Asked by: Kim Johnson (Labour - Liverpool, Riverside)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what progress she has made on the cultural education plan.
Answered by Damian Hinds - Minister of State (Education)
The department is continuing to work with the expert advisory panel to develop the cultural education plan and intends to publish the plan in the coming months.
Asked by: Kim Johnson (Labour - Liverpool, Riverside)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what progress she has made on the model history curriculum.
Answered by Damian Hinds - Minister of State (Education)
The department is continuing to work with the lead drafter, as well as the history curriculum experts, historians and school leaders on the ‘Expert Panel’ to develop the model history curriculum.
Asked by: Kim Johnson (Labour - Liverpool, Riverside)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if she will meet with Barnardo’s to discuss developing a Black Foster Care Network to improve the experiences of Black children in care.
Answered by David Johnston - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
The government would like to see people from all backgrounds feel able to come forward to foster, whatever their ethnicity, sexuality, gender or relationship status.
Children should be cared for in a way that recognises and respects their identity and carers should be given the training and support they need to meet the child’s needs.
The department considers charity sector colleagues to be key stakeholders in work taking place across the department, including on children’s social care reform as outlined in ‘Stable Homes, Built on Love’. The department regularly engage the Chief Executive and Policy Leads from Barnardo’s on children’s social care policy (as well as their counterparts at Action for Children, The Children’s Society, National Children’s Bureau and NSPCC). The charity sector is also represented in a variety of reference groups on specific aspects of children’s social care policy.
The department will engage with foster carer representative bodies to see how black foster carers can be further supported, including considering developing a Black Foster Care Network.
Asked by: Kim Johnson (Labour - Liverpool, Riverside)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if she will meet with Barnardo’s to discuss how local authorities can work with partners to prevent the over-criminalisation of Black children in the care system.
Answered by David Johnston - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
I refer the hon. Member for Streatham and the hon. Member for Liverpool, Riverside to the answer of 15 January 2024 to Question 8094: https://questions-statements.parliament.uk/written-questions/detail/2024-01-05/8094.
Asked by: Kim Johnson (Labour - Liverpool, Riverside)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if her Department will make an assessment of the potential impact of including working parents subject to the No recourse to public funds condition in the extended 30 hours childcare offer for three- and four-year-olds on (a) maternal and (b) parental participation in the labour force.
Answered by David Johnston - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
This government is making the largest investment in childcare in England’s history. By the 2027/28 financial year, the government will expect to be spending in excess of £8 billion every year on free hours and early education. It will provide hard working parents 30 hours of free childcare per week (38 weeks per year) for children aged 9 months to until they start school. This represents the single biggest investment in childcare in England ever.
The department does not hold data on the numbers of 3- and 4-year-old children who are not eligible for 30 hours because their parents have no recourse to public funds, and what proportion of those children have British citizenship.
The expanded working parent entitlement, which will be rolled out in phases from April 2024, will be available to working parents who meet the eligibility criteria. These will be the same as the current 30 hours offer for 3- and 4-year-olds.
The free childcare entitlements for the children of working parents are not within the definition of ’public funds’ in the Immigration and Asylum Act 1999 or the Immigration Rules. However, there are requirements in the Childcare (Free of Charge for Working Parents) (England) Regulations 2022 for the parent, or one of the parents, not to be subject to immigration control. This means that where both parents have no recourse to public funds, they will not be eligible for the entitlements. However, if there are two parents and just one of them is subject to immigration control the family will still be eligible for the entitlements, provided they meet the other conditions.
Parents with no recourse to public funds are, however, able to access the 15 hours free early education entitlement available for all 3 and 4-year-olds and, if eligible, 15 hours free early education for disadvantaged 2-year-olds. In September 2022, the department extended eligibility for the 2-year-old entitlement to disadvantaged families who have no recourse to public funds. This is because these entitlements are intended to support children's development and help prepare them for school.
The government has no current plans to extend the free childcare entitlements offer for working parents to families with no recourse to public funds.
Asked by: Kim Johnson (Labour - Liverpool, Riverside)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if her Department will make an assessment of the potential merits of amending the eligibility criteria for the extended 30 hours childcare offer for three and four year-olds to migrant parents with any immigration status who are resident in the UK, have the right to work and who work the requisite number of hours.
Answered by David Johnston - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
This government is making the largest investment in childcare in England’s history. By the 2027/28 financial year, the government will expect to be spending in excess of £8 billion every year on free hours and early education. It will provide hard working parents 30 hours of free childcare per week (38 weeks per year) for children aged 9 months to until they start school. This represents the single biggest investment in childcare in England ever.
The department does not hold data on the numbers of 3- and 4-year-old children who are not eligible for 30 hours because their parents have no recourse to public funds, and what proportion of those children have British citizenship.
The expanded working parent entitlement, which will be rolled out in phases from April 2024, will be available to working parents who meet the eligibility criteria. These will be the same as the current 30 hours offer for 3- and 4-year-olds.
