Asked by: Stephen Timms (Labour - East Ham)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether she plans to increase the weighting for disadvantage in the National Funding Formula for schools; and if she will make a statement.
Answered by Nick Gibb
The Government is committed to providing a world class educational system for all pupils and has provided significant funding to achieve that. The National Funding Formula (NFF) distributes funding fairly based on schools’ and pupils’ needs and characteristics.
The Department have now published the NFF for schools and high needs 2024/25, which can be found at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/national-funding-formula-for-schools-and-high-needs. It will mean core funding will be at its highest ever level in real terms per pupil in 2024/25, as measured by the independent Institute for Fiscal Studies (IFS). This demonstrates the Government’s commitment to ensuring every pupil receives a world class education.
The NFF targets additional funding to schools which have the greatest number of pupils with additional needs. The 2024/25 NFF will target a greater proportion of funding towards deprived pupils than ever before. Over £4.5 billion, or 10.1%, of the schools NFF has been allocated through deprivation factors in 2024/25. Over £7.9 billion, or 17.8%, will be allocated for additional needs overall. This will help schools in their vital work to close attainment gaps and level up educational opportunities.
On top of this core funding through the NFF, Pupil Premium provides additional funding to support disadvantaged pupils. Pupil Premium rates have increased by 5% in 2023/24, taking total Pupil Premium funding to nearly £2.9 billion. Pupil Premium rates for 2024/25 will be announced later this year, in line with the usual timetable.
Asked by: Stephen Timms (Labour - East Ham)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what estimate she has made of the costs of delaying adoption of the recommendations of the 2022 Independent Review of Children’s Social Care; and if she will make a statement.
Answered by Claire Coutinho - Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero
There needs to be a fundamental shift away from crisis intervention and towards earlier intervention, and ‘Stable Homes, Built on Love’ sets out how the department intends to achieve that. These are complex reforms, with complicated systemic interactions. It is critical that the department takes a test and learn approach and ensure these models can be rolled out effectively.
Alongside the Implementation Strategy, the department announced funding of £200 million by 2024/25 to address urgent issues facing children and families now, to lay the foundations for whole system reform, and set the national direction for change. This is on top of the £142 million by 2024/25 to take forward reforms to unregulated provision in children’s social care, £160 million as announced in March 2022, over the next three years to deliver the Adoption Strategy. This is also in addition to £259 million over the Spending Review 2021 period to maintain capacity and expand provision in secure and open residential children’s homes, and £230 million over this Spending Review to support young people leaving care.
Also, the government is providing £3.85 billion social care grant to local authorities for adults and children’s social care this year.
The department recently published a Written Statement, entitled Children’s Social Care Reform, which provides an update to Parliament on progress made one year after the Independent Review of Children’s Social Care. After two years, the department will refresh ‘Stable Homes, Built on Love’, and seek to scale up the new approaches that have been tested and developed, including bringing forward new legislation where necessary, subject to parliamentary time. The written statement is available at: https://questions-statements.parliament.uk/written-statements/detail/2023-05-23/hcws792.
Asked by: Stephen Timms (Labour - East Ham)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment she has made of the role of apprenticeship intermediaries in improving the (a) number and (b) quality of apprenticeships available.
Answered by Robert Halfon
The department has developed an employer-led apprenticeship system which allows employers to design the apprenticeships they need and directly access funding for the apprenticeships they want, when they want it. There are currently over 660 high-quality apprenticeship standards available for employers across every sector to access.
We want to make the apprenticeship system as simple to access as possible, especially for small-to-medium sized enterprises (SMEs) who will often have less capacity. That is why the department has removed the limit on the number of apprentices SMEs can employ and are making it simpler for them to set-up an apprenticeship service account and access funding and support. We are also introducing new enhanced advice via the GOV.UK website specifically for SMEs, including new peer-to-peer videos.
Intermediary organisations can play a beneficial role in helping employers in a sector or region understand and access the opportunities that apprenticeships present. For example, the Apprenticeship Ambassador Network is a group of almost 900 employers across the country, who are passionate about apprenticeships and are successful in inspiring other businesses to use high-quality apprenticeships and encourage young people to pursue apprenticeships as a vibrant career route.
