Asked by: Rosena Allin-Khan (Labour - Tooting)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment she has made of the potential impact of increases in Social Work England registration fees on social workers.
Answered by Janet Daby
Social Work England (SWE) fees have remained static since it became the regulator in 2019. The increase was agreed after a consultation exercise undertaken by SWE. Social Work England released an equality impact assessment alongside their consultation response.
Registration and renewal fees have not increased since 2015, and whilst we appreciate that many people, social workers included, may be experiencing financial difficulties, the decision to increase fees brings the fee in line with inflation and better balances the relationship between grant-in-aid and fee income. This will ensure a balanced and stable funding base to fulfil SWE’s regulatory responsibilities to protect and serve the public.
Social workers may be able to claim tax relief on professional member fees. Details on how to do this are available here: https://www.gov.uk/tax-relief-for-employees/professional-fees-and-subscriptions.
Additionally, social workers have the option to pay registration and renewal fees in full or in two instalments in October and the following April.
Asked by: Rosena Allin-Khan (Labour - Tooting)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether she has taken recent steps to support social workers, in the context of increases in Social Work England registration fees.
Answered by Janet Daby
Social Work England (SWE) fees have remained static since it became the regulator in 2019. The increase was agreed after a consultation exercise undertaken by SWE. Social Work England released an equality impact assessment alongside their consultation response.
Registration and renewal fees have not increased since 2015, and whilst we appreciate that many people, social workers included, may be experiencing financial difficulties, the decision to increase fees brings the fee in line with inflation and better balances the relationship between grant-in-aid and fee income. This will ensure a balanced and stable funding base to fulfil SWE’s regulatory responsibilities to protect and serve the public.
Social workers may be able to claim tax relief on professional member fees. Details on how to do this are available here: https://www.gov.uk/tax-relief-for-employees/professional-fees-and-subscriptions.
Additionally, social workers have the option to pay registration and renewal fees in full or in two instalments in October and the following April.
Asked by: Rosena Allin-Khan (Labour - Tooting)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if she will make an assessment of the potential impact of the expiration of the Adoption and Special Guardianship Support Fund on foster (a) carers and (b) children.
Answered by Janet Daby
On 1 April, the department announced that the adoption and special guardianship support fund (ASGSF) would continue into 2025/26, with a budget of £50 million. A further announcement about arrangements for applications will be made as soon as possible. We remain committed to supporting families, who play an essential role in providing stable and loving homes for children in need. This funding will enable eligible families to apply for support in the coming year.
The ASGSF provides support for adopted children and those under special guardianship or child arrangement orders. The only group of foster carers and foster children who can access the ASGSF are those on the ‘foster to adopt’ pathway, where the plan is for the foster carer to adopt the child they are caring for if the court makes a placement order. Foster carers who obtain a special guardianship order can also ask that an application be made to the fund for a child they previously fostered.
Asked by: Rosena Allin-Khan (Labour - Tooting)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps she is taking to widen access to postgraduate education.
Answered by Janet Daby
The department will act to address the persistent gaps for different student groups and to break down the barriers to opportunity.
The government introduced postgraduate loans which, alongside other sources of funding, are a contribution to the cost of postgraduate level study to stimulate take-up.
Decisions on student finance have had to be taken to ensure the system remains financially sustainable and that the costs of higher education (HE) are shared fairly between students and taxpayers, not all of whom have benefited from going to university.
The department will set out this government’s longer term plan for HE reform by summer 2025.
From 1 October 2025, UK Research and Innovation (UKRI) is increasing the minimum stipend they pay to PhD students by 8% to £20,780. This is the largest real terms increase in the stipend for UKRI funded students since 2003.
Skills England will reset the government’s approach to skills in England, making sure skills are prioritised in government decision making. Shadow Skills England is currently bringing together up-to-date analysis and engagement with key partners to identify and fill skills gaps at all levels of education, including at postgraduate level, particularly for under-represented groups, with the aim of breaking down the barriers to opportunity and driving growth.
