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 recent representations from Hertfordshire County Council on levels of demand for in-year state school places.
Answered by Catherine McKinnell - Minister of State (Education)
My right hon. Friend, the Secretary of State for Education, has had no recent representations from Hertfordshire County Council on levels of demand for in-year state school places. The department has offered a routine meeting with the local authority to discuss in-year admissions, which we expect to take place in the New Year.
Asked by: Daisy Cooper (Liberal Democrat - St Albans)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what her planned timetable is for announcing what proportion of SEND funding from Autumn Budget 2024 will be allocated to Hertfordshire.
Answered by Catherine McKinnell - Minister of State (Education)
This government’s ambition is that all children and young people with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) or in alternative provision (AP) receive the right support to succeed in their education and as they move into adult life.
The department is providing an increase of almost £1 billion for high needs budgets in the 2025/26 financial year, bringing total high needs funding for children and young people with complex SEND to £11.9 billion. Of that total, Hertfordshire County Council is being allocated a provisional high needs funding amount of over £205 million through the national funding formula (NFF), which is a 9.8% increase per head of their 2 to 18-year-old population, on their equivalent 2024/25 financial year NFF allocation. The allocations have been published here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/national-funding-formula-tables-for-schools-and-high-needs-2025-to-2026.
Hertfordshire County Council will also be allocated extra funding for pay and pensions costs in special schools and AP. This funding is additional to the allocations through the high needs NFF, and the department will confirm shortly how the funding allocations will be calculated.
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 plans to publish the Stocktake report on Hertfordshire County Council's SEND improvement plan.
Answered by Catherine McKinnell - Minister of State (Education)
Ofsted and the Care Quality Commission (CQC) inspected local arrangements for children with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND) in Hertfordshire in July 2023 and found widespread and/or systemic failings. Area SEND inspection reports are published on Ofsted’s website and the department publishes formal intervention decisions on GOV.UK. Local area partnerships are expected to publish their SEND strategic plan and their local offer, including on the local authority website. However, internal working documents such as post-stocktake reports are not routinely published. This is to allow the necessary space for frank and open discussions that maximise the opportunity for the local area to improve. For example, stocktake reports can include personal reports from children and families about their experiences of the SEND system, which are shared in confidence.
The department continues to provide support and challenge to the Hertfordshire local area partnership by monitoring progress against its priority action plan and improvement plan, and by providing advice and guidance via a SEND expert advisor.
Asked by: Daisy Cooper (Liberal Democrat - St Albans)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, with reference to the Hertfordshire SEND Improvement Plan, published in December 2023, whether her Department (a) was consulted on and (b) agreed with the implementation of the Hertfordshire County Council target to complete 60% of all new Education, Health and Care needs assessments within the statutory 20 week deadline.
Answered by Catherine McKinnell - Minister of State (Education)
The target of 60% of Education, Health and Care (EHC) plans being completed within 20 weeks by Hertfordshire County Council is published in the local area partnership’s priority action plan. The department understands from Hertfordshire County Council that the 60% target is a realistic initial target rather than the end goal. Ofsted and the Care Quality Commission jointly review priority action plans and determine whether they are fit for purpose and they have confirmed that Hertfordshire’s plan is fit for purpose. The department does not approve priority action plans; therefore, it did not approve this target. The department’s role is to determine whether a priority action plan is something that the local area can be monitored against, and we have confirmed that Hertfordshire’s plan can be monitored.
The department expects all local authorities to meet their statutory duties, and we will continue to monitor and challenge Hertfordshire County Council’s EHC plan 20-week timeliness.
The department provides support and challenge to the Hertfordshire local area partnership by monitoring progress against its priority action plan and improvement plan, and by providing advice and guidance via a special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) expert advisor. The partnership has also established a SEND Improvement Board, which is independently chaired by Dame Christine Lenehan, to oversee progress and provide appropriate challenge.
Asked by: Daisy Cooper (Liberal Democrat - St Albans)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether she had made an assessment of the adequacy of the number of educational psychologists in each local education authority in England.
