Asked by: Janet Daby (Labour - Lewisham East)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether her Department is taking steps to tackle potential disparities in school exclusions among (a) different racial groups and (b) people with multiple protected characteristics.
Answered by Nick Gibb
The Department remains committed to providing world class education, training, and care for everyone whatever their background, and to taking the action needed to address disparities.
Head teachers use suspensions and permanent exclusions when required, as part of creating calm, safe and supportive classrooms that bring out the best in every pupil. Schools should only use permanent exclusion as a last resort. The Department supports teachers in taking proportionate and measured steps to ensure good behaviour in schools.
The Department is aware that some groups of children have a greater likelihood of suspension and permanent exclusion than others, although local context means there will be different patterns across the country. The updated ‘Suspension and Permanent Exclusion’ guidance sets out that schools, local authorities, and local partners should work together to understand what lies behind local trends. This guidance is available at: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/1101498/Suspension_and_Permanent_Exclusion_from_maintained_schools__academies_and_pupil_referral_units_in_England__including_pupil_movement.pdf.
The Department’s ‘Understanding your data: a guide for school governors and academy trustees’ makes clear that governing boards should carefully consider the level and characteristics of pupils who are leaving the school and challenge the school and academy trust management teams on any permanent exclusions to ensure it is only used as a last resort. This includes looking at suspensions, pupils taken off roll, those directed to be educated off site in Alternative Provision (AP), and whether there are any patterns to the reasons or timing of such moves.
Schools also have a clear duty not to discriminate against pupils based on protected characteristics under the Equality Act 2010. Ofsted’s assessment of behaviour in schools includes specific consideration of rates, patterns, and reasons for exclusions, as well as any differences between groups of pupils.
The Special Educational Needs and Disabilities and AP Implementation Plan, published on 2 March 2023, sets out a new national vision and delivery model for the AP system. As needs will be identified and supported early, this should reduce the numbers of preventable exclusions and expensive long term placements, and lead to improvements in pupils’ wellbeing and outcomes.
Asked by: Janet Daby (Labour - Lewisham East)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what recent assessment her Department has made of the potential benefits of providing specialist support to children identified as at risk of exclusion.
Answered by Nick Gibb
The Department remains committed to providing world class education, training, and care for everyone whatever their background, and to taking the action needed to address disparities.
Head teachers use suspensions and permanent exclusions when required, as part of creating calm, safe and supportive classrooms that bring out the best in every pupil. Schools should only use permanent exclusion as a last resort. The Department supports teachers in taking proportionate and measured steps to ensure good behaviour in schools.
The Department is aware that some groups of children have a greater likelihood of suspension and permanent exclusion than others, although local context means there will be different patterns across the country. The updated ‘Suspension and Permanent Exclusion’ guidance sets out that schools, local authorities, and local partners should work together to understand what lies behind local trends. This guidance is available at: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/1101498/Suspension_and_Permanent_Exclusion_from_maintained_schools__academies_and_pupil_referral_units_in_England__including_pupil_movement.pdf.
The Department’s ‘Understanding your data: a guide for school governors and academy trustees’ makes clear that governing boards should carefully consider the level and characteristics of pupils who are leaving the school and challenge the school and academy trust management teams on any permanent exclusions to ensure it is only used as a last resort. This includes looking at suspensions, pupils taken off roll, those directed to be educated off site in Alternative Provision (AP), and whether there are any patterns to the reasons or timing of such moves.
Schools also have a clear duty not to discriminate against pupils based on protected characteristics under the Equality Act 2010. Ofsted’s assessment of behaviour in schools includes specific consideration of rates, patterns, and reasons for exclusions, as well as any differences between groups of pupils.
The Special Educational Needs and Disabilities and AP Implementation Plan, published on 2 March 2023, sets out a new national vision and delivery model for the AP system. As needs will be identified and supported early, this should reduce the numbers of preventable exclusions and expensive long term placements, and lead to improvements in pupils’ wellbeing and outcomes.
Asked by: Jim Shannon (Democratic Unionist Party - Strangford)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment she has made of the implications for her Department's policies of the recommendations of the report by the Traveller Movement entitled Disrupting the school to prison pipeline, published in July 2022.
Answered by Nick Gibb
Education is a devolved matter, and the response outlines the information for England only.
The Department recognises the issues faced by Gypsy, Roma, and Traveller pupils and how education can make a positive difference. The Department is responding to the seven recommendations in the report.
