Asked by: Jess Phillips (Labour - Birmingham, Yardley)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment his Department has made of the impact on women of the policy of forced adoption during the 1950s, 1960s, and 1970s.
Answered by Will Quince
The government has great sympathy for those affected by historical adoption practices. Our hearts go out to the parents and children of those involved. Although from a modern perspective these practices are clearly wrong, they took place at a time when society shared very different values.
Thankfully society today takes a very different attitude to single parents. Lessons of the time have been learned and led to significant changes to legislation and practice. Single parents are now supported to help ensure that children and their families stay together, and children are only removed permanently by a court, without the consent of the parents, if it is satisfied that the child is suffering significant harm or is likely to suffer significant harm.
Parents now have legal representatives appointed to support them, to ensure their views are heard and that evidence put forward can be challenged. In addition, NHS maternity services now have robust policy guidance and processes in place to safeguard care for vulnerable women and babies.
A range of help and support is available for those affected by historical adoption practices. For example, they can access intermediary services, provided by local authorities, voluntary adoption agencies and registered adoption agencies, to help them trace their birth children or birth parents and establish whether contact is possible. Birth relatives and adopted adults can also add their details to the Adoption Contact Register at the General Register Office to find a birth relative or an adopted person.
We recognise that none of the above can change the heartbreak and impact of things done in the past and repeat again our deepest sympathy for all those affected.
Asked by: Jess Phillips (Labour - Birmingham, Yardley)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps he is taking to ensure that the teaching of relationships and sex education on (a) contraception, (b) fertility and (c) abortion is based on scientific evidence; and if he will make a statement.
Answered by Nick Gibb
The Department is committed to supporting schools to implement relationships, sex, and health education (RSHE) and has published non statutory implementation guidance titled ‘Plan your Relationships, Sex and Health Curriculum’, alongside teacher training materials. Both are designed to provide teachers with further clarity and practical advice on how to implement the RSHE curriculum, to help all teachers increase their confidence and quality of teaching.
The teacher training module on intimate and sexual relationships, including sexual health, covers contraception, fertility, and abortion. Information on this is available here: https://www.gov.uk/guidance/teaching-about-relationships-sex-and-health. Specifically, pupils will be taught the facts about contraception, reproductive health, and medically and legally accurate, impartial information regarding pregnancy.
Asked by: Jess Phillips (Labour - Birmingham, Yardley)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps he is taking to prevent misogynistic and homophobic relationships and sex education (RSE) resources from being used in schools as RSE is rolled out; and if he will make a statement.
Answered by Nick Gibb
Schools must be aware of issues such as everyday sexism, misogyny, homophobia, and gender stereotypes, and take positive action to build a culture where these are not tolerated, and that any occurrences are identified and tackled. As part of the statutory Relationships, Sex and Health Education (RSHE) curriculum, all pupils should be taught, at an age-appropriate point, how stereotypes, particularly stereotypes based on sex, gender, race, religion, sexual orientation or disability, can cause damage.
To support the teaching of these subjects, the Department has published implementation guidance and teacher training modules to equip all schools to construct a comprehensive curriculum.
There are many external resources available to support the delivery of RSHE lessons. The Department does not play a role in assessing these. Any material used should align with the teaching requirements set out in the statutory guidance. Schools should assess all resources carefully to ensure they are age appropriate, meet the outcome of the relevant part of the curriculum, and are in line with the school’s legal duties in relation to impartiality and the Equality Act.
Asked by: Jess Phillips (Labour - Birmingham, Yardley)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment he has made of the appropriateness of the language in RSE teaching resources in terms of references to gender roles.
Answered by Nick Gibb
Schools must be aware of issues such as everyday sexism, misogyny, homophobia, and gender stereotypes, and take positive action to build a culture where these are not tolerated, and that any occurrences are identified and tackled. As part of the statutory Relationships, Sex and Health Education (RSHE) curriculum, all pupils should be taught, at an age-appropriate point, how stereotypes, particularly stereotypes based on sex, gender, race, religion, sexual orientation or disability, can cause damage.
To support the teaching of these subjects, the Department has published implementation guidance and teacher training modules to equip all schools to construct a comprehensive curriculum.
