Asked by: Lord Storey (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask His Majesty's Government how many unregistered schools are currently operating.
Answered by Baroness Smith of Malvern - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
An unregistered school is defined as any setting that is operating as an independent school without registration. It is a criminal offence under section 96 of the Education and Skills Act 2008 for a person to operate an unregistered independent school. The department does not retain data about the number of unregistered schools operating.
The department works closely with Ofsted, the Crown Prosecution Service and the police to identify and close unregistered schools to ensure children are protected from harm. Ofsted has powers under section 97 of the Education and Skills Act 2008 that allows for unannounced inspections of settings believed to be operating in breach of registration requirements. A team of inspectors are employed to identify, investigate and inspect any setting where there is evidence to suggest that an unregistered independent school is operating.
Asked by: Lord Storey (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask His Majesty's Government when they plan to publish the full report of the 2020 compulsory audit of the Department for Education, carried out by the Information Commissioner.
Answered by Baroness Smith of Malvern - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
The department will publish an updated audit closure report in Quarter 1 of 2025/26 on completion of the remedial actions.
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 increasing number of pupils being educated at home.
Answered by Baroness Smith of Malvern - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
The department has collected local authority data on electively home-educated children from local authorities in England since autumn 2022. The most recent published figures show an estimated 92,000 children in home education on the October 2023 census, which is an increase from 80,900 on the same day in the previous year.
The department knows that local authorities are concerned about rising numbers and the resulting implications on resources for their ongoing education and safeguarding duties. Data collection shows that mental health, special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) and dissatisfaction with schools are increasingly common reasons behind decisions to home-educate. The forthcoming SEND reforms will help more schools to meet the needs of children with SEND and may help to stem the flow of families who feel that schools are not able to appropriately support their child.
The government will legislate for statutory local authority registers of children who are not in school as part of the Children’s Wellbeing Bill, which will be introduced in due course. Parents will have a duty to provide information about their child for these registers. This will help to improve local authority and the department’s understanding of this cohort of children and enable local authorities to target resources and capacity to those children who need it most.
Asked by: Lord Storey (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the case for continuing the Household Support Fund after it ends in September.
Answered by Baroness Sherlock - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
£500 million is being provided to enable the current Household Support Fund, including funding for Devolved Administrations through the Barnett formula to be spent at their discretion. This means Local Authorities in England are receiving £421 million to support those in need locally.
The current Household Support Fund will be in place until 30 September 2024.
As a new government, we are reviewing all policies, including the Household Support Fund.
Asked by: Lord Storey (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask His Majesty's Government how many children in England are missing from full-time education.
Answered by Baroness Smith of Malvern - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
The department collects data on children missing education (compulsory school aged children not registered at school or otherwise receiving suitable education) from local authorities on a voluntary basis. The latest figures are attached, and can also be found here: https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/find-statistics/children-missing-education.
On census day in autumn 2023 there were an estimated 33,000 children missing education (this includes adjustments made for non-response and is based on a figure of 30,400 reported by 94% of local authorities).
The figures do not include children registered in schools or alternative provision who are persistently or severely absent and/or on part-time timetables, or children receiving suitable elective home education.
This government is committed to the introduction of local authority registers of children who are not in school. These measures will be included in the future Children’s Wellbeing Bill, as announced in His Majesty the King’s Speech on 17 July 2024. These measures will ensure that the department and local authorities are able to keep a record of children and ensure they are receiving the high standard of education they all deserve.
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 case for children who are being home educated in England to be registered with their local authority.
Answered by Baroness Smith of Malvern - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
This government is committed to the introduction of local authority registers of children who are not in school, including those who are home educated. These measures will be included in the future Children’s Wellbeing Bill, as announced in His Majesty the King’s Speech on 17 July 2024.
These measures will ensure that the department and local authorities are able to keep a record of children and ensure they are receiving the high standard of education they all deserve.
Asked by: Lord Storey (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask His Majesty's Government how many permanently excluded pupils in England are being placed with unregistered providers.
Answered by Baroness Smith of Malvern - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
The requested information is not held centrally.
Where a pupil has been permanently excluded, it is for the local authority to determine the most appropriate form of alternative provision for a child, and they must put educational arrangements in place for a permanently excluded child from the sixth school day following the permanent exclusion. The education must be suitable, full-time, or as close to full-time as is in the best interests of the child, and on par with what the child would have received in a mainstream school. The department has published statutory guidance on alternative provision (AP), which local authorities must have regard to. This can be found here and is attached: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/942014/alternative_provision_statutory_guidance_accessible.pdf.
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 - Shadow Minister (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.
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 - Shadow Minister (Science, Innovation and Technology)
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.
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 - Shadow Minister (Science, Innovation and Technology)
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.