Asked by: Lord Storey (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the increasing number of pupils being educated at home.
Answered by Baroness Smith of Malvern - Minister of State (Education)
The department has collected local authority data on electively home-educated children from local authorities in England since autumn 2022. The most recent published figures show an estimated 92,000 children in home education on the October 2023 census, which is an increase from 80,900 on the same day in the previous year.
The department knows that local authorities are concerned about rising numbers and the resulting implications on resources for their ongoing education and safeguarding duties. Data collection shows that mental health, special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) and dissatisfaction with schools are increasingly common reasons behind decisions to home-educate. The forthcoming SEND reforms will help more schools to meet the needs of children with SEND and may help to stem the flow of families who feel that schools are not able to appropriately support their child.
The government will legislate for statutory local authority registers of children who are not in school as part of the Children’s Wellbeing Bill, which will be introduced in due course. Parents will have a duty to provide information about their child for these registers. This will help to improve local authority and the department’s understanding of this cohort of children and enable local authorities to target resources and capacity to those children who need it most.
Asked by: Lord Storey (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask His Majesty's Government how many children in England are missing from full-time education.
Answered by Baroness Smith of Malvern - Minister of State (Education)
The department collects data on children missing education (compulsory school aged children not registered at school or otherwise receiving suitable education) from local authorities on a voluntary basis. The latest figures are attached, and can also be found here: https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/find-statistics/children-missing-education.
On census day in autumn 2023 there were an estimated 33,000 children missing education (this includes adjustments made for non-response and is based on a figure of 30,400 reported by 94% of local authorities).
The figures do not include children registered in schools or alternative provision who are persistently or severely absent and/or on part-time timetables, or children receiving suitable elective home education.
This government is committed to the introduction of local authority registers of children who are not in school. These measures will be included in the future Children’s Wellbeing Bill, as announced in His Majesty the King’s Speech on 17 July 2024. These measures will ensure that the department and local authorities are able to keep a record of children and ensure they are receiving the high standard of education they all deserve.
Asked by: Lord Storey (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the case for children who are being home educated in England to be registered with their local authority.
Answered by Baroness Smith of Malvern - Minister of State (Education)
This government is committed to the introduction of local authority registers of children who are not in school, including those who are home educated. These measures will be included in the future Children’s Wellbeing Bill, as announced in His Majesty the King’s Speech on 17 July 2024.
These measures will ensure that the department and local authorities are able to keep a record of children and ensure they are receiving the high standard of education they all deserve.
Asked by: Lord Storey (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask His Majesty's Government how many permanently excluded pupils in England are being placed with unregistered providers.
Answered by Baroness Smith of Malvern - Minister of State (Education)
The requested information is not held centrally.
Where a pupil has been permanently excluded, it is for the local authority to determine the most appropriate form of alternative provision for a child, and they must put educational arrangements in place for a permanently excluded child from the sixth school day following the permanent exclusion. The education must be suitable, full-time, or as close to full-time as is in the best interests of the child, and on par with what the child would have received in a mainstream school. The department has published statutory guidance on alternative provision (AP), which local authorities must have regard to. This can be found here and is attached: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/942014/alternative_provision_statutory_guidance_accessible.pdf.
Asked by: Lord Storey (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the delay to the opening of King's Leadership Academy Wavetree.
Answered by Baroness Barran - Shadow Minister (Education)
To open a free school the Secretary of State must be satisfied that there is a suitable and deliverable site for the school. In order to deliver a suitable site for the school, a sequence of planning applications are required. The first of these has been submitted.
Officials are engaging with Liverpool City Council and Local Planning Authority officers to meet their planning requirements for the scheme but despite the best efforts of all parties, it is not possible to implement all of the necessary requirements in time to achieve a September 2024 opening.
While a free school project is in the pre-opening phase, local authorities cannot offer firm places at a school under the co-ordinated admissions process. Therefore, any offers of pupil places for King’s Leadership Academy Wavertree are conditional, to ensure all pupils have a firm and secure start to the school year at another school in the area.
The local authority has confirmed it is able to place secondary school pupils in Liverpool for September 2024 without Kings Leadership Academy Wavertree, and officials continue to work closely with the local authority and planning authority to progress this scheme as swiftly as possible for a future opening of the school.
Asked by: Lord Storey (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask His Majesty's Government what consideration has been given to making it compulsory to have EpiPens in all schools.
