Asked by: Earl of Effingham (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask His Majesty's Government how many children in England have or have had an Education, Health and Care Plan, for each year since 2015.
Answered by Baroness Smith of Malvern - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
The department publishes figures on the number of education, health and care (EHC) plans. This is available on GOV.UK and the table below.
Number of EHC plans | Number of statements of special educational need | |
2014/15 | 4,203 | 235,980 |
2015/16 | 74,209 | 182,106 |
2016/17 | 175,233 | 112,057 |
2017/18 | 285,722 | 34,097 |
2018/19 | 353,995 | 0 |
2019/20 | 390,109 | 0 |
2020/21 | 430,697 | 0 |
2021/22 | 473,255 | 0 |
2022/23 | 517,048 | 0 |
2023/24 | 576,474 | 0 |
2024/25 | 638,745 | 0 |
2025/26 | 718,838 | 0 |
EHC plans were introduced in 2014, with all statements of special educational need either converted to EHC plans, or ceasing, by the 2018/19 academic year.
Asked by: Earl of Effingham (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the principal causes of persistent absence from schools in England since the COVID-19 pandemic.
Answered by Baroness Smith of Malvern - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
Tackling absence is at the heart of the government’s mission to break down barriers to opportunity. The pandemic had a significant impact on attendance across the country, with persistent absence rates roughly doubling. Attendance has been improving year on year, though persistent absence remains above pre-pandemic levels.
The causes of persistent absence are complex and often overlapping. They include physical and mental ill health, special educational needs and disabilities, disadvantage, insecure housing, transport difficulties and other practical barriers.
Persistent absence is substantially higher among disadvantaged pupils. In the 2024/25 academic year, 32.35% of pupils eligible for free school meals were persistently absent, compared with 12.10% for pupils who are not eligible.
Absence also has a significant effect on attainment. Departmental analysis found that pupils who miss just 10 days in Year 11 have around half the odds of achieving grade 5 in English and mathematics compared with otherwise similar pupils. However, measures taken by the government and the sector are having an effect. In 2024/25 pupils attended over 5 million more days than in the previous year, and around 150,000 fewer children were persistently absent.
Asked by: Earl of Effingham (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the difference in persistent absence rates between disadvantaged pupils and other pupils in England.
Answered by Baroness Smith of Malvern - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
Tackling absence is at the heart of the government’s mission to break down barriers to opportunity. The pandemic had a significant impact on attendance across the country, with persistent absence rates roughly doubling. Attendance has been improving year on year, though persistent absence remains above pre-pandemic levels.
The causes of persistent absence are complex and often overlapping. They include physical and mental ill health, special educational needs and disabilities, disadvantage, insecure housing, transport difficulties and other practical barriers.
Persistent absence is substantially higher among disadvantaged pupils. In the 2024/25 academic year, 32.35% of pupils eligible for free school meals were persistently absent, compared with 12.10% for pupils who are not eligible.
Absence also has a significant effect on attainment. Departmental analysis found that pupils who miss just 10 days in Year 11 have around half the odds of achieving grade 5 in English and mathematics compared with otherwise similar pupils. However, measures taken by the government and the sector are having an effect. In 2024/25 pupils attended over 5 million more days than in the previous year, and around 150,000 fewer children were persistently absent.
Asked by: Earl of Effingham (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the effect of persistent absence from school on GCSE attainment in England.
Answered by Baroness Smith of Malvern - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
Tackling absence is at the heart of the government’s mission to break down barriers to opportunity. The pandemic had a significant impact on attendance across the country, with persistent absence rates roughly doubling. Attendance has been improving year on year, though persistent absence remains above pre-pandemic levels.
The causes of persistent absence are complex and often overlapping. They include physical and mental ill health, special educational needs and disabilities, disadvantage, insecure housing, transport difficulties and other practical barriers.
Persistent absence is substantially higher among disadvantaged pupils. In the 2024/25 academic year, 32.35% of pupils eligible for free school meals were persistently absent, compared with 12.10% for pupils who are not eligible.
Absence also has a significant effect on attainment. Departmental analysis found that pupils who miss just 10 days in Year 11 have around half the odds of achieving grade 5 in English and mathematics compared with otherwise similar pupils. However, measures taken by the government and the sector are having an effect. In 2024/25 pupils attended over 5 million more days than in the previous year, and around 150,000 fewer children were persistently absent.
Asked by: Earl of Effingham (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the effectiveness of measures introduced to reduce persistent absence from schools in England.
