First elected: 6th May 2010
Left House: 3rd May 2017 (Defeated)
Speeches made during Parliamentary debates are recorded in Hansard. For ease of browsing we have grouped debates into individual, departmental and legislative categories.
e-Petitions are administered by Parliament and allow members of the public to express support for a particular issue.
If an e-petition reaches 10,000 signatures the Government will issue a written response.
If an e-petition reaches 100,000 signatures the petition becomes eligible for a Parliamentary debate (usually Monday 4.30pm in Westminster Hall).
These initiatives were driven by Charlotte Leslie, and are more likely to reflect personal policy preferences.
MPs who are act as Ministers or Shadow Ministers are generally restricted from performing Commons initiatives other than Urgent Questions.
Charlotte Leslie has not been granted any Urgent Questions
The Bill failed to complete its passage through Parliament before the end of the session. This means the Bill will make no further progress. A Bill to require the Secretary of State to conduct an assessment of the impact of the European Union Working Time Directive on NHS acute medical and surgical services; to require the Secretary of State to make provision to exempt NHS acute medical and surgical services from the European Union Working Time Directive in the light of that assessment if certain conditions are met; and for connected purposes.
Charlotte Leslie has not co-sponsored any Bills in the current parliamentary sitting
I am aware of concerns raised recently regarding the safety of fireworks available for sale to the general public. However, I have no immediate plans to review the regulations governing their use.
The general public are allowed by law to buy and use Category 1 to 3 fireworks which have low risk and noise levels and are considered safe for family use and for private displays in residential areas.
They are banned from purchasing, using or possessing Category 4 fireworks which present higher levels of risk and noise. These can only be bought and used by professional fireworks display operators who have successfully undertaken an accredited pyrotechnics training course.
Although a minority of anti-social people misuse fireworks, the majority enjoy them sensibly, responsibly and in accordance with the manufacturers’ instructions.
The Electoral Commission does not maintain the electoral registers, which is the statutory duty of Electoral Registration Officers (EROs) and their teams. The Electoral Commission issues guidance to EROs about how to deliver both well run elections and public awareness campaigns to make sure voters are aware of when and how to register to vote. The Commission also runs its own public awareness campaigns to remind people to register to vote and to support the activity of EROs. During its campaign before the 2015 General Election there were 1,561,093 additions to the electoral registers, as detailed in its campaign evaluation report.
In June 2015 the Electoral Commission published its assessment of the progress with transition to Individual Electoral Registration (IER). An updated version of this assessment was recently laid in the House Library amending a small number of typographical errors found in background figures, none of which affected the findings of the assessment or the Commission’s advice.
The Commission’s June IER assessment did not include an estimate of levels of accuracy and completeness of the registers. The Commission’s last report on this was published in 2014. The June report did note, however, that activities such as the introduction of IER and the introduction of online registration are likely to have had a positive impact on accuracy and completeness. However, it was also clear that others will have had a negative effect, such as the lack of comprehensive household canvassing activity in 2014.
The Electoral Commission has made clear that it does not support the Government’s decision to bring forward the end of the transition to IER to 1 December 2015 and has noted instead that this should remain as 1 December 2016, as Parliament originally decided. However, should Parliament approve the Government’s order to bring forward the end of the transition, the Commission will continue to monitor the state of the registers and will collect further data from EROs focusing on the 2015 canvass and the December 2015 register.
The Green Deal Home Improvement Fund is currently open to applications from customers installing two energy efficiency measures from an approved list. The Government is considering the right long-term framework for the home energy efficiency market, and is committed to ensuring that the concerns of industry and bill payers are listened to. Policy proposals will be published in due course.
The Takeover Code governs takeovers of UK public companies in order to provide an orderly framework for the conduct of bids and to ensure that shareholders are treated fairly and equally. However, the Code does not contain any rules about product standards following a takeover. These would only be regulated by the Takeover Panel if the bidder had made a specific commitment or intention statement on the matter during the course of the offer.
