Asked by: Rachael Maskell (Labour (Co-op) - York Central)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether she is taking steps to ensure that children with SEND who have difficulties with the school environment receive a full education.
Answered by David Johnston - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
Schools, further education colleges, sixth form colleges and 16-19 academies are required to identify and address the special educational needs (SEN) of the pupils they support and (in mainstream settings) to use their best endeavours to make sure that a child or young person who has SEN gets the support they need.
The right of children with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) to an education is the same as that for any other pupil. It is important for schools to acknowledge the barriers to attendance are wide and complex, especially for pupils with SEND.
The department’s expectation for a ‘support approach’ is set out in the working together to improve school attendance guidance which can be accessed here: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/1099677/Working_together_to_improve_school_attendance.pdf. This support may include reasonable adjustments for pupils with disabilities or support for pupils for whom mental health issues are affecting their attendance. The guidance states that schools should be mindful of the barriers these pupils face and put additional support in place where necessary to help them access their full-time education. This includes establishing strategies for removing in-school barriers to attendance as well as ensuring joined-up pastoral care is in place with the local authority and other partners. More information on reasonable adjustments can be found here: https://educationhub.blog.gov.uk/2023/04/10/what-are-reasonable-adjustments-and-how-do-they-help-disabled-pupils-at-school/. More information on mental health issues affecting pupils attendance can be found here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/mental-health-issues-affecting-a-pupils-attendance-guidance-for-schools.
Asked by: Rachael Maskell (Labour (Co-op) - York Central)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps she is taking to help support local authorities to provide adequate levels of (a) estate and (b) workforce for alternative provision for children at secondary schools.
Answered by David Johnston - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
The department has published over £1.5 billion of high needs provision capital allocations for the 2022/23 and 2023/24 financial years. This funding is allocated to local authorities to support their delivery of new places and improve existing provision for children and young people with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) or who require alternative provision (AP).
This funding forms part of the department’s transformational investment of £2.6 billion in new high needs provision between 2022 and 2025 and is on top of the ongoing departmental delivery of new special and AP free schools. On 6 March 2024, my right hon. Friend, the Chancellor of the Exchequer, announced 20 successful applications for new AP free schools creating over 1,700 new places.
In the SEND and AP Improvement Plan, published March 2023, the department set out its intention to give AP schools funding stability by requiring local authorities to create and distribute an AP specific budget. This will mean that resources can be targeted and distributed more effectively, supporting AP schools to recruit and retain high-quality staff.
Asked by: Rachael Maskell (Labour (Co-op) - York Central)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if she will take steps to help enable apprentices to gain proficiency in maths and English in the first year of their apprenticeship.
Answered by Robert Halfon
Achieving a good standard in English and mathematics is important to longer term career prospects, with research showing that achieving English and mathematics qualifications can correlate to higher earning potential. That is why the department funds apprentices to achieve qualifications in English and/or mathematics by the end of their apprenticeship if they do not already hold them.
The department recently increased funding by 54% so apprentices receive more support in gaining these vital skills. It is important that providers maintain the flexibility to plan how and when this provision is delivered in the most effective way possible during the apprenticeship.
Asked by: Rachael Maskell (Labour (Co-op) - York Central)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether she is taking steps to encourage clusters of small employers to take on an apprentice jointly.
Answered by Robert Halfon
The department has introduced flexi-job apprenticeship agencies (FJAAs), which are supporting sectors with short-term project-based work by allowing apprentices to work with multiple host employers, and on a range of projects, to gain the skills and knowledge needed to be successful in their chosen field. The department encourages small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) to become host employers and benefit from access to a diverse apprenticeship talent pipeline to help their businesses grow and prosper.
There are now 42 FJAAs supporting the delivery of apprenticeships across every region in England in sectors such as the creative industries, construction, and education. SMEs interested in hosting apprentices can contact a flexi-job apprenticeship agency directly. The current register of FJAAs can be accessed here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/flexi-job-apprenticeships/flexi-job-apprenticeship-agencies.
More widely, the department has made it easier for SMEs to grow their businesses by removing the limit on the number of apprentices they can take on and cutting by a third the number of steps needed to register to take on an apprentice. The department also continues to pay 95% of training costs for SMEs and has recently launched an expert provider pilot which will give additional permissions to providers within the apprenticeship service so they can take on more administration from SMEs. This will inform development of a wider offer next year.
Asked by: Rachael Maskell (Labour (Co-op) - York Central)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps she is taking with career advice services to help ensure that young people leaving school can move into a (a) job and (b) apprenticeship.
