Asked by: Baroness Morgan of Huyton (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask His Majesty's Government how many children deemed to be at risk of abuse or neglect are home schooled.
Answered by Baroness Smith of Malvern - Minister of State (Education)
All parents have a legal responsibility to ensure their child receives a suitable, full-time education. While the vast majority of parents send their children to school, they have the right to choose to educate their child at home. While home education is not a safeguarding risk in itself, school can be a protective factor for children who are at risk of harm.
From October 2022, the department has collected termly data from local authorities on their home education cohorts. The most recent data was published on 12 December and records 111,700 children as home educated as of the autumn 2024 census day. 1% of elective home education children were recorded as a child in need, while 0.5% were recorded as having a child protection plan and under 0.5% were a looked after child. This compares with 3% children in need, 0.4% having a child protection plan and 0.7% looked after children amongst the overall child population. The department’s latest data is available at: https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/find-statistics/elective-home-education.
Every child deserves to grow up in a safe and loving home. As part of the Children’s Wellbeing and School Bill, introduced in Parliament on 17 December, the government will introduce compulsory Children Not in School registers in every local authority in England. These measures will help local authorities to identify all children not in school in their areas, including those at risk of harm, and to take action where this is the case.
As part of that Bill, we are also taking steps to require parents of some of our most vulnerable children to obtain local authority consent before they can move to home education. This will apply to children who are subject to ongoing enquiries under section 47 of the Children Act 2004, children who have a child protection plan, and children who are attending a special school. Where those children are already being educated at home, local authorities will be able to consider whether that is in their best interests and to assess the suitability of their home learning environment. If that leads to a determination that home education is not in the child’s best interests, the local authority will be able to issue a school attendance order.
Asked by: Baroness Morgan of Huyton (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask His Majesty's Government what plans they have to introduce a register of children schooled at home.
Answered by Baroness Smith of Malvern - Minister of State (Education)
All parents have a legal responsibility to ensure their child receives a suitable, full-time education. While the vast majority of parents send their children to school, they have the right to choose to educate their child at home. While home education is not a safeguarding risk in itself, school can be a protective factor for children who are at risk of harm.
From October 2022, the department has collected termly data from local authorities on their home education cohorts. The most recent data was published on 12 December and records 111,700 children as home educated as of the autumn 2024 census day. 1% of elective home education children were recorded as a child in need, while 0.5% were recorded as having a child protection plan and under 0.5% were a looked after child. This compares with 3% children in need, 0.4% having a child protection plan and 0.7% looked after children amongst the overall child population. The department’s latest data is available at: https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/find-statistics/elective-home-education.
Every child deserves to grow up in a safe and loving home. As part of the Children’s Wellbeing and School Bill, introduced in Parliament on 17 December, the government will introduce compulsory Children Not in School registers in every local authority in England. These measures will help local authorities to identify all children not in school in their areas, including those at risk of harm, and to take action where this is the case.
As part of that Bill, we are also taking steps to require parents of some of our most vulnerable children to obtain local authority consent before they can move to home education. This will apply to children who are subject to ongoing enquiries under section 47 of the Children Act 2004, children who have a child protection plan, and children who are attending a special school. Where those children are already being educated at home, local authorities will be able to consider whether that is in their best interests and to assess the suitability of their home learning environment. If that leads to a determination that home education is not in the child’s best interests, the local authority will be able to issue a school attendance order.
Asked by: Baroness Morgan of Huyton (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what plans they have to meet the needs of (1) vulnerable, and (2) disadvantaged, children during the summer holidays.
Answered by Baroness Berridge
Due to the unprecedented nature of the COVID-19 outbreak, we know there is increased pressure on household budgets, and we recognise families will face particular challenges over the coming months. That is why we are providing additional funding for the Covid Summer Food Fund which will enable children who are eligible for benefits-related free school meals to be supported over the school holiday period. We will publish guidance shortly.
The Holiday Activities and Food scheme are integral to our approach to provide support to children over the summer. It will ensure thousands of disadvantaged children have access to healthy meals and holiday activities in summer 2020, building on the success of the 2018 and 2019 programmes. We remain committed to supporting children and families through the disruption caused by the COVID-19 outbreak.
This government will always put the care and safety of vulnerable children first, especially at this time as they face unique challenges due to COVID-19. The £12 million package announced in April will support vulnerable children most at risk of neglect, violence or exploitation during the COVID-19 outbreak.
More than £7 million will also fund the launch of the See, Hear, Respond service, to provide targeted help to vulnerable children, young people and their families affected by COVID-19 and the measures put in place to stop its spread. The coalition, led by Barnardo’s, will work alongside local authorities, schools and colleges, police forces, healthcare professionals and other vital services involved in protecting these children.