The Government encourages breastfeeding and recommends employers enable women to breastfeed as a matter of best practice.
The Department for Business, Innovation and Skills (BIS) is conducting research on pregnancy and maternity-related discrimination and disadvantage in the workplace; which includes the experiences of mothers returning to work from maternity leave. This research will identify the number of mothers who would like to breastfeed or express milk in the workplace but do not; either because they are not allowed to, or because they think they would not be allowed to. These results will help to assess the scale of unmet demand from mothers to take breaks for breastfeeding in the workplace. The research results will be published in due course.
Alongside the new entitlement to shared parental leave the Government will continue to work with employers to highlight the business benefits of supporting breastfeeding; and promote best practice and guidance. BIS will continue to keep under review the evidence around this issue.
The Government is working with the developer, EDF Energy, and its industrial delivery partners to identify opportunities for UK businesses, including local small businesses, in the supply chain for the Hinkley Point C nuclear power plant development. EDF Energy has indicated that 57% of the construction opportunities at the new power plant will go to UK companies, and there will be significant opportunities for local businesses to provide goods and services to the site. Support from Government is being provided in various ways, including through the Nuclear Advanced Manufacturing Research Centre and the Manufacturing Advisory Service to help companies in the region, and nationally, to enhance their competitiveness.
In addition, support is being provided for local supply chain brokerage, enhancement of skills, improving local employability, and attracting inward investors to the region to generate growth and job opportunities. To help coordinate this activity, the relevant Government departments (the Department for Energy and Climate Change, the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills, Department for Work and Pensions, Department for Communities and Local Government, Department for Transport and their agencies) participate in the Hinkley Strategic Delivery Forum, working in partnership with the Heart of the South West Local Enterprise Partnership, the Somerset Chamber of Commerce, local authorities and skills bodies.
Job Centre Plus’ Rapid Response Service is available to any paid employee, at the discretion of the Jobcentre District, who has lost their job or had their contract terminated as a result of workforce management measures.
This means that employees employed directly by City Link and those sub-contracted to them will be considered for Rapid Response Service support to help them move into new jobs. The service is delivered locally with partners and is tailored to the individual’s needs. It can include some or all of the following elements:
o Information advice and guidance
o Help with job searches including CV writing, interview skills, where to find jobs and how to apply for them
o Help to identify transferable skills and skills gaps (linked to the local labour market)
o Training to update skills, learn new ones and gain industry recognised certification that will improve employability
o Help to overcome barriers to attending training or securing a job or self-employment such as child care costs, necessary tools, work clothes, travel costs etc.
This is clearly a very worrying time for those who were reliant on City Link for work, including its subcontractors.
Any subcontractor with invoices unpaid by City Link will rank as an unsecured creditor and should send details of their claim to the administrator. The administrator has also been providing information to creditors to advise them on what they need to do to notify their claims to him.
Employees employed directly by City Link and those sub-contracted to them are eligible for consideration of Rapid Response Service support.
The Government has made no assessment of the amount of wood waste in the UK which is suitable for incineration in biomass stations. However, a market situation report published by Waste & Resources Action Programme UK in 2011 stated that “almost 2.3 million tonnes of wood waste was recycled or used in energy recovery in the UK in 2010, over 50% of estimated UK wood waste arisings”. Of this, the end market for 0.55 million tonnes is listed as biomass/energy.
http://www.wrap.org.uk/sites/files/wrap/Wood%20Market%20Situation%20Report_0.pdf
Through the West of England Growth Deal, the Government is investing over £212 million in the region to create and safeguard up to 5,000 jobs, and generate up to £180 million in public and private investment. Investment will also be focused on ensuring the West of England has the right skills within the workforce and key sectors such as: aerospace and advanced manufacturing; creative and digital media; and high-tech industries.
This Growth Deal builds on the significant investment the Government has already made in the Bristol region through: the Bristol City Deal; Regional Growth Fund; and Growing Places Fund. Moving forward, the Government, the West of England Local Enterprise Partnership, business and local councils will continue to work together to support economic growth, attract inward investment, and ensure the skills needs of the local area are met .