Answered by Robert Halfon
In October 2023, the department launched a new website called Skills for Careers that provides a single digital front door to information about skills training options and careers. From Skills for Careers, users are guided through government’s skills offer from apprenticeships to Skills Bootcamps, A levels to Multiply. The website provides an overview of each option, along with information about writing job applications and CVs. The Skill for Life website can be found here: https://www.skillsforcareers.education.gov.uk/pages/skills-for-life.
The government has strengthened legislation to ensure all secondary pupils have access to independent and impartial careers guidance, and pupils in years 8-13 have at least six opportunities to hear directly from providers of technical education and apprenticeships.
Since September 2012, schools have had a statutory duty to secure independent careers guidance. For pupils of compulsory school age, this must include information on the full range of 16-18 education and training options, including apprenticeships.
The Careers and Enterprise Company will ensure that Careers Hubs increase young peoples’ exposure to employers and more in-depth workplace experiences. These experiences give young people a real feel for work and the skills they need to succeed.
The National Careers Service provides free, impartial high-quality careers information, advice and guidance. Young people aged 13-18 can access information and advice through the service website and local community-based careers advisers via a web chat service and a telephone helpline.
The Careers Pathway Dashboard allows users to see which are the most popular and best qualifications needed to gain successful employment in a specific sector within a local area. This is a first attempt to create information to support careers advice for young people exploring their career options or starting their career. The Careers Pathway Dashboard can be found here: https://department-for-education.shinyapps.io/education-to-employment-dashboard/.
Careers Leaders work to develop careers programmes that will improve the quality of careers advice in schools and give more aspirational careers advice for children and young people.
The department actively promotes apprenticeships in schools and colleges through the Apprenticeship Support and Knowledge (ASK) programme. During the 2022/23 academic year, ASK engaged over 2,400 schools and colleges, with over 625,000 student engagements and more than 45,000 parent/carer engagements.
Jobcentre Plus school advisers work closely with schools and colleges to support their statutory duty to deliver careers education and guidance, assisting young people to make informed choices about which path they can follow when they leave secondary school or reach 18.
Asked by: Rachael Maskell (Labour (Co-op) - York Central)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps she is taking to ensure that there are sufficient qualified staff to deal with Education, Health and Care Plans.
Answered by David Johnston - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
As part of the reforms to the special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) system, the department is currently testing measures to deliver a nationally consistent Education, Health and Care (EHC) plan system and improve the quality and speed with which support is put in place. The department is taking steps to increase the capacity of the workforce supporting children and young people with SEND, but it is the responsibility of individual employers, including local authorities, schools and healthcare settings, to plan their staffing levels in line with their local service priorities.
Educational psychologists have a critical role, providing statutory input into EHC plan assessments and advising the school workforce on how to support children and young people with SEND. The department is investing over £21 million to train 400 more educational psychologists from 2024.
Since 2020, the department has increased the number of educational psychologist trainees that we fund to over 200, from 160 per year. As these larger cohorts complete their studies, they will join the workforce to support local authority educational psychology services, including contributing to EHC plan assessments.
Local authority caseworkers play a vital role in supporting families to navigate the system and ensuring they have good experiences, including through the EHC plan process. To build capacity, the department is providing legal training for local authority caseworkers this year and will consider new guidance to deliver a responsive and supportive casework service.
The department is committed to a joint Department for Education and Department of Health and Social Care approach to SEND workforce planning. The departments aim to complete this by 2025. This will build on the NHS Long Term Workforce Plan published in June 2023 which sets out the steps the NHS and its partners need to take to deliver an NHS workforce that meets the changing needs of the population over the next 15 years.
To support the supply of more speech and language therapists and occupational therapists to the NHS, since September 2020 all eligible undergraduate and postgraduate degree students have been able to apply for a non-repayable training grant of a minimum of £5,000 per academic year, with further financial support available for childcare, accommodation, and travel costs.
Asked by: Rachael Maskell (Labour (Co-op) - York Central)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps her Department is taking to help support children with additional needs.
Answered by David Johnston - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
In the special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) and alternative provision (AP) Improvement Plan, published in March 2023, the department set out plans to build a consistent national SEND and AP system which parents and carers can trust, easily navigate, and have confidence in, wherever they live in the country.
The foundation for the new nationally consistent SEND and AP system will be new evidenced based National Standards for early and accurate identification of need, and timely access to support to meet those needs. The standards will include clarifying the types of support that should be available in mainstream settings and who is responsible for securing the support.
This will help families, practitioners and providers understand what support every child or young person should be receiving from early years through to further education, no matter where they live or what their needs are. By the end of 2025, the department will publish a significant proportion of the National Standards.
