Asked by: Earl of Listowel (Crossbench - Excepted Hereditary)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask Her Majesty's Government how many families have graduated successfully from a Family Drug and Alcohol Court.
Answered by Lord Agnew of Oulton
Data relating to the number of families who have graduated successfully from a Family Drug and Alcohol Court (FDAC) or the number of children retained by their parents following their parents’ graduation from an FDAC is collected and retained by local authorities who are responsible for setting up, managing and supporting local FDACs around the country. This is part of their child protection and care proceedings work. The government does not collect such data.
Similarly, it is for local authorities to consider what savings may be made from setting up an FDAC in the context of their overall spending plans. Equally, it is for local authorities to monitor this as they make future decisions about spending. The savings that local authorities may make would vary depending on a number of factors and local circumstances. Local FDAC services, and other innovative models similar to FDAC, will continue to be funded by those local areas who choose to establish or commission these services locally.
In the period 2015 to 2016, the government provided funding to the Tavistock and Portman NHS Foundation Trust to establish the FDAC National Unit. Funding for the FDAC National Unit was originally provided on the basis that it would expand the FDAC model to new areas and to help the National Unit to be self-sustaining. Unfortunately, this has proved challenging, despite considerable effort and investment by both the government and the NHS trust.
We have extended funding for the FDAC National Unit four times since the period 2015 to 2016. The level of funding has varied from year to year, depending on the specific elements of work being commissioned. Most recently, we committed to providing funding to the trust for the period to the end of September 2018 to support its application to the government’s Life Chances Fund (LCF). The trust’s application to the LCF had two aims. The first aim was to develop a social impact bond model of funding for local FDACs. The second aim was to develop a sustainable way to fund the FDAC National Unit. Unfortunately, the trust recently decided to withdraw their application to the LCF. We understand that this means that the trust is considering the future of the FDAC National Unit, including its potential closure. Officials are working with the trust to ensure that the impact of the FDAC National Unit’s potential closure on local sites is minimised and that any resources developed by the FDAC National Unit remain accessible to the trust and others interested in the FDAC model in the future.
The government is committed to finding effective approaches to spreading innovative evidence-based models of practice to local areas.
Asked by: Earl of Listowel (Crossbench - Excepted Hereditary)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask Her Majesty's Government whether an individual who has non-parental caring arrangements for two or more children of a family member will be denied tax credits at the birth of their next child.
Answered by Lord Bates
The government’s policy is to provide support to a maximum of two children in tax credits to ensure that those who receive income related benefits face the same financial choices as those supporting themselves solely through work. The government acknowledges the immense value of care given by non-parental carers. The government has therefore included an exception to this policy for third and subsequent children taken on through kinship care arrangements, recognising that people taking on additional children in this way are not able to make the same choices about the number of children in their family.
Asked by: Earl of Listowel (Crossbench - Excepted Hereditary)
Question to the Department for Education:
Her Majesty's Government what percentage of school children aged 14 to 16 went on an exchange trip from England to (1) Germany, and (2) France, in 2014; and whether they have made any comparative estimate of the number of such exchange trips made by French school children to Germany in that year.
Answered by Lord Nash
The Government does not hold this information. It is for schools to decide whether they engage in school exchange trips and the Department does not collect data on the number of participants in such trips.
Asked by: Earl of Listowel (Crossbench - Excepted Hereditary)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of the importance of high quality early years education and care to (1) the ability of parents to contribute to national productivity, and (2) the potential for later economic productivity of those children benefiting from such provision.
Answered by Lord Nash
Evidence from the Effective Pre-school, Primary and Secondary Education (EPPSE) study shows that good quality early education has a lasting impact on children’s attainment and later outcomes. Children attending high quality pre-school had improved academic attainment at age 16, and were more likely to go onto A-levels and attend university. Attending some pre-school compared with not attending pre-school was predicted to result in an increase in lifetime earnings. We continue to build our evidence in this area through the £6 million longitudinal Study of Early Education and Development (SEED).
Wider research shows the impact of early years education and care on parents’ employment and, therefore, their ability to contribute to national productivity. For example, research from the Institute of Fiscal Studies in 2014 found that the expansion of funded provision led to a rise in maternal employment rate for those whose youngest child was three years old (see: Brewer, M et al. (2014) ‘The impact of free, universal pre-school education on maternal labour supply’).
Asked by: Earl of Listowel (Crossbench - Excepted Hereditary)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of the importance of the teaching of high quality sex and relationship education in schools in preventing violence against women.
