Question to the Department for Education:

To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to support local authorities to provide sufficient school places and support services for migrant children entering the education system.

Answered by Baroness Smith of Malvern - Minister of State (Education)

All children of compulsory school age in England, including migrant children, must receive a suitable full-time education. Any parent, including parents of migrant children, can, at any time, apply for a place for their child at any school through the relevant admission authority. Where a parent is struggling to secure a school place in-year, they can contact their local authority for support.

Paragraph 3.14 of the Schools Admissions Code requires every local authority to have a Fair Access Protocol in place. This ensures that vulnerable children, including refugees and asylum seekers, and those who are having difficulty securing a school place in-year, are allocated a school place as quickly as possible, minimising the time the child is out of school.

Guidance on school applications for foreign national children is available to schools, local authorities and parents. This guidance can be accessed here: https://www.gov.uk/guidance/schools-admissions-applications-from-overseas-children.

As set out in the Kings Speech, in the Children’s Wellbeing Bill, the department is planning to legislate on requiring all schools to cooperate with the local authority on school admissions and place planning matters, and to ensure admissions decisions account for the needs of communities.

Local authorities also have legal duties to ensure sufficient school places. The department provides capital funding through the Basic Need grant to support local authorities in providing additional school places. We carefully target funding at areas with need, based upon data supplied by local authorities themselves, reflecting their local knowledge of all the drivers of pupil numbers in their areas, such as birth rates, housing developments and inward andoutward migration both from within the UK and overseas.

Nearly £1.5 billion of Basic Need capital allocations have been confirmed to support local authorities to create school places needed over the current and following two academic years, up to and including the academic year starting in September 2026. Local authorities’ allocations are in the attachment and published here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/basic-need-allocations.

The department’s Pupil Place Planning Advisor team also engages with councils on a regular basis to review their plans for creating additional places and to consider alternatives where necessary. When local authorities are experiencing difficulties, we support them to find solutions as quickly as possible. Where local authorities are failing in their duty, the government will intervene.

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to standardise and simplify the in-year school admissions process, to ensure that newly arrived migrant and refugee children can access education promptly.

Answered by Baroness Smith of Malvern - Minister of State (Education)

All children of compulsory school age in England, including migrant children, must receive a suitable full-time education. Any parent, including parents of migrant children, can, at any time, apply for a place for their child at any school through the relevant admission authority. Where a parent is struggling to secure a school place in-year, they can contact their local authority for support.

Paragraph 3.14 of the Schools Admissions Code requires every local authority to have a Fair Access Protocol in place. This ensures that vulnerable children, including refugees and asylum seekers, and those who are having difficulty securing a school place in-year, are allocated a school place as quickly as possible, minimising the time the child is out of school.

Guidance on school applications for foreign national children is available to schools, local authorities and parents. This guidance can be accessed here: https://www.gov.uk/guidance/schools-admissions-applications-from-overseas-children.

As set out in the Kings Speech, in the Children’s Wellbeing Bill, the department is planning to legislate on requiring all schools to cooperate with the local authority on school admissions and place planning matters, and to ensure admissions decisions account for the needs of communities.

Local authorities also have legal duties to ensure sufficient school places. The department provides capital funding through the Basic Need grant to support local authorities in providing additional school places. We carefully target funding at areas with need, based upon data supplied by local authorities themselves, reflecting their local knowledge of all the drivers of pupil numbers in their areas, such as birth rates, housing developments and inward andoutward migration both from within the UK and overseas.

Nearly £1.5 billion of Basic Need capital allocations have been confirmed to support local authorities to create school places needed over the current and following two academic years, up to and including the academic year starting in September 2026. Local authorities’ allocations are in the attachment and published here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/basic-need-allocations.

The department’s Pupil Place Planning Advisor team also engages with councils on a regular basis to review their plans for creating additional places and to consider alternatives where necessary. When local authorities are experiencing difficulties, we support them to find solutions as quickly as possible. Where local authorities are failing in their duty, the government will intervene.

Question to the Home Office:

To ask His Majesty's Government what plans they have, if any, to expand the eligibility criteria for family reunion for individuals in Sudan with family ties to the UK.

Answered by Lord Hanson of Flint - Minister of State (Home Office)

We do not have any such plans. Existing rules for family reunion and details on how to apply:

If you were separated from your partner or child when you were forced to leave your country, they can apply to join you in the UK.

Your family members can apply if you have been given asylum or 5 years’ humanitarian protection, and not have British citizenship.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask His Majesty's Government how many (1) disabled, and (2) older people, charged by their local authority for statutory non-residential social care and support have cut back or withdrawn from their care package since 2020–21; and what data they hold on the reasons for care package reduction and withdrawal.

Answered by Baroness Merron - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)

Where local authorities decide to charge for the provision of care and support, they must follow the Care Act 2014 and the Care and Support (Charging and Assessment of Resources) Regulations 2014, and they must act under the Care and Support Statutory Guidance. The responsibility for interpreting and applying the law and the guidance rests with local authorities. The information requested is not held by the Government.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask His Majesty's Government what information they hold, if any, on (1) which local authorities in England use external civil enforcement for the recovery of social care charge-related debt in cases other than in claims against estates and cases of convicted fraud, and (2) which local authorities in England disregard higher-rate disability benefits as chargeable income in the financial assessment of residents for non-residential social care contributions.

Answered by Baroness Merron - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)

Where local authorities decide to charge for the provision of care and support, they must follow the Care Act 2014 and the Care and Support (Charging and Assessment of Resources) Regulations 2014, and they must act under the Care and Support Statutory Guidance. The responsibility for interpreting and applying the law and the guidance rests with local authorities. The information requested is not held by the Government.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask His Majesty's Government what percentage of non-residential social care contributions income raised in 2023–24 by each local authority in England with responsibility for social care provision was collected.

Answered by Baroness Merron - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)

Where local authorities decide to charge for the provision of care and support, they must follow the Care Act 2014 and the Care and Support (Charging and Assessment of Resources) Regulations 2014, and they must act under the Care and Support Statutory Guidance. The responsibility for interpreting and applying the law and the guidance rests with local authorities. The information requested is not held by the Government.

Found: Asylum Support (Prescribed Period) Bill [HL] is a private member’s bill introduced by Baroness Lister of Burtersett

Found: Asylum Support (Prescribed Period) Bill [HL] is a private member’s bill introduced by Baroness Lister of Burtersett