Asked by: Daisy Cooper (Liberal Democrat - St Albans)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if she will make an assessment of the potential merits of including postgraduate students in receipt of (a) stipends and (b) bursaries in the eligibility criteria for free childcare.
Answered by Stephen Morgan - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
It is our ambition that all families have access to high-quality, affordable and flexible early education and care, giving every child the best start in life and delivering on our Plan for Change.
To be eligible for the working parent entitlement, both parents, including if they are a student, will need to earn between the equivalent of 16 hours a week at National Minimum Wage, which is equivalent to £195 per week or £10,140 per year in 2024/2025, and £100,000 adjusted net income per year.
A student receiving a bursary does not count as qualified paid work, so this cannot be used towards the working parent entitlement. Students may only be considered eligible for the working parent entitlement if they work and meet the income requirements in addition to studying.
Students are eligible for the universal 15 hours of free early education, which is available to all three- and four-year-olds regardless of family circumstances. This is available the term after the child turns three.
There is a range of support for students in further or higher education. If they meet the eligibility criteria, students can apply for the Childcare Grant and Parental learning allowance. More information can be found here: https://www.gov.uk/childcare-grant and https://www.gov.uk/parents-learning-allowance.
Additionally, working parents on Universal Credit may be eligible for help with up to 85% of their childcare costs through Universal Credit Childcare, which can be used in addition to the early education entitlements to support with the costs of childcare. More information can be found here: https://www.gov.uk/help-with-childcare-costs/universal-credit.
My right hon. Friend, the Secretary of State for Education has been clear in her commitment to early years. Despite tough decisions to get our public finances back on track, this government has increased investment in the early years sector to drive forward progress towards our Plan for Change target of a record number of children starting school ready to learn.
Later this year, the department will launch a new strategy to revitalise early years education, rooted in creating positive early childhood experiences for children.
Asked by: Daisy Cooper (Liberal Democrat - St Albans)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if she will make an assessment of the potential merits of including postgraduate students in the eligibility criteria for the (a) Childcare Grant and (b) Parent Learners Allowance.
Answered by Janet Daby - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
Postgraduate master’s and doctoral loans are intended as a contribution to the cost of study. They can be used by students according to their personal circumstances to cover the costs of fees and living costs, including for childcare. The Childcare Grant and Parents’ Learner Allowance form part of the undergraduate support package and there are no plans to extend access to those in receipt of a postgraduate loan.
Students are eligible for the universal 15 hours of free early education which is available to all three and four-year-olds regardless of family circumstances.
Asked by: Daisy Cooper (Liberal Democrat - St Albans)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what the average length of time was for children fleeing domestic abuse to be allocated a school place in the latest period for which data is available.
Answered by Catherine McKinnell - Minister of State (Education)
Children living in a refuge are, among a number of other categories of vulnerable and hard-to-place children, eligible for consideration under the fair access protocol. Where a child is referred to the protocol, they must be allocated a school place within 20 school days.
Where a child has difficulty in securing a school place via the usual in-year admissions processes, fair access protocols exist to ensure that school places can be secured as quickly as possible for vulnerable and hard-to-place children.
Each local authority is required to have a fair access protocol in place and all admission authorities are required to participate in it.
Asked by: Daisy Cooper (Liberal Democrat - St Albans)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment she has made of the potential merits of making tutoring available to children who are temporarily out of school as a result of moving out of area to seek refuge from domestic violence.
Answered by Catherine McKinnell - Minister of State (Education)
Under section 19 of the Education Act 1996, local authorities must arrange suitable full-time education for children of compulsory school age who would not receive suitable education without such provision. This applies whether the child is on the admission register of a school or not and to whatever type of school they attend.
It is for the local authority, as commissioner, to determine the type of educational provision that is put in place. However, all placements should be suitable to the child’s age, ability and aptitude, and any special educational needs they may have. Provision should be of good quality and delivered by high quality staff with suitable training, experience and safeguarding checks.
Remote education should not be viewed as an equal alternative to face-to-face learning, and as such the department would only expect it to be used as a last resort when the alternative would be no education. In such cases, remote education can have the benefit of allowing children without a school place to keep on track with their education.
Asked by: Daisy Cooper (Liberal Democrat - St Albans)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether she has received representations about extending the Adoption and special guardianship support fund to ensure it covers 12 months of therapeutic support.
Answered by Janet Daby - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
No representations have been received on this issue. Under the current guidelines for the Adoption and Special Guardianship Support Fund, applications for therapeutic support can already be submitted for up to a 12 month period. This has allowed children who start therapy at different points within the financial year to continue to receive it for 12 months. Although business planning decisions for next financial year have not yet been finalised, applications for the fund with therapy starting in this financial year are still being accepted and processed under business as usual.
Asked by: Daisy Cooper (Liberal Democrat - St Albans)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if she will make an estimate of the number of sick days taken by (a) teachers and (b) other school staff due to mental ill health in each of the last five years.
Answered by Catherine McKinnell - Minister of State (Education)
The information requested is not held centrally.
