Asked by: Geraint Davies (Independent - Swansea West)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, with reference to the Prime Minister's announcement of 3 February 2021 on the appointment of the Youth Mental Health Ambassador, what plans the (a) Ambassador has and (b) Mental Health in Education Action Group have to ensure the (i) identification of and (ii) appropriate support for children and young people with speech, language and communication needs.
Answered by Vicky Ford
The Mental Health in Education Action Group will look at the impact of the COVID-19 outbreak on the mental health and wellbeing of children, young people and staff in nurseries, schools, colleges, and universities. It will consider how to support mental wellbeing while children and young people are being taught remotely, as they return to education settings and with transitions period between education settings in September 2021.
In the first instance we will engage with health experts to bring together the evidence of impact on children and young people, identify the existing range of support and how to make sure it is easy to access and has the greatest possible impact. The department will also engage with education stakeholders, including staff and leadership unions, to ensure that we understand the issues that are facing staff in nurseries, schools, colleges, and universities and how those can be supported in the coming months. We will also work with the existing higher education task force to ensure that the issues it is considering around mental health are reflected. Further information about the remit of the group will be available in due course, but it will look at the specific mental health and wellbeing issues faced by children and young people with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND), including children with speech, language and communication needs.
The SEND Review was announced in September 2019 and is looking at ways to make sure the SEND system is consistent, high quality, and integrated across education, health, and care. It is also considering measures to make sure that money is being spent fairly, efficiently, and effectively, and that the support available to children and young people is sustainable in the future. The SEND Review is looking at ways to support mainstream settings to identify and get support to children and young people more quickly, through making best use of precious expertise such as speech and language therapists and educational psychologists. These issues are long-standing and complex, but the government is determined to deliver real, lasting change. We intend to publish the SEND Review in spring 2021.
On the 4 February 2021, my right hon. Friend, the Prime Minister, appointed Dr Alex George as Youth Mental Health Ambassador to advise the government and raise the profile of mental health education and wellbeing in schools, colleges, and universities. As Youth Mental Health Ambassador, he will use his clinical expertise and personal experience to champion the government’s work on children’s and young people’s mental health, and help shape policy on improving support for young people in schools, colleges, and universities.
Asked by: Geraint Davies (Independent - Swansea West)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if he will make it his policy to issue an update of the Building Bulletin 101:'Guidelines on ventilation, thermal comfort and indoor air quality in schools for (a) BS EN ISO 16890:2016, (b) BS EN ISO 10121-2:2013 and (c) BS EN 16798-3:2017.
Answered by Nick Gibb
The design and construction standards for new school buildings are under regular review to reflect any changes in regulations or best practice nationally. There are no plans at present to update Building Bulletin 101 'Guidelines on ventilation, thermal comfort and indoor air quality in schools' which was published in 2019.
We published guidance on 3 June on the reopening of buildings and campuses to help providers make informed decisions about their provision in ways that protect the health and well-being of both staff and students. Our guidance contains links to other sources of relevant advice, including on safer workplaces: https://www.gov.uk/guidance/working-safely-during-coronavirus-covid-19, which includes references to the importance of ventilation, particularly in advance of reopening buildings.
Asked by: Geraint Davies (Independent - Swansea West)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether he plans to ensure that funding is allocated to local authority areas to enable evidence-based catch-up interventions for children and young people’s speech, language and communication needs; and if he will make a statement.
Answered by Vicky Ford
In 2020-21, we are allocating £7.2 billion in high needs funding across England for children with complex special educational needs and disabilities, which includes those with speech, language and communication needs.
Specifically, in response to COVID-19, we are introducing an additional catch-up premium worth a total of £650 million to support schools to rise to make up for lost teaching time. Our expectation is that this funding will be spent on the additional activities required to support children to catch up after a period of disruption to their education. Headteachers will decide how the universal catch up premium is spent to best meet the needs of their pupils. The Education Endowment Foundation has published guidance on effective interventions to support schools:
https://educationendowmentfoundation.org.uk/covid-19-resources/covid-19-support-guide-for-schools/.
We will set out how this funding will be distributed between individual schools shortly.
Local authorities’ core allocations to support children with high needs in 2021-22 will also be published shortly.
Asked by: Geraint Davies (Independent - Swansea West)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what plans he has to ensure that speech and language therapy services are adequately resourced to enable services to tackle the level of referrals as a result of the reopening of education and childcare settings.
Answered by Vicky Ford
In 2020-21, we are allocating £7.2 billion in high needs funding across England for children with complex special educational needs and disabilities, which includes those with speech, language and communication needs.
Specifically, in response to COVID-19, we are introducing an additional catch-up premium worth a total of £650 million to support schools to rise to make up for lost teaching time. Our expectation is that this funding will be spent on the additional activities required to support children to catch up after a period of disruption to their education. Headteachers will decide how the universal catch up premium is spent to best meet the needs of their pupils. The Education Endowment Foundation has published guidance on effective interventions to support schools:
https://educationendowmentfoundation.org.uk/covid-19-resources/covid-19-support-guide-for-schools/.
We will set out how this funding will be distributed between individual schools shortly.
Local authorities’ core allocations to support children with high needs in 2021-22 will also be published shortly.
Asked by: Geraint Davies (Independent - Swansea West)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what plans he has to ensure that (a) children’s early language and communication development and (b) the timely identification and support for speech, language and communication needs are prioritised in (a) local and (b) national covid-19 recovery plans.
