Asked by: Baroness Eaton (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to ensure that local training is available to enable communities to benefit from the low-carbon jobs the Local Government Association report Local green jobs - accelerating a sustainable economic recovery, published on 11 June, estimates will be supported by England’s net zero transition by 2030 and 2050.
Answered by Baroness Berridge
We want to make the skills systems more responsive to employer skill needs both locally and nationally and we have been working with employers in all sectors including those in the green economy sector to jointly design and deliver policies and programmes to do this.
This includes key reforms to apprenticeships, making them longer, better, with more off-the job training and proper assessment at the end. With employers in control of developing standards, they can be assured that apprentices will get the skills employers need. There are range of apprenticeships standards in the Agriculture, Environmental and Animal Care pathway such as Crop Technicians, Forest Operatives, Ecologists and Environmental practitioner, which is used by employers of all types seeking to promote sustainable growth.
We are also making technical education more responsive to the needs of communities and employers, with the introduction of T Levels this September, proposals to reform higher technical education and investment in Institutes of Technology – flagship providers that will help to drive regional growth in key areas like engineering and advanced manufacturing and meeting higher level technical skills needs.
Asked by: Baroness Eaton (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask Her Majesty's Government, further to the Written Statement by Lord Agnew of Oulton on 12 February (HLWS103), when they will publish (1) the terms of reference for the review of children's social care, (2) the name of the chair of the review, and (3) the date on which the review will begin.
Answered by Baroness Berridge
The urgent local and national response to COVID-19 has delayed launching the Care Review. The government is committed to undertaking the review at the earliest opportunity. The review will be bold, broad and independently led, taking a fundamental look across children’s social care, with the aim of better supporting, protecting and improving the outcomes of vulnerable children and young people.
Asked by: Baroness Eaton (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what steps they will take to ensure that the provisions of the Family Test are used as a guide in the appointment of a new Children's Commissioner for England.
Answered by Baroness Berridge
The primary function of the Children’s Commissioner for England is promoting and protecting the rights of children in England and by extension of that, the Commissioner has a part to play in issues that affect families. This is a key role for protecting children’s rights, particularly the most vulnerable, and the recruitment of a new Commissioner is a priority for the government.
Whilst the Family Test is primarily a tool to prompt policymakers to consider potential impacts on family functioning and relationships in a more holistic way, various considerations will be taken into account as part of the appointment process of identifying the most appropriate person to take on the role of the new Children’s Commissioner, which is a Significant Public Appointment.
Asked by: Baroness Eaton (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the report commissioned by the Local Government Association Profit making and risk in independent children's social care placement providers, published in January.
Answered by Baroness Berridge
The government is clear that the needs of the child are paramount when making decisions about care placements. The child’s safety, suitability and the quality of a child’s placement in care is our priority. As at 31 March and 31 August 2019, 92% of Independent Fostering Agencies and 82% of the active and inspected private children’s homes were judged good or outstanding by Ofsted. We believe that a mix of provision can provide quality and increase placement options for local authorities.
The government is taking action to support local authorities in the provision of high quality social care. This includes investing part of our £200 million Children’s Social Care Innovation programme in three projects to improve the supply of placements, and investing an extra £1 billion of new funding for adult and children’s social care to support local authorities meet the rising demand and protect the most vulnerable in society. We have also committed to reviewing the system, so children receive the best possible care.
Asked by: Baroness Eaton (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask Her Majesty's Government whether, as part of the review of the children’s care system, they will work jointly with the Local Government Association, councils, and care providers, to increase the transparency of children’s social care costs.
Answered by Baroness Berridge
In a Written Ministerial Statement on 12 February, my right hon. Friend, the Secretary of State for Education announced that the care review would be independently led, with a broad and bold scope to support a fundamental look across children’s social care. We continue to develop the review and are committed to undertaking it at the earliest opportunity. This includes considering the review’s scope, which will be developed alongside the independent leadership of the review. We will confirm this in due course. The Written Ministerial Statement is attached and is also available at the following link: https://www.parliament.uk/business/publications/written-questions-answers-statements/written-statement/Commons/2020-02-12/HCWS110/.
We anticipate that the review will engage with a wide range of stakeholders including those involved with delivering local services and those with experience of using them.
Asked by: Baroness Eaton (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what support relevant authorities are required by law to provide to looked-after children in further education.
Answered by Lord Agnew of Oulton
The statutory duty on local authorities, to promote the education of their looked-after children, applies equally to those in further education (FE). This means looked-after children in FE receive support from their authority’s Virtual School Head and have a Personal Education Plan. This plan should help the local authority and education setting monitor and maximise the young person’s progress.