Since November 2022 the department has been piloting SME apprenticeship pathfinders in four regions of the north of England, investing £750,000 per year to enable growth partners to reach and support SMEs to take their first steps on their apprenticeship journey successfully. This pilot will be running for two years, and we will begin the evaluation in 2024.
Asked by: Stephen Timms (Labour - East Ham)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps she is taking to improve school attendance (a) by students who are eligible for free school meals and from deprived areas and (b) generally.
Answered by Nick Gibb
The Department has a comprehensive strategy to drive a more consistent response from schools, trusts and Local Authorities to help keep children in school.
The Department has published new, stronger expectations of schools, trusts and Local Authorities to work together to improve attendance. Alongside this, the Department has deployed 10 expert Attendance Advisers to work with Local Authorities and trusts to review attendance practices and develop improvement plans.
The Department has established an improved, more timely flow of national pupil level attendance data. This will help schools, trusts and Local Authorities make better use of attendance data to identify those in need of support earlier, including those on free school meals (FSMs).
The Department’s Attendance Action Alliance of system leaders work to remove barriers to attendance, particularly for vulnerable children, and reduce absence through pledges.
The Department is piloting a mentor programme in Middlesborough that provides direct support to persistently and severely absent children, who are more likely to be eligible for FSMs. The Department is also offering intensive support to the most vulnerable through the Supporting Families and Virtual Schools Head extension programmes and those at risk in serious violence hotspots with our SAFE and Alternative Provision Taskforces. Alongside this, programmes such as Breakfast Clubs and the Holiday and Activities Food Programme stand to particularly support disadvantaged children’s attendance.
The Department is also working closely with schools, trusts, Local Authorities and other partners to address specific attendance issues identified in Priority Education Investment Areas through the local area needs funding.
Asked by: Stephen Timms (Labour - East Ham)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, with reference to the SEND review: right support, right place, right time, published on 29 March 2022, what steps her Department is taking to make it easier for parents of disabled children to receive financial support.
Answered by Claire Coutinho - Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero
The government has announced further support for next year designed to target the most vulnerable households, including those families raising disabled children. This cost of living support is worth £26 billion in 2023/24 in addition to benefits uprating, which is worth £11 billion to working-age households and people with disabilities. Further details on cost of living payments in 2023/24 is available at: https://www.gov.uk/guidance/cost-of-living-payments-2023-to-2024.
This means that over eight million households across the UK will be supported via additional Cost of Living Payments. The government is also increasing benefits in line with September inflation by 10.1% and will continue to provide support to all households through the Energy Price Guarantee, which caps the price households will pay for each unit of energy. This will save the average UK household £500 in 2023/24.
In addition, over six million people across the UK on eligible ‘extra costs’ disability benefits will receive a further £150 Disability Cost of Living Payment in 2023/24, to help with the additional costs they face. This is in addition to the cost of living payments for households on means-tested benefits and pensioner households, if eligible.
In 2023/24, the government is investing £27.3 million in Support for Families with Disabled Children Funding to support low-income families raising seriously ill or children with disabilities in England, by providing small grants to purchase equipment, goods, and activities, which would otherwise be inaccessible. This funding is currently administered by our delivery partner, the Family Fund Trust.
The government has provided £842 million for 2023/24 to County Councils and Unitary Authorities in England to support those most in need, and to help with global inflationary challenges and the rising cost of living via the Household Support Fund. Local authorities can decide how to run this scheme and who is eligible, but the funding is aimed at anyone who is vulnerable or cannot pay for essentials, which can include families raising children with disabilities.
Asked by: Stephen Timms (Labour - East Ham)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many schools have (a) submitted applications for and (b) been successfully enrolled in the National School Breakfast Programme.
Answered by Nick Gibb
In November 2022, the Department extended the National School Breakfast Programme for an additional year until the end of the summer term in 2024.
