Asked by: Andy Slaughter (Labour - Hammersmith)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps she is taking to help ensure that (a) care leavers and (b) children in care are given placements as close as possible to (i) extended family members and (ii) others with whom they have important personal relationships.
Answered by David Johnston - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
The number of new placements for children looked after over 20 miles from their homes during the reporting year ending 31 March 2023 was 18,720. This represents 21% of new placements for children looked after during the year, compared to 67% who were placed 20 miles or less, and 13% where distance was not known or not recorded. If a child has more than one new placement then each will be counted.
Further information on placement distance and locality has been published in the ‘Children looked after including adoptions’ statistical release. This data can be found here: https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/data-tables/permalink/aa5c9275-7f98-49e2-e5bb-08dc65d392eb.
The department does not collect data on the reasons for which a child may be placed more than 20 miles away from their home area.
The department wants to reduce out of area placements, however, they will always be part of the care landscape. Certain circumstances can make it the right decision for a child to be placed elsewhere, for example when they are at risk from sexual exploitation, trafficking or gang violence.
The department does recognise there are issues in the placement market, which is why the department has announced over £400 million in capital funding to help local authorities create more beds in their local areas helping to create an additional 560 placements across England.
The department is also investing £36 million this Parliament to deliver a fostering recruitment and retention programme so foster care is available for more children who need it. This will boost approvals of foster carers, as well as taking steps to retain the carers we have.
In addition to the support provided by local authorities, the government is providing over £250 million during this Spending Review period to support young people leaving care with housing, access to education, employment, and training, and to help them develop social connections and networks, to avoid loneliness and isolation.
The department has also committed to increasing the number of local authorities with family finding, befriending and mentoring programmes. Following a local authority grant funding application round, the department is now funding 50 programmes across 45 local authorities. These programmes will help children in care and care leavers to identify and connect with the important people in their lives and create safe, stable, loving relationships.
Asked by: Andy Slaughter (Labour - Hammersmith)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many children in care were moved more than 20 miles away from their home in the 2022-23 financial year; and what steps she is taking to help reduce this number in future years.
Answered by David Johnston - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
The number of new placements for children looked after over 20 miles from their homes during the reporting year ending 31 March 2023 was 18,720. This represents 21% of new placements for children looked after during the year, compared to 67% who were placed 20 miles or less, and 13% where distance was not known or not recorded. If a child has more than one new placement then each will be counted.
Further information on placement distance and locality has been published in the ‘Children looked after including adoptions’ statistical release. This data can be found here: https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/data-tables/permalink/aa5c9275-7f98-49e2-e5bb-08dc65d392eb.
The department does not collect data on the reasons for which a child may be placed more than 20 miles away from their home area.
The department wants to reduce out of area placements, however, they will always be part of the care landscape. Certain circumstances can make it the right decision for a child to be placed elsewhere, for example when they are at risk from sexual exploitation, trafficking or gang violence.
The department does recognise there are issues in the placement market, which is why the department has announced over £400 million in capital funding to help local authorities create more beds in their local areas helping to create an additional 560 placements across England.
The department is also investing £36 million this Parliament to deliver a fostering recruitment and retention programme so foster care is available for more children who need it. This will boost approvals of foster carers, as well as taking steps to retain the carers we have.
In addition to the support provided by local authorities, the government is providing over £250 million during this Spending Review period to support young people leaving care with housing, access to education, employment, and training, and to help them develop social connections and networks, to avoid loneliness and isolation.
The department has also committed to increasing the number of local authorities with family finding, befriending and mentoring programmes. Following a local authority grant funding application round, the department is now funding 50 programmes across 45 local authorities. These programmes will help children in care and care leavers to identify and connect with the important people in their lives and create safe, stable, loving relationships.
Asked by: Andy Slaughter (Labour - Hammersmith)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, with reference to his Department's statistical publication of 16 November 2023, what information his Department holds on the reasons for which children in care were in a placement more than 20 miles from their home in 2023.
Answered by David Johnston - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
The number of new placements for children looked after over 20 miles from their homes during the reporting year ending 31 March 2023 was 18,720. This represents 21% of new placements for children looked after during the year, compared to 67% who were placed 20 miles or less, and 13% where distance was not known or not recorded. If a child has more than one new placement then each will be counted.
Further information on placement distance and locality has been published in the ‘Children looked after including adoptions’ statistical release. This data can be found here: https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/data-tables/permalink/aa5c9275-7f98-49e2-e5bb-08dc65d392eb.
The department does not collect data on the reasons for which a child may be placed more than 20 miles away from their home area.
The department wants to reduce out of area placements, however, they will always be part of the care landscape. Certain circumstances can make it the right decision for a child to be placed elsewhere, for example when they are at risk from sexual exploitation, trafficking or gang violence.
The department does recognise there are issues in the placement market, which is why the department has announced over £400 million in capital funding to help local authorities create more beds in their local areas helping to create an additional 560 placements across England.
The department is also investing £36 million this Parliament to deliver a fostering recruitment and retention programme so foster care is available for more children who need it. This will boost approvals of foster carers, as well as taking steps to retain the carers we have.
In addition to the support provided by local authorities, the government is providing over £250 million during this Spending Review period to support young people leaving care with housing, access to education, employment, and training, and to help them develop social connections and networks, to avoid loneliness and isolation.
