Asked by: Lord Alton of Liverpool (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what estimate they have made of the number of new free schools which would be opened if the 50 per cent cap on faith-based schools were removed; and what discussions they have had with representatives of (1) the Catholic Church, and (2) non-religious interest groups, about the impact of that cap on admissions.
Answered by Lord Agnew of Oulton
The ‘Schools that work for everyone’ consultation document, available in the House Library, recognised that some faiths, including the Catholic Church, have felt unable to open new schools, subject to the 50% cap, through the free schools’ route because they say it contravenes religious rules.
Ministers and officials meet regularly and have discussions with a range of partners and stakeholders including representatives of the Catholic Church, such as the Catholic Education Service, and non-religious interest groups such as the British Humanist Association and National Secular Society. A range of issues, including the impact of the 50% cap on admissions, are regularly discussed in the context of general discussions. The department plans to respond on this in due course. We greatly value the important role Catholic schools play in our education system and that will continue.
Asked by: Lord Alton of Liverpool (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what recent assessment they have made of the danger of asbestos in schools; what advice they give to schools and local authorities about its safe removal; and how many deaths of (1) teachers, (2) students, and (3) others, who may have contracted mesothelioma or other asbestos-related diseases while in school buildings, there have been in each of the last ten years.
Answered by Lord Agnew of Oulton
The department takes the issue of asbestos in schools seriously, and is committed to supporting schools, local councils and academy trusts to fulfil their duty to manage asbestos safely. If managed carefully, the presence of asbestos in schools does not pose a risk to staff or pupils. The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) advise that as long as asbestos-containing materials are undamaged, encapsulated and not in locations where they are vulnerable to damage, they should be managed in situ.
In February 2017 the department published a report of a survey of asbestos management in schools. Approximately 25% of schools in England responded to the survey. Of the 83% of schools with asbestos present: 98% had an asbestos management survey; 97% had an asbestos register; and 97% reported that they had processes and procedures in place to prevent disturbance of asbestos in the education estate. We plan in future to seek written assurance from all duty holders that their schools are compliant with existing legislation and guidance on the management of asbestos in schools.
In February 2017 the department also published updated guidance, which provides information on action duty holders should take in order to prevent pupils and staff being exposed to asbestos. The guidance makes clear that the removal of asbestos should take place only if asbestos containing materials are in poor condition and advises on the risks of unsafe removal. It advises on actions that duty holders must take where work is carried out on the premises which might disturb asbestos containing materials (including asbestos removal).
The Government has committed more than £10 billion over 2016-2021 to rebuild, expand and maintain the school estate. Over time it is expected that this programme of work will eradicate asbestos in the education estate. The department directly funds the removal of asbestos through schemes such as the Priority Schools Building Programme and provides capital funding for asbestos management and removal where appropriate for schools that have identified that asbestos is in poor condition or poses a high risk of deterioration.
Data on the number of deaths of (1) teachers, (2) students, and (3) others, who may have contracted mesothelioma or other asbestos-related diseases while in school buildings is not collected by the department. The HSE publish information, copy attached, on their website on asbestos-related deaths, available at: http://www.hse.gov.uk/statistics/causdis/asbestos.htm.
Asked by: Lord Alton of Liverpool (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of the responses made by local authorities to freedom of information requests made by Lucie Stephens regarding reported incidents of asbestos exposure in schools; and what guidance they have given, or plan to give, to local authorities about the publication of such reports.
Answered by Lord Nash
The Department takes the issue of asbestos in schools very seriously. The evidence from the freedom of information requests of incidents of asbestos disturbance in schools, reported by local authorities, demonstrates exactly why the Department is committed to supporting and challenging schools, local authorities and academy trusts to fulfil their responsibility to manage asbestos safely in their schools.
We have recently updated and improved our published guidance for schools, which clearly states that if accidental exposure to asbestos has occurred, the duty holder must inform the Health and Safety Executive (HSE). This is a legal requirement and the HSE may investigate if major issues are raised where a duty holder’s compliance with their legal duties is called into question. The guidance also provides information for duty holders on the consequences of not complying with regulations and is available to all local authorities and schools.
We also recently carried out a data collection in schools on how they manage asbestos to understand how they were complying with their duties, and have published the findings. In future we plan to seek further assurances from duty holders to ensure that asbestos management is compliant with legislation and guidance across their education estates.