There are many external resources available to support the delivery of RSHE lessons. The Department does not play a role in assessing these. Any material used should align with the teaching requirements set out in the statutory guidance. Schools should assess all resources carefully to ensure they are age appropriate, meet the outcome of the relevant part of the curriculum, and are in line with the school’s legal duties in relation to impartiality and the Equality Act.
Asked by: Jess Phillips (Labour - Birmingham, Yardley)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps the Government is taking to ensure that Education, Health and Care plans are met as schools reopen during the covid-19 outbreak.
Answered by Vicky Ford
Children and young people with education, health and care (EHC) plans are expected to attend education settings if, following a risk assessment, it is determined that their needs can be as safely or more safely met in the educational environment.
We have recently published guidance that sets out how schools should be supporting children and young people with EHC plans as schools and colleges prepare for wider opening: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/coronavirus-covid-19-send-risk-assessment-guidance/coronavirus-covid-19-send-risk-assessment-guidance. In that guidance, we are clear that children and young people with EHC plans in mainstream and Alternative Provision settings who have not been attending and are in eligible year groups, should experience the same return to settings as their peers, informed by their risk assessment. Specialist settings should work towards welcoming back as many children and young people as can be safely catered for in their setting.
However, there are various reasons as to why it may not possible for all children and young people to attend education settings on a full time basis (for example, because they are clinically extremely vulnerable, or they attend a specialist setting that is operating an attendance rota). As a result, it may be impossible for local authorities and commissioning health bodies to carry out their normal statutory duty to secure or arrange in full the special educational provision that would normally be delivered through a full-time placement in an education setting. Examples of this include social skills training in small groups, or the delivery of a personalised curriculum with 1-1 support from a teaching assistant.
Because of these exceptional circumstances, my right hon. Friend, the Secretary of State for Education, has issued a notice to modify temporarily this duty, so that they can discharge this by using their ‘reasonable endeavours’. The modified duty applies to all local authorities and health commissioning bodies in England. The current notice is in force from 1 June to 30 June 2020 (inclusive), following a notice that was issued for the month of May. The Secretary of State can issue a further notice if necessary.
The modified duty relates to the provision for each individual child and young person. Local authorities and health commissioning bodies must not apply blanket policies about the provision to be secured or arranged. Instead, in deciding what provision must be secured or arranged in discharge of its modified duty, the local authority and health commissioning body should work with education settings and other partners to consider: specific local circumstances; the needs of, and circumstances specific to, each child and young person with an EHC plan; and the views of children, young people and their parents as to what might be appropriate.
We are committed to ceasing this temporary change to the duty on local authorities and health commissioning bodies at the earliest opportunity and are keeping this under close review.
Asked by: Jess Phillips (Labour - Birmingham, Yardley)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps he is taking to ensure that children of key workers in all school year groups can still attend school as schools partially return with the proscribed year groups during the covid-19 outbreak.
Answered by Nick Gibb
The Department has provided guidance setting out that the children of critical workers will continue to be prioritised for education provision regardless of the year group they are in: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/coronavirus-covid-19-maintaining-educational-provision/guidance-for-schools-colleges-and-local-authorities-on-maintaining-educational-provision.
It makes clear that, now that we have made progress in reducing the transmission of COVID-19, we are encouraging all eligible children, including children of critical workers, to attend nurseries and schools (where there are no shielding concerns for the child or their household), even if parents are able to keep their children at home.
The Department has also published guidance for schools to prepare for wider opening: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/actions-for-educational-and-childcare-settings-to-prepare-for-wider-opening-from-1-june-2020/actions-for-education-and-childcare-settings-to-prepare-for-wider-opening-from-1-june-2020.
This explains that if primary schools cannot reach an arrangement that enables all eligible children to attend consistently, schools should focus first on continuing to provide places for priority groups of all year groups (children of critical workers and vulnerable children).
The advice to secondary schools on preparing for wider opening from the 15 June states that children of critical workers and vulnerable children in all year groups should be encouraged to attend school full-time.
Asked by: Jess Phillips (Labour - Birmingham, Yardley)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if he will include (a) refuge workers and (b) domestic abuse professionals as key workers.