A task force based on the Skills and Jobs Retention Group, including local and national Government, local partners, Rolls Royce, the supply chain and others will be established to ensure we do all we can. The Group has a successful track record at redeploying engineering talent with other, growing businesses, most recently working with BAe. Contact has already been made with Rolls Royce to discuss how this can best operate alongside the support that the company itself will offer.
Rolls-Royce has announced plans to reduce its global headcount to secure its competitiveness in a challenging global market. The company is now in consultation with their workforce representatives about where and how these reductions will be made, although their intention is to achieve these on a voluntary basis
It is not yet clear where jobs will be lost or how many UK employees might be affected. However, we are in regular contact with Rolls-Royce and will be working with them to mitigate the impact on the individuals affected, including any who may be based in the Bristol region. Rolls-Royce will use the Talent Retention Solution which has been jointly developed by Government and industry and which matches skilled engineers with employers looking for talent. This scheme has a successful track record of redeploying engineering talent, most recently with BAE Systems.
My Rt Hon Friend the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills has regular discussions with aerospace and engineering companies who employ people in Bristol, such as Airbus and GKN. Most recently, he spoke with John Rishton, Chief Executive of Rolls-Royce on 3rd November. I also speak to aerospace employers regularly, including through the Aerospace Growth Partnership.
Over the past year, my Rt Hon Friend the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills has visited Bristol on three separate occasions on 3 April, 7 July and 30 October. On 3 April he visited Redcliffe Precision, a small aerospace company, and he also met with West of England Local Enterprise Partnership which includes Bristol Airport and Airbus. On 7 July he visited Bristol Robotics Laboratory. On 30 October he spoke and participated at an event at the National Composites Centre involving around 350 representatives from a wide range of aerospace and engineering employers, including from Bristol.
I have spoken to the Chief Executive of the Green Investment Bank (GIB) about the proposed plant at Avonmouth to ensure he is aware of the concerns that have been raised about it. The impacts of individual proposals for biomass power projects are subject to detailed assessment during the planning approval process and final decisions in each case are a matter for the relevant planning authority. This proposal received planning consent in March 2010. The final consent letter may be found on the DECC Energy Infrastructure webpage at https://www.og.decc.gov.uk/EIP/pages/projects/Avonmouth.htm. I cannot comment on the merits of that decision.
The Government's position on the role of biomass power within the UK's energy mix has been set out clearly in the UK Bioenergy Strategy (2012) which can be found on the Government's website at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/uk-bioenergy-strategy. Thissets out how the Government seeks to ensure the benefits of bioenergy are achieved in a way that delivers genuine carbon reductions and that fuel is sourced sustainably. The extensive sustainability requirements in place for the use of biomass fuel are set out in the UK Government Response to the consultation on biomass sustainability and the Renewables Obligation (RO), published in August 2013 (https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/231102/RO_Biomass_Sustainability_consultation_-_Government_Response_22_August_2013.pdf). In considering whether to participate in financing a biomass power project, GIB must satisfy itself that the Government's sustainability requirements are fully met.
The Prime Minister announced during his statement to the House on the 27th June, the Cabinet will create a new EU unit in Whitehall, which will bring together officials and policy expertise from across the Cabinet Office, HM Treasury, the Foreign and Commonwealth Office and the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills.
The information requested falls within the responsibility of the UK Statistics Authority. I have asked the Authority to reply.
The information requested falls within the responsibility of the UK Statistics Authority. I have asked the Authority to reply.
The Government does not currently plan to extend the Freedom of Information Act to Local Enterprise Partnerships.
Government owned companies and arm's-length bodies are responsible for obtaining their own legal advice; some may obtain legal advice from Government departments.
Potential conflicts of interest are considered on a case by case basis.
The Government’s statutory powers to intervene in mergers are set out in the Enterprise Act 2002. My rt. hon. Friend the Secretary of State may intervene on specified public interest grounds, currently national security, financial stability and media plurality.
