Asked by: Alexander Stafford (Conservative - Rother Valley)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps he is taking to support (a) pupils and (b) families who are the victims of discrimination in schools.
Answered by Will Quince
The government condemns and strives to tackle all forms of discrimination, prejudice, and harassment. Under the Equality Act 2010, schools have a duty to take steps to eliminate discrimination, harassment, victimisation, to advance equality of opportunity and foster good relations across all protected characteristics, including between people of different ethnic backgrounds. The department has published advice to support schools to fulfil their duties under the Equality Act 2010. Advice can be found here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/equality-act-2010-advice-for-schools?msclkid=9ce22dddcc5d11ec9a0a2d6e2fd0a666.
The department is also making sure that all children in England will learn about respectful relationships, in person and online, as part of mandatory relationships, sex and health education (RSHE). The curriculum has a strong focus on equality, respect, the harmful impact of stereotyping, as well as the importance of valuing difference. Guidance can be found here: https://www.gov.uk/guidance/teaching-about-relationships-sex-and-health.
The department is also providing over £2 million of funding, between 10 August 2021 and 31 March 2023, to five anti-bullying organisations to support schools to tackle bullying. This includes projects targeting bullying of particular groups, such as those who are victims of hate-related bullying.
The department continues to publish information, guidance and support for teachers and school leaders on how to challenge radical views, including racist and discriminatory beliefs, on the Educate Against Hate website, available at: https://educateagainsthate.com/resources/respectful-school-communities-self-review-signposting-tool-2/.
Asked by: Alexander Stafford (Conservative - Rother Valley)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps he is taking to help reduce ethnicity-based bullying in schools.
Answered by Brendan Clarke-Smith
The government condemns and strives to tackle all forms of racial discrimination, prejudice, and harassment.
All schools are required to have a behaviour policy by law, with measures to prevent all forms of bullying. The department provides advice for schools, which outlines schools’ responsibilities: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/preventing-and-tackling-bullying. The advice makes clear that schools should make appropriate provision for a bullied child's social, emotional and mental health needs.
The department is providing over £2 million of funding, between 10 August 2021 and 31 March 2023, to five anti-bullying organisations to support schools to tackle bullying. This includes projects targeting bullying of particular groups, such as those who are victims of ethnic-based bullying or hate-related bullying.
We are also making sure that all children in England will learn about respectful relationships, in person and online, as part of mandatory Relationships, Sex and Health Education (RSHE). These subjects are designed to give pupils the knowledge they need to lead happy, safe, and healthy lives and to foster respect for other people and for difference. The statutory RSHE guidance can be found here: https://www.gov.uk/guidance/teaching-about-relationships-sex-and-health.
We have published ‘Respectful School Communities’, a self-review and signposting tool to support schools to develop a whole-school approach which promotes respect and discipline, available here: https://educateagainsthate.com/resources/respectful-school-communities-self-review-signposting-tool-2/ This can help to combat bullying, harassment and prejudice of any kind, including ethnicity-based bullying.
Asked by: Alexander Stafford (Conservative - Rother Valley)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps he is taking to ensure every (a) disabled child, (b) young person and (c) their families receive the social care support they need.
Answered by Will Quince
I refer my hon. Friend, the Member for Rother Valley, to the answer I gave on 25 May 2022 to Question 3798.
Asked by: Alexander Stafford (Conservative - Rother Valley)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps he is taking through the SEND Green Paper to ensure that every family with a disabled child receives the social care support they need.
Answered by Will Quince
The Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND) and Alternative Provision (AP) Green Paper aims to ensure the right support is delivered for children and young people with SEND. The government is proposing to introduce national standards for how needs are assessed, identified, and met across education, health and care in order to drive greater national consistency. There is a clear focus on SEND in health workforce planning, new analysis will be commissioned into the level of demand for relevant health services for those with SEND.
There are also a number of measures in the green paper to strengthen accountability, including proposed new local and national dashboards which will set out performance data and metrics for education, health, and care. The Green Paper also sets out that statutory guidance will be produced clarifying that statutory responsibilities for SEND must be delegated to an ICB (Integrated Care Boards) Executive Lead and that The Health and Care Act provides intervention powers for NHS England where ICBs are found to be failing to deliver their statutory duties. The Green Paper is open for consultation until 22 July and the government will publish a national SEND and AP delivery plan later this year setting out the government's response to the consultation and how change will be implemented in detail.
The Independent Review of Children’s Social Care has also now published its final report, making a number of recommendations on the support that disabled children should receive. To respond to this review, the department will publish a detailed and ambitious implementation strategy later this year. The government is committed to aligning this with the SEND and AP reforms so that we build a coherent system with the best interest of all vulnerable children at its heart.