The report recommended that the Department must ensure a race equality and diversity policy is made a statutory element of the Public Sector Equality Duty (PSED) for all schools. Already the PSED requires public bodies, including maintained schools and academies, to have due regard to the need to eliminate discrimination and other conduct prohibited by the Equality Act 2010.
Schools have specific legal duties to publish information to demonstrate how they are complying with the PSED, and to prepare and publish equality objectives. Schools are also required to publish information relating to those who share a relevant protected characteristic and who are affected by their policies and practices. The Department has published guidance for schools on how to ensure they comply with their duties under the Equality Act.
The report recommended that all schools must have the ability and resources to provide assessment of Education, Health and Care (EHC) plans, when requested by a parent or guardian, including annual reviews. It also recommended Local Authorities should consider providing base level EHC plans funding to all schools.
On 2 March 2023, the Department published the Special Educational Needs and Disabilities and Alternative Provision Improvement Plan in response to the Green Paper. The Improvement Plan outlines the approach for the successful implementation of these policy reforms, including proposals for EHC plan reform. The Department will develop reformed templates and guidance to deliver a nationally consistent EHC plan process which makes greater use of digital technology, with the aim to increase consistency and the speed with which support is put in place.
The report also recommended that the Department should require all school and academy trusts to establish an On-Site Inclusion Unit (OSIU). In July 2022, the Department published updated guidance on behaviour in schools and suspension and permanent exclusion statutory guidance. The behaviour guidance makes clear some schools can choose to have pupil support units (sometimes called ‘in school units’) which should be used to provide planned pastoral support for vulnerable pupils and as a last resort measure to support pupils at risk of exclusion.
Additionally, the report recommended that expert head teacher panels should be established to provide final assessments for proposed permanent exclusions and the department should develop standardised guidance for use of in school exclusionary practices and reporting guidelines for monitoring their use.
The updated exclusion guidance is clear that, in all cases, schools should consider initial intervention to address underlying causes of disruptive behaviour which may minimise the need for permanent exclusion. Whilst a permanent exclusion may still be an appropriate sanction, schools should take account of any contributing factors.
The statutory process to review school exclusions is clear that governing boards have a role to review the decision of the head teacher to permanently exclude and if the governing board decides to uphold the permanent exclusion, the parents have the right to an Independent Review Panel.
Asked by: Catherine West (Labour - Hornsey and Wood Green)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, with reference to the report by the Traveller Movement entitled Exploring why Gypsy, Roma and Traveller children experience the school to prison pipeline and how it can be interrupted, published in August 2022, whether she will implement that report's recommendations.
Answered by Claire Coutinho - Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero
The department recognises the issues faced by Gypsy, Roma and Traveller children and young people and how education can make a positive difference. The report contained seven recommendations for the department and the following sets out how we are responding to those recommendations.
The report recommended that the clear disaggregation of Gypsy, Roma, and Traveller identities as adopted by the Office for National Statistics for the 2021 Census, should be implemented across the education sector. As the report references Gypsy, Roma and Traveller data was collected in Census 2021 and phase one of the data has now been released: https://www.ons.gov.uk/peoplepopulationandcommunity/culturalidentity/ethnicity/bulletins/ethnicgroupenglandandwales/census2021. We are currently reviewing the harmonised standard for ethnicity, with any potential question changes being released in 2024.
The report recommended that the department must ensure a race equality and diversity policy is made a statutory element of the Public Sector Equality Duty (PSED) for all schools. Already the PSED requires public bodies, including maintained schools and academies, to have due regard to the need to eliminate discrimination and other conduct prohibited by the Equality Act 2010.
Schools have specific legal duties to publish information to demonstrate how they are complying with the PSED, and to prepare and publish equality objectives. Schools are also required to publish information relating to those who share a relevant protected characteristic and who are affected by their policies and practices. It is for schools to develop their own strategies for meeting their duties, however, the department has published guidance for schools on how to ensure they comply with their duties under the Equality Act 2010.
In regard to education, health and care (EHC) plans, the report recommended that all schools must have the ability and resources to provide assessment of them when requested by a parent or guardian, including annual reviews. Also, local authorities should consider providing base-level EHC plans funding to all schools. The Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND) and Alternative Provision (AP) Green Paper, published in March 2022, sets out our vision to create a more inclusive education system with excellent local mainstream provision which will improve the experience and outcomes for children and young people who need more intensive support. Amongst those consulted was the department’s GRT Stakeholder Group and we are committed to publishing a full response to the consultation through an improvement plan early in 2023.