The UK is one of the world’s top destinations for inward investment. As part of that, mergers can bring real benefits to consumers and the economy through higher growth, greater innovation and increased productivity.
The Department does not collect data on the effect of late payment by large firms on small businesses and suppliers. Other organisations have made assessments. For example, in December 2016 BACs reported the overall level of late payment debt owed to small and medium businesses standing at £26.3 billion.
This will ultimately be up to the new Prime Minister and their team to decide. However, I have been encouraged by the interest coming from a range of non-EU countries, including some of our closest allies.
If the UK left the EU and sought to retain its membership of the EEA, as the UK would be changing its relationship with the EEA, the EEA Agreement would need to be modified. This would require the unanimous agreement of all EEA members.
At the February European Council, the Government negotiated a new settlement, giving the United Kingdom a special status in a reformed European Union. The Government's position, as set out by my right hon. Friend the Prime Minister to the House on 22 February, is that the UK will be stronger, safer and better off remaining in a reformed EU.
As required by the EU Referendum Act 2015, the Government is committed to producing clear information, ahead of the Referendum, on: the outcome of the renegotiation, rights and obligations in European Union law, the process for leaving and alternatives to membership.
The UK is not a member of the European Free Trade Association (EFTA). EFTA is an intergovernmental organisation to which Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway and Switzerland are parties. If the UK sought to retain membership of the European Economic Area (EEA) along the lines of the Norway model, all EEA members, including Norway, Liechtenstein and Iceland, would also need to agree.
Bullying and harassment have no place in today’s workplace environment and are unacceptable wherever they occur. The UK has a strong safety net of legislation to protect people from harassment in the workplace. This covers harassment on the grounds of sex, race, disability, religion or belief or sexual orientation and age. In addition, harassment is a criminal offence and victims have a right to damages.
The best way to address unacceptable behaviour in the first instance is within the workplace. That’s why my Department’s supports the Health and Safety Executive Management Standards approach for work-related stress which includes a standard for relationships at work that covers unacceptable behaviour such as conflict, bullying and harassment. The Management Standards help organisations manage the causes of work-related stress in a simple and pragmatic way.
The Advisory, Conciliation and Arbitration Service (Acas) also aims to support better employment relations by offering free impartial advice. Acas operates a nationwide telephone helpline for employers and employees, they can be contacted on: 0300 123 1100. Acas recently published new guidance addressing the need to conduct fair and thorough grievance and disciplinary investigations; and published new research seeking better solutions to deal with bullying.
Acas also offers training and business solutions including free eLearning and advisory booklets explaining how employers and individuals can tackle and prevent bullying, ill treatment and harassment more effectively in Britain’s workplaces - raising employee motivation, attendance and productivity.
I am considering Ofcom’s report on the independent production sector regulations and will respond in due course.
The licences that Ofcom issued for the roll-out of 4G mobile broadband services in the 800 MHz band required the licencees - EE, O2, Three and Vodafone - to establish a joint company to deliver assistance to all consumers affected by interference caused by 4G who rely on Digital Terrestrial Television (DTT) for their primary viewing service. This company is at800.
at800 is overseen by the 4G/TV Co-Existence Oversight Board. The Board reports to Government and Ofcom. Membership of the Board includes representatives of the broadcasting industry and Mobile Network Operators, as well as independent consumers and technical experts.
Ofcom estimated that 2.3 million households, of which 900,000 rely on DTT for primary viewing, could potentially experience interference. The incidences of interference are much lower than expected; at the end of July 2015, at800 confirmed 7,947 cases of4G interference, excluding the 35 cases found within the pilots.
DCMS will be consulting on a new strategy over the summer and will publish our new approach later this year. As sport extends across almost every area of government activity, this strategy needs to be cross-Government to be effective. With this in mind, DCMS ministers have already met with ministerial colleagues from a range of departments to build on the positive work already underway. We will continue to engage with them to develop the strategy.