Answered by Lord Nash
The Government wants to provide all young people with a curriculum that prepares them to succeed in modern Britain. This includes sex and relationship education (SRE) that is age-appropriate and fit for the world they live in today.
Sex education (SE) is compulsory in all maintained secondary schools and many academies and primary schools choose to teach it. Any school that teaches sex education must have regard to the Secretary of State’s statutory guidance on sex and relationships education. In some schools, sex and relationship education (SRE) is taught as part of personal, social, health and economic education (PSHE).
Both the Secretary of State’s statutory guidance on sex and relationships education and the PSHE Association’s non-statutory programme of study for PSHE include guidance on teaching about positive relationships.
The Government welcomes the Women and Equalities Select Committee (WESC) recommendations on preventing sexual harassment and sexual violence in schools and we have responded setting out steps we will take in response, working with key partners.
The case for further action on PSHE and SRE delivery is actively under review, with particular consideration to improving quality and accessibility.
Asked by: Earl of Listowel (Crossbench - Excepted Hereditary)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government, in the light of the World Bank report on unsafe working conditions and the use of child labour on plantations run by Amalgamated Plantations Private Limited, whether they intend to investigate the extent to which tea from those plantations is being sold in the UK or otherwise distributed by UK companies.
Answered by Baroness Williams of Trafford - Captain of the Honourable Corps of Gentlemen-at-Arms (HM Household) (Chief Whip, House of Lords)
The Government believes that businesses and consumers have a key role to play in eradicating all forms of labour exploitation, including modern slavery, from global supply chains.
The Modern Slavery Act 2015 requires all commercial organisations with an annual turnover of £36m or more, operating in the UK, to set out what steps they have taken to ensure that there is no modern slavery in their business or supply chains. The Government is unable to comment on individual companies.
Asked by: Earl of Listowel (Crossbench - Excepted Hereditary)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government what discussion they have had with the government of India about the housing and working conditions for families in plantations run by Amalgamated Plantations Private Limited in Assam.
Answered by Baroness Anelay of St Johns
We have not had any discussions with the government of India on this topic. We expect all companies operating in India to follow India's Labour Law.
The UK is a strong supporter of the universally agreed United Nations Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights and is committed to promoting its widespread implementation across the world.
Asked by: Earl of Listowel (Crossbench - Excepted Hereditary)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government what steps they plan to take to continue to improve quality of early education for two-, three- and four-year olds, including increasing graduate leadership.
Answered by Lord Nash
The Government wants all children to have access to quality early education, as this makes a difference to their outcomes in later life. That is why we have taken the following steps to support the quality of early years provision:
The Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS) helps early years providers to prepare young children for school and improve their life chances by requiring them to deliver high-quality provision. The 2015-16 EYFS Profile results show that the proportion of children achieving a good level of development continues to increase – 69% in 2016 compared to 52% in 2013.
We work closely with Ofsted to ensure a robust regulatory and inspection framework to drive continuous improvement in quality. The sector has responded positively and the latest statistics show that 86% of early years providers were rated “good” or “outstanding” as of 31 March 2016.
The quality of the workforce continues to improve, with 87% of staff in full day care settings now qualified to level 3. The Department is also developing a workforce strategy that will aim to remove barriers to attracting, retaining and developing staff.
The Government recognises that graduates play an important role in improving quality in the early years, and that is why in 2013 we introduced the early years initial teacher training programme which leads to the award of Early Years Teacher Status. We have made a significant investment in this programme by providing funding for course fees and bursaries to eligible trainees, and also funding for employers to support trainees. As such, the number of graduates in the workforce continues to rise, and between 2008 and 2013 the proportion of full day care staff with a degree or higher increased from 5% to 13%.
Asked by: Earl of Listowel (Crossbench - Excepted Hereditary)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assurances they have received from the media, or its representative bodies, that the issue of children being named before they are charged will be addressed through the new system of press regulation.
Answered by Lord Ashton of Hyde
The Government is committed to a free and open press and does not interfere with what the press does and does not publish, as long as the press abides by the law. The new system of independent press self-regulation protects press freedom and the industry develops its own standards and codes. The Independent Press Standards Organisation (IPSO) handles complaints about its members under the Editors' Code of Practice. The Independent Monitor for the Press (IMPRESS) is currently consulting on its new Standards Code.
Asked by: Earl of Listowel (Crossbench - Excepted Hereditary)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government what was the value of Discretionary Housing Payments made to care leavers up to the age of 25 in each local authority area in England in 2015–16.
Answered by Lord Freud
The information requested is not available.