Asked by: James Frith (Labour - Bury North)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, with reference to the Timpson review of school exclusion: Government response, published in May 2019, what progress his Department has made on providing guidance on the use of in-school units and managed moves; and what the timetable is for his Department's consultation on that guidance.
Answered by Nick Gibb
The Department is taking forward an ambitious programme of reform which will respect head teachers’ powers to use exclusion, while equipping schools to support children at risk of exclusion and ensuring excluded children continue to receive a good education. The Department has already begun engaging with stakeholders including schools and local authorities on these reforms.
In addition, the Government committed to establishing a practice programme that embeds effective partnership working between local authorities, schools, alternative provision, and other partners.
This will better equip schools to intervene early for children at risk of exclusion and to ensure that the most effective provision is put in place for those who are excluded.
The Department will also re-write guidance on exclusions and behaviour to offer clearer, more consistent guidance to schools on managing behaviour, the use of in-school units, managed moves and the circumstances where it may be appropriate to use exclusion.
Guidance will be published by summer 2020 and more details on the practice programme will be announced in due course.
Asked by: James Frith (Labour - Bury North)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, with reference to the Timpson review of school exclusions, when his Department plans to issue updated guidance on school exclusions to schools.
Answered by Nick Gibb
The Department is taking forward an ambitious programme of reform which will respect head teachers’ powers to use exclusion, while equipping schools to support children at risk of exclusion and ensuring excluded children continue to receive a good education. The Department has already begun engaging with stakeholders including schools and local authorities on these reforms.
In addition, the Government committed to establishing a practice programme that embeds effective partnership working between local authorities, schools, alternative provision, and other partners.
This will better equip schools to intervene early for children at risk of exclusion and to ensure that the most effective provision is put in place for those who are excluded.
The Department will also re-write guidance on exclusions and behaviour to offer clearer, more consistent guidance to schools on managing behaviour, the use of in-school units, managed moves and the circumstances where it may be appropriate to use exclusion.
Guidance will be published by summer 2020 and more details on the practice programme will be announced in due course.
Asked by: Baroness Morris of Yardley (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to ensure that sector experts are regularly consulted on the implementation of the recommendations of the Timpson review of school exclusion.
Answered by Lord Agnew of Oulton
The department will take a collaborative and consultative approach in delivering the recommendations of Edward Timpson’s review.
Over the summer, we will work with education leaders to design a consultation on how to reform school accountability for children who are excluded, and how we can enable schools to fulfil new accountabilities through reform to commissioning and funding arrangements for alternative provision. This consultation will launch in the autumn.
The department will also consult widely in responding to several of Edward Timpson’s other recommendations, including the revision of guidance relating to behaviour and exclusions, on improvements to the national data on exclusion, and on possible changes to the arrangements for fixed term exclusion.
Asked by: Angela Rayner (Labour - Ashton-under-Lyne)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, with reference to his Statement of 7 May 2019 on the Timpson review of school exclusions, if it is his policy to make schools accountable for pupils who leave their rolls only through permanent exclusions.
Answered by Nick Gibb
As noted in the Government response to Edward Timpson’s review of school exclusion, the Government will make schools accountable for the outcomes of permanently excluded children. Over the summer, the Department will work with education leaders to design a consultation, to be launched in the autumn, on how to deliver these reforms in practice. Among other things, the Department will seek views on how to mitigate the potential unintended consequences Edward Timpson has identified in his review, including how to tackle the practice of ‘off-rolling’.
Ofsted already considers records of children taken off roll and has recently consulted on proposals that will see a strengthened focus on this issue, and has proposed that where inspectors find off-rolling, this will always be addressed in the inspection report, and where appropriate will lead to a school’s leadership being judged inadequate. Ofsted will publish the outcome of its consultation soon.
As in the Education (Pupil Registration) (England) regulations 2006 as amended, state schools must notify the local authority when a pupil’s name is to be deleted from the admission register as soon as the ground for deletion under regulation 8 in relation to that pupil is established. The Department will provide guidance on the use of ‘managed moves’, as recommended by Edward Timpson.
The Government will also establish a practice programme that embeds effective partnership working between local authorities, schools, alternative provision and other partners to better equip schools to intervene early for children at risk of exclusion and to ensure that the most effective provision is put in place for those who are excluded. As a large proportion of schools are academies, the programme will support partnership working between local authorities and academies.
