Asked by: Olivia Blake (Labour - Sheffield, Hallam)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many schools have (a) specialist deaf units, (b) bases for deaf children and (c) deaf resource provisions in England as of 2 November 2022.
Answered by Claire Coutinho - Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero
The department does not hold all of the information requested. Available information on specific schools of interest can be found on the get information about schools service, which can be found at: https://get-information-schools.service.gov.uk/.
Revenue funding for such specialist facilities is allocated to local authorities through the high needs funding block of their dedicated schools grant. The department does not currently collect information on how much local authorities allocate in respect of the operation of specialist units.
The department does not provide capital funding for individual categories of special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) need. Rather, alongside the department’s continued investment in new special and alternative provision (AP) free schools, we provide capital grants to local authorities to help support the delivery of new places and improvements to existing provision for children and young people with SEND or who require AP.
In March 2022, the department announced High Needs Provision Capital Allocations (HNPCA) amounting to over £1.4 billion of new investment. Prior to this, we also invested a total of £300 million HNPCA funding in the 2021/22 financial year and £365 million through the Special Provision Capital Fund from the 2018/19 financial year to the 2020/21 financial year. It is ultimately up to local authorities to determine how to best prioritise their funding to address their local priorities and they can use their grants to work with any school or institution in their area, including those that provide specialist deaf provision.
Asked by: Olivia Blake (Labour - Sheffield, Hallam)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what new funding for training of educational psychologists will be allocated by his Department after 2022.
Answered by Kelly Tolhurst
In February 2022, the department announced a further £10 million investment to train over 200 more educational psychologists. Their training will commence in September 2023, and they will graduate in 2026.
In March 2022, the department published the Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND) and Alternative Provision Green Paper, detailing our proposals for an inclusive education system to ensure that all children and young people have timely access to specialist services and support. Consultation on these proposals closed in July, and the department is currently reviewing these responses in preparation for the publication of our SEND implementation plan.
Asked by: Olivia Blake (Labour - Sheffield, Hallam)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, with reference to the report of the Independent Review of children's social care published on 23 May 2022, if he will meet with the hon. Member for Sheffield, Hallam and Barnardo's to discuss (a) prioritising early intervention in children's social services and (b) improving outcomes for children in the care system.
Answered by Kelly Tolhurst
The department will be publishing a detailed and ambitious implementation strategy in due course, which will set out our approach to reforming children’s social care. We thank Barnardo’s for their ongoing engagement on children’s social care reform with officials in the department and welcome the opportunity to meet with the hon. Member for Sheffield Hallam and Barnardo’s later this year, following the publication of the implementation strategy.
Asked by: Olivia Blake (Labour - Sheffield, Hallam)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, with reference to the report of the Independent Review of children's social care published on 23 May 2022, whether the Department for Education will take steps to prioritise listening to care-experienced young people in implementing the sections of that report which relate to its work.
Answered by Kelly Tolhurst
The department is continuing to listen to the views of care experienced individuals as part of its response to the Independent Review of Children’s Social Care. Three individuals with experience of the children’s social care system will sit on the National Implementation Board and provide advice and challenge on the government’s overall plan to reform children’s social care. The department is also committed to hearing from care experienced individuals on specific policy areas including on a new National Framework for Children’s Social Care.
Asked by: Olivia Blake (Labour - Sheffield, Hallam)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if he will make an estimate of (a) how many schools currently have defibrillators and (b) how many schools are in areas where there is a lack of publicly accessible defibrillators; if he will publish information on school and community defibrillator provision to allow areas of deficit to be identified; and if he will take steps to ensure that every school will have a defibrillator by the 2022-23 school year.
Answered by Jonathan Gullis
The Department announced in July 2022 that all state funded schools in England would have access to automated external defibrillators (AEDs) by the end of the 2022/23 academic year. On 12 September 2022, the Department sent a survey to schools to determine how many AEDs exist across the school estate, and is currently analysing this information to procure AEDs where they are needed and to ensure that there are no gaps in access to these life saving devices. Each school makes a decision on whether to provide public access to AEDs. The Department has published guidance to support schools that wish to provide community access and is working with a number of charities to update this guidance. The Department will provide a written update in due course that will be laid in the libraries of both Houses.
Asked by: Olivia Blake (Labour - Sheffield, Hallam)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps he plans to take to support universities in the transition to net zero.
Answered by Michelle Donelan - Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology
In November 2021 we set out a draft Sustainability and Climate Change Strategy for the education sector. Within this we have set out our strategic aim for net zero. We have been engaging with higher education to seek their feedback on the draft ahead of publishing a final strategy in April 2022.
