Oral Answers to Questions

Edward Timpson Excerpts

Monday 29th October 2012 Commons Chamber

[The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Education (Mr Edward Timpson)]

There are currently 16 studio schools open. By September 2013, we expect there will be 30 studio schools open, representing nearly 10,000 new school places. More studio schools will be announced following the current application round, providing an employer-backed academic and vocational offer for 14 to 19-year-olds of all abilities.

[Nigel Mills]

I thank my hon. Friend for that answer and welcome him to his position. Does he agree that studio schools offer young people not only a great academic education, but real-world life experience, and will he therefore join me in welcoming Derby college’s bid to open a school in Heanor?

[Mr Timpson]

I completely agree with my hon. Friend about the importance of what studio schools bring to the offer for young people. I understand that this is the first time that Derby college has applied to open a new studio school. We are very much looking forward to receiving its proposal, which will no doubt be supported vigorously by my hon. Friend. Each application will be considered on its own merits and in comparison with others submitted.

[Mr Andy Slaughter (Hammersmith) (Lab)]

9. What steps he is taking to raise the status and quality of vocational education.

--- Later in debate ---

[Mr Robert Buckland (South Swindon) (Con)]

I welcome the provisions on special educational needs in the draft Children and Families Bill, but will my hon. Friend carefully consider the case for a national framework within which those commissioning the new local offers can operate, similar to NICE guidelines in the field of health, for example?

[The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Education (Mr Edward Timpson)]

I know my hon. Friend is a deeply committed and understanding champion of children with special educational needs and disabilities. He will therefore be aware that we have 20 pathfinders across 31 local authorities that are testing the formulisation and delivery of the local offer. We will examine their findings carefully to help sharpen up the development of the local offer as we go forward.

[Nic Dakin (Scunthorpe) (Lab)]

T7. Considering the need to preserve our Olympic legacy, what does the Secretary of State have to say to those 150,000 people who signed a petition against his plans which will come into force this Wednesday to scrap minimum size regulations for school playing fields?

--- Later in debate ---

[Andrew Gwynne (Denton and Reddish) (Lab)]

The special educational needs proposals currently under pre-legislative scrutiny will water down the scope of the SEN tribunal, weakening the rights of parents to get the help they need. Will the Minister give a commitment today to ensuring that parents of children with SEN do not lose out?

[Mr Timpson]

The hon. Gentleman should look carefully at the draft clauses and the subsequent regulations and code of practice that will follow, because it will be clear from all that that the tribunal processes will be strengthened, particularly for those over 16, who currently have little course for redress.

[Rehman Chishti (Gillingham and Rainham) (Con)]

In the 2012 GCSE results more students in Medway achieved five or more A to C grades. Will the Minister join me in congratulating the parents, students and staff on that achievement?

Voluntary and Community Sector Prospectus

Edward Timpson Excerpts

Friday 26th October 2012 Written Statements

[The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Education (Mr Edward Timpson)]

The Department for Education is today publishing a national prospectus launching our new grants programme for 2013-15. It also describes a number of additional key services and activities that we will be investing in for the benefit of children, young people and families over the course of the next two years.

The package will be worth up to an estimated £60 million made up of £30 million of grant funding and £30 million of contracts, in both 2013-14 and 2014-15.

It follows the £60 million annual grant investment in both 2011-12 and 2012-13, announced in February last year. That investment specifically included funding to help successful bidders remodel their long-term financing to help them reduce their dependence on central Government grants once the current two-year funding period ends.

The national prospectus grants programme 2013-15 will provide up to £30 million in grant funding each year in 2013-14 and 2014-15. The scheme will focus on delivering the following five priorities:

Promote excellence in early education and child care, so enabling all children to achieve success in their early years and later education.

Develop and reform safeguarding services that protect and support children at risk of harm.

Develop and reform the care system and speed up the process of adoption.

Develop and reform services that support children with SEN, disabilities and other health needs.

Focus and develop local services to support improved outcomes for young people, particularly the most disadvantaged and vulnerable.

We are inviting applications from voluntary and community sector organisations, social enterprises and other organisations bidding on a “not for profit” basis.

We hope to receive new, innovative proposals for work which can make a real difference on the ground and inform and guide national policy in our priority areas.

Funding will be available for two years from 1 April 2013. The grants programme application process opens today. Bids must be received by noon on 30 November 2012. The accompanying grants prospectus sets out the details of the bidding process.

In addition to the grants programme we will be continuing to invest in services for children, young people and their families through funding a number of services for specific activities that meet our policy priorities.

The prospectus provides brief details of a number of contracted services which we expect to procure in the coming months. We expect to make announcements about contracts for a range of new relationship support services later this year.

We have also recently announced that we will be continuing funding for a number of online and telephone family support services.

Taken together in conjunction with the grants programme we estimate up to £60 million will be made available to support these activities and services for children and families in each year in 2013-14 and 2014-15.

A copy of the national prospectus has been placed in the Libraries of both Houses.

Educational Funding Gap

Edward Timpson Excerpts

Monday 22nd October 2012 Commons Chamber

[The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Education (Mr Edward Timpson)]

I begin by thanking my hon. Friend the Member for New Forest East (Dr Lewis) for welcoming me to my new role and, I think, for reminding me of those heady days of 2008 in Crewe and Nantwich. More importantly for the purposes of the debate, I thank him for bringing before the House the important question of funding for students aged between 16 and 18 with learning difficulties and disabilities, and in particular those who are being educated in our further education colleges. As I have frequently heard my hon. Friend speak in this House, it comes as no surprise to me that he argues this case clearly and with passion on behalf of his constituents who are the parents of just such young learners. He has brought home the very real issues that they face in getting the best education for their children.

Although I am still relatively new in my post as Minister in the Department for Education, I have already become aware of the responsibility that rests with me for these young people. My Department has already set out our commitment in our May 2012 document “Support and aspiration: A new approach to special educational needs and disability—progress and next steps.” That approach follows on from the proposals in the earlier Green Paper. Our proposals, which we have drawn up into draft legislation that is currently being scrutinised, are designed to move away from the disjointed, labyrinthine and label-focused current system my hon. Friend described to a more seamless, supported and outcomes-focused system. In doing so, we seek to offer real hope for young people with learning difficulties and disabilities, and to help them meet their desires and aspirations, in the same way that other young people can.

The pressures are particularly acute at periods of transition, such as when people move from primary into secondary education and then from compulsory education into further or higher education. The concern for parents, as has been so eloquently expressed by my hon. Friend, is whether their children are getting the level of education and support they need, and whether appropriate funding is available to make sure that that happens. Although his constituents point to this concern as having begun in the 2008-09 academic year for the colleges in his area, which my right hon. Friend the Member for New Forest West (Mr Swayne) also represents, we know that it is a concern in other parts of the country as well. It is, of course, right that parents expect to receive an appropriate level of provision for their children’s needs, and so it is right that local authorities and colleges work closely with parents and the young people themselves to ensure that their needs are being properly met at all times.

