Asked by: Lord Bishop of Derby (Bishops - Bishops)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask His Majesty's Government, as part of Anti-Bullying Week, what steps they are taking (1) to collect, record and monitor data on reports of bullying in schools and subsequent responses, and (2) to improve the availability and quality of anti-bullying training and support for teachers
Answered by Baroness Smith of Malvern - Minister of State (Education)
The department collects and monitors data on bullying of children and young people through robust national surveys such as the National Behaviour Survey, the Health Behaviours of School-aged Children Study and the Crime Survey for England and Wales.
Schools should develop their own approaches for monitoring bullying and exercise their own judgement as to what works best for their pupils. All schools are legally required to have a behaviour policy with measures to prevent all forms of bullying. Schools have the freedom to develop their own anti-bullying strategies appropriate to their environment and are held to account by Ofsted.
Decisions relating to teachers’ professional development rests with schools, headteachers and teachers. They are in the best position to judge their requirements and access development.
The department published advice in 2017 to support schools with addressing incidences of bullying. The guidance is clear that schools should make appropriate provision for a bullied child's social, emotional and mental health needs. The guidance is available here: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/625ee64cd3bf7f6004339db8/Preventing_and_tackling_bullying_advice.pdf.
In 2016, the department also published a practical tool to help schools, which can be found on the Educate Against Hate website, here: https://educateagainsthate.com/resources/respectful-school-communities-self-review-signposting-tool-2/.
The department is currently reviewing the impact of these previous programmes and considering next steps to tackle bullying in schools.
Asked by: Lord Bishop of Derby (Bishops - Bishops)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask His Majesty's Government whether they plan to introduce a national wellbeing measure for children to provide local authorities and national policymakers with data for the purpose of improving the mental health and wellbeing of young people.
Answered by Baroness Merron - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Government is committed to raising the healthiest generation of children ever, giving mental health the same attention as physical health. We are reforming the National Health Service and have committed to providing access to specialist mental health professionals in every school, so every young person has access to early support to address problems before they escalate. The Government will also be putting in place new Young Futures hubs, including access to mental health support workers, and will recruit an additional 8,500 new mental health staff to treat children and adults.
There are no current plans to introduce a national wellbeing measure for children. The Office for National Statistics publishes a range of children’s wellbeing measures. The Department maintains ongoing monitoring of the national data landscape and research on children and young people’s mental health and wellbeing, to support its policy making.
Asked by: Lord Bishop of Derby (Bishops - Bishops)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the case for allowing local authorities to set their own right-to-buy discounts to reflect local circumstances.
Answered by Baroness Penn
The Government remains committed to the Right to Buy, which has helped over 2 million social housing tenants to become homeowners.
The Right to Buy is a statutory right for eligible local authority tenants across England, with the discount formulae set in regulations. This approach already recognizes higher property prices in London with a higher maximum discount for any sales inside London. This ensures a consistent offer for tenants across the country.
Asked by: Lord Bishop of Derby (Bishops - Bishops)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask His Majesty's Government what estimate they have made of the additional support required for social housing landlords as a result of the consumer regulation measures announced by the Regulator of Social Housing, including the Tenant Satisfaction Measures Standard, which are to be implemented from April 2024.
Answered by Baroness Penn
The Government recognises that there are demands on social landlords at this time, some of which relate to the introduction of revised consumer standards. It is essential that providers manage resources effectively to deliver for their residents.
All social landlords are responsible for providing safe and decent homes for their tenants and should be prioritising repairs and improvements where required. Landlords should not be looking to Government to fund bringing their social housing stock up to the required standards.
The Tenant Satisfaction Measure standard was introduced on 1 April 2023 and will come into force in April 2024. The Government has agreed to provide Local authorities with funding to meet the requirements of the Tenant Satisfaction Measure standard.
Asked by: Lord Bishop of Derby (Bishops - Bishops)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the role of careers advice in increasing the number of apprenticeships taken on.
Answered by Baroness Barran - Shadow Minister (Education)
There is encouraging evidence that careers advice is increasing young people’s awareness of apprenticeships and other technical options. In the 2022/23 academic year, 92% of schools reported that most students had information about the full range of apprenticeships. 86% of schools reported that most students had meaningful encounters with further education colleges. In a 2021/22 survey of 35,000 young people, responses show that awareness of apprenticeships doubles from 39% in year 7 to 81% by year 11.
There is some evidence that increased awareness can, in turn, lead to higher take-up of apprenticeships. In 2021/22, analysis found that uptake of apprenticeships was 16% higher in the schools that provided information on apprenticeships to most or all of their students compared with the schools that provided information to a small minority.
