Asked by: Caroline Lucas (Green Party - Brighton, Pavilion)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, with reference to the Answer of 26 April 2022 to Question 154193, on Mental Health Services: Children, if he will make additional funding available for the 75 per cent of schools and colleges who will not supported by mental health support teams by 2022-23 to provide professional counselling for their pupils.
Answered by Will Quince
As a department, we are committed to building education providers’ capability to create safe, calm, and supportive environments for children and young people, where they can access mental health and wellbeing support if and when they need it.
The department recognises professional counselling can form an important part of an education providers’ approach to mental wellbeing, and we have set a strong expectation in our ‘Counselling in schools: a blueprint for the future’ guidance that over time, all schools will offer counselling services to their pupils. This guidance is available here: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/497825/Counselling_in_schools.pdf.
Many children and young people also benefit from other in-school support, including from trained pastoral staff, educational psychologists and Emotional Literacy Support Assistants, who may offer a range of therapies. It is vital that schools and colleges continue to have the freedom to choose what support to offer their pupils based on need.
Schools can use the additional £1 billion of recovery premium funding announced in the autumn, on top of pupil premium funding, and their increased core budget to support their pupils’ mental health and wellbeing, including for counselling or other therapeutic services.
To support schools and colleges to introduce effective approaches to mental health and wellbeing, the department has committed to offer all state schools and colleges a grant to train a senior mental health lead by 2025. Over 8,000 schools and colleges, which includes half of all state-funded secondary schools in England, have taken up the offer so far, which has been backed by £9.5 million in the 2021/21 financial year. On 12 May, the department announced an additional £7 million to extend senior mental health lead training to even more schools and college to meet our ambition of reaching two-thirds of eligible education providers by 2023, bringing the total amount of funding for the 2022/23 financial year to £10 million.
As part of the training, senior leaders will be equipped with the knowledge and skills to understand the mental health needs of their student population and consider the range of in-school provision needed, such as counselling services.
Information on progress introducing Mental Health Support Teams is included in a report published on 12 May 2022, which follows the news that more than 2.4 million children and young people now have access to support in schools and colleges. This report is available here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/transforming-children-and-young-peoples-mental-health-provision. NHS England has also announced that over 500 teams will be confirmed this year, which will surpass the government’s original ambition to have 400 teams in place by April 2023. This article is available here: https://www.england.nhs.uk/2022/05/nhs-fast-tracks-mental-health-support-for-millions-of-pupils/.
Asked by: Caroline Lucas (Green Party - Brighton, Pavilion)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, with reference to the Answer of 26 April 2022 to Question 154193, on Mental Health Services: Children, what funding is available to the 75 per cent of schools and colleges who will not be supported by mental health support teams by 2022-23 to provide professional counselling for their pupils.
Answered by Will Quince
As a department, we are committed to building education providers’ capability to create safe, calm, and supportive environments for children and young people, where they can access mental health and wellbeing support if and when they need it.
The department recognises professional counselling can form an important part of an education providers’ approach to mental wellbeing, and we have set a strong expectation in our ‘Counselling in schools: a blueprint for the future’ guidance that over time, all schools will offer counselling services to their pupils. This guidance is available here: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/497825/Counselling_in_schools.pdf.
Many children and young people also benefit from other in-school support, including from trained pastoral staff, educational psychologists and Emotional Literacy Support Assistants, who may offer a range of therapies. It is vital that schools and colleges continue to have the freedom to choose what support to offer their pupils based on need.
Schools can use the additional £1 billion of recovery premium funding announced in the autumn, on top of pupil premium funding, and their increased core budget to support their pupils’ mental health and wellbeing, including for counselling or other therapeutic services.
To support schools and colleges to introduce effective approaches to mental health and wellbeing, the department has committed to offer all state schools and colleges a grant to train a senior mental health lead by 2025. Over 8,000 schools and colleges, which includes half of all state-funded secondary schools in England, have taken up the offer so far, which has been backed by £9.5 million in the 2021/21 financial year. On 12 May, the department announced an additional £7 million to extend senior mental health lead training to even more schools and college to meet our ambition of reaching two-thirds of eligible education providers by 2023, bringing the total amount of funding for the 2022/23 financial year to £10 million.
As part of the training, senior leaders will be equipped with the knowledge and skills to understand the mental health needs of their student population and consider the range of in-school provision needed, such as counselling services.
Information on progress introducing Mental Health Support Teams is included in a report published on 12 May 2022, which follows the news that more than 2.4 million children and young people now have access to support in schools and colleges. This report is available here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/transforming-children-and-young-peoples-mental-health-provision. NHS England has also announced that over 500 teams will be confirmed this year, which will surpass the government’s original ambition to have 400 teams in place by April 2023. This article is available here: https://www.england.nhs.uk/2022/05/nhs-fast-tracks-mental-health-support-for-millions-of-pupils/.
Asked by: Caroline Lucas (Green Party - Brighton, Pavilion)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if he will make it his policy to make free covid-19 testing available for all (a) pupils, (b) staff and (c) exam invigilators over the current exam period; and if he will make a statement.
