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These initiatives were driven by Baroness Eaton, and are more likely to reflect personal policy preferences.
A Bill to require the Secretary of State to conduct a review into the risks associated with at-home early medical abortions; and for connected purposes.
Baroness Eaton has not co-sponsored any Bills in the current parliamentary sitting
The information requested falls under the remit of the UK Statistics Authority.
A response to the noble Baroness’ Parliamentary Question of 28 February is attached.
The Baroness Eaton DBE BL
House of Lords
London
SW1A 0PW
2 March 2023
Dear Lady Eaton,
As National Statistician and Chief Executive of the UK Statistics Authority, I am responding to your Parliamentary Question asking what assessment has been made of the income gap between workers with special educational needs and disabilities and those without (HL5984).
The Office for National Statistics (ONS) does not currently hold estimates of the total income gap specifically. However, the ONS has published relevant analysis on the average earnings of disabled and non-disabled employees in the UK.
The publication Disability pay gaps in the UK: 2021 [1] provides the latest available information from the Annual Population Survey (APS) comparing earnings of disabled and non-disabled employees up to 2021.
In 2021, disabled employees earnt an average (median) of £12.10 per hour and non-disabled employees £14.03 per hour, a difference of 13.8%. This difference has widened slightly since 2014 when disabled employees earnt an average 11.7% less than non-disabled employees.
This publication looks at the impact of some of the factors that may affect disabled employees pay such as their impairment type or severity. For example, in 2021 disabled employees with autism as their main impairment had a wider difference in average pay than disabled people with other types of main impairment, having an average pay 33.5% less than non-disabled employees. Disabled employees who were limited a lot in their day-to-day activities had a wider difference in average pay to non-disabled employees (19.9% less) than disabled employees whose day-to-day activities were limited a little (12.1% less).
This publication also shows that after controlling for the differences in personal characteristics such as age, where they live and occupation type, differences in average pay between disabled and non-disabled employees were narrower but persisted.
The largest narrowing was seen for disabled employees with autism as their main impairment, where the difference in average pay to non-disabled employees was estimated to be 9.9% after accounting for differences in personal and job characteristics between disabled and nondisabled employees, compared with 33.5% before doing so.
For further context, other ONS data, such as that published within Outcomes for disabled people in the UK: 20212 , provides the latest available information on outcomes for disabled people across a range of areas of life including employment, education, social participation, housing, well-being, loneliness and crime. We will of course take your question into account as we continue to produce analysis relevant to the experiences of disabled people, working to ensure that it is inclusive and highlights the experiences of different groups.
Yours sincerely,
Professor Sir Ian Diamond
[1] https://www.ons.gov.uk/peoplepopulationandcommunity/healthandsocialcare/disability/articles/disability paygapsintheuk/2021
[2] https://www.ons.gov.uk/peoplepopulationandcommunity/healthandsocialcare/disability/articles/outcome sfordisabledpeopleintheuk/2021
The Government is working with the electoral community and Public Health England to identify and resolve challenges involved in delivering the May 2021 elections, including supporting Returning Officers to ensure that polling stations are safe and Covid-secure places to vote. People will be able participate in the polls safely, and in a way of their choice, whether by post, proxy or in-person. We are considering options to support voters who are instructed to self-isolate shortly before and on the day of the poll, and will update Parliament in the usual way.
The Government has worked with all places, through the Cities and Local Growth Unit (MHCLG/BEIS) to develop Local Industrial Strategies across England. However, we know that in the four years since the Industrial Strategy was produced, the UK's economic and business environment has changed.
Creating and supporting jobs remains the Government's central economic focus, and helping to drive growth in existing, emerging and new industries is also a priority. This is why we have transitioned the Industrial Strategy into our Plan for Growth and its related strategies. As part of this, we are encouraging places to consider key sectors, assets and clusters they want to support to foster their long-term growth ambitions, building on the brilliant work done by places on Local Industrial Strategies.
Later this year we will go further by publishing a Levelling Up White Paper setting out how bold new policy interventions will improve livelihoods across the country as we recover from the pandemic.
As we recover from COVID-19, the Government intends to deliver a UK economy which is stronger, cleaner, more sustainable, and more resilient.
In delivering the UK’s net zero target, we are looking to position the UK as a world leader in low carbon technologies, services, and systems. The UK has a strong base to grow from: there are over 460,000 jobs in low carbon businesses and their supply chains across the country and low carbon exports are already worth billions of pounds each year.
We are determined to seize the once-in-a-generation economic opportunities of the net zero transition – creating new business opportunities and up to 2 million green jobs by 2030 across all regions of the UK, and achieving this transition in a way that works for households, businesses and public finances. In doing so, we will build on the strengths we have already developed in low-carbon sectors from offshore wind to green finance.
14% of theatres in the UK are directly operated by local authorities and many more are owned by and subsidised by local authorities.
The Theatres Trust has provided details of six theatre buildings where the operator has either withdrawn from their operating contract or gone into liquidation, leaving them without an operator since the start of the pandemic. These theatres are not necessarily closed permanently as efforts are progressing to identify new operators. DCMS does not collect any further data in this area.
In January, the Chancellor announced £4.6 billion in one-off top up grants for retail, hospitality and leisure businesses worth up to £9,000 per property to help businesses through to the Spring. This is in addition to £1.1 billion further discretionary grant funding for Local Authorities, and Local Restriction Support Grants worth up to £3,000 a month. So far, more than £1 billion has been allocated to thousands of organisations including theatres.
