Asked by: Alex Cunningham (Labour - Stockton North)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, with reference to the policy proposal in his March 2022 SEND Review to make mediation mandatory before allowing families to go to the SEND Tribunal, what assessment he has made of the impact this will have on access to support for families with disabled children.
Answered by Will Quince
Throughout the SEND Review, parents and carers told the department how lengthy, stressful, and often expensive, the tribunal process can be.
In the current system, in most cases, families must secure a mediation certificate before registering an appeal with the tribunal, but they do not have to participate in the mediation itself. If the parent or young person does decide to proceed with mediation then the local authority must ensure that a mediation session takes place within 30 days. There were 4,100 mediation cases held during 2020. Of these, only 1,100 (27%) were followed by appeals to the tribunal.
Waiting for a SEND tribunal hearing can take significantly longer - the tribunal has a performance measure that 75% of appeals should be brought to hearing and the decision issued within 22 weeks.
This government’s proposals seek to resolve issues earlier and improve relationships locally by strengthening mediation, including consulting on making it mandatory. Parents will still be able to go to tribunal if necessary.
The Green Paper is now out for public consultation on its proposals until 1 July.
Asked by: Alex Cunningham (Labour - Stockton North)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what recent assessment he has made of the current requirement for parents to consider mediation before accessing the SEND Tribunal; and for what reason he has concluded that mediation should become mandatory before accessing that tribunal.
Answered by Will Quince
Throughout the SEND Review, parents and carers told the department how lengthy, stressful, and often expensive, the tribunal process can be.
In the current system, in most cases, families must secure a mediation certificate before registering an appeal with the tribunal, but they do not have to participate in the mediation itself. If the parent or young person does decide to proceed with mediation then the local authority must ensure that a mediation session takes place within 30 days. There were 4,100 mediation cases held during 2020. Of these, only 1,100 (27%) were followed by appeals to the tribunal.
Waiting for a SEND tribunal hearing can take significantly longer - the tribunal has a performance measure that 75% of appeals should be brought to hearing and the decision issued within 22 weeks.
This government’s proposals seek to resolve issues earlier and improve relationships locally by strengthening mediation, including consulting on making it mandatory. Parents will still be able to go to tribunal if necessary.
The Green Paper is now out for public consultation on its proposals until 1 July.
Asked by: Alex Cunningham (Labour - Stockton North)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if he will publish the guidance to local authorities on how to process applications from parents to defer their child’s entry to school.
Answered by Robin Walker
Most children start school in the September following their 4th birthday. The department has not made an assessment of the effect of deferring school entry on children who were born in August.
In September 2020 the department published guidance for local authorities and advice for parents on delaying entry to school for summer born children. This includes guidance on transition to secondary school for children who delayed their start at school. The guidance helps admission authorities to understand the framework within which they must operate when responding to parental requests for summer born children to be admitted out of their normal age group. Admission authorities must make decisions based on the circumstances of each case and in the best interests of the child concerned. Survey data shows that almost 9 in 10 requests were approved in 2020.
Any change allowing the parents of summer born children the automatic right to delay their child’s entry to reception, and for the child to remain with that cohort throughout their education, would require primary legislation.
Asked by: Alex Cunningham (Labour - Stockton North)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps his Department takes to ensure that local authorities have a consistent and common approach to dealing with applications from parents to defer their child’s entry to school.
Answered by Robin Walker
Most children start school in the September following their 4th birthday. The department has not made an assessment of the effect of deferring school entry on children who were born in August.
In September 2020 the department published guidance for local authorities and advice for parents on delaying entry to school for summer born children. This includes guidance on transition to secondary school for children who delayed their start at school. The guidance helps admission authorities to understand the framework within which they must operate when responding to parental requests for summer born children to be admitted out of their normal age group. Admission authorities must make decisions based on the circumstances of each case and in the best interests of the child concerned. Survey data shows that almost 9 in 10 requests were approved in 2020.
Any change allowing the parents of summer born children the automatic right to delay their child’s entry to reception, and for the child to remain with that cohort throughout their education, would require primary legislation.
Asked by: Alex Cunningham (Labour - Stockton North)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what plans he has to introduce legislative proposals to clarify the guidance to local authorities on when parents apply to defer their child’s entry to school.
Answered by Robin Walker
Most children start school in the September following their 4th birthday. The department has not made an assessment of the effect of deferring school entry on children who were born in August.
In September 2020 the department published guidance for local authorities and advice for parents on delaying entry to school for summer born children. This includes guidance on transition to secondary school for children who delayed their start at school. The guidance helps admission authorities to understand the framework within which they must operate when responding to parental requests for summer born children to be admitted out of their normal age group. Admission authorities must make decisions based on the circumstances of each case and in the best interests of the child concerned. Survey data shows that almost 9 in 10 requests were approved in 2020.
