Asked by: Matthew Offord (Conservative - Hendon)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment her Department has made of the implications for its policies of the use of reinforced autoclaved aerated concrete in the construction of buildings operated under its remit.
Answered by Nick Gibb
It is the responsibility of those who run schools and who work with their schools day to day to manage the safety and maintenance of their buildings. This includes academy trusts, Local Authorities, and voluntary aided school bodies. The Department provides support on a case by case basis if it is alerted to a serious safety issue which responsible bodies cannot manage independently.
Nothing is more important than the safety of pupils and teachers. This is why the Department has been putting significant funding into transforming schools across the country. Where there are serious safety issues with a building, the Department supports responsible bodies to take immediate and swift action to ensure the safety of pupils and school staff.
Reinforced autoclaved aerated concrete (RAAC) was in use between the 1950s and mid 1990s, a time when school construction was generally the responsibility of Local Authorities. During this period, the Department published guidance on school buildings most commonly through the Building Bulletin series, in which there was no policy mandating the materials to be used.
The Department is working with responsible bodies, schools, and colleges to support them through the process of investigation, assessment and management of RAAC.
Where a school or responsible body has a significant issue with a school building either for RAAC or other condition issues that cannot be managed with local resources, the Department’s policy is to provide additional advice and support on a case by case basis.
Asked by: Matthew Offord (Conservative - Hendon)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment her Department has made of the implications for her policies of the level of complaints about Ofsted's inspection processes.
Answered by Nick Gibb
The Department is committed to the regular, independent inspection of all state funded schools by Ofsted as part of its broader strategy for accountability and school improvement. 88% of schools in England are judged by Ofsted to be ‘good’ or better, which is up from 68% in 2010.
Ofsted received 218 complaints following a school inspection in 2022/23, which is approximately 3% of inspections carried out during the period. The Department understands that, of these, most were concerned about the inspection grade awarded and concerns about the conduct of the inspection.
Ofsted is currently consulting on proposals for a strengthened complaints process, and the Department urges educators to take the opportunity to share their views. The consultation can be accessed at: https://www.gov.uk/government/consultations/changes-to-ofsteds-post-inspection-arrangements-and-complaints-handling-proposals-2023.
The Department recognises the significant public focus on inspection that has arisen following the tragic death of Ruth Perry and that this broader debate has focused attention on important issues such as how safeguarding is inspected and how headteachers are supported. It is right that the accountability system, including inspection, develops and evolves and that the system is responsive where concerns arise.
On 12 June, Ofsted announced a series of changes designed to improve the inspection arrangements. The details of this are available at: https://www.gov.uk/government/news/changes-made-to-school-inspections. Alongside this, the Department announced a doubling of its mental health and wellbeing support package for this year, to ensure school leaders can access expert supervision and counselling.
Asked by: Matthew Offord (Conservative - Hendon)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many children have received an Education, Health and Care plan from their local authority in the last 12 months.
Answered by Claire Coutinho - Shadow Minister (Equalities)
The requested information is available in the National Statistics publication on Education, Health and Care (EHC) plans, accessible at: https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/find-statistics/education-health-and-care-plans. The latest available data shows 66,400 new EHC plans were made across the 152 local authorities in England during the 2022 calendar year.
Asked by: Matthew Offord (Conservative - Hendon)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how much money has been allocated to local authorities to produce Education, Health and Care plans in each of the last three years.
Answered by Claire Coutinho - Shadow Minister (Equalities)
The government continues to support local authorities with their core budgets, which have increased to £59.7 billion for the next financial year. Local authorities have the flexibility to spend according to local needs and priorities, including to undertake Education, Health and Care (EHC) needs assessments.
Where an EHC plan is issued by a local authority, the local authority is under a statutory duty to secure the special educational provision set out in the EHC plan. Local areas will have their own arrangements to allocate the funding necessary to secure this provision, using the local authority’s High Needs Budget.
High needs revenue funding for children and young people with complex special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) is increasing to £10.1 billion for the 2023/24 financial year, which is an increase of nearly £1 billion from last year’s allocations and over 50% from the 2019/20 allocations.
Every local authority in England will see a minimum per-head increase of 9.8% in their total high needs allocations in 2023/24 compared to 2022/23.
