Asked by: Richard Fuller (Conservative - North East Bedfordshire)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what recent assessment he has made of the effectiveness of alternative curricula for children with special educational needs.
Answered by Vicky Ford
The ‘Special educational needs and disability code of practice: 0 to 25 years’ makes clear our expectation that all pupils should have access to a broad and balanced curriculum. Pupils with special educational needs should usually be taught the same curriculum as other pupils, with those needs being addressed through how lessons are planned and delivered. The Code states:
“The National Curriculum Inclusion Statement states that teachers should set high expectations for every pupil, whatever their prior attainment. Teachers should use appropriate assessment to set targets which are deliberately ambitious. Potential areas of difficulty should be identified and addressed at the outset. Lessons should be planned to address potential areas of difficulty and to remove barriers to pupil achievement. In many cases, such planning will mean that pupils with SEN and disabilities will be able to study the full national curriculum.”
Asked by: Richard Fuller (Conservative - North East Bedfordshire)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many child contact centres operated in England in each of the last five years for which figures are available.
Answered by Edward Timpson
Child contact centres are run by a variety of independent organisations that form the membership of the National Association of Child Contact Centres (NACCC), along with affiliated members such as family lawyers, CAFCASS, CAFCASS CYMRU and the judiciary. As such this information is not collected by the Department for Education. However, the NACCC has a ‘find a centre’ feature on its website at: http://www.naccc.org.uk/.
Asked by: Richard Fuller (Conservative - North East Bedfordshire)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many instances of financial malpractice and irregularity in (a) free schools and academies and (b) community schools have occurred in each of the last three years; and what proportion of each type of school they have occurred in.
Answered by Edward Timpson
(a) The reported incidents of financial malpractice and irregularity (includes fraud, theft and irregularity) in free schools and academies in the last three financial years are set out in the table below. The proportion of each type of academy or free school they have occurred in is recorded in the corresponding brackets.
Financial Year | Cases investigated by the EFA | Self-Reported by Institutions | TOTAL | |||
Academies | Free Schools | Academies | Free Schools | Academies | Free Schools | |
2013/14 | 10 (0.3%) | 3 (1.7%) | 28 (0.8%) | 1 (0.6%) | 38 (1.0%) | 4 (2.3%) |
2014/15 | 10 (0.2%) | 1 (0.4%) | 21 (0.5%) | 0 (0%) | 31 (0.7%) | 1 (0.4%) |
2015/16 | 7 (0.1%) | 0 (0%) | 43 (0.8%) | 0 (0%) | 50 (1.0%) | 0 (0%) |
Totals of % may not add up due to rounding
January Census data each year:
Year | Academies | Free Schools | TOTAL |
2014 | 3,653 | 174 | 3,827 |
2015 | 4,467 | 255 | 4,722 |
2016 | 5,171 | 303 | 5,474 |
Source: https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/statistics-school-and-pupil-numbers
Local authorities are responsible for the financial management of maintained schools, and they will usually be the point of contact for any allegations of financial impropriety. The Department for Education is careful not to overburden local authorities with monitoring requirements. Local authorities are required to provide an annual assurance that school funding has been used properly. However, the Department does not centrally monitor the number of allegations reported to each local authority
Asked by: Richard Fuller (Conservative - North East Bedfordshire)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, pursuant to the Answers of 8 September 2016 to Questions 44446 and 44447, what steps she plans to take to ensure that specific language and communication, including sign language, guidelines are in place to ensure that deaf and hard of hearing pre-school children benefit from the financial investment and the early years workforce strategy referred to in those Answers.
Answered by Caroline Dinenage
As part of our recent consultation on early years funding, the government is proposing to introduce a new targeted Disability Access Fund, which will support early years providers to make initial reasonable adjustments and build the capacity of their settings to support disabled children. The government is also proposing that all local authorities should set up an early years SEN inclusion fund. Such a structure will help settings and local authorities to work together to identify children with SEN in the early years, and to ensure that the appropriate support is in place to best support child development. We are currently considering responses to the consultation and are planning to publish the government’s response in the autumn.
The workforce strategy will set out how government will support early years staff to access training that equips them with the knowledge and skills to support the development of all children including those with special educational needs and disabilities. This will build on the work of the SEND champions programme which is funded through government and delivered by the National Day Nurseries Association. The programme identifies and trains SEND specialists to support other staff to provide appropriate learning opportunities for children with SEND.
Asked by: Richard Fuller (Conservative - North East Bedfordshire)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what estimate she has made of the number of sign language interpreters and electronic note takers registered with the Disabled Students Allowance Quality Assurance Group to provide support to deaf students from September 2016.
Answered by Lord Johnson of Marylebone
The Department is currently working with Disabled Students’ Allowances Quality Assurance Group to review the number of support workers that have registered to provide each support role funded through Disabled Students’ Allowances. Organisations and individuals are continuing to register to provide these roles, so final figures are not yet available. We will not be able to confirm these numbers until the first DSA QAG audit cycle is completed (which will include an audit of staff details), in December 2017.
The Student Loans Company will monitor any reports about the supply of non-medical support so as to identify whether there are any issues with their availability.
Asked by: Richard Fuller (Conservative - North East Bedfordshire)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many deaf young people aged 16 to 24 achieved (a) intermediate, (b) advanced and (c) higher apprenticeships in 2014-15; and what their destinations were following apprenticeship completion.
Answered by Robert Halfon
Information on apprenticeship achievements is published as part of a Statistical First Release, which is available at: https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/learner-participation-outcomes-and-level-of-highest-qualification-held
Table 1 shows apprenticeship achievements by 16-24 year olds with hearing impairments in 2014/15, by level.
Table 1: Apprenticeship Achievements by 16-24 year old learners with hearing impairments | ||||||
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Level | 2014/15 |
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Intermediate Level Apprenticeships | 250 |
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Advanced Level Apprenticeships | 130 |
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Higher Apprenticeships | - |
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All Apprenticeships | 380 |
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Notes: |
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1) Data source is the Individualised Learner Record. | ||||||
2) Volumes are rounded to the nearest ten. "-" indicates a base value of less than 5. | ||||||
3) Learners with hearing impairments figures are based upon self-declaration by the learner, where the provider has indicated that they have a disability, learning difficulty or health problem. | ||||||
Information on the destinations of learners to this level of detail is not centrally collected.
Asked by: Richard Fuller (Conservative - North East Bedfordshire)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if she will amend the School Admissions Code to allow schools to take into account the length of time a child has been on a waiting list in instances when that length of time has been longer than one year and that child matches that school's admissions criteria.
Answered by David Laws
The Department for Education currently has no plans to amend the School Admissions Code in this respect.
It is government policy that all school places must be allocated in accordance with each school's oversubscription criteria. Such criteria are determined following consultation with the local community and reflect local needs.
Asked by: Richard Fuller (Conservative - North East Bedfordshire)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, for what reasons the Schools Admissions Code precludes admissions authorities from taking into account how long a child has been on the waiting list for a school place.
Answered by David Laws
The School Admissions Code requires that all school places, including those offered to pupils on a school’s waiting list, are allocated strictly in accordance with a school’s published admissions criteria. This ensures fairness and transparency in the process and means that those applying for admission to a school understand from the outset their likelihood of gaining a place. It also means that there is no incentive for those who do not closely match a school’s admissions criteria, to remain on a waiting list while occupying a place at an alternative school.
Asked by: Richard Fuller (Conservative - North East Bedfordshire)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what recent representations he has received on funding for the transition to a two-tier school system in Bedford Borough.
Answered by David Laws
We are not aware of any representations made on this matter.