My Department funds local authorities to make provision and support available for young people with learning difficulties and disabilities in a way that allows for five days a week learning where that is appropriate. The funding behind that has not declined, and we are not changing the overall funding for schools and high-needs pupils and students aged up to 25. The amount we allocate for these children and young people through additional learning support—a key feature—has increased year on year. The amount of high-level additional learning support we make available for 16 to 24-year-olds has, in fact, increased by more than a quarter in the past two years, from £97 million in 2010-11 to £124.9 million in 2012-13. Additional funding has been made available from the learners with learning difficulties and disabilities placement budget for students with high levels of learning difficulty and/or disability placed in FE colleges. That has also increased by a quarter, from £24.8 million to £35 million in the same time period.

I know from a visit I made last week to Hereward college in Coventry that the one thing that most young people aged 16 to 18 want is to have, as far as possible, the same opportunities and life chances as the rest of their peer group. For some young people, who may have learning difficulties and/or disabilities but are quite capable of undertaking unsupervised independent study on their own, a course involving three days a week of supervised learning in an FE college will be wholly appropriate to their needs. However, for others—this touches on the case that my hon. Friend the Member for New Forest East cited—it will simply not be enough, particularly for those with more profound or limiting disabilities. So where it is clear that a young person would have difficulty managing their learning in a three-day-a-week setting with periods of unsupervised study, we would expect a programme to be offered over a longer period each week. That would and should be accompanied by additional support for learning, the funding for which I have set out, and support outside formal lessons, to be provided as appropriate.

Of course, it is not the business of government to tell autonomous FE colleges how to arrange the courses they provide or how to set their timetables. By the same token, it is essential that the provision on offer in these colleges is right for each individual. Nor is it true that all FE colleges have looked at the overall funding available to them from their local authority and decided to reduce the length of courses they offer to their students; many have worked together to find innovative solutions. For example, Luton local authority has funded a “broker” to put together programmes for its young people with highest needs, combining education, health and social care as appropriate. It has generated new types of day provision with very high support functions, taking on a new role as a commissioner of services. Neighbouring Hertfordshire has operated with two “brokers” since 2006, but is now attempting to merge the role into personal adviser roles. Both Hertfordshire and Luton were part of an original east of England regional initiative Improving Choice, which developed a “person-centred” approach, aiming to increase availability and access to support for study within their local area.

Under the current funding approach, the provision that young people with learning difficulties and disabilities receive will depend on what the local authority has set out in the learning difficulty assessment drawn up for them. This is designed to identify the young person’s educational needs, and describe the provision that will be made available to them that will be suitable and appropriate to their needs. A local authority should not be drawing up a learning difficulty assessment that recommends a three-day-a-week course in a local FE college where that would not be appropriate to the young person’s needs.

[Dr Julian Lewis]

It seems to me that the Minister is saying that things ought to be sorted out between the local authority and the college. Brockenhurst college, to which I referred, is regarded as a beacon college and both Mike Snell, a parent and former principal, and Di Roberts, the present principal, have been awarded the CBE for their efforts, but with the best will in the world they cannot bridge the gap by themselves. I know that Hampshire county council—I am sure that my hon. Friend will agree that it is highly competent—is doing its best to help but it cannot bridge the gap caused by the restriction in the definition of available funding that I described.

[Mr Timpson]

Of course we are concerned when provision is not being met in any individual situation and I will be happy, as always, to look more closely at the circumstances mentioned by my hon. Friend. If a child has an identified need that is not being met through the learning difficulty assessment, that shows exactly why we need the reforms we will introduce in primary legislation next year.

The information set out in a learning difficulty assessment is covered by statutory guidance, but the guidance does not prescribe in close detail what can and cannot be included in each and every case.

[Nic Dakin (Scunthorpe) (Lab)]

I congratulate the hon. Member for New Forest East (Dr Lewis) on securing the debate. The Government’s direction of travel is that more post-16 funding will come through local authorities as part of the seamless approach, which is to be welcomed in many ways. How will he ensure that local authorities have the right capacity to do that job, which they have not done hitherto? In cases where many local authorities have to work with one college, how will he ensure that there is a co-ordinated rather than fragmented approach on behalf of the young people who will all attend the same college?

[Mr Timpson]

I am grateful to the hon. Gentleman for raising the important question of how to get the most out of the available resources. We are under no illusions about the tight economic situation which means we have to find more from less. That is why the reforms we will introduce in the new year will focus on joint commissioning between education and health so that we can try to pool our resources more effectively; on putting a local offer on the table so that parents can see close up what services are available to them and get as much accountability as possible from the local authority and health services; and on ensuring that we identify as early as possible the needs of each individual child. That will mean that the necessary work can be done as early as possible, preventing unnecessary work in the future that could have been avoided if provision had been offered earlier. Those are all reasons why the reforms, which I shall explain in more detail in the three minutes I have left, will make an important contribution to a more effective child and young person-centred system.

Our proposed special educational needs reforms will improve the situation for this group of young people in general. More specifically, our proposed new education, health and care plans will focus much more on the needs and aspirations of the young person and will be drawn up in consultation with them. It is important to note that following an assessment of the young person’s needs and negotiation with them and their parents, the plans will set out their education, health and social care needs not up to the age of 16 or 18 but up to the age of 25. That is a new statutory protection for young adults in further education.

Let me move quickly on to the second issue raised by my hon. Friend the Member for New Forest East. If I do not cover every point he has raised, I will be happy to write to him in more detail to ensure that he has a full and considered reply. Access to FE provision for adults with learning difficulties is rightly the responsibility of the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, but it is clear to me that there are issues of real concern here that my hon. Friend has helpfully raised. The Government prioritise funding where its impact is greatest on outcomes, and maximising that is part of the Government’s agenda to support people into employment. We fully fund units and qualifications for unemployed people in receipt of jobseeker’s allowance and employment support allowance, depending on what they need to help them enter and stay in work. In 2012-13 we are investing over £3.8 billion for more than 3 million adult training places through the Skills Funding Agency.

I hear the concerns that my hon. Friend raises in relation to specific funding streams to support enrichment and further qualifications. There have been some changes to the way that they have been calculated, and that may have had an impact on some individual college budgets. I will be able to provide him with a fuller picture of the effect that that has had. I hope also to provide him with some reassurance that we understand the importance of learning not just educationally, but from a nurturing perspective for all young people. That is very much at the forefront of the reforms that we will be taking through the House in the coming months.

I am grateful to my hon. Friend for raising this extremely important issue, and I look forward to being able to provide him with a fuller reply in due course that sets out all the issues that he has raised.

Question put and agreed to.

Diabetes (Care in Schools)

Edward Timpson Excerpts

Tuesday 11th September 2012 Westminster Hall

[The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Education (Mr Edward Timpson)]

It is a pleasure to serve under your chairmanship, Mr Leigh. I congratulate my hon. Friend the Member for Mid Derbyshire (Pauline Latham) on securing this extremely important debate. I welcome her constructive and well informed speech, as well as the not insignificant contribution of Rufus the bear, which unfortunately might not otherwise have gone down in the Hansard history.

