Asked by: Bell Ribeiro-Addy (Labour - Clapham and Brixton Hill)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many fines for school absence were issued to the parents of neurodiverse children who missed school for a reason relating to their condition in the last 12 months; and if she will make an assessment of the potential implications for her policies of those trends.
Answered by Stephen Morgan - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
The information requested is not held by this department. The department collects aggregate data on penalty notices issued for unauthorised absence from local authorities in England, through the annual parental responsibility measures attendance census. No information is collected on characteristics of the children concerned. The available data is published here: https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/find-statistics/parental-responsibility-measures.
On improving school attendance, this government is acting decisively to tackle absence via a new approach rooted in responsibility, partnership and belonging. This includes supporting schools and recognising they have important responsibilities by creating a welcoming, engaging and inclusive environment for children, but that it is also a parent’s legal responsibility to send their children to school every day that they can.
We know that some pupils face additional barriers to attending school regularly. Our ‘Working together to improve school attendance’ guidance particularly emphasises the importance of support for pupils with special educational needs and disabilities and mental ill health who often need more individual consideration due to the wider barriers they face.
The new national framework for fixed penalty notices, which has been in place since the start of this academic year, strengthens protections for parents of those with additional needs by, for absence cases other than holiday, introducing an expectation that attendance support will have been provided before a penalty notice can be used. The vast majority of penalty notices for unauthorised absence (89%) are issued for term time holidays.
Asked by: Bell Ribeiro-Addy (Labour - Clapham and Brixton Hill)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether it is her policy to continue the provision of free period products to pupils during the school holidays.
Answered by Janet Daby - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
The Period Products Scheme recently opened for the 2024/25 academic year, with schools and colleges able to order free period products for their pupils and students. Beyond this, my right hon. Friend, the Chancellor of the Exchequer has launched a multi-year Spending Review which will set government spending plans for a minimum of three years of the five-year forecast period. This will set spending policy in line with the government’s wider fiscal strategy and change the way public services are delivered by embedding a mission-led approach.
The Spending Review will conclude in spring 2025.
Asked by: Bell Ribeiro-Addy (Labour - Clapham and Brixton Hill)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps she plans to take to monitor the effectiveness of her Department's work to support the mental health of children in poverty in (a) schools and (b) other educational settings.
Answered by Stephen Morgan - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
This government is committed to improving mental health support for all children and young people. This is critical to breaking down barriers to opportunity and learning.
The right support should be available to every young person that needs it, which is why the department will provide access to specialist mental health professionals in every school.
The government will also be putting in place new Young Futures hubs, including access to mental health support workers, and will recruit an additional 8,500 new mental health staff to treat children and adults.
To improve children’s mental health, this government is committed to tackling child poverty and alleviating the impact of poverty on families. Child poverty has gone up by 700,000 since 2010, with over four million children now growing up in a low-income family. For too many children, living in poverty robs them of the opportunity to learn and to prosper.
The government’s Child Poverty Taskforce have already started the urgent work to publish its Child Poverty Strategy in spring 2025. The taskforce will drive forward short- and long-term actions across government to reduce child poverty. Further details on the taskforce can be found here: https://www.gov.uk/government/news/child-poverty-taskforce-kicks-off-urgent-work-to-publish-strategy-in-spring.
Alongside these efforts to tackle the root causes of child poverty, the department also makes use of key national data sets to look at children and young living in economic disadvantage. For example, the department collects its own data set on children and young people’s wellbeing via the Parent, pupil and learner voice panel survey and provides representative data multiple times a year, including splits by subgroups such as for pupils eligible for free school meals. The department has previously also used data from sources such as the Programme for International Student Assessment, the Mental Health of Children and Young People in England survey, and the Health Behaviours of School Aged Children study to understand trends in children’s mental health and wellbeing over time and difference for different groups. The department will continue to use these and to explore new ways to measure the impact of its commitments to lift children out of poverty.
Asked by: Bell Ribeiro-Addy (Labour - Clapham and Brixton Hill)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether her Department has consulted children and young people on the plan for those in school with SEND.
Answered by David Johnston
The consultation on the special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) and alternative provision (AP) Green Paper ran from 29 March to 22 July 2022. During this time, the department received around 6,000 responses to the online consultation and delivered 175 consultation events hearing from over 4,500 people.
The department designed specific consultation questions for children and young people and consulted children and young people at a significant number of consultation events. Specific consultation events were also delivered with stakeholders such as the Council for Disabled Children’s Friendship, Learning, Achieve, Reach and Empower (FLARE) children and young people’s group to ensure their views were captured in the consultation feedback.
The department continues to engage with children, young people and their families, including stakeholders such as FLARE and the National Network of Parent Carer Forums, as it designs and tests reforms through the Change Programme. This will ensure a wide range of perspectives are considered to improve the outcomes and experiences of children and young people with SEND and in AP.
Asked by: Bell Ribeiro-Addy (Labour - Clapham and Brixton Hill)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if she will meet with the hon. Member for Streatham and Barnardo’s to discuss how local authorities can work with partners to prevent the over-criminalisation of Black children in the care system.
