Asked by: Rushanara Ali (Labour - Bethnal Green and Bow)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what support the Government provides to local authorities to increase the uptake of free early education.
Answered by Sam Gyimah
Take-up of the entitlement to free early education for three- and four-year-olds is already very high – reaching 96% across England in January 2015.
The entitlement for disadvantaged two-year-olds was introduced September 2013. This was by extensive marketing activity, including radio, posters and through social media. The government supports local authorities in securing high take-up for this entitlement by providing them with information on parents believed to be eligible for the entitlement. This enables direct communication, marketing and support to be provided to parents so that they can access the entitlement for their child.
Asked by: Rushanara Ali (Labour - Bethnal Green and Bow)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, pursuant to the Answer of 2 February 2015 to Question 222508, what steps her Department is taking to improve its tracking and monitoring at (a) local authority and (b) national level of young people at risk of (i) having an unknown educational status and (ii) not being in employment, education or training.
Answered by Nick Boles
Local authorities (LAs) are responsible for collecting information to identify young people who are not participating, or who are at risk of not doing so; this information is aggregated to produce national level data. Steps to improve the tracking and monitoring of young people are focussed on the activity of individual LAs.
The Department regularly makes data available to show the proportion of young people in each LA: who are participating; who are not in education, employment or training (NEET); or whose activity is unknown. Those LAs who are performing poorly on monitoring this information are followed up and monitored, so that improvement actions can be agreed with them.
The Department is exploring whether further data sharing is possible between government departments and agencies, as this would help LAs track and monitor their young people’s outcomes and destinations. Arrangements have already been made for the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) to pass details of 18 and 19 year olds making a new claim for benefits to LAs each month, to help identify young people NEET.
The Department continues to encourage and support networking and the exchange of good practice among LAs. The Local Government Association has published a guide to support LAs in tracking young people, drawing on local practice. The Department will also further identify and share with LAs successful approaches to improving their data about young people.
Asked by: Rushanara Ali (Labour - Bethnal Green and Bow)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment she has made of the effect on local authorities of planned policies to extend the rules governing transport for children in full-time education or undertaking an apprenticeship to 16 to 18 year olds.
Answered by David Laws
There are no planned policies to extend the rules governing school transport for children of compulsory school age to cover students in post-16 education or training.
The statutory responsibility for transport to education or training for 16- to-18-year-olds rests with local authorities, who are expected to make appropriate decisions bearing in mind local circumstances. Arrangements made by authorities do not have to include free or subsidised transport, although most young people do have access to a discount or concession on local bus or train travel, either from their local authority, transport provider, school or college.
Asked by: Rushanara Ali (Labour - Bethnal Green and Bow)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what proportion of young people are not in education, employment or training aged 16, 17, 18 and 19 to 24 in (i) Tower Hamlets, (ii) England and (iii) the UK.
Answered by Nick Boles
There are several data sources that provide estimates for 16 to 24 year olds who are not in education, employment, or training (NEET), which differ in terms of their geographical coverage, age range, timing and methodology. No single source can provide the information requested in its entirety.
The Department for Education’s definitive estimates of the proportion of academic age 16 to 18 year olds who are NEET in England are published annually in the Statistical First Release (SFR) “Participation in education, training and employment, age 16 to 18”, which is available at the following link:
The latest estimates from this SFR, relating to the end of 2013, are shown in the table below.
DfE Official Participation Statistics - NEET by academic age, end 2013
16 | 17 | 18 | 16-18 | |
England | 4.0% | 6.1% | 12.5% | 7.6% |
The Department also publishes estimates of the proportion of academic age 16-18 year olds who are NEET in each English local authority using data provided by local authorities from their Client Caseload Information Systems (CCIS). The published data is available at the following link:
The data coverage and methodology differs from the official national estimates, so the figures are not directly comparable with the SFR figures for England, but it is possible to generate an estimate for England for comparison by aggregating the local authority data. The figures for Tower Hamlets and the aggregated figure for England based on the latest published data, for November 2013 to January 2014, is shown in the table below.
Local Authority CCIS data - NEET by academic age, end 2013 (Nov 2013 - Jan 2014 average)
16 | 17 | 18 | 16-18 | |
Tower Hamlets | 2.3% | 4.9% | 6.8% | 4.6% |
England (aggregated) | 2.5% | 5.0% | 8.7% | 5.3% |
For estimates of the proportion of 19-24 year olds NEET, and for 16-24 year olds as a whole in England, the Department publishes quarterly estimates from the Labour Force Survey (LFS). The latest data is published at the following link:
https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/neet-statistics-quarterly-brief-july-to-september-2014
For estimates of NEET in the UK, the Office for National Statistics (ONS) publishes figures each quarter which are also based on the LFS. The latest estimates are published at the following link:
The ONS estimates of young people NEET in the UK are not directly comparable with estimates published by DfE for England, because they relate to the actual age of the respondent at the time of the survey (rather than academic age) and are seasonally adjusted.
