Asked by: Lord Browne of Belmont (Democratic Unionist Party - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the number of children educated at home in each of the last two years.
Answered by Baroness Berridge
The department does not collect data on children who are home educated, however we are aware of the rising numbers of home-educated children.
The department supports the right of parents to educate their children at home. Most parents do this with the intention of providing their child with the best education possible, and sometimes during challenging circumstances.
However, the rising numbers of home educated children cannot be overlooked. For some parents, the child’s education is not the primary reason behind the decision to home educate, which can mean that some children are not being provided with a suitable education.
The government remains committed to a form of registration system for children not in school. Further details on this will be in the government response to the Children Not in School Consultation, which we will publish in the coming months.
Asked by: Lord Browne of Belmont (Democratic Unionist Party - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of programmes in place to address mental health issues in primary and post-primary schools.
Answered by Baroness Berridge
There are a wide range of evidence-based programmes and interventions available for schools to use to support the mental health and wellbeing of their pupils. Schools should choose how best to support their pupils depending on local needs and context and reference to the evidence base.
The department-funded ‘Supporting Mental Health in Schools and Colleges’ survey in the academic year 2016-17 found that schools already have a wide range of provision on offer. For example, 61% provided school counselling, 70% had support programmes for specific groups of pupils and 53% offered peer support or mentoring. The department’s School Snapshot survey from summer 2019 found that 96% of schools provided support for pupils with identified mental health needs. We have included schools with sources of evidence-based wellbeing activities as part of our guidance on providing education remotely and as pupils return to school so that they can continue to do this.
In order to improve the evidence base available to schools, the department is funding a large-scale programme of randomised controlled trials of school based mental health and wellbeing interventions. The aim of the ‘Education for Wellbeing’ programme is to provide evidence on what works to support children and young people’s mental health and wellbeing and how it can be delivered effectively in a school setting. The programme consists of 2 large trials, and there will be around 350 participating schools by the end of the project in 2021, making this one of the largest studies in the world of its kind.
The department has also published detailed plans for all children and young people to return to full-time education from September. The guidance highlights the particular need to focus on pastoral support and mental wellbeing as a central part of what schools provide, in order to re-engage them and rebuild social interaction with their friends and teachers. This will involve curriculum provision as well as extra-curricular and pastoral support, and our recently published relationships, sex and health education training module will support teachers with preparation to deliver content on mental health and wellbeing. The guidance for schools is available here:
https://www.gov.uk/government/news/schools-and-colleges-to-reopen-in-full-in-september.
The department in collaboration with Public Health England and NHS England, delivered 2 webinars in July to provide further mental health support. The first webinar was for schools and colleges to support teachers in promoting and supporting the mental wellbeing of children and young people during the COVID-19 outbreak. The second event was for stakeholders across the local system to support strengthening of local partnerships to further support children and young people’s mental health as they return to school. We had around 10,000 sign up to the first webinar and around 1,300 to the second, and they are now available online for wider use.
We also remain committed to implementing the core proposals set out in response to the consultation on ‘Transforming children and young people’s mental health provision: A Green Paper’. Part of that commitment includes establishing new Mental Health Support Teams (MHSTs) in 20-25% of the country by 2023, as part of the additional support for children and young people’s mental health in the NHS Long Term Plan, and we are ahead of trajectory to achieving this. Where already established, MHSTs are adapting their services to continue supporting children and young people remotely during the COVID-19 outbreak. The green paper is available here:
https://www.gov.uk/government/consultations/transforming-children-and-young-peoples-mental-health-provision-a-green-paper.
The National Institute for Health Research and Health Services & Delivery Research Policy Research Programme programmes have jointly commissioned Birmingham, RAND and Cambridge Evaluation Centre and the Policy Innovation and Evaluation Research Unit to carry out a robust and independent evaluation of the implementation of core proposals within the ‘Transforming children and young people’s mental health provision: A Green Paper’. The protocol for this evaluation was published in October 2019 and is available here:
https://fundingawards.nihr.ac.uk/award/16/138/31.
Evaluation fieldwork was paused due to the COVID-19 outbreak. Future plans for the evaluation are currently being reviewed to account for impacts of the COVID-19 outbreak on fieldwork, and any revisions will be included in an updated evaluation protocol.
Asked by: Lord Browne of Belmont (Democratic Unionist Party - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the effectiveness of schemes in schools and colleges to raise awareness of the dangers of online gambling.
Answered by Baroness Berridge
We want to support all young people to be happy, healthy and safe and want to equip them for adult life and to make a positive contribution to society. Relationships Education for all primary school-aged pupils, Relationships and Sex Education (RSE) for all secondary school-aged pupils, and Health Education for all pupils in state-funded schools, will become compulsory from 1 September 2020.
In light of the circumstances caused by the COVID-19 outbreak and, following engagement with the sector, the department is reassuring schools that although the subjects will still be compulsory from 1 September 2020, schools have flexibility over how they discharge their duty within the first year of compulsory teaching. For further information, I refer the noble Lord to the answer I gave on 10 June to Question 55660.