New local SEND and AP partnerships will support this work by bringing together Education, Health and Care partners with local government to produce evidence-based Local Area Inclusion Plans setting out how to meet the needs of children and young people with SEND and in AP in the local area, in line with National Standards.
The department is testing and refining reforms through our Change Programme to collect evidence about what works for children and young people with SEND and their families at a local level. The department is working with 32 local authorities and their local areas in each of the nine regions.
Asked by: Rachael Maskell (Labour (Co-op) - York Central)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment she has made of the adequacy of funding for Education, Health and Care Plans.
Answered by David Johnston - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
In 2024/25, high needs funding for children and young people with complex needs is increasing by £440 million, compared to this financial year 2023/24. This will bring total high needs funding to over £10.5 billion next year, an increase of over 60% from the 2019/20 allocations. Of that total, City of York Council is due to receive a high needs allocation of £28.5 million through their 2024/25 dedicated schools grant, which is a cumulative increase of 27% per head over the three years from 2021/22.
The significant increases to high needs funding over recent years have helped to support local authorities and schools with the costs of supporting children and young people with an Education, Health and Care plan.
Asked by: Rachael Maskell (Labour (Co-op) - York Central)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps she is taking with Cabinet colleagues to help increase levels of physical activity in (a) pre-school, (b) primary school and (c) secondary school children.
Answered by Damian Hinds - Minister of State (Education)
The Department for Culture, Media and Sport published the Get Active strategy in 2023, which aims to build a more active nation. This can be found here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/get-active-a-strategy-for-the-future-of-sport-and-physical-activity#Details. Central to this is a focus on ensuring that children establish a lifetime of engagement with sport and physical activity. The strategy sets an ambition that all children should meet the UK Chief Medical Officers’ guidelines on physical activity, with a target of getting 1 million more active children by 2030.
In July 2023 the Department for Education published an update to the cross-government School Sport and Activity Action Plan (SSAAP) which can be found here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/school-sport-and-activity-action-plan. The plan sets out actions to help all pupils take part in sport and do more physical activity. The update builds on the government’s announcement in March 2023 that set out new ambitions for equal access to physical education (PE) and sport for girls and boys, 2 hours of PE a week alongside over £600 million funding for the Primary PE and Sport Premium (in academic years 2023/24 and 2024/25) and the School Games Organiser Network.
The department will shortly be publishing new non-statutory guidance on PE and sport, exemplifying practice from primary and secondary schools. In recognition of the importance of young children being physically active, physical development is one of the three prime areas of learning as set out in the statutory Early Years Foundation Stage framework that all early years providers in England must follow. This can be found here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/early-years-foundation-stage-framework--2.
Asked by: Rachael Maskell (Labour (Co-op) - York Central)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps she is taking to (a) identify students who are at risk of school exclusion and (b) make (i) early interventions and (ii) trauma informed approaches to ensure that their needs are met.
Answered by Damian Hinds - Minister of State (Education)
The department supports head teachers in using suspension and permanent exclusion as a sanction as part of creating calm, safe, and supportive environments where pupils and staff can work in safety and are respected.
The department has published guidance on ‘Behaviour in Schools’, ‘Mental Health and Behaviour in Schools’, and ‘Suspension and Permanent Exclusion’, which is the primary source of help and support for schools on how to manage behaviour for all pupils in the school community, to create a culture with high expectations of behaviour. The ‘Behaviour in Schools’ guidance is available at: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/65ce3721e1bdec001a3221fe/Behaviour_in_schools_-_advice_for_headteachers_and_school_staff_Feb_2024.pdf. The ‘Mental Health and Behaviour in Schools’ guidance is available at: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/625ee6148fa8f54a8bb65ba9/Mental_health_and_behaviour_in_schools.pdf. The ‘Suspension and Permanent Exclusion’ guidance is available at: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/1181584/Suspension_and_permanent_exclusion_guidance_september_23.pdf.
The department does not endorse any one approach to behaviour management over another. The department trusts school leaders to develop tailored behaviour policies which reflect their school’s individual contexts and needs. Any policy must be lawful, proportionate, and reasonable and comply with the school’s duties under the Equality Act 2010 and the Education and Inspections Act 2006.
The ‘Behaviour in Schools and Exclusion’ guidance is also clear that head teachers should consider any underlying causes of misbehaviour before issuing any exclusion, including where a pupil has a history of trauma. Early intervention measures should include an assessment of whether appropriate provision is in place to support any special educational needs and disabilities. The ‘Mental Health and Behaviour in Schools’ guidance also makes clear that recognising emerging issues as early as possible, and working effectively with external agencies to provide support for pupils who display persistent disruptive behaviour, and are at risk of exclusion, is vital.