Local authorities have a duty to provide financial assistance to care leavers to support their participation in education or training; for example, by contributing to travel costs. In addition, looked-after children in FE are a priority group for the 16 – 19 bursary for defined vulnerable groups, worth up to £1200 a year. Looked-after children or care leavers aged 16 to 24 doing an apprenticeship are eligible for a one-off bursary of £1000 to fund the cost of transition into work and support them in their first year of apprenticeship. If care leavers are following a recognised course of higher education, the authority that looked after them must pay them a one-off bursary of £2000.
Universities are independent bodies and are best placed to decide how best to support their students. Many universities already provide a range of support to help enable more vulnerable students to attend their institution and access higher education. For example, The University of Sussex, offers care leavers a bursary of £3,000 cash for every year of study and a £500 study grant, as well as a guaranteed room in a campus-based residence for their entire course, including all holidays.
Asked by: Baroness Eaton (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask Her Majesty's Government how many Department for Education policies have been assessed against the Family Test; and whether they will publish any such assessments.
Answered by Lord Agnew of Oulton
The Department for Work and Pensions published guidance for departments and officials on how the Family Test should be applied when formulating policy and my department follows that guidance, which is attached and can be found at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/family-test-assessing-the-impact-of-policies-on-families.
We do not hold a central record of the amount of policies assessed against the Family Test as it is an integral part of the policy making process. It is applied in a proportionate way in the development of all new policy in line with the Family Test guidance. As a result potential impacts of policy on family functioning and relationships have been identified and brought to the attention of Ministers where appropriate, and as part of the normal process of agreeing policy.
We have published assessments of the impact on families on a number of occasions when legislation was introduced to Parliament.
The Childcare Act 2016 assessment can be found attached and also at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/childcare-bill-impact-assessment.
The Education and Adoption Act 2016 assessment can be found attached and also at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/education-and-adoption-bill-impact-assessment.
The Higher Education and Research Act 2017 assessment has been placed in the Libraries of both Houses and can also be found at: https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/528005/bis-16-295-he-research-bill-detailed-impact-assessment.pdf.
The Children & Social Work Act 2017 assessment has been placed in the Libraries of both Houses and can also be found at: https://www.parliament.uk/documents/impact-assessments/IA16-008.pdf.
Asked by: Baroness Eaton (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask Her Majesty's Government, further to the remarks by Lord Agnew of Oulton on 29 March, of the 1.9 million additional children in a good or outstanding school since 2010, how many are being taught in (1) academies, (2) free schools, and (3) local authority maintained schools.
Answered by Lord Agnew of Oulton
As of 31 August 2010, there were 4,855,336 children in good or outstanding schools. As of 31 December 2017, there were 6,714,920 children in good or outstanding schools. This represents an increase of 1,859,584 more children in good or outstanding schools since December 2010. The figures are derived from published Ofsted data but there is no breakdown available of the number of children in free schools in 2010, and therefore there are no data available to calculate the additional number of children for all three categories from 2010 to 2017.
Since 2010 around 1700 schools have left local authority control to become sponsored academies. The vast majority of these schools were providing an unsatisfactory or inadequate education at the time of transfer. This has left local authorities with a lower proportion of poor schools.
The attached table shows the breakdown of existing data for August 2010 and December 2017.
Asked by: Baroness Eaton (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask Her Majesty's Government, further to the remarks by Lord Agnew of Oulton on 29 March, how they have calculated the figure of 1.9 million additional children who are in good or outstanding schools since 2010.
Answered by Lord Agnew of Oulton
As at 31 December 2017, there were 6,714,920 children in good or outstanding schools. As at 31 August 2010, there were 4,855,336 children in good or outstanding schools. This represents a difference of 1,859,584 more children in good or outstanding schools than in 2010. The figures are derived from published Ofsted data. [1]
Asked by: Baroness Eaton (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask Her Majesty's Government whether the Timpson review of school exclusion will consider ways in which families can be supported to prevent children being excluded from schools.
Answered by Lord Agnew of Oulton
The review of exclusions practice will consider how schools use exclusion overall and how this impacts their pupils, and in particular, why some groups of pupils are more likely to be excluded from school. It will also consider practice in relation to behaviour management and alternative interventions schools take in place of exclusion.
The review opened with a call for evidence which closed on 6 May. This call received a significant response from parents and their views will be included in the review. The full terms of reference for the review are attached.