The subjects will support all young people in terms of managing risk, making informed decisions, as well as in key aspects such as mental wellbeing and online behaviour. Under the topic of internet safety and harms, the statutory guidance sets out that young people should be taught about the risks related to online gambling, including the accumulation of debt, how advertising and information is targeted at them, and how to be a discerning consumer of information online. The statutory guidance can be accessed via the following link: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/relationships-education-relationships-and-sex-education-rse-and-health-education.
As with other aspects of the curriculum, schools will have flexibility over how they deliver these subjects, so they can develop an approach that is sensitive to the needs and background of their pupils. Schools should assess each resource they intend to use, to ensure that it is appropriate for the age and maturity of pupils, and sensitive to their needs. These resources must also be factually accurate. We also expect schools to consult with parents on these matters and to make reasonable decisions about the content of their curriculum.
Many schools draw on the work of subject associations when choosing resources, for example the PSHE Association. They have worked with organisations like Gamble Aware to develop a programme about the dangers of gambling.
To support schools, the department is investing in a central package to help all schools to teach these subjects. We are currently developing a new online service featuring training materials, an implementation guide and case studies. This will cover all of the teaching requirements in the statutory guidance, including modules on how teachers teach about the risks related to online gambling. The first training material, covering mental wellbeing, is now available on GOV.UK, and additional content will be added in the coming months.
Asked by: Lord Browne of Belmont (Democratic Unionist Party - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what estimate they have made of the percentage of job vacancies which remain unfilled because of skill shortages among potential applicants; and what steps they are taking to introduce training courses and apprenticeships to fill that gap.
Answered by Baroness Berridge
The Employer Skills Survey 2017 identified 1,007,000 vacancies, of which 226,000 were skill-shortage vacancies (SSVs) – representing 22% of all vacancies. This percentage has remained broadly stable over several waves of the survey – 23% in 2015. Employers were most likely to report SSVs for Skilled Trades (42% of all Skilled Trades vacancies were SSVs), Machine Operatives (31% of all these vacancies were SSVs) and Professionals (30% of all these vacancies were SSVs). These proportions are also in line with 2015 percentages. We are awaiting results of the 2019 survey.
We have put in place a range of measures to tackle skills gaps. We are making apprenticeships longer, better, with more off-the-job training and proper assessment at the end, with new standards across all levels being designed and driven by the industry so they can equip people with the skills they need. We will be investing up to £500 million a year in T levels, a high quality technical alternative to A levels, which will be more rigorous than current vocational courses and involve employers in their development to ensure the qualifications have real labour market value.
We also investing up to £290 million of capital funding to establish 20 new Institutes of Technology, which will be the pinnacle of technical training offering higher technical education and training in key sectors such as digital, construction, advanced manufacturing and engineering.
We have also invested £100 million into establishing a National Retaining Scheme, which will help prepare adults for future changes to the economy, including those brought about by automation, and help them retrain into better jobs. On top of this we are investing an extra £3 billion, over the course of this Parliament, for a new National Skills Fund to help people learn new skills and prepare for the economy of the future. The fund will help ensure that businesses can find and hire the workers they need and help people fulfil their potential.
Asked by: Lord Browne of Belmont (Democratic Unionist Party - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask Her Majesty's Government which Parliamentary constituencies have no further or higher education establishments within their boundaries.
Answered by Lord Agnew of Oulton
Further education and higher education are devolved matters. The department does not have ready access to the location of all further education colleges within the UK and so cannot provide an answer in the form requested in the time available. The answer below therefore focuses on England.
In England, of the 533 parliamentary constituencies, there are 52 with no further education colleges or higher education institutions registered within their boundaries.
The attached tables contain the full list of these constituencies.
Asked by: Lord Browne of Belmont (Democratic Unionist Party - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask Her Majesty's Government how many young people aged between 16 and 19 years old were not in education, employment or training in each quarter of 2018.
Answered by Lord Agnew of Oulton
The number and proportion of 16 to 18 year olds not in education, employment or training (NEET) in England for each quarter of 2018[1] can be found in the table below:
January to March 2018 | Number of 16 to 18 year old NEETs | 117,000 |
Percentage of 16 to 18 year old NEETs | 6.5% | |
April to June 2018 | Number of 16 to 18 year old NEETs | 117,000 |
Percentage of 16 to 18 year old NEETs | 6.5% | |
July to September 2018 | Number of 16 to 18 year old NEETs | 148,000 |
Percentage of 16 to 18 year old NEETs | 8.2% | |
October to December 2018 | Number of 16 to 18 year old NEETs | 124,000 |
Percentage of 16 to 18 year old NEETs | 7% |
Source: ‘NEET statistics annual brief: 2018’, from the ‘Labour Force Survey’, available at the following link: https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/neet-statistics-annual-brief-2018. Numbers rounded to the nearest 1000.
