). Any increase in capacity for the EHC needs assessment team must be met from the local authority’s general fund.
Stockport special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) Local Area Partnership’s Accelerated Progress Plan (APP), which has been in place since the Ofsted and Care Quality Commission (CQC) joint area SEND revisit in September 2022, includes actions to address the quality of EHC plans in the area. Department for Education officials and NHS (England) SEND advisers have been providing support, challenge and advice in monitoring the progress of the APP.
Stockport is also one of the 55 local areas which have been invited to join the government’s £85 million Delivering Better Value Programme to support local areas to achieve maximum value for money in delivering SEND provision, whilst maintaining and improving the outcomes they achieve. One of the workstreams being funded by this grant is ‘Governance and Accountability of SEN Support and EHC Needs Assessments’ through which the department is assisting Stockport to improve their EHC plan processes and the quality of plans.
The department wants to ensure that EHC needs assessments, where required, are conducted as quickly as possible, so that children and young people can access the support they need. In March 2023, the government set out its plans to reform and improve the SEND system through its SEND and alternative provision (AP) Improvement Plan. The plan commits to establishing a single national system that delivers for every child and young person with SEND so that they enjoy their childhood, achieve good outcomes and are well prepared for adulthood and employment.
In the short term, the department is working hard to improve the current EHC plan system through a range of measures to improve the SEND system. The department is investing heavily in the SEND system. Examples of the department’s investments include: improving specialist capacity by investing over £21 million to train 400 more educational psychologists from 2024, investing £2.6 billion between 2022 and 2025 to fund new special and AP places and improve existing provision (including announcing 41 new special free schools and 38 special free schools that are currently in the pipeline), investing £30 million to develop innovative approaches for short breaks for children, young people and their families over three years and investing over £7 million to fund extension of the Alternative Provision Specialist Taskforce pilot programme, (delivering now in 22 local authorities) to run until 2025.
The department is also putting in place measures to improve the SEND system in the longer term, so that where an EHC plan is needed they can be issued as quickly as possible, so that children and young people can access the support they need.
Asked by: Bridget Phillipson (Labour - Houghton and Sunderland South)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what estimate she has made of the number of childminders on the (a) Early Years Register and (b) Childcare Register in (i) each region and (ii) each local authority in each year since 2018.
Answered by David Johnston - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
This is a matter for His Majesty’s Chief Inspector, Sir Martyn Oliver. I have asked him to write to the hon. Member and a copy of his reply will be placed in the Libraries of both Houses.
Asked by: Zarah Sultana (Labour - Coventry South)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment she has made of the impact of trends in the level of funding of Adult and Community Education since 2010 on that sector; and whether she plans to restore funding to 2010 levels.
Answered by Luke Hall - Minister of State (Education)
The department is continuing to invest in education and skills training for adults through the Adult Education Budget (AEB), the Multiply programme and Skills Bootcamps.
The AEB is worth £1.34 billion in 2023/24 and approximately 60% of the AEB is devolved to nine Mayoral Combined Authorities (MCA) and the Greater London Authority (GLA). These authorities are now responsible for the provision of AEB-funded adult education for their residents. The Education and Skills Funding Agency (ESFA) is responsible for the remaining AEB in non-devolved areas.
In ESFA AEB areas, the department applied a 2.2% increase to the final earnings for all AEB formula-funded provision, excluding associated learner and learning support, in 2022/23 and 2023/24. The department also applied a 20% boost on top of earnings for all AEB formula-funded provision in six sector subject areas: Engineering, Manufacturing Technologies, Transport Operations and Maintenance, Building and Construction, ICT for Practitioners, and Mathematics and Statistics. Additionally, in 2024/25, as part of the AEB transition to the Adult Skills Fund, the department will introduce five new funding rates that will apply to the ESFA Adult Skills Fund with 78% of qualifications seeing a funding increase.
Prior to devolution, the Community Learning portion of the AEB amounted to approximately £230 million in 2018/19. The department does not collect data on what MCAs and the GLA currently spend on Community Learning.
In 2024/25, as part of the Adult Skills Fund, the term Tailored Learning brings together what was the AEB Community Learning, formula-funded AEB non-regulated learning, which was previously delivered through the adult skills, and new employer-facing innovative provision that is not qualification based.
The department is also providing up to £270 million directly to local areas in England to deliver innovative interventions to improve adult numeracy through the Multiply programme. The department is also building the evidence base on what works to improve adult numeracy, including through randomised control trials.
Skills Bootcamps are free, flexible courses of up to 16 weeks, giving people the opportunity to build up sector-specific skills, with an offer of a job interview upon completion. This is supported by £550 million over the current Spending Review period as well as £170 million in grant funding to MCAs and local areas in 2024/25.
Spend by the department on further education is reported through publication of the Annual Report and Accounts. This can be found here: https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/dfe-annual-reports.
