Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, with reference to page 123 of the report, UK Poverty: Causes and Solutions, published by the Joseph Rowntree Foundation on 6 September 2016, if she will make an assessment of the potential merits of implementing the recommendations in that report on providing all children with an excellent education.

We are taking wide-ranging action to address the issues raised by the Joseph Rowntree Foundation report and ensure that all children are provided with an excellent education.

In the Schools that work for everyone consultation we signalled our intention to build a diverse education system in which all children can receive a high-quality education that is right for them, regardless of their background or postcode. We are seeking to overturn the ban on new selective schools to ensure that the best and brightest students can enjoy a stretching curriculum, implementing this reform in a way that places conditions on grammar schools, as well as independent schools and universities, to ensure that they do more to raise standards across the whole system.

Working with head teachers and other sector experts we have reformed the National Professional Qualifications to better prepare leaders for the range of roles in today’s school system and have funded the High Potential Middle Leaders and High Potential Senior Leaders programmes to develop excellent leaders in challenging schools. An independent expert group convened by the department has defined a new standard for teachers’ professional development and we have announced plans to invest around £75 million in the Teaching and Leadership Innovation Fund over the next three years to support high-quality professional development for teachers and school leaders in the areas of the country and schools that need it most.

Our £137 million investment in the Education Endowment Foundation (EEF) is expanding the evidence base on what works to raise the attainment of disadvantaged pupils. As part of its dissemination activity the EEF, in partnership with the Institute for Effective Education, has established a network of Research Schools to support the use of evidence in improving teaching practice.

Reforms brought in by the Children and Families Act 2014 are transforming the support available to children and young people with SEN and disabilities (SEND) by joining up services for 0-25 year olds across education, health and social care and by focusing on positive outcomes for education, employment, housing, health and community participation. Building on effective practice to support disadvantaged pupils we have funded the development of the SEND Review, based on the model of the Pupil Premium Review, to support SEND focussed school-to-school improvement. Since 2015, we have funded the Whole School SEND consortium to embed the SEND review nationally and encourage school leaders to give greater priority to improving their SEND provision.

Schools have a clear legal duty not to discriminate against pupils under the Equality Act 2010. Statutory guidance on exclusions is clear that head teachers should make additional efforts to consider what extra support is needed to avoid exclusion for groups with disproportionately high rates of exclusion, including those with SEND and pupils from Gypsy Roma Traveller communities. Our plans to reform the use of alternative provision (AP) include making schools accountable for the ongoing education and outcomes of pupils who require AP, such as those who are permanently excluded. This will further strengthen incentives for schools to take earlier action where problems emerge that put pupils at risk of exclusion.