Asked by: Baroness Meacher (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of the level of compliance with the School Admissions Code across all schools, especially in the light of the report by the Fair Admissions Campaign and the British Humanist Association, <i>An Unholy Mess</i>, that claimed a widespread failure to comply among religiously selective schools in England.
Answered by Lord Nash
The Department will be conducting a full public consultation in due course and will give careful consideration to all the views expressed in that consultation as part of the current review of the School Admissions Code. In addition, the Schools Adjudicator reports annually to the Secretary of State on fair access. The Department is therefore also taking account of the Adjudicator’s report for the 2014 -2015 school year.
Asked by: Baroness Meacher (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government what percentage of objections submitted to the Office of the Schools Adjudicator by secularist campaign groups were upheld in the period from 2012 to 2015.
Answered by Lord Nash
Since 2012, 87% of all objections submitted to the Office of the Schools Adjudicator by secularist campaign groups were upheld or partially upheld. The Office of the Schools Adjudicator Annual Report contains data about the objections referred to the OSA and the outcome of those objections.
Asked by: Baroness Meacher (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of comments be the Chief Executive of Mumsnet stating that the Department for Education's proposal to prevent organisations from objecting to the admission arrangements of schools will "add to parental dissatisfaction".
Answered by Lord Nash
The Government’s proposed changes are designed to make sure that the Schools Adjudicator can concentrate on parental complaints. We want to ensure that the Adjudicator is able to focus on any concerns which parents may have about the fairness of the admission arrangements of their local school and that the Adjudicator is not held up by the need to consider objections referred by interest groups from outside the area.
The changes are still subject to a full public consultation and the Department will give careful consideration to all the views expressed in that consultation.
Asked by: Baroness Meacher (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of how many breaches of the School Admissions Code there have been as a consequence of groups and organisations being able to object to schools' admission arrangements.
Answered by Lord Nash
The Schools Adjudicator reports annually to the Secretary of State on fair access, and this report includes information on the objections referred to the Schools Adjudicator and the outcomes of those objections. The Department is carefully considering the findings contained in the report and will take these into account, along with other relevant information, as part of the current review of the School Admissions Code.
Asked by: Baroness Meacher (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of the impact that preventing groups and organisations from objecting to school admissions arrangements will have on overall levels of compliance with the School Admissions Code.
Answered by Lord Nash
The Government’s proposed changes are intended to ensure that the Adjudicator is able to focus on any concerns which parents may have about the fairness of the admission arrangements of their local school, and that adjudications are not delayed by the need to consider large numbers of objections referred by interest groups from outside the area.
The Department does not believe that preventing other organisations from submitting objections will have a detrimental impact. The Government will be conducting a full public consultation in due course and will give careful consideration to all the views expressed in that consultation.
Asked by: Baroness Meacher (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government how they define "vexatious" in relation to the objections submitted to the Office of the Schools Adjudicator by secularist campaigning groups over the last two years.
Answered by Lord Nash
On 25 January 2016, the Secretary of State announced changes to the school admissions code, in order to give parents more of a say in the school admissions process so they can be confident the system works for them.
The Government proposes that only local parents and local authorities should be able to refer objections about a school’s admissions arrangements to the Schools Adjudicator. The Government wants to ensure that the Adjudicator is able to focus on any concerns which parents may have about the fairness of the admission arrangements of their local school, and that adjudications are not held up by the need to consider large numbers of objections referred by interest groups from outside the area.
The Department will conduct a full public consultation in due course and will give careful consideration to all the views expressed in that consultation.
Asked by: Baroness Meacher (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask Her Majesty's Government upon what evidence they have based their proposals to outsource children's services to private firms.
Answered by Lord Nash
The Children and Young Persons Act 2008 (CYPA) allowed some local authorities to contract out looked after children and care leaver functions for a five-year pilot period. As a result, small autonomous practitioner-led organisations (Social Work Practices) were encouraged to develop. Between 2008 and 2012, 15 local authorities were involved in the pilot to create more tailored social work approaches.
The evaluation of Social Work Practices identified evidence of positive change through delegated arrangements for looked after children and care leavers. As a result, in November 2013, the freedoms in the CYPA were extended to all local authorities.
Staffordshire County Council have also recently received a ‘good' rating from Ofsted under the new single inspection framework, which included the social work practice 'Evolve YP'.
Some local authorities have asked the Government to extend these freedoms to other areas of children's social care. The current proposals will encourage greater innovative approaches for all local authorities to take the step from adequate or good children's services to excellent ones. The consultation on these proposals closed on 30 May and the Government is currently considering the responses.
Asked by: Baroness Meacher (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask Her Majesty's Government whether they support the recommendations of the Munro Review of Child Protection; and how the Review's recommendations will be reflected in their plans.
Answered by Lord Nash
The Government is committed to promoting the welfare of children and protecting them from harm. The Government published its response to the Munro Review of Child Protection in July 2011, shortly after the publication of Professor Munro's final report. That response accepted Professor Munro's argument that the child protection system has lost its focus on the things that matter most: the views and experiences of children themselves. It also set out the Government's plans for implementation.
Of the fifteen recommendations made by Professor Munro, eleven have been implemented in full, including:
Substantial progress is being made on implementing the other key recommendations, including supporting local areas in the redesign of their social work practice. In respect of Professor Munro's recommendation on introducing a duty to secure provision of early help services, the Government has concluded there is sufficient legislation in place to deliver early help services to children and families. We are continuing to work with sector partners to reinforce existing legislation and understand how early help offers in local areas can be improved.
Asked by: Baroness Meacher (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask Her Majesty's Government how they plan to respond to concerns expressed by the leaders of the social care profession that profit-making companies should not determine sensitive family matters.
Answered by Lord Nash
The Government's proposals regarding the delegation of children's social care functions would enable local authorities to delegate children's social care functions to a third party. The intention is to broaden the range of approaches available to secure the best outcomes for children in their area. The proposals do not oblige local authorities to delegate any functions and do not remove responsibilities from local authorities for ensuring their statutory obligations on child protection and children's social care are met.
The consultation on the proposals closed on Friday 30 May and the Government is currently considering the responses.