Asked by: Nick Smith (Labour - Blaenau Gwent and Rhymney)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what plans he has to ensure that communication skills identified as needed for the workplace are recognised in the criteria for the Functional Skills qualifications.
Answered by Anne Milton
We are reforming Functional Skills to make sure their content addresses the skills that employers have told us they need. Over 500 employers of varying sizes responded to the employer survey or participated in follow-up interviews[1]. These results have been used to reform the content of Functional Skills[2] (published in February this year) so they will deliver what employers require.
Good communication skills was a key skillset identified by employers, especially oral communication. Speaking and listening have always been a key part of the English Functional Skills qualification, but the reformed qualification will include the term ‘communicating’ to recognise that learners, especially those with disabilities, may communicate in different ways.
[1]http://www.pyetait.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/05/Employer-Consultation-final-report2.pdf.
[2] https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/functional-skills-subject-content-english.
Asked by: Nick Smith (Labour - Blaenau Gwent and Rhymney)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what plans he has to support opportunity areas in the development of plans to improve speech, language and communications skills among children and young people.
Answered by Nadhim Zahawi
We know that having poor speech, language and communication skills can hold children back at school and limit their life chances thereafter. This was identified as an issue in all 12 of the Opportunity Areas. We are putting plans in place to address this.
For example:
We are working to ensure that the learning from these initiatives will be shared across other areas of the country facing challenges.
Asked by: Nick Smith (Labour - Blaenau Gwent and Rhymney)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what plans he has to ensure that the identification of speech, language and communication problems are a core requirement of Level 2 qualifications for early years teachers.
Answered by Nadhim Zahawi
The Early Years Workforce Strategy, published in March 2017, included a commitment that the department would develop criteria for the content of level 2 early years practitioner qualifications.
An expert reference group provided advice, guidance and challenge. Membership of the group included academics, technical, employer and training provider expertise.
In December 2017, we published a 12-week online consultation seeking views on the proposed criteria. We are now revising the criteria based on the consultation feedback and will publish them with a government response by September. The criteria will require qualifications to include skills and knowledge to support early language development and children with additional needs.
The Early Years Workforce Strategy is at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/early-years-workforce-strategy.
The level 2 qualification consultation documents are at: https://consult.education.gov.uk/childcare-providers-and-regulation/improving-level-2-qualifications-for-the-early-edu/.
Asked by: Nick Smith (Labour - Blaenau Gwent and Rhymney)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what plans he has to support opportunity areas in the development of plans to improve speech, language and communications skills among children and young people.
Answered by Nadhim Zahawi
We know that having poor speech, language and communication skills can hold children back at school and limit their life chances thereafter. This was identified as an issue in all 12 of the Opportunity Areas. We are putting plans in place to address this.
For example:
We are working to ensure that the learning from these initiatives will be shared across other areas of the country facing challenges.
Asked by: Nick Smith (Labour - Blaenau Gwent and Rhymney)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what plans he has to ensure that the identification of speech, language and communication problems are a core requirement of Level 2 qualifications for early years teachers.
Answered by Nadhim Zahawi
The Early Years Workforce Strategy, published in March 2017, included a commitment that the department would develop criteria for the content of level 2 early years practitioner qualifications.
An expert reference group provided advice, guidance and challenge. Membership of the group included academics, technical, employer and training provider expertise.
In December 2017, we published a 12-week online consultation seeking views on the proposed criteria. We are now revising the criteria based on the consultation feedback and will publish them with a government response by September. The criteria will require qualifications to include skills and knowledge to support early language development and children with additional needs.
The Early Years Workforce Strategy is at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/early-years-workforce-strategy.
The level 2 qualification consultation documents are at: https://consult.education.gov.uk/childcare-providers-and-regulation/improving-level-2-qualifications-for-the-early-edu/.