Answered by David Johnston
I refer the hon. Member for Streatham and the hon. Member for Liverpool, Riverside to the answer of 15 January 2024 to Question 8094: https://questions-statements.parliament.uk/written-questions/detail/2024-01-05/8094.
Asked by: Bell Ribeiro-Addy (Labour - Clapham and Brixton Hill)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if she will meet with the hon. Member for Streatham and Barnardo's to discuss developing a Black foster care network.
Answered by David Johnston
I refer the hon. Member for Streatham to the answer of 15 January 2024 to Question 8232: https://questions-statements.parliament.uk/written-questions/detail/2024-01-05/8232.
Asked by: Bell Ribeiro-Addy (Labour - Clapham and Brixton Hill)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether her Department plans to publish a list of schools that are at risk of collapse due to (a) disrepair and (b) unsafe building materials.
Answered by Nick Gibb
Departments have been asked to report on the current picture of suspected and confirmed RAAC in their estates as soon as possible. This will be updated on a regular basis as new buildings are identified and surveying and remediation are carried out.
The Government published lists of education settings confirmed as having RAAC on Wednesday 6 September, updated on Tuesday 19 September.
Asked by: Bell Ribeiro-Addy (Labour - Clapham and Brixton Hill)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps her Department is taking to help increase the (a) recruitment and (b) retention of staff in early years education.
Answered by Claire Coutinho - Shadow Minister (Equalities)
In the 2023 Spring Budget, my right hon. Friend, the Chancellor of the Exchequer, announced transformative reforms to childcare for parents, children and the economy. By 2027/28, the government will expect to be spending in excess of £8 billion every year on free hours and early education, helping working families with their childcare costs. This represents the largest ever investment in childcare in England. Following this announcement, we will work closely with the sector to develop a plan to grow and develop the workforce.
The department is providing a package of training, qualifications, expert guidance, and targeted support for the early years sector to focus on the development of the youngest and most disadvantaged children and help to address existing recruitment and retention challenges. We are funding a range of programmes, including additional funding for graduate level specialist training leading to early years teacher status and an accredited level 3 early years special education needs coordinator qualification.
Asked by: Bell Ribeiro-Addy (Labour - Clapham and Brixton Hill)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if department will reintroduce the PGCE student bursary for current PGCE students.
Answered by Nick Gibb
The bursaries the Department offers for Initial Teacher Training (ITT) are intended to incentivise applications to ITT courses. The Department reviews the bursaries each year to take account of factors including historic recruitment, forecast economic conditions, and teacher supply need in each subject. This provides flexibility to respond to the need to attract new teachers.
For those starting ITT in the 2023/24 academic year, the Department is offering a £27,000 tax-free bursary in chemistry, computing, mathematics and physics. Prestigious scholarships worth £29,000 tax-free will be offered in chemistry, computing, mathematics and physics. A languages scholarship worth £27,000 tax-free will be available in French, German and Spanish. The Department is also offering a £25,000 tax-free bursary for geography and languages, including ancient languages, a £20,000 tax-free bursary for biology and design & technology and a £15,000 tax-free bursary for English.
Schools offering the Postgraduate Teaching Apprenticeship or School Direct (salaried) routes will continue to be able to access funding equivalent to the bursary amount.
Asked by: Bell Ribeiro-Addy (Labour - Clapham and Brixton Hill)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment her Department has made of the potential merits of introducing mandatory SEND training for all (a) teachers and (b) education staff.
Answered by Nick Gibb
The Department is committed to ensuring that all pupils can reach their potential and receive excellent support from their teachers. The Teachers’ Standards set clear expectations that teachers must understand the needs of all pupils, including those with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND).
Consideration of SEND underpins both the Initial Teacher Training (ITT) Core Content Framework and Early Career Framework (ECF) which were both produced with the support of sector experts.
ITT courses must be designed so that teacher trainees can demonstrate that they meet all of the Teachers' Standards at the appropriate level, including the requirement in Standard 5 that all teachers must have a clear understanding of the needs of all pupils. All trainees who achieve Qualified Teacher Status must demonstrate that they can adapt teaching to respond to the strengths and needs of all pupils, including those with SEND.
The ECF has been designed around how to support all pupils to succeed and seeks to widen access for all. This includes those pupils identified within the four areas of need set out in the SEND code of practice, and children in need of help and protection as identified in the Children in Need Review. Head teachers use their professional judgement to identify any further training, including specific specialisms, for individual staff that is relevant to them, the school, and its pupils.
The Universal Services programme, which commenced this year with a budget of nearly £12 million, provides SEND specific training and support to the school workforce and the further education workforce, so they can identify and meet the needs of children and young people with SEND earlier and more effectively. It will also help to successfully prepare children and young people for adulthood, including employment. It is available for all teachers, leaders, and other staff at all stages of their careers, at the point of need, with a particular focus on mainstream settings.
All maintained mainstream schools and mainstream academy schools (including free schools) must have a qualified teacher, or the head teacher, designated as the Special Educational Needs Coordinator (SENCO). SENCOs appointed after 1 September 2009, are required to achieve a National Award for SEN Coordination (NASENCO) within three years of appointment.