Asked by: Rosena Allin-Khan (Labour - Tooting)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps she is taking to reduce decision times for qualified teacher status applications.
Answered by Catherine McKinnell
Since 2021, the end-to-end process for becoming a teacher has been managed through the department’s digital services. This means that we have access to real-time recruitment data which allows us to identify the challenges that candidates are facing. From this data, we know that the longer it takes for an initial teacher training (ITT) provider to respond to a candidate, the more likely they are to drop-out.
To alleviate this, the department has set out the need for timely responses to candidate applications in the ITT criteria and we encourage providers to respond to candidates within 30 working days. The department’s digital services have also made it quicker and easier for ITT providers to manage and process their applications.
Additionally, the department has implemented changes to encourage providers to make more timely decisions. Now, if a candidate does not receive a response to their application within 30 days, they will be allowed to apply to a different ITT provider. We have also developed weekly performance reports, which allow providers to compare their recruitment performance to national averages.
The department is aware that large volumes of applications can impact a provider’s ability to respond to applications quickly. That is why we implemented functionality last cycle, to prevent candidates from applying to courses that they are ineligible for.
Asked by: Rosena Allin-Khan (Labour - Tooting)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps her Department is taking to improve the affordability of childcare for families ineligible for free childcare for working parents.
Answered by Stephen Morgan - Government Whip, Lord Commissioner of HM Treasury
Ensuring that parents are able to access affordable and high quality childcare is a priority for this government. Our focus in reforming the system will be to ensure that there are greater and more equal opportunities to access early education for every family, and that there are greater opportunities for children to thrive and develop. As an initial step, we are progressing work to deliver new places in 3,000 nurseries through upgrading space in primary schools.
Families that are not eligible for the childcare entitlements for working parents may be entitled to other forms of support, including the 15 hours entitlement for disadvantaged two year olds and the 15 hours universal entitlement for three and four year olds. The universal entitlement is available to all parents of three and four year olds, regardless of income or immigration status. In terms of the disadvantaged two year olds entitlement, parents do not need to work to claim this entitlement. However, they will need to be claiming certain benefits and have a household net income of less than £15,400 per year. All two year olds with an education, health and care (EHC) plan, those in receipt of Disability Living Allowance (DLA) and looked after children are eligible regardless of household income. Some two year olds with ‘no recourse to public funds’ immigration status may also be eligible subject to different income thresholds.
Working families claiming universal credit can also claim up to 84% of the childcare costs back through Universal Credit Childcare. This offer can be used alongside the entitlements set out above.
We will be undertaking a comprehensive evaluation programme of the expansion of childcare entitlements for working parents which will explore how families not eligible for the new entitlements experience finding and accessing childcare, including the associated costs. Further, the impact evaluation will assess how the expansion has impacted upon the quality of childcare provision and children’s development, for all children, and wider family outcomes. As per Government Social Research guidelines, evaluation findings will be available within 12 weeks of the projects being finalised. We expect the first to be available from spring 2026.
Asked by: Rosena Allin-Khan (Labour - Tooting)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment she has made of the adequacy of the provision of maintained nursery schools in (a) Wandsworth and (b) England.
Answered by Stephen Morgan - Government Whip, Lord Commissioner of HM Treasury
Maintained nursery schools (MNS) are a valuable part of early years provision. There are 381 MNS as at January 2024. They are predominantly located in disadvantaged areas.
Additional supplementary funding is provided to local authorities for MNS in their areas. In the 2024/25 financial year, the initial budget for MNS supplementary funding is £82.6 million, subject to final budget update. The national average hourly rate for MNS supplementary funding is £5.27, the minimum supplementary funding rate is £4.64 and the cap on the hourly rate is £10.
Ensuring that parents are able to access affordable and high-quality childcare is a priority for the department. This includes delivering new nursery provision in primary schools to help deliver the expansion in childcare entitlements and ensuring that a variety of different types of provision are available that suit the needs of different parents. The department is continuing to monitor the sufficiency of childcare places.
