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Written Question
Free Schools: Liverpool
Wednesday 27th March 2024

Asked by: Lord Storey (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the delay to the opening of King's Leadership Academy Wavetree.

Answered by Baroness Barran - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)

To open a free school the Secretary of State must be satisfied that there is a suitable and deliverable site for the school. In order to deliver a suitable site for the school, a sequence of planning applications are required. The first of these has been submitted.

Officials are engaging with Liverpool City Council and Local Planning Authority officers to meet their planning requirements for the scheme but despite the best efforts of all parties, it is not possible to implement all of the necessary requirements in time to achieve a September 2024 opening.

While a free school project is in the pre-opening phase, local authorities cannot offer firm places at a school under the co-ordinated admissions process. Therefore, any offers of pupil places for King’s Leadership Academy Wavertree are conditional, to ensure all pupils have a firm and secure start to the school year at another school in the area.

The local authority has confirmed it is able to place secondary school pupils in Liverpool for September 2024 without Kings Leadership Academy Wavertree, and officials continue to work closely with the local authority and planning authority to progress this scheme as swiftly as possible for a future opening of the school.


Written Question
Children and Young People Cancer Taskforce
Tuesday 20th February 2024

Asked by: Lord Storey (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask His Majesty's Government what consideration they have given to including educational attainment and outcomes within the scope of the Children and Young People Cancer Taskforce.

Answered by Lord Markham - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)

The scope of the Children and Young People Taskforce will be determined once the work of the taskforce begins, in spring 2024. Supporting children with cancer is an absolute priority for the Government and we will continue to work across organisations to ensure children with cancer get the care and support they need, to deal with the challenges cancer brings.

The Department of Health and Social Care and the Department for Education share the ambition that children with cancer get the support they need to remain in school if they are well enough, both to maintain their education and for the benefits of being with their friends. We understand this may not always be possible, either on a short or long-term basis. That is why there are existing statutory duties to ensure children with cancer should be able to get the support they need, without an education, health, and care plan.

In addition to support from schools and local authorities, it is important to recognise the support built into National Health Service specifications for children’s cancer. These specifications require children’s cancer services to take a multi-agency approach to support, and address the wider social, educational, psychological, and emotional needs of the child and family. This includes providing ready access to a wide range of services and professionals, including educational support which includes teachers, health play specialists, speech and language, and rehabilitative support. These services are vital in ensuring that children and families have the support to face the difficult challenges cancer brings.


Written Question
Pharmacy: Closures
Tuesday 20th February 2024

Asked by: Lord Storey (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the closure of over 1,000 pharmacies since 2015; and what assessment they have made of the impact of pharmacy closures in deprived areas.

Answered by Lord Markham - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)

There were 10,613 pharmacies on 31 January 2024 providing National Health Services in England. The Department monitors changes to the market closely to understand patient access to NHS pharmaceutical services. Access remains good, with 80% of the population living within 20 minutes walking distance of a pharmacy and twice as many pharmacies in the most deprived areas of the country. We have seen more closures in the more deprived areas, but that is largely what we would expect as there are more pharmacies in those areas.

The law requires that every three years, local authority Health and Wellbeing Boards undertake pharmaceutical needs assessments to understand if provision is sufficient to meet local population needs. Contractors can apply to open a pharmacy where there is a gap or a need for improved access to services, or if they can make a case for providing other benefits to the local communities.

When their usual local pharmacy closes, patients can choose to access any of the remaining pharmacies nearby. Patients can also choose to access NHS pharmaceutical services remotely through any of the approximately 400 internet pharmacies in England, which are contractually required to deliver medicines to patients’ homes free of charge.


Written Question
Schools: Medical Equipment
Thursday 15th February 2024

Asked by: Lord Storey (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask His Majesty's Government what consideration has been given to making it compulsory to have EpiPens in all schools.

Answered by Baroness Barran - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)

In 2014, the government introduced a new duty on schools to support pupils with all medical conditions and published the ‘Supporting pupils at school with medical conditions’ statutory guidance for schools and others. This guidance does not specify which medical conditions should be supported in schools. Instead, the guidance focuses on how to meet the needs of each individual child and how their medical condition impacts on school life.

Schools also have duties under the Equality Act 2010 to make reasonable adjustments to their practices, procedures and policies to ensure that they are not putting those with certain long-term health problems at a substantial disadvantage.

Under the Medical and Healthcare Regulatory Agency Human Medicines (Amendment) Regulations 2017, all schools are able to buy adrenaline auto-injector (AAI) devices without a prescription, for emergency use in children who are at risk of anaphylaxis, but their own device is not available or not working. The Department for Health and Social care published guidance on using an emergency AAI in schools which can be found in the attached document.


Written Question
Schools: Concrete
Monday 12th February 2024

Asked by: Lord Storey (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask His Majesty's Government what consideration they are giving to pupils whose schools are affected by reinforced autoclaved aerated concrete and whose summer examinations may be impacted.

