Asked by: Emma Lewell-Buck (Labour - South Shields)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment he has made of the value for money of fast-track social work programmes.
Answered by Will Quince
Investing in the social workers of the future is essential to building a profession that is best able to protect and care for vulnerable children and families.
The Frontline and Step Up to Social Work fast-track programmes demonstrate clear value for money and effectiveness in supporting the government’s commitment to improving the recruitment and retention of social workers. Both programmes account for an increasing proportion of postgraduate social work enrolments. Investment in fast-track social work programmes, alongside university social work education, supports local authority social worker recruitment by providing top quality training to candidates who may not have previously considered social work as a career.
An evaluation of Frontline, conducted by Cardiff University and published in March 2016, found Frontline participants to be highly skilled in their practice quality. The report is available at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/frontline-pilot-independent-evaluation.
A further study, undertaken by Cardiff University to track the retention and progression of Frontline and Step Up to Social Work graduates, found no evidence that attrition rates for fast-track trained social workers at 18 months after qualification are higher than they are for social workers trained via mainstream programmes. The report also found that social workers trained by fast-track programmes demonstrate good progression and high job satisfaction. The final report was published in December 2021 and is available at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/social-work-fast-track-programmes-tracking-study.
Asked by: Emma Lewell-Buck (Labour - South Shields)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many serious incident notifications were made to the Child Safeguarding Practice Review Panel in respect of unaccompanied asylum-seeking children in each month from 1 July 2021 to 31 January 2022.
Answered by Will Quince
Serious incident data held by the department does not currently indicate whether an incident relates to an unaccompanied asylum-seeking child. However, the department is in the process of making changes to the notification system which will include whether a serious incident relates to an unaccompanied asylum-seeking child.
Asked by: Emma Lewell-Buck (Labour - South Shields)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, with reference to the abolition of the national assessment and accreditation system for children’s social workers, whether his Department plans to consult (a) representatives of the social work profession and (b) other relevant stakeholders on the long-term future of post-qualification social work training and career development.
Answered by Will Quince
The department invests over £50 million each year on recruiting and developing child and family social workers to ensure that the workforce has the capacity, skills and knowledge to support and protect vulnerable children.
The decision to end the current delivery model of the national assessment and accreditation system in March 2022 has been informed by feedback from social workers, local authorities and other stakeholders, as well as learning from other professions that have moved to remote assessment during the COVID-19 outbreak.
We remain committed to assessment and accreditation as a key element of continuing improvements in children’s social care, and we will continue to engage and collaborate with the sector and other stakeholders as we develop the long-term future of post-qualification training and development for child and family social workers.
Asked by: Emma Lewell-Buck (Labour - South Shields)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what recent assessment his Department has made of the impact of Frontline on (a) retention and (b) vacancy rates in children’s social work.
Answered by Will Quince
The government is committed to improving the recruitment and retention of social workers to ensure local authorities are best able to protect and care for vulnerable children and families.
Frontline trains around 450 social workers each year. Social workers trained by the Frontline programme have made a contribution towards retention which is comparable to those who train through other routes. A study undertaken by Cardiff University to track the retention and progression of Frontline and Step Up to Social Work graduates found “no evidence that attrition rates for fast-track-trained social workers at 18 months after qualification are higher than they are for social workers trained via mainstream programmes”. The final report was published in December 2021 and is available here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/social-work-fast-track-programmes-tracking-study.
Asked by: Emma Lewell-Buck (Labour - South Shields)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether he has plans to enable children on free school meals to roll over unspent monies on their prepaid cards in the context of the introduction of prepaid cards that will enable Healthy Start recipients to roll over unspent monies.
Answered by Will Quince
I refer the hon. Member for South Shields to the answer I gave on 7 February 2022 to Question 115924.
Asked by: Emma Lewell-Buck (Labour - South Shields)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if he will enable children on free school meals to roll over unspent monies on their prepaid cards in the context of the introduction of prepaid cards that enable Healthy Start recipients to roll over unspent monies.
Answered by Will Quince
Free school meals (FSM) are intended as a benefit in kind, rather than a cash benefit, and the department’s primary interest is that schools meet their legal duties to provide nutritious free lunches to eligible children.
Schools have considerable freedoms in how they deliver FSM, and it is important that children are claiming their free lunch each day and schools and colleges ensure children are not building up significant cash reserves on their accounts or regularly spending their allowances at other times of day without receiving their healthy lunch.
The Healthy Start scheme, led by the Department of Health and Social Care, provides vouchers which can be exchanged for fruit, vegetables, pulses, milk, infant formula and free Healthy Start vitamins.
