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Written Question
Schools: Mental Health Services
Wednesday 27th March 2024

Asked by: Rachael Maskell (Labour (Co-op) - York Central)

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether she has made an assessment of the potential merits of using the Boxall profile measurement tool to help measure the social emotional mental health and wellbeing of school pupils.

Answered by David Johnston - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)

The department is committed to ensuring schools are safe, calm and supportive environments, which promote and support mental health and wellbeing.

Measuring pupil wellbeing can help schools to identify need and monitor the impact of policies and interventions, which is one of the core principles of the whole school approach to mental health and wellbeing recommended by the department. The department is offering every school and college a grant to train a senior mental health lead who can oversee this approach and has recently commissioned a Mental health lead resource hub which has a variety of relevant measurement tools, including the Boxall profile. More information can be found at: https://mentallyhealthyschools.org.uk/whole-school-or-college-resources/.

As set out in the Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND) and Alternative Provision (AP) Improvement Plan, the department is also developing practitioner standards for frontline education staff, setting out the best available evidence of what works for identifying and supporting the needs of children and young people with special educational needs, including social, emotional and mental health, across early years, schools and post-16 education.


Written Question
Special Educational Needs: Care Homes
Tuesday 26th March 2024

Asked by: Rachael Maskell (Labour (Co-op) - York Central)

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps she is taking to help reduce the use of out of area residential accommodation for children with additional needs.

Answered by David Johnston - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)

The needs of the child are paramount when deciding the right care placement. Though the department wants to reduce out of area placements, sometimes circumstances make it the right decision for a child to be placed elsewhere, for example when they are at risk from domestic abuse, sexual exploitation, trafficking or gang violence.

Moving a child away is not a decision to be taken lightly, and there are legislative safeguards around this. Directors of Children’s Services are required to sign off each such decision, and Ofsted can challenge where they believe poor decisions are being made. This is to encourage local authorities to place children locally wherever possible.

The department recognises, however, that there are issues in the placement market, which is why the department has announced over £400 million in capital funding to help local authorities create more beds in their local areas. This will help create 560 additional placements across England.

The department is also investing £36 million this parliament to deliver a fostering recruitment and retention programme so that foster care is available for more children who need it. This will boost approvals of foster carers, as well as taking steps to retain the carers already in place.


Written Question
Children in Care: Supported Housing
Tuesday 26th March 2024

Asked by: Rachael Maskell (Labour (Co-op) - York Central)

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what progress her Department has made on ending the use of unregulated accommodation for children.

Answered by David Johnston - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)

Every child growing up in care should have a stable, secure environment where they feel supported. In October 2023, the department introduced The Supported Accommodation (England) Regulations 2023. These regulations set out national standards that are required to be met for semi-independent accommodation, now known as ‘supported accommodation’, regulated against by Ofsted. This means for the first time all provision offering care and support for under-18s is required to be registered and regulated with Ofsted.

The national standards will ensure that supported accommodation provision is more consistently of the high quality that the department expects, delivering lasting change for children in care and care leavers. The regulations also empower Ofsted to take action against poor quality and unregistered providers.

Introduction of the standards was part of a programme of reforms to drive up quality and improve consistency within previously unregulated accommodation provision. The reforms also included the prohibition of children aged under 16 being placed in independent or semi-independent accommodation from 9 September 2021.


Written Question
Holidays: Children and Young People
Tuesday 26th March 2024

Asked by: Rachael Maskell (Labour (Co-op) - York Central)

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if she will have discussions with Ofsted on steps it is taking to (a) take account of and (b) reward inclusion of children and young people when inspecting residential holiday schemes for disabled children.

Answered by David Johnston - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)

Ofsted currently inspects residential holiday schemes for disabled children against the Social Care Common Inspection Framework (SCCIF). The department also publishes the Residential Holiday Schemes for Disabled Children National Minimum Standards. All settings should ensure they satisfy these standards. They include child focussed standards that promote inclusive behaviours. The department will have discussions with Ofsted to ensure the National Minimum Standards remain appropriate for these settings and allow inclusion to be considered appropriately in inspections of residential holiday schemes for disabled children.


