Baroness Morgan of Cotes
Main Page: Baroness Morgan of Cotes (Conservative - Life peer)Department Debates - View all Baroness Morgan of Cotes's debates with the Department for Education
(8 years, 3 months ago)
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Ben Howlett (Bath) (Con)
8. What steps the Government are taking in schools to support young people with their mental health.
The Secretary of State for Education (Nicky Morgan)
First, may I take this opportunity to welcome the new shadow Ministers for childcare, the hon. Member for Darlington (Jenny Chapman), and for mental health, the hon. Member for Liverpool, Wavertree (Luciana Berger), to their places on the Opposition Front Bench?
This Government are committed to helping all young people fulfil their potential. Mental health is a personal priority for me as Secretary of State and we are committed to helping schools provide the necessary support. This includes a pilot to improve access to specialist services where needed, and guidance on counselling, behaviour and teaching about mental health. The Government are also investing an additional £1.4 billion in children and young people’s mental health services, which will deliver a step-change in the way these services are commissioned and delivered.
Liz McInnes
The number of children going to A&E with mental health issues has more than doubled since 2010, and schools are having to manage a growing crisis. Decreased access to support from child and adolescent mental health services is making this much harder. I appreciate the Secretary of State’s warm words, but what guarantee can she give pupils, parents and teachers that this Government are serious about acting on these issues?
Nicky Morgan
Importantly, there is interest in this matter in all parts of the House, and I recognise and welcome that. That is the first step to tackling the stigma associated with mental health and getting people to talk about it, but the hon. Lady is absolutely right that we have to go further. That is why my right hon. Friend the Prime Minister announced £1.4 billion for young people’s mental health services, and a portion of the funding for that was announced recently. Also, the Department is contributing £1.5 million to joint training pilots to look at having single points of contact in schools and CAMHS. Teachers are not mental health workers, but they do have the opportunity to spot problems. They must know, and be able to work with, those in their local health services.
Ben Howlett
It is clear that this Government are committed to ensuring that young people have good access to mental health support. Does the Secretary of State agree that the Department for Education’s mental health service and “schools link” pilot, bringing in a single point of contact in 255 schools, will mean there is a more joined-up approach between schools and health services, which will positively impact on the mental health of our young people across the UK, and the south-west in particular?
Nicky Morgan
I am pleased to be able to say that the first round of training workshops has been successfully delivered to 255 schools and the second round is now under way. Schools and clinical commissioning groups are taking part in an evaluation of the programme to help us understand whether, and how, having the named lead roles has improved the working between schools and CAMHS and to look at any wider changes across participating schools.
Andrew Gwynne (Denton and Reddish) (Lab)
Access to these services for all children and young people is absolutely crucial. With pressures increasing on school budgets, what guarantees can the Secretary of State give that all children and young people who need access to good quality mental health and counselling services are able to get them?
Nicky Morgan
I have already mentioned the joint training pilots. As a Department we have also provided £4.9 million this year to support 17 voluntary sector projects, and this is the first time that mental health services have been a part of that. The teacher voice omnibus survey carried out last summer found that 54% of teachers reported feeling that they knew how to help pupils with mental health issues access appropriate support and 62% reported that their school provided counselling services for pupils needing extra support, but I would be the first to admit we have further to go on this.
Dr Sarah Wollaston (Totnes) (Con)
In the last Parliament, the Health Committee heard compelling evidence of the need to focus on prevention and early intervention. Much of that, as the Secretary of State will know, is being funded from public health budgets. Will the Secretary of State set out what discussions she will have, and reassure the House that as those budgets come under pressure the very valuable services being put in place will not be affected?
Nicky Morgan
I read with interest the Health Committee report in the last Parliament, and I and the Under-Secretary, my hon. Friend the Member for East Surrey (Mr Gyimah), have regular conversations with our colleagues in the Department of Health and across Government on this issue. Early insights from the local transformation plans, which my hon. Friend the Member for Totnes (Dr Wollaston) will know about, indicate that some areas are already running their own activities to decrease stigma and discrimination, or are planning to do so. Sadly, there remains discrimination against the prioritisation of mental health services even within some parts of the NHS. We have to change that.
Carol Monaghan (Glasgow North West) (SNP)
I am feeling rather abandoned on the Scottish National party Benches today, and I am wondering whether my colleagues are off celebrating an early Burns Night. I wish any Members who will be taking part in such events a very enjoyable time.
