Oral Answers to Questions

Andrea Leadsom Excerpts

Monday 17th July 2023 Commons Chamber

[Dame Andrea Leadsom (South Northamptonshire) (Con)]

8. What recent steps her Department has taken to tackle bullying in schools.

[The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Education (Claire Coutinho)]

All children should have access to a calm, safe and supportive school environment. In addition to school behaviours policies that must include measures to prevent bullying, we have provided more than £3 million in funding between August 2021 and March 2024 to five anti-bullying organisations supporting schools in tackling bullying.

[Dame Andrea Leadsom]

I congratulate my hon. Friend for all her work tackling bullying. So many constituents write to me about the problems their children are experiencing. How are the behaviour hubs making a difference in schools and tackling the bullying that is so prevalent, particularly as a result of online harms and social media, which are all too frequent?

[Claire Coutinho]

We are confident that the behaviour hubs programme is helping schools to create calm, understanding and positive environments by spreading best practice. The behaviour hubs programme is being evaluated and impact assessed. We will publish an interim report in 2024. I would be delighted to discuss those findings with my right hon. Friend.