Theatres have also benefited from the Cultural Recovery Fund. To date, over £1.2 billion has been allocated from this fund, reaching over 5000 individual organisations and sites. Of this funding, awards with a value of over £183m were made to applicants whose main artform is ‘theatre’ in Round 1 recovery grant funding, and in Round 2 almost £60 million was awarded to help theatres survive and plan for reopening.
The Chancellor also announced in the 2021 Budget an additional £300 million to support theatres, museums and other cultural organisations in England through the Culture Recovery Fund. This extra funding, together with other cultural support such as funding for our national museums, means that our total support package for culture during the pandemic is now approaching £2bn.
The Government has also extended the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme, and the continued reduction in VAT, among other measures.
14% of theatres in the UK are directly operated by local authorities and many more are owned by and subsidised by local authorities.
The Theatres Trust has provided details of six theatre buildings where the operator has either withdrawn from their operating contract or gone into liquidation, leaving them without an operator since the start of the pandemic. These theatres are not necessarily closed permanently as efforts are progressing to identify new operators. DCMS does not collect any further data in this area.
In January, the Chancellor announced £4.6 billion in one-off top up grants for retail, hospitality and leisure businesses worth up to £9,000 per property to help businesses through to the Spring. This is in addition to £1.1 billion further discretionary grant funding for Local Authorities, and Local Restriction Support Grants worth up to £3,000 a month. So far, more than £1 billion has been allocated to thousands of organisations including theatres.
Theatres have also benefited from the Cultural Recovery Fund. To date, over £1.2 billion has been allocated from this fund, reaching over 5000 individual organisations and sites. Of this funding, awards with a value of over £183m were made to applicants whose main artform is ‘theatre’ in Round 1 recovery grant funding, and in Round 2 almost £60 million was awarded to help theatres survive and plan for reopening.
The Chancellor also announced in the 2021 Budget an additional £300 million to support theatres, museums and other cultural organisations in England through the Culture Recovery Fund. This extra funding, together with other cultural support such as funding for our national museums, means that our total support package for culture during the pandemic is now approaching £2bn.
The Government has also extended the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme, and the continued reduction in VAT, among other measures.
The funding of local theatres consists of a complex ecosystem of funding streams, and government funds remain active, so assessing the success of these interventions is challenging at this stage.
In January, the Chancellor announced £4.6 billion in one-off top up grants for retail, hospitality and leisure businesses worth up to £9,000 per property to help businesses through to the Spring. This is in addition to £1.1 billion further discretionary grant funding for Local Authorities, and Local Restriction Support Grants worth up to £3,000 a month.
So far, more than £1 billion has been allocated to thousands of organisations including museums, music venues, independent cinemas, circuses, heritage sites and theatres. For reference, info on the local grants eligibility here (https://www.gov.uk/guidance/check-if-youre-eligible-for-the-coronavirus-additional-restrictions-grant) - a copy of the webpage is attached. In addition, over £10 billion of support has also been provided through unprecedented business rate holidays.
The Government is committed to supporting our world-leading cultural and entertainment sectors, demonstrated through £300m additional funding made available in the budget to support the Culture Recovery Fund, on top of the £1.57bn provided in July.
Government recognises the significant financial impact of Covid 19 on the performing arts sector and venues, and the important role theatres play in their local communities. 14% of theatres in the UK are directly operated by local authorities and many more are owned by and subsidised by local authorities. The Theatres Trust has provided details of six theatre buildings where the operator has either withdrawn from their operating contract or gone into liquidation, leaving them without an operator since the start of the pandemic. These theatres are not necessarily closed permanently as efforts are progressing to identify new operators.The Theatres Trust is aware of a small number of further closures, with more details to be published in due course.
The Government is investing an unprecedented £1.57 billion, the biggest ever one-off cash injection into UK culture, to tackle the crisis facing our most loved arts organisations and heritage sites through the Culture Recovery Fund. In the first round of funding, 462 awards were made to applicants whose main artform is ‘theatre’, with a value of over £183m. The number of awards to commercial theatres was 79, with a value of over £26m. This funding benefited a range of theatre organisations, from world-renowned institutions to those crucial to their local community.
The second round is in progress, and a further £300 million of support was announced by HM Treasury at Spring budget to continue to support key cultural organisations, bridge the sector as audiences begin to return, and ensure a vibrant future for the culture sector, including theatres, as the nation recovers from the pandemic.
The 2027 Huawei removal date has been set taking into account our specific national circumstances and how the risks from US sanctions to telecoms networks are manifested in the UK.
To go further and faster beyond a 2027 target would add considerable - and unnecessary - costs and delays to 5G rollout. And the shorter we make the timetable for removal, the greater the risk of actual disruption to mobile telecoms networks.
Sports and physical activity facilities play a crucial role in supporting adults and children to be active. It is important that leisure centres remain accessible for people from all backgrounds as we make efforts to return to normality after the Covid lockdown period.
Outdoor swimming pools have been able to open from 11 July, and from 25 July indoor gyms, leisure centres (including sports halls) and swimming pools in England have been able to reopen. These facilities are able to offer on-site services to customers, provided they are COVID-secure and follow Government guidance.
Sport England have announced a £210 million package of support to help community clubs through this crisis.
Specific support for local authorities was announced through the income guarantee scheme on Thursday 2 July by the Secretary of State for Local Government, aimed to support local authorities who have incurred irrecoverable loss of income from sales, fees and charge which they had reasonably budgeted for.