Asked by: Emma Lewell-Buck (Labour - South Shields)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what recent assessment his Department has made of the potential effect of the requirement for all non-medical help providers to offer face-to-face support on (a) providers who are unable to offer face-to-face support, (b) sole traders who can only provide face-to-face support in one location and (c) users who require out of hours and weekend support.
Answered by Michelle Donelan - Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology
Students in receipt of Disabled Students’ Allowance can choose to have their non-medical help sessions either face-to-face or remotely (for example by video call). We therefore expect all non-medical help suppliers to be able to provide either face-to-face or remote non-medical help sessions, or a mixture of the two, as the student chooses. The department confirmed this to the sector in July 2021 and more information is available here: https://www.practitioners.slc.co.uk/media/1887/ssin-0721-new-arrangements-for-remote-support-202122.pdf.
In the context of the COVID-19 outbreak and providers who are unable to offer face-to-face support, the department considered the impact of this policy on non-medical help suppliers who were particularly vulnerable to COVID-19. Following this, we announced in December 2021 that there would be an exemption to this policy for non-medical help sole traders who have received specific clinical advice from a medical professional not to engage in face-to-face work for reasons relating to COVID-19. Further details of this exemption and how to apply for it can be found here: https://www.practitioners.slc.co.uk/media/1913/update-on-arrangements-for-remote-support_ssin_december-2021_final.pdf.
With regard to sole traders who can only provide face-to-face support in one location, sole traders are able to specify in which regions they can offer non-medical help support in their listing on the department’s register of suppliers here: https://www.practitioners.slc.co.uk/exchange-blog/2020/september/10092020-guidance-for-nmh-suppliers/. We require non-medical help suppliers, including sole traders, to be able to provide both face-to-face and remote support in the regions for which they are listed. Apart from that it is a matter for the supplier to decide in which regions they wish to operate.
Regarding users who require out of hours and weekend support, students have a choice between face-to-face and remote support. If students require out of hours and weekend support, and would prefer this to be remote, then they can request remote support from their non-medical help supplier.
Asked by: Emma Lewell-Buck (Labour - South Shields)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment his Department has made of the impact on schools of the (a) lack of confirmation of funding for the School Games Organiser network beyond March 2022 and (b) uncertainty around the future of the PE and Sport Premium beyond the 2021-22 academic year.
Answered by Will Quince
The department is considering arrangements for the primary PE and sport premium for the 2022-23 academic year and beyond. We are aware of the importance of providing schools with sufficient notice of future funding and will confirm the position as early as possible in the new year.
Similarly, the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) and the Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) are considering arrangements for the School Games Organisers programme and will confirm the position on future funding as soon as possible.
The department is also working to deliver on the nearly £30 million announced in October towards improving and opening up school sport facilities in England, as well as to improve the teaching of PE at primary school. We will continue to work closely with DCMS and DHSC to deliver on the aims of the school sport and activity action plan which we will be updating next year.
Asked by: Emma Lewell-Buck (Labour - South Shields)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what progress his Department has made on discussions with the (a) Department of Health and Social Care, and (b) Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, on confirming funding for the School Games Organiser network beyond March 2022.
Answered by Will Quince
The department is considering arrangements for the primary PE and sport premium for the 2022-23 academic year and beyond. We are aware of the importance of providing schools with sufficient notice of future funding and will confirm the position as early as possible in the new year.
Similarly, the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) and the Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) are considering arrangements for the School Games Organisers programme and will confirm the position on future funding as soon as possible.
The department is also working to deliver on the nearly £30 million announced in October towards improving and opening up school sport facilities in England, as well as to improve the teaching of PE at primary school. We will continue to work closely with DCMS and DHSC to deliver on the aims of the school sport and activity action plan which we will be updating next year.
Asked by: Emma Lewell-Buck (Labour - South Shields)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether parental alienation is part of a social worker's (a) initial and (b) ongoing training.
Answered by Will Quince
All social workers in England must meet the professional standards set by the regulator, Social Work England. Providers of initial training must meet the education and training standards, also set by the regulator, to ensure their students can meet the professional standards. The department has also introduced clear post-qualifying standards, setting out the knowledge and skills expected of child and family social workers.
These standards cover working with parents, including managing tensions between parents and family members, the effect of different parenting styles and assessing parental capacity and capability to change.
It is for providers of initial education, ongoing training and local authority employers to decide specific areas of focus, for example, parental alienation, within social worker training, with reference to the relevant standards. This enables training at all levels to be tailored to the needs of individuals, responsive and up to date.
The definitions and risk factor categories defined in the department’s data collection on initial and end of assessments are not intended to be exhaustive, and parental alienation is not a specific category. However, all potential risk factors will be assessed including the impact of such behaviours on a child and the extent to which they may be considered harmful.