I, too, have spoken in the past on children’s health conditions, and I understand and am very much aware of the challenges that affected children might have to face in school and outside it if they have a chronic condition such as diabetes, which affects one in 550 school-age children. We are not talking about an insignificant number of children. My hon. Friend also alluded to my being reasonably new to the great machinations of the Department for Education, but I shall endeavour to do my best to address all the points that she made. On anything I am not able to address today, I shall make every effort to fulfil my duty by engaging in correspondence with her, to ensure that she has all the answers for which she has posed questions.

I am acutely aware and conscious of the often draining impact on parents of a child with type 1 or type 2 diabetes. Day to day, they have to manage the condition, which is lifelong. It is important to recognise the huge contribution of parents to ensuring that their children have as happy and as normal a childhood as possible.

Without doubt, it is vital that children with diabetes are able lead the same full and active life as children without diabetes—there should be no discrimination, and the Equality Act 2010 makes it absolutely clear that that applies within schools. With proper support, children with diabetes should be able to participate fully in school life and to enjoy their time there along with their friends, not feeling left out in the way that my hon. Friend has described in some cases. For that reason, it is right to encourage schools to do all that they can to support pupils with medical needs, including diabetes.

Teachers have to consider many conditions when looking at the provision and support for children in school. Fortunately, there are many examples of schools excelling in doing precisely that. We expect schools, employers, staff, parents and local health services to work together in the interests of such children—very much as hon. Members have been encouraging them to do in today’s debate—to ensure that they are not disadvantaged at school. The 26,500 children affected by type 1 diabetes in the UK is a significant number, so the issue is of real importance to the families and teachers directly involved with those children’s lives.

As my hon. Friend pointed out, by necessity children diagnosed with type 1 diabetes must learn quickly how to manage their condition themselves: how to monitor their blood sugar; how to choose meals in the school dining room with an appropriate carbohydrate content; what precautions to take when they exercise and play sports; and how to manage their insulin infusions or to do their own injections, which they might have to do as many as four times a day. I have certainly seen that in my constituency, when visiting schools and learning about some of the conditions that children have to live with day to day and how responsibly many children are in facing up to the challenge.

Such a task is challenging for children or young people, and we cannot expect them to do it on their own, without the proper support. They need that support, and without it in place, it is all too easy for the children to be distracted from their learning and from feeling safe and happy at school—quite apart from the stigma that can be associated with the condition, as mentioned by hon. Members. It is also important that children with diabetes are not excluded from school trips or PE lessons due to a lack of understanding of the condition by their school. If that happens, the word must go out that that is not only unacceptable but ultimately discriminatory.

The first priority for any family with a diabetic child is to ensure that school staff and fellow pupils understand the condition and, in particular, what to look for should the child suffer low blood sugar or even a hypo. Safety must be the No. 1 priority. That is particularly important for the newly diagnosed and for very young children, who may find it more difficult to help themselves. The key to success is common sense.

Parents, staff and health professionals should work together, sharing information and agreeing responsibilities that reflect the personal requirements of the individual child. It is important that staff work together to ensure that, in every situation and at all times, someone at the school has the training and understanding of what is required if an episode occurs or an injection is required. They should ensure that protocols are agreed and followed and that the specific needs of individual pupils are fully addressed and accommodated. Access to medicine and appropriate snacks should always be allowed.

It is crucial for children with diabetes to control their condition well, because the long-term complications may be life-threatening, as my hon. Friend said—not to mention the massive cost to the health service of complications. Adequate support at school can affect a young person’s confidence in taking control of their condition at that vital early stage. It is also important that teachers are sensitive to the bullying that may result when a child lacks confidence or feels different because of their condition. I have come across that in my constituency.

Long-term medical conditions can impact negatively on academic attainment and pupils’ psychological well-being. That should provide a strong incentive for teachers when considering how to support pupils with diabetes. If they want to do what they are there to do—to get pupils to learn and to fulfil their academic potential—supporting them and helping them to control their diabetes is an important step in achieving that.

The good news is that there are many examples of effective practice throughout the education system. The vast majority of schools adequately manage pupils’ medical needs, and it is right that we trust them to do that and to make relationships work at local level. However, I am aware—this has been articulated further today—that some parents believe that schools do not do enough to help them and their children. Some employers—schools and local authorities—feel that they bear a significant risk if something goes wrong. Some staff, particularly support staff, feel that they are left to deal with children with inadequate or insufficient training, or are asked to carry out procedures they are not comfortable with. That remains a problem even today, but such feelings should be unnecessary and may lead to distress for the child concerned, their family and the school.

We want relevant school staff to be competent in managing pupils’ health needs and to feel confident in doing so. Schools should ensure that staff understand the school’s responsibilities, have appropriate training and can access continuing support, which includes receiving advice from juvenile diabetes specialist nurses in local health services when they are present.

It is clear that the effective management of long-term conditions helps children to improve their academic attainment and enables children with additional health needs to be included in the wider life of the school. That is extremely important. Teachers have a responsibility to ensure that pupils with diabetes can fulfil their educational potential, and it is in everyone’s interest to learn about diabetes, how to manage emergencies and how to support pupils with diabetes. In many ways, that goes beyond the education system, and there is a much wider debate to be had about pupils’ understanding of what diabetes is and how it manifests itself not just in adults, but in children. If people are more aware of that, there may be greater potential for local collaboration to be more effective.

The Government have made it clear that they want to give schools maximum freedom to use their own professional judgment and to decide their own priorities. As my hon. Friend said, there is no legal duty on teaching staff to provide medical support, to administer medication or to supervise a pupil taking medication. There are no plans at this stage to change that. It is for individual schools to make decisions about the managing medicine policies and protocols, but they are funded to provide continuing professional development and training for staff, and it is their responsibility to ensure that such needs are met for children with diabetes.

It is right that schools should take responsibility for managing their own approach to medicines, and guidance is available to support them. We encourage local authorities and schools to adopt the guidance in the booklet, “Managing Medicines in Schools and Early Years Settings”, which was produced in 2005. Appropriately, it provides joint guidance from the Department for Education and Department of Health, and it explains the roles and responsibilities for administering medicines on school premises. The guidance aims to ensure that children with medical needs are effectively supported, and work is ongoing as we speak to review and update the guidance to make it fit and proper for the future. It also contains a template for a health care plan, which my hon. Friend discussed. There is no excuse for schools not putting such plans in place.

Schools can also make use of the excellent resources created by the Medical Conditions at School Partnership, of which Diabetes UK is an active and important member. I am sure that my hon. Friend is aware that its website holds specialist advice about pupils with type 1 diabetes to help schools and school health care professionals to support such pupils. There are also resources for holding diabetes awareness sessions that can be used by schools to inform and train staff in a format that is accurate, reliable, easy to use and well presented. Similarly, it is right to say that Diabetes UK has excellent online resources for schools to use.

My hon. Friend alluded to the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation, which launched a resource pack in September 2008. During the last school year, 2011-12, it sent packs to more than 2,000 primary schools. I believe that it is in the process this month of sending out similar packs to secondary schools. There is plenty of information, advice and guidance out there for schools to take on board.

