Asked by: Baroness Ritchie of Downpatrick (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of budgets allocated to Special Educational Needs in England in each of the last five years since 1 April 2017.
Answered by Baroness Barran - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
In response to the department's assessment of the extra demands on the high needs budget, which covers children and young people with more complex special educational needs (SEN), there have been increases to high needs funding allocations to local authorities in England in the last five years, as shown in the table below. Furthermore, the department was able to announce last December that overall high needs funding for children and young people with complex needs is increasing in this financial year by £1 billion to over £9 billion. This includes a small amount of funding that is not allocated to local authorities.
Local authorities have also increased the notional amounts allocated to mainstream schools for their pupils with lower level SEN, and to meet costs up to £6,000 per pupil for those with high needs, and these are also included in the table below.
Financial year | Total high needs funding allocations to local authorities (£ million) | Mainstream school notional SEN budget totals (£ million) |
2017-18 | 5,827 | 3,148 |
2018-19 | 6,115 | 3,693 |
2019-20 | 6,279 | 3,945 |
2020-21 | 7,063 | 4,117 |
2021-22 | 7,906 | 4,316 |
2022-23 (including supplementary funding) | 8,981 | Due to be published later this year |
Asked by: Baroness Ritchie of Downpatrick (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what steps they intend to take to establish a long-term plan for education focused on digital inclusion for every child in England.
Answered by Baroness Berridge
Building on the government’s £400 million investment in devices, connectivity, training and support for remote access to education and children’s social care services during the COVID-19 outbreak, the department is developing an evidence-based and strategic approach for technology use in the education sector. We will explore options that create a more resilient, digitally enabled system. This approach will include consideration of devices and the infrastructure and capability required to make the best use of these devices. The department will take into account the recommendations of the UNICEF report in developing this strategy. We may need to prioritise our interventions and will take an evidence based and user-centred approach in collaboration with industry and experts.
The department’s strategy will align with the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport’s top ten priorities for technology. We continue to work closely with them as the lead department on digital inclusion, and through their relationship with Ofcom for data on availability of technology in homes in England.
Asked by: Baroness Ritchie of Downpatrick (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what plans they have (1) to undertake a mapping exercise to collect data on the numbers of children who are digitally excluded, and (2) to publish the reasons for such exclusion.
Answered by Baroness Berridge
Building on the government’s £400 million investment in devices, connectivity, training and support for remote access to education and children’s social care services during the COVID-19 outbreak, the department is developing an evidence-based and strategic approach for technology use in the education sector. We will explore options that create a more resilient, digitally enabled system. This approach will include consideration of devices and the infrastructure and capability required to make the best use of these devices. The department will take into account the recommendations of the UNICEF report in developing this strategy. We may need to prioritise our interventions and will take an evidence based and user-centred approach in collaboration with industry and experts.
The department’s strategy will align with the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport’s top ten priorities for technology. We continue to work closely with them as the lead department on digital inclusion, and through their relationship with Ofcom for data on availability of technology in homes in England.
Asked by: Baroness Ritchie of Downpatrick (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the report by UNICEF and the Carnegie UK Trust Closing the Digital Divide for Good: An end to the digital exclusion of children in the UK, published on 21 June.
Answered by Baroness Berridge
Building on the government’s £400 million investment in devices, connectivity, training and support for remote access to education and children’s social care services during the COVID-19 outbreak, the department is developing an evidence-based and strategic approach for technology use in the education sector. We will explore options that create a more resilient, digitally enabled system. This approach will include consideration of devices and the infrastructure and capability required to make the best use of these devices. The department will take into account the recommendations of the UNICEF report in developing this strategy. We may need to prioritise our interventions and will take an evidence based and user-centred approach in collaboration with industry and experts.
The department’s strategy will align with the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport’s top ten priorities for technology. We continue to work closely with them as the lead department on digital inclusion, and through their relationship with Ofcom for data on availability of technology in homes in England.
Asked by: Baroness Ritchie of Downpatrick (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask Her Majesty's Government how schools will be funded to continue to deliver the additional services they are providing as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Answered by Baroness Berridge
As part of the three year increase to core funding, the biggest in a decade, schools have received a £2.6 billion increase in funding in financial year 2020/21 and will receive a further £4.8 billion increase in 2021/22, compared to 2019/20. The Department has also provided a range of funding and support to schools since March 2020 to help with the challenges of responding to the COVID-19 outbreak. This includes making available:
My right hon. Friends, the Prime Minister and the Secretary of State for Education, have appointed Sir Kevan Collins as Education Recovery Commissioner to advise on the approach for education recovery, including to consider how schools and the system can use evidence and more effectively target resources and support at pupils and areas in greatest need.
