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 issuing children suffering from cancer an education, health and care plan.
Answered by Baroness Barran - Shadow Minister (Education)
The department shares the ambition that children with cancer get the support they need to remain in school if they are well enough, both to maintain their education and for the benefits of being with their friends. The department understands this may not always be possible, either on a short or long-term basis. That is why there are existing statutory duties to ensure children with cancer should be able to get the support they need without an Education Health and Care plan.
Under the Equality Act 2010, cancer is classified as a disability. This means schools must make reasonable adjustments to their practices, procedures and policies to ensure that such a child is not substantially disadvantaged in their education. Under section 100 of the Children and Families Act, schools also have duties to support children with medical conditions, including by providing an Individual Health Plan. The department has issued guidance to support schools in this.
Local authorities also have legal duties under Section 19 of the Education Act 1996 to provide all children with a full-time education. If a child is unable to attend school, for example due to risk of infection after cancer treatment, then the local authority, working with medical professionals, the child and their family, must make alternative arrangements for them, such as home tutoring.
Asked by: Lord Storey (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask His Majesty's Government what was the total number of empty houses for each of the past three years.
Answered by Baroness Penn
As set out in publicly available information, statistics on vacant dwellings in England (as reported for the purposes of council tax) for each of the past three years are shown in Table 1 below.
Table 1. All vacant dwellings1 and Long-Term vacant dwellings2 England, 2021 to 2023.
Date | All-Vacants | Long-Term Vacants |
|
4 Oct 2021 | 653,025 | 237,340 |
|
3 Oct 2022 | 676,304 | 248,149 |
|
2 Oct 2023 | 699,126 | 261,189 |
|
Source: Council Tax Base (https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/council-taxbase-statistics) and also published in Live Table 615 (https://www.gov.uk/government/statistical-data-sets/live-tables-on-dwelling-stock-including-vacants)
1 These are defined as empty properties as classified for council tax purposes and include empty properties liable for 100% council tax and empty properties that receive a council tax exemption, discount or premium.
2 These are defined as properties liable for council tax that have been empty for more than six months and that are not subject to Empty Homes Discount class D or empty due to specific flooding events.
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 importance of the National Tutoring Programme; and what plans they have for that programme after August 2024.
Answered by Baroness Barran - Shadow Minister (Education)
There is extensive evidence that tutoring is one of the most effective ways to accelerate academic progress. The department has evaluated the delivery and impact of the National Tutoring Programme (NTP) through a series of independent evaluations, which are available online.
The year 2 impact evaluation identified small improvements in key stage 2 and key stage 4 mathematics, which can be equated to one month’s worth of additional progress, for the School Led Tutoring route.
The year 3 implementation and process evaluation also found there was a positive perceived impact on pupils’ attainment, progress, and confidence, and that the NTP was perceived to help narrow the attainment gap for disadvantaged pupils.
The department is committed to the objective that tutoring should be embedded across schools from 2024 with schools using their core budgets, including pupil premium, to provide targeted support to students who will benefit.
Asked by: Lord Storey (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask His Majesty's Government what is the total amount of hectares of contaminated brownfield sites.
Answered by Baroness Penn
The figures requested are not held centrally. Brownfield Land Registers (BLRs) are currently the best resource for the amount of brownfield sites in a local authority area that are suitable for housing, irrespective of their planning status.
National planning policy expects local planning authorities to give substantial weight to the value of using suitable brownfield land within settlements; including by supporting appropriate opportunities to remediate despoiled, degraded, derelict, contaminated or unstable land.
Asked by: Lord Storey (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask His Majesty's Government what is the total amount of hectares of uncontaminated brownfield sites in England suitable for house building.
Answered by Baroness Penn
The figures requested are not held centrally. Brownfield Land Registers (BLRs) are currently the best resource for the amount of brownfield sites in a local authority area that are suitable for housing, irrespective of their planning status.
National planning policy expects local planning authorities to give substantial weight to the value of using suitable brownfield land within settlements; including by supporting appropriate opportunities to remediate despoiled, degraded, derelict, contaminated or unstable land.
Asked by: Lord Storey (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask His Majesty's Government what provision and educational support is given to children and young people who are out of school long term with cancer.
Answered by Baroness Barran - Shadow Minister (Education)
Local authorities have a duty, under Section 19 of the Education Act 1996, to arrange a suitable education for children of compulsory school age unable to receive their education in school because of any illness, including cancer.
Children who are unable to attend school because of a health need should be able to access suitable and flexible education appropriate to their needs. The nature of the provision must be responsive to the demands of what may be a changing health status.
Provision for children who are not attending school due to their health needs should offer good quality education equivalent to that provided in mainstream schools, as far as the child’s health needs allow.
Asked by: Lord Storey (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask His Majesty's Government what was the total number of children suffering from cancer and on an Education, Health and Care Plan in each of the last three years.
Answered by Baroness Barran - Shadow Minister (Education)
Information on the number of children with cancer and with an Education, Health and Care (EHC) plan is not held. The department collects data on EHC plans in England, and the nature of special educational needs. However, this is not to the granularity of specific medical conditions such as cancer.
The department publishes annual national statistics relating to EHC plans on the Explore Education Statistics platform, which is available at: https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/find-statistics/education-health-and-care-plans.