[Pauline Latham]

On that specific point, I have spoken to JDRF and I intend to send packs to every primary and secondary school in my constituency, so that they will have no excuse for not knowing about the situation.

[Mr Timpson]

I suspect that that is music to the ears, and I commend my hon. Friend for taking that course of action. Perhaps other hon. Members should consider following suit, because there is clearly not only a need, but an appetite for that to be followed through across the education sector. I commend my hon. Friend for leading by example.

I do not believe that it is the task of central Government to provide specialist medical advice for schools. It is for the excellent third sector organisations, such as Diabetes UK and JDRF, which employ highly skilled medical practitioners and work closely with their members, to support and advise them on specific issues.

My hon. Friend mentioned the Essex protocol, which provides an excellent template for all local authorities and schools to use, or to adapt, to meet local circumstances. She cited inconsistent services and a postcode lottery of care in schools, and it goes without saying that that is totally unacceptable. I highly commend the protocol to those schools and local authorities that may be reviewing their own practices and are seeking a tried and tested model as a basis for improving their care of pupils with type 1 diabetes. I trust that many more schools will take it on.

I am pleased to report that from April 2012 paediatric diabetes services will attract a best-practice tariff payment of £3,189 per patient per year for every child or young person under 19 who attends a paediatric diabetes clinic, provided certain strict criteria are met. The best-practice tariff includes a requirement for 24-hour support and advice to be available to patients and their families. To ensure that the child receives the best care that they can offer, that will include additional contacts by the diabetes specialist team for check-ups, telephone contacts, school visits, e-mails, troubleshooting, advice, support and so on. Eight contacts per year are recommended as a minimum. I hope that my hon. Friend agrees that that is a new and significant incentive for local health services to provide additional support for young diabetic children.

The coalition Government place a sharp focus on robust standards across the education system and the highest quality of teaching, and rightly so. But if children are to enjoy and progress at school, it is vital that schools provide a secure and happy environment where they can focus on learning, and for children with diabetes that includes oversight of their well-being and safety. Parents also need, and should always have, the assurance that their child’s school provides a secure environment.

We all agree that we need to help pupils with diabetes to grow in confidence, independence and well-being. I do not support further Government intervention or legislation, which would be heavy-handed and unnecessary, but I believe that every child or young person with diabetes should have an individualised, evidence-based care plan with agreed review dates. All schools should aim to have those in place, and the Essex protocol is a good starting point.

I am grateful to my hon. Friend for raising this important issue. If I have not covered any matters in this short debate, I will endeavour to write to her, so that she has answers to all her questions.

Adoption

Edward Timpson Excerpts

Thursday 5th July 2012 Westminster Hall

[Mr Edward Timpson (Crewe and Nantwich) (Con)]

As ever, it is a pleasure to speak in what I think everyone agrees is a profoundly important debate. As chair of the all-party group on adoption and fostering, I join other hon. Members in congratulating my hon. Friend the Member for South East Cornwall (Sheryll Murray) on securing this opportunity to debate adoption again. As ever, it would be more useful for those of us who have a passion for adoption if the interest shown by hon. Members in this Chamber were shared more widely when broadcasting what goes on in Parliament. Certainly, the debate that I have come from, which was on professional standards in the banking industries, was in stark contrast with this debate. My hon. Friend made a well-crafted and pertinent speech.

I thank the hon. Member for Walsall South (Valerie Vaz) and my hon. Friend the Member for Romsey and Southampton North (Caroline Nokes), who made thoughtful contributions. They are more than welcome to join us and to see what we do with around 150 young children who come to the all-party group on looked-after children and care leavers and the professionals who come to the all-party group on adoption and fostering. I am sure their presence would make a great difference to our work.

I must declare an interest as a compassionate Conservative and as someone with two adopted brothers. Last time that we debated adoption back in November 2011, I explained the deep and powerful impact that adoption has had on my family and on me personally, and the hon. Member for Sefton Central (Bill Esterson) has told us today about his experience as an adopter. It is important that people realise that expertise in Parliament ensures that adoption is understood professionally and personally.

There is no doubt that, irrespective of the many moments of stress, frustration and, yes, on occasion, sheer blind panic, the adoption of Oliver and Henry into our family has been enriching, rewarding, sobering, but, above all, immensely satisfying. Perhaps that is why I subscribe strongly to the notion that adoption should play a vital role in the lives of many more children and families. It could be argued that that has been the settled consensus for some time. In 2000, the then Prime Minister, Tony Blair, ordered a major policy review of adoption services for looked-after children throughout the UK, with the primary aim of addressing whether there should be more use of adoption as a permanency option for children in care and whether the process could be improved in the interest of the children.

[Bill Esterson]

The hon. Gentleman’s work on the issue has impressed me and many others since he first arrived here in 2008. Will he address the point of how to get more adopters and whether he accepts my premise that one of our big problems is that fewer people have put themselves forward as potential adoptive parents?

[Mr Timpson]

I will come to that later in my speech, but the hon. Gentleman’s earlier point was about ensuring that people understand that adoption is not an exclusive form of permanency for children; it is not the only one. It is important in every child’s case to make sure that the final decision about where and with whom they will spend the rest of their life is based solely on their personal circumstances and needs, not on statistics. It is also important that we consider whether the opportunity for adoption being available and open to more prospective adopters is used as much as possible. Certainly, the surge in interest during national adoption week from people who had an inkling or a desire to be adopters in the future demonstrated to me that there is an appetite out there for people to come forward as adopters. We must do more to make sure not only that we give them that opportunity, but that we then follow it through, and do not leave them hanging and waiting for a decision to be made on their behalf. That is very much at the heart of what the Government’s action plan on adoption is trying to achieve.

The conclusion of the previous Government’s work in 2000-01 was that we should promote an increase in adoption, and there was scope to increase the number of adoptions from care each year. As we have heard, that led to the Adoption and Children Act 2002, coupled with a drive to improve the effectiveness and delivery of adoption services. Initially, that bore fruit, but within five years of the legislation hitting the statute book, the number of adoptions had begun to fall back, and since then the trend has been downward.

It is fair to say that, despite the previous Government’s best intentions, the 2002 Act has not had the desired effect, and its momentum has been lost. So what can we do? First and foremost, it is crucial to remember that adoption is only one route to permanency for a child in care, as I have alluded to and as the hon. Member for Sefton Central has said. As I have said in previous debates on adoption, it is not the right option for every child, but I am certain that there is still under-representation of adoption in the overall mix of permanency plans for looked-after children.

It is important to note that the Prime Minister has made it clear that improving the lives of children in care is a national priority, and I could not agree more. As part of that commitment, the Prime Minister, the Secretary of State for Education, who was adopted, and the Minister are adamant that the adoption system needs to work much more efficiently and much more effectively. The added determination and doggedness of Martin Narey, the Government’s adoption adviser, to effect change is extremely welcome.