The key measure of sufficiency is whether the supply of available places is sufficient to meet the requirements of parents and children. The department’s Childcare and Early Years Provider Survey shows that the number of places available has remained broadly stable since 2019. Under Section 6 of the Childcare Act 2006, local authorities are responsible for ensuring that the provision of childcare is sufficient to meet the requirements of parents in their area.
The department has regular contact with each local authority in England about their sufficiency of childcare and any issues they are facing. Where local authorities report sufficiency challenges, the department will discuss what action they are taking to address those issues, and where needed, the department will support the local authority with any specific requirements through our childcare sufficiency support contract.
Where a MNS does close, or is merged with a school, what replaces it must be of equal quantity, preserve expertise and specialisms, and it must be more accessible and convenient for local parents. The department has not received any reports on sufficiency challenges in Wandsworth.
Asked by: Rosena Allin-Khan (Labour - Tooting)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment she has made of the potential merits of supporting maintained nursery schools.
Answered by Stephen Morgan - Government Whip, Lord Commissioner of HM Treasury
Maintained nursery schools (MNS) are a valuable part of early years provision. There are 381 MNS as at January 2024. They are predominantly located in disadvantaged areas.
Additional supplementary funding is provided to local authorities for MNS in their areas. In the 2024/25 financial year, the initial budget for MNS supplementary funding is £82.6 million, subject to final budget update. The national average hourly rate for MNS supplementary funding is £5.27, the minimum supplementary funding rate is £4.64 and the cap on the hourly rate is £10.
Ensuring that parents are able to access affordable and high-quality childcare is a priority for the department. This includes delivering new nursery provision in primary schools to help deliver the expansion in childcare entitlements and ensuring that a variety of different types of provision are available that suit the needs of different parents. The department is continuing to monitor the sufficiency of childcare places.
The key measure of sufficiency is whether the supply of available places is sufficient to meet the requirements of parents and children. The department’s Childcare and Early Years Provider Survey shows that the number of places available has remained broadly stable since 2019. Under Section 6 of the Childcare Act 2006, local authorities are responsible for ensuring that the provision of childcare is sufficient to meet the requirements of parents in their area.
The department has regular contact with each local authority in England about their sufficiency of childcare and any issues they are facing. Where local authorities report sufficiency challenges, the department will discuss what action they are taking to address those issues, and where needed, the department will support the local authority with any specific requirements through our childcare sufficiency support contract.
Where a MNS does close, or is merged with a school, what replaces it must be of equal quantity, preserve expertise and specialisms, and it must be more accessible and convenient for local parents. The department has not received any reports on sufficiency challenges in Wandsworth.
Asked by: Rosena Allin-Khan (Labour - Tooting)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how much funding her Department has provided to each school in Tooting constituency in each year since 2010.
Answered by Nick Gibb
Individual schools' core revenue funding allocations have been published on GOV.UK. These include core budget allocations determined by the local funding formula in their area, and a number of other revenue funding streams, including the Pupil Premium and the mainstream schools additional grant.
The allocations back to 2013/14 can be found at the links below. Data is not readily available for the years prior to this.
2022-23 - https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/find-statistics/school-funding-statistics.
2018-19 - https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/schools-block-funding-allocations-2018-to-2019.
2017-18 - https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/schools-block-funding-allocations-2017-to-2018.
2016-17 - https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/schools-block-funding-allocations-2016-to-2017.
2015-16 - https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/schools-block-funding-allocations-2015-to-2016.
2014-15 - https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/schools-block-funding-allocations-2014-to-2015.
2013-14 - https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/schools-block-funding-allocations-2013-to-2014.
Asked by: Rosena Allin-Khan (Labour - Tooting)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many children with SEND living in Tooting constituency are not in formal education.
Answered by David Johnston
The department holds data on the number of children and young people with an Education, Health and Care (EHC) plan; including the setting in which the child or young person is typically educated, or where they are not in education or training for any reason. The information is available in the National Statistics publication, which is available at: https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/find-statistics/education-health-and-care-plans
The data can be broken down by region and local authority. Data is not available by parliamentary constituency.