The link between mental health problems and poverty is well documented, with young people from the poorest 20% of households three times more likely to suffer from poor mental health than those from the most affluent 20%. What plans does the Secretary of State have to study the impact of removing the education maintenance allowance on the mental health of the most disadvantaged young people in society?
Nicky Morgan
I agree with the first part of the hon. Lady’s question, although I am afraid that I could not agree with the second part because I could not quite see where she was heading with it. The overall issue is that the mental health of young people from all backgrounds needs to be addressed, in the sense of tackling early intervention and prevention and of ensuring that we produce strong, resilient young people. That is why I have been talking a lot about character education, which is something that I want to prioritise in the schools system in England.
Damian Green (Ashford) (Con)
I am delighted by the announcements that the Prime Minister and the Secretary of State have made on this issue, not least because many families in my constituency and in other parts of east Kent have great difficulty in accessing mental health services, particularly for adolescents. Can the Secretary of State reassure the House that her Department’s involvement in these matters will mean that people throughout the education system will be much more alert to the early signs of mental health problems and have quicker access to the medical mental health services?
Nicky Morgan
I agree with my right hon. Friend. That is precisely why the Department has made this a priority. We understand that, although teachers are not mental health workers, they work with young people day in and day out, week in and week out, and they will be able to spot the issues. However, they need to know that when the cases get referred, they will be dealt with speedily by the medical service, which is why we are working closely with the NHS as well. I also want to ensure that teachers are fully equipped to tackle mental health problems and mental health stigma in classrooms, and that is why we have funded the Personal, Social, Health and Economic Education Association to produce guidance and lesson plans to support age-appropriate teaching on mental health issues which can be used in this academic year.
Luciana Berger (Liverpool, Wavertree) (Lab/Co-op)
I should like to thank the Speaker for kindly giving me permission to join this departmental question session and others in order to raise these important issues on mental health. At least half the adults who have mental health problems are diagnosed in childhood, so it is vital that we intervene early to promote good mental health in children. I listened carefully to what the Secretary of State said, but it is on her Government’s watch that they will underspend by £77 million on the child and adolescent mental health budget. Concerns have been raised by no fewer than four Select Committee Chairs about this Government’s dire record on PSHE, and we have seen a dramatic increase in the number of children turning up at A&E with mental health problems because the thresholds to access services are increasing. When will the Secretary of State stop the warm words and give us proper action to support the child and adolescent mental health services that this country desperately needs?
Nicky Morgan
I welcome the hon. Lady’s appointment. She will know of my personal interest in this matter, and that I am the first Secretary of State to task one of the Ministers in my Department with specific responsibility for mental health education. It is a shame that she did not have a chance to amend her question—or perhaps her statement—before she stood up. If she had done so, she could have reflected the fact that I have already talked about the joint training pilots, about the £1.25 billion my right hon. Friend the Prime Minister has already announced, about the PSHE Association, about training for schools and about the provision of counselling. I look forward to working with her on this very important issue.
Mr Ranil Jayawardena (North East Hampshire) (Con)
2. What progress the Government have made on implementing their policy to provide 30 hours of free childcare for working parents.
Graham Stuart (Beverley and Holderness) (Con)
6. If she will make it her policy to require all schools to work towards a quality award for careers education, information, advice and guidance recognised by the quality in careers standard.
The Secretary of State for Education (Nicky Morgan)
We want to spread excellent practice in schools in respect of careers and employment engagement activity to help prepare young people for successful working lives. That is why I launched the Careers & Enterprise Company, which is connecting employees from firms of all sizes with schools through a network of enterprise advisers drawn from business volunteers. I know that my hon. Friend has met the chairman and chief executive of the company. Its role is to harness exceptional schemes such as the Humber careers gold standard, which my hon. Friend has championed and which encourages the delivery of inspiring careers advice.
Graham Stuart
It was great to hear at the weekend that the Secretary of State was going to act to give further education colleges and apprenticeship providers access to our schools, but the central challenge in the careers space is the lack of incentives for schools to play with when they have so many high incentives in relation to exams. Will the Secretary of State change Government guidance to introduce a requirement to work towards an award that fits the quality in careers standard?
Nicky Morgan
I thank my hon. Friend for welcoming the announcements that were made at the weekend. He is right: the quality of careers advice is paramount. That is why we have published more robust statutory guidance, and why Ofsted already has to inspect and pass judgment on the ways in which schools prepare young people for their careers.