The free childcare entitlements for the children of working parents are not within the definition of ’public funds’ in the Immigration and Asylum Act 1999 or the Immigration Rules. However, there are requirements in the Childcare (Free of Charge for Working Parents) (England) Regulations 2022 for the parent, or one of the parents, not to be subject to immigration control. This means that where both parents have no recourse to public funds, they will not be eligible for the entitlements. However, if there are two parents and just one of them is subject to immigration control the family will still be eligible for the entitlements, provided they meet the other conditions.
Parents with no recourse to public funds are, however, able to access the 15 hours free early education entitlement available for all 3 and 4-year-olds and, if eligible, 15 hours free early education for disadvantaged 2-year-olds. In September 2022, the department extended eligibility for the 2-year-old entitlement to disadvantaged families who have no recourse to public funds. This is because these entitlements are intended to support children's development and help prepare them for school.
The government has no current plans to extend the free childcare entitlements offer for working parents to families with no recourse to public funds.
Asked by: Kim Johnson (Labour - Liverpool, Riverside)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what estimate her Department has made of the number and proportion of three and four year old (a) children and (b) children with British citizenship who are not eligible for the extended 30 hours of childcare offer because their parents work the required number of hours but have no recourse to public funds.
Answered by David Johnston - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
This government is making the largest investment in childcare in England’s history. By the 2027/28 financial year, the government will expect to be spending in excess of £8 billion every year on free hours and early education. It will provide hard working parents 30 hours of free childcare per week (38 weeks per year) for children aged 9 months to until they start school. This represents the single biggest investment in childcare in England ever.
The department does not hold data on the numbers of 3- and 4-year-old children who are not eligible for 30 hours because their parents have no recourse to public funds, and what proportion of those children have British citizenship.
The expanded working parent entitlement, which will be rolled out in phases from April 2024, will be available to working parents who meet the eligibility criteria. These will be the same as the current 30 hours offer for 3- and 4-year-olds.
The free childcare entitlements for the children of working parents are not within the definition of ’public funds’ in the Immigration and Asylum Act 1999 or the Immigration Rules. However, there are requirements in the Childcare (Free of Charge for Working Parents) (England) Regulations 2022 for the parent, or one of the parents, not to be subject to immigration control. This means that where both parents have no recourse to public funds, they will not be eligible for the entitlements. However, if there are two parents and just one of them is subject to immigration control the family will still be eligible for the entitlements, provided they meet the other conditions.
Parents with no recourse to public funds are, however, able to access the 15 hours free early education entitlement available for all 3 and 4-year-olds and, if eligible, 15 hours free early education for disadvantaged 2-year-olds. In September 2022, the department extended eligibility for the 2-year-old entitlement to disadvantaged families who have no recourse to public funds. This is because these entitlements are intended to support children's development and help prepare them for school.
The government has no current plans to extend the free childcare entitlements offer for working parents to families with no recourse to public funds.
Asked by: Kim Johnson (Labour - Liverpool, Riverside)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps her Department has taken to communicate with (a) schools and (b) local authorities about the expansion of eligibility for the disadvantaged two-year-old offer to include families affected with no recourse to public funds.
Answered by David Johnston - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
The department consulted on extending eligibility for the 15 hour early education entitlement for 2-year-olds between 25 March 2022 and 20 May 2022. The department published its response on 25 August 2022 alongside guidance, including a sample application form, for local authorities which is available at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/30-hours-free-childcare-la-and-early-years-provider-guide. In addition, the eligibility criteria have been updated on GOV.UK.
Asked by: Kim Johnson (Labour - Liverpool, Riverside)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if she will make an assessment of the potential merits of introducing a Multi-Sensory Impairment fund with £34.3 million ring-fenced funding available to local authorities in England to increase the number of Multi-Sensory Impairment teachers.
Answered by Claire Coutinho - Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero
The department is firmly committed to ensuring that children with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND), including those with multi-sensory impairments, receive the support they need to succeed in their early years, at school and at college.
High needs funding for children and young people with complex SEND, including those with multi-sensory impairment, will be rising to £10.1 billion in the 2023/24 financial year, which is an increase of over 50% from the 2019/20 allocations. This extra funding will help local authorities and schools with the increasing costs of supporting children and young people with SEND.
The department has no current plans to create a new and separate funding stream specifically for the education of children with multi-sensory impairment. Local authorities and schools have responsibilities for supporting all children and young people with SEND under the Children and Families Act 2014, including those with multi-sensory impairment. They are best placed to decide how to prioritise their spending on the range of resources and activities that will best support them.
Asked by: Kim Johnson (Labour - Liverpool, Riverside)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many times the Model history curriculum expert panel has met since its establishment; when those meetings took place; whether a draft of the model curriculum has been (a) written and (b) circulated to members of the panel; and what recent estimate she has made of when the model history curriculum will be published.
Answered by Nick Gibb
The model history curriculum expert panel met in July 2022 to advise on the direction of the model history curriculum. The panel will meet again later this summer to consider a draft.
The Department intends to publish the model history curriculum in early 2024.