Asked by: Rachael Maskell (Labour (Co-op) - York Central)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps she is taking to (a) identify young people most at risk of poor health in later life and (b) mitigate that risk.
Answered by Andrea Leadsom - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Government recognises the significant impact that youth health can have across a person’s life course, and is committed to keeping young people healthy, preventing ill-health, and providing treatment and support where needed. The Department leads a range of universal public health interventions and guidance for those aged between zero and 19 years old, that provide universal support, and help identify further needs and safeguarding concerns for children and young people most at-risk.
People with both physical and mental health conditions face poorer clinical outcomes, and a significantly lower quality of life, than people with a physical health condition alone. This is why the Government is rolling out mental health support teams to schools and colleges in England, to detect and offer evidence-based interventions to young people experiencing mild-to-moderate mental health issues. These currently cover 3.4 million children, or approximately 35% of pupils, which will increase to 50% by 2025. When deciding where to introduce mental health support teams, integrated care boards consider how teams will reach young people most at risk of poor outcomes. In addition, on 27 February 2024 we announced extra funding for 24 early support hubs for young people across England, so that thousands of children and young people will receive earlier, open-access mental health interventions in local communities.
Asked by: Rachael Maskell (Labour (Co-op) - York Central)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether he made an assessment with Cabinet colleagues of the potential merits of increasing funding for SEND provision in the Spring Budget 2024.
Answered by Laura Trott - Chief Secretary to the Treasury
The Chancellor and Chief Secretary hold regular discussions with Cabinet colleagues on spending priorities for fiscal events.
Spring Budget 2024 committed to an initial £105 million over the next four years towards a wave of 15 special free schools. This will create over 2,000 additional high-quality places across England for children with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND).
In the 2024/25 financial year, high needs revenue funding is rising to over £10.5 billion, an increase of over 60% from 2019/20. We also published the SEND and alternative provision improvement plan last year, which set out our plans to reform the system so that children and young people with SEND will get high-quality, early support wherever they live in the country.
Asked by: Rachael Maskell (Labour (Co-op) - York Central)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether her Department has issued recent guidance to schools on the proportion of their funding that should be allocated to the teaching of (a) religious education and (b) other subjects.
Answered by Damian Hinds - Minister of State (Education)
This year, core school funding will total over £57.7 billion, which is an increase of £3.9 billion compared to the 2022/23 financial year. All schools have the freedom to choose how to spend their core funding according to their own unique circumstances and priorities, providing that all expenditure ultimately benefits their students. The department does not provide specific funding for religious education; it is for schools to decide the allocation of resources across different subject areas.
Asked by: Andrew Rosindell (Conservative - Romford)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps she has taken to support the playing of rugby in schools in (a) England and (b) Romford constituency.
Answered by Damian Hinds - Minister of State (Education)
Physical education (PE) is a compulsory subject within the national curriculum from key stage 1 to key stage 4. It is for schools to decide which sports to choose for pupils both in PE and during extracurricular opportunities. The national curriculum does not specify what schools should provide, but rugby is included as an example of a sport that can provide important elements of the PE and Sport national curriculum programme of study in key stage 3 and 4.
Where schools want to provide specific sports, they can draw on support from the relevant national governing body. The Rugby Football Union (RFU) offers a wide range of resources and age appropriate guidance and advice for delivering rugby to primary and secondary age pupils. The RFU has been conducting a review into the future of rugby in schools, and the department looks forward to seeing the outcomes of this work and engaging with them accordingly.
On 8 March 2023, the department announced over £600 million in funding for the primary PE and sport premium in the 2023/24 and 2024/25 academic years, and up to £57 million up to March 2025 for the ‘Opening School Facilities’ programme. Schools can use this funding to increase their sport provision such as rugby to a higher standard.
Asked by: Judith Cummins (Labour - Bradford South)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if she will make an assessment of the potential merits of increasing funding for SEND teaching assistants in schools.
Answered by David Johnston - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
Many teaching assistants who support pupils with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) are partly or wholly funded from local authorities’ high needs budgets, as a result of assessments and consequent decisions about the additional support that those individual pupils need.
The department is increasing high needs funding nationally by £440 million (4.3%) in the 2024/25 financial year. This will bring the total of high needs funding to over £10.5 billion next year, an increase of over 60% from the 2019/20 allocations. Bradford Council is due to receive a high needs funding allocation of £42.2 million through their 2024/25 dedicated schools grant, which is a cumulative increase of 37% per head over the three years from 2021/22.
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 (a) fund and (b) ensure adequate provision of (i) facilities and (ii) childcare for children with SEND.
Answered by David Johnston - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
The government provides high needs funding for children aged 0-25 with complex special educational needs and disabilities (SEND), including those in their early years who need childcare. The department is increasing high needs revenue funding, nationally, to over £10.5 billion in the 2024/25 financial year, which will be an increase of over 60% from the 2019/20 allocations of high needs funding. The City of York Council is due to receive an allocation of £28.5 million in 2024/25, which is a cumulative increase of 27% per head through the high needs national funding formula, over the three years from 2021/22.
In addition, specifically for those in the early years, the government provides the Disability Access Fund. In the 2024/25 financial year, this will increase to £910 per eligible child per annum, and will be extended to children aged 2 and under. Children aged 2, 3 and 4 years old who are in receipt of Disability Living Allowance or have an Education, Health and Care plan are also eligible for 15 hours free childcare a week.
The department is also funding training for up to 7,000 early years Special Educational Needs Coordinators (SENCOs), resulting in an accredited Level 3 early years SENCO qualification. Some 5,000 practitioners have already registered for the training.
The The SEND and Alternative Provision (AP) Improvement Plan, published in March 2023, sets out how an effective single national SEND and AP system will be delivered. Many of the proposals in the Improvement Plan will have an impact on early years education, and young children with SEND. There will be new national practitioner standards for meeting the needs of children with SEND and identifying their individual needs. There will also be new local SEND and AP Partnerships, strengthened accountability and dashboards, and funding reforms to ensure all settings are able to deliver an inclusive practice for all.
The statutory duty to provide sufficient school places, including for pupils with SEND, sits with local authorities. The department allocates funding to support authorities to meet this duty and has provided over £1.5 billion of High Needs Provision Capital Allocations for the 2022/23 and 2023/24 financial years. This funding can be used to deliver new places in mainstream and special schools, as well as other specialist settings, and to improve the suitability and accessibility of existing buildings.
Asked by: Rachael Maskell (Labour (Co-op) - York Central)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if she will take steps to ensure that (a) school leavers and (b) adults with SEND are given prioritised access to apprenticeships.
Answered by Robert Halfon
Apprenticeships provide a fantastic opportunity for school leavers and adults with special educational needs and disabilities to acquire the knowledge and skills needed to progress in their chosen careers. So far, in the 2023/24 academic year, 15.9% of all starts were by learners declaring a learning difficulty and/or disability (LDD), an increase from 14.7% for the same period last year. The department is also increasing investment in apprenticeships to £2.7 billion by 2024/25, supporting more employers across the country to recruit new apprentices.
The department is investing £3.2 million annually in the ‘Apprenticeship Support & Knowledge’ programme, which ensures students in schools and colleges are aware of the benefits of apprenticeships. Young people can also now access apprenticeships vacancies on UCAS, and later this year they will also be able to use the service to apply for apprenticeships.
The department provides £1,000 to both employers and training providers when they take on apprentices aged under 19, or 19 to 24 year old apprentices who have an Education, Health and Care plan or have been in care. The department also provides additional funding to support those apprentices who require reasonable adjustments to undertake learning.
As part of the work to remove barriers for people starting an apprenticeship, the department has launched a pilot to consider how the department determines apprentice eligibility for flexibilities to English and maths requirements. The department is also currently delivering another pilot to test whether offering expert support, advice and training to the people providing mentoring to apprentices with a LDD results in a positive impact on the cohort, both in terms of satisfaction and achievement for these apprentices.
The department will continue to work closely with the Apprenticeship Diversity Network and the Disabled Apprentice Network to better understand and remove barriers so everyone can access the benefits of an apprenticeship.
