Asked by: Lord Lexden (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask Her Majesty's Government, further to the reply by Viscount Younger of Leckie on 22 November (HL Deb, cols 325–8), whether they will conduct an inquiry into reports that local councils spent £100 million in four years to prevent parents obtaining support for children with special needs, losing nine out of ten cases.
Answered by Lord Agnew of Oulton
The government does not have any plans to conduct such an inquiry.
The government has made fundamental changes to the way the special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) support system works for families. The system is now more person-centred with significant direction given to local authorities, and other bodies, to engage effectively with families.
Local authorities should respond appropriately to any SEND Tribunal appeal. In doing so, they will inevitably incur costs. When families make appeals, the local authority will need to judge how to respond to them and in doing so, must put the interests of the child or young person first.
The government are investing £20 million until March 2020 to improve the quality of local information, advice and support services available to families, and to provide guidance and training to local authorities to help improve the quality of education, health and care (EHC) plans.
Parents have the right to ask that an independent school, approved under Section 41 of the Children and Families Act (2014) and published in a list available to all parents and young people, be named on their EHC plan.
The local authority must, after consultation with the school, name the requested school unless specific criteria apply. These conditions are that the school would be unsuitable for the young person’s needs, incompatible with the efficient education of others or an inefficient use of the local authority’s resources.
Parents may also make representations for a place at an independent school that is not on the Section 41 list and the local authority must consider their request. While not under the same conditional duty to name the provider, the local authority must have regard to the general principle that children should be educated in accordance with their parents’ wishes if this is compatible with the provision of efficient instruction and does not cause unreasonable public expenditure.
Asked by: Lord Lexden (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask Her Majesty's Government whether they have received representations from the Independent Schools Council about the forthcoming increase in the employer’s contribution to the Teachers’ Pension Scheme; and if so, what reply they have given.
Answered by Lord Agnew of Oulton
The government has received a number of representations from employer representatives including the Independent Schools Council, to both the Department for Education (DfE) and to Her Majesty’s Treasury (HM Treasury), about the proposed increase in employer contributions and the impact this would have on their schools. HM Treasury and the DfE will be responding imminently.
Asked by: Lord Lexden (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask Her Majesty's Government whether they have plans to help more children in care to secure places in state and independent boarding schools.
Answered by Lord Agnew of Oulton
This government wants every child, whatever their background and no matter what challenges they face, to have access to a world-class education that prepares them for life in the modern world. This is particularly important for looked-after children who start with the disadvantage of their pre-care experiences and who may also have special educational needs.
It is for this reason that we launched the Boarding School Partnerships (BSP) Information Service which is aimed at both independent and state boarding schools. This will give local authorities the tools and information they need to consider boarding as an option for children in their care. We believe that this could be beneficial for some children in or on the edge of care.
The BSP Information Service, in partnership with the Norfolk County Council and the Norfolk Boarding School Partnership, recently published research on positive outcomes for vulnerable children following placements in boarding. This research identified a number of benefits including reducing the likelihood of a child going into care and improved educational outcomes. While this is not suitable for all children, we would urge local authorities to consider boarding as an option if it is suitable for the child in question.
Asked by: Lord Lexden (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask Her Majesty's Government how many local authorities are denying funding to parents of children with special educational needs who seek places at independent schools with appropriate provision for them.
Answered by Lord Agnew of Oulton
The information requested is not held centrally.
The Children and Families Act 2014 requires local authorities to assess whether children and young people have complex special educational needs requiring an education, health and care (EHC) plan. When drawing up an EHC plan, the child’s parents or (from age 16) the young person has a statutory right to request that a particular institution be named on the EHC plan. If the institution is one of those specified in Section 38(3) of the act, the local authority is under a qualified duty to name the institution, and the institution must admit the child or young person.
Independent special schools may choose to bring themselves in scope of this duty by asking to join the Secretary of State’s approved list (under Section 41 of the act). 155 independent special schools have chosen to do so.