The report also recommended that the department should require all school and academy trusts to establish an On-Site Inclusion Unit. In July 2022 we published updated guidance on Behaviour in Schools and Suspension and Permanent Exclusion statutory guidance. The Behaviour guidance makes clear some schools can choose to have pupil support units (sometimes called ‘in-school units’) which should be used for two main reasons: to provide planned pastoral support for vulnerable pupils and as a last resort measure to support pupils at risk of exclusion.
Additionally, the report recommended that expert headteacher panels should be established to provide final assessments for proposed permanent exclusions and the department should develop standardised reporting guidelines for monitoring the use of In-School exclusionary practices, and also develop guidance for best practice and use of in-school exclusionary practices.
The updated exclusion guidance is clear that, in all cases, schools should consider initial intervention to address underlying causes of disruptive behaviour which may minimise the need for permanent exclusion. Whilst a permanent exclusion may still be an appropriate sanction, schools should take account of any contributing factors.
The statutory process to review school exclusions is clear that governing boards have a role to review the decision of the headteacher to permanently exclude and if the governing board decides to uphold the permanent exclusion, the parents will have the right to an Independent Review Panel.
Asked by: Taiwo Owatemi (Labour - Coventry North West)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if he will make an assessment of the potential relationship between trends in the levels of school exclusions and education, health and care plans.
Answered by Kelly Tolhurst
The department publishes annual data on suspensions and permanent exclusions which include capturing those pupils with education, health and care (EHC) plans. It has also published updated Suspension and Permanent Exclusion guidance in July 2022 so that headteachers have the information they need to use these sanctions properly and proportionately.
The updated guidance makes clear that headteachers should, as far as possible, minimise the use of permanent exclusion for any pupil with an EHC plan and that initial intervention to address underlying causes of disruptive behaviour should include an assessment of whether appropriate provision is in place to support any special educational needs and disability that a pupil may have.
In March 2022, the department published the Special Educational Needs and Disability (SEND) and Alternative Provision (AP) Green Paper and Schools White Paper, which set out plans to make sure every child can reach their full potential. They set out a vision of an inclusive education system with excellent local mainstream provision that would improve the experience and outcomes for children and young people with SEND, support those who need alternative provision, and those who need the additional support delivered through an EHC plan.
The Green Paper consultation closed on 22 July 2022 and the department is currently analysing the responses. Later this year, we will publish a national SEND and AP implementation strategy, setting out our response to the consultation and the next steps for implementation of system reform.
Asked by: Lord Taylor of Warwick (Non-affiliated - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the Education Policy Institute report Measuring Pupil Inclusion in School Groups, published on 31 January; and what plans they have to ensure that schools are measured on whether they (1) exclude, or (2) off-roll, vulnerable pupils.
Answered by Baroness Barran - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
The department will consider the Education Policy Institute methodology discussion paper in due course.
School performance tables are designed specifically to generate meaningful data from which the public and relevant parties can hold schools and colleges to account. The department keeps all its school performance measures under review and welcomes feedback on how we can refine and improve our suite of measures and the way they are used.
Governing boards are expected to carefully consider the level and characteristics of pupils who are leaving the school. They should also deploy maximum challenge to the school and academy trust management teams on any permanent exclusions to ensure it is only used, when necessary, as a last resort. This also includes looking at suspensions, pupils taken off roll and those directed to be educated off site in alternative provision and whether there are any patterns to the reasons or timing of such moves.
The government is clear that off-rolling (the practice of removing a pupil from the school roll without using a permanent exclusion, when the removal is primarily in the best interests of the school, rather than the best interests of the pupil) is unlawful and unacceptable in any form and we continue to work with Ofsted to tackle it. Ofsted already considers records of children taken off roll and their characteristics and strengthened the focus on this in the revised framework in September 2019. Where inspectors find off-rolling, this will always be addressed in the inspection report and, where appropriate, could lead to a school’s leadership being judged inadequate.
Asked by: Kim Johnson (Labour - Liverpool, Riverside)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what responsibilities his Department is placing on (a) directors of children's services, (b) school governing bodies, (c) academy trusts and (d) local forums of schools to (i) review information on SEND children who leave schools by exclusion or otherwise and (ii) establish a shared understanding of how the data on the characteristics of those children informs local trends.