Written Question
Special Educational Needs
Monday 25th March 2024

Asked by: Rachael Maskell (Labour (Co-op) - York Central)

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps she is taking to ensure that her Department works with (a) local authorities and (b) the Department of Health and Social Care to provide joined up services for children with SEND.

Answered by David Johnston - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)

Local authorities already have existing statutory responsibilities to develop, publish and review the special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) local offer, to ensure that the range of provision and services available in their local area are sufficient and well suited to the needs of children with SEND.

In the SEND and Alternative Provision (AP) Improvement Plan, the department have committed to establishing new local SEND and AP partnerships, convened by the local authority, that will bring together local partners to strategically plan and commission support for children and young people with SEND and AP. SEND and AP partnerships are a collaborative network of individuals, including health commissioners and education providers, who are working together to strategically plan SEND services. They will be underpinned by strengthened accountabilities and improved use of data for all those responsible for local delivery.

Moreover, the department has established a steering group to oversee a joint Department for Education and Department of Health and Social Care approach to SEND workforce planning. This feeds into the National SEND and AP Implementation Board and aims to be complete by 2025. The work will build on the NHS Long Term Workforce Plan published in June 2023, which sets out the steps the NHS and its partners need to take to deliver an NHS workforce that meets the changing needs of the population over the next 15 years.

The Improvement Plan also committed to the Change Programme which was launched in September 2023, and is testing key SEND and AP reforms with 32 local authorities in each of the 9 regions. The department, working with its Delivery Partner, Reaching Excellence and Ambition for all Children (REACh), are providing these local authorities with ‘boots on the ground’ support for the testing of these reforms. We are also running a live feedback loop that is providing early insights into how the reforms and supporting documents are working and identifying required changes.


Written Question
Teaching Methods
Monday 25th March 2024

Asked by: Rachael Maskell (Labour (Co-op) - York Central)

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether she has made an assessment of the potential merits of using nurture teaching methods in classrooms.

Answered by Damian Hinds - Minister of State (Education)

Every state-funded school must offer a broad and balanced curriculum which supports every child to fulfil their potential. The department encourages schools to deliver this using effective and evidence-based teaching practices, drawing on resources such as the Education Endowment Foundation’s Teaching and Learning Toolkit.

The department does not endorse any one approach to behaviour management over another and it trusts school leaders to develop policies which reflect their school’s individual needs. The department’s ‘Behaviour in Schools’ guidance focuses on helping schools to establish calm, safe and supportive environments by creating positive cultures which work for everyone.


Written Question
Special Educational Needs
Monday 25th March 2024

Asked by: Rachael Maskell (Labour (Co-op) - York Central)

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps she is taking to ensure that local authorities are more involved in the delivery of (a) education and (b) health services for children with SEND.

Answered by David Johnston - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)

Local authorities already have existing statutory responsibilities to develop, publish and review the special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) local offer, to ensure that the range of provision and services available in their local area are sufficient and well suited to the needs of children with SEND.

In the SEND and Alternative Provision (AP) Improvement Plan, the department have committed to establishing new local SEND and AP partnerships, convened by the local authority, that will bring together local partners to strategically plan and commission support for children and young people with SEND and AP. SEND and AP partnerships are a collaborative network of individuals, including health commissioners and education providers, who are working together to strategically plan SEND services. They will be underpinned by strengthened accountabilities and improved use of data for all those responsible for local delivery.

Moreover, the department has established a steering group to oversee a joint Department for Education and Department of Health and Social Care approach to SEND workforce planning. This feeds into the National SEND and AP Implementation Board and aims to be complete by 2025. The work will build on the NHS Long Term Workforce Plan published in June 2023, which sets out the steps the NHS and its partners need to take to deliver an NHS workforce that meets the changing needs of the population over the next 15 years.

The Improvement Plan also committed to the Change Programme which was launched in September 2023, and is testing key SEND and AP reforms with 32 local authorities in each of the 9 regions. The department, working with its Delivery Partner, Reaching Excellence and Ambition for all Children (REACh), are providing these local authorities with ‘boots on the ground’ support for the testing of these reforms. We are also running a live feedback loop that is providing early insights into how the reforms and supporting documents are working and identifying required changes.