As we have heard, adoption is just one part of an overall child protection and care system that is in need of far-reaching reform, and that is borne out by the excellent Munro review that is being implemented by the Government. Part of the solution for improving the adoption process and service available is to ensure that the care system from which children who are to be adopted emerge is as child-focused, efficient, skilled and professional as possible. By accepting the proposals in Eileen Munro’s report, the Minister has set himself and all those working with children in care the difficult but necessary task of turning those recommendations into real and durable reform of both the culture and the practice on the ground where it really matters.

It is equally important that the adoption system does not get left behind. I therefore welcome wholeheartedly the root-and-branch approach taken by the Minister to improve our adoption system by leaving no stone unturned and by being willing to face the often difficult challenges of bringing about systematic and attitudinal change. The adoption process remains too bureaucratic, exclusive rather than inclusive and liable to set up too many adoptions to fail. In just two years, however, the Government have already made significant progress in confronting those endemic problems.

As a member of the ministerial advisory group on adoption, which has been helping to shape policy, it would be surprising if I did not support the wide-ranging and carefully targeted reform of the system on which the Government are embarking. Much of that has already been touched on by my hon. Friend the Member for South East Cornwall and includes “An Action Plan for Adoption”, which was published recently, and new adoption scorecards to hold local authorities to account and help tackle underperformance with swifter interventions. The revised and streamlined six-month approval process for prospective adopters will help deal with many of the problems identified by the hon. Member for Sefton Central in trying to ensure that prospective adopters come forward and do not feel let down by the process or get so frustrated that they walk away and we lose some potentially excellent adopters.

[Bill Esterson]

The hon. Gentleman is making some good points. I am also concerned that, when prospective adopters come forward, they are given information that says, “Come and have a family,” and a rosy picture is painted. Sometimes—not always—the potential difficulties are not explained and people are perhaps given a false perspective in the first place. Does the hon. Gentleman think that, on occasion, a slightly more honest approach would help to achieve what he is setting out?

[Mr Timpson]

The hon. Gentleman makes an extremely important and valid point. Many adopters enter the adoption process with a rose-tinted view of what they are letting themselves in for, and it is important that at as early a stage as possible they are given not only support but information and training from professionals working with them. They must be left under no illusion about the long and often hard road ahead—of which the hon. Gentleman and myself are probably all too aware—and the last thing that we want is to give people a false impression that results in an adoption breakdown. Ultimately, the child is the person who loses out more than anyone else, and they should always be put at the centre of every decision that we make.

The Government are considering the introduction of a national gateway for adoption. That important initiative would provide a first point of contact for anyone interested in adoption. I encourage all Members to read the action plan because it sets out detailed proposals to accelerate the whole adoption process, taking into account the point raised by the hon. Member for Walsall South about the need to qualify and quantify every aspect of that adoption and not view it purely on the basis of time constraints. We must ensure that we always get the right decision.

We must also improve the recruitment of prospective adopters and enhance support to adoptive families before, during and—crucially—after an adoption. I will say a little more about the point made by my hon. Friend the Member for Romsey and Southampton North on adoption support, which is critical to the success of an adoption.

I welcome the priority that the Government are placing on adoption, which is backed up by the actions being taken. There is however, as I know the Minister is aware, much more work to do. I should like to mention many areas, but I will touch briefly on two—adoption support and the role of voluntary adoption agencies.

Proposals for adoption support are in their early stages of development, but we know that the day on which the placement or adoption order is made is not the day on which the troubles and traumas that resulted in the child entering care in the first place suddenly dissipate into thin air. As one adopter said:

“we don’t know what impact the children’s history will have on them as they grow and come to terms with their past.”

It is difficult to be precise about adoption breakdown rates. The Department for Education has commissioned Bristol university to dig down into that issue and consider the reasons for adoption breakdown. We know, however, that without meaningful and enduring adoption support, adoption placements have a greater risk of breaking down—that was the point made by my hon. Friend the Member for Romsey and Southampton North.

Earlier this year, Adoption UK carried out research into adoption support. Among other things, it found that two thirds of prospective adopters did not feel that they understood the importance of adoption support, and that is troubling in itself. A similar number of people were unaware of their entitlement to adoption support services, and although twice as many adopters said that their adopted child or children had special needs that required greater support services, fewer than half were receiving any form of adoption support, let alone support commensurate with the needs of their child.

Although under the current law all adopters have the right to be assessed for support, they have no right to that need for support being fulfilled in the long term. The current three-year support cut-off point is perhaps too arbitrary—and in many cases too short—and prevents local authorities from committing to the long-term support that may be necessary. That can often lead to an unnecessary breakdown of the placement.

The proposal in the action plan is for an adoption passport, which in essence is a transparent guarantee of the minimum support that adoptive families will receive. That is a step in the right direction, particularly if it ensures priority access to child and adolescent mental health services, for example, or parenting courses to help prospective adopters understand what attachment is and how it may manifest itself with the child placed with them. Potentially, the role of adoptive families may be recognised in the tax and benefits system—that is linked to those areas mentioned with great force by the hon. Member for Walsall South.

One way to improve adoption support would be to enhance the role of voluntary adoption agencies. Their excellent results in delivering successful adoptions with fewer breakdowns is, in large part, due to the greater and more long-standing support given to VAA-approved adoptive families. A report by Dr Julie Selwyn from Bristol university confirmed that VAAs have a better track record in terms of post-adoption support, and VAA-approved adoptive families were found to receive twice as much support from family placement workers as families approved by local authorities.

Local authorities have been reluctant to use VAAs because of their perceived extra cost. That has been shown to be inaccurate, however, and the cost of a VAA sourcing and matching a child is comparable to the cost to the local authority. It also fails to take into account the much lower breakdown rate for placements made through VAAs. With many local authorities feeling the squeeze on their own adoptive support services—a point that the hon. Member for Sefton Central was starting to bring into the debate—there is clearly ample scope for closer partnership working between local authorities and voluntary adoption agencies to improve adoption services, and that includes support, as amply demonstrated by the partnership between the London borough of Harrow and Coram.

Ultimately, this debate is about the need for a child-centred adoption system that we can be confident is delivering for children. The Government have made important commitments and pushed hard to meet that shared objective. There is still a long way to go, but it is a good start.

Safeguarding Children

Edward Timpson Excerpts

Wednesday 13th June 2012 Commons Chamber

[Mr Edward Timpson (Crewe and Nantwich) (Con)]

David Norgrove is, of course, talking principally about equality of time. In family court cases in which I was involved, it was clear that when people started to talk about 9 o’clock in the morning until 5 o’clock in the evening and shared arrangements of equality during the week, it often proved divisive, whereas trying to reach agreement is in the best interests of the child. What I think the Government are trying to achieve through their shared parenting considerations is children receiving a shared time of quality care from both parents, which is a very different model from simply trying to cut the time in half.