Asked by: Lord Alton of Liverpool (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government what is their response to (1) the correspondence sent by Lord Alton of Liverpool on 20 February on behalf of ECPAT UK concerning missing, trafficked and unaccompanied children, and (2) the findings of the report by ECPAT UK, <i>Heading back to harm,</i> published in November 2016, that (a) a number of local authorities were unable to provide figures on the number of trafficked and unaccompanied children who had gone missing from care and had not been found, (b) some police forces did not hold figures on the number of children reported missing to them who were trafficked or unaccompanied, and (c) 167 trafficked and 593 unaccompanied children had gone missing from care in the year to September 2015.
Answered by Lord Nash
Baroness Williams has received the correspondence sent by Lord Alton of Liverpool on 20 February on behalf of ECPAT UK and will respond in due course.
There is nothing more important than keeping vulnerable children safe from harm. The Government’s comprehensive framework for safeguarding all children includes making sure local authorities are aware of the risk that they may go missing due to being trafficked.
Local authorities have a duty to record data on every episode of a child missing from care or away from placement without authorisation and to report on this, as well as on the unaccompanied asylum-seeking children for whom they are responsible, through their annual data returns on looked after children.
The National Crime Agency is also working with the relevant police leads to ensure the consistent recording of figures on the number of children reported missing to them who were trafficked or unaccompanied.
In developing the strategy for the safeguarding of unaccompanied asylum seeking and refugee children, we will be consulting with local authorities to identify further actions that might be taken to prevent these children going missing.
Asked by: Lord Alton of Liverpool (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government what action they intend to take to protect children and teachers from the dangers of asbestos, in the light of the findings of the Education Funding Agency in their reports published in February, and of the information released in the Freedom of Information request 201607236, of August 2016, that 319 teachers have died of mesothelioma since 1980, published by the National Union of Teachers.
Answered by Lord Nash
The department takes the issue of asbestos in schools very seriously. The findings from the asbestos in schools data collection show that the vast majority of schools that responded appear to be managing asbestos well and are fully compliant with legislation and guidance. For those that did not have fully documented plans, processes and procedures in place, the department provided immediate advice on the actions needed to address these issues and sought assurances of compliance from responsible bodies and schools.
We have also recently published updated guidance which provides information on how those legally responsible for asbestos management in schools - local authorities, schools and trusts - should manage asbestos. This includes new supplementary guidance to help duty holders understand where asbestos is commonly found, so that they can work with qualified professionals to assess and manage the risks. We also intend to further enhance scrutiny on duty holders for managing asbestos in their schools, by developing an assurance process for all duty holders to report on the management of asbestos across their respective education estates.
Alongside this, we continue to provide significant funding to schools to help those legally responsible for maintenance to keep their school buildings in a good state of repair. We are investing £10billion to maintain and improve the condition of the schools estate by 2021, and schools and responsible bodies are able to use the funding that is available to them to remove asbestos where that is appropriate.
Asked by: Lord Alton of Liverpool (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether the strategy for safeguarding unaccompanied asylum-seeking and refugee children announced on 1 November 2016 will include (1) the provision of independent guardians for all unaccompanied children in the UK, and (2) a commitment to continue to fund local authorities which support unaccompanied children at the same, or higher, rate as they currently receive.
Answered by Lord Nash
The safeguarding strategy for unaccompanied asylum seeking and refugee children will be published by 1 May 2017. It will set out further detail on how these children should be safeguarded and have their welfare promoted. In developing the strategy, the Government has committed to review the information currently provided to asylum seeking and refugee children about their rights, their current circumstances, and the role of local authorities in caring for them. We have also said that we will regularly review the funding provided to support and care for unaccompanied asylum seeking and refugee children, working closely with the Local Government Association and local authorities.
Asked by: Lord Alton of Liverpool (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government, further to the answer given by Baroness Williams of Trafford on 25 January (HL Deb, cols 665–6), what assessment they have made of the report in the Independent, on 17 April 2016, of at least 239 refugee children in the UK having disappeared from care facilities in the UK, and the report by ECPAT UK <i>Heading back to harm: A study on trafficked and unaccompanied children going missing from care in the UK</i>, published in November 2016, claiming that from September 2014 to September 2015, 593 unaccompanied asylum-seeking children went missing from care at least once.