As part of this work, we have supported the Queen’s Jubilee Challenge for the further education (FE) and HE sectors to accelerate a sector-led review, so that by calendar year 2024 all FE and HE settings will be reporting their emissions via a standardised framework.
Asked by: Olivia Blake (Labour - Sheffield, Hallam)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps he is taking to ensure that transfer of information from school to college is as effective as the transfer of information from school to school, for young people with Special Educational Needs and Disabilities.
Answered by Will Quince
The department is taking numerous steps to ensure the effective transfer of information for young people with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) between school and college.
The SEND Code of Practice is clear that “SEND support should include planning and preparation for the transitions between phases of education and preparation for adult life. The school should share information with the school, college or other setting the child or young person is moving to. Schools should agree with parents and pupils the information to be shared as part of this planning process”.
Local authorities have a statutory responsibility to review the education, health and care (EHC) plans that they maintain at least every 12 months. Reviews must focus on the progress of the young person towards achieving the outcomes specified in the EHC plan and must consider whether the outcomes remain appropriate. The results of these reviews are shared with schools and colleges to ensure a continued progression of support.
The department currently funds the Whole School SEND Consortium and the Education and Training Foundation to deliver activities which equip education leaders and the school and further education workforce to effectively support children and young people with SEND. These activities include supporting the smooth transition from the school learning environment to further education and to prepare young people for adulthood through high quality provision.
One of the commitments in the National Disability Strategy is to create an ‘Access to Work Adjustments Passport’ to support disabled people with their transition into employment, including disabled students leaving education. Officials from the department are currently supporting officials from the Department for Work and Pensions on piloting this passport.
Asked by: Olivia Blake (Labour - Sheffield, Hallam)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps he will take to ensure that college students with Special Educational Needs or Disabilities but without High Needs funding, will receive the same level of support they received at school.
Answered by Alex Burghart - Parliamentary Secretary (Cabinet Office)
Under Section 66 of the Children and Families Act 2014, if a registered student at a college has special educational needs, the college has a statutory duty to use their best endeavours to secure that the special educational provision called for by the student’s special educational needs is made. They must fulfil this duty for students with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND), regardless of whether the student has an education, health and care (EHC) plan.
When deciding on the provision to be made for a particular young person with SEND, colleges and local authorities must have regard to the SEND Code of Practice. The Code is clear that professionals working with young people with SEND should involve the parents and the young person at every stage of planning and reviewing support, and take into account their wishes, feelings and perspectives.
The department is committed to providing extra funding for students who need extra help. This includes, in the 2021/22 academic year, almost £532 million to help colleges, schools and other providers to support disadvantaged 16 to 19‐year olds.
This includes a block of funding to support students with additional needs, including moderate learning difficulties and disabilities, with funding to institutions based on the number of students with low prior attainment in maths and/or English. Providers, including colleges, decide exactly how to use this funding.
Learners aged over 19 are funded through the Adult Education Budget. Providers can access learning support funds to enable them to meet the additional needs of learners with learning difficulties and/or disabilities to meet the costs of reasonable adjustments, as set out in the Equality Act 2010.
Support can cover a range of needs, including an assessment for dyslexia, funding to pay for specialist equipment or helpers and arranging signers or note takers. If a learner needs significant levels of support to start or continue learning, and has support costs of more than £19,000 in a funding year, there is a mechanism to enable providers to claim exceptional learning support.
Asked by: Olivia Blake (Labour - Sheffield, Hallam)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps he will set out in the forthcoming SEND Review to ensure a smooth and supportive transition from school to college for young people with Education Health and Care Plans.
Answered by Will Quince
The department is determined to improve the outcomes for children and young people with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) with a focus on preparing them for later life and adulthood, including their transition into further education.
The government is working at pace, and extensively with children and young people with SEND, parents and carers, as well as those working in local government, education, health and care services to ensure we get this right, and that proposals from our SEND Review lead to improvements in outcomes for children and young people.
The department is committed to concluding the Review and will publish proposals for full public consultation in the coming months.
Asked by: Olivia Blake (Labour - Sheffield, Hallam)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what discussions he has with relevant stakeholders on including in the forthcoming SEND green paper the UNCRPD Monitoring Committee’s observations and recommendations for developing an inclusive education system under UNCRPD Article 24 obligations.
Answered by Vicky Ford
The government’s commitment to inclusive education of disabled children and young people and the progressive removal of barriers to learning and participation in mainstream education is at the heart of the special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) system. This is a key principle that underpins the government’s approach.
We have had, and continue to have, discussions with a wide range of individuals and organisations to inform work on the review. This includes children and young people with SEND, parents, education establishments, local authorities, representatives from health and care services and a wide range of voluntary and community sector organisations and experts.