Asked by: Baroness Whitaker (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask Her Majesty's Government, further to the report by Ofsted COVID-19 series: briefing on early years, October 2020, published on 10 November, what plans they have to support children in early years settings whose communication and language skills have fallen behind since the first COVID-19 national lockdown.
Answered by Baroness Berridge
In response to the COVID-19 outbreak, we are spending up to £9 million of the National Tutoring Programme fund, in the 2020/21 academic year, on the Nuffield Early Language Intervention, a robustly evidenced programme proven to improve oral language skills in the reception year.
The recent Spending Review has confirmed that the department will fund further expansion of an evidence-based reception year early language programme in the 2021/22 academic year.
We are also investing £20 million in a high-quality professional development programme for early years practitioners to drive up standards in maths, early language, and literacy amongst pre-reception children in disadvantaged areas of 51 local authorities.
Additionally, over 3,000 early adopter schools are implementing the reforms to the Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS) from September 2020, ahead of statutory roll out in September 2021. 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. Further information on the early adopter EYFS framework can be accessed here: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/896810/EYFS_Early_Adopter_Framework.pdf.
Asked by: Baroness Whitaker (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what is their expected timetable for implementing the Council of Europe Committee of Ministers’ recommendation of 1 July that the governments of Member States should include Roma and Travellers’ history in school curricula and teaching materials.
Answered by Baroness Berridge
The history curriculum gives teachers and schools the freedom to use specific examples from history to teach pupils about the history of Britain and the wider world.
Gypsy, Roma and Travellers’ history can already be taught as part of schools offering a broad and balanced curriculum. Resources are available from experts in the communities themselves and bodies such as the Historical Association.
As part of Holocaust education, a wide array of resources are available to help teachers explain the persecution by the Nazis of different groups of people. The Holocaust Educational Trust’s Lessons from Auschwitz programme and the knowledge and training provided by the Centre for Holocaust Education include information and resources to support an understanding of the Holocaust and the Nazi’s persecution of other non-Jewish groups including the genocide of the Roma.
Asked by: Baroness Whitaker (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask Her Majesty's Government how they intend to apply the findings and recommendations of the report by the Social Mobility Commission Apprenticeships and social mobility: fulfilling potential, published on 24 June, to members of Gypsy, Traveller and Roma communities.
Answered by Baroness Berridge
Apprenticeships are an excellent way to access a wide range of rewarding careers and offer considerable value to individuals. We welcome the Social Mobility Commission’s finding that apprenticeships boost employment and reduce the gap in earnings between people from disadvantaged and non-disadvantaged backgrounds.
We are supporting employers, apprentices and training providers during this challenging time, and we remain committed to ensuring that high-quality apprenticeship opportunities are as accessible as possible to all people from all backgrounds, including young people from Gypsy, Traveller and Roma communities. We have worked with some of the country’s most influential employers through our Apprenticeship Diversity Champions Network to promote best practice in recruiting and supporting apprentices from diverse backgrounds. Our Apprenticeships Support and Knowledge programme also supports schools across England to provide disadvantaged students with information on apprenticeships.
We are committed to levelling up opportunity across the country. We are focused on how we can make sure more people and businesses can take advantage of apprenticeships in the future, especially small and medium sized businesses in disadvantaged areas. We continue to listen to employers, providers and apprentices, to see how we can build on our reforms so that they continue to support people from all backgrounds and the economy more broadly.
Asked by: Baroness Whitaker (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the number of Irish Traveller and Gypsy and Roma children being looked after in care rising from 50 in total in 2009 to 540 in total in 2019; and what data they hold about (1) the reasons for referrals of such children, (2) the agencies making such referrals, and (3) whether such children have had prior contact with social care departments.
Answered by Baroness Berridge
Working Together to Safeguard Children is clear that local areas should have a comprehensive range of effective, evidence-based services in place to address assessed needs. Local authorities have the freedom to decide these services based on local priorities and the needs of families in their area.