The department collects absence data for teachers and teaching assistants employed directly by state-funded schools via the school workforce census. This includes absences due to sickness but does not include the reason for the sickness absence. Each census collects data for absences from the previous academic year. The latest data available covers the 2022 /23 academic year and is published in the ‘School workforce in England’ statistical publication, which is available here: https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/find-statistics/school-workforce-in-england.
Asked by: Daisy Cooper (Liberal Democrat - St Albans)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment she has made of the potential merits of extending free school meal provision to include children enrolled in maintained nursery schools.
Answered by Stephen Morgan - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
Under current programmes, 2.1 million disadvantaged pupils are registered to receive benefits-based free school meals (FSM). This includes pupils attending a local authority maintained, academy or free school nursery who are entitled to FSM, as long as they either are in full-time education or receive education both before and after lunch and meet the benefits-based FSM eligibility criteria.
Further information on the number of pupils registered to receive FSM is available at: https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/find-statistics/school-pupils-and-their-characteristics.
Asked by: Daisy Cooper (Liberal Democrat - St Albans)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps she has taken to encourage schools to adopt the recommendations on (a) preventing and (b) treating concussion in the UK-wide Concussion Guidelines for Grassroots Sport, updated in November 2024.
Answered by Catherine McKinnell - Minister of State (Education)
Engaging in sports and physical activities, both within and outside the school environment, is crucial for a child’s wellbeing and personal development. There are various resources already available to assist schools and sports clubs in assessing and mitigating any risks associated with these activities.
The department’s guidance, ‘Health and safety: responsibilities and duties for schools’, supports schools in evaluating the risks associated with their activities. The guidance can be accessed here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/health-and-safety-advice-for-schools/responsibilities-and-duties-for-schools. It signposts to the Health and Safety Executive’s guidance on promoting a balanced approach to children’s play and leisure.
Additionally, health and safety advice is available from the Association of Physical Education and the National Governing Bodies of individual sports, who are responsible for the regulation of their sports, and for ensuring that appropriate measures are in place to protect participants from harm. The Department for Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) continues to encourage National Governing Bodies to adapt the concussion guidance to their own sport where appropriate.
Furthermore, on 24 November 2024, DCMS updated the 'Concussion Guidelines for Non-Elite (Grassroots) Sport’. These UK-wide guidelines aim to help players, coaches, parents, teachers, school staff, National Governing Bodies, and sports administrators effectively identify and manage brain injuries.
The department and DCMS have been collaboratively disseminating the guidance to schools through various channels such a sector email and a school stakeholder bulletin.
This guidance can be accessed here: uk-concussion-guidelines-for-grassroots-non-elite-sport---november-2024-update-061124084139.pdf.
Asked by: Daisy Cooper (Liberal Democrat - St Albans)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether she plans to publish guidance on the risks to children of acquired brain injuries in (a) schools and (b) sports clubs.
Answered by Catherine McKinnell - Minister of State (Education)
Engaging in sports and physical activities, both within and outside the school environment, is crucial for a child’s wellbeing and personal development. There are various resources already available to assist schools and sports clubs in assessing and mitigating any risks associated with these activities.
The department’s guidance, ‘Health and safety: responsibilities and duties for schools’, supports schools in evaluating the risks associated with their activities. The guidance can be accessed here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/health-and-safety-advice-for-schools/responsibilities-and-duties-for-schools. It signposts to the Health and Safety Executive’s guidance on promoting a balanced approach to children’s play and leisure.
Additionally, health and safety advice is available from the Association of Physical Education and the National Governing Bodies of individual sports, who are responsible for the regulation of their sports, and for ensuring that appropriate measures are in place to protect participants from harm. The Department for Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) continues to encourage National Governing Bodies to adapt the concussion guidance to their own sport where appropriate.
Furthermore, on 24 November 2024, DCMS updated the 'Concussion Guidelines for Non-Elite (Grassroots) Sport’. These UK-wide guidelines aim to help players, coaches, parents, teachers, school staff, National Governing Bodies, and sports administrators effectively identify and manage brain injuries.
The department and DCMS have been collaboratively disseminating the guidance to schools through various channels such a sector email and a school stakeholder bulletin.
This guidance can be accessed here: uk-concussion-guidelines-for-grassroots-non-elite-sport---november-2024-update-061124084139.pdf.
Asked by: Daisy Cooper (Liberal Democrat - St Albans)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether she has made an assessment of the adequacy of the Special Educational Needs and Disabilities system in supporting children with acquired brain injuries.
Answered by Catherine McKinnell - Minister of State (Education)
This government’s ambition is that all children and young people with special education needs and disabilities or in alternative provision receive the right support to succeed in their education and as they move into adult life.
Children who have had a brain injury can be affected in different ways. Some brain injuries will result in a special educational need (SEN) or a medical need, whilst others may affect a child in other ways.
In whatever way a brain injury manifests, it is essential that the pupil’s individual needs are identified and supported appropriately. Support should be tailored to their own learning barriers, irrespective of their diagnosis. This is underpinned by the range of statutory duties on schools to support children with SEN, disabilities or medical conditions. Depending on the impact that an acquired brain injury has on the child accessing education, they may be entitled to support under any or all of these duties. For example: