Asked by: Lord Bishop of Oxford (Bishops - Bishops)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask His Majesty's Government whether they give third parties access to national pupil data or learner records, and whether they charge a fee for any such access.
Answered by Baroness Barran - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
The department will only share pupil, or learner, level data with others where it is lawful, secure and ethical to do so. Where these conditions are met and data is shared, the department do not charge any fee.
All requests for data from the department are subject to a robust approvals process where senior data experts assess all applications for public benefit, proportionality, legal underpinning and strict information security standards. The approvals process where senior data experts assess all applications is known as the DfE Data Sharing Approval Panel (DSAP). The DSAP panel also includes external members who scrutinise the ongoing decision making in order to increase public trust.
As part of the department’s commitment to transparency, it publishes details of all organisations it has shared personal data with alongside a short description of the project. This publication is updated quarterly and is available from GOV.UK at the link below: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/dfe-external-data-shares.
Asked by: Rachael Maskell (Labour (Co-op) - York Central)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps she is taking to provide support for children living in poverty who are at risk of being taken into the care system.
Answered by David Johnston - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
This government published ‘Stable Homes, Built on Love’ in February 2023. ‘Stable Homes, Built on Love’ is an implementation strategy and consultation that sets out the department’s plans to reform children’s social care. It set out how the department will help families overcome challenges, keep children safe and make sure children in care have stable loving homes, long-term loving relationships and opportunities for a good life.
This government has announced over £1 billion for programmes to improve early help services, including delivering on Family Hubs and helping families facing multiple disadvantage through the Supporting Families programme and Holiday Activities and Food programme.
The Strengthening Families, Protecting Children programme is investing £84 million over five years between 2019 and 2024 to support 17 local authorities to adopt improvement approaches that have strong evidence of reducing the numbers of children requiring statutory support and entering care.
The department is also testing innovative new approaches to provide earlier help to families when they face challenges through the Families First for Children Pathfinder.
Over recent years, this government has demonstrated its commitment to supporting the most vulnerable with one of the largest support packages in Europe. The total support over 2022 to 2025 to help households and individuals with higher bills amounts to £108 billion, which is an average of £3,800 per UK household.
Through an extension of the Household Support Fund, local authorities in England will receive an additional £421 million to support those in need locally, including supporting vulnerable households with the cost of essentials such as food and utilities.
Asked by: Rachael Maskell (Labour (Co-op) - York Central)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps her Department is taking to help support (a) pre-school, (b) primary school and (c) secondary school-aged children living in poverty other than through the provision of free school meals.
Answered by David Johnston - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
Spreading opportunity and ensuring every child can reach their potential no matter their background or where they live remains a key priority for the department. The department has a range of support in place for pupils, families and schools.
Low-income families and children experiencing other forms of disadvantage can qualify for 15 hours free early education for 2 year olds, a year before all children become eligible for 15 hours at ages 3 and 4. These entitlements support children’s development and helps prepare them for school.
Within schools, the department has consistently taken steps to help economically disadvantaged pupils, including improving the quality of teaching and curriculum resources, strengthening the school system and providing targeted support where needed. Underpinning this is pupil premium, worth over £2.9 billion this year. In 2024/25, the department has targeted a greater proportion of schools National Funding Formula towards disadvantaged pupils than ever before; 10.2% (over £4.4 billion) of the formula has been allocated according to deprivation in 2024/25.
To offer children from low-income families a free nutritious breakfast, the department is investing up to £35 million in the National School Breakfast Programme until the end of July 2025. This funding is reaching up to 2,700 primary and secondary schools in disadvantaged areas to better support attainment, wellbeing and readiness to learn.
Since 2021, the department has also provided more than £200 million of funding every year to local authorities across England for holiday provision for school-aged children from reception to year 11 (inclusive) who receive benefits-related free school meals and other families that most need it. The department has also published statutory guidance on the cost of school uniform to ensure uniform is affordable for all families.
Family hubs are a one stop shop for families to get the help they need. They provide services for children of all ages, or between 0 to 19 or 0 to 25 for families with children who have special educational needs and disabilities, with a great Start for Life offer at their core.
To support families with the cost of living in recent years, the government has provided one of the most generous support packages in Europe. The total support over 2022 to 2025 to help households and individuals with higher bills amounts to £108 billion, which is on average £3,800 per UK household.
Asked by: Lord Bishop of Oxford (Bishops - Bishops)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the future use of artificial intelligence in education using national pupil data or learner records.
Answered by Baroness Barran - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
The department has conducted research and has a work programme around artificial intelligence in education settings. To date, the department has not used national pupil data or learner records in setting the strategy for the department's work in this area.
Asked by: Rachael Maskell (Labour (Co-op) - York Central)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what information her Department holds on the primary category of need for children in care aged (a) under one year, (b) one to four years, (c) five to nine years, (d) aged ten to 15 years and (e) 16 to 17 years in each of the last five years.
Answered by David Johnston - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
The figures requested can be found in the attached table.
Asked by: Rachael Maskell (Labour (Co-op) - York Central)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what criteria her Department uses to assess the adequacy of funding for each school (a) nationally and (b) in York.
Answered by Damian Hinds - Minister of State (Education)
This government is committed to providing a world class education system for all children and has invested significantly in education to achieve that.
Including the additional funding for teachers’ pay and pensions, funding for both mainstream schools and high needs is £2.9 billion higher in 2024/25, compared to 2023/24. The overall core school budget will total £60.7 billion in 2024/25, which is the highest ever level in real terms per pupil. This means school funding is set to have risen by £11 billion by 2024/25, compared to 2021/22.
Each year, the government publishes an assessment of schools’ costs and funding increases in the Schools’ Costs Technical Note. In the most recent publication, the department’s analysis shows mainstream school funding rising by 7.6% in 2023/24 compared to the previous year, while costs were estimated to have risen by 6.7% at the national level. This analysis reflects averages across all schools in England.
Through the Dedicated Schools Grant, York is receiving an extra £2.0 million for mainstream schools in 2024/25 compared to 2023/24, taking total school funding to over £125.5 million. This represents an increase of 2.0% per pupil compared to 2023/24, and an increase of 13.4% per pupil compared to 2021/22 (excluding growth funding). On top of this, all schools will receive additional funding through the Teachers’ Pay Additional Grant and Teachers' Pension Employer Contribution Grant.
The precise funding and cost increases that individual schools in York, and across the country, will face depend on each school’s unique circumstances and the decisions that it has made about how to deploy its funding. The national funding formula is designed to fund each school according to its relative needs, and is updated annually to reflect how those needs change over time.
Asked by: Dean Russell (Conservative - Watford)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what progress her Department has made on delivering a mental health support lead within primary and secondary schools.
Answered by David Johnston - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
The department has offered all state-funded schools and colleges in England a grant to train a senior mental health lead by 2025. The department continues to deliver on the commitments that it made in the government’s 2018 response to the consultation on 'Transforming children and young people's mental health provision: a green paper' and to deliver on next steps. The government’s response to the consultation can be found here: https://www.gov.uk/government/consultations/transforming-children-and-young-peoples-mental-health-provision-a-green-paper.
As at 30 November 2023, 15,100 schools and colleges had taken up this offer and claimed a grant, which represents 63% of the total number of settings that are eligible to apply. Breakdowns of the data, including by setting type, can be found in the department’s transparency data release which has been updated annually since the programme started and is available at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/transforming-children-and-young-peoples-mental-health-provision.
A list of schools and colleges receiving a senior mental health lead training grant is also published and updated throughout the year, which can be found here: https://view.officeapps.live.com/op/view.aspx?src=https%3A%2F%2Fassets.publishing.service.gov.uk%2Fmedia%2F65b0cb50160765001118f741%2FSenior_mental_health_lead_training_January_2024_Update.ods&wdOrigin=BROWSELINK.
Asked by: Rachael Maskell (Labour (Co-op) - York Central)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps her Department is taking to ensure that family hubs have adequate funding to help support all children that require their services.
Answered by David Johnston - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
The department is investing around £300 million in 75 local authorities to transform their family support services to family hubs. Funding has been targeted to the most deprived local authorities to ensure that families get the support they need. This will fund a network of family hubs and specific support within those hubs for parent–infant mental health, infant feeding services, parenting support, home learning environment, and to establish parent-carer panels. In addition, all 75 local authorities will publish their Start for Life offer and the department is providing funding for trials of innovative workforce models to a smaller number of local authorities.
Family hubs provide services for children of all ages, and from 0 to 19 for families who have children with SEND, with a great Start for Life offer at their core.
In allocating funding to each local authority, the department has balanced the variable costs that local authorities face due to different population sizes, such as greater service demand resulting from a bigger population, against the fact that some costs will be similar regardless of these differences, for example the costs of establishing a parent carer panel. Each local authority’s total funding allocation therefore consists of two elements. The first is a fixed amount for each of the programme’s strands. The second element is a variable amount for each strand based on each local authority’s relative population size.
As outlined in the 'Family Hubs and Start for Life programme: local authority guide' each element of the programme focuses on a specific age range. Further information can be found here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/family-hubs-and-start-for-life-programme-local-authority-guide. The variable amounts were, therefore, based on the most relevant population age ranges for the objectives of each programme strand.
For further information please see the following link: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/62ed30f98fa8f5033275fce8/Family_Hubs_and_Start_for_Life_programme_-_methodology_for_allocating_funding_to_local_authorities.pdf.
Asked by: John Hayes (Conservative - South Holland and The Deepings)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps she is taking to help increase childcare provision in (a) South Holland and the Deepings constituency and (b) Lincolnshire.
Answered by David Johnston - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
In the government’s Spring Budget, the Chancellor of Exchequer announced transformative reforms to childcare for parents, children and the economy. By 2027/28, this government will expect to be spending in excess of £8 billion every year on free hours and early education, helping working families with their childcare costs.
A commitment has been made to ensure that 30 hours of funded childcare is available for every child over the age of nine months with working parents by September 2025.
More parents are going to be able to return to work while balancing childcare commitments, thanks to the government’s £4 billion per year expansion of childcare in England. This is the largest expansion of funded childcare ever and will remove barriers to work for nearly half a million parents with a child under three in England.
South Holland and the Deepings constituency is within the area covered by Lincolnshire County Council.
Local authorities have received £12 million of local authority delivery support funding for this financial year to support with meeting programme and delivery costs associated with rolling out the expanded early year entitlements, from which Lincolnshire County Council received £125,423.
Local authorities have also received a £100 million allocation for local areas to use to make sure childcare settings in their areas have enough physical space, which is anticipated to add thousands of new childcare places across the country. Lincolnshire County Council received £1,461,094 from this fund.
Under Section 6 of the Childcare Act 2006, local authorities are responsible for ensuring that the provision of childcare is sufficient to meet the requirements of parents in their area. Part B of the ‘Early education and childcare’ statutory guidance for local authorities highlights that local authorities are required to report annually to elected council members on how they are meeting their duty to secure sufficient childcare, and to make this report available and accessible to parents.
If Lincolnshire County Council report any sufficiency challenges, the department discusses what action the local authority is taking to address those issues, and where needed, supports them with any specific requirements through its childcare sufficiency support contract.
Asked by: Rachael Maskell (Labour (Co-op) - York Central)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps her Department is taking to ensure that children with SEND are provided with the (a) educational and (b) wider support required by their education, health and care plan in school.
Answered by David Johnston - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
The department shares the ambition that children with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) should receive the vital support they need across Education, Health and Care (EHC). As set out in the Children and Families Act 2014, the local authority has a legal duty to ensure that the special educational provision specified in an EHC plan is delivered. The department also has a number of measures in place to ensure that children receive the educational and wider support they need.
Where local authorities are failing to deliver consistent outcomes for children and young people with SEND, the department works with them using a set of improvement programmes and SEND specialist advisors to address weaknesses. The department is also investing heavily in the SEND system, including £2.6 billion between 2022 and 2025 to fund new special and alternative provision (AP) places and improve existing support, including the announcement of 41 new special free schools.
The department is also taking steps to improve the SEND system in the longer term, so that EHC plans can be issued as quickly as possible when needed and enable children and young people to access the support they require. In March 2023, the government set out its plans to reform and improve the SEND system through its SEND and AP Improvement Plan. This plan commits to establishing a single national system that delivers for every child and young person with SEND so that they enjoy their childhood, achieve good outcomes and are well prepared for adulthood and employment. The department is currently testing measures which it believes will make the biggest improvements to both the quality of plans, the experience of getting a plan and the quality and speed with which support is put in place.
The department is strengthening accountability across the system so that everyone is held to account for supporting children and young people. This includes the new Ofsted and Care Quality Commission Area SEND inspection framework, which gives more prominence to the quality integration and commissioning of EHC services, and a national and local dashboard, which gives parents the opportunity to monitor the performance of their local systems.
If a child or young person does not receive the support detailed in their EHC plan, the young person or parent can raise their concern with the school or local authority directly. Families can appeal to the First-Tier SEND Tribunal if they are unhappy with a local authority’s decision regarding an EHC assessment or plan. The Tribunal can also hear appeals and make non-binding recommendations about health and social aspects of EHC plans.