Answered by Lord Nash
The Government has a comprehensive framework for safeguarding children, including unaccompanied asylum seeking and refugee children. In light of the recent increase in arrivals of refugee children into the UK, we have been working with local authorities, non-government organisations and other public bodies to make sure that looked after migrant children receive the immediate support they need.
This support has included making sure local authorities are aware of the heightened risk that they may go missing due to being trafficked. We are also funding the Refugee Council and ECPAT to deliver training for foster carers and support workers of unaccompanied migrant children, who may be at risk of trafficking, to ensure they can also offer the appropriate support to the children in their care.
On 1 November we announced through a written ministerial statement our plans to publish a strategy, by 1 May 2017, for the safeguarding of unaccompanied asylum seeking and refugee children in England. In developing this strategy, we will consult local authorities to identify any further action that might be taken to prevent these children going missing.
Asked by: Lord Alton of Liverpool (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government, in the light of reports by the BBC’s Panorama programme in 2010 that approximately 5,000 pupils in the UK are being taught the Saudi national curriculum, what action has been taken to ensure that school text books originating in Saudi Arabia which propagate hate speech and religious intolerance are not being used in schools, clubs and weekend schools in the UK.
Answered by Lord Nash
The Government is committed to ensuring that all children learn in a safe environment, protected from extremist or hateful views wherever they are receiving education. We are taking firm action where concerns arise, and have taken a number of steps to strengthen regulation in schools. Ofsted now inspects schools on the requirement to actively promote the fundamental British values of democracy, the rule of law, individual liberty and respect and tolerance of those with different faiths and beliefs, as well as on the breadth of the curriculum, which should prepare pupils for life in modern Britain. In addition, we have provided further resources to Ofsted to allow them to increase their investigative work into unregistered independent schools. Wherever such schools are found to be teaching hate or intolerance, we are taking action to close them and prosecute those operating them.
Ofsted have not found any evidence of the text books referred to in the programme being used in schools that they have inspected.
We have also taken steps to increase oversight of out-of-school settings, such as clubs and weekend schools. Prevent duty statutory guidance sets out the expectations on local authorities to take steps to understand the range of out-of-school settings in their areas and to ensure that children attending such settings are safeguarded, including from the risk of being drawn into extremism and terrorism. We set out plans to introduce a new system of regulation for out-of-school settings in our call for evidence which closed earlier this year. The proposed system would allow Ofsted to close such settings where there was evidence that they were engaging in extremist teaching or failing to adequately safeguard the children in their care. We received a large number of responses and will set out next steps in due course.
Asked by: Lord Alton of Liverpool (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government what consideration they are giving to the risks posed by asbestos in schools and the safest ways to deal with those risks.
Answered by Lord Nash
The Government takes the risks posed by asbestos in schools extremely seriously.
In March 2015, under the coalition government, the Department published a review of its policy on asbestos management in schools and the risks posed.
The department is led in its consideration of asbestos risks and the safest way to deal with these by the expert advice from the Health and Safety Executive (HSE). They advise that it is best to manage asbestos-containing materials in situ, reviewing their risk assessments by monitoring condition and likelihood of disturbance, and repairing or encapsulating as necessary. Removal may be needed where asbestos is damaged or when refurbishment work demands prior removal.
The department continues to take steps to understand the risks posed by asbestos in schools even better. As a result of the review the department has committed to collect data from schools about how they manage their asbestos and also to exploring ways to improve the evidence on the risk posed by asbestos in schools. In addition, the Asbestos in Schools Steering Group advises the department on some of the particular issues schools face in managing their asbestos.
Asked by: Lord Alton of Liverpool (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government how many new-born babies were available for adoption in England in each of the last five years for which figures are available.
Answered by Lord Nash
The number of children looked after, aged 0 to 6 months, for whom the local authority made a decision that they should be placed for adoption during the year are shown in the table.
Number of children looked after aged 0 to 6 months for whom the local authority has made the decision that the child should be placed for adoption1
Years ending 31 March 2010 to 2014
England
Years | Children aged 0 to 6 months for whom the decision has been made that they should be placed for adoption2 |
2010 | 540 |
2011 | 580 |
2012 | 760 |
2013 | 1,340 |
2014 | 1,700 |
Source: SSDA903
1. Numbers have been rounded to the nearest 10.
2. Includes children aged 0 to 6 months at the time the decision to place the child for adoption was taken. Includes looked after children who were adopted or placed for adoption during the year.