Asked by: Dawn Butler (Labour - Brent East)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether her Department holds data on the number of rejected EHCP applications in the London Borough of Brent in 2015-16.
Answered by Robert Goodwill
The number of initial requests for assessment for an EHC plan that were refused during the 2016 calendar, by local authority, is available in table 7 on the Department’s website at:
https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/statements-of-sen-and-ehc-plans-england-2017.
Asked by: Dawn Butler (Labour - Brent East)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what budget has been allocated to the Equality and Human Rights Commission for (a) 2017-18, (b) 2018-19 and (c) 2019-20.
Answered by Nick Gibb
The Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC) Budget for the years 2017 – 2020:
2017-18 | 2018-19 | 2019-20 |
£19.3m | £18.3m | £17.4m |
The EHRC has, and will continue to receive sufficient funds to enable it to fulfil its statutory functions.
Asked by: Dawn Butler (Labour - Brent East)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what equality impact assessment has been carried out on the consequences of selective education, as outlined in the Schools that work for everyone consultation document on the right for Special Educational Needs and Disabilities pupils to be in mainstream education.
Answered by Nick Gibb
This Government is committed to ensuring all children, including those with SEND, have the opportunity to achieve their potential and make a successful transition to adult life.
The Admissions Code and the Equality Act 2010 apply to all schools – both selective and non-selective - meaning they must make admission decisions over those with Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND) fairly.
The Department is having, and will continue to have, due regard to equalities impact, both in the study of responses to the consultation document and throughout any development of policy areas, following the consultation.
Asked by: Dawn Butler (Labour - Brent East)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if she will undertake an impact assessment on the compatibility of the Schools that Work for Everyone green paper consultation document with section 149 of the Equality Act 2010 on public sector equality duty.
Answered by Nick Gibb
The Department is having, and will continue to have, due regard to equalities impact, both in the study of responses to the consultation document and throughout any development of policy areas, following the consultation.
Asked by: Dawn Butler (Labour - Brent East)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, pursuant to the Answer of 20 October 2016 to Question 48637, how the Government Equalities Office ensures compliance with its obligations under Section 149 of the Equality Act 2010 relating to the public sector equality duty.
Answered by Caroline Dinenage
The Government Equalities Office seeks to ensure that it takes into account equality when conducting its day to day work; in particular, it seeks to ensure that decision makers show due regard under section 149 to the equality impact of policies and services within its remit.
Asked by: Dawn Butler (Labour - Brent East)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what provision her Department has put in place for SEND pupils who will not be able to pass selective school admission policies.
Answered by Nick Gibb
This Government is committed to ensuring all children, including those with Special Educational Needs and disabilities (SEND), have the opportunity to achieve their potential and make a successful transition to adult life.
In the Children and Families Act 2014, we legislated to make fundamental changes to improve the SEND support system for the benefit of the 14.4% of children with SEND. These are the biggest reforms to the SEND system in a generation. To support local authorities and others to make these changes successfully, we have invested heavily in practical and financial support, including an extra £90 million of support for 2016/17.
Following Sir Andrew Carter’s report on Initial Teacher Training (ITT), the Government published a new framework of core content in July 2016. This includes specific content on SEND, so that teachers have a clear understanding and early awareness of pupils with SEND. This will help to ensure that pupils with SEND have the opportunity to fully realise their potential.
Asked by: Dawn Butler (Labour - Brent East)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what formal guidance the Government has issued to departments on equality impact assessments.
Answered by Caroline Dinenage
The Public Sector Equality Duty (PSED) in the Equality Act 2010 ensures that public bodies take account of equality and consider the potential impact of decisions on groups with protected characteristics. All bodies exercising public functions are subject to the PSED and need to understand the impact of their policies and services on people with different protected characteristics, and be able to provide evidence that this has been taken into account during the decision-making process. However, the legislation does not prescribe how this information needs to be recorded and it is not a statutory requirement in England to prepare or publish information in a particular form, such as an Equality Impact Assessment.
The Government Equalities Office has published a quick-start guide on the PSED and has circulated PSED guidance across Whitehall. It also provides advice to other departments on their legal obligations by delivering workshops and presentations to staff. A range of guidance on the PSED is also available from the Equality and Human Rights Commission.
Asked by: Dawn Butler (Labour - Brent East)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many equality impact assessments government departments carried out in each year between 2010 and 2016.
Answered by Caroline Dinenage
The Public Sector Equality Duty (PSED) in the Equality Act 2010 ensures that public bodies take account of equality and consider the potential impact of decisions on groups with protected characteristics. All bodies exercising public functions who are subject to the PSED need to understand the impact of their policies and services on people with different protected characteristics and be able to provide evidence that this has been taken into account during the decision-making process. However, the legislation does not prescribe how this information needs to be recorded and it is not a statutory requirement in England to prepare or publish information in a particular form, such as an Equality Impact Assessment.
The Government Equalities Office does not therefore keep records of how many equality impact assessments are carried out by Departments; in any case, this information would not give an indication of the extent to which equality issues have been considered under the PSED.