Answered by Baroness Smith of Malvern - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
Tackling absence is at the heart of the government’s mission to break down barriers to opportunity. The pandemic had a significant impact on attendance across the country, with persistent absence rates roughly doubling. Attendance has been improving year on year, though persistent absence remains above pre-pandemic levels.
The causes of persistent absence are complex and often overlapping. They include physical and mental ill health, special educational needs and disabilities, disadvantage, insecure housing, transport difficulties and other practical barriers.
Persistent absence is substantially higher among disadvantaged pupils. In the 2024/25 academic year, 32.35% of pupils eligible for free school meals were persistently absent, compared with 12.10% for pupils who are not eligible.
Absence also has a significant effect on attainment. Departmental analysis found that pupils who miss just 10 days in Year 11 have around half the odds of achieving grade 5 in English and mathematics compared with otherwise similar pupils. However, measures taken by the government and the sector are having an effect. In 2024/25 pupils attended over 5 million more days than in the previous year, and around 150,000 fewer children were persistently absent.
Asked by: Earl of Effingham (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask His Majesty's Government how many pupils were persistently absent from school in England for each academic year from 2018–19 to date.
Answered by Baroness Smith of Malvern - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
The department publishes figures from the school census on pupil absence in England. The latest data covers the academic year 2024/25 and is available on GOV.UK.
Published data for the percentage of pupils classified as persistent absentees (defined as missing 10% or more of possible sessions) since the 2018/19 academic year is shown below.
| Persistent absence rate | Number of persistent absentees |
2018/19 | 10.86% | 771,863 |
2019/20 | - | - |
2020/21 | 12.08% | 872,438 |
2021/22 | 22.51% | 1,643,876 |
2022/23 | 21.22% | 1,569,303 |
2023/24 | 19.95% | 1,487,022 |
2024/25 | 18.14% | 1,340,437 |
Source: School Census
Full-year absence statistics for 2019/20 were not published due to the disruption caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.
Asked by: Earl of Effingham (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the answer by Baroness Hayman of Ullock on 3 June (HL Deb col 839), by what date they intend to deliver the target of ensuring that everyone has access to green or blue spaces within a 15-minute walk of their home.
Answered by Baroness Hayman of Ullock - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
This Government remains committed to advancing its ambition that everyone should have access to green or blue space within a 15-minute walk of their home. As set out in the Environmental Improvement Plan 2025, this Government will deliver progress towards this objective over the course of this Parliament through a range of measures to improve access to nature.
These measures include creating nine new National River Walks, establishing three new National Forests, and publishing an Access to Nature Green Paper to explore further opportunities to enhance and expand access to green and blue spaces.
Asked by: Earl of Effingham (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the remarks by Baroness Blake of Leeds on 16 October (HL Deb col 81GC–84GC) and the Written Answer by Baroness Smith of Malvern on 5 November (HL11244), what steps they will take to continue to provide funding to the eight specialist music and dance schools through the Music and Dance Scheme beyond this academic year.
Answered by Baroness Smith of Malvern - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
As Baroness Blake of Leeds set out in the Question for Short Debate on 16 October (HL Deb col 81GC 84GC), the Music and Dance Scheme is a long-term commitment and future funding for the scheme beyond this academic year will be announced in due course.
Asked by: Earl of Effingham (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Business, Innovation, Science and Trade:
To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the answer by Lord Leong on 30 June (HL Deb col 550), which companies have contributed to the £100 billion of inward investment in this country, and in what amounts by company.
Answered by Baroness Gustafsson
Since taking Office, the Government has welcomed announcements of around £100bn in investment into the UK. Investments announced at the International Investment Summit are detailed on the Gov.UK website titled ‘The UK IIS Summit secures £63bn’ and recent investments into the UK can be found online under ‘Revamped OfI’.
The UK continues to attract major investments across its priority sectors. Recent announcements listed on Gov.UK include Lendlease, DP World, Universal, OCBC, MBDA, Vishay, JLR and Rolls Royce.
These figures and examples are announcements and, in many cases, do not yet represent actual realised investment into the UK.
Asked by: Earl of Effingham (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask His Majesty's Government what meetings ministers in the Department for Transport have had with the Mayor of London to discuss proposals to expand Heathrow Airport since July 2024.
Answered by Lord Hendy of Richmond Hill - Minister of State (Department for Transport)
The Minister for Aviation, in the Department for Transport, regularly meets with stakeholders across the sector and values this engagement.
For the period in question, the Minister for Aviation has held no meetings with the Mayor of London, and therefore, has not discussed Heathrow Airport expansion proposals.