Asked by: Tim Farron (Liberal Democrat - Westmorland and Lonsdale)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what plans his Department has made to support a potential increase in the number of children going into care at the end of the covid-19 lockdown.
Answered by Vicky Ford
The government has provided over £3.2 billion of additional funding to support local authorities (LAs) in meeting COVID-19 related pressures, including within children’s social care.
Our latest guidance on children in care is set out below:
https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/coronavirus-covid-19-guidance-for-schools-and-other-educational-settings. We will keep this under very close review over the coming weeks and months to understand pressures and issues as they arise.
We have also committed over £100 million to support access to social care services and remote education, including by providing laptops, tablets and 4G wireless routers to children with a social worker who do not have access to the internet. Further, we have committed additional funding worth £26.4 million directly to charities to support vulnerable and disadvantaged children and £1.6 million to expand the National Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children’s helpline.
In order to ensure engagement with all children and to support effective risk assessment, through emergency legislation and with Social Work England, we have reinstated the professional registration of 8,000 former social workers so that they can re-join the profession, providing additional resource where it is required.
LAs have a statutory duty to ensure that there is sufficient provision in their area to meet the needs of the children in their care. We are committed to supporting local authorities to increase the sufficiency of care placements, having invested part of our £200 million Children’s Social Care Innovation Programme in three projects to increase councils’ capacity and improve their commissioning practice. Additional funding for 2 of these projects was confirmed on 24 April as part of the £12.1 million to support vulnerable children who are most at risk. This is in addition to having funded 7 partnerships to test new approaches to commissioning and sufficiency planning in foster care, worth almost £500,000. We have provided temporary flexibility in the fostering regulations which can be found here:
http://www.legislation.gov.uk/uksi/2020/445/contents/made.
This aims to make it easier for LAs to identify potential placements and ensure new foster carers are assessed and approved without delay.
Asked by: Tim Farron (Liberal Democrat - Westmorland and Lonsdale)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, pursuant to the Answer of 4 May 2020 to Question 40545 on Children's Return to School, what (a) steps his Department is taking with the sector and (b) additional plans he has to work with the sector to determine how children will return to school.
Answered by Nick Gibb
The Department is currently working closely with the sector to determine the best way for schools to open for more pupils when the time is right, in line with the five key tests set out by the Government. There continues to be extensive engagement with teaching unions and other school stakeholder organisations both at a ministerial and official level.
Asked by: Tim Farron (Liberal Democrat - Westmorland and Lonsdale)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, with reference to the Government's social distancing measures in response to covid-19, what steps his Department plans to take to protect public safety when children return to school.
Answered by Nick Gibb
My right hon. Friend, the Secretary of State, has made it clear that schools will only reopen when the scientific advice indicates that it is the right time to do so, based on five key tests.
The Department is working with the sector to ensure we have the right guidance and the right support in place once we are ready to reopen schools, based on the latest scientific advice.
Our latest guidance on implementing social distancing in schools and childcare settings in relation to COVID-19 is set out below:
https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/coronavirus-covid-19-guidance-for-schools-and-other-educational-settings.
These are rapidly developing circumstances. We continue to keep the situation under review and will keep Parliament updated accordingly.
Asked by: Tim Farron (Liberal Democrat - Westmorland and Lonsdale)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether examiners will be paid in full for contracts they have signed relating to exams which were due to take place in summer 2020.
Answered by Nick Gibb
This is a matter for individual examination boards that employ examiners.
Asked by: Tim Farron (Liberal Democrat - Westmorland and Lonsdale)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what plans there are to provide compensation for (a) schools and (b) parents for school trips that have be cancelled due to covid-19 outbreak.
Answered by Nick Gibb
As of 12 March 2020, the Government has been advising all schools and other education settings in England against arranging or undertaking any overseas trips for children under 18.
All schools should check with their travel agent and credit card companies regarding securing refunds in the first instance. If unable to recoup their full costs, those academies signed up to the Risk Protection Arrangement (RPA) for schools should then submit their claims as per the RPA membership pack, and other affected schools should contact their individual insurance company.
Government Covid-19 travel guidance for the education sector can be found at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/guidance-to-educational-settings-about-covid-19/covid-19-travel-guidance-for-the-education-sector.
FCO Covid-19 travel guidance is available at the following link: https://www.gov.uk/foreign-travel-advice.
Asked by: Tim Farron (Liberal Democrat - Westmorland and Lonsdale)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, when the review into support for children with special educational needs will be (a) concluded and (b) published.
Answered by Vicky Ford
This review is ongoing. In announcing that we are reviewing the system of support for children with special educational needs and disabilities, we acknowledged the challenges that the system faces. We are committed to setting out plans to tackle these challenges.
Our reforms in 2014 gave vital support to more children but we know that there have been problems in delivering the changes that we all want to see. It is right that we take the time to consider how we can ensure that there is consistent and joined-up support in different local areas across health, care and education services and that high-quality health and education support is available across the country.