Answered by Robin Walker
Public health advice continues to be that testing in education and childcare settings is no longer needed. Most infectious diseases in education and childcare settings can be managed by following the advice in UK Health Security Agency’s (UKHSA) updated health protection in education and childcare settings guidance. Students and staff should follow UKHSA’s advice for those who have symptoms.
As individuals are now mixing in an otherwise open society, regular testing within school and colleges is no longer as effective as it once was. Instead, the most effective protection against severe disease from COVID-19 for everyone, including those at higher risk from COVID-19, is to get vaccinated.
Although settings may still have some unused test kits in stock, they should not continue to hand these out to staff or students or dispose of them (unless they have reached their expiry date).
The department are currently working with UKHSA to explore the options for removal of testing resources no longer required and repurpose or redeploy them as much as possible based on clinical need prioritisation.
In the meantime, settings should retain any surplus stock and may wish to note this in their contingency plans. The department has published emergency planning and responce guidance for education and childcare settings here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/emergency-planning-and-response-for-education-childcare-and-childrens-social-care-settings.
The department is also aware that some schools and colleges have reported finding the recruitment of invigilators more challenging this year. We are working with exam boards to monitor the risk and have supported recruitment by sharing The Exams Office’s vacancy map with pools of invigilators like parents and higher education students.
The Joint Council for Qualifications has published updated guidance for centres managing exams in case of invigilator shortage. This includes information about varying start times; alternative sites; invigilation ratios; use of subject teachers as invigilators; addressing challenges for individual candidates; and remote invigilation.
Asked by: Caroline Lucas (Green Party - Brighton, Pavilion)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if he will make it his policy to immediately communicate to schools that they can use any stocks of lateral flow tests held locally; and if he will make a statement.
Answered by Robin Walker
Public health advice continues to be that testing in education and childcare settings is no longer needed. Most infectious diseases in education and childcare settings can be managed by following the advice in UK Health Security Agency’s (UKHSA) updated health protection in education and childcare settings guidance. Students and staff should follow UKHSA’s advice for those who have symptoms.
As individuals are now mixing in an otherwise open society, regular testing within school and colleges is no longer as effective as it once was. Instead, the most effective protection against severe disease from COVID-19 for everyone, including those at higher risk from COVID-19, is to get vaccinated.
Although settings may still have some unused test kits in stock, they should not continue to hand these out to staff or students or dispose of them (unless they have reached their expiry date).
The department are currently working with UKHSA to explore the options for removal of testing resources no longer required and repurpose or redeploy them as much as possible based on clinical need prioritisation.
In the meantime, settings should retain any surplus stock and may wish to note this in their contingency plans. The department has published emergency planning and responce guidance for education and childcare settings here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/emergency-planning-and-response-for-education-childcare-and-childrens-social-care-settings.
The department is also aware that some schools and colleges have reported finding the recruitment of invigilators more challenging this year. We are working with exam boards to monitor the risk and have supported recruitment by sharing The Exams Office’s vacancy map with pools of invigilators like parents and higher education students.
The Joint Council for Qualifications has published updated guidance for centres managing exams in case of invigilator shortage. This includes information about varying start times; alternative sites; invigilation ratios; use of subject teachers as invigilators; addressing challenges for individual candidates; and remote invigilation.
Asked by: Caroline Lucas (Green Party - Brighton, Pavilion)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if he will make it his policy to add to the criteria by which local authorities can make changes to Published Admission Numbers proposals for maintained schools to include consideration of (a) fairness for disadvantaged communities and (b) decisions to re-distribute pupil places based on the number of children living near their local school; and if he will make a statement.
Answered by Robin Walker
A school’s admission authority is responsible for setting the published admission number (PAN) for each year in which children normally enter the school. This is usually the reception year in primary school and year 7 in secondary school. They must do so in line with the requirements of the school admissions code.
The local authority is the admission authority for community and voluntary controlled schools. For voluntary aided and foundation schools, the school’s governing body is the admission authority and is therefore responsible for setting the PAN.
Once they have determined their PAN, an admission authority may admit above that number but must notify the local authority of this in time to allow it to deliver its co-ordination responsibilities effectively. They may also admit above their PAN at any time through in-year admissions.
Where an admission authority proposes to decrease their PAN, they must first consult locally in accordance with the requirements set out in the school admissions code. This includes consulting with parents and all other admission authorities within the relevant area.
Community and voluntary controlled schools have the right to object to the Office of the Schools Adjudicator if the PAN set for them by the local authority is lower than they would wish. The decision of the Adjudicator is binding and enforceable.
Asked by: Caroline Lucas (Green Party - Brighton, Pavilion)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, with reference to the open letter to the Government by the Disabled Children’s Partnership, dated 26 November 2021, seeking clarification on how spending review funding will meet the health and social care needs of disabled children and their families, how his Department’s spending review settlement will (a) help every family with disabled children get the short breaks social care support to which they are entitled and (b) allow disabled children to recover lost progress in managing their conditions; and if he will make a statement.