Asked by: Nick Smith (Labour - Blaenau Gwent and Rhymney)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment she has made of the implications for her policies of the findings of the Royal College of Speech and Language Therapists' report, entitled The SEND reforms in England: supporting children and young people with speech, language and communication needs.
Answered by Edward Timpson
I welcome RCSLT’s report. It is encouraging that the majority of speech and language therapists, feel that parents and carers have been effectively involved in the decision making process and that they feel confident delivering the Special Educational Needs and Disability (SEND) reforms effectively.
However, we know there is still work to do, which is why we have invested £1.7 million in supporting children and young people with speech, language and communication needs since 2014, and we are currently procuring a contract focusing on improving the support provided.
Asked by: Nick Smith (Labour - Blaenau Gwent and Rhymney)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what the annual budget is for food produced for her Department's offices; and what proportion of food produced for her Department was sourced from British producers in the last period for which figures are available.
Answered by Nick Gibb
The Department does not have an annual food budget. Catering services are provided via a contract with Interserve Plc, and is operated on a nil subsidy basis.
Annual spend is determined by the contractor and is informed by private sales to members of staff.
Approximately 60% of products across all food and drink categories were sourced from British producers as of March 2016. This proportion reflects that a large volume of food and drink sold includes non-indigenous products such as rice, tea and coffee.
Asked by: Nick Smith (Labour - Blaenau Gwent and Rhymney)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what proportion of dairy products procured for her Department was sourced from British producers in the latest period for which figures are available.
Answered by Nick Gibb
As of March 2016, the Department for Education sources approximately 90% of its dairy products from British producers.
Asked by: Nick Smith (Labour - Blaenau Gwent and Rhymney)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many special educational needs co-ordinators were employed in each financial year since 2009.
Answered by Edward Timpson
The information requested is not available.
In order to ensure that we receive reliable information in future, we have contacted schools in the run up to the November 2015 school workforce census reminding them of their statutory obligations with regard to the appointing of a SEN coordinator. We have highlighted that they must record the identity of the teacher with these responsibilities. We will repeat this message shortly before the census takes place.
Asked by: Nick Smith (Labour - Blaenau Gwent and Rhymney)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what training and development is provided to staff in early years settings in (a) the identification of and (b) support for children with speech, language and communication needs.
Answered by Edward Timpson
The development of all children’s speech, language and communication during their early years is a priority for government. The Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS) sets the prime areas of learning that early years providers must follow and this includes a focus on communication and language. The EYFS requires providers to have arrangements in place to support children with special educational needs or disabilities. In England the Early Years Educator Criteria and the Teachers’ Standards (Early Years) also require the staff in question to deliver the EYFS.
The Teachers’ Standards (Early Years) requires early years teachers to demonstrate a clear understanding of the needs of all children, including those with speech, language and communication or other special educational needs or disabilities. It requires teachers to be able to use and evaluate distinctive approaches to engage and support children and to have the skills and awareness to know when a child is in need of additional support. The Department for Education provides grants to a number of expert organisations so that they can support the early years workforce to meet the needs of children with speech, language and communication difficulties. This includes providing access to best practice, tools and training. A range of organisations and bodies also provide advice and support to their members on this issue.
Where Ofsted inspectors have identified areas of improvement it is the responsibility of the early years setting to put an improvement plan in place. Local authorities are required by legislation to secure information, advice and training for early years providers judged less than good on their last Ofsted inspection report, including to help the provider meet the needs of children with special educational needs and disabilities.
Under section 22 of the Children and Families Act 2014 local authorities in England are required to identify all the children and young people in their area (i) who have or may have special educational needs, and (ii) who have a disability. Section 23 places a duty on clinical commissioning groups, NHS trusts or NHS foundation trusts if they are of the opinion that a child under compulsory school age has (or probably has) special educational needs or a disability, to tell the local authority and child’s parents.
Local authorities in England must ensure that all providers they fund are aware of the requirement on them to have regard to the special educational needs and disability - code of practice and to meet the needs of children with special educational needs or disabilities.