Asked by: Blake Stephenson (Conservative - Mid Bedfordshire)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether she plans to carry out kinship carers pilot trials in eight local authority areas.
Answered by Janet Daby - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
Through the Autumn Budget 2024, this government announced a £40 million package to trial a new kinship allowance in up to 10 local authorities to test whether paying an allowance to cover the additional costs of supporting the child can help increase the number of children taken in by family members and friends. This trial will help the department make decisions about future national rollout. The department will share further detail on the process for selecting the local authorities taking part in the programme in due course.
Asked by: Blake Stephenson (Conservative - Mid Bedfordshire)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether she plans to produce a national kinship carers strategy.
Answered by Janet Daby - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
The government is determined to give every child the opportunities they deserve, and kinship carers play a crucial role in delivering this.
In November 2024, the government published ‘Keeping Children Safe, Helping Families Thrive’, which is available here: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/67375fe5ed0fc07b53499a42/Keeping_Children_Safe__Helping_Families_Thrive_.pdf. This statement set out the government's intention to rebalance the children’s social care system and improve outcomes for children in care, care leavers and families. This publication includes the key principle of supporting children to live with kinship carers when it is in their best interest.
The department recently announced a £40 million package to trial a new Kinship Allowance in up to ten local authorities, to test whether paying an allowance to cover the additional costs of supporting the child can help increase the number of children taken in by family members and friends.
This is the single biggest investment made by government in kinship care to date. This investment could transform the lives of vulnerable children who can no longer live at home, by allowing children to grow up within their families and communities, reducing disruption to their early years and allowing them to focus on schooling and building friendships.
Asked by: Blake Stephenson (Conservative - Mid Bedfordshire)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what estimate her Department has made of the number of pupils in Bedfordshire who will leave the independent school system as a result of VAT on school fees.
Answered by Stephen Morgan - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
The department has made no estimate of the number of pupils in Bedfordshire who will leave the independent school system as a result of VAT on school fees.
The government predicts that, in the long-run steady state, there will be 37,000 fewer pupils in the private sector in the UK as a result of the removal of the VAT exemption applied to school fees. This represents around 6% of the current private school population. This movement is expected to take place over several years.
Of the 37,000 pupil reduction in the private sector, the government estimates an increase of 35,000 pupils in the state sector in the steady state following the VAT policy taking effect, with the other 2,000 consisting of international pupils who do not move into the UK state system, and domestic pupils moving into homeschooling. This state sector increase represents less than 0.5% of total UK state school pupils, of which there are over 9 million. This movement is expected to take place over several years.
The impact on individual local authorities will interact with other pressures and vary. Local authorities have a statutory duty to provide full-time education for all children of statutory school age in their area, suitable for their age, aptitude, ability and any special educational needs and/or disabilities.
The department works with local authorities to help them fulfil their duty to secure school places. Requirements for state-funded places for children that would have attended a private school will be addressed in each local authority through normal processes.
Asked by: Blake Stephenson (Conservative - Mid Bedfordshire)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what plans her Department has to replace capital funding originally allocated to (a) Arnold Academy, (b) Parkfields Middle School, (c) Toddington St. George Church of England School, and (d) The Firs Lower School in Mid Bedfordshire constituency through the Condition Improvement Fund.
Answered by Stephen Morgan - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
The department has written to the responsible bodies to encourage them to reapply to the Condition Improvement Fund (CIF), which opened for applications for the 2025/26 round on 22 October 2024. The bodies should closely review the guidance and all the documents provided in support of their application to ensure their appropriateness as evidence of project need.
In cases of an urgent building condition issue that cannot wait for funding in the current CIF round, schools can apply for Urgent Capital Support funding. More details on both funding routes are available on GOV.UK at: https://www.gov.uk/guidance/condition-improvement-fund.
Asked by: Blake Stephenson (Conservative - Mid Bedfordshire)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether the planned free school in Bedford Borough is under review by her Department.
Answered by Stephen Morgan - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
The government wants to ensure children achieve and thrive in education, whatever type of school they are in, including free schools. School capacity varies from place to place, and demand for places varies from area to area and year to year, so the department will continue to ensure the opening of new schools only where they are needed.
Departmental officials are working with local authorities, academy trusts and other partners to take forward work on the review of mainstream free school projects over the autumn and have written to them, setting out the next steps in relation to individual projects.
Asked by: Blake Stephenson (Conservative - Mid Bedfordshire)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps she is taking to reduce class sizes in Bedfordshire.
Answered by Catherine McKinnell - Minister of State (Education)
The average class size for state-funded primary schools in Bedford is 26.8 pupils and in Central Bedfordshire it is 25.7 pupils, which is broadly in line with the national average of 26.6 pupils. The average class size for state-funded secondary schools in Bedford is 21.5 pupils and in Central Bedfordshire it is 22.6 pupils, which again is broadly in line with the national average of 22.4 pupils.
Secondary schools can decide how to organise classes based on local needs and circumstances, ensuring they are consistent with raising attainment and helping pupils to achieve and thrive. Legislation limits the size of an infant class to 30 pupils per school teacher.
It is local authorities who have responsibility to ensure that there are sufficient school places in their area. The department provides capital funding through the Basic Need grant to support local authorities to provide school places. Bedford Borough Council will receive £15.1 million and Central Bedfordshire Council will receive £3.3 million in 2024/25 to support the provision of new school places needed by September 2025.