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Written Question
Students: Russia and Ukraine
Thursday 17th March 2022

Asked by: Lord Hylton (Crossbench - Excepted Hereditary)

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask Her Majesty's Government whether (1) Ukrainian, and (2) Russian, students in the UK can continue their studies in (a) schools, and (b) places of higher education; and what steps they will take to help those who want to complete their courses to do so.

Answered by Baroness Barran - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)

Alongside our allies, we are united in support for Ukraine. The Department for Education has been working closely with the education sector and across government more widely to ensure that Ukrainian and Russian students are supported during this difficult time.

This includes a new visa option for Ukrainian nationals, including students, that will provide them with an opportunity to extend their leave or switch to a graduate visa without having to leave the UK.

We continue to welcome Ukrainian and Russian pupils and students to UK universities and schools, where we are proud of the long history we have defending values such as freedom of speech and freedom of publication. However, anyone subject to sanctions will have actions taken against them, including if they are in education.

We recognise the current uncertainty will mean that many students may experience additional mental health challenges. Protecting student and staff wellbeing is vital and it is important students continue to be able to access the mental health and wellbeing support they need.

All schools, including independent schools, have a legal duty to safeguard and promote the welfare of children as part of the statutory safeguarding guidance, keeping children safe in education. The guidance sets out how schools should protect children from harm and what to do if they have concerns about a child. It includes guidance on bullying, child on child abuse and mental health. It sets out where schools should go to access specialist support for children.

We encourage students to stay in touch with their higher education provider’s welfare teams as these services are likely to continue to be an important source of support. Providers are not only experts in their student population but also best placed to identify the needs of their students.


Written Question
Children in Care: Runaway Children
Monday 8th November 2021

Asked by: Lord Hylton (Crossbench - Excepted Hereditary)

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask Her Majesty's Government what steps they will take to support local authoities to prevent children absconding from care.

Answered by Baroness Barran - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)

The department has issued statutory guidance for local authorities that clarifies steps to prevent children going missing from home or from care. The guidance stipulates to local authorities explicit actions that care settings must take to prevent looked after children going missing. The statutory guidance is available here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/children-who-run-away-or-go-missing-from-home-or-care.

The guidance also makes clear that children’s home regulations require providers to have up-to-date procedures in place to prevent children going missing and to take swift, effective action if they do go missing to ensure their safety. We also expect the child’s care plan to include details of arrangements in place to keep the child safe, and to minimise the risk of the child going missing from their placement, whether this be a children’s home or a foster placement.

The Department is working closely with representatives from local authorities, police forces, Ofsted and the children’s voluntary sector, to consider how the current ‘missing’ statutory guidance might be refreshed and further strengthened. This will help to ensure it continues to be fit to support local authorities and their partners to protect vulnerable children. We will issue further updates on this work in due course.


Written Question
Pupils: Food
Wednesday 24th March 2021

Asked by: Lord Hylton (Crossbench - Excepted Hereditary)

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the number of state schools providing (1) breakfast clubs, (2) food banks, and (3) food and other parcels, to the families of pupils; and what plans they have to support schools to continue this provision in the long-term.

Answered by Baroness Berridge

The government remains committed to ensuring the most disadvantaged children continue to be supported.

The department is investing up to £38 million in the National School Breakfast Programme. Overall, this money will set up or improve breakfast clubs in up to 2,450 schools in disadvantaged areas, making them sustainable in the long run. The focus of these clubs has been to target the most disadvantaged areas of the country – including the Department for Education’s Opportunity Areas – to help make sure every child gets the best start in life. We will shortly be providing more information on the future of breakfast club provision, as our current contract is due to expire in July.

During the periods of school attendance restrictions, schools have been asked to continue to provide support for eligible free school meal pupils learning at home. Schools have been able to choose the approach that works best for them, whether providing a lunch parcel, a locally arranged voucher or accessing the national voucher scheme. So far families have redeemed more than £90 million in supermarket vouchers during this school term.

The government has taken unprecedented measures during the COVID-19 outbreak to protect the most vulnerable and put in place a strong package of financial support to support families and children. The COVID Winter Support Package was announced in November 2020. This included: the Department for Work and Pensions’ £170 million COVID Winter Grant Scheme, which has now been extended until the end of the Easter holidays (16 April 2021); the £220 million national expansion of the department’s Holiday Activities and Food Programme in 2021; and a further £16 million for FareShare to distribute to food charities.


