Asked by: Yvette Cooper (Labour - Pontefract, Castleford and Knottingley)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if he will publish a list including the postcode locations of the Sure Start children’s centres that have closed between 2010 and the most recent year for which figures are available.
Answered by Michelle Donelan
Data on children’s centres is supplied by local authorities via the department’s Get Information about Schools (GIAS) database portal at: https://www.get-information-schools.service.gov.uk/.
Based on the information supplied by local authorities[1], the attached spreadsheet provides details of the name and post-code of children’s centres that closed between 2010 and 30 September 2019.
[1] The list of children’s centres closed between 2010 and 30 September 2019 is based on information supplied by local authorities as at 1 October 2019 (10:00am). These figures may be different to previous answers, and could change again in future, since local authorities may update the database at any time.
Asked by: Yvette Cooper (Labour - Pontefract, Castleford and Knottingley)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what information the Department holds on the real-terms changes to Special Educational Needs budgets by (a) constituency and (b) local authority since 2010.
Answered by Michelle Donelan
Local authorities are required to provide schools with sufficient funds to enable schools to meet the additional cost of pupils with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND), up to the value of £6,000. This funding comes from the schools block of the Dedicated Schools Grant.
When the costs of additional support required for a pupil with SEND exceed £6,000, the local authority should also allocate additional top-up funding to cover the excess costs. This top-up funding, and funding for special schools, comes from the local authority’s high needs budget, which is part of the high needs block of the Dedicated Schools Grant.
The published schools block and high needs block allocations for each local authority since 2013-14 are available at the following links:
2013-14 figures: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/dedicated-schools-grant-2013-to-2014.
2014-15 figures: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/dedicated-schools-grant-2014-to-2015.
2015-16 figures: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/dedicated-schools-grant-dsg-2015-to-2016.
2016-17 figures: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/dedicated-schools-grant-dsg-2016-to-2017.
2017-18 figures: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/dedicated-schools-grant-dsg-2017-to-2018.
2018-19 figures: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/dedicated-schools-grant-dsg-2018-to-2019.
2019-20 figures: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/dedicated-schools-grant-dsg-2019-to-2020.
Prior to 2013, the Dedicated Schools Grant was not split into specific blocks for schools or high needs. As it includes funding for other services, such as the early years budget, the department is unable to provide comparable figures prior to 2013-14. The Dedicated Schools Grant is allocated at local authority level and constituency level information is not available.
In 2020-21, we have allocated an additional £2.6 billion for schools and high needs, including more than £700 million in high needs funding.
Asked by: Yvette Cooper (Labour - Pontefract, Castleford and Knottingley)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, pursuant to the Answer of 22 January 2018 to Question 123506, on Children's Centres: Closures, if he will publish the (a) name and (b) post-code of Sure Start centres that closed between 2010 and 2016.
Answered by Nadhim Zahawi
Since 18 September 2017, real-time data on Sure Start children’s centres and children’s centre linked sites has been supplied by local authorities via the department’s Get Information about Schools database portal at: https://www.get-information-schools.service.gov.uk/.
Based on the information supplied by local authorities[1], the attached document provides details of the name and postcode of children’s centres that closed between 2010 and 2016.
Councils are reconfiguring services to deliver them more efficiently. If a council decides to close a children’s centre, statutory guidance is clear that they should demonstrate that local children and families would not be adversely affected and local areas continue to have sufficient children’s centres to meet their needs.
[1] The list of children’s centres closed between 2010 and 2016 is based on information supplied by local authorities as at 24 May 2018 (8:30am). These figures may be different to previous answers, and could change again in the future, since local authorities may update the database at any time.