[Stephen Twigg]

The hon. Gentleman, who I know has campaigned and spoken out on these issues for many years both before and after he came to the House, speaks with authority. What I am saying is that we need to tread very carefully, as these changes might have unintended consequences. I believe I am right in saying that evidence from Australia suggests that a similar change resulted in greater litigation and greater resort to the courts there. [Interruption.] The Minister says that the position is different there. Let us learn from the experience of other countries. We will study the Government’s specific proposals in detail today.

Norgrove recommended that

“children and young people should be given age-appropriate information to explain what is happening when they are involved in cases.”

They should be offered a menu of options setting out the ways in which they can do that if they wish. The court process is clearly an important part of that, but I think that we also need greater clarity from the Government on how we can ensure that children’s views are taken on board in the rest of the care system, which includes social workers.

We have been looking at the issue in our policy review, and I am grateful to my hon. Friend the Member for Newcastle upon Tyne North (Catherine McKinnell) for the work that she did on it when she was in the shadow education team. Children often stress the importance of the monitoring of placements by social workers, and the importance of being able to talk to their own social worker alone. Often a social worker is a source of constancy—a rock—for a child who is moving between different foster carers or residential homes.

The second aim of our motion is to ensure that children and young people are given appropriate information and guidance so that they understand the risks of abuse and sexual exploitation. We fear that in too many cases young people may not be clear about how to report instances of abuse or exploitation, and that some may not understand that the acts in which they or their friends are involved constitute sexual abuse. I am sure that we were all shocked by yesterday’s “Channel 4 News” investigation of Habbo Hotel, a very popular website which is used by children as young as 10 and has 250 million users globally.

--- Later in debate ---

[Stephen Twigg]

It is not, and in my concluding remarks I shall say something about the Department for Education’s broader responsibilities for the well-being of children.

The Government have to explain how they will address the challenges that I have set, and there needs to be a robust training and continuing professional development framework not only for social workers, but for other staff in the relevant agencies, especially those in the health sector. It is crucial that we have robust supervision of social work practice by experienced senior staff and consultants who are accountable for the exercise of professional judgment. We know that the lack of good supervision was a significant issue in the baby Peter case.

[Mr Timpson]

If all those in the agencies that are involved in protecting and safeguarding vulnerable children are to be able to do so with the best possible judgments that they can make as professionals, they need to learn from mistakes that have been made in the past. We have heard about the horrendous cases of baby P and others, which have led to a number of serious case reviews. Does the hon. Gentleman agree that in order to make sure that we shine a light on the mistakes that were made in those particularly appalling cases and learn those lessons from the past, it is important that we have full publication of serious case reviews, albeit anonymised in the appropriate places?

[Stephen Twigg]

I am going to tread carefully on that issue. I am being advised to say yes by my esteemed colleague in the shadow team, my hon. Friend the Member for Wigan (Lisa Nandy), but I recognise that that would be a change from the position that my predecessor took. I will undertake to look at it and get back to the hon. Gentleman.

Let me finish by saying something about the Government’s broader policy with regard to children and families. When the Secretary of State took over two years ago, he renamed the Department, removing the words “Children” and “Families”. I am a passionate advocate of innovation, rigour and high standards in our schools and colleagues.

Adoption

Edward Timpson Excerpts

Wednesday 9th November 2011 Westminster Hall

[Jessica Lee]

I agree that when special guardianship orders came in, they brought about something that was much needed in the system. It is often, although of course not always, relatives of the child who step forward, and the orders provide another avenue of permanence and security for the child.

[Mr Edward Timpson (Crewe and Nantwich) (Con)]

I congratulate my hon. Friend on securing the debate, about which many of us feel passionate. She has carried out a duty on behalf of us all in championing the matter in Parliament.

Although since 2005 special guardianship orders have been an important addition to the routes to permanence for children, is it not the case that the number of children being adopted had already flatlined in the two or three years before those orders were introduced? We need to be careful not to make a direct comparison between special guardianship orders and adoption orders and assume that one is replacing the other.

[Jessica Lee]

I pay tribute to my hon. Friend the Member for Crewe and Nantwich (Mr Timpson), who has shown leadership in the House in taking forward the issue of outcomes for looked-after children. I agree with his point. Special guardianship orders have their place and have been very useful in the child protection arena, but I do not accept that there is a direct correlation between the introduction of those orders and the reduction in adoption figures. It simply is not that straightforward. It should be borne in mind that often other residence orders or long-term foster care arrangements have supported special guardianship orders.

To return to what I was saying about the Secretary of State, he has taken the view that his life chances were transformed by the childhood that he experienced. He hopes to support looked-after children who are waiting to be placed for adoption. I was very encouraged by the interest shown by the Prime Minister in the issue in his party conference speech and subsequent remarks. I was delighted to hear him comment on the importance of improving adoption rates. I was also delighted with his response to my question at Prime Minister’s questions, which included this comment:

“It is also important that the Government pledge that we will make the process of adoption and fostering simpler. It has become too bureaucratic and difficult, and the result is that it is putting people off. I am absolutely determined that we crack this.”—[Official Report, 2 November 2011; Vol. 534, c. 923.]

I am sure that we would all agree with the Prime Minister about that.

Pulling all the indicators together, the message is clear. There is a momentum in the House and the country to tackle the challenges affecting the adoption process. We must seize the opportunity. The starting point must be the assessment process for prospective adopters. Last week’s national adoption week was an excellent opportunity to showcase, across the country, the need for adoptive parents, and the need to raise awareness. It is hoped that families and individuals will reflect on the possibility of adoption and make that important phone call to local authorities to start the process. Sadly, there are many anecdotal examples of that first step in the process—contacting children’s services—being a hurdle to overcome. I worked with and for social workers for many years, and I assure hon. Members that I am not going to turn my speech into criticism of those who work in the field. The difficulties I mention are merely an example of the problems that occur all the way along the process of adoption.

Anecdotally, some applicants report being discouraged from the outset, and more needs to be done to ensure that all possible applicants are appreciated and encouraged to apply. Until we get people up to the starting line for the assessment process it is difficult to improve the number of applicants. With the current numbers of successful adoptions, we cannot afford to discourage people at an early stage. The entire assessment process needs to be streamlined and improved.

--- Later in debate ---

[Jessica Lee]

The point is well made by my hon. Friend, and I thank him for the intervention. It is exactly that balance that perhaps we should all refer to this morning. There is a clear dividing line between assessing and safeguarding children and deciding whether they would be in any risk in a household, and commenting on people’s lifestyle choices and intimate details, which is simply not relevant to whether people are fit and capable parents.

Another aspect to speeding up the adoption process is the time limit for courts in completing care and placement proceedings. The family justice review, headed by David Norgrove, has just produced its final report. Sections of the report are relevant to the debate on adoption rates in the UK.

It is broadly accepted that children make their main attachments in the earliest months and years of their lives. It goes perhaps without saying that the more secure are their relationships with their main carers, the more likely it is that they will form secure attachments and relationships in childhood and beyond.