The local authority must complete the whole EHC process as soon as practicable, and in any event, within 20 weeks of the local authority receiving a request for an EHC needs assessment, as per The Special Educational Needs and Disability Regulations 2014.
Information on EHC plans is collected as part of the annual Special Education Needs 2 (SEN2) data collection and is published in the ‘Education, Health and Care Plans’ statistical publication, available at: https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/find-statistics/education-health-and-care-plans.
The department does not currently hold the average length of time that an EHC plan takes to be drafted for an individual child. To provide this would incur disproportionate cost.
Asked by: Matthew Offord (Conservative - Hendon)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether she has made an estimate of the number of unfunded Education, Health and Care plans for children in England in the last 12 months.
Answered by Claire Coutinho - Shadow Minister (Equalities)
The government continues to support local authorities with their core budgets, which have increased to £59.7 billion for the next financial year. Local authorities have the flexibility to spend according to local needs and priorities, including to undertake Education, Health and Care (EHC) needs assessments.
Where an EHC plan is issued by a local authority, the local authority is under a statutory duty to secure the special educational provision set out in the EHC plan. Local areas will have their own arrangements to allocate the funding necessary to secure this provision, using the local authority’s High Needs Budget.
High needs revenue funding for children and young people with complex special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) is increasing to £10.1 billion for the 2023/24 financial year, which is an increase of nearly £1 billion from last year’s allocations and over 50% from the 2019/20 allocations.
Every local authority in England will see a minimum per-head increase of 9.8% in their total high needs allocations in 2023/24 compared to 2022/23.
The local authority must complete the whole EHC process as soon as practicable, and in any event, within 20 weeks of the local authority receiving a request for an EHC needs assessment, as per The Special Educational Needs and Disability Regulations 2014.
Information on EHC plans is collected as part of the annual Special Education Needs 2 (SEN2) data collection and is published in the ‘Education, Health and Care Plans’ statistical publication, available at: https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/find-statistics/education-health-and-care-plans.
The department does not currently hold the average length of time that an EHC plan takes to be drafted for an individual child. To provide this would incur disproportionate cost.
Asked by: Matthew Offord (Conservative - Hendon)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether she has made an estimate of the average length of time that an Education, Health and Care plan takes to be drafted for an individual child.
Answered by Claire Coutinho - Shadow Minister (Equalities)
The government continues to support local authorities with their core budgets, which have increased to £59.7 billion for the next financial year. Local authorities have the flexibility to spend according to local needs and priorities, including to undertake Education, Health and Care (EHC) needs assessments.
Where an EHC plan is issued by a local authority, the local authority is under a statutory duty to secure the special educational provision set out in the EHC plan. Local areas will have their own arrangements to allocate the funding necessary to secure this provision, using the local authority’s High Needs Budget.
High needs revenue funding for children and young people with complex special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) is increasing to £10.1 billion for the 2023/24 financial year, which is an increase of nearly £1 billion from last year’s allocations and over 50% from the 2019/20 allocations.
Every local authority in England will see a minimum per-head increase of 9.8% in their total high needs allocations in 2023/24 compared to 2022/23.
The local authority must complete the whole EHC process as soon as practicable, and in any event, within 20 weeks of the local authority receiving a request for an EHC needs assessment, as per The Special Educational Needs and Disability Regulations 2014.
Information on EHC plans is collected as part of the annual Special Education Needs 2 (SEN2) data collection and is published in the ‘Education, Health and Care Plans’ statistical publication, available at: https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/find-statistics/education-health-and-care-plans.
The department does not currently hold the average length of time that an EHC plan takes to be drafted for an individual child. To provide this would incur disproportionate cost.
Asked by: Matthew Offord (Conservative - Hendon)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what recent assessment she has made of the adequacy of the UK skills base to support deep sea mining.
Answered by Robert Halfon
The department’s skills reforms in England provide a ladder of opportunity that enables young people and adults to get good jobs and progress in their careers.
The department is building a skills system that is employer focused, high-quality and fit for the future, and is flexible enough to lead to more people completing courses that meet employers’ needs in all sectors. This ambitious skills agenda is backed by £3.8 billion of investment over this Parliament. The department is using this to expand and strengthen higher and further education, ensuring skills training is aligned to the needs of employers to enable communities to thrive and support more people to complete an apprenticeship.
