Asked by: Esther McVey (Conservative - Tatton)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many social work visits were carried out (a) in person and (b) online in each of the last five years.
Answered by Claire Coutinho - Shadow Minister (Equalities)
The department does not hold data on the number of child and family social worker visits carried out in person or online in each of the last five years, the average duration of a social worker visit in each of the last five years, or where child and family social workers live.
Social workers provide information about their home and work locations to Social Work England when they join the professional register, and when they renew their registration each year. This information is not verified by Social Work England.
Asked by: Esther McVey (Conservative - Tatton)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what the average duration of a social work visit was in each of the last five years.
Answered by Claire Coutinho - Shadow Minister (Equalities)
The department does not hold data on the number of child and family social worker visits carried out in person or online in each of the last five years, the average duration of a social worker visit in each of the last five years, or where child and family social workers live.
Social workers provide information about their home and work locations to Social Work England when they join the professional register, and when they renew their registration each year. This information is not verified by Social Work England.
Asked by: Esther McVey (Conservative - Tatton)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many social workers live in the local authority for which they work.
Answered by Claire Coutinho - Shadow Minister (Equalities)
The department does not hold data on the number of child and family social worker visits carried out in person or online in each of the last five years, the average duration of a social worker visit in each of the last five years, or where child and family social workers live.
Social workers provide information about their home and work locations to Social Work England when they join the professional register, and when they renew their registration each year. This information is not verified by Social Work England.
Asked by: Esther McVey (Conservative - Tatton)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many social workers are (a) permanent and (b) agency staff: and what the cost is of employing each group.
Answered by Claire Coutinho - Shadow Minister (Equalities)
In 2022 there were a total of 31,600 full time equivalent (FTE) child and family social workers employed by local authorities in England. In addition, there were 6,760 social workers in local authorities that were hired as agency staff. This gives a total of 38,360 (FTE) social workers in 2022. The department does not collect data on the cost of employing permanent or agency social workers.
Asked by: Esther McVey (Conservative - Tatton)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many children are in residential care; and what the average cost is of such placements.
Answered by Claire Coutinho - Shadow Minister (Equalities)
The number of children looked after who were placed in residential care settings on 31 March 2022 was 14,140. The figures include secure units, children’s homes and semi-independent living accommodation, other residential settings, and residential schools. This data is available at: https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/data-tables/permalink/c54349dc-5494-46a2-7c32-08db63adc612.
Information on placement settings for looked after children is published annually in Table A2 of the ‘Children looked after in England (including adoptions)’ statistical release, available at : https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/find-statistics/children-looked-after-in-england-including-adoptions.
Perfectly aligned costs data are not available. However, the data shown in the 2020/21 Unit Costs of Health and Social Care report shows average costs per placement type. This is available at: https://kar.kent.ac.uk/92342/25/Unit%20Costs%20Report%202021%20-%20Final%20version%20for%20publication%20%28AMENDED2%29.pdf.
Asked by: Esther McVey (Conservative - Tatton)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many children went missing from care in each of the last five years; how many incidents there were; and what proportion of missing children were subsequently found.
Answered by Claire Coutinho - Shadow Minister (Equalities)
The department published bold and ambitious plans to reform children’s social care on the 2 February 2023 through ‘Stable Homes, Built on Love’. It sets out how the department will help families overcome challenges, keep children safe, and make sure children in care have stable loving homes, long-term loving relationships, and opportunities for a good life.
Missing incident are always deeply concerning. The vast majority, 90%, of incidents where a child reportedly goes missing last for 2 days or less. Figures on the number of children looked after who went missing from care, including the number of missing incidents, and those who are still missing on 31 March, were published for the year ending 31 March 2018 to the year ending 31 March 2022 in the table ‘Official Statistics - CLA who were missing from placement’ in the annual ‘Children looked after in England, including adoptions, 2022’ statistical release. The table is available at: https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/data-tables/permalink/c7b14397-1e84-48d2-7c2b-08db63adc612.
Missing incidents were reported for 12,150 of CLA (11%) in 2022. There were 76,890 missing incidents. The number of children still missing from placement at 31 March was 220. A child may have had multiple missing incidents during a year that may have been resolved, only to conclude with a further incident that results in the child being missing again on 31 March.
Asked by: Esther McVey (Conservative - Tatton)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many children are in care; and how many such children are looked after under kinship care.
Answered by Claire Coutinho - Shadow Minister (Equalities)
The number of children who were in care on 31 March 2022 was 82,170. This information was published for the years ending 31 March 2018 to 31 March 2022 in the annual statistical release ‘Children looked after in England, including adoptions, 2022’, available at: https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/find-statistics/children-looked-after-in-england-including-adoptions.
The department does not hold information centrally specifically on children who are looked after under kinship care. However, of the 82,170 children who were in care on 31 March 2022, 12,580 (15%) were placed with a foster carer who is a relative or friend. This information can be accessed at: https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/data-tables/fast-track/275cbaa4-5400-4920-86d1-08da7eccd8d3.
Asked by: Esther McVey (Conservative - Tatton)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many in-person inspections were carried out by Ofsted in (a) children’s and (b) foster homes in each of the last five years.
Answered by Claire Coutinho - Shadow Minister (Equalities)
This is a matter for His Majesty’s Chief Inspector, Amanda Spielman. I have asked her to write to the right hon. Member and a copy of her reply will be placed in the Libraries of both Houses.
The data requested is not held centrally by the department. Ofsted is able to provide data on the number of in person inspections in each of the last five years.
It should be noted that individual foster homes are not inspected by Ofsted, however Ofsted is required to undertake in person inspections of independent fostering agencies and local authority fostering services through the framework for inspection of local authority children’s services.
Asked by: Esther McVey (Conservative - Tatton)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether she has issued guidance to schools on reducing the use of e-cigarettes in schools.
Answered by Nick Gibb
Schools are required by law to have a behaviour policy that sets out what is expected of all pupils, including what items are banned from school premises.
Schools have the autonomy to decide which items should be banned from their premises, and these can include e-cigarettes or vapes. School staff can search pupils for banned items as outlined in the Department’s Searching, Screening and Confiscation guidance, which is available here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/searching-screening-and-confiscation.
The relationships, sex and health education statutory guidance states that, in both primary and secondary school, pupils should be taught the facts concerning legal and illegal harmful substances and associated risks, including smoking, alcohol use, and drug-taking.
To support schools to deliver this content effectively, the Department has published a suite of teacher training modules, including one on drugs, alcohol, and tobacco, which makes specific reference to e-cigarettes and vaping.
Asked by: Esther McVey (Conservative - Tatton)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment she has made of the implications for her Department's policies of the accessibility of vapes in schools.
Answered by Nick Gibb
Schools are required by law to have a behaviour policy that sets out what is expected of all pupils, including what items are banned from school premises.
Schools have the autonomy to decide which items should be banned from their premises, and these can include e-cigarettes or vapes. School staff can search pupils for banned items as outlined in the Department’s Searching, Screening and Confiscation guidance, which is available here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/searching-screening-and-confiscation.
The relationships, sex and health education statutory guidance states that, in both primary and secondary school, pupils should be taught the facts concerning legal and illegal harmful substances and associated risks, including smoking, alcohol use, and drug-taking.
To support schools to deliver this content effectively, the Department has published a suite of teacher training modules, including one on drugs, alcohol, and tobacco, which makes specific reference to e-cigarettes and vaping.