It is important to remember that the paramount priority of the family court has been and always will remain the welfare of a child. Again, I make no criticisms of all the professionals and others involved in the court process; I know at first hand how hard-working and committed the court staff, lawyers, social workers and children’s guardians are. However, there are long delays in the completion of cases. Care and supervision cases now take an average of 56 weeks. One can say that a young child is subject to proceedings for a high percentage of their life—often 50% or more. There is no magic wand for that problem. It requires consideration of case management, court availability and judicial leadership.

We already have in place the public law outline, which sets out the parameters for how cases should progress. Judicial continuity and strict case management are just one important aspect of how we could speed along proceedings.

[Mr Timpson]

Regarding the court process, judicial continuity and case management, is it not also important that the initial allocation of a care case is done with the utmost expediency and by a judge with the right level of experience, to ensure that there is not even more delay built into the court process, so that the time limits that we are trying to adhere to are more likely to be kept?

[Jessica Lee]

I agree with my hon. Friend’s point. At the moment, all public law cases automatically go to the family proceedings court. They may then be transferred to higher courts, such as the county court or even the High Court. However, when we are dealing with strict time limits and concerns to create outcomes for children, every extra court date is time not best used. It is a waste of the child’s time, and we must improve the situation. I would support any proposals that allocate cases more efficiently and directly to the correct level, so that they can be properly managed by appropriate judges.

The Norgrove review proposes a limit of six months in which to complete proceedings. That is certainly a good aspiration, but if that is to be achieved, it will require the coming together of many aspects of how the courts function. I realise that the report has only just been published, but I ask the Minister for any preliminary response to it, and what the time scale is for a detailed Government response to that important document. Six months is a reasonable period in which to make an assessment. A court’s primary and first consideration and hope is that a child may be returned to their birth family and stays with it. Following that is an assessment and consideration of the parents and any other family members. We need to speed up the availability of court time.

Judicial continuity is important. If a judge is charged with the responsibility of a case from the outset, they will have a much better understanding of the dynamics, personalities and initial concerns of a social worker. They will have a grip on the background and chronology of the case; they will have seen it through. It is much more difficult for a judge to step in halfway through a case and make important and life-changing decisions for a child. I am sure that many judges would wish to have judicial continuity throughout cases—they aspire to that as well—so I hope that can be achieved over time.

Once the court process has been exhausted and a placement order made, allowing local authorities to match a child with prospective adopters, there are further hurdles and challenges. A local authority has to consider the pool of adopters within its authority. Again, one has to think about the cost and other complications of looking further afield from the outset. However, is that a sensible, child-centred approach? Surely, we need a more straightforward structure in which adoption teams across the country can consider as wide a pool of prospective adopters as possible from the earliest opportunity. That could save months when matching children with prospective carers.

--- Later in debate ---

[Esther McVey]

I thank my hon. Friend for raising that point. I was not aware that there were differences, but if so, of course they need to be addressed. Particularly for children adopted later in life, it is painfully apparent that they might need the same support as children in care. I will conclude on that point, but I would like replies from the Minister on my points about choice, equality and awareness of the need to help children in school.

[Mr Timpson]

rose—

[Jim Shannon]

rose—

--- Later in debate ---

[Mr Edward Timpson (Crewe and Nantwich) (Con)]

It is an unmitigated delight to serve under your chairmanship, Mr Davies. I congratulate my hon. Friend the Member for Erewash (Jessica Lee) on her deeply knowledgeable and constructive speech, which set out all the issues with which we need to grapple in order to improve our adoption system. It is worth setting down a marker from the outset that adoption is only one route to permanency for children who need to find another home, and that many foster carers and family members take on a caring role. Although adoption is a route to permanency that many more children could be the beneficiaries of, we have to recognise that it is not always the right option for every child.

I declare an interest. Like my hon. Friend, I am a family law barrister, although I do not practise at present. I also have two adoptive brothers—Oliver, who is now 35, and Henry, who has just turned 24, I think. They are an integral part of our family and one thing about which I can be absolutely confident is that they have enriched our family’s lives. I hope that we have provided them with the stable and loving environment that they so desperately needed.

It is worth acknowledging that successive Governments, including the previous one, did their best to try to help vulnerable children who were in need of a stable home. That included trying to work in ways that would help adoption become a more successful route. We could talk about whether targets are a good or a bad idea, but I think that the motivation behind them was absolutely right. It was to try to give the opportunity to more families to offer a home to children through the adoption route. Ultimately, this is about finding the right home for a child, rather than the right child for a home. I believe that the current Government’s work to achieve that end is moving the system in the right direction, but be under no illusions—there is no quick fix and it will take a whole cultural shift over a long period.

[Caroline Nokes (Romsey and Southampton North) (Con)]

My hon. Friend is making a valid point. Although we recognise that there will be no quick fix to the problem, one of my concerns is that, in the meantime, we as Members of Parliament must do our level best to make sure that those looked-after children and those going through the process are given the best possible voice and opportunity. Foster carers in my constituency have told me that they want looked-after children to have a voice and to be heard by us in this place, so that we can understand the issues that they face.

[Mr Timpson]

I am grateful to my hon. Friend for that intervention, which gives me the opportunity to remind her of the groups that I chair—the all-party group on adoption and fostering and the all-party group on looked after children and care leavers. Every time we meet, we manage to bring to Parliament about 150 people who are in care or have left care, so that their voice can be heard here. We are trying to begin a scheme whereby MPs will be matched with a care leaver in their constituencies. I encourage all Members present to engage with that and to ask their local authority if they can sit on an adoption panel, so that they can learn exactly how the decision-making process works.

In this debate, we have elaborated on the myth-busting that needs to take place in relation to the issue of who can adopt. The hon. Member for Upper Bann (David Simpson) has mentioned his experiences in Paraguay, which leave a lot to be desired. I remember visiting some Romanian orphanages in 1990 with my parents, who were so distressed by what they saw that they inquired about adopting a Romanian child. My hon. Friend the Member for Devizes (Claire Perry), who has left the Chamber for now, has told us that she was turned down for being 47. My parents were turned down in Romania for being over 35, which shows that some other countries have even more stringent conditions for adoption.

We need to bust myths. If someone has a body mass index that they are not proud of, it does not mean that they cannot adopt. If you like a flutter on the horses, Mr Davies, it does not mean that you cannot adopt. A lot of myths need to be shaken out of the adopted system. The Government’s important measures in relation to new adoption guidelines, particularly those centring on black and minority ethnic children, are an important step in that direction.

It has been suggested that the way to try to improve the number of people who put themselves forward to adopt and to ensure that more children are adopted is to go back to the targets system. I have already touched on that and do not believe that it is the right way. We need to do something similar to what has been done in Cheshire East council, in my constituency, which has a local but direct campaign called “Fostering and Adoption in Cheshire East”. FACE brings together people from all sorts of different backgrounds—married, single, gay, pensioners—who adopted successfully, to try to ensure that people realise that they do not necessarily need to count themselves out and that they are very much welcome. We also need to make sure that those local authorities that get more inquiries, as has been the case in Cheshire East, have the capacity to deal with those cases and provide those people with the services that they need. We do not want to end up in a situation in which people make the emotional decision to present themselves as potential adopters, only to be told, “Don’t call us, we’ll call you.”