The department has also committed to increasing the number of local authorities with family finding, befriending and mentoring programmes. Following a local authority grant funding application round, the department is now funding 50 programmes across 45 local authorities. These programmes will help children in care and care leavers to identify and connect with the important people in their lives and create safe, stable, loving relationships.
Asked by: Andy Slaughter (Labour - Hammersmith)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Deputy Foreign Secretary, what recent discussions he has had with his European counterparts on the potential recognition of a Palestinian state.
Answered by Andrew Mitchell - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office) (Minister for Development)
As we have made clear, recognition of a Palestinian state can’t come at the beginning of the process, but it doesn’t have to come at the end. We reiterate our commitment to making progress towards a two-state solution, in which a safe and secure Israel lives alongside a sovereign, viable Palestinian state. We must start with fixing the immediate crisis in Gaza. We are intensely engaging with international, including European and regional, partners to this end.
Asked by: Andy Slaughter (Labour - Hammersmith)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what data her Department holds on the number and proportion of schools that have purchased adrenaline auto-injector devices for emergency use in children who are at risk of anaphylaxis since the coming into force of the Human Medicines (Amendment) Regulations 2017.
Answered by David Johnston - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
From 1 October 2017, the Human Medicines (Amendment) Regulations 2017 allowed all schools to buy adrenaline auto-injector (AAI) devices without a prescription, for emergency use in children who are at risk of anaphylaxis, but where their own device is not available or not working (for example, because it is broken, or out-of-date). The department does not hold data on the number of schools that have purchased AAI devices.
Asked by: Andy Slaughter (Labour - Hammersmith)
Question to the Attorney General:
To ask the Attorney General, what guidance she has provided to Cabinet colleagues on when to publish (a) full and (b) summaries of legal advice.
Answered by Robert Courts - Solicitor General (Attorney General's Office)
Departments are responsible for procuring their own legal advice and may decide when and how to disclose that advice outside Government. However, advice provided by the Law Officers is subject to the Law Officers’ Convention and may not be disclosed outside Government without the Law Officers’ consent. This is a longstanding principle of Cabinet collective agreement.
Asked by: Andy Slaughter (Labour - Hammersmith)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Minister of State, Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, what discussions he has had with his counterpart in Saudi Arabia on (a) the prosecution of Manahel al-Otaibi in the Specialised Criminal Court and (b) reports (i) relating to her treatment while in detention and (ii) that she has not been allowed contact with her family since November 2023.
Answered by David Rutley - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
We have raised the continued detention of individuals for expressing their political views, including women and women's rights defenders, with the Saudi government. The FCDO is closely monitoring the case of Manahel al-Otaibi. Saudi Arabia remains an FCDO human rights priority country, in part due to continued restrictions on freedom of expression. The British Embassy in Riyadh will continue to attempt to attend trials where possible.
Asked by: Andy Slaughter (Labour - Hammersmith)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Minister of State, Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, if he will make representations to his Saudi counterpart to support the implementation of his Department's recommendations at Saudi Arabia’s Universal Periodic Review at the Human Rights Council.
Answered by David Rutley - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
Saudi Arabia remains an FCDO Human Rights Priority Country. The Minister for the Middle East, Lord (Tariq) Ahmad of Wimbledon, regularly discusses human rights with the Saudi authorities, including the Saudi Vice Foreign Minister and the Saudi Ambassador in London. The UK submitted three recommendations at Saudi Arabia's recent Universal Periodic Review (UPR). Lord Ahmad has made representations to the Saudi Authorities regarding all UK recommendations both prior to and following the UPR, including with the President of the Saudi Human Rights Commission, Dr Hala Al-Tuwaijri, on 31 January. We will continue to engage with the Saudi authorities, particularly the Human Rights Commission, about the implementation of our recommendations.
Asked by: Andy Slaughter (Labour - Hammersmith)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Minister of State, Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, what assessment he has made of the implications of his policies of the (a) number of executions, (b) reported increase in the number of women executed, (c) execution of people who were juveniles at the time of their alleged crimes and (d) offences which resulted in the imposition of the death penalty in Saudi Arabia in 2023.
Answered by David Rutley - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
The UK strongly opposes the death penalty in all countries and circumstances. The UK raises the use of the death penalty in Saudi Arabia through a variety of interlocutors. The Minister for the Middle East and Human Rights, Lord (Tariq) Ahmad of Wimbledon, continues to regularly raise the death penalty with the Saudi authorities, particularly where there are allegations regarding people who may have been juveniles at the time of their alleged crimes. Additionally, in January, the UK also recommended the total abolishment of the juvenile death penalty in Saudi Arabia at the UN Human Rights Council.
Asked by: Andy Slaughter (Labour - Hammersmith)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Minister of State, Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, whether he has made representations to his Saudi counterpart on the use of (a) judicial and (b) non-judicial travel bans on (i) prisoners of conscience released from prison and (ii) family members of peaceful activists in that country.
Answered by David Rutley - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
We raise human rights with the Saudi authorities at all levels, including ministerial channels. The UK highlighted concern about the use of travel bans in the most recent Annual Human Rights and Democracy Report. We continue to monitor individual cases, including those pertaining to freedom of expression, and will continue to raise concerns with the Saudi authorities.