Answered by Nick Gibb
Guidance on maintaining educational provision sets out that schools should continue to offer provision to the children of critical workers and vulnerable children following school closures to help tackle COVID-19. It includes a range of sectors which are considered critical, and whilst it does not specify organisations or roles, there is scope for sensible local decision making on work that is critical. Many parents working in sectors which are listed will still be able to look after their children at home. For those that cannot, in the first instance they should confirm with their employer if their role is critical and if they are able to work from home, to establish whether they meet the criteria for their children to attend school. We are asking individuals, employers and schools to make sensible judgments about the policy.
The guidance is available here:
https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/coronavirus-covid-19-maintaining-educational-provision/guidance-for-schools-colleges-and-local-authorities-on-maintaining-educational-provision.
Asked by: Jess Phillips (Labour - Birmingham, Yardley)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps he is taking through the new Relationships, Sex and Health Education curriculum to tackle the effect of domestic abuse on children.
Answered by Nick Gibb
The Department wants to support all young people to be happy, healthy and safe. Through the new subjects of relationships, sex and health education, we want to equip them for adult life and to make a positive contribution to society.
?These subjects will help in ensuring all young people, at age appropriate points, know the signs of unhealthy or abusive relationships and that violence in relationships and domestic abuse is unlawful and never acceptable. Throughout these subjects there is a focus on ensuring pupils know how to get further support.
Specifically, the guidance sets out that relationships and sex education will cover the concepts of, and laws relating to, sexual consent, sexual exploitation, abuse, grooming, coercion, harassment, forced marriage, rape, domestic abuse and female genital mutilation, and how these can affect current and future relationships. The guidance can be accessed via the following link:
https://www.gov.uk/government/consultations/relationships-and-sex-education-and-health-education.
Asked by: Jess Phillips (Labour - Birmingham, Yardley)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many hours of training teachers will receive to deliver the new Relationships, Sex and Health Education curriculum.
Answered by Nick Gibb
The Department is committed to supporting schools to deliver high quality teaching of relationships education, relationships and sex education and health education.
Many schools are already teaching aspects of these subjects as part of their relationships and sex education provision or personal, social, health and economic education programme. Schools have flexibility to determine how to deliver the new content, in the context of a broad and balanced curriculum. The Department expects that schools will take a variety of approaches and not limit the delivery to taught lessons.
To support schools in their preparations, the Department is investing in a central package to help all schools to increase the confidence and quality of their teaching practice. We are currently developing a new online service featuring innovative training materials, case studies and support to access resources. This will be available from April 2020 with additional content added through the summer term, covering all of the teaching requirements in the statutory guidance. We will also publish an implementation guide which will be provided to all schools as part of this service and face-to-face training offers will be available for schools that need additional support.
The Department is currently working with lead teachers, non-specialist teachers, schools and subject experts to develop this central programme of support to help ensure it meets the needs of schools and teachers. It will complement the wide range of training opportunities that are being provided by local authorities and sector organisations.
Asked by: Jess Phillips (Labour - Birmingham, Yardley)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps he is taking to ensure that young people who have experienced abuse are able to access support services if they disclose domestic abuse in school; and what support is provided to teachers to deal with such disclosure.
Answered by Vicky Ford
The department’s statutory safeguarding guidance ‘Keeping children safe in education’ (KCSIE) includes detailed information about all forms of harm and abuse, including domestic abuse, its impact on children and how to recognise the signs. KCSIE sets out that all school and college staff should receive appropriate safeguarding and child protection training which is regularly updated. Every school and college should have a designated safeguarding lead (DSL) who will provide advice and support to staff to carry out their safeguarding duties and who will liaise closely with other services such as children’s social care. KCSIE is clear that if staff have any concerns about a child and/or a child makes a disclosure, they should follow the school or college’s child protection policy, and speak to the DSL to seek support and advice on what to do next. Where a child is suffering, or is likely to suffer harm, it is important that a referral to children’s social care, and if appropriate the police, is made immediately.
Local authority children’s social care should act as the principal point of contact for safeguarding concerns relating to children. Once a referral has been accepted, the lead practitioner role falls to a social worker. For children who are in need of immediate protection and removal is required, action must be taken by the social worker, the police or the National Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children, as soon as possible after the referral has been made. It is essential that social workers provide effective support to children and families affected by domestic abuse. Our children’s social care reform programme is working to improve social work practice across the country through initial education, continued professional development and tougher professional regulation.