Asked by: Baroness Ritchie of Downpatrick (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to ensure that children and their parents or carers have effective education about internet safety, specifically online abuse and sexual exploitation, and about what healthy relationships look like in the digital world.
Answered by Baroness Berridge
The Department is committed to supporting schools to deliver high quality teaching of Relationships Education, Relationships and Sex Education and Health Education (RSHE) which includes teaching about online safety and is compulsory in all state-funded schools in England.
Health Education includes specific content about online safety and harms and includes being taught what positive, healthy and respectful online relationships look like, the effect of online actions on others and knowing how to recognise and display respectful behaviour in an age appropriate way. As with all curriculum teaching, schools have the flexibility to tailor their teaching to specific cohorts and to the needs of their pupils.
The RSHE statutory guidance sets out that at primary school, pupils will be taught about online relationships and being safe in an online context. At secondary school, pupils will be taught about online and media and internet safety and harms. A full breakdown of content can be found in the RSHE statutory guidance and can be found here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/relationships-education-relationships-and-sex-education-rse-and-health-education.
To further support this, the department published Teaching Online Safety in School which highlights potentials harms and risks and suggests how they might be addressed through the curriculum. The risks include how content can be used and shared, grooming, pornography and live streaming: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/teaching-online-safety-in-schools.
Guides for parents and carers of primary and secondary age pupils that schools and parents can use to help them with teaching about RSHE can be found here: www.gov.uk/government/publications/relationships-sex-and-health-education-guides-for-schools.
The new RSHE subjects complement the embedded computing curriculum, which covers the principles of online safety at all key stages, including teaching on how to use technology safely, responsibly, respectfully and securely, how to keep personal information private, and where to go for help and support when they have concerns about content or contact on the internet or other online technologies.
Asked by: Baroness Ritchie of Downpatrick (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the adequacy of funding for education and skills provision to help unemployed people; and what recent discussions they have had, if any, about that funding.
Answered by Baroness Berridge
The department wants to ensure that a wide range of opportunities are available to people of all ages. Anyone who becomes unemployed for whatever reason can access a range of provision to meet their future skills needs, and funding for this will depend on age and prior attainment.
Adult skills are key in supporting the economy and tackling disadvantage and so we are continuing to invest in education and skills training for adults through the Adult Education Budget (AEB) (£1.34 billion in the 2020/21 academic year). The AEB fully funds or co-funds skills provision for eligible adults aged 19 and above from pre-entry to Level 3, to support adults to gain the skills they need for work, an apprenticeship or further learning and training up to Level 2 for unemployed people aged 19 and over.
In July, my right hon. Friend, the Chancellor of the Exchequer, announced a £500 million package of support to ensure young people can access the training, and develop the skills they will need, to go on to high-quality, secure, and fulfilling employment including: incentive payments for employers to take on apprentices; tripling the number of traineeships; and an additional £17 million in the 2020/21 financial year to support an increase in the number of sector-based work academy programme placements. This additional funding will enable unemployed individuals acquire the skills needed for local jobs.
Starting this year, the government is investing £2.5 billion (£3 billion when including Barnett funding for devolved administrations) in the National Skills Fund. This is a significant investment and has the potential to deliver new opportunities to generations of adults who may have been previously left behind.
The Chancellor of the Exchequer announced £375 million for the National Skills Fund at the Spending Review in November 2020. This includes £95 million funding for a new Level 3 adult offer and £43 million for Skills Bootcamps, as part of the Lifetime Skills Guarantee.
From April 2021, any adult aged 24 and over who is looking to achieve their first full Level 3, which is equivalent to an advanced technical certificate or diploma, or two full A levels, will be able to access a fully funded course which will give them new skills and greater prospects in the labour market. Currently, adults between the ages of 19 to 23 are eligible for full funding for their first full Level 3. This offer will ensure that adults aged 24 and over are now able to access their first full, fully funded, Level 3 qualification.
We have also introduced the Skills Bootcamps, which are free, flexible courses of up to 16 weeks, giving people the opportunity to build up sector-specific skills and fast-track to an interview with a local employer. Skills Bootcamps have the potential to transform the skills landscape for adults and employers.
The Skills Bootcamps are open to all adults aged 19 or over, who are either in work or recently unemployed. Further to this, we have now opened an Invitation to Tender to extend Skills Bootcamps to more areas, and to cover not only digital skills but also technical skills training including engineering and construction. This will enable us to assist employers across England to fill their in-demand vacancies and we anticipate training upwards of 25,000 individuals.