We are considering how to create the right incentives. We will consult a range of organisations, including the Gatsby Charitable Foundation and the Quality in Careers Consortium Board, and will publish a new careers strategy in the spring.
Yvonne Fovargue (Makerfield) (Lab)
15. It is bad enough that the Government do not value face-to-face careers advice, but, according to Ofsted, only 8% of young people have even heard of the national careers telephone helpline. What plans has the Secretary of State to raise its profile and prepare our young people properly for the world of work?
Nicky Morgan
I have already mentioned the Careers & Enterprise Company, which will be working with schools and local enterprise partnerships all over the country to create a network of enterprise advisers and co-ordinators with the aim of ensuring that young people can engage in a range of activities. This is not just about calling a telephone helpline; it is about a mixture of work experience, inviting speakers to schools, understanding why young people are studying certain subjects, and enabling them to get out and experience mini-apprenticeships.
Danny Kinahan (South Antrim) (UUP)
I lost my voice at the weekend, and I am afraid that that makes it a bit harder for me to speak.
The all-party parliamentary group for education will shortly launch an inquiry into how well our education system is preparing children for the world of work. Will the Secretary of State ensure that schools have enough resources to teach “soft” skills, such as IT skills, so that young people are well prepared for their careers?
Mr Speaker
The hon. Gentleman’s mellifluous tones can still be heard. I am pleased to inform both him and the House of that.
Nicky Morgan
I very much enjoyed listening to the hon. Gentleman’s question, and I welcome the work of the all-party parliamentary group. We are, of course, already teaching computing throughout all the key stages of the national curriculum, having introduced coding last year. The hon. Gentleman is right to draw attention to the important role of our education system in preparing young people for the world of work and for 21st-century Britain, and I look forward to hearing more from the all-party parliamentary group.
Mr Gordon Marsden (Blackpool South) (Lab)
Four years after scrapping work experience at key stage 4, shredding Connexions and local careers service funding, and giving schools careers advice responsibilities but no resources, the best that the Secretary of State could do yesterday was blame schools for outdated snobbery over apprenticeships. Is it not a fact that she has been stung into action by the continued barrage of concern—the director general of the British Chambers of Commerce spoke of a “national embarrassment”—and that the Minister for Skills needs some sticking plaster for his appearance before the Select Committee this afternoon as part of its urgent inquiry on careers advice?
Will the Secretary of State ensure that careers advice and apprenticeship take-up are included in Ofsted’s assessment? Does she think that volunteer enterprise advisers—however hard-working—and a mere £20 million for her enterprise company will undo the damage that we see in the Government’s previous record?
Nicky Morgan
If the hon. Gentleman wants to talk about previous records, he should think about the previous record of his own party in government, when it completely failed to prepare young people for the world of work. In fact, it perpetuated fraud on them by allowing them to do technical and professional qualifications that did not lead either to satisfying the requirements of employers or to university. He clearly failed to listen to my earlier answer in which I said that Ofsted already inspects on careers advice and almost £70 million is being spent during this Parliament in relation to careers.
Tom Brake (Carshalton and Wallington) (LD)
7. What steps she is taking to implement the recommendations of the Social Mobility and Child Poverty Commission’s report, “State of the Nation 2015: Social Mobility and Child Poverty in Great Britain”, published in December 2015.
Cat Smith (Lancaster and Fleetwood) (Lab)
T1. If she will make a statement on her departmental responsibilities.
The Secretary of State for Education (Nicky Morgan)
First, let me congratulate the 107 people who were recognised for their services to education and children’s services in the latest new year’s honours list. They include headteachers, classroom teachers, school governors, foster carers, children’s social workers and people working in adoption and early years settings. I am sure the whole House will want to congratulate them and thank them for the work they do.
May I also extend my support to all the pupils, teachers and communities affected by the recent floods in the north of England? I saw for myself the impact on schools in Carlisle recently, and the Minister for Schools has visited Yorkshire and Lancashire to see the impact for himself.
Cat Smith
The Minister will be aware of the case of Poppi Worthington, a constituent of my hon. Friend the Member for Barrow and Furness (John Woodcock), and her tragic death. Does she support the calls from both sides of the House for an independent investigation into the circumstances and failings before and after Poppi’s death?