The government has introduced a range of measures that are driving this increased awareness of apprenticeships and technical options and giving them parity of prestige with academic routes.
On 1 January 2023, the strengthened provider access legislation came into force which specifies that schools must provide at least six opportunities for providers of technical education or apprenticeships to speak to all pupils, during school years 8-13. In addition, the department actively promotes apprenticeships and T Levels in schools and colleges through the Apprenticeships Support and Knowledge Programme (ASK). The programme has reached over 3 million students in the past eight years, as well as over 230,000 parents and 100,000 teachers.
For post-18 options, the department has partnered with the University and Colleges Admissions Service (UCAS), which has expanded their service so that young people can see more personalised options, including apprenticeships. From 2024, students will be able to apply for apprenticeships alongside degrees on UCAS, developing a one-stop-shop for young people to find the right option for them.
The department is also promoting ‘Career Starter Apprenticeships’ suitable for young people looking for their first role after leaving full-time education. Get the Jump, a digital campaign provided by the National Careers Service, brings together all the different education and training pathways open to young people at post-16 and post-18. The campaign helps to support informed choice.
Asked by: Lord Bishop of Derby (Bishops - Bishops)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask His Majesty's Government what is their estimation of the number of care-experienced young people in contact with the youth justice system.
Answered by Lord Bellamy
It has not proved possible to respond to this question in the time available before Prorogation. Ministers will correspond directly with the Member.
Asked by: Lord Bishop of Derby (Bishops - Bishops)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask His Majesty's Government, following the Children's Society's The Good Childhood Report 2023, published on 20 September, what steps the Department of Health and Social Care's Major Conditions Strategy will take to prevent poor mental health and promote wellbeing in children and young people.
Answered by Lord Markham - Shadow Minister (Science, Innovation and Technology)
As part of the development of the Major Conditions Strategy, we are considering the most effective ways to prevent and treat poor mental health and promote wellbeing for people of all ages. We will continue to work closely with stakeholders, the public and the National Health Service to identify actions that will have the most impact.
Asked by: Lord Bishop of Derby (Bishops - Bishops)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government what are the levels of youth unemployment in the most recent period for which data are available.
Answered by Baroness Neville-Rolfe - Shadow Minister (Treasury)
The information requested falls under the remit of the UK Statistics Authority.
Please see the letter attached from the National Statistician and Chief Executive of the UK Statistics Authority.
The Rt Rev. the Lord Bishop of Derby
House of Lords
London SW1A 0PW
27 June 2023
Dear Lord Bishop,
As National Statistician and Chief Executive of the UK Statistics Authority, I am responding to your Parliamentary Question asking what are the levels of youth unemployment in the most recent period for which data are available (HL8749).
Estimates of youth unemployment are available from the Labour Force Survey (LFS). These estimates are published each month in our A06 SA: Educational status and labour market status for people aged from 16 to 24 (seasonally adjusted) dataset [1] .
The latest data available, covering the period February to April 2023, estimates the number of unemployed people aged 16 to 24 years at 465,000 (10.9%).
Yours sincerely,
Professor Sir Ian Diamond
Asked by: Lord Bishop of Derby (Bishops - Bishops)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask His Majesty's Government how many children are being held on remand in the most recent period for which data is available; and whether they are taking steps to reduce this.
Answered by Lord Bellamy
As at 31 March 2023, there were 244 children and young people remanded to custody in the Youth Secure Estate (this figure includes 18-year-olds). Remanding a child to custody must always be a last resort, however that option must remain open to the courts where it is necessary to protect the public.
In 2022, the Government strengthened the tests the courts must satisfy to remand a child to custody, through the Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts (PCSC) Act, and published a review of the use of custodial remand for children. We continue to work through the review’s recommendations with youth justice partners to ensure custodial remand is used proportionately. This includes launching a consultation in summer 2023 on options for reforming remand grant funding to facilitate better use of community provision and services for children at risk of custodial remand.
The Government commissioned a forthcoming HMI Probation, HMI Prisons and Ofsted independent joint thematic inspection on youth remand, which will help identify further opportunities for reducing the number of children on remand.
Asked by: Lord Bishop of Derby (Bishops - Bishops)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask His Majesty's Government when the pilot trial changes to Youth Rehabilitation Orders with Intensive Supervision and Surveillance will commence; and when they will report on their findings.
Answered by Lord Bellamy
Piloting the changes to Youth Rehabilitation Orders with Intensive Supervision and Surveillance are subject to the passage of secondary legislation which we intend to lay shortly. If passed, we intend that the new powers will come into force by summer 2023 for an initial 18-month period in selected areas. An evaluation will determine whether to fully roll out the changes. Publication of the findings will follow, but an exact date has not yet been decided.