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:
Asked by: Daisy Cooper (Liberal Democrat - St Albans)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, when her Department plans to publish a decision on which apprenticeships will be impacted by cuts to Level 7 apprenticeship funding.
Answered by Janet Daby - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
This government is committed to spreading opportunities and economic growth supported by a strong skills system.
This government has an extremely challenging fiscal inheritance. There are tough choices that need to be taken on how funding should be prioritised in order to generate opportunities for young people that enable them to make a start in good, fulfilling careers. The department will therefore be asking more employers to step forward and fund a significant number of level 7 apprenticeships themselves outside of the levy-funded growth and skills offer.
The department is taking advice from Skills England, who engaged with employers on funding for level 7 apprenticeships over the autumn, and the department expects to make a final decision on affected apprenticeships shortly.
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.