Answered by Baroness Barran - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)

​​The safety of staff and pupils is paramount, and the department has been working at pace with schools to identify RAAC and support them to minimise disruption to pupils’ education.

The department is working closely with affected schools to ensure the best possible education for pupils and taking every step possible to remove any obstacles to learning through mitigations including temporary accommodation where this is needed and in some instances use of specialist facilities in off-site accommodation.

​Departmental officials have also been working hard to ensure that any school or college that is struggling to deliver particular assessments due to RAAC receives the support they need for their specific circumstances. The department has asked awarding organisations to be as flexible as possible within the confines of their processes and regulations, for example by agreeing longer extensions to coursework and non-examined assessment deadlines with affected schools and colleges.


Written Question
Schools: Concrete
Monday 12th February 2024

Asked by: Lord Storey (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to ensure that schools that are affected by reinforced autoclaved aerated concrete are not subject to an Ofsted inspection.

Answered by Baroness Barran - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)

The department is continuing to support schools and colleges with confirmed RAAC to put in place mitigations and minimise any disruption to education.

A school that has confirmed RAAC in some of their buildings will still be eligible for Ofsted inspection. However, in the spring term, for schools with confirmed RAAC, this will be sufficient grounds to defer the inspection, should the school wish to. For schools that do not have confirmed RAAC, but that may still be impacted by RAAC, Ofsted will carefully consider any requests for a deferral of an inspection. Ofsted retains the right to inspect any setting, including one affected by RAAC, if it has concerns. This matter will be kept under review.


Written Question
Children: Swimming
Monday 12th February 2024

Asked by: Lord Storey (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask His Majesty's Government what percentage of school children leave school being able to swim at least 25 metres; and what proportion of those children are (1) Black, and (2) Asian.

Answered by Baroness Barran - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)

Sport England’s Active Lives Children and Young People Survey 2022/23 reports that 70.5% of pupils in year 7 say they can swim 25 metres unaided. Information is not published for demographic data for individual school years, but data for years 7-11 show that 52% of black children and 57.3% of Asian children report being able to swim 25 metres unaided. This is compared with 82.8% of white British children in years 7-11.

The department does not collect data on schools’ access to and use of swimming pools. The government recognises challenges to pool operators and is providing over £60 million to local authorities in England through the Swimming Pool Support Fund. The fund will keep swimming pools and leisure centres open, as well as investing in renovations to boost energy efficiency, reduce future operating costs and improve sustainability. The department is supporting schools to operate their swimming pools effectively through the Opening School Sport Facilities programme, worth up to £57 million over three years. Over 200 school pools have already benefited from this funding.


Written Question
Schools: Swimming Pools
Monday 12th February 2024

Asked by: Lord Storey (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask His Majesty's Government how many schools do not have access to a swimming pool.

Answered by Baroness Barran - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)

Sport England’s Active Lives Children and Young People Survey 2022/23 reports that 70.5% of pupils in year 7 say they can swim 25 metres unaided. Information is not published for demographic data for individual school years, but data for years 7-11 show that 52% of black children and 57.3% of Asian children report being able to swim 25 metres unaided. This is compared with 82.8% of white British children in years 7-11.

The department does not collect data on schools’ access to and use of swimming pools. The government recognises challenges to pool operators and is providing over £60 million to local authorities in England through the Swimming Pool Support Fund. The fund will keep swimming pools and leisure centres open, as well as investing in renovations to boost energy efficiency, reduce future operating costs and improve sustainability. The department is supporting schools to operate their swimming pools effectively through the Opening School Sport Facilities programme, worth up to £57 million over three years. Over 200 school pools have already benefited from this funding.


Written Question
Schools: Swimming Pools
Monday 12th February 2024

Asked by: Lord Storey (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask His Majesty's Government how many schools are using pop-up swimming pools.

Answered by Baroness Barran - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)

Sport England’s Active Lives Children and Young People Survey 2022/23 reports that 70.5% of pupils in year 7 say they can swim 25 metres unaided. Information is not published for demographic data for individual school years, but data for years 7-11 show that 52% of black children and 57.3% of Asian children report being able to swim 25 metres unaided. This is compared with 82.8% of white British children in years 7-11.

The department does not collect data on schools’ access to and use of swimming pools. The government recognises challenges to pool operators and is providing over £60 million to local authorities in England through the Swimming Pool Support Fund. The fund will keep swimming pools and leisure centres open, as well as investing in renovations to boost energy efficiency, reduce future operating costs and improve sustainability. The department is supporting schools to operate their swimming pools effectively through the Opening School Sport Facilities programme, worth up to £57 million over three years. Over 200 school pools have already benefited from this funding.


Written Question
Alternative Education: Inspections
Thursday 25th January 2024

Asked by: Lord Storey (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask His Majesty's Government what factors Ofsted take into consideration when inspecting alternative education schools.

Answered by Baroness Barran - 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 noble Lord directly and a copy of his reply will be placed in the libraries of both Houses.