This Government through Sport England is investing £5.8 million in England Boxing between 2013-17 to get more people boxing regularly and to support talented young boxers.
In addition, since 2010, Sport England has invested around £7.8 million of National Lottery money in 142 boxing projects across the country.
The Department publishes both pupil level projections and, separately, data on the numbers in school on an annual basis. The most recent figures on the numbers in school are from January 2016 school census and can be found in the statistical first release available at:
https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/schools-pupils-and-their-characteristics-january-2016.
The 2015 projection of the 2016 school population (published at https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/national-pupil-projections-trends-in-pupil-numbers-july-2015), and the equivalent school census figures, are given in the table below.
Projected and actual school population, January 2016, England
Full-time equivalent figures up to and including age 15
| All schools1 | State funded schools2 |
2016 census | 7,842 | 7,365 |
2015 projection for 2016 | 7,837 | 7,362 |
thousands
1 State funded nursery, primary, secondary, special and alternative provisions schools, plus independent and non-maintained special schools
2 As 1 but omitting independent and non-maintained special schools
We are determined to give every child, regardless of their background, the very best start in life. Both free school meals (FSM) and pupil premium (which links to FSM eligibility) are key to this and we want all parents whose children are entitled FSM, to apply for them.
The current eligibility criteria for FSM requires the parent (or pupil) to be both in receipt of a specified benefit and to make a request for the meal to be provided free of charge.
To support this the Department for Education provides an electronic Eligibility Checking System (ECS), which allows local authorities to check data held by DWP, the Home Office and HMRC in order to establish FSM eligibility. The Department has also provided a model registration form and accompanying guidance, which schools can use as part of their enrolment process.
We want to make it as simple as possible for schools and local authorities to determine eligibility for FSM, and the Department is looking at what can be done in the longer term to make the FSM registration processes even more efficient.
Universities are autonomous institutions responsible for setting their own policies. The Department does not provide advice to universities about student sabbaticals.
The PSBP2 team conducted scoping studies of the successful school buildings in summer 2015. The scoping studies assessed the scope of work required to address condition need, together with any specific issues. The EFA team then confirmed the programme for delivery of the building projects at the 277 schools in December 2015 and work has since started at a number of schools to develop feasibility studies.
Where possible, schools in the worst condition are being delivered first. We also have a review process in place that allows us to consider bringing forward work at a school if there is a genuine need and we can do so within the programme constraints.
Detailed feasibility studies are carried out for each school to identify the options available to address condition need. Each feasibility study is independently reviewed and approved.
Over the previous parliament, the department allocated £18 billion to maintain and improve the condition of school buildings. A further £4.2 billion of funding was announced to be allocated over 2015-18 to schools, local authorities, academy trusts and voluntary aided partnerships to improve their own schools.
Schools that are part of PSBP2 are also eligible to apply for the Condition Improvement Fund (CIF) for blocks or areas of the school that are not included in the work they will receive under the programme.
Each school in PSBP has direct contact with an EFA Project Director who can provide further tailored advice in regards to repairs and sources of potential funding. There is also a review process in place that allows us to consider bringing forward work at a school if there is a genuine need and we can do so within the programme constraints.
The Government welcomes plans to establish a College of Teaching. We are working with the College to discuss what Government support could be helpful in the initial set-up phase of the new body.
The Government supports the establishment of a new College of Teaching, a new independent professional body for teachers. The College of Teaching has great potential to raise the status of the profession and improve standards through: supporting teachers to access accredited, high quality professional development; setting standards to determine effective professional practice; and helping teachers to use evidence on ‘what works’ to inform their own practice.
Officials from the Department for Education have met regularly with representatives of the trustees, and also with the ‘Claim Your College’ consortium of education organisations that led plans to establish the new professional body. The Department is continuing to hold discussions with trustees on what Government support would be helpful for the College.
Regional Schools Commissioners are civil servants and are bound by the same rules on the declaration and publication of professional and financial interests as all other civil servants of a similar grade. Regional Schools Commissioners are required to declare any professional or business interest within the past five years, which may, or may be seen as, influencing their judgement in performing their role.