Any change allowing the parents of summer born children the automatic right to delay their child’s entry to reception, and for the child to remain with that cohort throughout their education, would require primary legislation.
Asked by: Alex Cunningham (Labour - Stockton North)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if he will publish guidance to local authorities on determining which year group a child should start secondary school when their entry to primary school had been previously deferred.
Answered by Robin Walker
Most children start school in the September following their 4th birthday. The department has not made an assessment of the effect of deferring school entry on children who were born in August.
In September 2020 the department published guidance for local authorities and advice for parents on delaying entry to school for summer born children. This includes guidance on transition to secondary school for children who delayed their start at school. The guidance helps admission authorities to understand the framework within which they must operate when responding to parental requests for summer born children to be admitted out of their normal age group. Admission authorities must make decisions based on the circumstances of each case and in the best interests of the child concerned. Survey data shows that almost 9 in 10 requests were approved in 2020.
Any change allowing the parents of summer born children the automatic right to delay their child’s entry to reception, and for the child to remain with that cohort throughout their education, would require primary legislation.
Asked by: Alex Cunningham (Labour - Stockton North)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what recent assessment his Department has made of the effect of deferring school entry on children who were born in August.
Answered by Robin Walker
Most children start school in the September following their 4th birthday. The department has not made an assessment of the effect of deferring school entry on children who were born in August.
In September 2020 the department published guidance for local authorities and advice for parents on delaying entry to school for summer born children. This includes guidance on transition to secondary school for children who delayed their start at school. The guidance helps admission authorities to understand the framework within which they must operate when responding to parental requests for summer born children to be admitted out of their normal age group. Admission authorities must make decisions based on the circumstances of each case and in the best interests of the child concerned. Survey data shows that almost 9 in 10 requests were approved in 2020.
Any change allowing the parents of summer born children the automatic right to delay their child’s entry to reception, and for the child to remain with that cohort throughout their education, would require primary legislation.
Asked by: Alex Cunningham (Labour - Stockton North)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether his Department plans to find places on UK medical courses for UK students who were studying in Ukraine but have now been displaced as a result of Russia's invasion of that country.
Answered by Michelle Donelan - Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology
The department is aware that UK nationals studying in Ukraine, many of whom were studying medicine, have had their studies disrupted. The government will look to support these students as they reassess their options in the UK and the department has asked universities to treat these students sensitively.
The department recognises that, for a variety of reasons, many of these students cannot be accommodated on medicine courses. Therefore, we are encouraging universities to consider alternative options to allow these students to continue their studies. These include related courses in the biological sciences or subjects allied to medicine.
The department is also looking into how the higher education (HE) sector can support Ukrainian HE providers should it be appropriate or feasible for elements of the course or exams to be delivered remotely.
Whilst HE providers are autonomous and independent from government, we are encouraging them to be as flexible as possible for all students impacted by the situation in Ukraine and where they are facing challenges, to ensure support is given where it is most needed.
The department will continue to work closely with key representatives to explore how the HE sector can collectively support Ukrainian students.
Asked by: Alex Cunningham (Labour - Stockton North)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many students have been reached with a free breakfast as part of the National School Breakfast Programme so far in the academic year 2021-22.
Answered by Will Quince
The government is committed to continuing support for school breakfast clubs and we are investing up to £24 million to continue our national programme until July 2023. This funding will support up to 2,500 schools in disadvantaged areas, meaning that thousands of children from low-income families will be offered free nutritious breakfasts to better support their attainment and wellbeing.
The enrolment process is still underway for schools that wish to sign up to the programme. As of 22 December 2021, 1,245 schools had signed up and 847 schools had placed food orders. We will work with our supplier Family Action to monitor the data and consider suitable opportunities to share more information on the programme as it progresses, including in relation to the number of children and young people that are benefiting from the programme.
Asked by: Alex Cunningham (Labour - Stockton North)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many school-based support staff are trained to aid children with special educational needs and disabilities.
Answered by Robin Walker
Information on the number of staff, including teaching assistants and other support staff, employed in state-funded schools in England is published in the ‘School Workforce in England’ statistical publication at: https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/find-statistics/school-workforce-in-england.
In 2020/21, the full-time equivalent of 271,370 people were working as teaching assistants in state-funded schools in England. This figure is 49,889 (equivalent to 22.5%) higher than in 2011/12.
'Teaching Assistants' comprises those support staff based in the classroom for learning and pupil support, for example higher level teaching assistants, teaching assistants, special needs support staff, nursery officers/assistants, minority ethnic pupils support staff and bilingual support assistants.
Special support assistants are included in the teaching assistant totals and special educational needs coordinator assistants are included in the administrative staff totals.
Information on the number of school-based support staff trained to aid children with special educational needs and disabilities is not collected centrally.