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Written Question
Carers
Monday 28th November 2022

Asked by: Aaron Bell (Conservative - Newcastle-under-Lyme)

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether her Department has taken recent steps to help support kinship carers.

Answered by Claire Coutinho - Shadow Minister (Equalities)

The department is supporting the Kinship charity to deliver up to 100 peer-to-peer support groups across England to support kinship carers.

The recently published Independent Review of Children’s Social Care set out recommendations on how the government can support kinship families. The department is now considering these recommendations. We are working up a comprehensive response to the recommendations in the Review, which will set out how the department intends to support kinship families.

Written Question
Pupils: Travel
Tuesday 8th November 2022

Asked by: Aaron Bell (Conservative - Newcastle-under-Lyme)

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if his Department will provide additional support to students from low-income families to help pay for journeys to and from their (a) school and (b) other place of education in the 2022-23 academic year, in the context of the rise in inflation.

Answered by Nick Gibb

The Department’s home-to-school transport policy aims to ensure that no child is unable to access education because of a lack of transport. Local authorities must provide free home-to-school transport for children of compulsory school age who attend their nearest school and cannot walk there due to distance, route safety, or as a result of special educational needs, disability or mobility problems. There are additional rights to free transport for low-income families aimed at helping them exercise school choice. These are known as extended rights. Guidance for local authorities on home-to-school transport is available here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/home-to-school-travel-and-transport-guidance.

Local authorities must also publish a transport policy statement each year that sets out the travel arrangements they consider it necessary to make to support young people of sixth form age to attend post-16 education or training. It is for local authorities to decide on the exact level of post-16 transport support in their area, based on local circumstances and priorities. Some young people may be eligible for support from the 16-19 Bursary Fund. Further information can be accessed here: https://www.gov.uk/1619-bursary-fund.

Most central government funding for home to school transport is provided through the Local Government Finance Settlement (LGFS) administered by the Department for Levelling up, Housing and Communities. The LGFS made £54.1 billion available to local authorities in the financial year 2022/23, an increase of up to £3.7 billion on 2021/22. This is the largest cash-terms increase in grant funding provided through the settlement in the past 10 years. The Department also provides grant funding to local authorities as a contribution towards the cost of extended rights transport. This amount is £43.3 million in the 2022/23 financial year.

Speech in Westminster Hall - Tue 23 Nov 2021
Multi-academy Trusts: Ofsted

"I thank my hon. Friend and neighbour for giving way. I thank him for referencing the Shaw Education Trust, which also has schools in my constituency, such as the Orme Academy. Does he agree that one of the benefits of multi-academy trusts is that they can spread best practice from …..."
Aaron Bell - View Speech

View all Aaron Bell (Con - Newcastle-under-Lyme) contributions to the debate on: Multi-academy Trusts: Ofsted
Speech in Commons Chamber - Thu 22 Jul 2021
Awarding Qualifications in 2021 and 2022

"I thank my right hon. Friend for his statement. I agree with what he said and what he just said about exams. I pay tribute to teachers in Newcastle-under-Lyme who have gone above and beyond this academic year, as I know they will next year, to help pupils catch up …..."
Aaron Bell - View Speech

View all Aaron Bell (Con - Newcastle-under-Lyme) contributions to the debate on: Awarding Qualifications in 2021 and 2022
Speech in Commons Chamber - Wed 30 Dec 2020
Education: Return in January

"May I join the Education Secretary in paying tribute to all those working in schools at this difficult time? I welcome his statement and the announcement that all secondary school and college students will receive two rapid tests at the start of the new term to identify asymptomatic cases. However—I …..."
Aaron Bell - View Speech

View all Aaron Bell (Con - Newcastle-under-Lyme) contributions to the debate on: Education: Return in January
Speech in Commons Chamber - Mon 23 Nov 2020
Oral Answers to Questions

"  Will my right hon. Friend join me in praising the staff at Keele University for all they have done to support students, those who have been ill with covid and those who have been self-isolating? Secondly, will he set out what measures his Department is taking to ensure that …..."
Aaron Bell - View Speech

View all Aaron Bell (Con - Newcastle-under-Lyme) contributions to the debate on: Oral Answers to Questions
Speech in Commons Chamber - Tue 29 Sep 2020
Students’ Return to Universities

"Some 2,500 new and returning students arrived at the Keele campus in my constituency in the past week, all accommodated in small and tightly-defined households. I am pleased to say that the vice-chancellor reports no significant issues so far. Will my right hon. Friend join me in welcoming these students …..."
Aaron Bell - View Speech

View all Aaron Bell (Con - Newcastle-under-Lyme) contributions to the debate on: Students’ Return to Universities
Speech in Commons Chamber - Tue 16 Jun 2020
Free School Meals: Summer Holidays

"Further to the point made earlier by my hon. Friend the Member for Mansfield (Ben Bradley), the Government have done a huge amount on free school meals over the past 10 years and we should be proud of that. These are unprecedented measures for unprecedented times, but the best place …..."
Aaron Bell - View Speech

View all Aaron Bell (Con - Newcastle-under-Lyme) contributions to the debate on: Free School Meals: Summer Holidays
Speech in Commons Chamber - Tue 09 Jun 2020
Education Settings: Wider Opening

"Will my right hon. Friend acknowledge the international evidence that looking at the R rate, either locally or regionally, becomes less useful as case numbers fall and that perhaps we should be looking at the prevalence data from the Office for National Statistics? In that light, will he commit to …..."
Aaron Bell - View Speech

View all Aaron Bell (Con - Newcastle-under-Lyme) contributions to the debate on: Education Settings: Wider Opening