The Department for Education keeps a register of all declared interests for the Regional Schools Commissioners. This register is reviewed on a quarterly basis and published online at: https://www.gov.uk/government/organisations/schools-commissioners-group/about/our-governance
We recognise the need to ensure children with serious neurological conditions can access their education alongside everyone else. In recognition of this, the Children and Families Act 2014 now places a duty on governing bodies of maintained schools, proprietors of academy schools and alternative provision academies and management committees of pupil referral units to make arrangements for supporting pupils with medical conditions, which would include serious neurological conditions, at their school. This has been reinforced through new statutory guidance for maintained schools and academies on ‘Supporting pupils at school with medical conditions’ which was published in September 2014:
www.gov.uk/government/publications/supporting-pupils-at-school-with-medical-conditions--3
This guidance emphasises the following:
• Pupils at school with medical conditions should be properly supported so that they have full access to education, including school trips and physical education.
• Governing bodies must ensure that arrangements are in place in schools to support pupils at school with medical conditions.
• Governing bodies should ensure that school leaders consult health and social care professionals, pupils and parents to ensure that the needs of children with medical conditions are effectively supported.
Where a pupil has a neurological disorder that results in a special educational need (SEN), the school and the local authority are also under an obligation through the reformed SEN and Disability (SEND) system to meet their needs and provide appropriate support.
In 2015-16, the department has funded £5.9 million of grants through the voluntary and community sector (VCS) National Prospectus and £7 million of contracts to support implementation of the SEND reforms. These organisations provide support on specific types of SEN for schools, teachers and parents; delivery support for schools, colleges, early years settings and local authorities in implementing the new duties in the Children and Families Act 2014; and support for parent-carer forums.
Most teaching assistants who support children with Special Educational Needs (SEN) are employed by schools to meet the needs of those who require such intervention. Others are employed using top-up funding that the local authority provides to schools, usually for children with the most complex needs who have statements of SEN or Education, Health and Care plans.
It is for individual schools to make the necessary decisions as to how many teaching assistants they should have and how to deploy them. Schools are legally required to use their best endeavours to make sure that children with SEN get the support they need. A school may judge it appropriate to provide one-to-one support for some children. If so, it is for the school to ensure that those providing such support are suitably trained.
Local authorities are responsible for putting in place arrangements for the appropriate management of allegations against people who work with children. Statuary guidance on handling allegations is set out in Working Together 2015 and Keeping Children Safe in Education.
The Department for Education does not hold records of allegations made against staff. While sympathetic to the position of those subject to false allegations on any matter, we have no plans to set up a scheme to enable claims for professional damages in these circumstances.
Local authorities have the responsibility to make sure that the schools in their area are given enough funding to meet the needs of all their pupils, including the additional support required by those with special educational needs (SEN). Local authorities design their local school funding formula to give extra money to schools likely to have more children with SEN. Authorities also have flexibility to give even more funding to schools with a relatively high proportion of such children, and to give top-up funding for individual pupils whose additional support costs more than £6,000 per year.
Local authorities are responsible for putting in place arrangements for the appropriate management of allegations against people who work with children. Statuary guidance on handling allegations is set out in Working Together 2015 and Keeping Children Safe in Education.
The Department for Education does not hold records of allegations made against staff. While sympathetic to the position of those subject to false allegations on any matter, we have no plans to set up a scheme to enable claims for professional damages in these circumstances.
On 24 June the Prime Minister announced a new Child Protection Taskforce chaired by the Secretary of State for Education. The Prime Minister’s announcement can be found online here: www.gov.uk/government/news/pm-announces-new-taskforce-to-transform-child-protection. The Taskforce will lead work to: extend and accelerate reforms the quality of social work practice and leadership; develop better multi-agency working between children’s social care, the police, health and other local services; improve local authority performance and promote innovative practice; and strengthen governance and accountability in children’s social care.