Our Online Harms proposals will deliver a higher level of protection for children than for the typical adult user. As we set out in the initial response to the Online Harms White Paper consultation on 12 February, we expect companies to use a proportionate range of tools, including age assurance and age verification technologies, to prevent children accessing age-inappropriate content such as online pornography, and to protect them from other harms.
The Cultural Renewal Taskforce has been established to support the renewal of DCMS sectors and to help the development of new COVID-19 secure guidelines for the reopening of places and businesses in these sectors, where and when it is safe to do so.
The Taskforce is made up of individuals and organisations from across DCMS sectors, presenting a broad range of views and backgrounds. The organisations vary not only by size and scale, but are also representative of organisations with sector interests across the country.
To support the Cultural Renewal Taskforce and the development of guidelines, DCMS has also set up eight sectoral Working Groups, which are ministerially led. While there are a limited number of members of the Cultural Renewal Taskforce, each Working Group has broad membership covering a range of relevant organisations and representative bodies for relevant sectors.
The Local Government Association directly represents local government as a member of the Working Groups for Museums and Galleries, Library Services, Sport and Youth.
We are aware of the broad range of views held on the notion of a discretionary tourism levy.
The UK Government has a number of concerns about the introduction of any kind of Tourism Tax. Tax is a matter for the Treasury who routinely review the tax regime of the country. We would therefore recommend any interested stakeholders engage with Her Majesty’s Treasury.
The Tourism Zones policy is still under development and further information will be available shortly. We will then be in a position to further discuss Tourism Zones with the Local Government Association as well as local authorities.
The government remains committed to legislating for a local authority registration system for children not in school, as well as placing a duty on local authorities to provide support to home educating families.
My hon. Friend, the Member for Meon Valley, introduced the Children Not in School (Registers, Support and Orders) Private Members’ Bill on 11 December 2023. The Bill’s Second Reading is scheduled for 15 March 2024. The government is working with her as she progresses her Bill.
In the meantime, the department continues to work with local authorities to improve their non-statutory registers; analyse local authority data from the voluntary elective home education and children missing collection to build a more accurate picture of the landscape.
The department has also held a consultation on revising its elective home education guidance for local authorities and parents. This consultation closed on 18 January 2024 and the department will publish its response and revised guidance in due course.
The department launched the Broadening Educational Pathways programme in 2020 to increase the role of the independent and state-funded boarding sector in the education of looked-after children. The Royal National Children’s Springboard Foundation was appointed as a delivery partner, providing a placement brokerage service to ensure children are placed in schools best suited to support their educational attainment and personal wellbeing. In the ‘Stable Homes, Built on Love’ implementation strategy, the department committed to further expansion of the programme and has subsequently extended the contract until September 2024 to further open up educational opportunities in boarding schools to even more children in and on the edge of care.
The department will continue, over the course of the contract, to work in partnership with the Royal National Children’s Springboard Foundation to understand the benefits to the children and young people placed by the programme, including the findings of formal research they have commissioned, from the University of Nottingham, on the outcomes for looked-after and vulnerable children attending boarding schools.
The department published bold and ambitious plans to reform children’s social care on the 2 February 2023 through ‘Stable Homes, Built on Love’. It sets 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. Over the next two years, the department will address urgent issues facing children and families now and lay the foundations for whole system reform.
As set out in the government’s response to the Independent Review of Children's Social Care, the department has extended the Broadening Educational Pathways Programme to increase the number of children in care in independent and state boarding schools. The department will use the evidence generated from this to inform long-term ambitions for this programme.
The free schools programme is open to proposals offering boarding provision. Although no such proposals were received in the most recent round of free school applications, there are currently five open free schools that offer boarding, with at least a further three set to open in the future. Plans for future free school application rounds have not yet been developed and will be considered as part of a future spending review.
The department does not hold this information centrally. The department does hold information on the number of looked after children placed in residential schools. However, it is not possible to distinguish between boarding schools and other residential schools, such as residential special schools. Therefore, we are not able to provide the information requested overall or by age.
Figures on the overall number of looked after children in England placed in residential schools were published in the annual statistics release titled ‘Children looked after, including adoptions, 2021-22’. On 31 March 2022, there were 110 looked after children in these residential schools, which includes boarding schools and residential special schools. These annual statistics are available in the attached table.
The Lost Boys report recommended for the government to invest in the best early education and childcare provision.
Alongside setting high standards and requirements for all early years providers in the Early Years Foundation Stage framework, in March, the government announced the single biggest investment in childcare ever made in England, which means by 2027/28 this government expects to be spending more than £8 billion every year on the early years. This will result in an historic expansion of free childcare, with 15 free hours available for working parents of two-year-olds from April 2024, 15 free hours from nine months to the start of school available from September 2024, rising to 30 free hours from September 2025. From September, the hourly rates paid to providers to deliver free childcare for two-year-olds will increase by 30% from an average rate of £6 to £8. This represents a significant increase in funding for early years.
The government is also investing up to £180 million in workforce training, qualifications, expert guidance and targeted support for the early years sector, to support the learning and development of the youngest and most disadvantaged children. This includes the Professional Development Programme, phase 3, training up to 10,000 early years professionals and providing early years practitioners with training on communication and language, early mathematics and personal, social and emotional development.
Two-thirds of primary schools have benefitted from our investment in the Nuffield Early Language Intervention, improving the speech and language skills of an estimated 90,000 children in reception classes so far. Over 320,000 primary school children have been screened to identify those with language development difficulties. These children will receive targeted language support.
Data on applications, offers, and acceptances for care leavers by institution is not held by the department. This information may be available from the Universities and Colleges Admissions Service (UCAS).