Asked by: Tim Farron (Liberal Democrat - Westmorland and Lonsdale)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what recent assessment he has made of the (a) number of and (b) reasons for children being taken into care.
Answered by Nadhim Zahawi
Information on the number of children who started to be looked after during the year by reason is published in Table C1 in the statistical release ‘Children Looked After in England including Adoption’ at: https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/children-looked-after-in-england-including-adoption-2017-to-2018. Information for children taken into care is shown in the attached tabled.
The government wants every child to be in a stable, loving home that is right for them. One of the key principles of the legislation which underpins the UK’s child protection system, is that children are best looked after within their families. However, that is not always possible and, as a last resort, local authorities can apply to the courts for a care or supervision order where the child is suffering, or is at risk of suffering, significant harm. In making their decisions, the courts must be satisfied that the threshold for significant harm has been met and that taking the child from his or her family’s care will be in the child’s best interests.
Where a child cannot live at home, we must make sure they are safe and receive the highest quality care, which is why we are working hard to improve the social care support for children across England through our reform programme, Putting Children First. We have also established the Children’s Social Care What Works Centre, whose initial research priority focuses on ‘what works in safely reducing the need for children to enter care’.
In the Autumn Budget, my right hon. Friend, the Chancellor of the Exchequer announced an additional £410 million for adult and children’s social care in 2019-20. A further £84 million is also being invested over the next 5 years through the Strengthening Families, Protecting Children programme. This programme will support up to 20 local authorities with high or rising demand for children’s social care services to improve the support offered to vulnerable children and their families. Through this, we aim to enable more children to stay at home thriving in stable family environments, and safely reduce the number of children entering care.
Across the government, we are also tackling the problems that cause children to be in need in the first place. This includes better supporting those with alcohol-dependent parents, the introduction of landmark legislation for those affected by domestic abuse, preventing young people being drawn into serious violence, and unprecedented investment in early years education and support for children and young people’s mental health.
Asked by: Tim Farron (Liberal Democrat - Westmorland and Lonsdale)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps he has taken to reduce the number of children being taken into care; and what assessment he has made of the effectiveness of measures implemented by his Department to support that aim.
Answered by Nadhim Zahawi
Information on the number of children who started to be looked after during the year by reason is published in Table C1 in the statistical release ‘Children Looked After in England including Adoption’ at: https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/children-looked-after-in-england-including-adoption-2017-to-2018. Information for children taken into care is shown in the attached tabled.
The government wants every child to be in a stable, loving home that is right for them. One of the key principles of the legislation which underpins the UK’s child protection system, is that children are best looked after within their families. However, that is not always possible and, as a last resort, local authorities can apply to the courts for a care or supervision order where the child is suffering, or is at risk of suffering, significant harm. In making their decisions, the courts must be satisfied that the threshold for significant harm has been met and that taking the child from his or her family’s care will be in the child’s best interests.
Where a child cannot live at home, we must make sure they are safe and receive the highest quality care, which is why we are working hard to improve the social care support for children across England through our reform programme, Putting Children First. We have also established the Children’s Social Care What Works Centre, whose initial research priority focuses on ‘what works in safely reducing the need for children to enter care’.
In the Autumn Budget, my right hon. Friend, the Chancellor of the Exchequer announced an additional £410 million for adult and children’s social care in 2019-20. A further £84 million is also being invested over the next 5 years through the Strengthening Families, Protecting Children programme. This programme will support up to 20 local authorities with high or rising demand for children’s social care services to improve the support offered to vulnerable children and their families. Through this, we aim to enable more children to stay at home thriving in stable family environments, and safely reduce the number of children entering care.
Across the government, we are also tackling the problems that cause children to be in need in the first place. This includes better supporting those with alcohol-dependent parents, the introduction of landmark legislation for those affected by domestic abuse, preventing young people being drawn into serious violence, and unprecedented investment in early years education and support for children and young people’s mental health.
Asked by: Tim Farron (Liberal Democrat - Westmorland and Lonsdale)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, pursuant to the Answer of 23 April 2019 to Question 243378 on Children: Social Services, what analysis has been (a) carried out and (b) commissioned by his Department to estimate the funding needed by local authorities to meet demand for children’s social care services in each year of the period covered by the forthcoming Spending Review.
Answered by Nadhim Zahawi
My department is working with the sector, the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government (MHCLG) and with HM Treasury, as part of our preparation for the next Spending Review, to understand the level of funding local government needs to meet demand and deliver statutory duties.
My department is also working closely with MHCLG on the Review of Relative Needs and Resources to develop a robust, up-to-date approach to funding distribution for children's services at local government finance settlements.
Asked by: Tim Farron (Liberal Democrat - Westmorland and Lonsdale)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, pursuant to the Answer of 01 April 2019 to Question 237047 on Social Services: Children, what estimate his Department has made of funding needed by local authorities to meet demand for children’s social care services in each year of the period covered by the forthcoming Spending Review.
Answered by Nadhim Zahawi
The government will set out its approach to long-term funding decisions following the publication of the Spending Review.