Asked by: Dan Carden (Labour - Liverpool Walton)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what estimate she has made of the number of young people out of (a) work, (b) education and (c) training in Liverpool Walton constituency.
Answered by Janet Daby - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
The department publishes national statistics on those not in education, employment or training (NEET) for England from the labour force survey for young people aged 16 to 24. However, these are only published at national and regional level due to limitations with sample sizes for lower-level geographies. Therefore, NEET rates for young people aged 16 to 24 cannot be provided for the area requested. The available statistics can be found at: https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/find-statistics/neet-statistics-annual-brief.
Local authorities are required to encourage, enable or assist young people’s participation in education or training and return management information for young people aged 16 and 17. This data shows that of the 10,372 young people aged 16 and 17-years-old who were known to Liverpool local authority around the end of 2022 (average of December 2022, January 2023 and February 2023), 885 were NEET or their activity was not known (530 known to be NEET and 355 young people whom the local authority could not confirm their activity). This data is published here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/neet-and-participation-local-authority-figures. These are not national statistics but published as transparency data so some caution should be taken if using these figures. Data is not available for Liverpool, Walton constituency.
In addition, 16 to 18 destination measures are published. These official statistics show the percentage of pupils not continuing to a sustained education, apprenticeship or employment destination in the year after completing 16 to 18 study, that is 6 months of continual activity. This can be used as a proxy for NEET at age 18. Data for Liverpool Walton is available here: https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/data-tables/permalink/55eab43f-7467-408e-90c8-08dd184e91f8. This shows that out of 357 pupils completing 16 to 18 study in the 2021/22 academic year in Liverpool Walton, 39 pupils were not recorded as having a sustained destination in the 2022/23, and 23 pupils did not have their activity captured.
Asked by: Dan Carden (Labour - Liverpool Walton)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how much her Department has spent on consultancy fees in each year since 2021.
Answered by Janet Daby - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
The government is committed to restoring the public finances and delivering value for the taxpayer.
As part of this wider mission, the government has pledged to reduce wasteful spend on non-essential and expensive consultants in order to save over £1.2 billion by 2026.
The latest available data that has been audited and published as part of the Group Annual Report and Accounts, is linked below:
The data for post-March 2024 is live and unaudited. Additionally, due to the department’s accruals accounting, the partial year’s data may be incomplete and misleading. Therefore, we are unable to provide data beyond March 2024.
Asked by: Dan Carden (Labour - Liverpool Walton)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps her Department is taking to improve support for care leavers.
Answered by Janet Daby - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
The department recognises that care leavers have poorer outcomes than their peers across all aspects of their lives. We want all those leaving care to have stable homes, access to health services, support to build lifelong loving relationships, and help to engage in education, employment and training. The department is committed to helping children thrive, and we want the best for every child and family. We want to build on the foundations laid by local authorities to create a care system that works for everyone.
We have already begun this vital work. My right hon. Friend, the Prime Minister, announced in his speech in September that we will bring forward legislation, when parliamentary time allows, to remove the local connection requirement for care leavers seeking access to social housing at the next available opportunity.
In the King’s Speech, we committed to introduce a Children’s Wellbeing Bill to take forward further legislative changes needed to improve the children’s social care system, including support for care leavers.
Asked by: Dan Carden (Labour - Liverpool Walton)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment she has made of the potential implications for her Department's policies of the report by Kinship entitled Forgotten: Support for kinship children’s education and mental health, published August 2024.
Answered by Janet Daby - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
The government is determined to give every child the opportunities they deserve. It knows that many children in kinship care need extra support, including in school. The department is working to ensure their needs are met, and that they have the best possible opportunity to succeed.
Children in kinship care can currently access pupil premium funding if they have been entitled to free school meals within the last six years and can receive pupil premium plus funding if they have left local authority care through a Special Guardianship or Child Arrangements Order. Children cared for under one of these orders are also eligible for school admissions through the Fair Access Protocol.
