Asked by: Ranil Jayawardena (Conservative - North East Hampshire)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment she has made of the effectiveness of changes to SEND Regulations in 2014.
Answered by David Johnston - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
As part of the Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND) review, the department examined how the SEND system has evolved since 2014 and how the department could ensure it works best for all families with effective and sustainable use of resources.
During the review, the department heard frequently that, whilst the 2014 reforms had high aspirations and were underpinned by principles that continue to be broadly supported, insufficient attention was paid to their implementation which meant their ambitions were never fully realised.
That is why the department has committed in the SEND and Alternative Provision (AP) Green Paper, and reaffirmed in the SEND and AP Improvement Plan, to support delivery of the new reforms through a £70 million Change Programme which was launched in September 2023. The department is working through nine Change Programme Partnerships, covering 32 local areas, to test and refine key reform proposals and to support local SEND and AP systems across the country to manage local improvement.
Asked by: Ranil Jayawardena (Conservative - North East Hampshire)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment she has made of the need for health services to support local authorities that provide transport to school for children with complex health needs.
Answered by David Johnston - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
The department’s school travel policy aims to make sure that no child is prevented from accessing education by a lack of transport. When a local authority makes travel arrangements for a child with medical needs, they should consider whether and how those needs might affect them during their journey to and from school and, where necessary, put in place proportionate arrangements to manage those needs.
Local authority school travel teams may need to work with local partners to make suitable travel arrangements for children with medical needs, and should be able to expect the support of their local authority’s special educational needs team, local health partners, and the schools to which they arrange travel.
Asked by: Ranil Jayawardena (Conservative - North East Hampshire)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what recent assessment she has made of the effectiveness of the national funding formula for schools and high needs.
Answered by Damian Hinds - Minister of State (Education)
The National Funding Formula (NFF) replaced a system which was unfair, lacked transparency and was out of date. Schools and local areas received very different levels of funding, with little or no justification. By comparison, the NFF distributes funding fairly, based on schools’ and pupils’ needs and characteristics.
Moving to a ‘direct’ NFF, where all schools’ budgets are determined directly by the national formula, will ultimately ensure that mainstream schools in England are funded on a fair and equitable basis. This will complete the reforms started in 2018 when the department first introduced the NFF to ensure all schools were funded on a consistent assessment of need.
The department keeps the formula under review and will consider further whether and when additional changes might be necessary to ensure that our funding system is kept up to date in a way that is fair and is allocating funding where it is needed most.
Asked by: Ranil Jayawardena (Conservative - North East Hampshire)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps she is taking to help ensure that the National Funding Formula for schools reflects the needs of children in Hampshire.
Answered by Damian Hinds - Minister of State (Education)
The National Funding Formula (NFF) distributes funding fairly, based on schools’ and pupils’ needs and characteristics. The NFF includes proxy factors through which pupils with additional needs attract additional funding to their school, such as low prior attainment, socio-economic status, and English as an Additional Language.
Hampshire is attracting an extra £19 million for schools in 2024/25, an increase of 2.0% per pupil (excluding growth funding) through the schools NFF compared to 2023/24, and an increase of 13.3% per pupil compared to 2021/22. This takes total funding for 2024/25 in Hampshire to over £986 million, based on current pupil numbers. Final allocations for 2024/25 will be announced in December 2024.
All schools will receive additional funding, beyond that provided through the NFF, through the Teachers Pay Additional Grant (TPAG) in the 2024/25 financial year. A typical primary school with 200 pupils might be receiving around £20,000 through the TPAG in 2024/25, and a typical secondary school with 900 pupils might be receiving around £100,000.
Asked by: Ranil Jayawardena (Conservative - North East Hampshire)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment she has made of the potential impact of providing early intervention services on the number of children that require EHCPs.
Answered by David Johnston - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
The Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND) and Alternative Provision (AP) Improvement Plan, published March 2023, set out the department’s plans to deliver an inclusive system with improved, high-quality mainstream provision where children and young people have their needs identified early and can access prompt, evidence-based, targeted support. This will mean that more children and young people can have their needs met, without the need to rely on an Education, Health and Care plan to get the support they need. Our plan includes testing approaches to early intervention services through, for example, a Speech, Language and Communication Needs pilot, the Early Language Support for Every Child, co-funded with NHS England.
Asked by: Ranil Jayawardena (Conservative - North East Hampshire)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what progress her Department has made on introducing early intervention services for children without an education, health and care plan.
Answered by David Johnston - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
The Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND) and Alternative Provision (AP) Improvement Plan, published March 2023, set out the department’s plans to deliver an inclusive system with improved, high-quality mainstream provision where children and young people have their needs identified early and can access prompt, evidence-based, targeted support. This will mean that more children and young people can have their needs met, without the need to rely on an Education, Health and Care plan to get the support they need. Our plan includes testing approaches to early intervention services through, for example, a Speech, Language and Communication Needs pilot, the Early Language Support for Every Child, co-funded with NHS England.
Asked by: Ranil Jayawardena (Conservative - North East Hampshire)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment she has made of the potential merits of providing funding for education, health and care plan support for children with SEND at independent schools.
Answered by David Johnston - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
Local authorities have the flexibility to place children and young people with Education, Health and Care (EHC) plans in independent schools. Where they choose to do so, the local authority must fund the cost of the placement. In January 2023, local authorities placed 21,324 children and young people in independent special schools and 6,337 in other independent schools.
Asked by: Ranil Jayawardena (Conservative - North East Hampshire)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what estimate she has made on the number of false or malicious reports to social services since May 2022.
Answered by Claire Coutinho - Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero
The government considers any malicious reporting and false claims made to children’s social care as completely unacceptable. It is a cruel practice, a terrible ordeal for the families affected, and can distract services from undertaking vital child protection work.
However, it is right that people should remain able to flag concerns about children they believe to be vulnerable, and that social services fulfil their duty to treat each safeguarding case seriously and to undertake enquiries if they believe a child has suffered or is likely to suffer harm. Therefore government is not currently looking to make false or malicious reports to social services a criminal offence.
The information requested on the number of false or malicious reports to social services is not held by the department.
Asked by: Ranil Jayawardena (Conservative - North East Hampshire)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether her Department has taken steps to make false or malicious reports to social services a criminal offence.
Answered by Claire Coutinho - Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero
The government considers any malicious reporting and false claims made to children’s social care as completely unacceptable. It is a cruel practice, a terrible ordeal for the families affected, and can distract services from undertaking vital child protection work.
However, it is right that people should remain able to flag concerns about children they believe to be vulnerable, and that social services fulfil their duty to treat each safeguarding case seriously and to undertake enquiries if they believe a child has suffered or is likely to suffer harm. Therefore government is not currently looking to make false or malicious reports to social services a criminal offence.
The information requested on the number of false or malicious reports to social services is not held by the department.
Asked by: Ranil Jayawardena (Conservative - North East Hampshire)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if she will make an assessment of the potential effectiveness of new vape detectors in helping schools prevent vaping on school grounds.
Answered by Nick Gibb
Schools are required by law to have a behaviour policy that sets out what is expected of all pupils, including which items are banned from school premises.
The Department trusts headteachers to develop tailored behaviour policies which reflect their school’s individual contexts and needs, and decide themselves the best methods to enforce these policies.