The department is working with industry to shape our training offers, creating more routes into skilled employment in key economic sectors, including engineering, which may be relevant to deep sea mining.
The department’s high-quality apprenticeships are supporting people of all ages with the opportunity to earn and learn the skills needed to start, or progress in, an exciting career in engineering and manufacturing. Employers in the sector can access over 150 high-quality apprenticeship standards to meet their skills needs.
T Levels are strengthening vocational options for young people finishing their GCSEs. These two-year, technical qualifications are designed with relevant employers, and are equivalent in size to three A levels.
The department is delivering reforms to increase the profile, prestige and uptake of higher technical education. Central to our reforms is the introduction of Higher Technical Qualifications (HTQs). HTQs are current, and new, level 4 and 5 qualifications, approved and quality-marked by the Institute for Apprenticeships and Technical Education (IfATE) as providing the skills demanded in the workplace by employers.
HTQ rollout is on track with 172 approved qualifications being delivered between September 2022 to September 2024. From September 2024, there will be 23 HTQs in Engineering & Manufacturing, of which courses such as mechanical and/or electrical engineering will contain relevant skills to deep sea mining.
The Free Courses for Jobs offer, which was launched in April 2021, allows eligible adults to access over 400 Level 3 qualifications, A level equivalent, for free. Qualifications are available that support workers in all sectors.
As part of our Local Skills Improvement Plan programme, which aims to better align skills provision to the needs of local employers, the North-East Chamber of Commerce have been looking at subsea engineering skills as part of their focus on the green energy sector.
High quality careers information, advice and guidance is key to helping people to make informed decisions about their future, including being able to find out about and consider the different options available to them. The Careers & Enterprise Company (CEC) is supporting schools and colleges to embed best practice in the delivery of careers information, advice and guidance, so that young people are aware of the full range of training and careers available to them and have access to a broad range of employers and workplaces, including those in the construction sectors. This will be delivered through the national roll-out of Career Hubs, Career Leader training, and the Enterprise Adviser Network.
The National Careers Service website gives customers access to a range of useful digital tools and resources to support them. This includes ‘Explore Careers’ which provides information on more than 130 industry areas and more than 800 job profiles, including a range of key sector careers available. Descriptions of what those roles entail, qualifications and entry routes are also included. The content team regularly researches and updates content and welcomes updates from industry to ensure content is accurate and up to date.
Asked by: Matthew Offord (Conservative - Hendon)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what funding allocations her Department provides for schools outside the voluntary aided and state sector.
Answered by Nick Gibb
The Department allocates various funding streams in respect of pupils of compulsory school age (5-16) in schools outside the voluntary aided and state sector. Some of these streams also apply to pupils aged above 16. For the purposes of this response, maintained schools, academies (including free schools), and community technical colleges are considered to be part of the state sector. Where funding is provided to schools outside the state sector, it is predominantly provided to non-maintained special schools (NMSS) and, in some cases, to independent schools in respect of pupils for whom a Local Authority pay full tuition fees.
High needs place funding is allocated to non-maintained special schools (NMSS) directly by the Department and paid at £10,000 per place. Further details on high needs place funding is available at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/high-needs-allocated-place-numbers. The total place funding for NMSS for the 2022/23 academic year was £38 million. Local Authorities also spend a portion of their high needs block allocations on placements in NMSS and independent schools. Further detail at Local Authority level is available at: https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/section-251-materials.
The Pupil Premium grant provides additional funding for NMSS for raising the educational attainment of disadvantaged pupils of all abilities to help them reach their potential, and provides support for pupils with parents in the regular armed forces. The Pupil Premium grant is also provided for eligible pupils in independent schools, where the Local Authority pays full tuition fees. Allocations are available at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/pupil-premium-allocations-and-conditions-of-grant-2023-to-2024.
The Department provides funding for tutoring through the National Tutoring Programme. It is provided to NMSS, and to Local Authorities for eligible pupils in independent special schools, where the Local Authority pays full tuition fees. Allocations are available at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/national-tutoring-programme-ntp-allocations-for-2023-to-2024-academic-year.