Asked by: Angela Rayner (Labour - Ashton-under-Lyne)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, with reference to his Statement of 7 May 2019 on the Timpson review of school exclusions, whether his consultation on making schools accountable for the outcomes of pupils that they exclude will include accountability for pupils who leave school rolls other than by permanent exclusion.
Answered by Nick Gibb
As noted in the Government response to Edward Timpson’s review of school exclusion, the Government will make schools accountable for the outcomes of permanently excluded children. Over the summer, the Department will work with education leaders to design a consultation, to be launched in the autumn, on how to deliver these reforms in practice. Among other things, the Department will seek views on how to mitigate the potential unintended consequences Edward Timpson has identified in his review, including how to tackle the practice of ‘off-rolling’.
Ofsted already considers records of children taken off roll and has recently consulted on proposals that will see a strengthened focus on this issue, and has proposed that where inspectors find off-rolling, this will always be addressed in the inspection report, and where appropriate will lead to a school’s leadership being judged inadequate. Ofsted will publish the outcome of its consultation soon.
As in the Education (Pupil Registration) (England) regulations 2006 as amended, state schools must notify the local authority when a pupil’s name is to be deleted from the admission register as soon as the ground for deletion under regulation 8 in relation to that pupil is established. The Department will provide guidance on the use of ‘managed moves’, as recommended by Edward Timpson.
The Government will also establish a practice programme that embeds effective partnership working between local authorities, schools, alternative provision and other partners to better equip schools to intervene early for children at risk of exclusion and to ensure that the most effective provision is put in place for those who are excluded. As a large proportion of schools are academies, the programme will support partnership working between local authorities and academies.
Asked by: Angela Rayner (Labour - Ashton-under-Lyne)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, with reference to Ofsted’s report entitled Safeguarding children and young people in education from knife crime published in March 2019, if he will extend the requirement for schools to collect data on permanent and fixed-term exclusions to require schools to collect data on managed moves.
Answered by Nick Gibb
As noted in the Government response to Edward Timpson’s review of school exclusion, the Government will make schools accountable for the outcomes of permanently excluded children. Over the summer, the Department will work with education leaders to design a consultation, to be launched in the autumn, on how to deliver these reforms in practice. Among other things, the Department will seek views on how to mitigate the potential unintended consequences Edward Timpson has identified in his review, including how to tackle the practice of ‘off-rolling’.
Ofsted already considers records of children taken off roll and has recently consulted on proposals that will see a strengthened focus on this issue, and has proposed that where inspectors find off-rolling, this will always be addressed in the inspection report, and where appropriate will lead to a school’s leadership being judged inadequate. Ofsted will publish the outcome of its consultation soon.
As in the Education (Pupil Registration) (England) regulations 2006 as amended, state schools must notify the local authority when a pupil’s name is to be deleted from the admission register as soon as the ground for deletion under regulation 8 in relation to that pupil is established. The Department will provide guidance on the use of ‘managed moves’, as recommended by Edward Timpson.
The Government will also establish a practice programme that embeds effective partnership working between local authorities, schools, alternative provision and other partners to better equip schools to intervene early for children at risk of exclusion and to ensure that the most effective provision is put in place for those who are excluded. As a large proportion of schools are academies, the programme will support partnership working between local authorities and academies.
Asked by: Angela Rayner (Labour - Ashton-under-Lyne)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, with reference to his Statement of 7 May 2019 on the Timpson review of school exclusions, what sanctions (a) are currently in place and (b) will be put in place where schools or multi-academy trusts are found to have off-rolled pupils.
Answered by Nick Gibb
As noted in the Government response to Edward Timpson’s review of school exclusion, the Government will make schools accountable for the outcomes of permanently excluded children. Over the summer, the Department will work with education leaders to design a consultation, to be launched in the autumn, on how to deliver these reforms in practice. Among other things, the Department will seek views on how to mitigate the potential unintended consequences Edward Timpson has identified in his review, including how to tackle the practice of ‘off-rolling’.
Ofsted already considers records of children taken off roll and has recently consulted on proposals that will see a strengthened focus on this issue, and has proposed that where inspectors find off-rolling, this will always be addressed in the inspection report, and where appropriate will lead to a school’s leadership being judged inadequate. Ofsted will publish the outcome of its consultation soon.