To improve the quality of services, we are establishing a new national centre of expertise to identify and share high quality evidence on how to tackle child sexual abuse. We have also invested around £100 million in the Children’s Social Care Innovation Programme to develop, test and spread more effective ways of supporting children who need help from children’s social care services. Many of the projects are focused on whole system reforms in child protection services whilst others target specific challenges such as child sexual exploitation or female genital mutilation. All projects are being rigorously evaluated.
Social workers provide invaluable services to the most vulnerable children and families in societies and we are committed to improving the quality of the workforce to ensure that children are properly protected and supported. The Chief Social Worker for Children and Families introduced for the first time in the autumn a clear statement of the knowledge and skills that frontline social workers will need to have and display. We will be consulting shortly on similar statements for practice supervisors and practice leaders, key roles to drive high quality practice.
We have introduced Frontline and Step Up to Social Work programmes to attract high calibre graduates to social work, with a stronger focus on children’s statutory services. 101 Frontline participants are currently training in 18 local authorities in London and Greater Manchester and over 300 Step Up students completed training in 75 local authorities in spring 2015, and we are committed to grow these programmes. We are also working with four teaching partnerships, involving local authorities and higher education institutions, to ensure the initial training that social workers receive is more relevant to the demands of statutory roles.
We are also taking a robust approach to tackling failure in children’s services. Where performance is constantly poor, such as Doncaster, we have put in place new trust arrangements to deliver children’s social care services on behalf of a local authority. Trusts represents an opportunity to deliver a key public service in a different and ground-breaking way that better meets the needs of the children and families in the area. We have enabled strong local authorities to work with weaker ones to drive improvement, for example Hampshire are now running Isle of Wight’s children’s services following evidence of inadequate performance in child protection.
The Government is committed to ensuring that swimming and teaching water safety takes place in schools. Swimming is compulsory for maintained schools in the national curriculum. All pupils must be taught to swim at least 25 metres unaided and be able to use recognised swimming strokes by the end of key stage 2 (age 11). It also requires that a child can demonstrate an understanding of water safety.
The Government has committed over £450 million of ring-fenced funding up to and including 2015/16 for primary schools to improve their provision of PE and sport. Head teachers are best placed to decide how the funding should be used. They can choose to provide additional training and instruction in swimming and water safety but this must be over and above the requirements of the national curriculum.
There are a range of resources to help schools provide high quality teaching, including from organisations such as the Amateur Swimming Association and from the Royal Lifesaving Society.
The table below shows, for each of the last five years:
The number of children taken into care.
The number of children who are subsequently ceased to be looked after and returned home to live with parents or relatives,
The number of children who have not returned home to live with parents or relatives but were subsequently placed with parents whilst still looked after.
Year ending
| Of which: | ||
Have subsequently ceased to be looked after to return home to live with parents or relatives2,[3] | Have subsequently been placed with parents and have either remained in care or have since ceased to be looked after for some other reason than returning home to live with parents or relatives2,[4] | ||
31 March 2010 | 9,580 | 2,960 | 1,470 |
31 March 2011 | 9,560 | 2,860 | 1,500 |
31 March 2012 | 10,140 | 2,750 | 1,340 |
31 March 2013 | 11,140 | 2,680 | 1,380 |
31 March 2014 | 10,920 | 2,120 | 1,070 |
Source: SSDA903 children looked after return 2014
[1] Children who were taken into care are children who started to be looked after under a care order, police protection, emergency protection order or child assessment order. Only the first occasion on which a child was taken into care in the year has been counted, but a child may appear more than once if they started to be looked after in one year, left care and then returned to care in a subsequent year.
[2] Numbers have been rounded to the nearest 10.
[3] The child may have ceased to be looked after at any subsequent point in time and it is possible the child could have returned to care since ceasing to be looked after. This includes children who, prior to ceasing care, were placed with parents at some point during their period of care.
[4] The child was placed with parents at some point during the period of care, however, the child may have changed placements subsequently. This excludes children who ceased to be looked after to return home to live with parents or relatives.