Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps he is taking to improve the attainment of pupils from (a) gypsy and roma and (b) Irish Traveller backgrounds.

Through the Pupil Premium the Government continues to provide additional funding, nearly £2.5 billion this year, to help schools improve the progress and attainment of disadvantaged pupils; high proportions of Gypsy, Roma and Traveller pupils will benefit from this support.

In January 2018 the Department established the Gypsy, Roma and Traveller stakeholder group to inform policy to raise the attainment of Gypsy, Roma and Traveller pupils. In March 2018, a review of exclusions was launched, led by Edward Timpson, who will be supported by an expert reference group providing expertise on the school system and perspectives of pupils more likely to be excluded. The group includes an advisor with extensive experience working with Gypsy, Roma and Traveller communities. The Department continues to work with the Ministry for Housing, Communities and Local Government on their 2018/19 pilot programme to improve the social integration of Gypsy, Roma and Traveller communities. In addition, as part of the Careers Strategy, the Department will include Gypsy, Roma and Traveller youth as a target group for a pilot, testing ways of providing careers guidance to vulnerable groups.