From September 2024, the role of Virtual School Heads has been expanded to include championing the education, attendance and attainment of children in kinship care, ensuring that more children in kinship care receive the help they need to thrive at school.
The Adoption and Special Guardianship Support Fund, helps adoptive and Special Guardianship Order children, and their families, access therapeutic interventions related to trauma and attachment. Since the fund was established in 2015, it has provided over £400 million in funding to support more than 50,000 children.
This government is considering how to most effectively transform the children’s social care system to deliver better outcomes for children and families, including how best to support kinship children and families.
Asked by: Dan Carden (Labour - Liverpool Walton)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether her Department plans to extend contracts for Early Years Stronger Practice Hubs in (a) the Liverpool City Region and (b) across England.
Answered by Stephen Morgan - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
The department is committed to ensuring that every child in an early years setting receives high quality education and care. Evidence shows that this has a positive impact on outcomes in both the short and long term, particularly for the most disadvantaged children.
The Stronger Practice Hubs Programme was launched in 2022 to address the COVID-19 pandemic’s impact on the youngest children, with a focus on the most disadvantaged areas. The Hubs support early years settings and childminders by sharing effective practice, learning from the best available evidence, and building lasting local networks.
The department is pleased to confirm that all Stronger Practice Hubs in England, including the Hub in the Liverpool City Region, have been offered the opportunity to extend their grants until 31 March 2025.
Asked by: Dan Carden (Labour - Liverpool Walton)
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 increasing the amount of time teachers are allocated to undertake (a) planning, (b) preparation and (c) assessment.
Answered by Catherine McKinnell - Minister of State (Education)
All teachers who participate in the teaching of pupils are entitled to reasonable periods of planning, preparation and assessment (PPA) time, which is a minimum of 10% of their timetable.
This government is committed to resetting the relationship between the government and education profession in order to improve the experience of being a teacher. In July, alongside delivering a fully-funded 5.5% pay award, we clarified that teachers can use PPA time at home, to provide greater flexibility for teachers.
The department knows that improving workload will play a key role in recruiting and retaining excellent teachers and leaders, which will support the government’s mission to transform the education system so that all children and young people get the skills, care and opportunities they deserve.
The department is now considering all options for future policy interventions to improve teacher workload and wellbeing to help deliver on the government’s ambition to recruit 6,500 additional new teachers, and is working with partners across the sector to achieve this.
Asked by: Dan Carden (Labour - Liverpool Walton)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether her Department plans to reform the SEND system.
Answered by Catherine McKinnell - Minister of State (Education)
For too long the education and care system has not meet the needs of all children, particularly those with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND), with parents struggling to get their children the support they need and deserve.
This government’s ambition is that all children and young people with SEND or in alternative provision receive the right support to succeed in their education and as they move into adult life. The department will be focusing on a community-wide approach, improving inclusivity and expertise in mainstream schools, and ensuring that special schools cater to those with the most complex needs. My right hon. Friend, the Secretary of State for Education, and I will work with families and education and care experts to deliver this in the best interests of our children.
Asked by: Dan Carden (Labour - Liverpool Walton)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment she has made of the implications for her Department's policies of the recent findings from the World Health Organization that revealed Great Britain has the highest rate of child alcohol use worldwide.
Answered by Damian Hinds
Schools are already required to teach content on alcohol use as part of the statutory guidance for Health Education.
Since September 2020, it has been compulsory for schools to teach Relationships Education for primary school aged pupils, Relationships and Sex Education for secondary school aged pupils and Health Education for all pupils in state-funded schools. This guidance is available at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/relationships-education-relationships-and-sex-education-rse-and-health-education.
To support implementation, the department published a teacher training module on drugs, alcohol and tobacco as part of a wider suite of teacher training materials. This is available at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/teacher-training-drugs-alcohol-and-tobacco.
The department is currently reviewing the content of the ‘Relationships and sex education and health education’ statutory guidance and expects to consult on an amended draft very shortly so that the new guidance will be available as soon as possible.
Asked by: Dan Carden (Labour - Liverpool Walton)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if she will review the content of alcohol education material used in (a) schools, (b) colleges and (c) universities that has been provided by organisations in receipt of funding by the alcohol industry.