Answered by Will Quince
The department’s ‘understanding your data: a guide for school governors and academy trustees’ document makes clear that governing boards should carefully consider the level and characteristics of pupils who are leaving the school and deploy maximum challenge to the school and academy trust management teams on any permanent exclusions. This is to ensure it is only used as a last resort. The full guidance is available here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/understanding-your-data-a-guide-for-school-governors-and-academy-trustees/understanding-your-data-a-guide-for-school-governors-and-academy-trustees#pupil-numbersattendance-and-exclusions.
This also includes looking at suspensions, pupils taken off roll, those directed to be educated off-site in alternative provision (AP) and whether there are any patterns to the reasons or timing of such moves. For example, if high numbers of children with special educational needs and or disabilities (SEND) are moving, the school, academy or trust may wish to consider reviewing its SEN support.
The department is also clear locally that schools, local authorities, and local forums should track and review the information they have on children who leave schools, by exclusion or otherwise. This helps to establish a shared understanding of how the data on the characteristics of such children feeds local trends. Where patterns indicate possible concerns or gaps in provision, we expect headteachers and other local leaders to use this information to ensure they are effectively planning to meet the needs of all children.
Asked by: Paula Barker (Labour - Liverpool, Wavertree)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what his planned timetable is for completing implementation of the commitments made in response to The Timpson review of school exclusion.
Answered by Robin Walker
The government is actively taking forward the recommendations from the Timpson Review of School Exclusion through its ambitious programme of action on behaviour, exclusion and alternative provision, which will back head teachers’ powers to use exclusion when they need to, enable schools to support children at risk of exclusion, and ensure that excluded children continue to receive a good education.
The department published a call for evidence on behaviour management strategies, in-school units and managed moves in June this year and will shortly be consulting on new statutory guidance on suspensions and permanent exclusions. In addition, as part of the special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) Review, we will be setting out our plans for reforming alternative provision so it can provide leadership and expertise across the whole school system to incentivise early support, and to ensure stable and high-quality provision for those children and young people most at risk of disengaging from education.
The department will be bringing forward proposals for public consultation in the first three months of 2022.
Asked by: Preet Kaur Gill (Labour (Co-op) - Birmingham, Edgbaston)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what progress he has made in implementing the recommendations of the Timpson Review on school exclusions.
Answered by Nick Gibb
Good behaviour and discipline in schools is crucial if children are to reach their full potential. The Department backs head teachers to use suspensions and expulsions when required as part of creating the calm and disciplined classrooms needed to support effective teaching. The Department is also clear that expulsions should only be used as a last resort and expulsion from school should not mean exclusion from education.
Since the publication of the Timpson Review and agreeing the recommendations in principle, the Government has been pursuing a programme of work to support effective behaviour management across the school system. In April, the Department commenced the Behaviour Hubs programme, investing £10 million to help schools develop and sustain cultures where good pupil behaviour is normal. The Department has reformed training and development for teachers as part of the Early Career Framework, so that all new teachers will be shown how to effectively manage behaviour in their first two years in the profession from September 2021. The Department has also continued to work with Ofsted to tackle ‘off-rolling’ which is an unacceptable practice. Additionally, the Department will be consulting on how to help head teachers to remove phones in schools, and other revisions to the Department’s behaviour, discipline and suspensions and expulsions guidance, later in the year.
The Department intends to go further and is committed to improving outcomes for children and young people in alternative provision who are most at risk of expulsion and disengaging from education. The Department will set out its plans in the forthcoming SEND review.
Asked by: Marsha De Cordova (Labour - Battersea)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps he plans to take to tackle unequal exclusions for (a) Black and (b) Roma children.
Answered by Nick Gibb
The Department has made a public commitment to work in partnership with my right hon. Friend, the Prime Minister’s Independent Commission on Race and Ethnic Disparities to understand disparities in expulsion rates.
It is clear in guidance on suspension and expulsion that all schools should consider what extra support might be needed to identify and address the needs of children from groups with disproportionately high rates of expulsion.
The Department is pursuing an ambitious programme of work on school behaviour across the school system, including through our £10 million behaviour hubs programme. The Department is also focusing on reforms needed to deliver significantly improved outcomes for children and young people in alternative provision, so that children who are suspended or expelled, and children at risk of suspension or expulsion, receive high quality education and support suited to their individual needs.