Answered by Baroness Barran - Shadow Minister (Education)
In 2014, the government introduced a new duty on schools to support pupils with all medical conditions and published the ‘Supporting pupils at school with medical conditions’ statutory guidance for schools and others. This guidance does not specify which medical conditions should be supported in schools. Instead, the guidance focuses on how to meet the needs of each individual child and how their medical condition impacts on school life.
Schools also have duties under the Equality Act 2010 to make reasonable adjustments to their practices, procedures and policies to ensure that they are not putting those with certain long-term health problems at a substantial disadvantage.
Under the Medical and Healthcare Regulatory Agency Human Medicines (Amendment) Regulations 2017, all schools are able to buy adrenaline auto-injector (AAI) devices without a prescription, for emergency use in children who are at risk of anaphylaxis, but their own device is not available or not working. The Department for Health and Social care published guidance on using an emergency AAI in schools which can be found in the attached document.
Asked by: Lord Storey (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask His Majesty's Government what consideration they are giving to pupils whose schools are affected by reinforced autoclaved aerated concrete and whose summer examinations may be impacted.
Answered by Baroness Barran - Shadow Minister (Education)
The safety of staff and pupils is paramount, and the department has been working at pace with schools to identify RAAC and support them to minimise disruption to pupils’ education.
The department is working closely with affected schools to ensure the best possible education for pupils and taking every step possible to remove any obstacles to learning through mitigations including temporary accommodation where this is needed and in some instances use of specialist facilities in off-site accommodation.
Departmental officials have also been working hard to ensure that any school or college that is struggling to deliver particular assessments due to RAAC receives the support they need for their specific circumstances. The department has asked awarding organisations to be as flexible as possible within the confines of their processes and regulations, for example by agreeing longer extensions to coursework and non-examined assessment deadlines with affected schools and colleges.
Asked by: Lord Storey (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to ensure that schools that are affected by reinforced autoclaved aerated concrete are not subject to an Ofsted inspection.
Answered by Baroness Barran - Shadow Minister (Education)
The department is continuing to support schools and colleges with confirmed RAAC to put in place mitigations and minimise any disruption to education.
A school that has confirmed RAAC in some of their buildings will still be eligible for Ofsted inspection. However, in the spring term, for schools with confirmed RAAC, this will be sufficient grounds to defer the inspection, should the school wish to. For schools that do not have confirmed RAAC, but that may still be impacted by RAAC, Ofsted will carefully consider any requests for a deferral of an inspection. Ofsted retains the right to inspect any setting, including one affected by RAAC, if it has concerns. This matter will be kept under review.
Asked by: Lord Storey (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask His Majesty's Government what percentage of school children leave school being able to swim at least 25 metres; and what proportion of those children are (1) Black, and (2) Asian.
Answered by Baroness Barran - Shadow Minister (Education)
Sport England’s Active Lives Children and Young People Survey 2022/23 reports that 70.5% of pupils in year 7 say they can swim 25 metres unaided. Information is not published for demographic data for individual school years, but data for years 7-11 show that 52% of black children and 57.3% of Asian children report being able to swim 25 metres unaided. This is compared with 82.8% of white British children in years 7-11.
The department does not collect data on schools’ access to and use of swimming pools. The government recognises challenges to pool operators and is providing over £60 million to local authorities in England through the Swimming Pool Support Fund. The fund will keep swimming pools and leisure centres open, as well as investing in renovations to boost energy efficiency, reduce future operating costs and improve sustainability. The department is supporting schools to operate their swimming pools effectively through the Opening School Sport Facilities programme, worth up to £57 million over three years. Over 200 school pools have already benefited from this funding.
Asked by: Lord Storey (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask His Majesty's Government how many schools do not have access to a swimming pool.
Answered by Baroness Barran - Shadow Minister (Education)
Sport England’s Active Lives Children and Young People Survey 2022/23 reports that 70.5% of pupils in year 7 say they can swim 25 metres unaided. Information is not published for demographic data for individual school years, but data for years 7-11 show that 52% of black children and 57.3% of Asian children report being able to swim 25 metres unaided. This is compared with 82.8% of white British children in years 7-11.
The department does not collect data on schools’ access to and use of swimming pools. The government recognises challenges to pool operators and is providing over £60 million to local authorities in England through the Swimming Pool Support Fund. The fund will keep swimming pools and leisure centres open, as well as investing in renovations to boost energy efficiency, reduce future operating costs and improve sustainability. The department is supporting schools to operate their swimming pools effectively through the Opening School Sport Facilities programme, worth up to £57 million over three years. Over 200 school pools have already benefited from this funding.