Answered by Vicky Ford
Supporting the most vulnerable children and young people, including those with speech, language and communication needs (SLCN), is a priority for us, especially at this time. Throughout the COVID-19 outbreak, educational settings have been asked to ensure that vulnerable children and young people can attend where appropriate.
Local authorities are responsible for their own strategic planning and have statutory requirements to offer SLCN provision where a child or young person requires it as part of their education, health and care (EHC) plan. Since May, as a result of the COVID-19 outbreak, it has been necessary to modify the duty on local authorities and health commissioners so that they could use their ‘reasonable endeavours’ to secure or arrange the specified special educational and health care provision in EHC plans. However, we are committed to removing these flexibilities as soon as possible and my right hon. Friend, the Secretary of State for Education, has confirmed that, unless the evidence changes, he will not be issuing further national notices to modify this duty.
We have also been working to support early language and communication development specifically. Since 2018, we have committed more than £60 million to programmes to improve early language and literacy. We will work with the sector to explore how best to continue to support children’s early development, including through the Early Years Foundation Stage reforms and the department’s Hungry Little Minds campaign, which we will continue to use to provide support for parents to develop their children’s early language and literacy.
More widely, we are ensuring that resources are available. We have announced a package worth £1 billion to ensure that schools across England have the resources they need to help all pupils make up for lost teaching time, with extra support for those who need it most. £650 million will be spent on ensuring all pupils have the chance to catch up and supporting schools to rise to the challenge. For pupils with complex needs, we strongly encourage schools to spend this funding on catch-up support to address their individual needs, which could include speech and language therapy where appropriate. We will set out how this funding will be distributed between individual schools shortly.
We will also roll out a National Tutoring Programme, worth up to £350 million, which will deliver one-to-one tuition to the most disadvantaged young people. More details are available here:
https://educationendowmentfoundation.org.uk/covid-19-resources/national-tutoring-programme/.
We are providing the Oak National Academy with an additional £4.3 million to produce another 10,000 lessons over the course of the next academic year. This includes for the Oak National Academy's specialist curriculum, which includes speech and language therapy.
Asked by: Geraint Davies (Independent - Swansea West)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what discussions he has had with the Secretary of State for the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs and the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government on reducing air pollution around schools, to help protect (a) teaching staff and (b) children attending schools during the covid-19 outbreak.
Answered by Nick Gibb
Local authorities are responsible for the mitigation of air pollution hot spots in areas where people may be exposed, including schools. They have discretionary powers to take action to improve local air quality. For example, they can issue fixed penalty notices to drivers leaving engines running unnecessarily after being asked to turn them off. In areas with poor air quality, local authorities have a statutory duty to publish air quality plans for reducing air pollution.
Local authorities also have a statutory duty to promote sustainable school travel. The department’s guidance sets out that this duty should have a broad impact, including improvements in air quality to which children are particularly vulnerable.
Government advice, particularly during the COVID-19 outbreak, is to walk or cycle to school where possible. The Department for Transport’s cycling and walking investment strategy sets out the government’s ambition to make cycling and walking the natural choice for shorter journeys, or as part of a longer journey. Details can be found here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/cycling-and-walking-investment-strategy.
On 9 May the Department for Transport announced a £2 billion package to promote cycling and walking:
https://www.gov.uk/government/news/2-billion-package-to-create-new-era-for-cycling-and-walking.
Asked by: Geraint Davies (Independent - Swansea West)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what recent steps he has taken to increase access to school bus services.
Answered by Nick Gibb
Local authorities have a statutory duty to provide free home to school transport for eligible children. A child is eligible if they are of compulsory school age, attend their nearest suitable school and it is more than the statutory walking distance from their home. The statutory walking distance is 2 miles for children under the age of 8 and 3 miles for children aged 8 and over. A child is also eligible if they live within the statutory walking distance but could not reasonably be expected to walk to school because of their special educational needs, disability or mobility problems, or because the nature of the route means it would be unsafe for them to do so.
There are additional entitlements to free home to school transport for those children who are eligible for free school meals, or if a parent they live with receives the maximum amount of Working Tax Credit. These are known as extended rights and are intended to support low income families in exercising school choice.
It is for local authorities to decide how they will provide free transport for eligible children depending on local circumstances. They might, for example, provide a pass for free travel on a service bus, or they might provide a dedicated school bus or a taxi to transport children.
Asked by: Geraint Davies (Independent - Swansea West)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment he has made of the effect of (a) walking and (b) cycling to school on children's health.
Answered by Nick Gibb
Local authorities have a statutory duty to promote sustainable school travel. The Department’s guidance sets out that this duty should have a broad impact, including providing health benefits for children, and their families, through active journeys, such as walking and cycling; as well as improvements in air quality to which children are particularly vulnerable.
Government advice, particularly during the COVID-19 outbreak, is to walk or cycle to school where possible. This will not only help reduce the spread of infection and reduce demand on public transport, but also have enormous benefits for children’s health.
The Department for Transport’s cycling and walking investment strategy sets out the Government’s ambition to make cycling and walking the natural choice for shorter journeys, or as part of a longer journey. Details can be found here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/cycling-and-walking-investment-strategy.
On 9 May the Department for Transport announced a £2 billion package to create new era for cycling and walking: https://www.gov.uk/government/news/2-billion-package-to-create-new-era-for-cycling-and-walking.