Asked by: Baroness Morgan of Huyton (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what plans they have to fund catch-up educational provision, especially for disadvantaged pupils, following the COVID-19 pandemic; and which team within the Department for Education will be working on this.
Answered by Baroness Berridge
So far, we have committed over £100 million to support remote education. As plans continue for a full return to education from September, we have announced a £1 billion COVID-19 “catch-up” package to directly tackle the impact of lost teaching time.
£650 million will be shared across state primary and secondary schools over the 2020/21 academic year. This one-off grant to support pupils recognises that all young people have lost time in education as a result of the COVID-19 outbreak, regardless of their income or background.
Whilst school leaders will decide how it is used, the intention is that this money will be spent on the most effective interventions. On 19 June the Education Endowment Foundation published a guide to help school leaders and staff decide how to use this universal funding to best support their pupils, which is available here: https://educationendowmentfoundation.org.uk/public/files/Publications/Covid-19_Resources/Covid-19_support_guide_for_schools.pdf
Separately, a National Tutoring Programme, worth £350 million, will increase access to high-quality tuition for the most disadvantaged young people. This will help accelerate their academic progress and tackle the attainment gap between them and their peers.
This £1 billion package is on top of the £14.4 billion three-year funding settlement announced last year - recognising the additional work schools will need to do to help students to catch up.
Asked by: Baroness Morgan of Huyton (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what plans they have to allocate extra funding for (1) mentors, (2) graduate tutors offering one-to-one tuition, and (3) other educational resources, following the COVID-19 pandemic.
Answered by Baroness Berridge
We will do whatever we can to ensure no child, whatever their background or location, falls behind as a result of the COVID-19 outbreak. So far, we have committed over £100 million to support remote education. We are providing laptops and tablets to vulnerable and disadvantaged children who would otherwise not have access and are preparing for examinations in year 10, and to those receiving support from a social worker, including pre-school children, or and are a care leavers. Where care leavers, children with a social worker at secondary school and disadvantaged children in year 10 do not have internet connections, we will be providing 4G wireless routers to them so that they can learn at home. We are also ensuring every school that needs it has access to free, expert technical support to get set up on Google for Education or Microsoft’s Office 365 Education, and offering peer support through the EdTech Demonstrator schools programme - with leading schools and colleges helping others to make the best use of available technology to teach pupils remotely.
As plans continue for a full return to education from September, we have announced a £1 billion COVD-19 “catch-up” package to directly tackle the impact of lost teaching time.
£650 million will be shared across state primary and secondary schools over the 2020/21 academic year. This one-off grant to support pupils recognises that all young people have lost time in education as a result of the pandemic, regardless of their income or background.
Whilst school leaders will decide how it is used, the intention is that this money will be spent on the most effective interventions. On 19 June the Education Endowment Foundation published a guide to help school leaders and staff decide how to use this universal funding to best support their pupils, which is available here: https://educationendowmentfoundation.org.uk/public/files/Publications/Covid-19_Resources/Covid-19_support_guide_for_schools.pdf.
Separately, a National Tutoring Programme, worth £350 million, will increase access to high-quality tuition for the most disadvantaged young people. This will help accelerate their academic progress and tackle the attainment gap between them and their peers.
As well as announcing the biggest funding increase for schools in a decade, raising current levels by £14.4 billion over the next three years, we continue to pay schools quarterly additional funding worth £2.4 billion through the pupil premium to help them support their disadvantaged pupils. Since April 2020, pupil premium per-pupil rates are the highest ever.
Asked by: Baroness Morgan of Huyton (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what plans, if any, they have to provide summer schemes for children, especially in areas with high levels of youth crime.
Answered by Baroness Berridge
Due to the unprecedented nature of the COVID-19 outbreak, we know there is increased pressure on household budgets, and we recognise families will face particular challenges over the coming months. That is why we are providing additional funding for the Covid Summer Food Fund which will enable children who are eligible for benefits-related free school meals to be supported over the school holiday period. We will publish guidance shortly.
The Holiday Activities and Food scheme are integral to our approach to provide support to children over the summer. It will ensure thousands of disadvantaged children have access to healthy meals and holiday activities in summer 2020, building on the success of the 2018 and 2019 programmes. We remain committed to supporting children and families through the disruption caused by the COVID-19 outbreak.
This government will always put the care and safety of vulnerable children first, especially at this time as they face unique challenges due to COVID-19. The £12 million package announced in April will support vulnerable children most at risk of neglect, violence or exploitation during the COVID-19 outbreak.
