Asked by: Baroness Ritchie of Downpatrick (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask His Majesty's Government what percentage of school exclusions in the last five years were of children with Special Educational Needs.
Answered by Baroness Barran - Shadow Minister (Education)
The department publishes figures on the proportion of pupils permanently excluded or suspended from schools in England. The most recent full academic year figures, covering academic years up to 2020/21, can be found here: https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/find-statistics/permanent-and-fixed-period-exclusions-in-england/2020-21. The table attached shows the proportion of permanent exclusions and suspensions at state-funded schools which were of pupils who had special educational needs.
Asked by: Baroness Ritchie of Downpatrick (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask His Majesty's Government what was the total budget for education in England in each year from (1) 1 April 2015 to 31 March 2022, and (2) 1 April 2022 to 31 December 2022.
Answered by Baroness Barran - Shadow Minister (Education)
The Department’s resource and capital budgets from the 2015/16 to 2022/23 financial years are set out in the table below.
Financial year | Resource Departmental Expenditure Limit, excluding depreciation (RDEL), £ billions | Capital Departmental Expenditure Limit (CDEL), £ billions |
2015/16 | 53 | 4.9 |
2016/17 | 60 | 6.0 |
2017/18 | 61 | 4.9 |
2018/19 | 62 | 5.5 |
2019/20 | 64 | 4.9 |
2020/21 | 69 | 5.4 |
2021/22 | 72 | 5.3 |
2022/23 | 77 | 6.4 |
Capital budgets vary between years, reflecting large capital programmes that spend at different rates across their lifetime and at different delivery stages.
Asked by: Baroness Ritchie of Downpatrick (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask His Majesty's Government whether the digitising of Education, Health and Care Plans will be undertaken by one centralised supplier; and how the procurement process will work.
Answered by Baroness Barran - Shadow Minister (Education)
In March 2022, the department published the Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND) and Alternative Provision (AP) Green Paper, which sets out our proposals to ensure that every child and young person has their needs identified quickly and met consistently.
In the green paper, the department proposed to introduce a standardised and digitised Education, Health and Care (EHC) Plan process and template to minimise bureaucracy, deliver consistency and improve the experiences for families and professionals.
The green paper consultation closed on 22 July 2022. We are currently reviewing the feedback received and using this, along with continued engagement with families, professionals, and other SEND system stakeholders, to inform the next stage of delivering improvements for children, young people and their families. This includes those steps set out on EHC Plans.
The department is committed to publishing a full response to the green paper in an improvement plan early this year. We will continue to support the system in the immediate term to deliver change and continue to improve the experience and outcomes for children and young people with SEND and those who need AP.
Asked by: Baroness Ritchie of Downpatrick (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask His Majesty's Government what their policy is regarding standardising Education, Health and Care Plans to improve standards.
Answered by Baroness Barran - Shadow Minister (Education)
In March 2022, the department published the Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND) and Alternative Provision (AP) Green Paper, which sets out our proposals to ensure that every child and young person has their needs identified quickly and met consistently.
In the green paper, the department proposed to introduce a standardised and digitised Education, Health and Care (EHC) Plan process and template to minimise bureaucracy, deliver consistency and improve the experiences for families and professionals.
The green paper consultation closed on 22 July 2022. We are currently reviewing the feedback received and using this, along with continued engagement with families, professionals, and other SEND system stakeholders, to inform the next stage of delivering improvements for children, young people and their families. This includes those steps set out on EHC Plans.
The department is committed to publishing a full response to the green paper in an improvement plan early this year. We will continue to support the system in the immediate term to deliver change and continue to improve the experience and outcomes for children and young people with SEND and those who need AP.
Asked by: Baroness Ritchie of Downpatrick (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask His Majesty's Government when the process of digitising Education, Health and Care Plans will commence; and whether they have undertaken an impact assessment of this approach.
Answered by Baroness Barran - Shadow Minister (Education)
In March 2022, the department published the Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND) and Alternative Provision (AP) Green Paper, which sets out our proposals to ensure that every child and young person has their needs identified quickly and met consistently.
In the green paper, the department proposed to introduce a standardised and digitised Education, Health and Care (EHC) Plan process and template to minimise bureaucracy, deliver consistency and improve the experiences for families and professionals.
The green paper consultation closed on 22 July 2022. We are currently reviewing the feedback received and using this, along with continued engagement with families, professionals, and other SEND system stakeholders, to inform the next stage of delivering improvements for children, young people and their families. This includes those steps set out on EHC Plans.
The department is committed to publishing a full response to the green paper in an improvement plan early this year. We will continue to support the system in the immediate term to deliver change and continue to improve the experience and outcomes for children and young people with SEND and those who need AP.
Asked by: Baroness Ritchie of Downpatrick (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what consideration they have given to including a module on self-care in the personal and social development curriculum taught in schools.
Answered by Baroness Barran - Shadow Minister (Education)
Education is a devolved matter, and the response outlines the information for England only.
The relationships and sex education (RSE) and health education statutory guidance clearly sets out the content that should be covered in the topics of basic first aid and health and prevention, at both primary and secondary school. The guidance is available at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/relationships-education-relationships-and-sex-education-rse-and-health-education. The subjects have been designed to build knowledge and support the development of pupils’ self-control and their ability to self-regulate, as well as providing strategies for doing so.
Health education covers aspects of self-care such as dental hygiene and personal hygiene. It also has a strong focus on mental wellbeing, including a recognition that mental wellbeing and physical health are linked. The aim is to give pupils the information they need to make good decisions about their own health and wellbeing, including self-care, and to recognise the early signs of mental wellbeing concerns, including common types of mental ill health.
To support schools to deliver this content effectively, the department has produced teacher training modules which are free to download from GOV.UK. These modules can be found here: https://www.gov.uk/guidance/teaching-about-relationships-sex-and-health#train-teachers-on-relationships-sex-and-health-education.
Asked by: Baroness Ritchie of Downpatrick (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what steps they will take to reinstate the Erasmus scheme for developing international educational opportunities in all schools in England.
Answered by Baroness Barran - Shadow Minister (Education)
While the government fully recognises the benefits of international educational opportunities, the government has decided that it was not in the UK's interests to seek continuing participation in the Erasmus+ programme.
Under the Withdrawal Agreement negotiated with the EU, the UK will continue to participate fully in the 2014-2020 Erasmus+ and European Solidarity Corps programmes. This means that the projects successfully bid for during the current programmes will continue to receive EU funding for the full duration of the project, where certain projects may continue up to 2024.
The UK has introduced the Turing Scheme, a new international mobility scheme that has a global reach. The Turing Scheme provides funding for UK education providers and organisations in the schools, higher education, further education, vocational education, and training sectors to offer international opportunities across the world for their pupils, students, and learners. Funding has been allocated for over 41,000 individual placements to over 150 destinations across the 2021/2022 academic year.
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 - Shadow Minister (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.