I would have liked to have covered many other issues, many of which have been addressed by my hon. Friend the Member for Erewash, but what I will say is that it is outcomes for children that matter. If all children are going to be placed in an adoptive placement, it is important that the outcomes are successful. We need to look carefully at organisations such as Coram, which has a 100% success rate in finding adoptive parents for children with adoption plans. It has almost negligible breakdown rates, and post-adoption support plays a vital role in that. Adoption UK and After Adoption are just two of the voluntary adoption agencies that offer specific courses for adopters. I have spoken to adopters who have benefited from those courses, which are valuable in ensuring that adopters understand the issues they face, and that the children they look after get the support they need post-adoption. Just because a child is adopted does not mean that the problems disappear. My brother Oliver is 35. He still has difficulties that all relate to his early life trauma. I am pleased to say that he has just completed his first year in employment without changing jobs. That has been a huge breakthrough for him. For our family, it is a measure of the success from where he started.

New Schools

Edward Timpson Excerpts

Monday 10th October 2011 Commons Chamber

[Michael Gove]

I am grateful to my hon. Friend for his support, and I am delighted that Reading is one of the areas benefiting. It is an area of real population growth.

[Mr Edward Timpson (Crewe and Nantwich) (Con)]

It is only right that free schools and, indeed, academies should follow the school admissions code, particularly in relation to the high priority that should be given to looked-after children. Yet, despite having been given that highest priority for many years, there is still a dearth of looked-after children in our best schools. What can the Secretary of State do to encourage new free schools and academies to play their part in raising the social mobility of, in particular, children in care?

[Michael Gove]

Looked-after children, like children who are eligible for free school meals, are eligible for the pupil premium, which is a strong incentive for free schools either to prioritise admissions or to locate in a way that helps those children. More needs to be done, however, and we will bring forward some proposals, I hope, later this year to help ensure that the whole care and education system is better oriented towards the welfare of looked-after and adopted children.

Careers Service (Young People)

Edward Timpson Excerpts

Tuesday 13th September 2011 Commons Chamber

[Mr Gibb]

Yes; my hon. Friend makes a very good point. Whatever people say, employers disproportionately employ people with the E-bac subjects among their qualifications.

Our approach is to measure and report on the outputs—on what schools achieve for their pupils. The destination measure will say more about the success of a school’s approach to careers advice and will do more to deliver high-quality advice than will any number of detailed regulations.

The second reason for giving schools the duty is that they are best placed to decide what support their pupils need to make the right choices. We have considered carefully the evidence about what works and what does not work in the provision of information, advice and guidance. The approaches that are most effective work because they are part of a wider approach in a school or college that promotes ambition and aspiration, and encourages pupils to think about their future throughout their education. Effective careers guidance is not a one-off event.

There is no single right way; many different approaches work, depending on the precise circumstances of the school or pupil. That is why it is right to leave schools to decide how to provide impartial independent advice. How they choose to do that should be determined by what works for them. In making choices about how to provide impartial advice, they will benefit from independent benchmarks of quality—something that was recommended by the taskforce on careers guidance led by Dame Ruth Silver, which was commissioned by the previous Government and reported to us last year.

Alongside the duty for schools, local authorities will also have responsibility for encouraging young people to stay in education to the age of 17 or 18 by 2015. They are free to determine how best to fulfil that responsibility, taking account of local priorities. That is a duty that local authorities take seriously.

There will also be free online and helpline services for young people, which will be provided through the national careers service from April 2012. The motion mentions a requirement to provide “face-to-face” guidance for every young person, and that was also recommended by my right hon. Friend the Member for Bermondsey and Old Southwark in his report as the advocate for access to education. The issues that he raises in his report are important: making the right choices at the key decision points in a young person’s education and career can open or close a lifetime of opportunities. We are still considering all 33 recommendations in his report—not just the one recommendation that has been picked up by the Opposition—so we are not, at this stage, ruling anything in or out, and we will respond in full to his report in due course.

We also need to recognise that although advice is important, other elements are also fundamental to a pupil’s ability to achieve and progress. If a pupil does not have a thorough grounding in the basics of literacy and numeracy, or is not given the opportunity to study the subjects that are the best foundation for progression, the best information and advice in the world will not help that pupil to progress far beyond the constraints that a poor education has put on him or her. The evidence is very clear that the longer someone stays in education, the higher their earnings are and the less likely they are to be unemployed. OECD figures show that the earnings premium resulting from a university degree is between $200,000 and $300,000. People with two or more A-levels can earn 14% more than those without. For those who secure five good GCSEs the chances of being NEET are just one in 40, whereas for those who do not achieve five or more good GCSEs the odds fall to one in six.

For young people who are set on pursuing a vocational route at an early age we are promoting university technical colleges and studio schools, we are encouraging FE colleges to consider recruiting students at age 14 and we are allowing further education lecturers to teach in schools. That is also why we are increasing apprenticeship places for 16 to 18-year-olds, with 102,900 young people starting apprenticeships in the first nine months of this year compared with 117,000 for the whole of the last academic year. That is why we have protected school budgets in cash terms, and why we have ensured that we are funding participation at age 17 by 2013 and at age 18 by 2015. It is also why we make no apology for prioritising resources on funding for early years on the pupil premium in schools and on funding for disadvantaged young people post-16.

[Mr Edward Timpson (Crewe and Nantwich) (Con)]

Perhaps the greatest benchmark for deciding whether we are providing the best careers advice for our children is the advice that we provide to children in care, and we know that the outcomes for children in care, particularly in relation to their education, remain woeful. I welcome the Government’s commitment to the continuation of the care-to-work project. However, will my hon. Friend look again—perhaps this could be a 34th recommendation to add to his list—at widening the Frank Buttle Trust quality mark, which provides looked-after children with real confidence that any higher or further education institution that they might want to go into has support and guidance in place for them as a looked-after child or care leaver, to enable them to succeed and achieve their aspirations?

[Mr Gibb]

My hon. Friend makes some very good points. The gap between looked-after children and the rest of society is unacceptable. The low proportion of looked-after children who go to university—just 6%—is also unacceptable. Looked-after children qualify automatically for the pupil premium, and I am listening carefully to what my hon. Friend suggests.

Oral Answers to Questions

Edward Timpson Excerpts

Monday 11th July 2011 Commons Chamber

[Michael Gove]

I do not believe that any school or child will lose out. The hon. Gentleman is very lucky that on his doorstep sits the Sage centre, which is an outstanding exemplar of music education. The funds that we have available and the national music plan that we hope to unveil this autumn will ensure that the already high standards that exist in areas such as south Tyneside are augmented even further in future.

[Mr Edward Timpson (Crewe and Nantwich) (Con)]

Will my right hon. Friend join me in welcoming the recent announcement of a national music competition, the “Next BRIT thing”, which is backed by both the Government and the UK music industry? Is it not an example of the Government’s commitment to nurturing our future musical talent?

[Michael Gove]

I could not agree more. My hon. Friend puts his case brilliantly.