The Department is concentrating funding of up to £30 million in this programme overall. This funding will support up to 2,500 schools in disadvantaged areas, meaning that thousands of children from low income families will be offered free nutritious breakfasts to better support their attainment and wellbeing. Schools are eligible for the programme if they have 40% or more pupils from disadvantaged households, as measured by the Income Deprivation Affecting Children Index. As of March 2022, 3,907 applications from eligible schools had been received. In November 2022, 2,170 schools were participating on the programme.
Asked by: Stephen Timms (Labour - East Ham)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps her Department is taking to ensure unaccompanied children moved from hotels are accommodated in safe, appropriate placements.
Answered by Claire Coutinho - Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero
Unaccompanied Asylum-Seeking Children (UASC) are accommodated in hotels by the Home Office, on a temporary basis before they transfer to the care of a local authority through the National Transfer Scheme (NTS).
Local authorities are responsible for ensuring that UASC, like all looked-after children, are accommodated in safe and appropriate placements in accordance with the Children Act 1989. The department’s statutory guidance for local authorities ‘Care of Unaccompanied Migrant Children and Child Victims of Modern Slavery (2017)’ sets out a range of factors that local authorities should consider when making placement decisions. This guidance can be accessed here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/care-of-unaccompanied-and-trafficked-children.
The department continues to work closely with the Home Office to ensure that all UASC are provided with care by a local authority as soon as possible after their arrival.
Asked by: Stephen Timms (Labour - East Ham)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what plans she has to ensure that schools whose budgets are determined by the minimum funding formula benefit from the additional funding announced in the Autumn Statement; and if she will make a statement.
Answered by Nick Gibb
The Department will set out plans for the allocation of the additional funding announced at the 2022 Autumn Statement shortly.
Asked by: Stephen Timms (Labour - East Ham)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, when she plans to launch Alternative Student Finance for Muslim students.
Answered by Robert Halfon
The department understands the concerns held by some Muslim students and their families about student finance. We want all learners with the potential to benefit from higher education to be able to do so. The department remains committed to delivering an alternative student finance (ASF) product for Muslim students.
Going forward, the department is introducing a Lifelong Loan Entitlement (LLE) that will significantly change the ways students can access learning and financial support.
The department's consultation on the detail and scope of the LLE closed in May 2022. In this consultation, the department sought views on what barriers learners with protected characteristics might face in accessing or drawing on their LLE, noting that answers to this question could include consideration of an ASF product for students whose faith has resulted in concerns about traditional loans. We are currently considering if and how ASF can be delivered as part of the LLE.
We will provide a further update on ASF as part of the government response to the LLE consultation.
Asked by: Stephen Timms (Labour - East Ham)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment her Department has made of the potential disparities in the (a) access to and (b) quality of financial education between primary schools.
Answered by Nick Gibb
Education on financial matters helps to ensure that young people are prepared to manage their money well, make sound financial decisions and know where to seek further information when needed.
The primary school curriculum already includes financial education within the mathematics curriculum, which provides young people with the knowledge and financial skills to make important financial decisions. In the primary mathematics curriculum, there is a strong emphasis on the essential arithmetic that pupils should be taught. This knowledge is vital, as a strong grasp of mathematics will underpin pupils’ ability to manage budgets and money. The mathematics curriculum also includes specific content about financial education, such as calculations with money.
Primary schools can also teach financial education through citizenship. Although this is not part of the National Curriculum until Key Stage 3, the Department has published a non-statutory citizenship curriculum for Key Stages 1 and 2. This supports schools to make sure that pupils are taught how to look after their money and realise that future wants, and needs may be met through saving. There is a wide range of resources available for schools, including the Money and Pension Service’s (MaPS) financial education guidance for primary and secondary schools in England. This guidance can be found here: https://maps.org.uk/2021/11/11/financial-education-guidance-for-primary-and-secondary-schools-in-england/.
The Department does not monitor financial education in primary schools, but the Department continues to work with MaPS and HM Treasury to consider the evidence and explore opportunities to promote the importance of financial education to schools. The Department is currently working with MaPS on a series of joint financial education webinars during this academic year, to help primary and secondary schools to improve pupils’ skills and knowledge and build teachers’ confidence in this area.