The department holds data on children who are looked after (CLA) by primary category of need, which is the main reason the child is looked after, but not necessarily the sole reason. More detail on the reason for referrals children to social services will have been obtained at the point of referral and assessment and this data is collected in the Children in Need (CIN) census. Information on 2) the agencies making referrals and on 3) whether children have had prior contact with social care departments is also collected within the CIN census.
The information requested is not readily available and could only be obtained at disproportionate cost. Due to the way in which the data is held, the department would not be able to provide the detailed information on 1) above and the information requested for 2) and 3) above without exceeding the cost threshold applicable to central government. In order to provide the required data, we would need to create new datasets and methodologies for matching CIN assessment data to CLA data.
Asked by: Baroness Whitaker (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the report by the Traveller Movement Barriers in education—young Travellers in London, in particular of its findings that (1) 40 per cent of Traveller students experienced bullying by other pupils, and (2) 67 per cent of such students experienced bullying by teachers.
Answered by Baroness Berridge
We welcome the report by the Traveller Movement, along with their contribution through the Department for Education’s Gypsy, Roma and Traveller stakeholder group, and recognise the issues the report raises.
Bullying of any kind, including that based on anti-Gypsyism, is unacceptable in any setting – the government is committed to eradicating it. Every young person deserves the opportunity to progress and fulfil their potential, regardless of their ethnic background, and to do so in an environment free from fear, prejudice or hate.
All schools are required by law to have a behaviour policy that outlines measures to encourage good behaviour and prevent all forms of bullying amongst pupils. A culture of good behaviour in school is critical to enabling pupils to fulfil their potential. We are continuing to support schools to create disciplined and safe environments.
Under the Equalities Act 2010, schools are under a duty take steps to eliminate harassment, foster good relations, and advance equality of opportunity. Ofsted looks at how a school complies with its statutory duties and promotes equality of opportunity, and holds schools to account for anti-Gypsyism or other behaviour issues.
Asked by: Baroness Whitaker (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what progress they have made on the commitment to legislate to strengthen Ofsted's powers in relation to unregistered schools made in their Integrated Communities Action Plan, published in February 2019.
Answered by Baroness Berridge
My right hon. Friend, the Secretary of State for Education, remains committed to legislate in order to strengthen Ofsted’s powers in relation to its investigation of unregistered independent schools. We are working closely with Ofsted to clarify what those enhanced powers will look like so that anyone found to be running an illegal school complies with the law or is prosecuted and that these settings close.
On 14 February, we announced that we would be increasing our funding to Ofsted to build upon and expand its work in tackling and investigating unregistered independent schools successfully and preparing cases for prosecution. In 2016, we established a joint team with Ofsted to tackle unregistered schools. Between 1 January 2016 and 31 August 2019, Ofsted has undertaken 362 inspections of 293 suspected unregistered independent schools – 83 settings were issued with a warning notice and Ofsted made sure 72 of these stopped operating illegally. There have also been three successful prosecutions.
We have recently issued two section 128 barring directions to individuals convicted of operating an unregistered independent school and will continue to pursue further barring directions where it is deemed appropriate.
Asked by: Baroness Whitaker (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what powers they intend to give Ofsted to support inspectors to (1) investigate, (2) prosecute, and (3) close, unregistered schools.
Answered by Baroness Berridge
My right hon. Friend, the Secretary of State for Education, remains committed to legislate in order to strengthen Ofsted’s powers in relation to its investigation of unregistered independent schools. We are working closely with Ofsted to clarify what those enhanced powers will look like so that anyone found to be running an illegal school complies with the law or is prosecuted and that these settings close.
