Asked by: Tom Blenkinsop (Labour - Middlesbrough South and East Cleveland)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what role her Department plans to play in developing and implementing the Government's carers strategy in respect of support provided to young carers.
Answered by Edward Timpson
The Government has already introduced legislative changes to The Children Act 1989 (s17) to ensure that local authorities carry out an assessment, on request or on the appearance of need, of young carers’ need for support.
The Department for Education welcomed the Children’s Commissioner report and has just concluded the analysis of this, as well as recently published DfE-commissioned research. Officials are now considering the evidence and exploring various policy avenues which will help local authorities, schools and professionals to improve the identification and support of young carers and their families. This will lead to a contribution from Department for Education setting out our vision and future plans which will be part of the cross-government Carers’ Strategy led by the Department of Health and due to be published by Summer 2017.
Asked by: Tom Blenkinsop (Labour - Middlesbrough South and East Cleveland)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if she will make an assessment of the implications for her policies of the report by the Children's Commissioner for England on young carers, published in December 2016; and if she will provide additional support to councils in England to help them to (a) identify and (b) improve support for young carers.
Answered by Edward Timpson
The Government has already introduced legislative changes to The Children Act 1989 (s17) to ensure that local authorities carry out an assessment, on request or on the appearance of need, of young carers’ need for support.
The Department for Education welcomed the Children’s Commissioner report and has just concluded the analysis of this, as well as recently published DfE-commissioned research. Officials are now considering the evidence and exploring various policy avenues which will help local authorities, schools and professionals to improve the identification and support of young carers and their families. This will lead to a contribution from Department for Education setting out our vision and future plans which will be part of the cross-government Carers’ Strategy led by the Department of Health and due to be published by Summer 2017.
Asked by: Tom Blenkinsop (Labour - Middlesbrough South and East Cleveland)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what data her Department holds on the number of children who rely on public transport to get to school in (a) England and (b) the North East.
Answered by Caroline Dinenage
The Department for Education does not hold data on the number of children who use public transport for their home to school journeys. While we do oversee the school transport policy and legislative framework which determines the duties of local authorities and we support this through the Local Government Finance Settlement, we do not prescribe the type of arrangements or modes of transport that can be used locally.
The Department for Transport does however, undertake an annual National Travel Survey which includes data on the modes of school travel. The 2015 survey, including regional level data, is available at: https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/national-travel-survey-2015
Asked by: Tom Blenkinsop (Labour - Middlesbrough South and East Cleveland)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, pursuant to the Answer of 14 June 2016 to Question 40132, whether there have been any changes to her Department's plans for the roll out of the National Teaching Service; and when her Department expects to confirm the details of those plans.
Answered by Nick Gibb
We are currently reviewing the lessons learned from the National Teaching Service pilot alongside our growing evidence base on the recruitment challenges that different schools face. The next steps on this will be set out in due course.
Asked by: Tom Blenkinsop (Labour - Middlesbrough South and East Cleveland)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if she will consider changing adult learning funding to fund British Sign Language courses for families of children who are born deaf.
Answered by Robert Halfon
This Department funds British Sign Language (BSL) qualifications in England through the Adult Education Budget (AEB). In the current economic climate, our funding must be focussed where it can have the most impact, so we support young adults aged 19 and over to gain the skills and qualifications they need to get work or to progress in their chosen career.
Learners who need lip reading skills to access work or stay in work are eligible to receive public funding through the Skills Funding Agency, and we are introducing changes that will make BSL qualifications acceptable, for the purposes of apprenticeship completion requirements, as an alternative to Functional Skills English for apprentices whose first language is BSL.
Colleges and training providers are independent and autonomous bodies and are responsible for their course provision. They are required to respond to the needs of learners, employers and communities to ensure that provision meets the need of local people, and we would expect every college or training organisation that receives public investment to consider offering lip-reading and sign language provision if there is a demand for it locally. Our more flexible adult education budget funding rules for 2016/17 enable broader types of learning activities that re-engage people in learning, build confidence, and enhance well-being.
Asked by: Tom Blenkinsop (Labour - Middlesbrough South and East Cleveland)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, pursuant to the Answer of 15 June 2016 to Question 40241, what assessment she has made of the potential effect of the reconstituting of her Department on the continuation of (a) the Employer Skills Survey, (b) the Employer Perspectives Survey, (c) Labour Market Information and (d) other research products previously produced by the UK Commission for Employment and Skills.
Answered by Robert Halfon
My written statement of 21 July [HCWS121] confirmed that management of the Employer Skills Survey, the Employer Perspectives Survey and the LMI (Labour Market Information) for All Portal would be transferred to the Department for Education.
The contract for maintaining the LMI for All portal has been re-let to the Institute for Employment Research, the Employer Perspectives Survey is being prepared for publication and we will shortly begin commissioning of the Employer Skills Survey.
Asked by: Tom Blenkinsop (Labour - Middlesbrough South and East Cleveland)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many places for 16 to 19 year olds there are in (a) schools and (b) further education colleges in (i) the Tees Valley and (ii) Middlesbrough South and East Cleveland constituency; and how many such places are planned for each of the next five years.
Answered by Edward Timpson
i. The following table summarises the total number of places allocated to all post-16 institutions based in Tees Valley for the academic year 2016 to 2017:
Allocated 16 to 19 places for Tees Valley Area based institutions | |
Type | Student Numbers |
Academy | 2,274 |
Free School | 56 |
Special Schools | 311 |
Commercial and Charitable Provider | 556 |
General FE and Tertiary | 10,430 |
Local Authority | 384 |
Sixth Form College | 4,604 |
Grand Total | 18,615 |
EFA Funded students – figures are yet to be published (October 2016) and may be subject to very minor change.
ii. The following table summarises the total number of places allocated to all post-16 institutions based in Middlesbrough South and East Cleveland constituency for the academic year 2016 to 2017:
Allocated 16 to 19 places for institutions based in the Middlesbrough South and East Cleveland constituency | |
Type | Student numbers |
Academy | 227 |
Sixth Form College | 1,742 |
Grand Total | 1,969 |
EFA Funded students – figures are yet to be published (October 2016) and may be subject to very minor change.
We do not hold planned numbers for future years.