Written Question
UN Convention On the Rights of the Child
Thursday 18th March 2021

Asked by: Lord Hylton (Crossbench - Excepted Hereditary)

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask Her Majesty's Government when they intend to publish their response to the List of Issues for the combined 6th and 7th reports under the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child.

Answered by Baroness Berridge

This government is fully committed to protecting and promoting children’s rights. In 2020 we held a parliamentary reception to celebrate 30 years of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC), which was ratified in 1991 by the government. We regularly report to the UN Committee on the work we have been doing across the UK to implement the UNCRC and promote children’s rights.

We intend to submit our combined sixth and seventh report to the UN Committee in accordance with the timelines prescribed by the Committee, in February 2022.


Written Question
Children: Coronavirus
Tuesday 26th May 2020

Asked by: Lord Hylton (Crossbench - Excepted Hereditary)

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask Her Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to protect the best interests of children who have a parent in custody, during, and after, the COVID-19 pandemic.

Answered by Baroness Berridge

Ensuring that vulnerable children remain safe and protected is our top priority. For children who have a parent in custody, their circumstances vary considerably and therefore local agencies are best placed to determine what support is needed. This may include early help, statutory social care services, or support for other needs, such as mental health. A child’s need for support should be assessed individually. We do not believe a prescriptive approach – such as regarding all children of prisoners as children in need – is the right one. However, it is vital that all services consider the safeguarding and welfare issues that may be faced by children of prisoners.

The statutory guidance, Working Together to Safeguard Children (2018), is unequivocally clear that anyone who has concerns about a child’s welfare should make a referral to local authority children’s social care. The local authority and its social workers then have specific roles and responsibilities to lead statutory assessments or enquiries to determine whether the child is in need (section 17, Children Act 1989), or suffering or likely to suffer significant harm (section 47, Children Act 1989).

We know that attending education settings is an important protective factor for vulnerable children. That is why we have ensured vulnerable groups, including children with a social worker and children assessed as otherwise vulnerable by educational providers or local authorities, can continue to attend educational settings. We are also providing laptops and tablets for children with a social worker and care leavers, and those in year 10 preparing for exams who do not already have such devices, to help children’s social care services keep in touch and keep children safe, and to support remote education.

For schools and colleges, the statutory guidance, Keeping Children Safe in Education, sets out that staff should consider the additional needs of children with parents in prison. The guidance highlights the risk of poor outcomes including poverty, stigma, isolation and poor mental health. It signposts staff to the National Information Centre on Children of Offenders website which provides specialist advice and resources to support professionals working with offenders and their children, to help mitigate negative consequences for those children.

We recognise the importance of supporting and maintaining links between offenders and their families, when this is in the best interests of the child. This is why HM Prison and Probation Service have been active in responding to this need and providing support for the families and children of those men, women and young people in their care. This includes the issuing of 900 mobile phones to establishments, piloting a video calling service, video messaging, using social media to update families, issuing letters from senior prison staff to prisoners’ families with information and updates on conditions, weekly bulletins and updates from establishments, reassurance updates from healthcare and psychology teams, and running art competitions for children of prisoners.


Written Question
Breakfast Clubs
Tuesday 30th July 2019

Asked by: Lord Hylton (Crossbench - Excepted Hereditary)

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask Her Majesty's Government what plans they have to extend the National School Breakfast Programme beyond 1 April 2020; and when any such decision will be (1) made, and (2) announced.

Answered by Lord Agnew of Oulton

The department is investing up to £26 million in a breakfast club programme, using funds from Soft Drinks Industry Levy revenues. This money will kick-start and improve breakfast clubs in over 1,700 schools. The focus of these clubs has been to target the most disadvantaged areas of the country – including the Department for Education’s Opportunity Areas – to help ensure every child gets the best start in life.

A contract was awarded to Family Action in March 2018 and will run until March 2020. Family Action, in partnership with Magic Breakfast, have both been named as the leading charities responsible for running the Breakfast Club programme. Family Action are distributing the appropriate funding to participating schools who meet the eligibility criteria. Family Action has confirmed that they have reached their recruitment target of 1,775 schools.