The government plans to consult on the National Skills Fund in spring 2021 to ensure that we develop a fund that helps adults learn valuable skills and prepares them for the economy of the future.
Also, as part of the Lifetime Skills Guarantee, my right hon. Friend, the Prime Minister, has announced a lifelong loan entitlement. This will make is easier for all adults to study more flexibly, allowing them to space out their studies across their lifetimes, transfer credits between colleges and universities, and enable more part-time study.
Asked by: Baroness Ritchie of Downpatrick (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what discussions they have had, and with whom, about the potential merits of including black British history in the national curriculum.
Answered by Baroness Berridge
Department officials have discussed the flexible scope of the history curriculum, and the opportunities there are to teach black history within it, with a number of organisations such as the Runnymede Trust, The Black Curriculum and the Historical Association. We welcome the profile given to the importance of teaching black history by bodies such as the Runnymede Trust, The Black Curriculum, Fill in the Blanks and many other groups and individuals over the years, and the support and resources on teaching they provide to teachers.
Asked by: Baroness Ritchie of Downpatrick (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what steps they have taken to close the attainment gap for (1) disabled children, and (2) children from (a) disadvantaged, and (b) BAME, communities.
Answered by Baroness Berridge
The government is taking steps to close the attainment gap for disabled and disadvantaged children.
We have announced £780 million additional funding in 2020-21 for children and young people with the most complex needs, bringing the total funding for high needs to £7.2 billion.
Since 2018, we have commissioned a programme of work to embed special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) into school improvement practice and to equip the workforce to deliver high-quality teaching across all types of SEND. The department provided funding of £3.9 million for the first 2 financial years and have extended the contract until March 2021 for a further £2.18 million.
On 19 May, the government announced that the Family Fund will receive funding of £37.3 million in the financial year 2020-21 to provide grants to families on low incomes who have disabilities or severe medical conditions. This funding includes £10 million which has been allocated to help families in response to the COVID-19 outbreak. More details are available here:
https://www.gov.uk/government/news/37-million-to-support-children-with-complex-needs.
To help close the attainment gap for disadvantaged pupils, our £1 billion COVID-19 catch-up package will provide additional funding to schools to support pupils whose education has been negatively affected by the COVID-19 outbreak. Part of this package includes the National Tutoring Programme (NTP), which is providing £350 million of targeted support focused on disadvantaged pupils. This will give schools access to subsidised tuition and in-house academic mentor to help disadvantaged pupils make up for lost learning time. The NTP sits alongside our £650 million universal catch-up premium funding for the current academic year, which will enable schools to prioritise support for specific groups of pupils in line with their level of need.
The ongoing provision of pupil premium funding, which is worth £2.4 billion this financial year, aims to close the attainment gap between disadvantaged pupils and their peers. It allows school leaders to tailor the support they provide, based on the needs of their disadvantaged pupils, with the aim of accelerating their progress and improving their attainment.
To help schools support pupils with particular characteristics, including ethnicity, we have commissioned an independent research and assessment agency to consider catch-up needs and monitor progress over the course of the year, to help us target support across the system. This research will make use of existing assessments that schools already choose to use and are typically taken by over a million children each year. This will allow the department to assess how a range of groups are performing over this year, including the most disadvantaged and those with historically poor outcomes.
Asked by: Baroness Ritchie of Downpatrick (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to support women returning to work to access childcare as restrictions to address the COVID-19 pandemic are eased.
Answered by Baroness Berridge
The government funds a generous package of free and subsidised childcare. Parents can find out more about the support they can get at: https://www.childcarechoices.gov.uk/.
The government recognises the importance of childcare to families. Early years was one of the first sectors in which COVID-19 restrictions were eased. Since 1 June, early years providers have been able to open to all children, and since 20 July, they have been able to return to their normal group sizes.
We are providing extra security to nurseries and childminders that are open by ‘block-buying’ childcare places for the rest of this year at the level we would have funded before the COVID-19 outbreak, regardless of how many children are attending. We have also made temporary changes to ensure that eligible parents who experienced a reduction or increase in income as a result of the COVID-19 outbreak retain their eligibility for the entitlement to 30 hours of free childcare a week.
Local authorities are responsible for ensuring there are sufficient childcare places during the COVID-19 outbreak. Parents who are experiencing difficulties in obtaining childcare should contact their local authority directly.