As in the Education (Pupil Registration) (England) regulations 2006 as amended, state schools must notify the local authority when a pupil’s name is to be deleted from the admission register as soon as the ground for deletion under regulation 8 in relation to that pupil is established. The Department will provide guidance on the use of ‘managed moves’, as recommended by Edward Timpson.
The Government will also establish a practice programme that embeds effective partnership working between local authorities, schools, alternative provision and other partners to better equip schools to intervene early for children at risk of exclusion and to ensure that the most effective provision is put in place for those who are excluded. As a large proportion of schools are academies, the programme will support partnership working between local authorities and academies.
Asked by: Angela Rayner (Labour - Ashton-under-Lyne)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, with reference to his Statement of 7 May 2019 on the Timpson review of school exclusions, whether his commitment to establishing a practice programme to drive better partnership will include requiring multi-academy trusts to work with local authorities.
Answered by Nick Gibb
As noted in the Government response to Edward Timpson’s review of school exclusion, the Government will make schools accountable for the outcomes of permanently excluded children. Over the summer, the Department will work with education leaders to design a consultation, to be launched in the autumn, on how to deliver these reforms in practice. Among other things, the Department will seek views on how to mitigate the potential unintended consequences Edward Timpson has identified in his review, including how to tackle the practice of ‘off-rolling’.
Ofsted already considers records of children taken off roll and has recently consulted on proposals that will see a strengthened focus on this issue, and has proposed that where inspectors find off-rolling, this will always be addressed in the inspection report, and where appropriate will lead to a school’s leadership being judged inadequate. Ofsted will publish the outcome of its consultation soon.
As in the Education (Pupil Registration) (England) regulations 2006 as amended, state schools must notify the local authority when a pupil’s name is to be deleted from the admission register as soon as the ground for deletion under regulation 8 in relation to that pupil is established. The Department will provide guidance on the use of ‘managed moves’, as recommended by Edward Timpson.
The Government will also establish a practice programme that embeds effective partnership working between local authorities, schools, alternative provision and other partners to better equip schools to intervene early for children at risk of exclusion and to ensure that the most effective provision is put in place for those who are excluded. As a large proportion of schools are academies, the programme will support partnership working between local authorities and academies.
Asked by: Tulip Siddiq (Labour - Hampstead and Kilburn)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if he will set up an independent inquiry into school exclusions, pupil referral units and their links to serious violence.
Answered by Nick Gibb
The issues surrounding serious violence, anti-social behaviour and absence and exclusion from school are complex, which is why we are working with the education and care sectors, the Home Office and other Departments as part of a comprehensive, multi-agency response.
The externally led review of exclusions, led by Edward Timpson CBE, which is exploring how head teachers use exclusion in practice and difference in exclusion rates across England, will report shortly. Whilst exclusion is a marker for increased risk of being both a victim and perpetrator of crime, care must be taken not to draw a simple causal link between exclusions and knife crime as there is no clear evidence that this is the case. Therefore, whilst preventing knife crime requires a wider response than just exclusions, the report will help build the Department’s understanding of the use and impact of exclusion.
It is vital that young people who have been excluded from school are safe and receive high-quality education and support to get them back on track. The Department knows there are many remarkable Alternative Provision (AP) settings where committed staff work together to ensure high-quality outcomes for their pupils. The Government is determined to ensure this best practice informs the reform of AP, which is why independent research was commissioned last year to better understand how AP works, and what works well.
Asked by: Lord Laming (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what action they are taking to ensure that children who are excluded from schools continue to receive a focused and thorough education.
Answered by Lord Agnew of Oulton
It is the duty of the schools to arrange for the provision of suitable full time education from the sixth day of a fixed period exclusion. Local authorities are responsible for arranging suitable full time education for permanently excluded pupils, which must begin no later than the sixth day of the exclusion.
Alternative Provision (AP) is the system in place to educate pupils of compulsory school age who would not otherwise receive a suitable education. The government is taking forward a programme of reform to AP. This includes a £4 million Alternative Provision Innovation Fund with 9 projects underway to improve outcomes for children in AP.
Edward Timpson CBE is leading a review of exclusions, which will consider how schools use exclusion and in particular why some groups of children are more likely to be excluded from school. The review will report in due course. The full terms of reference for the review can be found here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/school-exclusions-review-terms-of-reference.