We monitor management information from the programme on an ongoing basis and will fully review the effectiveness of the programme once the programme concludes, including the number of children attending. Decisions about any funding beyond March 2020 will be taken as part of the upcoming Spending Review.


Written Question
English Language: Education
Thursday 11th July 2019

Asked by: Lord Hylton (Crossbench - Excepted Hereditary)

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask Her Majesty's Government what plans they have to publish a strategy for English for speakers of other languages for people living in England.

Answered by Lord Agnew of Oulton

The government recognises that language skills are crucial to help people integrate into life in England, as well as to break down barriers to work and career progression.

As part of the response to the Integrated Communities Strategy Green paper (attached), the government will publish a new strategy for English for speakers of other languages in autumn 2019. We are working across government to develop the strategy which will provide a shared vision for all publicly funded English language provision.


Written Question
English Language: Education
Friday 28th June 2019

Asked by: Lord Hylton (Crossbench - Excepted Hereditary)

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask Her Majesty's Government what plans they have to publish a strategy for English for speakers of other languages for refugees in England, ensuring access for all, especially women.

Answered by Lord Agnew of Oulton

The government recognises that learning English is essential in enabling refugees to rebuild their lives. We are working across government to develop a new strategy for English for speakers of other languages (ESOL) in 2019. This strategy will provide a shared vision for all publicly funded English language provision, including addressing the needs of refugees.

The department funds ESOL through the Adult Education Budget (AEB), which is allocated to providers on an annual basis. Colleges and adult learning providers have the freedom and flexibility to determine how they use their AEB allocation to meet the needs of their communities. This includes planning, with local partners, the ESOL courses that they will deliver locally. The AEB also provides additional support for learners who face specific financial hardship which is preventing them from taking part and/or continuing in learning.

The Home Office and the Department for Education have also provided £10 million to enable refugees resettled through the Vulnerable Persons Resettlement Scheme to access additional classes.


Written Question
English Language: Education
Friday 28th June 2019

Asked by: Lord Hylton (Crossbench - Excepted Hereditary)

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask Her Majesty's Government what plans they have to (1) review the provision of English for speakers of other languages (ESOL) for recognised refugees, and (2) issue guidance on funding and best practice for ESOL.

Answered by Lord Agnew of Oulton

The government recognises that learning English is essential in enabling refugees to rebuild their lives. We are working across government to develop a new strategy for English for speakers of other languages (ESOL) in 2019. This strategy will provide a shared vision for all publicly funded English language provision, including addressing the needs of refugees.

The department funds ESOL through the Adult Education Budget (AEB), which is allocated to providers on an annual basis. Colleges and adult learning providers have the freedom and flexibility to determine how they use their AEB allocation to meet the needs of their communities. This includes planning, with local partners, the ESOL courses that they will deliver locally. The AEB also provides additional support for learners who face specific financial hardship which is preventing them from taking part and/or continuing in learning.

The Home Office and the Department for Education have also provided £10 million to enable refugees resettled through the Vulnerable Persons Resettlement Scheme to access additional classes.


Written Question
Personal, Social, Health and Economic Education
Friday 10th May 2019

Asked by: Lord Hylton (Crossbench - Excepted Hereditary)

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask Her Majesty's Government whether the statutory guidance on relationships education, relationships and sex education and health education and Ofsted guidelines on spiritual, moral and cultural development will emphasise the contributions of pupils and staff to high-quality education.

Answered by Lord Agnew of Oulton

The draft guidance is clear that teaching for these subjects should be in line with pupil need, informed by pupil voice and participation in curriculum development, and should be in response to issues as they arise in the school and wider community. Schools should make sure that staff are equipped to deliver these subjects to a high standard, ensuring that the subjects are well led, effectively managed and planned. Staff have a vital contribution in ensuring these subjects are sensitive to the needs of pupils, for example by having regard to a pupil’s religious background or special educational need and also in ensuring they are embedded as part of a whole school approach.

Ofsted inspectors are required to consider pupils’ spiritual, moral, social and cultural development (SMSC) as part of section 5 school inspections. Ofsted’s school inspection handbook, attached, sets out the specific aspects considered under SMSC. It covers a broad range of matters including pupils’ reflectivity; moral and ethical issues; social interaction; participation in the community; and acceptance of and engagement with fundamental British values. Ofsted has recently consulted on new inspection arrangements, and will publish a revised handbook in due course.