More than £7 million will also fund the launch of the See, Hear, Respond service, to provide targeted help to vulnerable children, young people and their families affected by COVID-19 and the measures put in place to stop its spread. The coalition, led by Barnardo’s, will work alongside local authorities, schools and colleges, police forces, healthcare professionals and other vital services involved in protecting these children.
Asked by: Baroness Morgan of Huyton (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what help they have arranged for school-aged young carers who cannot attend schools because they are self-isolating with parents who have vulnerable conditions.
Answered by Baroness Berridge
Ensuring that vulnerable children and young people, including young carers, are protected and supported is a top priority for this government. That is why we have included young carers as a target group for our new See, Hear, Respond service. It will provide a range of support, including online counselling or therapy, and will help identify children who would most benefit from extra support so that they can reintegrate into school in September. In addition, the government will shortly be publishing advice for young people with caring responsibilities, which will include information and guidance on how and where they can get help and support, including for those who cannot currently attend school.
We are committed to ensuring that any pupil who cannot yet return to school continues to learn at home. Schools know their pupils best, including those with caring responsibilities, and we have been clear that school leaders should use their resources, particularly pupil premium funding, to support pupils who have particular needs because of their home circumstances. This will include young carers and pupils who have a social worker. We are working with a range of partners, including the Education Endowment Foundation, to explore how schools can best help their disadvantaged pupils to make up lost ground. Our latest guidance on remote education during the COVID-19 outbreak is available here:
https://www.gov.uk/guidance/remote-education-during-coronavirus-covid-19.
The government has committed over £100 million to support children to access remote education, including by providing laptops, tablets and 4G wireless routers. We have ordered laptops and tablets for children who would otherwise not have access and are preparing for examination in year 10, those receiving support from a social worker or are a care leaver. We are providing over 50,000 4G wireless routers to disadvantaged children with a social worker in secondary school, care leavers and children in year 10 who do not have access to a suitable internet connection through other means. We are also ensuring every school that needs it has access to free, expert technical support to get set up on Google for Education or Microsoft’s Office 365 Education. We are offering peer support through the EdTech Demonstrator schools programme – with leading schools and colleges helping others to make the best use of available technology to teach pupils remotely.
The department is continuing to assess the potential impact of school closure on children and young people’s mental health and attainment. We are working closely with schools and colleges, sector organisations, the Department for Health and Social Care, NHS England and Public Health England to understand the risks to academic attainment, mental health and wellbeing and identify the children and young people that may need support.
Asked by: Baroness Morgan of Huyton (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask Her Majesty's Government how many (1) vulnerable, and (2) disadvantaged, pupils are not currently attending school.
Answered by Baroness Berridge
The closest matching available data on the attendance of vulnerable children in educational establishments since 23 March was published on Tuesday 16 June at the following link and covers data up to Thursday 11 June:
https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/coronavirus-covid-19-attendance-in-education-and-early-years-settings.
The data is collected from individual education establishments and the published figures include estimates for non-response.
We do not currently hold attendance statistics for the number of pupils who are classed as disadvantaged.
The attendance of children with an education, health and care plan should be based on an individual risk assessment, carried out and regularly reviewed to judge whether they are best supported at school or at home at this time. Attendance may not be appropriate for some children, including because of health considerations for them and their family. Full guidance on the definition of vulnerable children and expectations around attendance is available at:
https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/coronavirus-covid-19-guidance-on-vulnerable-children-and-young-people/coronavirus-covid-19-guidance-on-vulnerable-children-and-young-people.
Asked by: Baroness Morgan of Huyton (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask Her Majesty's Government to whom schools report if a pupil is taken off-roll to be home-schooled.
Answered by Lord Agnew of Oulton
Parents have a duty to ensure that their children of compulsory school age are receiving suitable full-time education. Some parents may elect to educate their children at home and may withdraw them from school at any time, unless they are subject to a school attendance order.
Where a parent notifies the school, in writing, that they are home educating, the school must delete the child’s name from the admission register and inform the local council. Schools must notify the local council when a pupil’s name is to be removed from the admission register, at a non-standard transition point, as soon as the grounds for removal is met and no later than the time at which the pupil’s name is removed from the register. If parents orally indicate that they intend to withdraw their child to be home educated, the school should consider notifying the local council at the earliest opportunity.
Asked by: Baroness Morgan of Huyton (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask Her Majesty's Government whether Ofsted asks schools about pupils who have been removed from the school roll to be home-schooled.
Answered by Lord Agnew of Oulton
This is a matter for Her Majesty’s Chief Inspector, Amanda Spielman. I have asked her to write to the hon. Member and a copy of her reply will be placed in the Libraries of both Houses.