Nicky Morgan
Poppi’s death was clearly an absolute tragedy. It is vital that we understand what has happened and have the opportunity to learn any lessons. The serious case review into her death will be published shortly, and I welcome the announcement by the Crown Prosecution Service that it will review the case. We do have concerns about Cumbria children’s services. They were inspected in May last year and found to be inadequate. There have been some improvements, but not enough. We will review progress in the workings of the children’s services in March and take a further decision. It is right to wait for the serious case review and the CPS review, but of course we will keep this matter actively under review, including the demands for an independent inquiry.
Graham Evans (Weaver Vale) (Con)
T3. As we approach Holocaust Memorial Day this Wednesday, will the Secretary of State and my hon. Friend the Minister for Schools reaffirm her Department’s commitment to continue funding the Holocaust Educational Trust’s “Lessons from Auschwitz” project, which has enabled 28,000 students and teachers to visit Auschwitz-Birkenau?
Lucy Powell (Manchester Central) (Lab/Co-op)
As somebody who went on a “Lessons from Auschwitz” visit with schoolchildren from Manchester in the last few weeks, may I echo earlier comments about how moving and important it is?
In their manifesto of 2010—notably dropped in 2015—the Conservatives pledged to
“close the attainment gap between the richest and poorest”.
Revised GCSE results published last week showed that, despite Lib Dem policies such as the pupil premium, the GCSE attainment gap between pupils on free school meals and their peers has actually widened since 2010. With the Conservatives now governing alone, can the Secretary of State tell the House whether closing the attainment gap is still an objective and, if so, why she is allowing it to widen on her watch?
Nicky Morgan
I welcome the hon. Lady’s comments about the “Lessons from Auschwitz” project. Like her, I have visited Auschwitz with schools in my constituency. It was an incredibly moving experience, and I recommend that all Members of the House take the opportunity to do so.
Of course closing the attainment gap remains absolutely a goal—and not just a goal, but something we are moving and working towards in Government, which is why we continue to fund the pupil premium. [Interruption.] The difficulty with the hon. Lady’s statements on this and other matters is that she needs to understand and interrogate the figures that are published, because the changes we have made to the accountability of the examination system make it impossible to compare GCSE threshold measures across the years. If she had interrogated them, she would know that the attainment gap between disadvantaged pupils and their peers has narrowed by 7.1% at key stage 2 and 6.6% at key stage 4 since 2011.
Lucy Powell
The Minister is moving the goalposts, as ever. All the evidence tells us that the most important factor in determining how well children do is the quality of teaching, especially for the most disadvantaged, yet at the start of this academic year half of all schools were struggling to cope with unfilled teaching positions, relying on supply teachers, non-specialists and unqualified staff. Teacher shortages are particularly acute in maths, science and English. Talk to any head anywhere in the country and they will say that such challenges are the biggest challenge they face. Given that the situation is getting worse, will the right hon. Lady, first, admit to this House that there is a problem—indeed, a crisis; secondly, agree that she should urgently look again at her Government’s chaotic and confusing approach to recruitment; and, finally, come forward with a proper strategy for retaining excellent teachers by looking at workload issues and the constant chopping and changing being inflicted on schools by her Department?
Nicky Morgan
What the hon. Lady calls moving the goalposts, I call restoring rigour to the exam system, making sure that our young people are getting qualifications that will set them up for life and for the world of work. Yet again, I am afraid to say that she has missed the point, because we have already talked about teacher recruitment and we have already announced plans for the National Teaching Service to help schools to recruit. Again, if the hon. Lady interrogated the figures properly rather than jumping for the quickest soundbite, she would know that not only have we increased the number of teachers we are seeking to recruit in subjects such as English and maths, but we have exceeded our recruitment targets for precious years—in fact, we have recruited more postgraduates in both English and maths, and we recruited 116% of the teachers that we needed at primary schools. It is extraordinary that she should seek to give lessons to this House, as she was the lady who not only commissioned the “Ed stone”—the carving of the promises—but then managed to lose the receipt.
Nigel Huddleston (Mid Worcestershire) (Con)
T6. Will the Secretary of State join me in encouraging schools in my constituency and right across the country to participate in Clean for the Queen from 4 to 6 March this year and help to tidy up their local communities ahead of Her Majesty’s 90th birthday?