Data on applications, offers, and acceptances for care leavers by institution is not held by the department. This information may be available from the Universities and Colleges Admissions Service (UCAS).
The department does not hold information on the numbers of all care leavers who went on to key stage 5. The department does hold and publish information on the activities of care leavers aged 17 to 21 who had been looked after by local authorities in England. This includes information on care leavers in education, but not specifically at key stage 5. The latest statistics are available at: https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/data-tables/fast-track/1db542fc-b38b-4dd6-c132-08daa787e284.
The department also publishes information on pupils who were at the end of key stage 4 in 2018/19 and reports on their destinations in the 2019/20 academic year. The figures show in 2019/20, 5,010 looked after children were in a sustained education destination in the year following the end of key stage 4. Of these, 2,910 were in further education, 860 were in a school sixth form or sixth form college and 1,240 were in some other form of education. They may not necessarily be studying key stage 5 learning aims. This data can be found at: https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/data-tables/permalink/271af2fd-b022-402a-076f-08db29e96c41.
The latest information on attainment for looked after children is published here: https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/find-statistics/outcomes-for-children-in-need-including-children-looked-after-by-local-authorities-in-england.
Information on pupils who were at the end of key stage 4 in 2019/20 and their destinations in the 2020/21 academic year was published on 30 March 2023 on the GOV.UK website.
The Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND) and Alternative Provision (AP) Improvement Plan, published on 2 March 2023, sets out a plan to establish a new national SEND and AP system with the mission to fulfil children’s potential, build parents’ trust, and provide financial sustainability.
The department’s vision is to create a more inclusive society that celebrates and enables success in all forms, with the cultures, attitudes, and environments to offer every child and young person the support that they need to participate fully, thrive, and fulfil their potential.
The Improvement Plan sets out the department’s reforms to ensure the process for identifying needs and accessing support is early, dignified, affirmative, and focuses on a child or young person’s achievements, talents, and strengths.
The department does not have an overall assessment of economic activity for those with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND), and those without. We do have multiple sources of data on the activity of young people of all backgrounds.
The average median annualised earnings for learners who completed a further education course in the 2019/20 academic year and were recorded as having a learning difficulty or disability was £18,140 in the first full tax year after completion. This is slightly below the average for learners with no learning difficulty which is £20,620.
The department knows that not in education, employment or training (NEET) rates are higher for those with a disability. Recent estimates from the Office for National Statistics show that disabled 16 to 24 years olds are approximately three times more likely to be NEET compared to non-disabled 16 to 24 year olds in the UK.
The department acknowledges that this is not good enough, which is why on 2 March 2023 we published the SEND and Alternative Provision (AP) Improvement plan in response to the green paper published in March 2022. This outlines the government’s mission for the SEND and AP system to fulfil children’s potential, build parental trust and provide financial sustainability. This can be accessed here: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/1139561/SEND_and_alternative_provision_improvement_plan.pdf.
It is free for families to appeal to the Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND) Tribunal when seeking a special school place or a local council decision not to grant an education, health and care (EHC) plan.
Throughout the SEND and Alternative Provision (AP) Green Paper consultation, families told the department how stressful and lengthy the Tribunal process can be. The SEND and AP Improvement Plan, published on 2 March 2023, sets out the response to the consultation feedback the department received and the next steps we will take in delivering vital reform for children and young people.
This includes our intention for a new national SEND and AP system, underpinned by national standards, to improve early identification of needs and set clear expectations for the types of evidence-based support that should be available in mainstream settings. Our objective is to ensure that all children's additional needs are met effectively and quickly within affordable provision, reducing the need for an EHC plan and, where an EHC plan is needed, to ensure that parents do not endure lengthy and adversarial processes to secure one.
It is free for families to appeal to the Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND) Tribunal when seeking a special school place or a local council decision not to grant an education, health and care (EHC) plan.
Throughout the SEND and Alternative Provision (AP) Green Paper consultation, families told the department how stressful and lengthy the Tribunal process can be. The SEND and AP Improvement Plan, published on 2 March 2023, sets out the response to the consultation feedback the department received and the next steps we will take in delivering vital reform for children and young people.
This includes our intention for a new national SEND and AP system, underpinned by national standards, to improve early identification of needs and set clear expectations for the types of evidence-based support that should be available in mainstream settings. Our objective is to ensure that all children's additional needs are met effectively and quickly within affordable provision, reducing the need for an EHC plan and, where an EHC plan is needed, to ensure that parents do not endure lengthy and adversarial processes to secure one.
The Teachers’ Standards set clear expectations that teachers must understand the needs of all pupils, including those with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND). All trainees who achieve Qualified Teacher Status (QTS) must demonstrate that they can adapt teaching to respond to the needs of all pupils, including those with SEND.
Initial teacher training (ITT) courses must be designed so that teacher trainees can demonstrate that they meet all the Teachers' Standards at the appropriate level, including the requirement in Standard 5, that all teachers must have a clear understanding of the needs of all pupils.
To support all teachers to meet these standards, the Department has implemented high quality teacher training reforms which begin with ITT and continues into early career teaching, through to the reformed suite of leadership and specialist national professional qualifications (NPQ), ensuring that teachers have the skills to support all pupils to succeed, including those with SEND.
Since 2020 the Initial Teacher Training Core Content Framework (CCF) has included content on adapting teaching to the strengths and needs of all pupils, and since delivery started from 2021, the Early Career Framework has built on that learning for Early Career Teachers. These reforms support our ambition that all new teachers starting in the profession learn how to meet the needs of all pupils, including those with SEND.