Written Question
Special Educational Needs
Friday 22nd March 2024

Asked by: Rachael Maskell (Labour (Co-op) - York Central)

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what recent discussions she has had with local authorities on allocating school places to children with SEND based on the level of support available.

Answered by David Johnston - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)

The statutory duty to provide sufficient school places, including for pupils with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND), sits with local authorities. The department allocates funding to support local authorities to meet this duty and has allocated over £1.5 billion of High Needs Provision Capital Allocations (HNPCA) for the 2022/23 and 2023/24 financial years.

This funding can be used to deliver new places in mainstream and special schools, as well as other specialist settings, and to improve the suitability and accessibility of existing buildings, local authorities can spend the funding across the 0-25 age range, including in special post-16 institutions or other further education settings. The need for investment across this age range will differ between different local authorities, dependent on local circumstances, and it is therefore for local authorities to determine how to best prioritise their available funding to address their local priorities.

Through our reforms, we want to ensure that placements for children and young people with SEND are sufficient to meet need, allowing them to access the right support, in the right setting, at the right time.

In the SEND and alternative provision (AP) Improvement Plan the department set out proposals to support parents and carers, or young people from the age of 16, to express an informed preference for a suitable placement, by requiring local authorities to provide a tailored list of settings that are appropriate to meet a child or young person’s needs. Tailored lists are about illustrating choice for parents and young people by providing detailed, relevant information about suitable placements. We are testing an advisory version of the tailored list proposal in participating local authorities through the Change Programme, to gain feedback on the best way to support families as they choose a placement.

In addition, we will establish new local SEND and AP partnerships which will bring together delivery partners across local systems to strategically plan and commission support for children and young people with SEND and in AP. The partnerships will be expected to co-produce a Local Area Inclusion Plan based on robust evidence that will explain how the needs of children and young people in the area will be met.


Written Question
Alternative Education
Friday 22nd March 2024

Asked by: Rachael Maskell (Labour (Co-op) - York Central)

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps she is taking to help provide alternative learning opportunities for cases of school refusal among children.

Answered by David Johnston - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)

Local authorities have the responsibility for arranging and providing suitable alternative provision for children of compulsory schooling age unable to receive their education in school due to ill health, under section 19 of the Education Act.

The department expects and encourages schools to work with families or carers and with the child themselves to arrange and put in place suitable provision that will help the child re-engage in education.

If a school believes they can no longer support the child’s needs, the local authority should arrange alternative provision that will provide suitable education and targeted support to help the child overcome their barriers to learning and to re-engage back into mainstream schooling.

The department’s ‘Working together to improve school attendance’ guidance also makes clear that schools and local authorities should be taking a ‘support first’ approach to attendance challenges.


Written Question
Childcare: Costs
Friday 22nd March 2024

Asked by: Rachael Maskell (Labour (Co-op) - York Central)

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether she has had discussions with the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions on the (a) affordability of childcare and (b) potential impact of conditionality requirements for benefits on people's ability to afford childcare.

Answered by David Johnston - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)

Officials across the Department for Education and Department for Work and Pensions continue to work closely and extensively together to ensure that families in receipt of benefits are not disadvantaged in any way in accessing childcare.

Childcare is a vital enabler for parents to work. By the 2027/28 financial year, this government will expect to be spending more than £8 billion every year on free childcare hours and early education, helping working families with their childcare costs. This represents the single biggest investment in childcare in England ever, and is set to save working families using the full 30 funded hours up to £6,500 per year from when their child is nine months until they are five years old by September 2025. By 2027/28, the Office for Budget Responsibility expects around 60,000 parents to enter employment, and for there to be an equivalent effect on the 1.5 million mothers of young children already in work, increasing their hours by a small amount.

In addition to the expanded entitlements, the government has also taken action to support parents on Universal Credit with childcare costs upfront when they need it, rather than in arrears. The department has increased support for these parents by increasing the childcare cost maximum amounts to £950 for one child and £1,629 for two children. This is an increase from the current rate of up to 70% in the Tax Credit and Universal Credit systems. Families will benefit from the decision to increase the rate of childcare costs support from 70% to 85% and will get more out of the money they earn.