Asked by: Steve McCabe (Labour - Birmingham, Selly Oak)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if she will make an assessment of the potential merits of encouraging veterans to become school governors.
Answered by Damian Hinds - Minister of State (Education)
The department recognises the valuable skills, experience and perspectives that former military personnel can bring to schools and academy trusts. The department will continue to encourage schools and academy trusts, and the organisations that support them, to look for volunteers with a broad range of backgrounds, so that pupil outcomes can benefit from the best possible governance.
Asked by: Kevan Jones (Labour - North Durham)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what recent assessment she has made of the prevalence of schools (a) educating pupils on organ donation and (b) using resources produced by NHS Blood and Transplant.
Answered by Damian Hinds - Minister of State (Education)
Schools have flexibility over how they deliver the curriculum and cover important topics within it in a way that works for their context and communities. The department does not have data on how and whether schools are teaching about organ donation, but there are plenty of opportunities within the national curriculum for them to do so.
The teaching of blood, tissue and organs is covered in the biology national curriculum to pupils in England between the ages of 11 and 14 in key stage 3. While organ donation is not specifically mentioned in the national curriculum, schools may choose to cover it here.
At primary level, schools can talk about organ donation more generally in an age-appropriate way as part of the relationships, sex and health education (RSHE) curriculum, which includes content on physical health and mental wellbeing. The Oak National Academy, an arm's length public body responsible for creating free curriculum resources, has produced a lesson that can be taught to pupils between the ages of 7 and 11 in key stage 2. This includes a section on organs, the transplant waiting list and relevant legislation.
Organ donation can be covered in more detail in RSHE for pupils aged 14 to 16 in key stage 4 within the context of healthy lifestyles and the choices that individuals make in adulthood.
Departmental officials are working with NHS Blood and Transplant to arrange to signpost schools to education resources on organ donation developed by NHS Blood and Transplant and its charity partners.
Asked by: Alex Sobel (Labour (Co-op) - Leeds North West)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment her Department has made of the potential impact of changes to the graduate visa route on (a) the financial sustainability of the university sector and (b) local economies.
Answered by Luke Hall - Minister of State (Education)
The Migration Advisory Committee (MAC) has been commissioned to provide further evidence to support the government’s understanding of how the Graduate Route is operating in practice. The focus of the Graduate Route review will be to prevent abuse and ensure the integrity and quality of our world-leading UK higher education (HE) sector is protected. No decisions have been made on the future of the Graduate Route and the department awaits the report of the MAC in May.
The Office for Students (OfS), as the independent regulator of HE in England, is responsible for monitoring and reporting on the sustainability of HE providers. The department works closely with the OfS to understand the impact of international student recruitment on HE provider financial sustainability.
Asked by: Helen Hayes (Labour - Dulwich and West Norwood)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what was the total budget deficit for maintained nursery schools in England in the financial year (a) 2021-22 and b) 2022-23.
Answered by David Johnston - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
The data you requested for the 2021/22 financial year can be found here: https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/la-and-school-expenditure-2021-to-2022-financial-year.
The data for the 2022/23 financial year can be found here: https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/find-statistics/la-and-school-expenditure.
This data can be found on GOV.UK in Local Authority and School Expenditure data. In summary: https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/data-tables/permalink/09ae561f-1997-46da-4c66-08dc5d297e6b.
The latest available data is for the 2022/23 financial year and therefore the department is unable to answer the questions related to 2023/24 and 2024/25.
Asked by: Helen Hayes (Labour - Dulwich and West Norwood)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what is the projected budget deficit for maintained nursery schools in England in the financial year (a) 2023-24, (b) 2024-25 and (c) 2025-26 by local authority.
Answered by David Johnston - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
The data you requested for the 2021/22 financial year can be found here: https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/la-and-school-expenditure-2021-to-2022-financial-year.
The data for the 2022/23 financial year can be found here: https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/find-statistics/la-and-school-expenditure.
This data can be found on GOV.UK in Local Authority and School Expenditure data. In summary: https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/data-tables/permalink/09ae561f-1997-46da-4c66-08dc5d297e6b.
The latest available data is for the 2022/23 financial year and therefore the department is unable to answer the questions related to 2023/24 and 2024/25.
Asked by: Helen Hayes (Labour - Dulwich and West Norwood)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what is the projected budget deficit for maintained nursery schools in England in the financial year (a) 2023-24, (b) 2024-25 and (c) 2025-26.
Answered by David Johnston - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
The data you requested for the 2021/22 financial year can be found here: https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/la-and-school-expenditure-2021-to-2022-financial-year.
The data for the 2022/23 financial year can be found here: https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/find-statistics/la-and-school-expenditure.
This data can be found on GOV.UK in Local Authority and School Expenditure data. In summary: https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/data-tables/permalink/09ae561f-1997-46da-4c66-08dc5d297e6b.
The latest available data is for the 2022/23 financial year and therefore the department is unable to answer the questions related to 2023/24 and 2024/25.