On 2 March 2023, we published the SEND and Alternative Provision (AP) Improvement Plan in response to the Green Paper published in March last year. This outlines the department's mission for the SEND and AP system to fulfil children’s potential, build parents’ trust and provide financial sustainability. We are also building a confident expert workforce, training up to 5,000 new early years Special Educational Needs Co-ordinators (SENCos). Furthermore, an over 50% increase in high needs funding to over £10 billion by 2023-24, compared to £6.1 billion in 2018-19, will help children and young people with SEND in both special schools and mainstream schools receive the right support.
As part of that plan, the department will be conducting a review of the ITT Core Content Framework and Early Career Framework together this year, which will consider further opportunities to improve how the frameworks support new teachers to meet the needs of pupils with SEND.
Tax-Free Childcare is for working parents of children aged 0-11, or 0-16 for disabled children, and has the same income criteria as 30 hours free childcare. In the 2021/22 financial year the government spent £411.3 million on Tax-Free Childcare.
The numbers of families and children who have used Tax-Free Childcare between 2020 and 2022 are as follows:
The universal 15 hours free early education entitlement is available to all three and four-year-olds regardless of parental circumstances. The government spent £2,212,241,262 on the universal entitlement in financial year 2021/22.
The numbers of children registered for the universal 15-hour entitlement between 2020 and 2022 are captured annually, as follows:
The extended 15 hours entitlement, also known as 30 hours free childcare, is available for eligible working parents of three and four year olds, on top of the universal 15 hours free early education entitlement. The government spent £837,497,401 on the extended 15 hour entitlement in the 2021/22 financial year.
The numbers of children registered for the 30 hours free childcare between 2020 and 2022 are as follows:
The department does not collect data on parents who apply for the entitlements, only children who have registered.
Tax-Free Childcare is for working parents of children aged 0-11, or 0-16 for disabled children, and has the same income criteria as 30 hours free childcare. In the 2021/22 financial year the government spent £411.3 million on Tax-Free Childcare.
The numbers of families and children who have used Tax-Free Childcare between 2020 and 2022 are as follows:
The universal 15 hours free early education entitlement is available to all three and four-year-olds regardless of parental circumstances. The government spent £2,212,241,262 on the universal entitlement in financial year 2021/22.
The numbers of children registered for the universal 15-hour entitlement between 2020 and 2022 are captured annually, as follows:
The extended 15 hours entitlement, also known as 30 hours free childcare, is available for eligible working parents of three and four year olds, on top of the universal 15 hours free early education entitlement. The government spent £837,497,401 on the extended 15 hour entitlement in the 2021/22 financial year.
The numbers of children registered for the 30 hours free childcare between 2020 and 2022 are as follows:
The department does not collect data on parents who apply for the entitlements, only children who have registered.
The department has no plans to create a new dedicated budget for special educational needs (SEN), beyond the existing high needs block within the Dedicated Schools Grant (DSG). It is important that schools have the flexibility to decide on how best to support their pupils with SEN or disabilities (SEND), within all their available resources, and that they work closely with the relevant local authority in supporting those with more complex needs for whom additional resources are required.
Local authorities are required to provide mainstream schools, through the local schools funding formula, with sufficient funds to meet the additional cost of supporting pupils with SEN, up to £6,000 per pupil per annum. Local funding formulae vary in the way funding is allocated for this purpose, but all include factors which take account of the level of pupils’ disadvantage, for example, the number of pupils with low attainment in their previous phase of education.
Furthermore, local authorities give schools additional top-up funding from their high needs budget. This is used when the additional support required for a pupil cost more than £6,000 and can also support schools which are particularly inclusive or whose pupils have a greater range of SEN than the local funding formula might suggest. The high needs block of the DSG, which funds local authorities’ high needs budgets for children and young people with more complex needs, will total more than £9 billion in the 2022/23 financial year. This is a 13% increase over the 2021/22 financial year.
Local authorities’ funding processes differ, particularly those for allocating high needs funding to schools, but both the local school funding formula and the local high needs funding arrangements have to be discussed at the local schools forum.
Ultimately, local authorities are accountable for spending from the high needs allocation they receive from the department. Our guidance indicates that their responsibility for spending decisions should be discharged fairly, reasonably and after proper consultation.
The department has no plans to create a new dedicated budget for special educational needs (SEN), beyond the existing high needs block within the Dedicated Schools Grant (DSG). It is important that schools have the flexibility to decide on how best to support their pupils with SEN or disabilities (SEND), within all their available resources, and that they work closely with the relevant local authority in supporting those with more complex needs for whom additional resources are required.
Local authorities are required to provide mainstream schools, through the local schools funding formula, with sufficient funds to meet the additional cost of supporting pupils with SEN, up to £6,000 per pupil per annum. Local funding formulae vary in the way funding is allocated for this purpose, but all include factors which take account of the level of pupils’ disadvantage, for example, the number of pupils with low attainment in their previous phase of education.
Furthermore, local authorities give schools additional top-up funding from their high needs budget. This is used when the additional support required for a pupil cost more than £6,000 and can also support schools which are particularly inclusive or whose pupils have a greater range of SEN than the local funding formula might suggest. The high needs block of the DSG, which funds local authorities’ high needs budgets for children and young people with more complex needs, will total more than £9 billion in the 2022/23 financial year. This is a 13% increase over the 2021/22 financial year.
