Asked by: Andrew Selous (Conservative - South West Bedfordshire)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether there are any church schools in multi-academy trusts where less than half of the schools in that multi-academy trust are church schools.
Answered by Nadhim Zahawi
As at 1 May 2019, there are 371 Multi-Academy Trusts (MAT) that include church schools. Of these, there are 99 MATs where church schools make up less than half of the academies within that Trust. We have identified church schools as those schools with a religious designation relating to the Christian faith. This includes Church of England, Greek Orthodox, Catholic and non-denominational Christian schools.
Asked by: Andrew Selous (Conservative - South West Bedfordshire)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, pursuant to the Answer of 12 December 2018 to Question 198762 on Children: Protection, what cross-cutting factors his Department has identified as affecting trends in the level of demand for children's services.
Answered by Nadhim Zahawi
The most common factors that present themselves in children’s social care assessments are domestic abuse, neglect and mental health. Data on this is available in Tables B3 and C3 of statistical release ‘Characteristics of children in need 2017-18’ here: https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/characteristics-of-children-in-need-2017-to-2018.
Asked by: Andrew Selous (Conservative - South West Bedfordshire)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment he has made of (a) trends in the level of (i) looked-after children and (ii) child protection plans and (b) the reasons for those trends.
Answered by Nadhim Zahawi
We monitor the number of children looked after and the number of children with child protection plans on an ongoing basis. Figures on the number of looked after children at the 31 March in the last five years are published in Table A1 of statistical release ‘Children looked after in England including adoption: 2017 to 2018’ at https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/children-looked-after-in-england-including-adoption-2017-to-2018.
Figures on the number of children with child protection plans are published in Table A2 of the statistical release ‘Characteristics of children in need 2017-18’ at https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/characteristics-of-children-in-need-2017-to-2018.
The government is working between now and the Spending Review 2019 to get a sharper and more granular picture of demand for children’s services, including the factors that affect this demand, to help ensure that local authorities have the resources they need. The factors that affect these trends are cross-cutting and there is variation between local authorities. We are also working with Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government on the fair funding review of relative needs and resources which is looking in more detail at levels of demand in local authorities.
Asked by: Andrew Selous (Conservative - South West Bedfordshire)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment he has made of the (a) level of harm caused to children and (b) amount of police time expended as a result of the absence of regulations governing over 16 year old children's homes; if he will (i) instruct Ofsted to undertake inspections of those homes and (ii) introduce a fit and proper person test for directors of those homes; and if he will make a statement.
Answered by Nadhim Zahawi
All children’s homes are governed by the same legislation and regulations, regardless of the age of the children they look after. We expect local authorities to safeguard children in their care aged over 16 in the same way they safeguard any looked-after child and for Ofsted to challenge those that are not meeting their duties.
Under the Care Standards Act (2000) and the Children’s Homes (England) Regulations (2015), all providers of children’s homes, including children’s homes catering for young people 16 and over, must be registered with Ofsted and, where the provider is an organisation or partnership, appoint a registered manager. Each individual connected to the registration of a children’s home must have their fitness to practice continually assessed by Ofsted.
We recognise the impact calls from children’s homes can have on police time. We recently published a new ‘National protocol on reducing unnecessary criminalisation of looked-after children and care leavers’: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/national-protocol-on-reducing-criminalisation-of-looked-after-children. This will inform social care providers, including children’s homes, on practice in responding to an incident, and aims to reduce the burden on police caused by unnecessary call-outs for low-level behaviour management and issues we would normally expect a responsible parent to manage without the support of the police.