Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, pursuant to the Answer of 18 January 2018 to Question 122517, how many requests he received from local authorities for exemptions from statutory guidance in respect of children’s social care in each of the last three years; how many exemptions were granted in each of those years; which local authorities had exemptions granted, and for what purpose is such exemption was granted.

The department has had one request for an exemption to statutory guidance in the last three years, which was not granted.