Local authorities’ funding processes differ, particularly those for allocating high needs funding to schools, but both the local school funding formula and the local high needs funding arrangements have to be discussed at the local schools forum.
Ultimately, local authorities are accountable for spending from the high needs allocation they receive from the department. Our guidance indicates that their responsibility for spending decisions should be discharged fairly, reasonably and after proper consultation.
The department does not design education policy that exclusively targets certain groups of pupils with characteristics that are protected by the Equality Act 2010, including policy based on gender. We are committed to providing high quality education and training for everyone, whatever their background or personal characteristics.
Since 2010, the government has pursued a reform agenda to drive up academic standards for all and level up for the most disadvantaged pupils. When it comes to raising standards, evidence shows that teachers are the most important in-school factor affecting pupils’ education. In June 2021, the department announced an investment of over £250 million in our National Professional Qualifications and Early Career Framework programmes, which are based on the best available evidence and have been developed in partnership with the Education Endowment Foundation. In addition, in October 2021, we announced a levelling up premium worth up to £3,000 tax-free for mathematics, physics, chemistry and computing teachers in years 1 to 5 of their careers. This will support recruitment and retention of specialist teachers in these subjects, and in the schools and areas that need them most. Through this, the department is committed to helping tackle the learning gap for all pupils.
Girls continue to do better than boys in the early years, but boys are improving at a faster rate. In 2013, the gap between girls and boys achieving at least the expected level in all early learning goals at aged 5 was 17.1%; in 2019, (the most recent year for which data is available), the gap was 13.6%. Similarly, the gap between girls and boys achieving a Good Level of Development at aged 5 is persistent but narrowing: from 16% in 2013 to 12.9% by 2019.
Since 2018 we have committed more than £85 million on programmes to improve early language and literacy, with a further £153 million recently announced for training early years staff to support the very youngest children as part of the education recovery strategy. This is in addition to £27 million announced to support children’s early language development in response to the COVID-19 outbreak. £10 million will support language development for pre-reception children in the next academic year and £17 million is to deliver the Nuffield Early Language Intervention (NELI) in schools that would particularly benefit.
NELI is a robustly evidenced programme aimed at the reception aged children needing extra support with their speech and language development and is proven to help children make around three months of additional progress. 40% of primaries have signed up so far, helping 60,000 children this academic year. The NELI screening tool identifies those in most need of help.
Furthermore, over 3,000 early adopter schools are implementing the reforms to the Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS) from this September, ahead of statutory roll out in September. One of the main aims of the revised framework is to improve early years outcomes for all children, particularly disadvantaged children in the critical areas that build the foundation for later success, such as language development.
As part of the reforms, we have revised the educational programmes to strengthen teaching practice in communication and language, providing a deeper focus on building vocabulary to address the word gap between disadvantaged children and their peers. The new EYFS framework that will be statutory for all early years providers from September 2021 can be found here: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/974907/EYFS_framework_-_March_2021.pdf.
The department is working closely with the Home Office and other government departments on delivering the Tackling Child Sexual Abuse Strategy. Work is well underway with the rollout of statutory Relationships, Sex and Health Education (RSHE) in schools, the appointment of national facilitators to support safeguarding partners to embed effective local practice and the launch of the online resource Together We Can Stop Sexual Abuse to build public awareness and signpost access to support.
On 10 June, the department went further in its commitment to tackling child sexual abuse, announcing a range of measures in response to Ofsted’s recommendations following their review of sexual abuse in schools. Measures include better supporting teachers and school leaders to recognise sexual harassment and abuse and teach confidently about issues of consent, online pornography and healthy relationships, encouraging schools to dedicate inset day time to help train staff on how to deal with sexual abuse and harassment among pupils and how to deliver the government’s new RSHE curriculum, strengthening safeguarding guidance to boost teacher confidence in identifying and responding to these issues and providing supervision to dedicated members of school and college staff in up to 10 more local authorities, whose role it is to identify safeguarding concerns among pupils.
The department is committed to supporting schools to deliver high quality teaching of Relationships, Sex and Health Education (RSHE), which includes teaching about online safety.
Health Education includes specific content about online safety and appropriate behaviour that is relevant to pupils’ lives. It also includes content on how information and data is shared and used in all contexts. For online safety, this includes sharing pictures, understanding that many websites are businesses, and how sites may use information provided by users in ways they might not expect. As with all curriculum teaching, schools have the flexibility to tailor their teaching to specific cohorts and to the needs of their pupils.
The RSHE statutory guidance sets out that pupils should know that sharing and viewing indecent images of children (including those created by children) is a criminal offence which carries severe penalties, including jail. More detail of the content which should be taught in RSHE is available in the statutory guidance here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/relationships-education-relationships-and-sex-education-rse-and-health-education.
To support teachers to deliver the content effectively, the department has developed teacher training modules that are available to download here: https://www.gov.uk/guidance/teaching-about-relationships-sex-and-health. The department worked with a wide range of stakeholders to develop the training content, including the National Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children (NSPCC), Brook, the Sex Education Forum and the PSHE Association. We also contracted with subject matter experts such as Parentzone, Childnet, and Durham University.
The new RSHE subjects complement the embedded computing curriculum, which covers the principles of online safety at all key stages. This includes teaching on how to use technology safely, responsibly, respectfully, and securely, how to keep personal information private, and where children and young people can go for help and support when they have concerns about content or contact on the internet or other online technologies.
As autonomous institutions, it is for universities to determine the content of their curricula, but they are also required by law to uphold freedom of speech and academic freedom.