Asked by: Lord Storey (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask His Majesty's Government what estimate they have made of the numbers of (1) schools, local authorities and multi-academy trusts commissioning alternative provision from unregistered settings, and (2) pupils receiving such provision, in the latest year for which figures are available.
Answered by Baroness Barran - Shadow Minister (Education)
Data on the number of pupils receiving school arranged alternative provision is available at: https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/data-tables/permalink/e34e06f9-b3f1-4d63-8c02-08dbe514ee42. This shows that 12,084 pupils were receiving school arranged alternative provision in an education setting without a unique record number (URN) assigned by the department. This data was recorded across 2,558 schools which had arranged alternative provision and includes schools in multi-academy trusts.
Data on the number of children and young people receiving local authority arranged alternative provision is available at: https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/data-tables/permalink/c1229d41-8321-4c05-8c04-08dbe514ee42. This shows that 8,311 placements were made in education settings without a URN. 140 local authorities recorded placements in education settings without a URN.
The alternative provision statutory guidance is clear that alternative provision, including unregistered alternative provision arranged by a local authority, should be good quality, registered where appropriate, and delivered by high quality staff with suitable training, experience and safeguarding checks. Responsibility for the alternative provision used rests with the commissioner. The statutory guidance is available at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/alternative-provision.
The Keeping children safe in education statutory guidance states that, where a school places a pupil in alternative provision, the school continues to be responsible for the safeguarding of that pupil and should be satisfied that the provider meets the needs of the pupil. The guidance is available at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/keeping-children-safe-in-education--2. Schools should obtain written confirmation from the alternative provision that appropriate safeguarding checks have been carried out on individuals working at the establishment.
The department launched a call for evidence on the use of unregistered alternative provision last year. The responses to the call for evidence have been analysed and the analysis will be published later this year. The department will set out further proposals to strengthen protections for children and young people in unregistered alternative provision as they develop.
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 schools, local authorities and multi-academy trusts that commission unregistered alternative provision take suitable and consistent checks on the quality and safety of that provision.
Answered by Baroness Barran - Shadow Minister (Education)
Data on the number of pupils receiving school arranged alternative provision is available at: https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/data-tables/permalink/e34e06f9-b3f1-4d63-8c02-08dbe514ee42. This shows that 12,084 pupils were receiving school arranged alternative provision in an education setting without a unique record number (URN) assigned by the department. This data was recorded across 2,558 schools which had arranged alternative provision and includes schools in multi-academy trusts.
Data on the number of children and young people receiving local authority arranged alternative provision is available at: https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/data-tables/permalink/c1229d41-8321-4c05-8c04-08dbe514ee42. This shows that 8,311 placements were made in education settings without a URN. 140 local authorities recorded placements in education settings without a URN.
The alternative provision statutory guidance is clear that alternative provision, including unregistered alternative provision arranged by a local authority, should be good quality, registered where appropriate, and delivered by high quality staff with suitable training, experience and safeguarding checks. Responsibility for the alternative provision used rests with the commissioner. The statutory guidance is available at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/alternative-provision.
The Keeping children safe in education statutory guidance states that, where a school places a pupil in alternative provision, the school continues to be responsible for the safeguarding of that pupil and should be satisfied that the provider meets the needs of the pupil. The guidance is available at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/keeping-children-safe-in-education--2. Schools should obtain written confirmation from the alternative provision that appropriate safeguarding checks have been carried out on individuals working at the establishment.
The department launched a call for evidence on the use of unregistered alternative provision last year. The responses to the call for evidence have been analysed and the analysis will be published later this year. The department will set out further proposals to strengthen protections for children and young people in unregistered alternative provision as they develop.
Asked by: Lord Storey (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask His Majesty's Government what plans they have to regulate unregistered alternative provision for schooling.
Answered by Baroness Barran - Shadow Minister (Education)
Data on the number of pupils receiving school arranged alternative provision is available at: https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/data-tables/permalink/e34e06f9-b3f1-4d63-8c02-08dbe514ee42. This shows that 12,084 pupils were receiving school arranged alternative provision in an education setting without a unique record number (URN) assigned by the department. This data was recorded across 2,558 schools which had arranged alternative provision and includes schools in multi-academy trusts.
Data on the number of children and young people receiving local authority arranged alternative provision is available at: https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/data-tables/permalink/c1229d41-8321-4c05-8c04-08dbe514ee42. This shows that 8,311 placements were made in education settings without a URN. 140 local authorities recorded placements in education settings without a URN.
The alternative provision statutory guidance is clear that alternative provision, including unregistered alternative provision arranged by a local authority, should be good quality, registered where appropriate, and delivered by high quality staff with suitable training, experience and safeguarding checks. Responsibility for the alternative provision used rests with the commissioner. The statutory guidance is available at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/alternative-provision.
The Keeping children safe in education statutory guidance states that, where a school places a pupil in alternative provision, the school continues to be responsible for the safeguarding of that pupil and should be satisfied that the provider meets the needs of the pupil. The guidance is available at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/keeping-children-safe-in-education--2. Schools should obtain written confirmation from the alternative provision that appropriate safeguarding checks have been carried out on individuals working at the establishment.
The department launched a call for evidence on the use of unregistered alternative provision last year. The responses to the call for evidence have been analysed and the analysis will be published later this year. The department will set out further proposals to strengthen protections for children and young people in unregistered alternative provision as they develop.