The PE and Sport Premium is a ring-fenced grant to primary schools, and other educational establishments with primary aged children, including NMSS. Further details are available at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/pe-and-sport-premium-conditions-of-grant-2022-to-2023.
The Recovery Premium is a time limited grant which is providing over £300 million of additional funding for schools in the 2021/22 academic year and £1 billion across the 2022/23 and 2023/24 academic years. It is provided to NMSS, and to Local Authorities for eligible pupils in independent special schools, where the Local Authority pays full tuition fees. Details on allocations and conditions of the grant are available at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/coronavirus-covid-19-recovery-premium-funding-allocations-and-conditions-of-grant-2022-to-2023.
NMSS receive Universal Infant Free School Meals (UIFSM) funding, as they have a duty to provide free school meals to eligible pupils. This includes the provision of UIFSM to pupils in Reception, Year 1 and Year 2. Provisional allocations to NMSS for UIFSM amounted to £34,000 for the 2022/23 academic year.
The Department also provides capital funding for schools outside the voluntary aided and state sector. In March 2022, the Department announced £1.4 billion in High Needs Provisional Capital Allocations to support Local Authorities to deliver new places for the 2023/24 and 2024/25 academic years and improve existing provision for pupils with Special Educational Needs and Disabilities or who require Alternative Provision. It is for Local Authorities to determine how to use this funding to address their local priorities, but they can use this funding for new places in any school or institution in their area, including NMSS. Further details are available at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/high-needs-provision-capital-allocations.
The Department further allocates condition funding to NMSS to support them in keeping their buildings safe and well maintained. Details of funding allocations are available at: https://view.officeapps.live.com/op/view.aspx?src=https%3A%2F%2Fassets.publishing.service.gov.uk%2Fgovernment%2Fuploads%2Fsystem%2Fuploads%2Fattachment_data%2Ffile%2F1155676%2FSchool_capital_funding_allocations_for_2023_to_2024.xlsx&wdOrigin=BROWSELINK. In the 2023/24 financial year, NMSS were allocated £3,000,000 in school condition allocations to invest in the condition of their buildings, and £410,000 in devolved formula capital for smaller capital projects.
Asked by: Matthew Offord (Conservative - Hendon)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what progress her Department has made on achieving water neutrality in her Department's estate.
Answered by Nick Gibb
The term water neutral is typically associated with planning requirements for new developments to minimise impact on local water demands. The Department’s estate will not be expanding to include newly built offices.
In line with the Greening Government Commitments, the Department has committed to reduce water consumption. Since 2017/18, the Department has decreased water use by 60% and is currently meeting the Greening Government Commitment to reduce water consumption by at least 8% from the 2017/18 baseline. Information for the 2021/22 financial year will be published in the Greening Government Commitments Annual Report for 2021/22, due later this year. The data for all previous financial years is available online in previously published annual reports.
Asked by: Matthew Offord (Conservative - Hendon)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps her Department is taking to help increase the number of foster care placements in the London Borough of Barnet.
Answered by Claire Coutinho - Shadow Minister (Equalities)
The department is taking action nationally to increase the number of foster care places available.
We are investing over £3 million to deliver an initial fostering recruitment and retention programme in the North East Regional Improvement and Innovation Alliance. This will introduce a regional support hub to support individuals interested in applying to foster, facilitate targeted communications, and improve retention with the evidence-based model Mockingbird. The department will then expand our recruitment and retention programme from 2023 by investing over £24 million, offering more areas of the country the opportunity to implement end-to-end improvements in fostering recruitment and retention.
The department also continues to fund Fosterline and Fosterline Plus, a free-to-access helpline and support service for current and prospective foster carers, to provide high quality, independent information and advice on a range of issues.
In recognition of the increasing costs of living, the department is also raising the National Minimum Allowance (NMA). Foster carers will benefit from a 12.43% increase to the NMA. In addition, changes to tax and benefit allowances announced in the 2023 Spring Budget represent an average tax cut of £450 per year for foster carers, as well as simplifying the process for self-assessment returns for most foster carers. This above inflation increase in allowance and changes to tax arrangement will help foster parents cover the increasing costs of caring for a child in their home and support prospective foster carers to feel confident taking a child into their home.