Answered by Catherine McKinnell - Minister of State (Education)
The department understands the critical role educational psychologists play in the support available to children and young people, including those with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND). Data on the number of educational psychologists employed by local authorities is collected by the department within the School Workforce Census, which can be found here: https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/find-statistics/school-workforce-in-england.
Whilst it is the responsibility of local authorities as the employers of educational psychology services to ensure that their services are adequately staffed, the department is taking measures to support local authority educational psychology services by investing in developing the future workforce of educational psychologists.
The department is investing over £21 million to train 400 more educational psychologists from this year. This builds on the £10 million currently being invested in the training of over 200 educational psychologists who began their training in September 2023.
Following graduation, trainees who have had their training funded by the department are required to remain in local authority employment for a minimum period. To support local authority services to recruit and retain their educational psychology workforce, this requirement will increase to three years for those trainees beginning their course this year. This will allow local authority services to benefit from the public investment in educational psychologist training, and support their delivery of statutory assessments and wider work.
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 awareness of endometriosis in Relationships, Sex and Health Education in schools.
Answered by Catherine McKinnell - Minister of State (Education)
Statutory guidance on the current relationships, sex and health education (RSHE) curriculum published on GOV.UK states that pupils should be taught key facts about the menstrual cycle, including what is an average period, the range of menstrual products and implications for emotional and physical health. The guidance is available here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/relationships-education-relationships-and-sex-education-rse-and-health-education.
While endometriosis is not mentioned specifically in the statutory guidance, it is open to schools to include it as part of this education.
In 2020, the department developed teacher training modules to support schools further, which are freely available to download from GOV.UK. This included working with Endometriosis UK when developing the ‘changing adolescent body’ module, which references endometriosis.
The department is currently reviewing the RSHE statutory guidance. My right hon. Friend, the Secretary of State for Education, has been clear that children’s wellbeing must be at the heart of this guidance for schools. As such, the government will re-engage with stakeholders, look carefully at the consultation responses and consider the relevant evidence before setting out next steps.
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 adequacy of the rates paid to providers for free hours childcare and early years education.
Answered by Stephen Morgan - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
Current national average funding rates for local authorities are broadly in line with, or higher than, nursery fees paid by parents last year. However, the department is taking concerns from the early years sector very seriously and wants to ensure that the sector is financially sustainable going forward. Budgets for 2025/26 are still to be agreed at the autumn Spending Review. This includes the 2025/26 early years budget which the department will need to agree across government. The department knows how important these decisions are to local authorities and providers, and is working across government to take them as soon as practicably possible.
Asked by: Daisy Cooper (Liberal Democrat - St Albans)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, pursuant to the Answer of 26 July 2024 to Question 402 on Special Educational Needs, how many children and young people with education, health and care plans have missed (a) one year and (b) more than one year of education in the last five years because they were required by local education authorities to transfer into a year group commensurate with their age.
Answered by Catherine McKinnell - Minister of State (Education)
The department does not hold the information requested.
Asked by: Daisy Cooper (Liberal Democrat - St Albans)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, with reference to the guidance entitled Summer born children: advice for admission authorities, published on 27 April 2023, whether she plans to introduce additional guidance for summer born children with an education, health and care plan.
Answered by Catherine McKinnell - Minister of State (Education)
The department will be considering whether to publish such additional guidance and will confirm its decision in due course.
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 hold discussions with the F40 campaign group on SEND funding allocations.
Answered by Catherine McKinnell - Minister of State (Education)
The department will take time to consider the high needs national funding formula (NFF) that it uses to allocate funding for children and young people with complex special educational needs and disabilities. The department is considering the impact of the formula on local authorities, including Hertfordshire County Council and those in the F40 group. It is important that there is a fair education funding system that directs funding to where it is needed.
Budgets for the 2025/26 financial year have not been set, which means that decisions on the high needs and mainstream schools NFF and the publication of allocations for that year will not be to the usual timescales.