Answered by Damian Hinds
From September 2020 in England, Relationships Education became compulsory for all primary school-aged pupils, Relationships and Sex Education became compulsory for all secondary school-aged pupils, and Health Education became compulsory for all pupils in state-funded schools.
The statutory guidance for Health Education sets out content on drugs, alcohol and tobacco use. This guidance is available at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/relationships-education-relationships-and-sex-education-rse-and-health-education.
To support implementation, the department published a teacher training module on drugs, alcohol and tobacco as part of a wider suite of teacher training materials. This is available at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/teacher-training-drugs-alcohol-and-tobacco.
The department does not direct schools on which resources, external speakers or organisations to use, and the department does not endorse or promote resources to schools other than those produced by other government departments. The ‘Relationships and Sex Education and Health Education’ guidance is, however, clear that all materials used should be age appropriate and factual.
The department is currently reviewing the RSHE statutory guidance. The review has been informed by an independent expert panel to advise my right. Hon friend, the Secretary of State for Education, on the introduction of age limits for sensitive subjects.
In March 2023, the Secretary of State for Education also wrote to schools to remind them that copyright law does not prevent them from sharing external resources with parents. In October 2023, the Secretary of State wrote again to clarify that any contractual clause that prevents schools from sharing materials is void and unenforceable and to provide practical advice on how to share materials with parents in a way that is in line with copyright legislation. The department will ensure that the updated guidance fully reflects this very clear position. A copy of the Secretary of State’s letter to schools about sharing curriculum resources with parents is available here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/secretary-of-state-letter-to-schools-about-sharing-curriculum-resources-with-parents.
A draft of the amended guidance will be published for consultation as soon as possible.
It is for further education colleges to determine what material they use to support the health and wellbeing of students.
Higher education providers in England are autonomous and independent and they make decisions on the courses that they will run. In making these decisions providers will adapt their offers to the interest of students and demand from employers. The department cannot therefore comment on their choices.
Asked by: Dan Carden (Labour - Liverpool Walton)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, pursuant to the Answer of 24 January 2024 to Question 9921 on Teachers: Training, if he will make an assessment of the potential impact of trends in the cost of living on teachers in training.
Answered by Damian Hinds
The government recognises that cost of living pressures impact trainee teachers but has taken steps to increase the financial support available. All trainee teachers on tuition fee-funded initial teacher training (ITT) routes can apply for a tuition fee loan and a partially means-tested loan for living costs. Additional means-tested student finance is also available depending on individual circumstances, such as the Childcare Grant for students with child dependants.
The government has continued to increase maximum loans, grants for living and other costs each year. Maximum support has been increased by 2.8% for the current 2023/24 academic year, with a further 2.5% increase announced for 2024/25. The highest levels of support are targeted at students from the lowest-income families.
The department has also frozen maximum tuition fees for the 2023/24 and 2024/25 academic years to deliver better value for students and to keep the cost of higher education under control. By the 2024/25 academic year, maximum fees will have been frozen for 7 years.
The department has already made £276 million of student premium and mental health funding available for the 2023/24 academic year to support successful outcomes for students, including disadvantaged students.
The department is now making a further £10 million of one-off support available to support student mental health and hardship funding. This funding will complement the help universities are providing through their own bursary, scholarship and hardship support schemes.
The department announced an ITT financial incentives package worth up to £196 million for the 2024/25 ITT recruitment cycle, a £15 million increase on the last cycle. This includes bursaries worth up to £28,000 tax-free and scholarships worth up £30,000 tax-free, to encourage talented trainees to key subjects such as mathematics, physics, chemistry and computing.
Last year, the department accepted in full the School Teachers’ Review Body’s recommendations for the 2023/24 pay award for teachers and leaders. This included an increase to the unqualified teacher pay range for salaried trainee teachers and a minimum £30,000 starting salary for school teachers in all regions of the country, with a pay award of up to 7.1% for new teachers outside London.