Asked by: Rushanara Ali (Labour - Bethnal Green and Bow)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what recent assessment she has made of the average cost of transport to school or college for 16 to 18 year olds.
Answered by David Laws
Information on the cost of travel for students is not held centrally and a recent assessment of average costs has not been made by the Department for Education.
The statutory responsibility for transport to education or training for 16- to 18-year-olds rests with local authorities and they are expected to make appropriate decisions bearing in mind local circumstances. While arrangements made by authorities do not have to include free or subsidised transport, most young people do have access to a discount or concession on local bus or train travel, either from their local authority, transport provider, school or college. The £180 million 16 to 19 Bursary Fund is available to help disadvantaged young people to access education and training, and is often used to help with transport costs.
Asked by: Rushanara Ali (Labour - Bethnal Green and Bow)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what mechanisms her Department has put in place to ensure that all its policies are consistent with the UK's commitment to the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child.
Answered by Edward Timpson
The Department for Education is committed to giving due consideration to the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child during the policy-making process. It undertakes child rights impact assessments for key policy and legislative changes; the most recent one was in respect of the Children and Families Act 2014. The Department also ensures that children’s rights issues are considered as part of the Home Affairs Committee clearance process.
Asked by: Rushanara Ali (Labour - Bethnal Green and Bow)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what recent assessment her Department has made of the adequacy of the provision of nursery care for children with disabilities.
Answered by Sam Gyimah
Under the Childcare Act 2006, it is the duty of all local authorities to work together (with parents and providers) to assess and ensure that there is sufficient childcare available locally to meet the needs of families and children in their area, including for those with children with special educational needs or disabilities (SEN).
The Early Years Foundation Stage framework promotes equality of opportunity. Relevant early years providers must have regard to the SEN Code of Practice. Maintained nursery schools must identify a member of staff to act as special educational needs co-ordinator (SENCO) and other providers (in group provision) are expected to identify a SENCO.
The new 0-25 SEN Code of Practice places great emphasis on the importance of early identification of needs to ensure young people with SEN get the early support they need to make a successful transition into primary school and beyond. All early years providers must have arrangements in place to identify and support children with SEN or disabilities.
Asked by: Rushanara Ali (Labour - Bethnal Green and Bow)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many nursery places have been available in (a) Bethnal Green and Bow constituency, (b) Tower Hamlets, (c) London and (d) England in each year since 2010.
Answered by Sam Gyimah
I have asked Ofsted to respond using the data they hold on registered nursery places. Her Majesty’s Chief Inspector, Sir Michael Wilshaw, will write to the hon. Member, and a copy of his response will be placed in the House Libraries.
Some providers such as schools with nursery provision for children aged three or over are exempt from registration. The number of places therefore may not include the full range of early years provision available in the area.
The Department for Education’s Childcare and Early Years Providers Survey[1] collects data on all registered childcare places, including those in maintained schools and nurseries. These figures are therefore more comprehensive than the Ofsted figures; however data is only available at a national and regional level.
The attached table provides data for 2010, 2011 and 2013 for England and London. Data is not available for 2012.
[1] https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/childcare-and-early-years-providers-survey-2013
Asked by: Rushanara Ali (Labour - Bethnal Green and Bow)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, pursuant to the Answer of 14 October 2013 to Question 210316, if she will publish the minutes of her meetings with her Cabinet colleagues on the proposed contents of the Family Test announced by the Prime Minister on 18 August 2014.
Answered by Edward Timpson
As was the case under previous Administrations, details of internal meetings are not normally disclosed.
Asked by: Rushanara Ali (Labour - Bethnal Green and Bow)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, pursuant to the Answer of 14 October 2014 to Question 210316, if she will publish the child rights impact assessments made in respect of the legislative proposals leading to the Education Act 2011 and the Children and Families Act 2014.
Answered by Edward Timpson
The approach the Department for Education has adopted is to make the assessment of children’s rights an integral part of policy and legislative development rather than a one-off exercise. The results of this approach are reflected in the equality impact assessment published for the Education Act 2011.[1]
Our consideration of children’s rights during the legislative process also takes account of advice from the Joint Committee on Human Rights.
The Office of the Children’s Commissioner is an independent non-Departmental public body and is responsible for publishing the reports it produces.[2]
The ECHR and UNCRC note on the Children and Families Act 2014.[3]
[2] www.childrenscommissioner.gov.uk