On 14 February, we announced that we would be increasing our funding to Ofsted to build upon and expand its work in tackling and investigating unregistered independent schools successfully and preparing cases for prosecution. In 2016, we established a joint team with Ofsted to tackle unregistered schools. Between 1 January 2016 and 31 August 2019, Ofsted has undertaken 362 inspections of 293 suspected unregistered independent schools – 83 settings were issued with a warning notice and Ofsted made sure 72 of these stopped operating illegally. There have also been three successful prosecutions.
We have recently issued two section 128 barring directions to individuals convicted of operating an unregistered independent school and will continue to pursue further barring directions where it is deemed appropriate.
Asked by: Baroness Whitaker (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask Her Majesty's Government when they will legislate to strengthen Ofsted's powers to (1) investigate, (2) prosecute, and (3) close, unregistered schools.
Answered by Baroness Berridge
My right hon. Friend, the Secretary of State for Education, remains committed to legislate in order to strengthen Ofsted’s powers in relation to its investigation of unregistered independent schools. We are working closely with Ofsted to clarify what those enhanced powers will look like so that anyone found to be running an illegal school complies with the law or is prosecuted and that these settings close.
On 14 February, we announced that we would be increasing our funding to Ofsted to build upon and expand its work in tackling and investigating unregistered independent schools successfully and preparing cases for prosecution. In 2016, we established a joint team with Ofsted to tackle unregistered schools. Between 1 January 2016 and 31 August 2019, Ofsted has undertaken 362 inspections of 293 suspected unregistered independent schools – 83 settings were issued with a warning notice and Ofsted made sure 72 of these stopped operating illegally. There have also been three successful prosecutions.
We have recently issued two section 128 barring directions to individuals convicted of operating an unregistered independent school and will continue to pursue further barring directions where it is deemed appropriate.
Asked by: Baroness Whitaker (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask Her Majesty's Government how they will ensure that providers found guilty of running unregistered schools are prevented from doing so again in future.
Answered by Baroness Berridge
My right hon. Friend, the Secretary of State for Education, remains committed to legislate in order to strengthen Ofsted’s powers in relation to its investigation of unregistered independent schools. We are working closely with Ofsted to clarify what those enhanced powers will look like so that anyone found to be running an illegal school complies with the law or is prosecuted and that these settings close.
On 14 February, we announced that we would be increasing our funding to Ofsted to build upon and expand its work in tackling and investigating unregistered independent schools successfully and preparing cases for prosecution. In 2016, we established a joint team with Ofsted to tackle unregistered schools. Between 1 January 2016 and 31 August 2019, Ofsted has undertaken 362 inspections of 293 suspected unregistered independent schools – 83 settings were issued with a warning notice and Ofsted made sure 72 of these stopped operating illegally. There have also been three successful prosecutions.
We have recently issued two section 128 barring directions to individuals convicted of operating an unregistered independent school and will continue to pursue further barring directions where it is deemed appropriate.
Asked by: Baroness Whitaker (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what steps they will take to address the findings in the Children’s Rights Alliance for England report on the State of Children’s Rights in England in 2018, in particular in respect of the proportion of Gypsy, Roma and Traveller children deprived in three or more dimensions of deprivation compared to the proportion of all other children.
Answered by Lord Agnew of Oulton
The government welcomes this report and we will continue to work with the Children’s Rights Alliance for England through the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child Action Group to promote the importance of children’s rights across the government.
Through the pupil premium, we are addressing low economic circumstances, which affects a high proportion of Gypsy, Roma and Traveller children. We have provided over £15 billion in pupil premium funding from April 2011 to March 2019 to help schools improve the progress and attainment of their disadvantaged pupils.
We are also focusing specifically on Gypsy, Roma and Travellers through a number of initiatives, including working with the communities in Opportunity Areas and prioritising Gypsy, Roma and Traveller young people in our £1.7 million investment in careers provision for disadvantaged young people. I am also very grateful to the noble Baroness Whitaker for chairing a new stakeholder group for my department aimed at ensuring that improvements to the whole school system take into account Gypsy, Roma and Traveller pupil needs.