Asked by: Stephen Morgan (Labour - Portsmouth South)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether she is taking steps to encourage collaboration between colleges and universities to (a) widen participation in tertiary education and (b) promote social mobility.
Answered by Robert Halfon
The department is investing in Institutes of Technology (IoT). IoTs are prestigious, high-quality education providers that are created through innovative collaborations that bring together the best of existing further education (FE) colleges and higher education (HE) providers with local employers. To date the IoT Network comprises 77 colleges, 35 HE providers and 99 employers. By offering a range of specialised courses, from Higher Technical Qualifications to apprenticeships, IoTs empower students to develop the practical skills and knowledge required to excel in key sectors such as engineering, healthcare digital technology and manufacturing.
FE and HE Providers across the country already collaborate at local levels to deliver education and training, ensuring learner and employer needs are met. Some of these partnerships are formal, longstanding arrangements for colleges to deliver degrees but less formal arrangements with specific courses in FE occurring to ensure progression for those who wish to go into HE.
In Plymouth, City College is working with Plymouth Marjon University and the University of Plymouth to offer foundation degrees, higher national certificates and higher national diplomas, as well as traditional degrees.
Collaborative working forms a significant part of the department’s HE access and participation reforms, which were launched in 2021. As part of these the department has tasked the Office for Students to strongly encourage universities to work with schools and colleges to drive up standards and encourage aspiration and attainment. The department wants to see universities stepping up to support students through the paths that benefit them the most, including through apprenticeships, higher technical qualifications, and vocational education as well as degrees.
The department is aware that diversifying modes of study can be an important method of broadening access and participation. HE providers have been strongly encouraged to set themselves ambitious, measurable targets to significantly increase the proportion of students on higher and degree apprenticeships, Level 4 and Level 5 courses and part time study. The department is also providing £40 million over the next two years to support degree apprenticeship providers to expand and help more people access this provision.
Uni Connect, which the department is funding at £30 million for the 2023/24 academic year, brings together partnerships of universities, colleges and other local organisations to offer activities, advice and information on the benefits and realities of going to university or college.
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 help support local authorities that have an increasing number of children requiring (a) education, health and care plans, (b) specialist services and (c) alternative provision.
Answered by David Johnston - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
High needs funding supports local authorities with the costs of provision for the increasing number of children with Education, Health and Care plans, those who require specialist services and those in alternative provision (AP), including children with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) placed in AP.
In the 2024/25 financial year, the department is increasing high needs revenue funding to over £10.5 billion, which will be an increase of over 60% from 2019/20. The City of York Council is due to receive an allocation of £28.5 million in 2024/25, which is a cumulative increase of 27% per head over the three years from 2021/22.
The statutory duty to provide sufficient school places, including for pupils with SEND, sits with local authorities. The department allocates funding to support local authorities to meet this duty and has provided over £1.5 billion of high needs Provision Capital Allocations for the 2022/23 and 2023/24 financial years. This funding can be used to deliver new places in mainstream and special schools, as well as other specialist settings, and to improve the suitability and accessibility of existing buildings.
Asked by: Rachael Maskell (Labour (Co-op) - York Central)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether she plans to take steps to provide additional funding for SEND placements in alternative provision.
Answered by David Johnston - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
High needs funding supports local authorities with the costs of provision for the increasing number of children with Education, Health and Care plans, those who require specialist services and those in alternative provision (AP), including children with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) placed in AP.
In the 2024/25 financial year, the department is increasing high needs revenue funding to over £10.5 billion, which will be an increase of over 60% from 2019/20. The City of York Council is due to receive an allocation of £28.5 million in 2024/25, which is a cumulative increase of 27% per head over the three years from 2021/22.
The statutory duty to provide sufficient school places, including for pupils with SEND, sits with local authorities. The department allocates funding to support local authorities to meet this duty and has provided over £1.5 billion of high needs Provision Capital Allocations for the 2022/23 and 2023/24 financial years. This funding can be used to deliver new places in mainstream and special schools, as well as other specialist settings, and to improve the suitability and accessibility of existing buildings.