It should be noted, that due to seasonal variation in NEET rates, comparisons should not be made between in-year quarters.
The proportion of young people not in education, employment or training (NEET) was the lowest on record in the first 3 quarters of 2018.
As shown in the table below, there has been a downward trend in 16 to 18 year old NEETs since 2010:
| Percentage of 16 to 18 year old NEETs in 2010 | Percentage of 16 to 18 year old NEETs in 2018 | Change (in percentage points) |
January to March | 10.2% | 6.5% | -3.7 |
April to June | 10.3% | 6.5% | -3.8 |
July to September | 13.5% | 8.2% | -5.3 |
October to December | 8.3% | 7.0% | -1.3 |
Local authorities have a statutory duty to identify and support young people who are NEET.
Under Raising the Participation Age, all young people in England are now required to continue in education or training until their 18th birthday. Most continue until the end of the academic year in which they turn 18.
Additionally, the government invested around £7 billion during the last academic year to ensure there was a place in education or training for every 16 to 19 year old.
Regarding further education, the Adult Education Budget funds the first full level 2 and 3 qualifications for 19 to 23 year olds, training up to level 2 for unemployed people and English and maths for all adults who have not achieved level 2.
[1] The figures are based on young people aged 16 to 18 as at 31 August 2018, the start of the academic year, and will therefore include young people who turn 19 throughout the course of the 2018/19 academic year.
Asked by: Lord Browne of Belmont (Democratic Unionist Party - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask Her Majesty's Government how many schools in England and Wales are currently under special measures; and how long each of those schools have been subject to such measures.
Answered by Lord Agnew of Oulton
For schools in England, this is a matter for Her Majesty’s Chief Inspector, Amanda Spielman. I have asked her to write to the noble Lord Browne of Belmont directly and a copy of her reply will be placed in the Libraries of both Houses.
For schools in Wales, education is a devolved matter. It is for the National Assembly to decide on policy for schools in Wales.
Asked by: Lord Browne of Belmont (Democratic Unionist Party - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to ensure that nationals of other EU member states who no longer reside or work in the UK make their student loan repayments.
Answered by Viscount Younger of Leckie - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Work and Pensions)
The terms and conditions of repayment of student loans are set out by the Education (Student Loans) (Repayment) Regulations 2009 (as amended). These regulations make provision for repayment for borrowers resident both in the UK and overseas, including the EU.
The Department for Education continues to work closely with the Student Loans Company (SLC) to ensure a robust overseas repayment strategy. The SLC has arrangements in place to collect repayments from borrowers who move away from the UK and establishes a repayment schedule based on the borrower’s income and provides information on the methods of repayment available.
If borrowers based overseas fail to remain in contact with the SLC, the SLC will set up a fixed repayment schedule and place those borrowers in arrears. Borrowers with post-2012 loans who have not remained in contact with the SLC are charged the maximum interest rate of RPI+3% until they get back in touch. Further action, including legal action, can then be taken to secure recovery.
Asked by: Lord Browne of Belmont (Democratic Unionist Party - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask Her Majesty's Government how many nationals of other EU member states with student loans outstanding are currently uncontactable; and what estimate they have made of the amount of outstanding loans owed by such people.
Answered by Viscount Younger of Leckie - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Work and Pensions)
The Student Loans Company (SLC) administers student loans for each of the UK government administrations. The information is not held in the requested format, however the SLC publishes data on the number of EU nationals who have been placed in arrears, as they have not provided details of their income. Around 9,600 EU borrowers had not provided details of their income and had been placed in arrears as at 31 April 2018.
Statistics covering loan repayments are published annually by the SLC for each UK government administration as part of the ‘Debt and repayment statistics for England 2017-18’. More detailed information on the repayment statuses of home and EU domiciled borrowers, who are liable for repayment, can be found in tables 3A and 3B of the statistics publication (attached).
Asked by: Lord Browne of Belmont (Democratic Unionist Party - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask Her Majesty's Government how many (1) unlawful, and (2) unregistered, schools they are aware exist in each county in England.
Answered by Lord Agnew of Oulton
National statistics on unlawful and unregistered schools, broken down by each county in England, are not collected centrally.
Ofsted’s unregistered schools team investigates and inspects suspected illegal schools. An inspector issues a warning notice at the end of the inspection if she or he believes the setting is operating illegally as a school. In its first statistical data release published on 15 March, Ofsted stated that between 1 January 2016 and 31 January 2018, it had identified 359 possible settings that may be unregistered schools. Ofsted undertook 192 inspection and issued 50 warning notices, and 38 of those settings have since closed or ceased operating illegally. The remaining cases remained under active investigation.
Further inspections have taken place since 15 March. Inspection data for the period January 2016 – February 2018 shows that 208 inspections have now taken place, 51 warning notices have been issued, 44 settings have closed or ceased operating illegally and the remaining cases remain under active investigation.