Answered by Will Quince
The department believes it is right for local authorities, who know their areas’ needs best, to determine what services are required locally, including short breaks.
This year, councils have access to £51.3 billion to deliver their core services, including a £1.7 billion grant for social care. The government has also given over £6 billion in funding directly to councils to support them with the immediate and longer-term impacts of the COVID-19 spending pressures. This includes children’s services.
The department will continue to work with other government departments, including the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, to ensure the needs of children’s services are met. The autumn 2021 Spending Review delivers an additional £4.7 billion for the core schools' budget by the financial year 2024-25. This settlement includes an additional £1.6 billion for schools and high needs in 2022-23, on top of the funding we previously announced. We will confirm in due course how this additional funding for 2022-23, and for the two subsequent years, will be allocated for schools and high needs.
Asked by: Caroline Lucas (Green Party - Brighton, Pavilion)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if he will make it his policy to require local authorities to record and publish the number of families they support through Section 17 of the Children Act (1989), including reasons for the support; and if he will make a statement.
Answered by Will Quince
There are no plans to require local authorities to publish this information.
All local authorities in England are required to record and submit detailed data through the annual children in need census. This is published by the department at both national and local authority level. It includes data on both primary needs for assessment and on prevalent factors at the end of the assessment and is available here: https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/characteristics-of-children-in-need-2020-to-2021.
Asked by: Caroline Lucas (Green Party - Brighton, Pavilion)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if he will make an assessment of the potential contribution of the arts and creative development subjects to secondary school pupils' education recovery following disruption caused by the covid-19 outbreak; and, with reference to page 4 of the costings document for the Conservative and Unionist Party manifesto 2019, if he will make it his policy to deliver an arts premium to secondary schools in (a) 2021-22, (b) 2022-23 and (c) 2023-24; and if he will make a statement.
Answered by Robin Walker
The government is committed to high-quality education for all pupils, and the arts and music are integral to this. With the significant impact of COVID-19 on children’s learning, the department’s priorities have inevitably had to focus on education recovery in the recent Spending Review. The government remains committed to the ambitions in the Plan for Cultural Education published in 2013, and will give consideration for a future arts premium in due course.
In recognition of the merit of these subjects and how they contribute to a broad and balanced education in and out of school settings, the department will continue to invest around £115 million per annum in cultural education over the next three years, though our music, arts and heritage programmes.
With the real terms per pupil increases to core school funding and the additional £1 billion new funding announced specifically for recovery, schools will continue to have the flexibility to deliver a broad and ambitious curriculum and enrichment activities.
Asked by: Caroline Lucas (Green Party - Brighton, Pavilion)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what criteria his Department is using to determine whether proposals for a Sharia-compliant alternative student finance system will be included in the conclusion of the Review of Post-18 Education and Funding; if he will publish the (a) timetable for considering the recommendations made by the independent panel that reported to that review and (b) estimated date of conclusion of that review; and if he will make a statement.
Answered by Michelle Donelan - Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology
The government has been carefully considering an alternative student finance product, alongside wider reforms to the higher education system, and an update will be provided alongside the conclusion to the Review of Post-18 Education and Funding. The interim conclusion of the review was published on 21 January 2021, and we will conclude the review in full at a future date.
Asked by: Caroline Lucas (Green Party - Brighton, Pavilion)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if he will make it his policy to provide Government funded schools with the funding to install portable high efficiency particulate filters in classrooms where existing ventilation is inadequate to reduce the transmission of covid-19; what discussions he has had with the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care on providing long-term funding for schools to install or upgrade mechanical ventilation systems; and if he will make a statement.
Answered by Robin Walker
The department is providing CO2 monitors to state-funded education settings, including early years, schools, and further education providers, backed by £25 million in government funding.
The new monitors will provide further reassurance that existing ventilation measures are working, helping balance the need for good ventilation with keeping classrooms warm. The department has also provided new information on how to use CO2 monitors to better manage ventilation.
In the case of persistent red readings on CO2 monitors, settings should initially look at whether doors or windows can be opened, and/or mechanical ventilation systems fixed.
If this is not feasible and CO2 readings cannot be improved, settings should look at undertaking further works to address the underlying problem. Remedial works to improve ventilation remain the responsibility of individual settings. Schools receive an annual devolved formula capital allocation to spend on small capital projects or capital purchases.
For more substantial capital works, schools and those responsible for school buildings have access to funding to improve the condition of their buildings through different routes depending on their size and type. Further details are available at https://www.gov.uk/guidance/school-capital-funding. Day to day maintenance, including minor repairs to improve ventilation, should be typically funded from revenue budgets.
The case for additional support for settings to maintain good ventilation will be kept under review as the programme continues and schools, colleges, and nurseries use the monitors to further assess their ventilation needs.
Department officials and Ministers regularly meet with a wide range of other government departments and external organisations to discuss the government's COVID-19 outbreak response. This includes the use of public health measures in education settings such as ventilation.