A parent or young person may request a placement in an independent school that is not on the Section 41 list. The local authority is not under the same conditional duty to name the provider, but must have regard to the general principle in Section 9 of the Education Act 1996 that children should be educated in accordance with their parents’ wishes, so long as this is compatible with the provision of efficient instruction and training and does not mean unreasonable public expenditure. The local authority should be satisfied that the institution would admit the child or young person before naming it in a plan, since these providers are not subject to the duty to admit a child or young person even if named in an EHC plan. If a local authority names an independent school, independent special school or special post-16 institution in an EHC plan, then they must secure a place and fund any fees, including any boarding and lodging where relevant.
Asked by: Lord Lexden (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask Her Majesty's Government whether they plan to allow British international schools to award qualified teacher status.
Answered by Lord Agnew of Oulton
There is currently no plan to allow British international schools to recommend individuals for qualified teacher status (QTS).
The regulations, which set out the various routes to QTS, require courses of initial teacher training (ITT) to be completed at an accredited institution in England. In addition, practical teaching experience for the purpose of ITT must be undertaken wholly or mainly in England.
There may be circumstances where part of the training could take place outside England. For example, trainees specialising in modern foreign languages may benefit from time in schools abroad, but this must be in partnership with an accredited provider in England, which would make the recommendation for QTS.
These requirements can be found in Part 1 of Schedule 2 to The Education (School Teachers' Qualifications) (England) Regulations 2003.
Asked by: Lord Lexden (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask Her Majesty's Government whether they have plans to subject those independent schools that are outside the ambit of the Independent Schools Council to more stringent and frequent inspection in order to counter teaching of extremist views.
Answered by Lord Agnew of Oulton
Independent schools that are not under the membership of an association belonging to the Independent Schools Council are either inspected by Ofsted or the School Inspection Service. In either case, schools are inspected at least every three years against the Independent School Standards.
There are no plans at present to increase the frequency of inspection, although the department is able to commission inspections of independent schools where there are concerns that the standards may not be met. The standards were strengthened significantly in 2014 and 2015 to include more stringent requirements to prevent extremism, including the requirement that schools must actively promote the fundamental British values. A summary of these changes, entitled ‘Revised independent school standards’, is attached. It is important that all schools are inspected rigorously against these standards.
Asked by: Lord Lexden (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to ensure that funding is made available as quickly as possible for pupils accepted by independent schools approved under section 41 of the Children and Families Act 2014.
Answered by Lord Agnew of Oulton
The conditions of grant attached to the dedicated schools grant for local authorities requires authorities to treat those placed in maintained, non-maintained and independent provision on a fair and equivalent basis when making arrangements for the funding of young people with high needs. Under the conditions of grant, local authorities must also make payments of high needs funding in a timely fashion, on a basis agreed with the institution. Further information can be found in paragraph 12 of the DSG conditions of grant 2017-18, which is attached and available at: https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/579306/DSG_Conditions_of_Grant_2017-18_-_Final_GH.pdf.
Asked by: Lord Lexden (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Education:
Her Majesty's Government whether they plan to extend eligibility for free school milk to all children in reception classes.
Answered by Lord Nash
We do not hold information centrally on how many children drink milk in schools. The government has no plans to extend eligibility for free school milk to all children in reception classes.
Asked by: Lord Lexden (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Education:
Her Majesty's Government what is their estimate of the percentage of children who currently drink milk in schools.
Answered by Lord Nash
We do not hold information centrally on how many children drink milk in schools. The government has no plans to extend eligibility for free school milk to all children in reception classes.
Asked by: Lord Lexden (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government, further to the answers by Lord Nash on 25 January (HL Deb, cols 662–3), what guidance has been provided to primary and secondary schools to ensure compliance with the milk requirements of the standards for school food in England, published on 9 September 2016; and how schools are required to demonstrate that they have complied with those requirements.
Answered by Lord Nash
Departmental advice on the School Food Standards, which includes the requirements for milk, is attached and available on Gov.uk. A summary of the standards and a practical guide are available from the School Food Plan website.
Governing boards are legally responsible for meeting the School Food Standards.
From previous surveys of compliance against the previous standards, we are confident that almost all schools are following the new standards appropriately.