These are fundamental principles in the English higher education sector, as recognised in the Higher Education and Research Act (2017), which allow academic staff and students freely to question and test received wisdom and put forward new ideas and opinions, even if they are controversial or unpopular. These principles are also enshrined in other legislation including the Education (No. 2) Act (1986), which applies in both England and Wales and in similar provisions specific to Scotland and Wales.
Higher education providers registered with the Office for Students (OfS) must comply with the ongoing registration condition to meet Public Interest Governance Principles. Principles I and VII relate to academic freedom and freedom of speech. Ongoing Registration Condition B1 also requires that all registered higher education providers must provide a high quality academic experience for all students. The OfS has the power to investigate, sanction, and ultimately deregister providers.
The government committed to strengthening academic freedom and free speech in universities in its 2019 manifesto, and we are considering a range of legislative and non-legislative options to achieve this.
Universities are autonomous institutions and it is for them to determine the scope and content of their curricula. The government has therefore made no such assessment and has no current plans to issue any guidance on this issue.
However, the government maintains its commitment to upholding academic freedom – and the freedom of speech, which universities and higher education institutions have a legal duty to uphold – so that people studying at them can engage with a wide range of ideas and arguments.
The Care Review is a fundamental part of the government’s manifesto, and will be launched as soon as possible. The review will be bold, broad, and independently led, taking a fundamental look across children’s social care, with the aim of better supporting, protecting and improving the outcomes of vulnerable children and young people. We will engage with the children’s social care sector and ensure the review reflects the experiences of those who have needed a social worker and been in care, putting children, young people, and their families at its centre.
Ensuring that vulnerable children remain protected is our top priority. We are doing everything we can to support local authorities, and their partners, to ensure that the most vulnerable children are protected and that there are sufficient places for children in their care.
School is a protective factor for many children and, as schools reopen fully, there could potentially be a rise in the number of children that need social care intervention. We are working closely with local authorities to ensure workforce capacity is sufficient to cope with any potential spike in referrals. This includes weekly discussions between the Chief Social Worker and practice leaders.
The department has set up dedicated regional teams that are in frequent contact with local authorities. Bringing together expertise from across the department, these teams monitor the challenges local authorities are facing, including any increases in demand. We also collect fortnightly data from local authorities across the country around their contact with vulnerable children, workforce availability and other system pressures in order to offer support and challenge where needed.
The government has also provided £3.7 billion of additional funding to support local authorities in meeting COVID-19 related pressures, including on children’s services. This funding is un-ringfenced, recognising local authorities are best placed to decide how to meet the major COVID-19 service pressures in their local area.
We have also committed over £100 million to support access to social care services and remote education, including by providing laptops, tablets and 4G wireless routers to vulnerable and disadvantaged children. Furthermore, we are in continual discussions with charities on the support they provide and need. We have committed additional funding worth £26.4 million directly to support them and £1.6 million to expand NSPCC’s helpline.
Through the Coronavirus Act, we have been able to work with Social Work England, the Department of Health and Social Care and the Local Government Association to reinstate the professional registration of 8,000 former social workers so that they can re-join the profession, providing additional resource where it is required. We have also developed the Social Work Together online tool, so those social workers who have registered and are available to support their local community if needed.
As part of raising the participation age legislation local authorities have duties to track all academic age 16 and 17 year olds, identify those not in education, employment or training (NEET) or at risk of becoming so and supporting them to re-engage in education or training. This includes a September guarantee where local authorities need to ensure that all year 11 students and year 12 students on a one year course have a suitable offer of education or training for the following September. We are working closely with local authorities to support these duties and monitor September guarantee offers.
Additionally, following my right hon. Friend, the Prime Minister’s announcement on 30 June, on 8 July my right hon. Friend, the Chancellor of the Exchequer, announced measures across a range of targeted work-based training offers to support people to build the skills they need to get into work in all communities across the country. This amounts to investment of £1.6 billion in employment support schemes, which will substantially expand existing provision. This includes:
We have been working across government to build a package of support measures to boost skills among those who will be hardest hit by the labour market impacts of COVID-19. On 8 July, my right hon. Friend, the Chancellor, announced measures across a range of targeted work-based training offers to support people to build the skills they need to get into work in all communities across the country. This amounts to investment of £1.6 billion in employment support schemes, which will substantially expand existing provision. This includes:
Over the course of this Parliament, we are also providing £2.5 billion (£3 billion when including Barnett funding for devolved administrations) for a new National Skills Fund to help people learn new skills and prepare for the economy of the future.
The government appreciates the importance of adult education to improving people’s life chances. We will continue to explore options within adult education and will be making decisions on where we may be able to introduce flexibilities to aid the Post-COVID recovery.
In areas where we have devolved the Adult Education Budget (AEB), it is for Mayoral Combined Authorities (MCAs) or the Greater London Authority (GLA) to determine funding arrangements for adult education for their residents. We do, however, appreciate the importance of sharing, and where appropriate, co-ordinating, responses to attempt to ensure that providers, of all types, do not have their funding disrupted as a result of COVID-19. We are continuing to keep MCAs and the GLA updated on our skills response to COVID-19 through weekly telekits.
Devolving the AEB enables MCAs to directly support adults in developing the skills that local employers need, reducing skills shortages, boosting productivity and economic prosperity and improving wellbeing in communities.