Paula Sherriff (Dewsbury) (Lab)
T2. St John’s infant school in my constituency is struggling to obtain support for its breakfast club because eligibility is now linked to pupil premium funding. With free school dinner already provided for all pupils, there is no incentive for parents to apply for the premium, despite the vast majority of pupils coming from some of the most deprived areas in the country. Will the Minister take action to ensure that children from deprived backgrounds do not lose out on breakfast because they have lunch?
Nicky Morgan
We do not want any pupils to lose out, which is why we have continued with the pupil premium in this Parliament, having spent more than £6.5 billion on the pupil premium in the previous Parliament. It is also why we introduced the universal infant free school meals. There are some fantastic breakfast club schemes. If the hon. Lady wants to write to me, I or one of the Ministers will happily have a further conversation with her about this.
Tulip Siddiq (Hampstead and Kilburn) (Lab)
T5. Swiss Cottage School in my constituency is an outstanding school that looks after children with special, complex and emotional needs. Regrettably, it is having to turn away pupils because of limited capacity. Does the Secretary of State believe that her Department is doing enough to look after children with special, complex and emotional needs, and does she believe that there is adequate provision for such vulnerable children across the country?
Nicky Morgan
I actually visited the school in the course of the past year and found it to be truly exceptional. It is staffed by a wonderfully talented headteacher and members of staff. We have invested in all schools, both those catering for special educational needs and those in the mainstream, but there is more we can do to prepare teachers for teaching children with special educational needs. We have a dedicated capital funding stream for schools catering for children with special educational needs. I strongly encourage her school to apply.
Nigel Mills (Amber Valley) (Con)
T10. Many headteachers in Amber Valley report that they have real problems supporting pupils who are keen to learn but who suffer from chaotic home lives. What more can the Government do to help headteachers in that situation so that they do not end up being a co-ordinator of a social services operation?
James Berry (Kingston and Surbiton) (Con)
According to analysis in The Daily Telegraph, Kingston was the best local educational authority in the country for GCSE results. Will my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State join me in paying tribute to teachers and pupils in Kingston? Will she explain to the House how learning from the best schools will be rolled out across the country to help those schools that still have some way to go?
Nicky Morgan
As somebody who was educated in Kingston, I pay tribute to all the schools and teachers who operate there—they are much better than they were in my day. I pay tribute to the fact that my hon. Friend is talking about excellence and positivity, and about learning from other schools, which is much better than the constant negativity we hear from the Opposition.
John Woodcock (Barrow and Furness) (Lab/Co-op)
Is the Secretary of State as alarmed as I am that Poppi Worthington was not previously known to social services despite the fact that her mother had previously had a child taken into care, and her father had been investigated on two separate occasions due to child sexual abuse?
Nicky Morgan
I pay tribute to the work the hon. Gentleman has done as the local Member of Parliament in speaking up on this case. Yes, I am alarmed. As I said in my earlier answer, Cumbria is in formal intervention from my Department and is being supported by an interventions adviser. In the most recent inspection, the services were found still to be inadequate. As I have said, we will review progress in March this year as part of the broader package of reforms we know we need to introduce to tackle failing children’s social services departments, which only let down the most vulnerable.
Nusrat Ghani (Wealden) (Con)
East Sussex County Council offers award-winning children’s services, but there is always more to learn. What plans do the Government have to reform child and family social work?
Nicky Morgan
I thank my hon. Friend for raising an important point, which my hon. Friend the Minister for Children and Families has already touched on. We are looking at raising the qualifications of social workers, attracting the brightest and the best into the profession, and making sure there is strong leadership for them to benefit from. We are also looking at setting up a new body to regulate the training of children’s social workers, who form a hugely vital, but often under-appreciated service, and we want to make sure that it gets the same attention as our teachers and schools rightly do.
Sammy Wilson (East Antrim) (DUP)
Thank you, Mr Speaker.
Many churches, youth groups and youth organisations are concerned that they may be subject to Ofsted regulation as a result of the nationwide registration scheme. The Prime Minister has said that they will be exempt: the head of Ofsted has said that they will not. Will the Minister tell us who is right?
Nicky Morgan
It is right that we are asking the question about registration of out-of-school settings and therefore inspection, but the Prime Minister and I are clear that that is not to apply to organisations such as Sunday schools. Indeed, I am a Sunday school and Bible camp teacher myself. The hon. Gentleman should also look at the statement issued by the head of Ofsted after his recent appearance, in which he clarified that he was not correct and that we are right to say that Sunday schools and others will be exempt.