We have been working across government to build a package of support measures to boost skills among those who will be hardest hit by the labour market impacts of COVID-19. On 8 July, my right hon. Friend, the Chancellor, announced measures across a range of targeted work-based training offers to support people to build the skills they need to get into work in all communities across the country. This amounts to investment of £1.6 billion in employment support schemes, which will substantially expand existing provision. This includes:
Over the course of this Parliament, we are also providing £2.5 billion (£3 billion when including Barnett funding for devolved administrations) for a new National Skills Fund to help people learn new skills and prepare for the economy of the future.
The government appreciates the importance of adult education to improving people’s life chances. We will continue to explore options within adult education and will be making decisions on where we may be able to introduce flexibilities to aid the Post-COVID recovery.
In areas where we have devolved the Adult Education Budget (AEB), it is for Mayoral Combined Authorities (MCAs) or the Greater London Authority (GLA) to determine funding arrangements for adult education for their residents. We do, however, appreciate the importance of sharing, and where appropriate, co-ordinating, responses to attempt to ensure that providers, of all types, do not have their funding disrupted as a result of COVID-19. We are continuing to keep MCAs and the GLA updated on our skills response to COVID-19 through weekly telekits.
Devolving the AEB enables MCAs to directly support adults in developing the skills that local employers need, reducing skills shortages, boosting productivity and economic prosperity and improving wellbeing in communities.
We have been working across government to build a package of support measures to boost skills among those who will be hardest hit by the labour market impacts of COVID-19. On 8 July, my right hon. Friend, the Chancellor, announced measures across a range of targeted work-based training offers to support people to build the skills they need to get into work in all communities across the country. This amounts to investment of £1.6 billion in employment support schemes, which will substantially expand existing provision. This includes:
Over the course of this Parliament, we are also providing £2.5 billion (£3 billion when including Barnett funding for devolved administrations) for a new National Skills Fund to help people learn new skills and prepare for the economy of the future.
The government appreciates the importance of adult education to improving people’s life chances. We will continue to explore options within adult education and will be making decisions on where we may be able to introduce flexibilities to aid the Post-COVID recovery.
In areas where we have devolved the Adult Education Budget (AEB), it is for Mayoral Combined Authorities (MCAs) or the Greater London Authority (GLA) to determine funding arrangements for adult education for their residents. We do, however, appreciate the importance of sharing, and where appropriate, co-ordinating, responses to attempt to ensure that providers, of all types, do not have their funding disrupted as a result of COVID-19. We are continuing to keep MCAs and the GLA updated on our skills response to COVID-19 through weekly telekits.
Devolving the AEB enables MCAs to directly support adults in developing the skills that local employers need, reducing skills shortages, boosting productivity and economic prosperity and improving wellbeing in communities.
We want to make the skills systems more responsive to employer skill needs both locally and nationally and we have been working with employers in all sectors including those in the green economy sector to jointly design and deliver policies and programmes to do this.
This includes key reforms to apprenticeships, making them longer, better, with more off-the job training and proper assessment at the end. With employers in control of developing standards, they can be assured that apprentices will get the skills employers need. There are range of apprenticeships standards in the Agriculture, Environmental and Animal Care pathway such as Crop Technicians, Forest Operatives, Ecologists and Environmental practitioner, which is used by employers of all types seeking to promote sustainable growth.
We are also making technical education more responsive to the needs of communities and employers, with the introduction of T Levels this September, proposals to reform higher technical education and investment in Institutes of Technology – flagship providers that will help to drive regional growth in key areas like engineering and advanced manufacturing and meeting higher level technical skills needs.
The urgent local and national response to COVID-19 has delayed launching the Care Review. The government is committed to undertaking the review at the earliest opportunity. The review will be bold, broad and independently led, taking a fundamental look across children’s social care, with the aim of better supporting, protecting and improving the outcomes of vulnerable children and young people.
The primary function of the Children’s Commissioner for England is promoting and protecting the rights of children in England and by extension of that, the Commissioner has a part to play in issues that affect families. This is a key role for protecting children’s rights, particularly the most vulnerable, and the recruitment of a new Commissioner is a priority for the government.
Whilst the Family Test is primarily a tool to prompt policymakers to consider potential impacts on family functioning and relationships in a more holistic way, various considerations will be taken into account as part of the appointment process of identifying the most appropriate person to take on the role of the new Children’s Commissioner, which is a Significant Public Appointment.
In a Written Ministerial Statement on 12 February, my right hon. Friend, the Secretary of State for Education announced that the care review would be independently led, with a broad and bold scope to support a fundamental look across children’s social care. We continue to develop the review and are committed to undertaking it at the earliest opportunity. This includes considering the review’s scope, which will be developed alongside the independent leadership of the review. We will confirm this in due course. The Written Ministerial Statement is attached and is also available at the following link: https://www.parliament.uk/business/publications/written-questions-answers-statements/written-statement/Commons/2020-02-12/HCWS110/.
We anticipate that the review will engage with a wide range of stakeholders including those involved with delivering local services and those with experience of using them.
The government is clear that the needs of the child are paramount when making decisions about care placements. The child’s safety, suitability and the quality of a child’s placement in care is our priority. As at 31 March and 31 August 2019, 92% of Independent Fostering Agencies and 82% of the active and inspected private children’s homes were judged good or outstanding by Ofsted. We believe that a mix of provision can provide quality and increase placement options for local authorities.
The government is taking action to support local authorities in the provision of high quality social care. This includes investing part of our £200 million Children’s Social Care Innovation programme in three projects to improve the supply of placements, and investing an extra £1 billion of new funding for adult and children’s social care to support local authorities meet the rising demand and protect the most vulnerable in society. We have also committed to reviewing the system, so children receive the best possible care.